I. Introduction
-- if you
have your Bibles, turn to 1 Samuel 3:1-11
1The boy Samuel ministered before the Lord under Eli.
In those days the word of the Lord was rare; there were not many visions.
2 One night Eli, whose eyes were becoming so weak that
he could barely see, was lying down in his usual place. 3 The lamp of God had
not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the house of the Lord, where the
ark of God was. 4 Then the Lord called Samuel.
Samuel answered, “Here I am.” 5 And he ran to Eli and
said, “Here I am; you called me.”
But Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.”
So he went and lay down.
6 Again the Lord called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up
and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”
“My son,” Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie
down.”
7 Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord: The word of
the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.
8 A third time the Lord called, “Samuel!” And Samuel
got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”
Then Eli realized that the Lord was calling the boy. 9
So Eli told Samuel, “Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, ‘Speak, Lord,
for your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
10 The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the
other times, “Samuel! Samuel!”
Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is
listening.”
11 And the Lord said to Samuel: “See, I am about to do
something in Israel that will make the ears of everyone who hears about it
tingle.
-- it's hard to
believe now -- with our cell phones and the internet and 24-hour television --
but years ago, the telegraph was the newest and fastest method of communication
invented -- and just like today, when a new technology like that comes along,
the younger generations are the first to adopt it and use it
-- well, this
one young man saw a newspaper ad for a job as a Morse Code operator -- as you
know, that's how the telegraph worked -- it would send out clicks over the wire
-- dots and dashes in Morse Code -- that the telegraph operator would then
translate into letters and words
-- this
young man had just graduated from a school that taught him how to do just that,
so he went down to the office to apply for the job
-- When he got
there, the office was just bustling with activity -- there was all kinds of
noise and clatter, including the sound of a telegraph in the background --
There was a sign on the receptionist's desk that told job applicants to fill
out a form and wait until somebody called them for an interview
-- The young man
filled out his form and sat down -- there were several other applicants who
were already sitting there waiting for an interview -- After a few minutes, the
young man stood up, went across the room to the door of the inner office where
the interviews were being held, and walked right in.
-- Naturally the
other applicants perked up, wondering what was going on -- they began to murmur
among themselves and said that they hadn't heard anyone call them into the
office for an interview yet
-- They assumed
that the young man who got up and went into the office made a mistake and would
probably be disqualified.
-- just a few
minutes later, though, 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."
-- you can
imagine what the other men did -- they got upset and started complaining and
one spoke up to the boss saying, "Wait a minute, I don't understand. He
was the last one to come in, and we never even got a chance to be interviewed.
Yet you gave him the job. That's not fair!"
-- The employer
said, "I'm sorry, but the whole time you've been sitting out here waiting,
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.' -- Apparently,
none of you heard it or understood it -- but this young man did, so the job is
his."
II. Hearing from
God
-- last week
we started a new series on experiencing God -- about the different ways we can
experience and relate to God in our lives
-- last
week, we focused on how to see God -- on using our sight to see God around us
and to see where He is working in our lives and in this world, that we might
join Him in His work -- this week, we are going to focus on how to hear God
-- you see,
God is always speaking -- He is always calling out to us -- the problem is that
we just don't know how to hear Him with everything else that is going on around
us
-- we live
in a world filled with noise -- it is almost impossible to go somewhere and
find silence and solitude -- to escape from the many voices clamoring for our
attention -- and a lot of that is our fault, because we’ve become so used to
the noise that we can’t stand silence, so we find ways to avoid it
-- we’re
constantly on our phones -- or we’ve got the radio on -- or the TV -- or the
internet -- or all of it at the same time -- and we go through our days
overwhelmed with noise -- unable to hear our own voice or our own thoughts --
much less the voice of God
-- God is
not going to compete with the world -- He isn't going to try to outshout all of
the noise and chaos around us just so we hear Him -- despite what we see in the
movies, God doesn't typically thunder down from heaven in a big voice when
we're in the Walmart parking lot and say "Greg, this is God -- listen to
Me"
-- in fact,
the Bible tells us that when God speaks to us, He speaks in a still, small
voice -- He speaks in a whisper -- He speaks to our hearts in ways that may not
be audible -- and only those who are listening for Him can hear Him when He
calls
-- I
actually know people who have heard God in an audible voice -- I know others
who have had experiences with angels who brought God's message to them directly
-- but these are extraordinary experiences and not the normal means by which
God chooses to communicate with us today
-- when God
speaks to us, He speaks to our hearts -- He speaks to our spirits -- and,
unless we learn to listen with ears of faith, we are not going to hear Him when
He calls
-- so, this
morning, I want us to look at a story about hearing the voice of God -- the
story of the calling of the prophet Samuel from 1 Samuel 3:1-11
III. Scripture
Lesson (1 Samuel 3:1-11)
-- look
back at verse 1-3
1The boy Samuel ministered before the Lord under Eli.
