seat and sing our 478 Jesus loves even me. 178 start there. Your father thank you for this church and thank you for this opportunity that we have tonight to gather together and sing preaching. Sorry sing praises unto your name as well as hear preaching from your word. Pray that you would bless the remainder of this service as we sing.
At this time and give us a 10 of years to listen to the message tonight in Jesus name. I pray. Amen. For our next time, if you would turn in your hymnals to him number 75 on Jordan Stormy Banks him number 7575 start there right on the first.
Bruce chapter six verse seven chapter hopefully everyone's working hard on this chapter and on the inside you'll look on the top left. There's our service times listed Sunday mornings at 1030 a.m. Sunday evening.
Bible study of course at seven o'clock all of our soul winning times are listed there and I just want to make a note highly encourage everyone to participate in our new Saturday soul winning rally been a very receptive time and things are going really well with soul winning especially this month so winning seems to have been really really good this month I don't know if it's just you know fall people like to talk to people more they're not as angry because it's hot I don't know but it's been great and so whatever it is I like it our nursing home ministry schedules listed there on the top right.
As well as our salvations keep up the great workout soul winning definitely has been a great month.
On the top right is our list of expecting ladies please be in prayer for Mrs. Reed for her pregnancy.
And finally coming soon next service we're gonna have a really great day I made the food order it's gonna be coming out of your nostrils.
You're gonna say please stop feeding me Mexican food it's gonna be wonderful so I'm really excited for that.
Pastor Shelley is excited too I had the opportunity to be on the Baptist Bias podcast last night and we talked about that for a little bit.
He's excited to come up here and see everyone and preach for us on Sunday so it's gonna be a great time.
We're gonna give the Fur family proper send off and we're very excited for them of course.
And so make sure that you thank them for all the hard work that they've done throughout the years and show your appreciation to their family this weekend.
It's bittersweet but it's gonna be a great asset for the Kingdom of God having them over there so we're very excited for them.
Coming up soon October 4th through the 6th is the Heritage of the Lord Conference.
If you're interested in going to this conference the schedule is on the back of your bulletin here.
If you have any more questions other than just the basic schedule you can always email pastorshelly@steadfastbaptistkjv@gmail.com.
But that's really all the information I have for the Heritage of the Lord Conference is the schedule posted there.
November 6th through the 10th is the Faithful Word Baptist Church Missions Conference in Tempe, Arizona.
That should be a really great conference.
Before we go to our next song let's go ahead and go to the Lord in Prayer as a church for our prayer list at this time.
Dear Lord, thank you so much for the opportunity to be gathered together as a church this evening.
Thank you for our members and laborers. Thank you for the salvations we've had this month.
I pray that you would continue to lead our soul winners to people that are receptive to the gospel
and that you would just soften hearts out there of the people we speak to, that they would be receptive and desire to know the truth.
And Lord, we pray for the requests of our members this evening that you would just give us your ear, Lord, and answer these prayers according to your will.
We pray for Brother Alex, who desires to move here, who is looking for a job. Just pray that you would bless him with the job he needs.
And just pray, Lord, for Brother Kevin, who is also looking for a job.
We pray that you would help him to find one that allows him to come to church on Wednesdays like he desires.
And we pray for Mrs. Furr, for her coworker Terry's cancer.
Just pray that she would bless Mrs. Terry and help her to heal and recover. And we pray the same for Mrs. Remy, who is also healing from a tumor.
Just pray that she would not have to deal with that issue anymore, that she would completely heal her body, Lord.
We also pray for Mrs. Reed, for her brother Cole, that his heart would be softened and that he be receptive to the gospel.
And same for Brother Zach and his family members that need to be saved, that they would just have a soft heart to the gospel.
And they would have a desire to hear the truth and pray that you would give boldness to the people in this room to not only preach strangers the gospel,
but also people they know in their lives, families, co-workers, friends.
And Lord, we just pray that you would bless our church, that you would strengthen us, give us more laborers, Lord.
And we pray for this upcoming weekend that you'd bless Pastor Shelley and his family as he travels here and bring them here safely, Lord.
We also just want to pray for the Furr family, that you'd bless them and their move and all the logistics that come along with that.
And we just pray that their move to Texas would be a blessed one and that you would use Brother Furr and his family to help Pastor Shelley continue doing a great work at Set Fast Baptist Church.
And just pray that that church would be able to do greater works than they've ever done before, through more laborers.
We love you. Thank you for all that you do for us. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
Alright, at this time we'll go to our next song.
Alright, our next song will actually be in the white handout. So if you would grab a white handout and turn to Psalm 67.
Psalm chapter 67.
We'll sing there right at the beginning.
God be merciful unto us, and bless us, and cause his face to shine upon us.
That thy way may be known, and the Lord will praise thee.
Praise thee, Jesus, and all the earth.
The offering plates are being passed around.
First Samuel chapter number seven.
Good evening.
First Samuel chapter number seven.
The Bible reads,
And the men of Keurjath Jeuram came and fetched up the ark of the Lord,
and brought it into the house of Abinadab in the hill,
and sanctified Eliezer his son to keep the ark of the Lord.
And it came to pass, while the ark abode in Keurjath Jeuram,
that the time was long, for it was twenty years,
and all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord.
And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying,
If ye do return unto the Lord with all your hearts,
then put away the strange gods and asteroth from among you,
and prepare your hearts unto the Lord, and serve him only,
and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.
Then the children of Israel did put away Balaam and asteroth,
and serve the Lord only.
And Samuel said, Gather all Israel to Mizpah,
and I will pray for you unto the Lord.
And they gathered together to Mizpah, and drew water,
and poured it out before the Lord, and fasted on that day.
And said there, We have sinned against the Lord.
And Samuel judged the children of Israel in Mizpah.
And when the Philistines heard that the children of Israel were gathered together to Mizpah,
the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel.
And when the children of Israel heard it, they were afraid of the Philistines.
And the children of Israel said to Samuel,
Cease not to cry unto the Lord our God for us that he will save us out of the hand of the Philistines.
And Samuel took a sucking lamb and offered it for a burnt offering wholly unto the Lord.
And Samuel cried unto the Lord for Israel and the Lord heard him.
And as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel.
But the Lord thundered a great thunder on that day upon the Philistines and discomfited them.
And they were smitten before Israel.
And the men of Israel went out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines and smote them until they came under Bethcar.
Then Samuel took a stone and set it between Mizpah and Sheen, and called the name of it Ebenezer, saying,
"Hitherto hath the Lord helped us."
So the Philistines were subdued, and they came no more into the coast of Israel.
And the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel.
And the cities which the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel from Ekron even unto Gath.
