Today on real life radio. What's the truth? God is. Faithful. He's been historically faithful, and he's going to be faithful tonight, and he's going to be faithful forever.
This is real life. Welcome to Real Life Radio with Pastor Jack Hibbs. I'm David Jay, thanking you for joining us today as we listen, learn, and are challenged by God's Word, the Bible. Are you looking for some solid biblical teaching that speaks to the world today? At jackhibbs.com, you have access to Pastor Jack's entire library of sermons on demand.
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Pastor Jack continues his series now called 1 Samuel and a message titled Responding to God's Will. Samuel of the Old Testament was the last judge of Israel and the first of its prophets.
So here in chapter 12, we find that God Himself is a responsive God. You see, in chapter 10, we talked about the will of God for our lives. In chapter 11, we learned how to confirm God's will in our lives.
Now it's time to respond to His will with conviction, confidence, and determination.
So today, Pastor Jack teaches that God delights in watching us grow spiritually, and He loves to see how we continue to learn His ways.
So, in response, it's important for us to stay conscious of His holiness, His faithfulness, and His character.
Now with his message called Responding to God's Will. Here's Pastor and Bible teacher Jack Hibbs. Stand up and be a Christian. You're going to get attacked. But just make sure that The attack holds no water.
How can that be? By fearing the Lord. You know what, you guys? If we fear Him as a church, and do you know what I mean by fear Him? Not be afraid of him.
That is not what that word means. It's to be in awe of him. God, you're awesome. You're awesome. If that is our heart, we have nothing to fear as a church.
of this world. Nothing. Having a right heart means you're going to have the right motives. And that means in secret and in public, We're going to be people acceptable unto the Lord. And what are we like in secret?
Who are we in private? Who you are in secret, who you are in private, is directly connected. to your fear of the Lord. Do you see and think that God is only Caring about how we are publicly. But then we've got our Bible in one hand and we're praising the Lord and there's no character in us when we take our Bibles home, set it on the table or leave it in the car and go home, draw the curtains and put on a porno movie.
You can't be two different people. You're just deceiving yourself. God won't go for that. There's no fear of the Lord in that. or whatever it might be.
The person who we are in secret is the person who we are. Think about it. Who are we in secret? Samuel was a man of God and a great witness for us. The second point we see tonight is in verses 6 to 18.
And that is responding to God's will in your life means this, that we're to be knowing the truth. We're to know the truth. God wants us to know the truth. How so? Jot this down.
God has been historically faithful. That's the truth. What's the truth? God is. Faithful.
He's been historically faithful, and he's going to be faithful tonight, and he's going to be faithful forever. But look what Samuel does to them. That we're to be knowing the truth, and the truth is this: that God has been historically faithful. Then Samuel said to the people: It is the Lord who raised up Moses and Aaron. Who brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt?
Now, therefore, stand still. that I may reason with you before the Lord concerning all the righteous acts of the Lord. Which he did to you and your fathers when Jacob had gone into Egypt and your fathers cried out to the Lord. Then the Lord sent Moses and Aaron, who brought your fathers out of Egypt and made them dwell in this place. Verse 9: And when they forgot the Lord their God, he sold them into the hand of Sisera, commander of the army of Hazor, into the hand of the Philistines and into the hand of the king of Moab.
And they fought against them. What's he saying? Verse 9's the key. And when they forgot the Lord their God. This is amazing.
It is it's prone To the people of God to forget God. Say, how can that be true? You guys, we do it every day. We forget him. It's a danger.
And here's one of the greatest Hang-ups. that we can experience. Those of you who are parents, you want to bless your kids. In fact, any grandparents in here? I'm not a grandparent.
I'd like to be a grandparent. I understand this about grandparents: that they get a real charge out of spoiling the kids, the grandkids. Grandparents tell me that, well, I thought being a parent was great. Being a grandparent is the best thing that God's ever made. I had somebody tell me that on Sunday.
Being a grandparent's the best thing God's ever made. And then they go off. and telling me how they spoil their grandkids rutten. And when the little junior starts to get an attitude because of his spoiledness, They just turn them right back and send them to mom and dad. Here, you deal with it.
Now that I've created this kid, you deal with it. That sounds kind of fun. Why? How can that be fun? Because as you get older, it's truly a wonderful thing to give.
