Today on Real Life Radio, God's sheep gather around his word. God blesses his word. and to begin to assume that God is blessing. Because of the committee or because of the staff or because of being the pastor or the whatever. You're ministering by assumption.
Remember, he says, my word shall not return unto me void. Uh 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. Hey everybody, we got our first time ever actually devotional.
We have a 40-day devotional called Watching Waiting. 40 days of walking you through biblical passages that excite you and prepare you for the soon coming of Jesus Christ. Watching Waiting is a 40-day devotional that's all tied to biblical prophecy. Watching Waiting. It is our featured resource for this month and it's available for a gift of any amount at jackhibbs.com/slash real radio.
Jackhibbs.com/slash real radio. On today's edition of Real Life Radio. Pastor Jack continues his series called 1 Samuel and a message titled When God Comes Upon a Man, Part 1. Samuel of the Old Testament was the last judge of Israel and the first of its prophets.
So here in chapter 16, we'll learn how King Saul is so full of pride and his spirit becomes so dark that Samuel anoints a new king whose name is David. You see, all along, God was supposed to be the ruler over Israel, and God's will for the people was for them to prosper. But when Saul was anointed king, he only partially obeys the Lord, and it leads to bitter consequences.
So today Pastor Jack teaches us that Samuel was weakened by Saul's ministry. But in these deep spiritual times, when you could be run by someone's powerful and damaging influence, an awakening by God can produce both a lasting and positive change.
Now, with his message called When God Comes Upon a Man, Part 1, here's Pastor and Bible teacher Jack Hibbs. Uh In John chapter 21, verse 16. Jesus set the Job descriptions of a pastor, of David Of those who would follow, he said to Peter. Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me? And Jesus, or he said to Jesus, Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.
And Jesus said to him, Tend to my sheep. Verse 17 Jesus said to him the third time, Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me? And Peter said, Lord, you know all things. You know that I love you. And Jesus said to him, Feed my sheep.
Feeding and tending. is the work of a pastor. You're either sole-hearted Are David-hearted in the work of the Lord? See, what do you mean by that? I think so-hearted people.
Saul-hearted people in ministry. are people who I believe are In a position, and they think that the people that attend the church their servants. Because remember what it said about Saul? When Samuel prophesied about Saul, he told the people: this guy that you've picked, your children are going to be servitude. To him.
This king that you guys picked He's going to take all of your money. This king that you picked He's going to be exalted, and you're going to be. Subterranean. He's going to exalt himself at your expense. Remember.
Samuel said, This king that you've picked, your children will run in front of him, announcing that the king is coming, and they'll run behind him, picking up all of his. garbage that it leaves behind. Salm hearted Versus David hearted. It's a big difference.
Well, how do you know? You know what? I believe this. God's sheep will know the difference. I really do.
I think that as David is introduced here and Saul from here on out, you're going to see a constant warring of Saul against David. But was Saul really attacking David? No, Saul is attacking the will of God. He's envious, he's selfish. He's going to put down David, he's going to attack him, he's going to discredit him.
He's gonna lie about them. Make up stories. Why? God has called David to be the pastor of Israel, and Saul had pastor envy. It's a very sad thing.
But I believe the sheep can tell. I think one of the great things, and I say this. Extremely rarely here, but I I just think it's so important. I think in light of this chapter and the following chapters, I think we ought to pray for pastors.
Now, I know there's some who visit on Wednesday nights, but you know what? When you go back to your church, you need to pray for your pastor. Here's the deal. If you're not sure if your pastor at your church is of God or not, Then you better pray for him. You better pray him right out of the ministry.
If he's not from God. Maybe he needs an encouragement. Uh, to go be an insurance salesman or some other thing. Maybe he's supposed to do that. Maybe he's not called.
He just grew up in a long line of preachers. My grandpa was a preacher, my dad was a preacher, so I'll be a preacher. Or if your pastor is called, pray for him. Because if he's called by God, then guess what? Satan hates his guts.
