Today on Real Life Radio. Oh man, weren't you touched in worship? Does that happen? Yes, it does happen. But is that our motive for coming to worship?
No, it cannot be. We need to come. As it were, with nothing. We present to him our hearts in raw adoration to God for who he is. Not for what he's going to do.
Are you with me? 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. The culture is shifting.
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Pastor Jack continues now with his series called First Samuel. and a message titled, The Wrong Type of Warship. Samuel of the Old Testament was the last judge of Israel and the first of its prophets.
So, here in chapter 13, we'll discover what true worship really looks like. You see, even today many people engage in worship that's either misguided, superficial, or an emotional display, void of the deeper things of the heart. True worship is not just about external acts, but about sincerity, obedience, and in line with how we live our lives.
So today, Pastor Jack teaches us that it was King Saul and his failures as king. that led Israel's leaders and the people astray. They chose appearance over faithfulness. a kind of misplaced worship that leads to a decline in their relationship with God.
Now with his message called the wrong type of worship. Here's Pastor and Bible teacher Jack Hibbs. Turn right now, if you would, to 1 Samuel chapter 13. 1 Samuel 13, let me explain to you why. And how it is we came about to doing the message up front tonight rather than.
Worship up front. this evening. We come to a great chapter of the Bible that we can learn a tremendous amount from. Samuel, as we've been learning, looking at various Players in the stories, we look at the life of Samuel, and there's so much about Samuel that we want to be like. He was known in the Bible as the kingmaker.
Samuel's the one responsible. For the laying on of hands of Of course King Saul. And then David is soon to come. Samuel, a great man of God, and we have seen how God has been working in his life. And then Saul comes onto the scene.
And Saul is a man that the nation, if you remember, Made the request: We want to have a king like all the other nations of the world around us, we don't want to depend upon an invisible god that we can't touch. or or see, we want to have a king. We want to have an earthly king like all the other countries have.
So we can Look at our king. And remember what they said? We want a king who can go out and what? Remember, fight? Our battles.
Ooh. Not a good thing. Why? Because it's an affront to the very person of God. The Lord has taught us in the scripture, and the Lord taught them by that time that He was going to be the one who would.
fight their battles for them. And so tonight in Samuel, 1 Samuel chapter 13, We come to a message entitled The Wrong Type of Worship. Say, well, is there such a thing? Oh yeah. There is such a thing.
Have you ever been to a church? Have you ever been to a gathering of people? Where you could be almost sure. that the worship that had taken place was certainly amiss. And some of the gatherings, you scarcely even call it worship.
It was almost like a funeral had happened. And uh you're wondering, what was that? Where it's so dead. And um You know, you feel like Just kind of tiptoeing around and whispering, you know. We can yell at the football games or go crazy at the parade or whatever, but when we come into a church like that, it's just almost dangerous.
But then the pendulum swings to the other side to where you can go into a church and you got to wonder: is this from God? where people are running around, bouncing off the walls, Uh swinging from whatever Makeshift chandelier or wiring, whatever they can find, and people, you know. speaking in all kinds of tongues and craziness and And you got to wonder what's going on. Yeah, you know what? There is a wrong.
Kind a wrong type. of worship. It's almost an oxymoron to put it together. in that wrong worship. But yet On the human side, we can put it that way.
Because worship is is divine, it is beautiful, it's lovely, it's exciting. You might be saying tonight, well Jack, wait a minute, don't I need worship tonight? Before we can get into the Bible study, Well, actually, we have become accustomed to worship up front first. But as we'll see tonight, Um worship has nothing to do With what you and I receive out of it. It is all us giving to God.
Worship, in fact, listen. When do Christians gather to worship God during the week? Would they? Sunday. Why Sunday?
Anybody know? Yeah, it's the first day of the week for the The Christian Church. Sunday's the first day of the week for the Christian church. Not only was it and is it the first day of the Christian church but In the Christian world, it's the first day of the week. Did you know Monday is the second day?
The first day we give to God. See, when we think about it, What we want to do is be able to come into the Lord's presence. Certainly in worship, yes, but our worship must be knowledgeable. We must know why. Whom?
