The Sleep, The call, The answer.
(where the word preach Is by itself It is meant as a reminder to let the spirit lead and not just read notes)
1 Samuel 3:1-10
1And the child Samuel ministered unto the LORD before Eli. And the word of the LORD was precious in those days; there was no open vision. 2And it came to pass at that time, when Eli was laid down in his place, and his eyes began to wax dim, that he could not see; 3And ere the lamp of God went out in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was, and Samuel was laid down to sleep; 4That the LORD called Samuel: and he answered, Here am I. 5And he ran unto Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou calledst me. And he said, I called not; lie down again. And he went and lay down. 6And the LORD called yet again, Samuel. And Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And he answered, I called not, my son; lie down again. 7Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, neither was the word of the LORD yet revealed unto him. 8And the LORD called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And Eli perceived that the LORD had called the child. 9Therefore Eli said unto Samuel, Go, lie down: and it shall be, if he call thee, that thou shalt say, Speak, LORD; for thy servant heareth. So Samuel went and lay down in his place. 10And the LORD came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak; for thy servant heareth.
PRAY (to open service)
A Native American was in downtown New York, walking with his friend, who lived in New York City. Suddenly he said, “I hear a cricket.” “Oh you*re crazy,” his friend replied. “It*s the noon hour. There are people bustling around, cars honking, taxis squealing, noises from the city. I*m sure you can not hear a cricket.” “I*m sure I do,” said the Native American. He listened attentively and then walked to the corner, looking all around. Finally on the corner he found a shrub in a large cement planter. He dug beneath the leaves and there he found a cricket! His friend was astonished. But the Cherokee said, “My ears are no different than yours. It simply depends on what you are prepared to hear. Here let me show you what I mean.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a handful of change—a few quarters, some dimes, nickels, and pennies. And he dropped them on the concrete sidewalk. Every head within a block turned! “You see what I mean?” he said as he began picking up his coins. “It all depends on what you are listening for.”
I want to Look at a few things from our scripture today lets start with
(1) The SLEEP
(A) The first one is the sleep of carelessness we all know what it means to be careless. Like for instance when I was younger Donnie Newman and myself though it would be a good idea for me to hang onto the back of his bicycle and let him jump a hill. Well as soon as the bike started up the hill I started towards the Ground I was careless. And I had a headache.
Another example of Carelessness was Andrew Derick and heather all running into the ocean at winterfest while there was ice in the water it was so cold. Although it was fun to watch.
You see the point is this the sleep of carelessness sneaks in when we plan to do something worth while but we do not pay attention to the consequences or the cost Luke 14:28 says 28For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?
You may mean well you may have started out on fire and now some of you are sitting there now saying I don’t know It isn’t worth it anymore. I don’t even know why I am a christian. and for some You don’t even know what it is like to ever even try.
Well let me say something to you either way WAKE UP!!!
(B) The second one is The sleep of sin.
This one is the easiest to describe. You see Satan wants nothing more than for you to stay asleep. You think you are in control of your life and you are playing games and have everyone else fooled well let me tell you something if you believe that you are an idiot. You are a puppet and Satan is just moving you the way he wants. You see you are in a deep sleep and he has you convinced you are in control.
To many in our churches praise God on Sunday and get high on Monday. They answer questions in bible study on Wednesday and hang in the bars on Friday. PREACH!!!!!!
Listen you are living in a dream and need to WAKE UP!!!
(C) The last sleep I want to talk about today is the sleep of false security.
When I was a child I was haunted by bad dreams, and when I say bad dreams I mean demonic dreams. At the time that this started happening I was studying stories of missionaries and I was praying and asking God to show me his will. I was very young and one night it was worse than usual. So I woke up crying at which point my mother came into my room and brought me into her room and set me up a place to sleep right next to her bed. I can still remember clear as day still having a bad dream and then waking from it to see some kind of demon staring at me from across the room. At that point I realized I was not safe just to have parents I needed God.
Here is my point just because you come to a church and sleep spiritually here. That does not make you safe If you are living in sin you are at risk of going to hell period. Why do we as people do everything in our power not to admit we may need to renew our relationship with God
You can’t play games with God WAKE UP!!!