And the coast thereof did Israel deliver out of the hands of the Philistines.
And there was a peace between Israel and the Amorites.
And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life.
And he went from year to year in Circuit to Bethel and Gilgal and Mispah and judged Israel in all those places.
And his return was to Ramah, for there was his house.
And there he judged Israel, and there he built an altar unto the Lord.
Let's bow our heads forward in prayer.
Father in heaven, we thank you for this day. We thank you so much for our church.
And we just ask that you help us pay attention to your word, that's preached,
and that you just fill with all of the Holy Spirit, and help us to apply your sermon to our lives,
and help us have soft hearts, with peace and with credit. Amen.
Amen.
Samuel chapter number seven, let's start reading verse one.
The Bible says, "And the men of Kirjath Jireem came, and fetched up the ark of the Lord,
and brought it into the house of Abinadab in the hill,
and sanctified Eliezer his son, to keep the ark of the Lord.
And it came to pass, while the ark abode in Kirjath Jireem,
that the time was long, for it was twenty years,
and all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord."
So if you kind of remember the timeline of the most recent couple of chapters,
in 1 Samuel chapter number four the ark of God was captured,
and recently they finally got the ark back,
but the Israelites were presumptuous, they looked into the ark of the Lord,
and God killed 50,070 of them.
And remember it's not 70 of them like the modern versions say,
it was 50,070 of them.
And so here we are in this story and now for some reason they get the ark of God,
they don't put it back into the tabernacle where it was before,
now they're just kind of putting it in some guy's house,
they're sanctifying some guy to keep the ark of the Lord in a person's house.
Now, go to 1 Samuel chapter 3, while you're turning there,
I'll read for you Joshua 18.1, it says this,
"And the whole congregation of the children of Israel assembled together at Shiloh
and set up the tabernacle of the congregation there."
So when the worship of the Lord was brought to Shiloh was actually during Joshua's day,
and that continued all the way up until the time of 1 Samuel because it says in 1 Samuel 1.3,
did I say 1 Samuel 3? 1 Samuel 1.3, it says this, "And this man went up out of his city yearly
to worship and to sacrifice unto the Lord of hosts," notice, "in Shiloh.
And the two sons of Eli, Hophni, and Phineas, the priests of the Lord, were there."
So why not now is the question.
They had the Ark of God in Shiloh all the way from Joshua to 1 Samuel.
Why are they not doing that now?
Well, remember, because the glory of the Lord had departed from Israel, and God's kind of
doing a reset right now on their nation.
They're not going back to Shiloh.
The Ark isn't going back to Shiloh.
Why?
Because God had kind of removed His blessing from that area at that time, and so now they're
doing something different.
Now, I want you to notice number one this evening, the leadership of Samuel, the leadership
of Samuel.
Look at first Samuel chapter seven, let's keep reading in verse number three, first Samuel
seven verse three.
It says in Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel saying, if ye do return unto the
Lord with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods and Asteroth from among you and
prepare your hearts unto the Lord and serve him only.
And he will deliver you out of the hands hand of the Philistines.
So notice, I mean the Israelites, they've just had bad thing after bad thing happening
to them.
You know, they lose in battle to the Philistines.
The Philistines take the Ark of God.
They get the Ark back.
Great news, right?
50,070 of them die.
Then they consecrate the Ark to go into Abinadab's house and it stays there for 20 years.
And right now Israel's kind of been in this state for a long time where they've had no
leader.
And finally we see a leader rise up here.
And who is it?
That's the man Samuel.
And one of the lessons we can learn from this is that there's always a prepared place for
a prepared person.
Because here's the thing, Samuel didn't just appear out of thin air in 1 Samuel chapter
number 7.
Because if you were just living in the nation of Israel at this time, all of a sudden there's
this guy Samuel that stands up and he's just like, "Hey, return to the Lord."
And this might be the first time you've seen him for a lot of people, but we know having
read the Bible that there was a lot of backstory to Samuel that led to the moment of him becoming
a leader.
Starting as a child, as a little child, you know, God spoke to Samuel.
And remember, Samuel ran to Eli, said, "Hey, you're calling me," because he mistook the
voice of the Lord for Eli.
And so from a very young age, Samuel started having a relationship with the Lord.
And sometimes people think when they see a leader, when they see a great business leader
or they see a pastor that they respect that's a really good preacher, sometimes people may
think like, "Oh man, this guy just came out of nowhere," but no, he didn't come out of
nowhere.
He was preparing for a long time.
And there's a prepared place for a prepared person.
What if Samuel hadn't decided to sanctify himself, to be spiritual, to walk with the
Lord?
We wouldn't be reading this right here.
Israel still would have been in their same state of being without a leader.
Go to Titus chapter number one, Titus chapter number one.
We need today to have men and women to have the desire to be godly leaders in the way
that God wants them to be.
One leadership capacity that all of us can be is that of a soul winner.
God wants us, all men, women, children, to go out and do what?
Lead someone to Christ.
Here's the thing, if you're going to do that, you're not going to just wake up one day without
ever ever learn how to give the gospel, without having reviewed the verses that you're going
to talk about or memorize the verses and then all of a sudden you're going to be a fantastic
soul winner.
That's not going to happen.
But you know what?
There's a prepared place for a prepared person.
And if you want to be a leader someday and lead someone to Jesus Christ, well the preparation
should start today.
You say I'm not a soul winner, I don't know how to do that.
Well today is the day that you start your backstory.
You know we read Samuel's backstory started when he was a child and here he is standing
up as a leader for the whole nation.
You know you want to be a leader, you want to be a soul winner someday.
Start preparing today.
You know we need leaders in churches today.
Not just pastors but we need men that could serve and assist in the work of the ministry.
There is a lot of work that goes into a church.
You know I worked full time for a church, for Steadfast Baptist Church for four years.
And let me tell you, there is a lot of labor that goes into church.
And there's a lot of people at Steadfast Baptist Church that are godly men that have prepared
themselves to be able to assist and lead in the ministry.
People that are ushers, people that are safety team members, song leaders, Bible readers.
You know these are important positions that we need help in, in churches today.
But you know what it's gonna take?
It's gonna take someone that's actually spiritual, that actually takes church seriously, and do
that faithfully for a long time and then they'll find themselves in that position of leadership.
You know, you don't really have to go seeking for leadership.
If you just prepare yourself, if you're just diligent in your work, if you're someone that's
just faithful to the work of God, leadership will find you.
You know, I promise you that if you just dropped, you know, Pastor Shelley or Pastor Jimenez
in a different country with no church, they would become leaders.
You know why?
Because they've been faithful for decades and decades and now today they're very godly
men.
They're very capable leaders.