And what did Jesus say? What does the scripture say? Smite the shepherd and the sheep will scatter. And you hear all these things. And you can buy books.
And the world loves it when a pastor falls down. And when it's an ungodly scenario, it's bad enough. You know what I mean? When there's some charlatan who falls down, it's bad enough. But how bad is it when an A man of God falls down.
How much more horrible? It's my opinion that We need to pray for the guys who are on the front lines. You think of guys like. Like, you know, Pastor Chuck and Charles Stanley and And some of these guys that have major global audiences. Can you imagine?
If Charles Stanley was to fall down, The guy's famous around the world. The world knows who he is. And they would say, well, there goes those Christians again. Horrible. No, God wants to bless his people, and God does his business right.
So much so. In verses 1 through 3, we see this: when God comes upon a man, it's because God knows everything. I love it. He says to Samuel, How long will you mourn for Saul? Can you hear God?
Samuel, what are you whining about? I've rejected this guy. See, I've rejected him from reigning over Israel. Samuel, what are you crying about? Fill your horn with oil.
Thank you. And go. I'm sending you. to Jesse. You're going to Bethlehem.
Man, do you hear that rebuke from the Lord? Samuel.
Now, listen, Samuel's a prophet of God. Being a prophet of God, he had an incredible calling. You know what? A prophet, in my opinion, is the highest calling. That God had in the Old Testament for any believer was a prophet of God.
And you know what? You are not permitted to be yourself in many ways. Example. Isaiah. Oh, Isaiah was an amazing guy.
He was born with the silver spoon in his mouth. Isaiah came from a wealthy home and he was best friends with the king. He lived in the king's palace, he had everything set. Uzziah, Bessbud But man, God begins to speak to Isaiah. And being a prophet of God, God says to Isaiah, okay, you're going to do this, and you're going to do this, and you're going to do this.
And some of those things were quite embarrassing deals. As a prophet of God, some of them were called to act out prophecies. Isaiah, take your clothes off and streak through town. God wouldn't say that. He's told his prophet, take your clothes off and run through town naked.
And when somebody says, what are you doing, Isaiah? This is what's going to happen to you because you guys have rejected the Lord. Your shame shall be uncovered. God, is this message over yet? Can you imagine?
Okay, Isaiah. It worked really good.
Now do a second service. Think about it.
Okay, now you went from now you streak from town from north to south.
Now do it from east to west. And then the third service, do it catacorner, right through the middle of the... Ezekiel. God speaks to the prophet Ezekiel to the people. In amazing ways, crazy things.
God says, All right, Ezekiel, here's the deal. I want you to make your food, I want you to cook your food. And I want you to use human dung. as fuel for your food. And it's hilarious, Ezekiel says, that's it!
God, I followed you in every one of these areas, but this one I'm not going to do. And God says, okay, use animal. Don, use fertilizer instead. It was a hilarious story. You gotta read it.
Yeah. See, why is he doing that? God is speaking a picture to the people. to get it graphically put into their minds. This is what I'm saying.
This is what I'm. Telling you, God says to Samuel, what are you crying for? Samuel I've rejected Saul as king. What a horrible and sad moment. In verse 1, we learn this: that Samuel's heart, and can you put your heart, my heart?
Our hearts are to be in line with God's heart. May we pray as a family, as a person, as a church, God, the things that concern your heart, may they be our heart's concern. What concerns you in heaven, God, let that be what concerns us here at Calvary. And the number one thing is what's best for the people. What's God wanting to do with the church?
Not What can a few of us pull off? And scam and skim. Very, very important.
So the Lord rebukes Samuel. And basically really tells them, you need to think how I think. In 1 Samuel 13, verse 13, it says, And Samuel said to Saul, You have done foolishly. You have not kept the commandments of the Lord your God, which he commanded you. For now the Lord would have established your kingdom forever over Israel, but now your kingdom shall not continue.
Isn't this horrible words? It's tragic. But he brought it on himself. The Lord has sought for himself a man after his own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be commander over the people Israel, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you, Saul. And so Samuel now is challenged by God.
