In this compelling episode of Real Life Radio, Pastor Jack Hibbs delves into the powerful narrative of David’s anointing and Saul’s demise. Through the lens of 1 Samuel 16, explore how humility and obedience play pivotal roles in advancing God’s kingdom. Pastor Jack uncovers the reality of spiritual warfare, revealing how God’s kingdom continues to grow despite the world’s tumultuous challenges. This message offers both a thought-provoking and deeply spiritual perspective that will resonate with any believer striving to discern and follow God’s will.
00:22:23 Conclusion: Obedience and Usefulness in God’s Kingdom
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Today on Real Life Radio.
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Things perish in this world. Things that we want to think that we’ll, you know, give anything for. Regarding what you’re investing in, is it worthy of your life?
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This is Real Life. Welcome to Real Life Radio with Pastor Jack Hibbs. I’m David Jay, thanking you for joining us today as we listen, learn, and are challenged by God’s Word, the Bible. Did you know there’s an easy way to stay informed on the latest biblical events shaping our world today? Check out the Happening Now section at jackhibbs.com. Now, these live events feature Pastor Jack Hibbs alongside special guests diving into current events, cultural shifts, and how they align with biblical prophecy. It’s a unique blend of Bible teaching and real-time analysis that helps you make sense of today’s headlines through the lens of Scripture. Happening Now is not just about information. It’s about equipping you with the truth and encouraging you to stand firm in your faith, no matter what’s happening around you. These discussions are eye-opening, they’re thought-provoking, and they’re a great way to stay spiritually grounded in a rapidly changing world. Whether you watch live or catch up on past events, Happening Now will help keep you connected to God’s Word and what’s going on in the world today. Visit jackhibbs.com and click on Happening Now. Don’t just watch the news, understand it from a biblical perspective. on today’s edition of real life radio pastor jack continues now with his series called first samuel and a message titled advancing the kingdom samuel of the old testament was the last judge of israel and he was the first of its prophets so here as we continue in chapter 16 we’ll consider how God’s anointing is about his choice and purpose and not based on human merit. You see, David is anointed as king because of King Saul’s disobedience. As God’s spirit departs from Saul, David is sent to play the harp for him to relieve his torment. Now, David’s role as a harp player is seen as humbling, but that kind of humility is exactly what the Lord is looking for. So today, Pastor Jack teaches that David is advancing God’s kingdom through his service. And even though David is anointed but not yet king, God uses him, albeit in a lesser way, because of his faithfulness and willingness to be available and obedient. Now with his message called Advancing the Kingdom, here’s pastor and Bible teacher Jack Hibbs.
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Why don’t you grab your Bibles tonight then and turn, if you would, to 1 Samuel 16 and 1 Samuel chapter 16, and we left off in verse 13 of that wonderful chapter. And by the grace of God tonight, we’ll complete the chapter. 1 Samuel 16, and there you read in verse 13 where it says, Then Saul, or excuse me, Samuel, took the horn of oil and anointed him, that is David, in the midst of his brethren. And the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel arose and went to Ramah. But the spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and a distressing spirit from the Lord troubled him. And Saul’s servant said to him, Surely a distressing spirit from God is troubling you. Let our master now command your servants who are before you to seek out a man who is skillful, a skillful player on the harp. And it shall be that he will play it with his hand when the distressing spirit from God is upon you, and you shall be made well. So Saul said to his servants, provide me now a man who can play well and bring him to me. Then one of the servants answered and said, look, I have seen a son of Jesse, a Bethlehemite, who is skillful in playing, a mighty man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, a handsome guy, and the Lord is with him. Therefore Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, send me your son David who is a keeper of the sheep. And so Jesse took a donkey and loaded it with bread, a skin of wine and a young goat and sent them by his son David to Saul. And so David came to Saul and stood before him and he loved him greatly. That is Saul loved David greatly and he became his armor bearer. Then Saul sent to Jesse saying, please let David stand before me for he has found favor in my sight. And so it was, whenever the spirit from God was upon Saul, that David would take a harp and play it. with his hand and then Saul would become refreshed and well and the distressing spirit would depart from him we’re talking tonight about advancing the kingdom of God and how God is going to do that in this message before us in a very unique way God is advancing his kingdom now this is amazing it doesn’t matter what your neighbor or your co-worker or what maybe you yourself tonight’s thinking about the kingdom of God God’s advancing it did you know that Jesus said something very interesting that’s rarely studied or understood or even mentioned. Jesus says, the kingdom of God has suffered violence, but the violent take it by force. Doesn’t that almost sound kind of militant? I guess it’s one of those verses somebody could take out of context and put on some talk show about how violent Christians are, right? The kingdom of God has suffered violence. Well, that’s true. That’s always true. But the violent, Jesus said, take it by force. What was he saying? He was saying that the kingdom of God is under attack. The world system, the flesh and the devil attacks the advancing kingdom of God, but the kingdom of God is militant, meaning the word of God will never come back void. It will always accomplish that which God has sent it out to do. It never stops. It never gives up. It never quits. The word of God is going. and it is going to accomplish what God intends. And when Jesus says that the violent take it by force, he’s talking about those who are reckless in their faith, believing in God, who will advance at any cost. Because they know that the kingdom that they’re living for and dying for and worrying for is worthy of their absolute efforts. And I don’t know what you’re living for in this world or what is holding your heart, but is it worth dying for? Do you have something worth dying for? We say, oh, it’s my house. We got a brand new house. And it’s, well, you know what? About a year, you’ll be singing some other tune. My