Why?
Because all the work that they put in for decades previously, why is Samuel standing
up right now?
Well, because he's put in the work.
He's been faithful.
He has a backstory of being a godly person.
And so now he's in a position of leadership.
You know, we need also ordained men in this world, men that want to stand up and be a
deacon, be a evangelist or be a pastor.
But let me tell you something, getting to one of these levels of ordination, it's not
going to just happen by accident.
It's not going to happen overnight.
It's going to happen by someone being faithful to the Lord for a long, long time.
And I think about men like Pastor Jimenez and Pastor Anderson that were ordained as
pastors in their twenties.
But here's the thing.
It's not like they just started serving God in their twenties.
They already were serving God for well over a decade, almost to basically by the time
they were pastors.
And so, people might despise them and be like, "Well, this pastor's so young."
But it's like, "But hold on.
He's been serving God for two decades, basically.
He's been being faithful for two decades."
And so, there's a prepared place for a prepared person.
Doesn't matter your age.
Doesn't matter your secular education.
What matters is the spiritual preparation that you've been putting in for a long, long
time.
Look at Titus chapter number one.
It says, "For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things
that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city as I had appointed thee.
If any, be blameless the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot
or unruly."
So notice already in the qualifications of a pastor, one of the things that you have
to be the husband of one wife, and you have to have faithful children not accused of riot
or unruly.
You know, this, fulfilling this verse does not happen in just six months.
It doesn't happen in a couple years.
But this qualification alone takes years and years and years to be met.
Let's keep reading.
It says for a bishop must be blameless as the steward of God, not self-willed, not soon
angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre, but a lover of hospitality,
a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate, holding fast the faithful word.
And notice this next phrase, "As he hath been taught that he may be able by sound doctrine,
both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers."
So notice, just like Samuel from a child, he was taught the word of God, he walked with
God for a long time before now here in 1 Samuel 7, he's stepping up as a leader.
Same thing for a pastor.
A pastor is supposed to hold fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, meaning he himself
has been a follower for a long time.
He's been taught the word of God.
He's lived the life to meet the qualifications and then he could step up as a pastor.
And what is this teaching us?
It's teaching us that there's a prepared place for a prepared person.
And you know this is true in just every area of life.
You know when it comes to getting married, hey there's a prepared woman for you when
you're a prepared man.
You know I promise you if you're a really prepared man that's put together, your life
is put together, you've got a place to live, you've got a car.
You know how to not dress weird, you know how to talk to people, you know you could
do more than like five push ups, I guarantee you there's a prepared woman for that man.
But here's the thing, you want to get there, you're not there at this point, well you know
what you need to do?
You need to start preparing today.
And rather than thinking like here's my Proverbs 31 checklist of everything I demand in a wife,
it's like why don't you just make a checklist for yourself.
Like here's my preparation checklist, okay I got to six push ups, check.
Now I'm going to go for like 10 next week, alright.
And then it's like alright, I have a car that runs, that's not going to break down on the
first date.
Alright, I looked up a YouTube video about you know how to dress, I mean this is needed
in America right now, okay.
You know I found out that you're not supposed to wear the same color tie as shirt, alright.
I'm just saying, I'm just trying to help you, okay.
I'm not mad at anyone, I love you guys, I'm just trying to help you right now.
There's a prepared woman for a prepared man, there's a prepared job for a prepared worker.
You got a, you know, you got a super good resume, you've put in the work, you've been
faithful.
Oh yeah, there's someone that'll hire you.
It'll happen, right?
Hey, you want to preach?
There's a prepared pulpit for a prepared preacher.
You're filled with the Spirit of God, you know the Bible really well, you can preach.
I guarantee you there's a pulpit out there for you because we need more preachers in
America.
We need more people like Samuel in America that are going to stand up and be leaders.
But you know just like there's a get quick rich scheme, there's like a become a leader
quick scheme too.
And Samuel didn't take that route.
You know he didn't go ordain himself.
He didn't go LOL Baptist Church style and get ordained by a congregation.
You know he walked with God for a long time until God approved of him and God rose him
up as a leader.
Notice number two, the message of Samuel.
We see the leadership of Samuel.
Notice number two, the message of Samuel.
Let's read verse three again.
It says in first Samuel seven, three, and Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel
saying, if notice this word ye, that means you all, if ye do return unto the Lord with
all your hearts, then put away the strange gods and Asteroth from among you and prepare
your hearts unto the Lord and serve him only.
And he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.
Notice the audience here.
Who is Samuel talking to?
He's talking to the children of Israel.
He's talking to God's people here.
Notice what he didn't say.
He said, "Man, if those wicked Philistines would just get their nation right, God will
be pleased with us again.
God will heal this land again."
He doesn't say, "Man, if the Moabites, if the Ammonites will just stop causing their
children to pass through the fire, then you know God will show mercy again to us."
Notice who he's talking to.
He says, "If ye do return to the Lord with all your hearts, then put away the strange
gods and ashraths from among you."
Go to 2 Chronicles chapter 7, 2 Chronicles chapter number 7.
You know this is the message that needs to be coming from leadership today that the problems
that we have in this world, the problems that we have in America, can only be fixed by one
group of people and it's you and it's me and it's people that are saved, it's God's people.
You know the fate of nations, the fate of cities, the fate of areas, it doesn't depend
on whether or not the Catholic Church is doing right.
Newsflash, they're never doing right.
It doesn't matter whether or not the heathen are following the law of God.
They'll never follow the law of God.
What matters is what God's people are doing.
Look at 2 Chronicles 7 verse 14, notice this, it says, "If my people, if my people, which
are called by my name, shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their
wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their
land." Notice who it is that it depends upon for the land to be healed. It's God's people.
And today there's an attitude out there that says, man, if we could just fix the Republican
party, man, if we could just get the Democrats to stop aborting babies, then America would
be fixed. America would be better. You know, if we could just help conservatives and help
Republicans get the right tax plan and the right foreign policy and the right ideas about
who our allies should be, who we should go to war with, then America will be better.
That's completely wrong. That's not what the Bible teaches. And today so many Christians
have been brainwashed into thinking how we fix America is by fixing them is by fixing
the world when really how any area is fixed is by fixing ourselves. And really our land,
our nation is just simply a reflection of ourselves because isn't the land here in first
Samuel reflection of the children of Israel. I mean we had the leadership of Hoff 9 Phineas
and Eli were they great spiritual leaders. No they were not. Two of them were reprobates.