Okay. Have you noticed that? Have you noticed, you know, That your Christmas list now, as you get older, is much shorter. And uh and yet I find myself now wanting to spend more money on the gifts that I'm giving because I get a real charge. It's kinda like going to Disneyland.
Th when you're young, Disneyland's a blast. Then when you get a little older, it's all right. And then when you're when you're uh, you know. Kind of middle-aged, and you don't have kids yet, or whatever, it's like, I'm not even gonna go. And then all of a sudden you have a child.
And the first thing is Let's get him to Disneyland. The parent has got Mickey Mouse ears on. They've got a video camera stuck in their face and they're walking into Disneyland backwards. You know what I'm talking about? They're walking in backwards because they got the camera right on Little Junior and they're like, oh man.
And the biggest charge for a parent is not Disneyland anymore. It's not the cotton candy, it's not, that's watching little junior's face in Disneyland. It's the biggest charge. And you'll pay anything to see that face. Get all fired up over that.
You're looking at this Mickey Mouse, there's Mickey Mouse. And it's like, poor kid, he has no idea that mouse is fake as all get out, but he thinks it's real and what a cool. You're all charged because they're charged. I think God wants to bless us so much, but you know what? Blessings often.
When we acquire them, We begin to personalize them. And then own the blessing. And we forget God. We forget him. Deuteronomy 32, 18.
It says, for you have forgotten the Lord who fathered you. Deuteronomy 32, 18. Psalm 103 verse 2. It says, bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his business. benefits Ecclesiastes 7.13, consider the work of God.
Now did they literally forget God? Answer No. They didn't literally forget him. They didn't wake up one day and no longer think about him. You know what they did?
They did what we did. We never really forget about him in our memory, but we do forget his nature, his person, his holiness. And what happens is what's revealed in Romans chapter 1, if we're not careful, verse 21. Romans 1:21 says, Because although they knew God, They did not glorify him as God, nor were they thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Nobody forgets God.
What happens is we begin to demote God. We don't forget him. We begin to make him less than who he is. As we motor away from him more and more, we don't forget him. We begin to redefine who he is until a person is backslidden to the point where God and I, we're going to go out tonight and we're going to do these things.
That's what you're really doing. Because while you're out doing those things, That God says, don't do those things, you're very conscious of God, aren't you? But your justification is this. He's you know, it's okay. Um me and God, we're all right.
And we begin to delegate and relegate him down to a nothing. He's, and then you'll hear words like this: He's my bud. He's my buddy. God's my pal. It's me and the man upstairs.
We're tight. Yeah, yeah. What? You see, you just don't forget God. What happens is your life is blessed.
And you begin to look To those things as your fulfillment and your meaning and your status in life. And what happens is, we begin to diminish God's meaning in our life. We never forget him. Samuel is saying, He's been dethroned. From your hearts.
And when he's been dethroned from your hearts, You move out from that place of blessing. And difficulty comes. God loves us, so He sends difficulty. We make him casual, easygoing, kind of a god, half blind, nearly deaf. And we forget him.
Psalm 106, 19. To 22 says, that the children of Israel made a calf in Horeb and they worshiped the molden image having come out of Egypt. Thus they changed the glory of God into an image of an ox that eats grass. They forgot God their Savior, who had done great things in Egypt, wondrous works in the land of Ham, awesome things in the Red Sea. Verses 10 and 11 teach us that God is not only historically.
faithful, but he's continuously faithful, even to this very moment. Samuel says, then they cried out to the Lord. He's talking about the children of Israel of old, and said, We have sinned because we have forsaken the Lord and served the Baals and the Astros, the pagan sexual. Pagan gods, freaky things. But now deliver us from the hand Of our foes, those who would seek to defeat us, and we will serve you.
And the Lord sent. Jerobabal and Bedan and Jephtah. And Samuel, and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side, and you dwelt safely. God's continuously faithful. He's faithful in the past.
He's faithful now. He's going to get us through. Notice how God allowed the hardships to come into their lives. Whenever a family, a person, a church, a nation forgets God, God will send hardships. Evil comes upon a people.
Why? Try to understand this. This is kind of, I have to do it with my hands because I can't say it with my mouth. God wants to just absolutely bless us if we can handle it. You're listening to real life with Pastor Jack Hibbs.
You know, to hear more episodes and maybe catch up in the series, just go to jackhibbs.com. That's jackhibbs.com. And for now, let's get back to our teaching. Once again, here's Pastor Jack. If we forget him, that's sin.