You better have a heart that's right.
Now, from this moment on, you're going to start seeing a movement of God. Listen to. Empower David. In verse two, we learn this, that Samuel was weakened by Saul's ministry. Jot that down.
Weakened by Saul's ministry.
So why do I want you to jot it down? Because listen. I don't know all of you in here, but you know what? I don't know what your story is, but I know what my story is. And I only know my story.
And when I look at this, when Saul says in verse 2, or excuse me, when Samuel says this about Saul in verse 2, he says, How can I go, God? How can I do this? If Saul hears it, he'll kill me. Stop right there. Samuel's the prophet of God, Saul is the rejected king.
But look how Saul's Power and influence has affected Samuel. It's weakened him. Are you with me? Let me bring it closer to home for some of y'all. Have you been under a ministry?
Or have you been involved in a Christian work at some point in time of your life? And that ministry. has formed your life. And if you know what I'm talking about, a ministry takes on the personality of the shepherd. It's true.
And by the way, if they have a staff, that should be the, you should be able to talk to any staff member and get the heart of that pastor. That's the way it should be.
Now listen, if things are right. And I think about how I was spiritually raised. And I thank God, the only example I have as a pastor. is Pastor Chuck Smith. And I'm so glad.
Well, you should, you know, too bad, Jack, you should have gone out there and experienced more of what's out there. No way! Heard about it. Read about it. Uh-uh.
But perhaps for some people, you are bruised, battered, and beaten. Like Samuel, Who is God's man, yet he's been brought under a heavy-handed rule of a wacko guy whose temper and whose flesh runs his life? And not only did Saul's temper run his life, but it ran the lives of others around him. And they were fearful of him. Remember a couple chapters ago, he was going to kill his own son for eating honey.
On the day that Saul says, nobody eats today. And Jonathan wasn't even around town. He wasn't even there to hear it. Yet he eats some honey that day, and he gets in trouble. And Saul says, kill him.
I don't care if he's my own son, kill him. What a nut! He's whacked out. His emotions are driving him. He wasn't fit to be king from the very start.
But yet, when people are in position who have gotten there by assumption, They think people have been gathered around them to be their servants and. The minister winds up being ministered to by all the people. That's pathetic. 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. 2 Corinthians 13, 5 says, Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the Faith. Test yourselves.
Do you not know yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you, unless indeed you are. Disqualified? 2 Corinthians 13:6 says, But I trust Paul is saying, But I trust that you will know. That we are not disqualified. Examine yourselves to see whether you're in the faith.
When's the last time you took inventory of who you are in Christ? We all need to do it. In light of the word, am I? A follower of Jesus Christ. Examine yourself.
Saul had the Old Testament scriptures, much of them. He had the law of God. But I think. In his position, In his power he is the king. I must have God's favour.
Can you imagine? Hey, there's people coming to church. Must be doing the right thing. That's evil. God's sheep gather around his word.
God blesses his word. And to begin to assume that God is blessing. Because of the committee, or because of the staff, or because of being the pastor or the whatever. You're ministering by assumption. Remember, he says, my word shall not return unto me void.
David is a very young man at this point. Saul is middle-aged. He's in power. And yet, he does not have the power of God. That's all going to be coming upon David.
Very important. Listen to this godly example of Paul the Apostle in Galatians chapter 1, verse 10. He says, For do I now seek the favor of men, Paul says, or of God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still desired to please men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.
Is the ministry living for people or is it living for God? It's to be for God. Proverbs 29, 25. The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe. And you see Samuel, see what's happening to him?
Samuel is like, recoiling back. What's he afraid of? Saul's going to go mad, he's going to kill me. Samuel is a man of faith. And I believe at this point, insecurity is creeping into Samuel's life.
You know what? Whenever there's fear dominating your life, you will be insecure. Does that ring true? Rings true to me. When there's fear in my life, insecurity creeps in.