How? We worship. And so we're going to learn a lesson tonight from King Saul and The nation About what true worship ought to be like, the value and place of worship. in the Christian church has taken a beating. In recent years, we have seen.
The fact in Scripture and our Sunday morning teachings that the Bible has shown us that we have been saved by God to serve. There's no doubt about it. And serve specifically in the area of fishing for souls. Remember, we are to be fishing for the souls of men. When Jesus called Peter and Andrew, the very first thing that he had said to them as they were mending and preparing their nets was, Come after me and I'll make you fishers of men.
That was their first call. Second, it was to worship God. We have been saved to be fishers of men and worshipers of God. This is the Christian high call. And so tonight we're going to look at three areas of wrong worship.
That could both derail our love and our expression to God and our ability to go fish for souls.
So, mark it down in your notes. Number one, verses one through seven. I'll give you all three points up front. Verses one through seven. Of chapter 13, the wrong type of worship begins with an independent spirit.
We're going to see that from King Saul here in a moment. In verses 8 to 15, we're going to see that the wrong type of worship causes us to use the things of God. To use the things of God. It causes us to use the things of God, and we'll see in what application how that works out. And then in verses 17 to 23, we're going to see that the wrong type of worship results in.
Ultimate defeats. The wrong type of worship will actually lead us into the wrong. Area, not victory, but defeat.
So verses 1 through 7, follow along with me, look at it there as we look. 1 Samuel 13, verse 1, Saul reigned one year, and when he had reigned two years over Israel, Saul chose for himself 3,000 men of Israel. 2,000 were with Saul in Mikmash and in the mountains of Bethel, and 1,000 were with the men. We're with Jonathan. there and the rest of the people He sent away every man to his tent.
Just hold on right there. Jot this down if you would. The wrong type of worship, first of all, begins with an independent spirit. Notice this as we see in Saul's life. Watch.
Saul is the king of Israel, but we never see Saul building altars in the Bible. He's not like an Abraham. He's not like anyone else that we see who's following God. Saul has an independent spirit. Church, be careful.
Mark it down. Check our own hearts. We don't want to have an independent spirit. When it comes to the worship of God, why? Because it's all to Him, not for us.
Number one, we see in verse two here that. This independent spirit That leads us into wrong worship. We have to watch out. within our own selves. Look, it's us.
Christian, check it out. When we come in here, Where where have our hearts been? Where have we been today? What's gone on in our lives? When we come in here, we have been conditioned to think, well, I'm going to come in and I'm going to sing some songs and I'm going to get good.
before the Lord. And that's not a bad thought. That's not a bad thing. But listen, God is so good. That when we are worshiping Him, He is so quick.
I think he, I mean, personally, I think he's. instantaneous in this area. Though we are to come in and learn about God and worship Him, We come in and we worship. And we are almost right away touched by him. And so we're conditioned to think, I'm going to go to worship.
I'm going to worship the Lord. I'm gonna sing. And we would never admit this, but it's what I can get out of it. Oh man, weren't you touched in worship? Does that happen?
Yes, it does happen. But is that our motive for coming to worship? No, it cannot be. We need to come. As it were, with nothing.
We present to Him our hearts in raw adoration to God for who He is. Not for what he's going to do. Are you with me? Now I've got to admit, this is very mature stuff we're talking about. Because for some people, right now you're thinking, whoa, what's going on?
What's the deal? There's a change. For most of you, I lost 90% of you by just changing the protocol tonight by virtue of the message. There's a change! It freaks people out.
But listen, can you, as we've been called upon, witness for God in season and out says a scripture?
Well, wait a minute, wait a minute. Can we worship God in season and out? Can we worship God on the side of a freeway or at church at any time or wherever we may be? Can you worship God on a hijacked airliner?
Well, wait a minute, we didn't sing first. You see, now listen, the surrounding, though, it's amazing, he's so good. The surroundings can. provoke us to worship. I want to suggest unite that that is just the graces of God.
So, oh man, did you see?
Well, not today, because it's been so cloudy, but I'm just making this part up. Did you see the sunset? And we go, oh, yeah, it was a wonderful. Oh, I just praise the Lord for the. Yeah, that's good.
That's a good thing. I'm not putting that down. But what if you and I were locked in a 3x5 prison cell in Siberia? You ain't gonna see no sunset. And it's probably going to be cold even in the summer.
