Real People- Real Problems
A study of 1 Samuel
Hearing God- Part 3c
“Benefits of Hearing God”
1 Samuel 3:10
Happy Father’s day
Recognize Fathers – Oldest- Youngest- Most-est
Today we are going to take just a little different approach to father’s day
On Mother’s day we celebrate Moms
We glorify them a bit
Make them feel special
Which they are
But
On Father’s day
Typically we mash on Dad a bit
We talk a lot about how we as men of God
Should
Raise
Treat
Love and lead our Kids
Every once in a while you will get a sermon that makes a Dad glad he is a Dad
But mostly
Men get a
You can do it better sermon
And yes we all can
But
Today instead I am going to simply continue on in our series
In 1 Samuel about Real People with Real Problems
And more specifically with the series in a series
About Hearing God
I chose to not change directions
Not do a special Father’s day sermon
Because
I believe God’s word
Speaks with more authority than I do
I believe he has a far better plan than I do
And I find that where we are in this series in a series
Has direct application on how to be a good and Godly Father
And for you girls
How to be a good and Godly Mom
In the first of this miniseries we discussed
Through the story of Samuels call
How God speaks to us
Remember the Different ways the wranglers at Bishop called to their animals----
Same with Us
God uses many ways to speak to his creation
To recap
God speaks directly to our hearts through the Holy Spirit
God speaks to our minds though his written word
God speaks to our ears through his church
God speaks to our senses through his wonderful creation- in so many ways
I could spend vast amounts of time telling you about the wonderful way he speaks in the small things of this life
But he has spoken in this time and still speaks to us though his Son Jesus
Christ
The voice of God in the person of his Son Jesus shows us
True love
Shows us how to live a sinless life
Shows us True self sacrifice
True forgiveness
Jesus shows us the perfect example of how we should be striving to be
So we saw that God does indeed speak today in many ways
But
As we studied the next week we often have trouble
Hearing
Listening
And responding to God’s voice
I told you last week how inexperience can be a barrier
It was originally a barrier to Samuel
He did not recognize God’s voice
Because he had never heard God’s voice before
Or maybe he had heard the voices but did not understand they were God
I showed you how we develop experience by reading and studying God’s word
By seeking to hear his voice
By praying and asking his guidance and direction
We talked about the responsibility of those believers with experience to help the inexperienced gain the necessary experience- praying with and for the lost and new believers
Giving good Godly council- being available to answer questions
Next we talked about the lack of expectations
Samuel did not know it was God at first who was speaking
Because he was not expecting God to speak to him
He was a boy
He had no experience
He had no maturity
He was not a priest
He was Just a regular guy
But we saw how Samuel began expecting to hear the voice of God
And as a result
God began using him in mighty ways
And we discussed how God can and does speak to us
And that when we learn to get up every day expecting to hear God
He really begins working in and through our lives
Next we talked about wiliness or better yet
Unwillingness
When Samuel finally realized it was God speaking
He said
“Speak Lord, you servant is listening”
In simple terms
He said
Use me Lord
As Isaiah the prophet said
“Here I am send me”
He was willing to step up to the plate
He was willing to climb over the back of the chute sit down, slide up and nod for God to use him from a cowboy perspective
And we saw how we and those around us often don’t hear the voice of God
Or don’t respond to the voice of God
Because they are unwilling to hear or unwilling to respond to what they hear
Fear
Uncertainty
Selfishness
Pride
Arrogance
And so many more things can be the root of this unwillingness
But ultimately they miss the blessing of God
By missing the sound of his voice
Through the unwillingness to listen
To hear
Or to respond
Next we saw how sin can be such a huge barrier to Hearing God’s voice
Sin is often a sore subject in the world today
But is a reality
And a real problem in many areas of our lives
Hearing- Listening and responding being some of the biggest
There is no mention in this passage of Samuel having sin in his life
But we know that God’s word tells us we are all sinners
So the fact that Samuel had sin is not up for dispute
But
Samuel did not let
Sin
Create a barrier to hearing
I will tell you there is no evidence that Samuel had any blatant sin in his life
