The Word of the Lord
In Search of a King • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 2 viewsHBI - even now God speaks and calls us through his word, which his the bible, and through this we are called to obey God to serve God and allow the word of God to transform us.
Notes
Transcript
Intro
philosopher Emile Cailliet, born in a small village in France near the end of the nineteenth century. leaving no room for God or supernatural intervention in human affairs. But his naturalistically inspired studies in philosophy proved of little help during front-line experiences as a lad of twenty in World War I. Confronted with the horrors of war, he asked:
What use, the ill-kept ancient type philosophic banter of the seminar, when your own buddy—at the time speaking to you of his mother—dies standing in front of you, a bullet in his chest? Was there a meaning to it all? A [person] can endure anything if only it appears meaningful. But what of the caprices of Fate, what of random killing, of senseless ordeal? Deep in the mud during long winter nights when silent knives became arms of predilection on both sides, I wondered. By then, my thinking had no longer anything to do with philosophy taken for the sake of a qualifying exam.… I too felt, not with my reason but with my whole being, that I was naked and—war or no war—destined to perish miserably when the hour came.
The moment came when I was overwhelmed by the inadequacy of my views. What could be done about it? I did not know. Who was I, anyway? Nay, what was I? These fundamental questions of human existence remained unanswered.”14
One night a bullet found Cailliet, too. An American field ambulance crew saved his life, and after a nine-month hospital stay, he was discharged and resumed his graduate studies. But he had to admit that the books no longer seemed like the same books, nor was his motivation the same. Reading at length in philosophy and literature, he found himself probing in depth for meaning. During long night watches in the foxholes I had in a strange way been longing—I must say it, however queer it may sound—for a book that would understand me. But I knew of no such book.
Cailliet’s wife had come into the possession of a Bible by extraordinary circumstances. Emile had always been adamant that religion would be taboo in their home, and at the age of twenty-three he had never even seen a Bible. But at the end of that disappointing day, when she apologetically tried to explain how she had providentially (as he would later realize!) picked up a copy of the Bible, he was eager to see it. He describes what happened next:
I literally grabbed the book and rushed to my study with it. I opened it and “chanced” upon the Beatitudes! I read, and read, and read—now aloud with an indescribable warmth surging within.… I could not find words to express my awe and wonder. And suddenly the realization dawned upon me: This was the Book that would understand me! I needed it so much, yet, unaware, I had attempted to write my own—in vain. I continued to read deeply into the night, mostly from the gospels. And lo and behold, as I looked through them, the One of whom they spoke, the One who spoke and acted in them, became alive in me.16
Cailliet goes on to explain that the circumstances in which the Bible had found him were undeniable. While it seemed absurd to speak of a book understanding a man, this could be said of the Bible because its pages were animated by the presence of the living God and the power of his mighty acts
Bill T. Arnold, 1 & 2 Samuel, The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2003), 88–89.
The Word of the Lord is transformational, the word of the Lord calls us to God, The word of the Lord is complete, there is no more word of Lord, what we call special revelation. We have the word of the Lord here in the bible. It is ancient, and yet it is new everyday. This is trues because we are told the word of God is alive and active. It speaks to the heart and challenges us to obedience.
Today we are going to go through a favorite passage o mine, Samuel’s call from God and God’s prophesied rejection of Eli. It was at a time when they did not hear from God anymore, or it was at least rare. So they couldn't what was going on.
God called Samuel, Samuel didnt understand at first but He obeyed. Eli was also given God’s words, which was not good for his family and He obeyed. What we are going to learn is that
HBI - even now God speaks and calls us through his word, which his the bible, and through this we are called to obey God to serve God and allow the word of God to transform us.
The word of the Lord was rare
The word of the Lord was rare
Right in the beginning and throughout the chapter we learn that the word of God was rare at the time.
1 Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord in the presence of Eli. And the word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision.
All they could do was what they had in the Torah, what they had heard from previous prophets of God that was written down for them.
Israel had been without the word of the Lord and because of that they where wandering aimlessley doing whatever they thought was right in their own eyes. We had the sons of Eli that were to be leading the people in the ways of God as the priests were to do. But they where disobeying God. They were treating the sacrifices and the laws with contempt.
We are the same way, without being in the word of God, being lead by the word of God we will wander aimlessly as well. We fall into self destructive behavior. Being in the word of God is necessary. God speaks to us through His word. His word is alive and active we are told. We want to hear from God, we have but to delve into the word of God, worship God together in the body of Christ, to strive to live for God to hear from God. More on this later.
The Word of the Lord came to Samuel
The Word of the Lord came to Samuel
3:2-14
Samuel was living in the temple, training to be a priest of the Lord. It was about night time as the Lamp of God had not gone out yet. There was a lamp lit that remained lit all night. Eli we are told was starting to fail health wise. Remember this was a time when they where not used to hearing God’s word asnymore.
4 Then the Lord called Samuel, and he said, “Here I am!” 5 and ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call; lie down again.” So he went and lay down.
Three times this happened.
7 Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.
The Lord appeared, called out Samuel’s name and Samuel did what any boy would do, went to His guardian and asked what he wanted. Eli was saying it was not me, go back to bed.
The word of the Lord had not yet been reveal;ed to Samuel though, and He was not sure exactly what was going on at first.