Can you worship him then? See what we see here in verse 2. I learned from Saul that I need to watch out for me when it comes to worship. Oh, not watch out for me. Gimme, gimme, gimme.
No, watch out for me, cause I'm the one who can goof it up. Have you ever come into service to worship? and Bruce or Dawn or someone's leading us in wonderful worship. And you've got this pervert thought in your head. Has that ever happened?
A lot of you guys are lying right now, right at me. Where does that come from? You don't even think thoughts like that, and you're going, oh, praise the Lord. And then this thing happens right in your head. What is that thing?
You almost see this picture. Ah! Isn't it weird? A peace-loving person, I had somebody confess this to me before, a peace-loving man can come in here and sit down, and this guy wouldn't harm a fly, and he's praising the Lord, and the thought came into his head, I wonder what would happen if somebody would shoot Pastor Jack today. And then he started thinking, My gosh, I can't even be saved and think like that.
What's wrong with me? I must be possessed or something. And he's going through this big conniption in his head. What's wrong with me? It was me.
I had this terrible thought, you know. And when it was said, I had to laugh. He's telling me, and I'm just saying, you know what, man, I remember. Yeah, you know what? That happens to me when I'm teaching and looking at you.
I don't think he's getting what I'm teaching. Where do these thoughts come from? They're like stray, you know, photons going through the universe or something. It's weird, it's the flesh! You're listening to real life with Pastor Jack Hibbs.
To learn more about this ministry or to catch up on some previous episodes, go to jackhibbs.com. That's jackhibbs.com. And now, let's get back to today's message. Once again, here's Pastor Jack. Saul reigned, it says here, for two years, and it says that he had gathered to himself 3,000 men.
He chose for himself, himself. Get that? Listen, for himself. Saul is setting up men. He's having men encircle him.
He's starting to build the kingdom. And he's not putting God first. He's putting himself first. And he starts to build his Kingship.
So, what I learned from verse 2 is that the wrong type of worship begins with an independent spirit. Saul was never dependent upon God. He was always manipulating. He was always, listen, surrounding himself with people that would make. Who looked good?
Saul. That is a very dangerous thing because if I have an independent spirit like that. I better be. As Paul tells us, We ought to examine ourselves to determine whether we are in the faith or not. To start thinking deep thoughts.
Is it that I've trafficked in and out of Christian church all my life, or am I truly a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ? And if you're truly a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, sometimes it gets bloody.
Sometimes it gets difficult. Oh, not with your neighbor. Not with your friends. When you take a look inside, Saul has a hard time doing that. In fact, I don't think Saul does that at all.
When the Bible says here that the Philistines, as we'll see in a moment, will begin to. Gather against Israel. Note it in your Bible as we go through Samuel, always mark Philistines, highlight it, and put next to it the flesh. The flesh. Boy, and I love adding this all the time because it's a fact.
Don't ever call the land of Israel Palestine. What's wrong? It's the land of Israel, God says. It's not the land of. Palestine.
Palestine comes from the root word philistia. Philistia is the land of the what? Philistines. Those that are fighting against Israel and say they're Palestinians Honestly, they may not know it or not, but they're claiming, we are Philistines, we are Philistines. It's a work of the flesh that does not, cannot, will not believe in the promises of God.
Honestly, listen, do you know who was in Israel before Israel got to Israel? Pagan nations. Many people say, well, we were here first. You're right. You were there first, but guess what?
If you believe in God, the land has to belong to Israel because God's the one who promised it to Abraham. That's why the battle will never be settled. Ladies and gentlemen, let me tell you here and now: I can solve all your political problems concerning the Middle East. It won't be solved. Because Israel is of the promise of God.
And Philistia is of the flesh. The flesh always comes before the spirit. You were born once, remember, from your mama? And then you were born again from your heavenly Ama. Papa in heaven in heaven, your father.
Interesting, huh? It's amazing. Saul chose for himself 3,000 men. There's an independent. Spirit that can destroy us when it comes to worship.
True worship, listen, true worship comes from a dependence upon God. There are people who. Have come to realize. That their day was so bad that they've had such a difficult month or a rotten year or whatever it is that they've got to go worship. The sooner you and I learn that, the better off we're going to be.