daughter’s friend of hers just showed me tonight their brand new, totally tricked out Silverado four-wheel drive. Just, guys, it’s to die for. Not really. Because you know what? Yeah, it’s brand new. Oh, you don’t know the door? First of all, guys, listen, guys, ladies, you could care less about this part, but guys, you open the door, you gotta climb up into it. Get up in there. You’re looking down at everything. What could be better? The smell of that brand new vehicle. Oh, it’s just something. But you know what? Give it six months. Give the first shopping cart that runs astray at Albertsons to get that thing. And then you’ll know where this thing is in the heart of the owner. You know? Things perish in this world. Things that we want to think that we’ll give anything for. Regarding what you’re investing in, is it worthy of your life? It blows my mind to think. that Mohammed Atta and a few other of these guys climbed aboard these airplanes and thought for a moment that they were going to fly them into a building or the Pentagon or the White House or the Capitol building, that they were going to somehow fly that in there, and in so doing, so please Allah, that a grand opening would be made available for them in eternity, that they could be ushered into the glory of God in doing such things, willing to die for that lunacy. And to be so devoted to a God, man-made God, which in his word never mentions the word love once. In all of the Quran, not once the word love. A God who Islam will tell you can’t be known. We don’t even know his name. That’s why we call him Allah. Allah is Arabic for God. We don’t even know his name. Yet they are so devoted. And they’re so willing to die for someone or something they don’t even know. Advancing the kingdom of God. David is going to be God’s man as he advances the kingdom of God. And we see obviously in our reading that God is going to be changing things regarding the life of Saul. And so we’ll see tonight how the kingdom of God advances. But remember this as we continue in verses 14 on down, that verse 13 teaches us clearly that God’s anointing came upon David. And the Bible tells us that that anointing came upon him from that day forward. And so that’s a very powerful thing because God, the Holy Spirit, is among His people, calling them and anointing them, as we’ll see even in worship, to advance the kingdom, a very powerful thing. Look with me now in verse 14 as we see that God is in control. You may find this interesting, that God is in control over the situation that’s before us in verse 14. It says, “…but the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul…” and a distressing spirit. Some of your Bibles have an evil spirit. That is true. An evil spirit from the Lord troubled him. Say, Jack, time out. Wait a minute. An evil spirit from the Lord came and troubled Saul? Yep. Well, how can that be? That’s what the Bible says. But listen, do we understand? Is God not in control of everything, says the Word of God? Listen, I know Satan gives you and I, in fact, not only Satan, but all those little, you know, demonic goobers give us a hard time. But quite frankly, do you know something? Have you read the book of Job? The book of Job teaches us that nothing can come into our life without first getting clearance from God. Did you know that? You know, that’s a very powerful thing. That’s a very comforting thing. In 1 John 4, it says, Greater is he that is in us, that is the Holy Spirit, than he that is in the world. A reference to Satan and his demonic powers. That’s a very encouraging thought. Very encouraging truth. But the fact of the matter is God is in control. And we’re going to see how much so as we go through this. And for some of you who have always wondered, you know, if God is good, then why is there so much evil? That’s a good question, huh? Now, I hope somebody in here has that question because everybody on the street has that question when you talk to them. But we look at verse 14 and we realize that God is in control even over a fallen world. Can you make note of that? God is in control even over a fallen world. It tells us here that the Spirit… departed from Saul, that is key to understanding the verse in front of us. The Spirit, that is the Holy Spirit, departed from the life of Saul, and in that vacuum, in that opening, an evil spirit came in. But you might say, well, the scripture reads and tells us that God sent that spirit. Well, listen, there’s a very important thing you need to understand. There are two senses in which God may send something in life. This is important for all of us to know. Example, did God send the hurricane? Well, in a way, yes. But… It killed so many people, and it killed even good people, and it knocked down churches, and it did this and did the other. Did God send that? Well, yes, but he does things in such a way where there are two explanations. God leaves himself that open door. And what are they? They are this. He can send something your way in two different ways. He can send something by what is known as the active sense, meaning that… God will do something very directly. It will never be in association with sin. In the active sense, he’ll send good, he’ll send blessing. And listen, he’ll send discipline, he’ll send judgment, yes, because that is one of the natures and characteristics of God, he’s holy. But there’s this active sense in which God sends something. It’s always, by the way, in the positive. So if you’re taking note, God will send something into the lives of this world or we people here on this planet in an active sense, meaning in a good sense, in a positive way, even if it looks evil to us. That’s, by the way, how we know that all things work together for good to those who look right. How does that happen? Because of God’s intervention in the active sense. Why? Because he’s working something out in our lives. That’s very important. Scripture, James 1, verse 17 says, “‘Every good gift and perfect gift is from above “‘and comes down from the Father of lights,’ “‘that is the Lord, “‘with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.'” That is the active sense. In this study before us, God removes himself from Saul, and in the vacuum, God sends, or God, how about this, allows an evil spirit to come. That is the second understanding, passive, the passive sense. There’s the active sense, God imparts something that is good and workable for us. And then there’s the passive sense, meaning that Satan is around right now, capitalizing on sin, on weakness, and he’s wreaking havoc in the earth, right? If you don’t know that, you’ve got a problem. But that’s what he’s doing. That God allows in the passive sense. There is a reason for it. God is not sending the evil. There is a law at work. And that law, by the way, that is at work is, Whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap. You know, that’s a true spiritual law if you’re a Christian or not. Did you know that? That’s true. It applies across the board even for a non-Christian.