One was a bad dad. One was someone that didn't correct his children. So one was someone that
wasn't a great spiritual leader. Right. And the children of Israel were they great. No
they were presumptuous and broke God's law and looked into the Ark of the Lord and they
were trusting in the Ark to save them. Right. Rather than trusting in God. They weren't
right with God. And so you say man I want our area to be blessed by God. You know I
want Oklahoma City to be an area that's blessed by the Lord. I want our state to be blessed
our nation to be blessed. You know what it starts with. It starts with you and it starts
with me. You know you can complain all you want about the sins of our country and about
the state of America that we're in. But let me tell you the reason why we're in the state
is because of the state of Christianity because churches like this are not on every corner
in America. Preaching like this is not at every church in America. Most churches today
love people like Andy Stanley and hate people like Pastor Shelley. Most people, they love
Joel Osteen but they would hate Pastor Anderson, right? And what is that? It's showing a reflection
of our nation's heart. And so you want our nation to get right, it starts with Christianity
getting right. That's why Samuel said if you would return to the Lord, if you would put
Away the false gods if you would humble yourself and return back to God. Hey, then he would heal our land
So, you know you really have no right to complain about our situation in America
If you wake up and don't read your Bible if you don't care about going soul-winning if you skip church if
You don't have godly standards in your life
You know if you're not dressing right if you're drinking alcohol if you're not praying to the Lord. You're the problem
You're the reason why God's not healing our land not Joe Biden not Donald Trump
Those are just reflections of us and so get mad about it all you want
But notice his message was for God's people to change go back to the first Samuel chapter 7
Notice number 3 the result of Samuels preaching look at verse 4
It says then the children of Israel did put away
Balaam and Ashtaroth and served the Lord only good
Jeremiah excuse me
Jeremiah 23 Jeremiah chapter 23 and you know what we see from this verse is that hard preaching works
Hard preaching works notice you had a prepared man. You had a man that was filled with the Spirit of God
He had the message of God he preached that message and you know what they did
They put away Balaam and Ashtaroth and served the Lord only and you know
We don't want to get jaded about
You know the power of the Word of God and the power of church and think like well
You know because the world's wicked, you know, why are we even trying as a church?
Is it even worth it to come to church and to listen to hard preaching, you know?
It doesn't really seem like there's a ton of people just flowing through the door. Here's the thing that may not be true today
But you reap what you sow and you could reap what you sow for good or for bad
And you know, we should be sowing into this church is lots and lots of hard preaching
Why because when you sow the Word of God, it's going to have an effect
Maybe not everyone will listen and maybe not everyone in church will listen to the preaching of God's Word and take it to their heart
but you know what some people will and
That's who I'm preaching for is for people that actually care about the Word of God and will make changes and you know
Samuel here by preaching this message it wasn't in vain because he caused people to turn to the Lord and that's a great thing
Jeremiah 23 verse 28
Says the prophet that hath a dream
Let him tell a dream and he that hath my word. Let him speak my word faithfully
What is the chaff to the wheat sayeth the Lord is not my word like as a fire
Sayeth the Lord and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in
Pieces, you know people that are carnal might look at our church and say, you know, this isn't really a special church
There's not a hundred people here tonight. You guys meet in a storefront. You guys are in Oklahoma City
Well, here's the thing little as much when God is in it and guess what the preaching of the Word of God
Actually makes an effect and actually can change lives and it doesn't matter what things look like to the eye
The Bible says that his word is like a fire and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces
And here's what's cool
we can go out and go soul winning and knock on someone's door and we could bring this hammer to their life and you know
They could have been a Catholic for the last 50 years and we just break their entire false religion with with our hammer in 15 minutes
We go talk to someone who's unsaved whatever false religion they're at, you know
We have the hammer right here that could break any rock in pieces
And we need to have faith and trust that the Word of God is powerful that it's gonna accomplish what God has set out to
Do and here's the thing once we get someone saved if they come and visit this church if they listen to the preaching of God's
Word, you know God's Word is like a hammer to our hearts as well
You know when when a topic is preached about maybe a sin is preached against that we're guilty of in our lives
You know once you have the Holy Spirit that Word of God is gonna hit you like a hammer
It's gonna burn like a fire in your bosom and you know, I believe that preaching works
You know why it worked for me here. I am today. I did not rate. I was not raised in a Christian home
I did not grow up reading the Bible
I do not grow up going to church or caring about the things of God
But you know what what made my heart change and what made me love God and what made me love serving God
It's the Word of God when I hear the Word of God being preached when I got saved
It was a it was a fire in my bosom beer
It was a hammer that broke my world into pieces and you know
I mean that in a good way and ever since I heard the Word of God ever since I heard it preached
you know my life has been changed for forever and you know what my my
Desire for my life is to be steadfast unto the end and to serve him unto the end
Why because I love the Word of God and if God did that in my life
I believe that he could do that in any person's life in this metro and so when we go out soul winning
You know, you could literally be changing someone's eternal destiny and the rest of how they live their life
And so don't get jaded, you know, oh, I've been a couple weeks where I haven't gotten someone's save
You know, maybe the Word of God has lost its power
No, the Word of God will never lose its power and Samuel here
He's preaching maybe some people wouldn't have listened to Samuel
But guess what these people did and so it was worth it was Samuel was preaching go to Jonah chapter number three
Jonah chapter number three while you're turning to Jonah 3
Hebrews 412 says for the Word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword
Piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit and of the joints and marrow and as a discerner of the thoughts and intents
Of the heart, you know
The Word of God is very very powerful and those of us that are saved and that are walking with God
We know this for sure is true. But even if you're backslidden even if you're a very carnal Christian
You know when you hear the Word of God being spoken when you hear it being preached, you know
There's something deep down inside that's still cutting at your heart because the Word of God is powerful
And what it takes for someone to get saved is the Word of God and what it takes for someone to start serving
God is the Word of God and what it takes for someone who's backslidden to start serving God again is the Word of God
You know the Word of God is the key. It's gonna be the key to this church's success
It's gonna be the key to your life's success
You know it works for Nineveh look at Jonah 3 4 says and Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey
And he cried and said yet 40 days and Nineveh shall be overthrown
He's preaching the word of God here, and it was a very short message in 40 days. God's gonna smoke this place
He probably said more than that too, but that was the gist of his message look at verse 5
So the people of Nineveh believed God why because of the word of God and they proclaimed a fast and put a sackcloth
put on sackcloth from the greatest of them even to the least of them and
God saw their works that they turned from their evil way
And God repented of the evil that he had said that he would do unto them
And he did it not notice the power of the word of God here
You know this city's fate was to be destroyed by God Jonah preached the word of God
They believed it they turned from their evil way and God
Turned from his desire to destroy that city and he did it not by the way
This is what repent means it means to turn and how you know that salvation is not by repenting of your sins
Because the Bible says it's not of works lest any man should boast and here the Bible says God saw their
Works that they turn from their evil way. So what is works according to the Bible?