(2) Next I want to talk about the CALL (I guess if God is gonna call sleeping people the church is the best place to start).
(a) The first thing that jumps out to me is that when we read the story we see that God calls Samuel and Samuel doesn’t Know Its God. Well when I reread the story I got to verse 7 which says 7Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, neither was the word of the LORD yet revealed unto him. At this point I said Ok maybe he should not of known him yet maybe that is normal. Well after rereading God showed me something Look at verse 1 1And the child Samuel ministered unto the LORD before Eli. And the word of the LORD was precious in those days; there was no open vision.
Did you catch it Samuel had been ministering to the lord And yet didn’t know his voice!!
I even looked up ministered in the concordance it means to attend to as a worshiper. Saints can it be that maybe just maybe we think we are doing Gods will but don’t even recognize his voice. John 10:3-4 says 3To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. 4And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice. If the bible says that his sheep will hear his voice then how can it be that we sometimes don’t recognize him. Let me show you another scripture that might explain it. Look at Matthew 7:22-23 22Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
This is the point saints stop trying to make God fit you it is not gonna work Proverbs 14:12 says 12There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. whether you worship or not you still need to listen for Gods voice. Just like the illustration in the beginning about the Indian what are you listening for. Are you listening for money or acceptance or happiness. Because the point is this You Will hear what you are listening for and not much else.
(3) next I want to talk about the answer. (What will you do with the call)
(A) Has anyone ever had the situation where you are waiting for a call from someone important and as soon as you heat the phone ring you go to answer it but for some reason you don’t get it in time. After which you and the person continue calling and getting each others voice mail because you keep thinking the other person is gonna stop calling you first. Oh ok I guess it is just me. What I am trying to say we all know what it is like to want to hear from someone but what do we do with it when we finally get in touch with them.
You see God is calling out to us in numerous ways. But are we willing to answer the call. One example I like is Noah. He builds this giant boat in the middle of the desert before people even know what rain is and the whole time he is telling everyone I am just answering the call. Everyone thinks this guy is looney (I probably would too) but then It happens. One single raindrop and all of the sudden it all makes sense.
For some of us we already received the call from God but how are we answering are you doing something crazy like facing a giant with a sling. Or handing out 5 loaves and 2 fish to feed a multitude. You see the call is important but what you do with it makes all the difference.
Saints I ask you today What have you done with the call. And if you haven’t received it what are you listening for. We all have a choice to make and the sad truth is what you choose affects more that your life. God says in john 4:35 Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest. But if you are not listening what happens to the harvest.
Preach!!!
Back when the telegraph was the fastest method of long-distance communication, a young man applied for a job as a Morse Code operator. Answering an ad in the newspaper, he went to the office address that was listed. When he arrived, he entered a large, busy office filled with noise and clatter, including the sound of the telegraph in the background. A sign on the receptionist’s counter instructed job applicants to fill out a form and wait until they were summoned to enter the inner office.
The young man filled out his form and sat down with the seven other applicants in the waiting area. After a few minutes, the young man stood up, crossed the room to the door of the inner office, and walked right in. Naturally the other applicants perked up, wondering what was going on. They muttered among themselves that they hadn’t heard any summons yet. They assumed that the young man who went into the office made a mistake and would be disqualified.
Within a few minutes, however, the employer escorted the young man out of the office and said to the other applicants, “Gentlemen, thank you very much for coming, but the job has just been filled.”
The other applicants began grumbling to each other, and one spoke up saying, “Wait a minute, I don’t understand. He was the last to come in, and we never even got a chance to be interviewed. Yet he got the job. That’s not fair!”
The employer said, “I’m sorry, but all the time you’ve been sitting here, the telegraph has been ticking out the following message in Morse Code: ‘If you understand this message, then come right in. The job is yours.’ None of you heard it or understood it. This young man did. The job is his.”
We live in a world that is full of busyness and clatter, like that office. People are distracted and unable to hear the still, small voice of God as he speaks to them. What about you? Are you tuned in to God’s voice? Do you hear him when he speaks to you? Are you listening?
Saints today there has been a voice speaking to you the entire service. No not mine but the one you hear in your soul. The voice of God. How are you gonna answer.