In those days the word of the Lord was rare; there were not many visions.
2 One night Eli, whose eyes were becoming so weak that
he could barely see, was lying down in his usual place. 3 The lamp of God had
not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the house of the Lord, where the
ark of God was.
-- in this
verse we are introduced to Samuel -- a very young boy who was ministering in
the temple or tabernacle under the priest Eli so that he could learn how to
serve God and follow in Eli's footsteps as a priest
-- just to
give you the background of Samuel -- Samuel's mother Hannah had been barren --
she had been unable to bear children, and in that day, this was a shameful
event -- it was taken to mean that you were out of favor with God -- and, as a
result, Hannah was bullied by her husband's other wife who did have children --
the pain became so bad that when her family would go to the feasts at the
tabernacle in Shiloh, she would pray to God to take away her shame and to let
her bear a child
-- in
exchange, she told God that if He would answer her prayer and give her a son,
that she would dedicate her son to full-time service with the Lord
-- well,
God heard her prayer and Hannah became pregnant and bore Samuel -- and after he
was weaned and while he was still very young -- probably no more than 5 or 6
year old -- Hannah brought him to the tabernacle and placed him under the
guardianship and instruction of Eli -- which is where we find him here at the
opening of this passage
-- there’s
a couple of things I want you to see in these verses which speaks to the
spiritual condition of the nation of Israel and of the priests in this time
-- first,
notice that it says here in verse 1, "In those days the word of the LORD
was rare; there were not many visions"
-- the way
God speaks to us now is not the way that He spoke to the Israelites in the Old
Testament -- Hebrews 1:1-2 says, "In the past God spoke to our forefathers
through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days
he has spoken to us by his Son"
-- we have
within us the Holy Spirit, who speaks to our hearts and souls and spirits and
communicates directly with each of us -- but it wasn’t like that in Samuel’s
day
-- back
then, God did not speak to individuals on a daily basis like He does now --
instead, He would speak to one person -- His prophet -- His representative -- who
would then tell everyone what God had said
-- think of
the story of Jonah and the whale -- that book tells us that God spoke to Jonah
and told him to carry a message to the people of Ninevah -- that's the normal
way that God spoke to people in the Old Testament
-- when God
would speak to the prophets in the Old Testament, He would usually speak to
them through dreams or through visions, although on rare occasions God would
speak to a person in an audible voice or even appear to them as the angel of
the Lord -- a preincarnate appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ
-- so,
usually, God spoke to His people in dreams or visions -- the difference between
a dream and a vision is that in a dream you usually asleep and not really an
active participant -- a vision typically happens when you are awake and you
actively speak with God
-- here in
this verse, we read that visions were rare at this time -- the word of God was
rare at this time -- this can mean that God was not actively speaking to the
people of Israel -- probably because of the sin and idolatry and disobedience
on their part that had alienated them from God's presence -- in other words,
the silence was because God was not speaking
-- or, it
can mean that God was still speaking, but there was no one listening -- no one
who was faithful or righteous or who actively listened and sought God in their
lives
-- but
“rare” doesn’t mean “never” -- and when it says there weren’t many visions,
that tells us that God was still speaking to those who had the faith to listen
-- that’s
why it says here in verse 3 that the lamp of God had not yet gone out -- the
lamp of God represented His presence among the people -- specifically, the oil
in the lamp represented the Holy Spirit -- and so it’s important to note that
the lamp of God had not yet gone out -- God had not left His people -- there
was still a remnant of faith present in the nation of Israel -- a spark that
still burned in the heart of the some of the people for their God, such as
Samuel
-- verse 4-8
4 Then the Lord called Samuel.
Samuel answered, “Here I am.” 5 And he ran to Eli and
said, “Here I am; you called me.”
But Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.”
So he went and lay down.
6 Again the Lord called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up
and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”
“My son,” Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie
down.”
7 Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord: The word of
the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.