It's when you turn from your sins and according to the Bible. It's not by works that you're saved
It's not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but it's according to his mercy. It's according to his grace
It's according to faith alone. And you know, it's a great story
It shows the power of the Word of God look at first Samuel chapter number 7 go back there first Samuel chapter number 7 verse 5
It says and Samuel said gather all Israel to Mizpah
and I will pray for you unto the Lord and they gathered together to Mizpah and drew water and poured it out before the Lord and
Fasted on that day and said there we have sinned against the Lord and Samuel judged the children of Israel in
Mizpah go to psalm 69 so notice what's happening here is that the people have listened to the preaching of Samuel
Samuel has told them to turn from other gods to worship the Lord and what do they do they obeyed that and so now
They're getting right with God and in the process of getting right with God
One of the things that they decide to do is they decide to fast now
This is a great time to fast when you're getting right with the Lord
This would be a very good reason to fast some people don't really know why
Fasting is in the Bible or it could be kind of a confusing subject to them
But one of the best reasons to fast is to afflict yourself or to chase in yourself
When you're not right with God to get right with the Lord. Why because you're kind of showing like hey Lord
You're more important than me
You're my relationship with you is more important than my carnal desire to even eat my need for food
And so I'm showing you how serious I am about getting right with you
Let's look at several verses and in the book of Psalms about this
Psalm 69 verse 9 for the zeal of thine house had eaten me up and the reproaches of them that reproach thee are falling on
me when I wept and
chastened my soul with fasting that was
To my reproach I made sackcloth also my garment and I became a proverb to them
They that sit in the gate speak against me and I was the song of the drunkards
But as for me my prayer is unto thee Oh Lord in an acceptable time
Oh God in the multitude of thy mercy hear me in the truth of thy salvation
So notice how here what is this person doing?
They're chastening their soul with fasting and so, you know you hear Jesus talk about fasting in one context
There's a man that's possessed with many devils and he says this kind go not out by prayer and by fasting
So, you know one time you might fast is when you really need God to do something, right?
So you're praying or hey Lord, this person's possessed with many many devils
You know, I'm fasting to try to invoke your help for this great task that I can't do by myself
I can't do this on my own. I need your help
Another reason is like we see here in first Samuel 7 where you've sinned
You've been far from the Lord and you genuinely feel bad about that. You want to get on the right track
So what you do is you fast and afflict your soul literally self-affliction because think about it
You know if you're not right with the Lord if you sin what's gonna happen God's gonna afflict to you
God's gonna punish you and so by you fasting you're kind of just being like hey, you don't have to do that
You don't have to chat chasing me. I'm gonna chasing myself right now. I'm gonna afflict myself
You know, that would be a good reason to fast one time. I had this person ask me
He was about to preach his first sermon ever and he said hey you have any advice for my first sermon ever and I said
Yeah, just keep it super simple only preach what you know
And don't try to be fancy or cool because nothing that you could say is gonna be cooler than what the Bible has already said
And I don't know about you. I like preaching that is what the Bible says because I think the Bible is cool
I don't think man is cool whatsoever. Okay. Well, he did not take my advice whatsoever his first sermon ever
He walks up just just imagine this in your brain. Okay first sermon ever he walks up
He says I've judged the church tonight and I found that it is wanting it is lacking and the title of my sermon is fasting
According to the Bible. He's preaching on fasting and in this sermon. He's talking about how
Fasting is just so easy. He's like what's wrong with you guys. I mean, it's so easy
Isn't it just easy to fast? It's like no, it's literally called afflicting yourself
Chasing yourself. Why because it's not supposed to be easy and he's like bragging
He's like I make my pregnant wife fast 17 hours a day and you should do the same thing to your pregnant wife
And I'm just like what the hell am I listening to and this this was a dude that was like overweight as well
So he's like screaming and slamming the pulpit about how easy it is to fast
I'm just like dude you failed you failed so hard and this is the only time I've ever done this
But I called this person's pastor who was pastor Thompson. I'm just like hey, you might want to listen to this sermon
This is like the worst sermon I've ever heard and so like pastor Thompson talked to the guy tried to correct him
And he didn't take any correction. He quit the church and became a Calvinist. It's like shock. This dude's not even saved
So I just when I excuse me when I read verses like this about how fasting is afflicting yourself
It's humbling yourself. I always think about this silly person that did not understand fasting whatsoever
It's like look if you're fasting and it's easy. You're doing something wrong. It's like well
I'm gonna do a I'm gonna do a fast where I only eat sugar and you know, no other food
It's like that's not a fast. I mean the Catholics try to do this, right? They'll be like well
I'm just giving up video games on Fridays during Lent. It's like that's not a fast guys. It's afflicting your soul
It's chastening yourself. That's what it is go to first Samuel 7 and so here, you know
They want God to forgive them. They want God to be back on their side
They're tired of getting their butt kicked by the Philistines the tired of getting their ark stolen
They're tired of fifty thousand and seventy of them dropping dead for looking into the ark and it's like, you know what?
Let's just chasing our soul and get right with God, you know
That's always a good thing to do notice number four the fear of the Israelites
Verse seven and when the Philistines heard that the children of Israel were gathered together to Mizpah
The lords of the Philistines went up against Israel and when the children of Israel heard it notice they were afraid of
The Philistines now, this is a normal human emotion that right or wrong
We are all going to experience at times in our life
That is fear and you know if you put yourself in these people's situation
You've just gotten defeated by the Philistines multiple times you've gotten your ark stolen
You got it back shortly, but then you lost 50,000 70 men and now here comes the Philistines again
You could see how they could maybe be a little fearful right but the right response
When we're fearful because you know being fearful is not something you can necessarily control right off the bat
But your response to that fear is definitely controllable. Let me read for you Psalm 56 - it says
Mine enemies would daily swallow me up for they be many that fight against me. Oh that most high what time I am afraid
I will trust in me. So there's gonna be times
We're afraid what time I am afraid I will trust in me
This is a verse that I like to teach my children because I don't know about your guys as kids
My kids get very scared during thunderstorms during storms. My kids get very scared and I tell them hey at what time I am afraid
I will trust in you. I tell them hey when you're scared, you know what you should do
You should pray to the Lord. You should ask him to help you
You should ask him to give you bravery and boldness, you know at what time I'm afraid
I will trust in me and there's gonna be times in our life
Even as adults that you're gonna be afraid, you know
Maybe you're gonna be afraid to do something as simple as confronting someone with the gospel
You know for people that are very shy that could cause people to have fear
Could cause them to literally shake at just the anxiety and fear of giving someone the gospel
But you know what at what time I'm afraid I will trust in me you tell yourself
Hey, God wants me to be a soul winner. God is with me here. You know, I'm doing God's work. God's gonna protect me
I'm doing what he wants me to do. You know what? Let's do this at what time. I'm afraid. I'll trust in me
You know
there's been times for in my life and maybe for some of you where you've had to walk into church past a sea of
Protesters and for a lot of people that's very scary to them for a lot of people. They've never dealt with confrontation
They've never had people screaming at them and these people that have protested us scream the most vile things
To try to really get at you, you know for me the thing that pissed me off the most and maybe I shouldn't give enemies
Lord, you know information. I don't know mute this no
I'm just kidding is when they is when they say nice things about my kids that really pisses me off when they're just like
Oh, your girls are so beautiful. Oh, you're done. I'm just like dude
Don't talk about my daughters like to me that almost pisses me off more than like F you Dylan F
When they're just talking about how gorgeous my daughters are these sick freaks these degenerate reprobates that are just literal dogs
That will sleep with anything and do anything and eat their own bump. They're just disgusting
You know, don't talk about my daughters. Don't talk about how beautiful they are. Just keep my daughter's names out of your mouth
How about that, but they're trying to get you riled up. I'm kind of getting riled up thinking about this, right?