We've still got the blessings, but now we're operating without Him. We move out from under this covering out into the open. elements, so to speak. We've got all the goods. We just don't have the giver of the good.
We've left them.
So, God in His goodness to rather, rather than leave us on that path of destruction, God allows the evil that comes in that kind of an environment. Listen, you guys, it's always hard. Uh My sister just called me from Oregon. She moved to Oregon. She says, it always rains here.
Yes, it does. If you go outside, you're going to get what? Rained on.
So you stay inside, stay with God, or if you go outside, you're going to get what? Rained on.
Are you with me on that? He wants to bless us, but if we leave the house And it rains on us, we are so funny that way. We get out of his will and we get out into the rain, and all these hail storms and sun and evil things begin to beat on us, and then we're going, God, it hurts out here. It's really wet, it's really hot, it's really cold, it's really rotten. And God's going, well, won't you come in the house, Levant?
Come in the house. Where you should have stayed. We get out into the stuff we're we're we're children, are we not children? What is this happening to me? You've left the house.
God will cause or allow, I should say, the rain to fall on us to get our attention. And then we cry out to him? And we come running home. Third consideration under this point that we're to be knowing the truth, and the truth is this: that God is desiring to be faithful still. He says, and when you saw That Nahash.
Now it's current. They knew this story. They lived it. And when you saw that Nahash, king of the Amorites, came against you, you said to me, No, but a king shall reign over us. Samuel's rubbing it in.
When the Lord your God was your king, now therefore he is the king. whom you have chosen. In other words, you wanted Saul, you got him. And whom you have desired. And take note.
The Lord has said A king. Over you. Third point, and we'll end with this. Responding to God's will in your life. is this, verses 14 to 25.
We're to recognize his conditions. He has conditions. And that is number one. He wants us to have an actual relationship with him. Look at verse 14.
If you, Samuel says, Fear the Lord. And, number two, serve him. and three, obey his voice and four, do not rebel. Against the commandment of the Lord. then both you and the king who reigns over you will continue following the Lord your God.
If you do not obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then the hand of the Lord will be against you as it was against your fathers. Wow, God is saying, let's have a relationship. Think about it. Again, I go back to the marriage. Can you imagine a husband and wife?
I'm doing the service, I'm standing there, and I now pronounce them to the witnesses. Husband and wife. What if that guy, if I said, oh, you know, Bob, you may kiss your bride. What if that guy Turned. And Ran down the steps and kissed some woman sitting in the aisle somewhere.
You say, oh, that's ridiculous. That's right, it would be, wouldn't it? That woman would have to stop and say, What did I just say I do too? In fact, I would probably say, Wait a minute, we're going to undo that part. Yeah.
Boy, it's not right. There's something odd here. This doesn't fit. God is saying, if you know me, Then let's have a relationship together. And that relationship means it's going to be actual interaction.
Relating. Beam. There'll be obedience. There'll be love, there'll be safety, there'll be excitement, there'll be vision, there's going to be encouragement, there's going to be instruction, all these things that relationships have within them. But we're to be recognizing the conditions.
He says, fear, serve, obey, and don't rebel. That's pretty fair, don't you think? I think verses 19 to 21 teach us that he wants us blessed. This is something that just saying it, even when I'm just saying that, I have to feel like I have to apologize because of all the false teaching on TV and radio about this. Isn't it sad?
Listen, God wants you blessed.
Now you almost expect me to say, God wants you blessed, so Driver Rolls Royce Hi, you kind of feel that. But the truth is, God wants you blessed. People take things and they just run it to a damnable Heretical. The truth is God wants you. Blessed.
Now, what I would like to do is always say, God bless us. Bless this family, bless this person, bless this church. In accordance with your definition. Because you know what? When I pray for you, I don't want to limit God.
So I'll say, Lord, bless Calvary Chapel. In fact, we've said this years ago. It's been years since I've said it. But we need to do this. I don't know about you, but Whenever you're praying for your meal, you should always pray, Lord, thank you for this meal and whatever you want to put in there.
Don't let me get fat, you know. With this Double pizza thing here. And Lord Bless Coverichape. I would love for you to end your prayer every time with that. And bless Calvary Chapel.
Leave it at that. Because let him define what that means. Let him define it. I think God wants us blessed. I know he does.