8 A third time the Lord called, “Samuel!” And Samuel
got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.” Then Eli realized
that the Lord was calling the boy.
--
so, we read here that one night, after Eli and Samuel had gone to bed, Samuel
heard the sound of a voice calling his name -- verse 4 says that “the Lord
called Samuel” -- and that’s such an awesome verse to meditate on
--
God didn’t just speak out in a general way -- He didn’t just issue a call out
to the nation of Israel -- He didn’t just speak commands to His servants in the
temple -- no, He called out to the boy Samuel by speaking his name -- it was
personal -- it was intimate -- it was loving
--
and when God speaks to us, He does the same -- He calls us by name and speaks
to each of us personally -- He speaks to our hearts -- He speaks to our needs
-- because He knows us by name
--
when Samuel heard the voice calling in the night, he thought it was Eli --
obviously, Eli had called out to the boy in the night before -- Samuel was
there to serve Eli and assist in the temple -- so, when he heard the voice, he
got up and ran to Eli and asked him what he wanted -- but Eli said that he
hadn't called and to go back to sleep
--
so, Samuel went back to sleep and it happened again -- he heard his name being
called and so he ran in to Eli once again -- once again, Eli sent him back to
his bed -- but God spoke Samuel’s name for a third time -- and when Samuel ran
to Eli for the third time, even Eli knew what was going on -- he realized that
God was speaking to Samuel
--
verse 9-11
9 So Eli told Samuel, “Go and lie down, and if he
calls you, say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went
and lay down in his place.
10 The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the
other times, “Samuel! Samuel!”
Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is
listening.”
11 And the Lord said to Samuel: “See, I am about to do
something in Israel that will make the ears of everyone who hears about it
tingle.
--
Eli sent Samuel back in to the temple with the instruction to listen for God’s voice
and told him how to respond when he heard the voice calling again -- and Samuel
went back and did just what Eli told him to do -- God spoke and Samuel
responded and God told Samuel that the time had come for His voice to be heard
in the land again -- that the ears of the people of Israel would tingle at the
word of the Lord and at what He was about to do
--
now I think there are a couple of important lessons that we can learn about
hearing the voice of God from this story about Samuel
--
first, you have to be in a place where you can hear God when He calls
--
notice where Samuel was when he first heard God calling him -- notice what was
going on around him -- Samuel wasn't out in the town square -- he wasn't down
at the market -- he wasn't sitting in his room surfing the internet or watching
TV or playing with his phone
--
he was by himself in a still and quiet place -- he was in a place where he
could hear the Lord if the Lord spoke -- in fact, we read here that he slept in
the temple, near the ark of the covenant -- near the place where God was
--
and that's something to remember -- if we're going to hear God when He speaks,
then we're going to have to get in a place where we can hear His voice calling
to us -- for most of us, that means that we're going to have to choose to isolate
ourselves from the world
--
that means that we're going to have to choose to set aside our phone and the TV
and the internet -- to set aside all the noise and the chaos and the
distractions and everything else that keeps us from hearing that still quiet
voice of the Lord calling -- we’re going to have to find a place where we can
hear God when He speaks
--
that is the pattern of Jesus that we see in the New Testament -- throughout the
gospels, we read about Jesus going off by Himself -- getting away from His
disciples and from the crowds -- and going to a place of solitude to pray all
night -- to talk to His Father and to listen as His Father spoke to Him
--
we have to do the same if we are going to hear God when He calls
-- second,
you have to be actively listening for the voice of God
-- the
first three times God called out to Samuel, Samuel heard God’s voice, but
didn’t recognize it -- he didn’t know it was God -- he thought it was just
another voice calling in the world
-- so,
that’s why the last time, Eli sent Samuel back with instructions to respond to
God when He spoke -- and this time, Samuel was ready -- he didn't go back to
sleep -- he lay there listening -- he lay there waiting on God to call again --
and when God spoke He heard Him
--
this is one of the biggest problems that we have as Christians today trying to
hear when God speaks to us -- we're not actively listening -- we're listening
to everything else around us and we're just not hearing God when He speaks
-- in the last several years I have become aware
of a hearing problem that I have -- not that I have any great hearing loss --
I've had that checked -- my problem is that I tend to hear background noise
more than what I should be paying attention to
--
we usually have our Bible study in someone’s home -- and, occasionally, they’ll
have the TV on in the background -- and if that’s going on, I find myself
focusing on the sound of the TV and not on the lesson -- I have to
intentionally focus on what is important and tune out the rest -- or, even
better, have someone shut the TV off so there’s nothing else competing
--
I've had to practice active listening -- really paying attention and focusing
on the other person so I don't miss what they are saying -- and that is key in
hearing from God today
--
and that's the big problem with hearing God -- we've got so much background
noise going on around us that we might focus on all that noise and miss hearing
God when He speaks
--
in order to hear God, we have to be actively listening for His voice -- we have
to be aware of His presence and focused on Him in order to know when He is
talking to us
--
once we learn to recognize His voice when He calls, then it will be easier to hear
Him and focus on Him even in the midst of the noise and chaos of this world
--
that's why it's a good idea to follow the examples in Scripture and get away to
a quiet place when you are trying to hear from God -- over time, as you walk
longer with God and get used to hearing Him on a regular basis, you might reach
the point where you can hear Him at any time and in any place -- no matter what
is going on -- but to do that you need to be practiced at actively listening
for Him
-- third,
you need to respond when God speaks
-- when God
spoke to Samuel that last time, Samuel responded to God by saying, "Speak,
for your servant is listening."