There's been protesters that have kind of pointed firearms at people kind of at the low ready not fully pointed at them
But just kind of brought it up real quick that could cause someone to be afraid
There's been people that have showed up to my house. There's been people that have said hey Dylan. I know where you live
I'm coming to your house tonight
And I'm gonna shoot you in the back of the head and that person got arrested on the spot for saying that but I'm saying
Stuff like this will happen in your life where you will maybe feel this experience of fear. They're feeling it here
They're coming up against a physical army
But you just need to remind yourself that at what time I'm afraid
I will trust in me because you know what if God is for us who can be against us and so
Here and here's what will really help you not be fearful is just be right with God because when you're not right with God
That would cause me to be a lot more fearful
You know if I have tons of people that hate me and want to kill me for
For evil that I have done or for harm that I have done
I might be a little afraid you know or if I know I'm living a sinful life a wicked life
I don't care about the word of God or the commandments of God
Yeah
I might be a little afraid but you know I could sleep like a baby at night when I know that I'm right with the Lord and
You know though thousands compass about me in the name of the Lord will I destroy them is what the Bible says
Let's look at a couple more on this or actually stay there for Samuel 7 8 it says
And the children of Israel said to Samuel notice cease not to cry unto the Lord our God
For us that he will save us out of the hand of the Philistines notice
This is the proper response when you're afraid. What do you do?
You call upon the name of the Lord you cry out to the Lord
This needs to be your knee-jerk reaction in times that you're afraid because some people they're afraid
You know the protests come the calls come the attack videos come the online haters come the trolls come
the bad publicity comes the lies and the railing and the false accusations and the
Misrepresentations come and some people are just like oh, it's quit church. I'm afraid. No, don't be afraid
Trust in the Lord call upon the Lord pray to the Lord, but you know
It's a weak response as a Christian just quit serving God because you're afraid and there's a lot of people today that quit serving
God that have quit going to church because they were afraid of persecution and there's a lot of Christians that don't even start serving God
Because they are afraid of persecution. You know, the Bible says that the fear of man bringeth a snare
You know fear is a trap in your life
The devil wants to trap you with fear to keep you from doing anything from for God
And so the proper response is to pray to the Lord go to Psalm 27 Psalm 27
Let's flip through a couple Psalms quickly here Psalm 27 one
It says the Lord is my light and my salvation whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the strength of my life of whom shall I be afraid?
Hey, why would we be afraid of anyone? The Lord is the strength of our life. There's a quote by a famous
General from the Civil War
Stonewall Jackson he was a famous southern general and I'm not gonna get the quote exactly perfect
But he said something to the effect of like I don't really think or care about the time of my death
Because basically unless God wants me to die, then I know I'm gonna keep living and that's true
You know God has our lives and our deaths in his hand and he could preserve you through any danger
Or he could kill you in your sleep. Really God can just do whatever he wants
And so there's no sense of really being afraid because God's got us in his hand and that's kind of this generals attitude
And he was known for being extremely brave
he was known for you know sitting atop his horse during a battle and not even flinching as
Guns are being fired at him and it was really famous because you know
He had lots of bullet holes in his jacket and stuff like that and people are like man
This guy's like a stone wall and that's that why his nickname became
Stonewall Jackson because he just stood up there on his horse and he just didn't care
I don't know if he was saved or not
But it sounds like he was trusting in the Lord and you know
That's how we need to be in the Christian life where we're just a stone wall
It kind of reminds me of something like the name steadfast. You know what a stone wall is. It's steadfast. It's unmovable
It's always abounding in the work of the Lord, you know, that's how we need to be as Christians
Go to Psalm 34 flip over Psalm 34 Psalm 34 verse 4
I sought the Lord and he heard me and notice delivered me from all my fears
You know when you pray to the Lord, he may not deliver you immediately from the danger or from the source of your fear
But if you're trusting in him, he can't deliver you from fear itself and elsewhere
David prays and asked God to remove from him the fear of the enemy. He didn't even pray that God removes his enemies
He just said I pray that I don't have the fear of the enemy and you know
That's how we should be Psalm 46 go to Psalm 46 Psalm 46 verse 1
It says God is our refuge and strength. What's a refuge?
Well refuge is a place that you can kind of hide and shelter down and be safe, you know, they have wildlife refuges
Where deer could go and all this wildlife can go and not have to worry about getting killed by cars and traffic and stuff like that
You know, the Lord is our refuge and strength a very present help in trouble
You know when you need help right now in the present. There's only one person you can call and that's the Lord
You can't call your best friend. You can't call the police
You know, if you need if you need help right now, there's one person that could help you and that's God
And so when you're afraid, hey call out to him go back to first Samuel 7 first Samuel 7
Psalm 118 6 says the Lord is on my side. I will not fear what can man do unto me
Hey, if the Lord's on my side, what can man do to me, right?