But I can assure you he was a sinner, as are we all
We discussed how sin is such a huge barrier to listening and hearing the voice of God
That it can lead to a huge wall of separation
Not a loss of salvation for those who have accepted Jesus
We have covered this many times
But definitely a loss of fellowship
A loss of closeness
A loss of intimacy with God
Hearing God is important to our Christian Growth
Hearing God is critical to our redemption
Responding to what we hear from God is imperative to our sanctification
Becoming more and more like Jesus
Growing in faith and Matuturity
Becoming Bona Fide in Christ
And Hanging on to him in the good and bad times
Through thick and thin
Today I want to focus on what we get when we learn how God speaks
When we learn how to recognize his voice
When we learn to seek him
And better yet when we learn to either prevent the barriers to hearing or remove them if they already exist
Please open up your bibles again this morning to 1 Samuel 3
I just want to read one verse initially
One simple verse
When Samuel heard the voice of God
And recognized the voice of God
And responded to the voice of God
That response started a chain of events that would change his life
The life of the nation of Israel and the lives of all believers in all times
He simply said in verse 10b
““Speak, your servant is listening.”
“Speak your servant is listening”
And he received many, many things for his wiliness to not only hear
But to respond to what he heard
It is my goal today to show us how we can do the same
How we by, listening and hearing
And responding
Can become better Fathers
Better Mothers
Better parents
Better friends
Better Disciples of Christ
Hang on tight
Because it is going to be a heck of a ride
There are literally thousands of benefits of hearing and responding to God’s voice
And possibly millions of trickle down benefits
Some of those I will discuss in my closing as we address the practical application part of today’s lesson
But I believe if we boil all of them down to just one and expand on it
We do a good job of identifying the thousands in our own lives
Hearing God, Listening to God and Responding to God
Shows us our purpose
Every person ever created is looking for the meaning of life
Most seek it in the wrong places
Most listen to the wrong voices
Samuel responded to God
And God
----Listen-----
Immediately began the process
Of showing Samuel his purpose
You see
Samuel listened
And responded
And then acted
God gave him a message
And Samuel delivered the message
In the years to come he would be elevated to the position of Judge
He would be respected
Trusted
Verse 3:19 through 4:1
Show us the beginnings of this purpose
We will study much more about Samuel and his part in God’s plan in the weeks to come
Verses 3:18-4:1
9 As Samuel grew up, the LORD was with him, and everything Samuel said proved to be reliable. 20 And all Israel, from Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south, knew that Samuel was confirmed as a prophet of the LORD. 21 The LORD continued to appear at Shiloh and gave messages to Samuel there at the Tabernacle. 4:1 And Samuel’s words went out to all the people of Israel.
When we like Samuel
Hear God
Learn to recognize his voice
Grow in relationship with him
Seek to serve and to please him
And act on what he shows us and tells us
We begin unwrapping the secret that the whole world seeks but few find
We begin to find our purpose
And we begin to find the meaning that we were created for
There are two types of purposes in God’s plan
General purposes- the common ones all who believe share
We will discuss these here
And Specific purposes – those that are unique to each individual believer- those you will have to figure out on your own with directions from God
------Listen-----
We all have a purpose in the kingdom
God does not make mistakes
And he does not make Junk
We all have an important purpose in the kingdom
You purpose in the long run may be different from Samuel's
It may be different from mine
Or the person next to you
But our common purposes are the same
God shows us our
First purpose by calling us to salvation
We were created to be in fellowship with God- that is our first purpose
---God created man so he could show his love---
And God desires that fellowship!!!!
And I tell you the truth
Every person ever created
Is seeking that fellowship as well
They may call it seeking their purpose
Finding themselves
Seeking the meaning of life
But what they are seeking is God
And many have no idea
We all have a God shaped hole in our hearts
And only he can fill it
Apart from God we will never find peace
We will never find purpose
So our first purpose---------
Is a restored relationship with God though Jesus Christ?