It suggests that although Samuel knew He was dedicated to serving the Lord and His law, He did not yet know the Lord. We have the ability to read the complete word of God, and come to know God through the Bible. We can open its pages and be transformed by the word of God but they did not have that advantage like we do now.
Here the idea of knowing the Lord, having an intimate relationship with Him is linked to hearing and being in the word of the Lord. So if you say you know the Lord, like actually know the Lord then you must be in the word of God. But sometimes it is hard, after all were do we start? There is so much there and it can be confusing. Start in the middle, with the life of Jesus and extend out from there as you read about what was prophecied about Him, go back to the prophecies that mentioned Jesus. After all the OT points to and is fulfilled in Jesus, and the NT speaks of what to do about Jesus coming back again.
be in the word of God. You cant claim to know God if you are not in His word. If you want to know more about God if you do not yet know Him pray that He would give you understanding of His word and start reading it.
So we go back to Sam and Eli. The third time, Eli realizes that there is something going on with Sam’s hearing voices in the night. Finally Eli figured out it was God trying to speak to Sam so he told Samuel something
9 Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down, and if he calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant hears.’ ” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
10 And the Lord came and stood, calling as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant hears.”
This sounds familiar, being called by the Lord and people that are faithful responding to the Lord’s call. This is similar to what happened to Abraham, Moses and Jacob. The where all called by God and there response was to say Here I am. Isaiah was the same way as well. When Called by the Lord God to serve Him, his response was to say the same thing, Here I am, send me. Use me.
Because God’s word is true, we are called individually to serve and submit. even when it is hard, and was about to find out how hard it can be sometimes.
The Lord is going to prepare Samuel to be a priest and a prophet for Him to His people.
11 Then the Lord said to Samuel, “Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel at which the two ears of everyone who hears it will tingle.
This literally means a word. God was about to do his word, his will we are told. The thing that He is about to do was going to be disastrous. At least to the family of Eli. And it was going to shock the Israelites. The sons of Eli had been doing evil, and God promised He was going to destroy them for what they had done to profane the name of God. The people where going to see that they could not live like this and get away with it.
Because God’s word is true, we are called individually to serve and submit. even when it is hard, and was about to find out how hard it can be sometimes.
Eli’s sons did not serve and submit, and Samuel heard from God, and God gave him a message and His duty was to serve and to submit.
We to read the word of God and it challenges our lives, sometimes we do not like what the word of God points out to our lives. But we pray for guidance, and wisdom to know what the will of the Lord is and then we pray or the courage and the humility to submit to Him.
But the hard part comes in next.
God’s Word Transformed Samuel
God’s Word Transformed Samuel
3:15-4:1
Samuel was afraid to tell Eli the vision, and that is understandable.
15 Samuel lay until morning; then he opened the doors of the house of the Lord. And Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli.
Eli really wanted to hear what God told Him, no matter what it was. and Samuel told Him. Eli could have been angry, could have rebelled against the message but His response was one we can learn from.
18 So Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him. And he said, “It is the Lord. Let him do what seems good to him.”
Let the Lord do what seems good to Him. Not How dare the Lord do this to me. Job had a similar response when all was taken from Him.
10 But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.
His wife told Him to curse God and die, but He said essentially the same thing as Eli. Let the Lord do what seems good to Him.
After this the Lord began to transform Samuel into a man that was going to do great things for God.
19 And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground.
This would indicate that Samuel was no false prophet, like those who claimed so vehemently that Jesus was coming back on a certain day over the years, and where proven false. Their words in this sense fell to the ground.
This transformation is the beginning of the transition from judges to having kings lead the people of God.
God’s word is to transform us as well. We are to hear and be in the word of God and then allow the word of God to transform us.
We move from this to what do we learn from Sam and Eli and the word of God.
HBI - even now God speaks and calls us through his word, which his the bible, and through this we are called to obey God to serve God and allow the word of God to transform us.
God’s word is true
God speaks to us still through His word, we don't need anything else. But we must be in prayer asking God to illuminate His word to us. For how do we know what to obey when we are first not reading it.
We define the word of God by the word of God. To understand the word of God we go back to other passages in the word to help bring understanding, We can even go to archaeology to help prove and bring understanding to God and His word.
Though the word of God is true, some people hear it and do not believe. All have access to the word of God, it is made clear to all, but some refuse to believe. Some refuse to understand.
Because God’s word is true, we are called individually to serve and submit and obey.
So God speaks to us through His word, and because of this we are called to serve, to submit, to obey.
Samuel and Eli, upon hearing the call of God through His words obeyed. Isaiah is one of my favorite calls to following God.
8 And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.”
But he realized he was a man of unclean lips, he was a humble sinner in need of the grace of God. Yet willingly He submitted and obeyed and said Lord Here am I use m for your Glory, send me.
God’s word transforms us if we allow it to.
We are to take in the word of God and allow it to change our lives. It is through God and His word that we are transformed. God’s ways are not always easy to follow,. Living in a sinful world we struggle to follow God while Satan tries to stop God’s plan.
Allow God to transform us into his Holy children, follow the will of God even when it is hard, eve when we do not always understand.
Come before God and on your knees offer yourself to Him in obedience saying, here I am God send me where you would will.