But the important thing is that the Lord's on my side, right and that I'm pleasing in a sight that he's on my side
That he's on my team that I'm on his team, then there's no need to be afraid
And here's the thing just just get this into your heart and into your mind
If you are striving to serve God if you know in your heart that you love the Lord you're trying to do
It's right. You love the Word of God. You love church. You love soul winning. Just just realize you have no reason to be afraid
There's no reason to be afraid because it is a iron
Glad guarantee that God is on your side because if you dry not nigh to God
He'll dry and draw nigh to you is what the Bible says notice number five this evening in first Samuel 7 9
the prayer of Samuel verse 9 and Samuel took a sucking lamb and
Offered it for a burnt offering holy unto the Lord and Samuel cried unto the Lord for Israel notice and the Lord
Heard him. So remember when before the children of Israel they're in battle and they say hey go get the ark
Maybe the ark will save us God didn't hear them
Then when they were trusting in the ark, but notice what happens when they're trusting in the Lord
Then they call upon him and he hears them right go to Romans chapter number 10
Here's the thing when you're trusting in the Lord and you call out to him. He hears you he'll deliver you
But people that aren't trusting in the Lord, you know, they're trusting in some sort of religious
Memorabilia they're trusting in their bees are trusting in their crosses. They're trusting in their idols
You can call all day long. God's not going to hear you. God's not gonna hear you you or care about your cry
Romans 10 9 that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shall believe in thine heart that God hath raised
Him from the dead thou shalt be saved for with the heart man believeth unto righteousness and with the mouth
Confession is made unto salvation for the scripture saith
Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed that mean that word ashamed right there
It doesn't mean that you're not gonna feel embarrassed or something like that ashamed in the Bible often means
Forsaken so he says whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed
That's saying that if you believe in Jesus, which how does that work? You believe in your heart you confess with your mouth
That's someone that believes in Jesus Christ
You'll not be ashamed meaning you won't be forsaken and you know a good truth from this is that you're never gonna lose your salvation
Once you've put your faith in Jesus Christ, he's not gonna forsake you. You're never gonna be ashamed
You're never gonna be waiting and be like, oh man, the Lord left me
Let me down the Lord for suck me, you know, if you want to pain yourself last night
I did a podcast on the Baptist bias
We we reacted to a documentary that was supposedly debunking once saved always saved and it was a painful documentary to watch
It was very poorly made
But let me just tell you the Bible teaches all over the place that once you're saved
You're always saved and here's another just great verse for that is saying that when you believe on him
You're not gonna be ashamed because here's thing if I believed on him
But then I had to maintain my salvation by living a good life by not sinning
Well, then I would be ashamed he would forsake me because I sin every day and only a whole year than now
Highest drudge false prophet would stand up and say well I've attained though. I'm holier than you
I actually live a perfect life. You know, I don't sin anymore. I only have pure godly desires, you know
These guys were talking about I can't relate to Paul in Romans chapter 7, you know
I can't believe when I hear preachers preaching out of Romans 7 where Paul's talking about how he does the things that he doesn't allow
And that he's like desiring things that he knows is wrong and vice versa the internal struggle that we have between
The new man and the old man. These people were like, oh, I just can't believe when preachers relate to that
You know that that's like the standard for Christianity. It's like yeah, man. You're better than Paul
You're better than every single preacher in the world and that's why you're not gonna lose your salvation
You know why I'm not gonna lose my salvation because of the grace of God
That's why not because I'm awesome or I don't sin anymore
No, I still sin. The only reason I'm not gonna lose my salvation is because whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed
And in this story we're gonna see that the Lord delivers them from the Philistines
Why because they called upon the name of the Lord in faith before they're trusting in the ark. They'll God help us
Yeah, you're trusting the ark you're gonna lose
But then you call upon the name of Lord when you're trusting in God and he hears you look at verse
Number 12 of Romans 10 for there's no difference between the Jew and the Greek for the same Lord over all is
Rich unto all that call upon him verse 13 for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord
Shall be saved. Yes, you must call upon the name of the Lord to be saved
And you know what if the Israelites here and of course, they're dealing with a physical situation
But honestly this represents salvation and I'm just gonna reiterate this again
I know I've already said it but before they were trusting in an inanimate object to save them
What does that represent?
well that represents the person that's trusting in their good life to save them or their religion to save them or
Their priest or their whatever their church to get them to heaven, right?
And guess what that doesn't save you that's gonna fail you every single time now here in first Samuel 7
Samuels preached to them the Word of God. They've listened to the Word of God. They're desiring to be in fellowship with the Lord
They call upon him. Are they trusting in the ark anymore now?
They're trusting in the Lord, right and he's gonna deliver them and it's the same thing with salvation that when someone stops trusting in
Their good life or whatever dead works that they're trusting in and they trust in God and they call upon him
God will hear them. God will save them
And this is why it is completely accurate to say that this is how you believe calling upon the name of the Lord is
How you believe because think about it before
Trusting in the ark doesn't matter. It's it's dead works
Doesn't matter if you call to the Lord
But here their heart has changed where they're putting their faith and once they put their faith in the Lord
What do they do? They call out to the Lord. Is this making sense to you?
This is why when you go soul winning and you get to the point where you preach someone the whole gospel
You've asked them questions to thoroughly check that they understand everything and sometimes so winners may even ask this be like hey
You know when I first got here you were trusting in the ark
Okay, you don't mean to say that exactly we just say hey when I first got here
You were saying that you think you have to repent of all your sins to be saved that you have to be baptized to be saved
But you know, I've showed you that salvation is only by faith in Jesus Christ
Have you changed your mind and you know what nine out of ten people say? Yes. I've changed my mind
Okay. Hey, if you've changed your mind, let me show you real quick this whole time
I've been telling you that all you have to do to get to heaven is believe on Jesus Christ
All I've been showing you is believe believe believe the question is how do we believe let me show you I show him Romans 10
9 through 13 and I just say hey if you believe these things
Will you just say a quick word of prayer with me and ask God to save you right now?
You could just repeat after me you say yes, and then we pray dear Jesus. I know I'm a sinner
I know that I deserve hell, but I believe that you died on the cross that you were buried and rose again
That you paid for all of my sins. I'm only trusting in you to save me and not in myself
Please save me and give me eternal life amen. You know what has happened to that person
They changed from trusting in the ark to trusting in the Lord
They called upon the name of the Lord and guess what God heard that and God saved them
Go back to
first Samuel 7 first Samuel chapter number 7
Calling out to the Lord is how you put your trust in him, which is why the Bible says that at what time?
I'm afraid I will trust in you. What are we supposed to do call upon the name of the Lord?