When you're in a relationship and you're insecure, what's happening? You're fearful about something. Samuel is God's man, but because he's been influenced by Saul and Saul is going to throw down his toys, pick up a sword and lop off Samuel's head if he doesn't do the right dance and sing the right tune. This is what Samuel's afraid of that Saul's going to do. That he says, God, he's going to kill me if he hears about this.
Have you ever been around somebody that that's what you're afraid of? Oh my gosh, if they even hear such a thing, they're going to go off and go nuts. That's the flesh. Instantly. The flesh is a weird thing in the service of God.
Um Let me say this and I hope you've never heard this from me. I can't remember if I've ever said it. If I ever, say it. Will you come up and slap me? In the face.
And it's this. Your attitude about ministry is all important, but how do you have a right attitude? By knowing if you're called to the ministry or not. God comes upon the men and women that he calls. But listen, if you're called, here's the deal: you won't be complaining about your service to God.
And I can't. Imagine if you ever hear me saying, well, you know what, the ministry's so hard. It's so tough. Huh? Boy.
You know, it's really, really difficult. And I would encourage you not to get into it, man. You know, it's so hard. We're really carrying a big load for all of you. Hope you appreciate it.
Boy ministry's tough. You know what? That's sick. We want ministry to come off in such a way that you are sitting with your Bible open, and halfway through the message, you're sitting there thinking, now, wait a minute. Who's this bonehead talking to me up there?
I can do what he's doing. I can do that. May we, may this church minister in such a way that you go, I can do that, or I can do this. The moment we begin to say, oh, the ministry is so hard. Oh, I've had such a hard time ministering to all of you.
Mm-hmm. You know what you're saying? Yeah. That you're such an elitist. Oh boy, you know You should all be blessed that God has sent me here to minister to you.
Because Nobody else could take it. That's nuts! Yeah. Pastor and Bible teacher Jack Hibbs. Here on Real Life Radio, and his message called When God Comes Upon a Man, Part 1.
We're glad you took the time to be with us today. You know, this message is part of Pastor Jack's series called 1 Samuel. It's a series that highlights the prophet Samuel who was called by God during one of Israel's darkest times to bring the people back to a heart of true worship. and will continue on the next edition of Real Life Radio. Are you looking for some solid biblical teaching that speaks to the world today?
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Hey, Pastor Jack here, and I just want to encourage all of you because I need encouragement myself. That's exactly right. I'm reaching down, as it were, into the well of my own very soul and bringing up promises of God to stand on and to even catch my breath with. And what I mean by that is this. I happen to be going right now at a pace that cannot be sustained.
Meaning, there's all kinds of media. There's church demands. There's conference demands. There's book demands. There's radio demands.
There's political or biblical culture demands. There's family demands. There's husband demands. Grandpa demands. Daddy demands, right?
Yeah, you get the picture. Exactly. What are we going to do to survive? Number one, let's all get wise real quick. that we're not supposed to say yes to everything.
We're supposed to pray and have discernment about what is important. versus what's urgent. Many times the tyranny of the urgent causes us to run in despair or to run empty or to really run out of gas. And that's not the way to live, folks. We must make sure that we Sabbath in our souls not on the weekends, but at all times.
Reaching down daily into the Word of God is the strength that you and I need.
So listen, when we get tired, Let's remember the great rule of God for our strength. Wait upon me. Seek me. I will renew your strength. I will give you the vitality of the young, and I'll see to it that your foot does not slip.
So friends, press into God at pressing times. He's the best and the only place to go for strength. And so with that. I'm going to pray for you and you're going to pray for me. Father, we come before you right now, and Lord, to be honest, we're tired.
Yep, it's good. We're tired about doing good things. We're tired out and about doing great things for you. We're tired and out and about. living life to honor you But, Lord, we are dust.
Our bodies, Lord, cannot keep up often with the demands. Of what is placed upon us, but you are great, you are our strength, you are the one.
So, Lord, revive us in the midst of these years, revive us in the midst of the pressures and the demands, and Lord. When in doubt, May we learn to wait, to be still, and to know that you are God. In Jesus' name, amen. 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.