-- when God
speaks, He does so for a reason -- God doesn't just call us up to chat -- He
calls us because He wants to tell us something or He has something for us to do
-- when God speaks, we need to respond -- when God speaks, He expects us to
acknowledge His presence and to actively wait to do what He tells us to do
-- it does
no good to learn to listen to God's voice if you don't do what He tells you to
do
-- you can
go to church and you can to Bible study all you want -- you can learn all about
God and how to hear God -- but if you do nothing with what you learn -- if you
don’t respond to God when He speaks -- you are just wasting your time
-- let me
borrow an illustration from Francis Chan -- let's say that this afternoon I get
Brooke's attention and I call out to her and she stops everything she's doing
-- she turns off the radio and TV and she comes out and actively listens to me
and I tell her, "I want you to clean your room"
-- then she
goes into her room and comes out after half an hour and says, "I've been
studying what you said about cleaning my room and it's awesome wisdom! In fact,
I can now say "clean your room" in Greek'!” -- I don’t know if you
knew this, but Brooke is multi-lingual
-- anyway,
so Brooke goes on to say, “Also, I watched some videos on YouTube and came up
with a point-by-point plan on how I would go about cleaning my room if I actually
did it and what it would look like.
Isn't that great?"
-- What
would your response as a parent be? -- if you told your child to go and clean
their room and they come back and said they’ve been studying how to do just
that, but haven’t done anything to actually do what you said, you’d tell them,
“you haven’t done it -- you’re missing the point! -- I didn't just speak to you
so you would go off and study what I said -- I spoke so you would respond and
do what I said”
-- that's
the same way with God -- when we get in a place where we can hear God's voice
and when we actively listen for Him to speak and we actually hear what He is
saying, we need to DO what He tells us to do! -- we need to respond to His call
-- not just through another Bible study or taking notes in a sermon but
actively doing what He has told us to do
-- When the
God of all the universe takes the time to speak to us, we need to respond to
His word
IV. Closing
-- as we
close today, though, I want to issue a challenge to you
-- in this
passage that we looked at today, we saw three steps that Samuel went through to
hear God when He spoke that are important for us to follow
-- first,
we have to be in a place where we can hear God over the noise of this world
-- second,
we have to be actively listening for God to speak to us in whatever way He
chooses
-- and,
finally, we have to be ready to respond to God and to do what He is telling us
to do
-- this
week, I want you to do that first step -- we’ll start slow -- just take 10 minutes
and sit by yourself in a quiet place -- 10 minutes away from your phone or the
TV or whatever it is that occupies your background noise -- I want you to just
get away for 10 minutes and just sit quietly
-- don't
read your Bible -- don't pray -- don't try to do this while you're driving --
don't actively do anything but get away for 10 minutes and be quiet and still
-- I've
done this before and it's hard -- we have been trained to have noise and
distractions around us at all times -- but if we're going to start hearing from
God as individual Christians and as a church, then we've got to learn how to
intentionally set aside time for God daily
-- God is
speaking to us today -- we just need to learn how to hear His voice again -- in
our lives -- in our churches -- and in our country
-- so, take
time this week to get alone with Him -- listen for His voice -- respond to His
call -- and experience Him in your life
-- let us
pray
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