Hey, whether it's spiritual or physical salvation, you know how you get delivered calling upon the name of the Lord
It's the same look at first Samuel 7 8
It says in the children of Israel said to Samuel cease not to cry unto the Lord our God for us that he will save us
out of the hand of the Philistines and Samuel took a sucking lamb and offer it for a burnt offering holy unto the Lord and
Samuel cried unto the Lord for Israel and the Lord heard him and as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering the Philistines drew near
To battle against Israel
But the Lord thundered with a very great thunder on that day upon the Philistines and discomforted them notice and they were smitten before
Israel so notice just like hard preaching works and Samuel preached the word of God and it worked
It caused people to change you know what also works prayer also works when you call upon the Lord to deliver you it works
And when someone is unsaved and they put their trust in Christ they call upon him. Hey, no one's gonna be ashamed
It's gonna work every single time when you call out to the Lord for help. He will hear you
It will work notice number six the victory of the Israelites verse 11
It says in the men of Israel went out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines and smote them until they came under
Bethcar so notice finally here in first Samuel 7, you know, finally we get a positive chapter here
Finally some good is happening here. I mean before it's just like reprobate leadership and they're just like defiling the house of God
They're laying with the women at the door of the tabernacle God's killing half night Phineas
You know the glory of God's departing from Israel. They're getting smoked by the Philistines. The Ark is stolen by the Philistines
Hey, yeah, we got the ark back fifty thousand seventy you over are dead
But what happens is they get a leader and all of a sudden everything changes
Why because everything rises and falls on leadership when you had Eli? Hey, I think Eli was saved
I think we'll see Eli in heaven, but he was not a great leader
And so the nation was not in a great state, but all of a sudden here comes a godly leader
Here comes a man with a vision with the Word of God who's right with God and all of a sudden everything gets changed around
Why because everything rises and falls on leadership good leadership will bring you victory in life
It doesn't mean that your your life is gonna be perfect because some people you know
You this could happen at a church right churches go through ups and downs churches go through lawsuits churches go through
protesters and you know, that's not necessarily a reflection of
Whether what you're doing or not is right or sometimes, you know women they could get discontent because the finances are aren't great
You know, there could be ups and downs in life and still have a good leader
But here's the truth though is that at the end of the day good leadership will ultimately lead to victory good leadership will ultimately
Lead to victory while you'll have ups and downs when you have a good leader
Hey, they'll be victory, you know in a church if you have a godly pastor if you're following a righteous preacher
There may be ups and downs
But if you stick it out if you ride the ups and downs if you follow that person if you follow the Lord
You'll stand before the judgment seat of Christ someday and you'll realize like hey
We were led to victory when when God rewards us for our works when God, you know
Gives us crowns of righteousness for the works that we've done. You'd be like, yeah, but you know life wasn't really all that fun
Yeah, but it's not really about life. It's about the kingdom of God
It's about the kingdom of heaven and things that are eternal and you know just ladies you got a husband in this room
That goes to a great church. Your husband's a good man. If he's coming willingly to set fast Baptist Church, you know
He's taking your family here. He's leading you spiritually, you know, maybe not everything's perfect in your life right now
But I'm telling you that if your husband sticks out serving God, he'll lead you to victory
He will lead your family to victory
you know, you'll see your children grow up someday and get saved and love the Lord and
He'll lead your family to victory, but we need good leaders in our country. We need good leaders in churches
We need good leaders in families because everything rises and falls on leadership go to look at verse number 12 for Samuel 7
It says
Then Samuel took a stone and set it between Mizpah and Shen and called the name of it
Ebenezer saying hitherto have the Lord helped us and and just notice how Samuel here
Why is it that God used this man? Why is it that this guy's such a great leader notice the humility here?
He says hitherto have the Lord helped us and this is what a good leader does a good leader
Glorifies God a good leader gives the credit to other people rather than just taking the credit on themselves and here
Why is it that Samuel such an effective leader? Why is it that he's used by God? Well because when he leads them to victory
He doesn't say like oh, yeah, you know, I've slain my thousands. I've slain my ten thousands, right?
He's not singing his own praises. What is he doing?
He's saying hitherto at the Lord helped us and just you know a tip for you
If you want to be a leader if you want to be used of God you want to be a great man like Samuel
You know always give the glory to God for your accomplishments
Don't ever try to just bask in the glory of it or take it upon yourself because that's the surest way for God to humble you
For God to abase you rather if you want to continue to be used by him as a faithful servant
Give all the glory to him verse 13
So the Philistines were subdued and they came no more into the coast of Israel
And the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel and the cities which the Philistines had taken from Israel
were restored to Israel from Ekron even unto Gath and the coasts thereof did Israel deliver out of the hands of the Philistines and
There was peace between Israel and the Amorites
and Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life and he went from year to year and circuit to Bethel and
Gilgal and Mizpah and judged Israel in all those places and his return was to Ramah for there was his house and there
He judged Israel and there he built an altar unto the Lord
So, you know first Samuel chapter 7 it's a refreshing chapter in this story, isn't it?
You know, it's not too often especially in the Old Testament where you see pretty much everything going, right?
So just just bask in this for a minute because it'll immediately change. All right, this is just human nature
It'll immediately change pretty soon here. But you know, finally we see a positive chapter where things are going, right?
You know God is causing the Philistines to be kept out of their coasts all the days of Samuel's life
He's led them to victory. They're prospering they're right with God and you know, he this may be shocking to you
But here's the thing in your life in my life
When we actually humble ourselves when we actually maybe afflict ourselves with some fasting every now and then when we actually follow
The man of God when we actually you know
Do what's right and seek the Lord and turn from our wicked ways and seek his face
You might find that your life prospers - you might find that your life could be like a first Samuel chapter number seven as well
When you're actually doing what's right, but many people today, it's just human nature you read it in the Bible
You know how quickly we turn astray from the Lord and it doesn't have to be that way
You know we could choose to do what most people aren't doing do the hard thing and be faithful humble ourselves
Do what's right last verse here this evening go to James chapter number four James chapter number four
You know, you don't have to wait until your life gets so hard like these guys
You don't have to wait until you're just defeated in battle after battle, you know, people are getting killed
God's like destroying and cursing your nation. You don't have to wait till it gets to that point
You know what you can do James 4 look at verse 8 draw nigh to God and he will draw nigh up to you
Cleanse your hands you sinners and purify your hearts you double-minded. Let's pray Lord
Thank you for this chapter in the Word of God and the encouragement that we can draw from it
I just pray that you would bless leaders in our life bless
Pastor Shelley and thank you for his leadership and thank you for a man
That's dedicated himself for so long so that great works for God like this can be happening
just pray that you would knit our hearts unto him and that you would help us to humble ourselves to
Afflict ourselves from time to time and just to truly desire to seek your face to call upon you
When we need help and just pray that you would help us to have a burning desire
To lead others to call upon the Lord and be saved. We love you in Jesus name. We pray. Amen, right?
If you would grab a hymnal
We'll go ahead and sing one last song to conclude the service hymn number 93 in your hymnal
Art thou weary art thou languid hymn number 93?
Number 93 we'll start there right on the first
Art thou weary art thou desparate to me?