Sin separated us from God from the beginning- From the sin of Adam
One man
Jesus restores us through his sacrifice and our acceptance of that sacrifice
One man
Our next purpose is to
Glorify our creator
We were created to bring honor and glory to God
Though our lives
We do this by listening to
And learning’
God’s word---His voice
And by responding
Moving towards the sound of his voice’
Craving to hear and act on his word
Living for the Lord
Bringing Glory to the one who made us
We are his custom made creation
And he loved us so much that he gave what he loved most to redeem us
Satan and The world tell us
We are not good enough
Not faithful enough
Not strong enough
Not pretty enough
Not smart enough
Not rich enough
The voice of truth----God almighty
Tells us we are wonderfully made
He tells us we are forgiven through Jesus
God tells us we have worth and value
That we are his prized possessions
And he tell us that because of that
Because we are loved
Because we are forgiven
Because we are blessed
Our purpose is to
To live for him
Obey him
To seek him
To serve him
To Love him
And be loved by him
We are to show his glory in all we say
And all we do
How we live
And
How we love
Let me make this real for you this morning
Let me give you something to take home
Something to use tomorrow and the next day
The first year I was here I preached on Father’s day about old dogs- some of you may remember
I told you how I have owed many good cow dogs in my life
But have never trained one
My old Dog ---Butch
Did the training for me
You see
He listened
He was obedient
He was loyal
He knew and loved his purpose
And he desired to please his master
And as a result
He showed the young dogs
By example --how to be obedient
And in doing so he showed them how to find their purpose as well
When we as Father’s
Mother’s
Role Models in whatever capacity that is for you
Learn to recognize God’s voice
When we learn how to understand what he is saying
When we learn how to respond to the sound of his voice in obedience
----We learn our purpose- general and specific ---
And we as a result of that knowledge
We find the peace we are seeking
We find the meaning we are seeking
In short
We find the secret to life --- eternal life- abundant life
And we also show the way to that secret by our own lives- how we live and love
And by our relationship with God
Curly in the movie City slickers said
Curly: Do you know what the secret of life is?
[holds up one finger]
Curly: This.
Mitch: Your finger?
Curly: One thing. Just one thing. You stick to that and the rest don't mean nothing
Mitch: But, what is the "one thing?"
Curly: [smiles] That's what *you* have to find out.
Curly was right---But Curly was wrong
Curly implies that the secret is dependent on you
On your wants
There is one thing that is the secret to life
There is one thing that is the secret to joy
There is one thing that is the secret to peace
There is one thing that is the secret to security
There is one thing that is the secret to contentment
Just one thing
One thing---
The deepest need for all people
All people
---Is to know and love the God who made them---
Let me repeat that
“The deepest need for all people is to know and love the God who made them”
How do we know God?
We listen to the prompting of the Holy Spirit to accept Jesus as savior
Jesus says – I am the way- the truth and the life- no one comes to the Father except though me
And receive the promise Holy Spirit
God in us
That teaches us from the inside out
How do we know God better?
Listen to his voice
His spirit
His word
His church
His creation and his Son
How do we love God?
Jesus said
---If you love me obey me----
James says don’t just listen to God’s word
----Do what it says-----
Listen and respond
Don’t harden your heart
Let him lead, guide and direct you
And then
You will find your purpose
And then
You can give your sons and daughters
Your grandchildren
The ones God places in your path
The best gift that they will ever receive – the greatest Gift of all
You can give them directions as to how they too can find their purpose
How they can find the meaning of life
You can give them directions to Jesus
Though your love, through your words
Though your life and through your purpose
Are you hearing?
Are you listening?
Are you responding?
Are you fulfilling your purpose?
Or are you just going through the motions?
Matthew West sings a song about this very thing
After I close it will be playing
Listen to the words
------ Apply them to your life--------
Close from the heart
Pray
Matthew West
Song---Going through the motions