Verse 19, and all the people said to Samuel, Pray for your servants to the Lord your God, that we may not die, for we have added to all of our sins the evil of asking a king for ourselves. Then Samuel said to the people, Do not fear. You have done all this wickedness. Yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord. That's a key to blessing, by the way, if you want to be blessed.
Serve the Lord with all your heart. Do not turn aside. For then you would go after empty things which cannot profit or deliver you, for they are nothing. Wow, God wants me so blessed. Listen, He wants you, He wants me, He wants us blessable.
How can we be blessable? By following the Lord with all of our hearts. You guys? You may not like it, but deal with it. The greatest way to obtain blessing is through obedience.
God blesses obedience. It's true. It's true in relationships. If your child, if your teenager is obedient, they get more freedoms. The smartest thing, why won't our kids get this?
If our kids. Would obey us. They would be so happy and so blessed, and we would give them more, wouldn't we, parents? Wouldn't we? But when they blow it, what do we do?
We got a reel in the car, we got to reel in the money, we got to take the phone off the hook. Think about it. If they would just Obey. They would have more than they could ever imagine. But the little ding-dongs are just like us.
God says, obey, and I'll bless you so much the whole world, your neighbors will go, what's with your life? I'm sick of it. You're healthy. You guys are happy. You're praying.
You're loving each other. Everybody in the streets got a divorce. You guys didn't. Your kids are flourishing. And what's with you guys?
I think God wants that to happen in our lives. I think he wants our neighbors to knock on our door and say, what's with you guys? You make me sick, you're so blessed. Mm. See wants us blessable.
And the key to that It's to obey him. What a beautiful thing, though. These people are waking up. They say, Samuel, pray for us. That's a good thing.
And they confess their sins, don't they? We've blown it! And not only that, we've blown it. We've asked for this guy to be our king. Oh Samuel, pray for us.
That's a good thing. That's a beautiful thing. Verses 22 to 25, and we'll be done here. For the Lord will not forsake his people. For his great name's sake, this is awesome.
Listen, you guys. Because It has pleased the Lord to make you his people. Verse 22 is quite possibly one of the greatest verses in the Bible. Listen to that. For the Lord will not forsake you.
For his great name's sake, Because It has pleased the Lord to make you his people. Oh man. Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you. But I will teach you the good and right way. Only fear the Lord and serve him in truth with all of your heart.
For consider what great things he has done for you. But If you still do wickedly, You shall be swept away Both you and your king Is that not awesome? God says, listen, here's the deal. I want Number one. To be a blessing.
Why? Because the Lord will not forsake. His people. Number one, there's three because. Technically, in the construction of this in the Hebrew, three of them.
God wants to bless because He won't forsake his people. Number two, God wants to bless because of his great name. You're called by his name. He wants to bless you because you're called by his name. Thirdly, he wants to bless because it has pleased the Lord to make you his people.
Golly? Really, Lord? Yeah, you, me? You. That's awesome.
I don't know where you feel like you fit in. Maybe tonight you feel like you don't fit in anywhere. God says, you fit in here just fine. You fit it right to the hole of his hand. You fit perfectly right on that.
It's custom fit. Jesus went to the cross and said, this is how much I love you, this much. Died for you. Died for me. and you fit perfect.
into that grand scheme. What a loving God we have. He wants to bless us. His will. We need to respond to it.
Don't fight it anymore. Do his will. Pastor and Bible teacher Jack Hughes, here on Real Life Radio. with his message called Responding to God's Will. Thanks for taking the time to spend with us today.
You know, this message is part of Pastor Jack's series called 1 Samuel. A series highlighting the prophet Samuel, who was called by God during one of Israel's darkest ages, to bring the people back to a heart of true worship. and we'll continue on the next edition of Real Life Radio. In a world growing darker by the day, will you stand firm or be swept away? Pastor Jack Hibbs' new book, Call to Take a Bold Stand, is a wake-up call for every believer.
With biblical clarity and real-life conviction, Jack Hibbs shows you how to overcome fear, hold fast to truth, and make every moment count. That's Call to Take a Bold Stand by Pastor Jack Hibbs. Get your copy for a gift of any amount at jackkids.com slash real radio. This program is made possible by the generous contributions of you, our listeners. Visit us at jackhibbs.com.
That's jackhibbs.com. Until next time, Pastor Jack Hibbs and all of us here at Real Life Radio wish for you solid and steady growth in Christ and in His Word. We'll see you next time here on Real Life Radio.