The more powerful your life will become. Listen, you. will have joy, strength, and power. When you begin to realize and practice that, man, have I watch, man, have I had a rotten day? I'm staying home.
It's Wednesday night. It's cold. I'm gonna light a fire. I'm gonna get a book. I'm gonna sit.
Doesn't it sound nice? My flesh is going, yeah, Jack, let's go. Let's just go home now, right to that. The flesh loves that. There's people sitting home right now.
They're thinking, you know, oh, I'm so glad I stayed home. But wait a minute. But wait. David, when his son died. He was weeping for that child.
His son dies. What does David do? Does he start a fire in this fireplace, grab an old book, and sit down? Man, it's been a rough day, and my son died today. I'm just gonna check out and I'm gonna get a book and cuddle up here next to the fire, and I'm gonna veg out.
You know what?
Sounds good. Be careful. Christian, the flesh goes, mm-hmm. Mm. Be careful.
There is no There is no spiritual, long-lasting fruit to that. You will get a momentary comfort. Example, same type, example. Marriages may go Up and down, more down than up, difficult marriage, hard marriage, at each other's throat. And then there's that little, that little thought that comes from: let's just take a break.
Okay, truce. Let's go away for the weekend. And maybe for the first 30 hours, everything's pretty cool. It's a facade. It's fake.
Oh, look, we're in Palm Springs. Oh, it's wonderful. And let's just get along. And you're in a different surrounding. You're in a hotel.
The kids are not there. It's all artificial. It sounds nice. It looks good. It even feels good.
But right when you get back home, what do you get back home to? The disaster that was there when you left. It may not be a plugged-up toilet or an overflowing sink. It's of the Spirit. When we go to worship the Lord.
It changes everything. There are people not here tonight that should be here tonight because they've had a very bad day today. And they're thinking, you know, it's been such a bad day, I'm not going to go worship God. That's what they're saying. They would never admit that.
But in reality, that's exactly what's happening. We need to watch out for ourselves in this world. There's an independence from God. Do you know what it's called? It's called slavery.
A world independent from God. is a world of slavery to sin. But a world where there's dependence upon God, there is what? Freedom. Isn't that amazing?
They say, Jack, that doesn't really work. You mean independence creates freedom? No, it doesn't. Dependence upon God equals freedom. Don't don't raise your hand.
Don't raise your hand. But were you ever hooked on drugs? Were you ever hooked on pornography? Were you ever hooked on alcohol? You are independent to decide and to choose doing any of that.
Yeah. Don't tell me what to do. I'm my own man, and look at you. I'm going to make my own decisions and look where they've put you. See, man can't handle Independence.
Man can't handle it. Is it Bill Cosby that has that? Record, well, it's a record. That was the last time I heard it, it was an actual record. I was a little kid, I remember cracking up back then.
when he was talking about we adults don't do very well. He says, We work hard all week, then the weekend comes. He says, Adults go out, and he was making fun of them. You could tell by his presentation that he was not part of that crowd. He says adults, they work hard all week, then they go out on Friday, get drunker than a skunk.
And then wind up coming home, hugging the toilet all weekend long, throwing up. And they go through that process just so they can get back to work on Monday and be safe for five days. Oh, it's a good thing it's not the weak. I know I can recover from my... Weekend.
Antics.
Well, it's Friday. Party on! Happy hour! Woohoo! Let's go!
Watch out! You're acting independent, you're gonna get hurt. We don't do well on our own. God knows that when we're dependent upon Him, man, that's freedom. Pastor and Bible teacher Jack Hibbs.
here on Real Life Radio, with his message called The Wrong Type of Worship. Thanks for being with us today. You know, this message is part of Pastor Jack's series called First Samuel. It's a series that highlights 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.
Hey friend, let me pray for you. First of all, to understand this before I do, that God sees you. He knows you. You may feel forgotten, but you're not forgotten. He knows your name and he knows your need.
So, Father God, in Jesus' name, I pray that you'd bless right now my brother, my sister in Christ. And Lord, that you would strengthen them, that you'd lift up their head unto the Lord. Father, that you would bless their life and frankly make them an object of your affection. In Jesus' name, Amen. 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.