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You’re listening to Real Life with Pastor Jack Hibbs. To learn more about this ministry or to catch up on some previous episodes, go to jackhibbs.com. That’s jackhibbs.com. And now let’s get back to today’s message. Once again, here’s Pastor Jack.
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Be not deceived. God has not made fun of or mocked or taken lightly whatsoever a man sows, whatever he does, that he is going to reap of. And that is a spiritual law that is there. Very important, 1 Corinthians 5, verses 1 through 5 says, it is actually reported. Now, I got to tell you, Paul is speaking to the church at Corinth. Listen to this. It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you. And such sexual immorality is not even named among the Gentiles, meaning the Gentiles don’t even do what you guys are doing in Corinth. Corinth was a weird place. We’ll study that book in the near future. But he says that a man has his father’s wife. This is a stepson with a stepmother. And you go, man, that’s in the Bible? Yeah, it’s in 1 Corinthians chapter 5. Pretty bizarre, isn’t it? Paul is saying, you know, this is really twisted, that a man has his father’s wife. They’re having relationships together, and you are puffed up, and you’re not rather mourning that he who has done this deed might be taken away from you. For I indeed, as absent in the body but present in the spirit, have already judged. That is, Paul is saying, I judge this sin in the church as though I were present. Now listen to this. As you hear this scripture read, this man is obviously, don’t. I don’t want to hear their, I don’t get it either. But this guy that is sinning with his stepmom, he’s obviously a believer. Listen to this. Watch what happens to him when God removes his hand of protection and allows the passive sense to apply to this guy’s life. I’m judging as though I were present. Him who has done this deed in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together along with my spirit, and with the power of the Lord Jesus Christ. Deliver this one to Satan, for the destruction of his body, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus Christ. Isn’t that powerful? See, what he’s saying? This guy was a Christian, he’s backsliding and sending up a storm. Paul hears about it and makes judgment and says, cast the guy out from you. You know, you’re supposed to do that when a brother won’t turn. In fact, the casting of him away is to get him to come back. It’s like a drastic measuring. Did you know that? And Paul says, cast him out. Why? Because he’s going to be out from underneath the covering or the active sense, God’s protection. And when he’s out from under that umbrella, then he’s open to anything that’s going to attack him. And if Satan destroys his body, in other words, kills him somehow, well, fine, if that happens, at least his soul will be saved in the day of Christ. Isn’t that heavy? I tell you, those of you who are on a works-based relationship with God, you ought to think about that verse for a while. I mean, that’s heavy. Isn’t that sick? Yet the guy’s going to go to heaven, but he’s going to get there a little sooner than everybody else, sooner than what God had planned, because God wanted him to live a godly life. And he’s living a horrible life. And God says, through the Apostle Paul, that’s it. I’m removing my hand. Throw the guy out. Satan’s going to kick him all over town. And when he’s done kicking him all over town and killing him, then I’ll take him. Isn’t that something? I actually knew a brother. My wife and I knew a brother years ago at Calvary Chapel, Costa Mesa. I don’t need to tell you about the details. But this man just couldn’t stop sinning in this area. And he hated it, by the way. He lamented it. And for years, this sin was destroying his witness. It was destroying his life. He was completely getting consumed emotionally. Depression began to creep in. It was horrible. And we loved this guy. We were with him every Friday night. And we hung out together. Wonderful guy. But… One night on a lonely road, he was driving his truck and he was killed. And the moment we heard about it, we all knew that the Lord loved this guy so much. He couldn’t shake his sin. The Lord had taken him home. And I believe that clearly from scripture that Sunday we’ll see that brother again in heaven. Now, I don’t know how big of a God you have in the way of grace, but everything I just said is very biblically accurate. Don’t wander away, though, under the protective hand of God. And Saul’s going to be a perfect example of this. Even though we’re living in a fallen world, God is in control. In the passive, yes, as we see here, and in the active. And the amazing thing that’s going on is there is a passive sense which God removes his hand from Saul and an evil spirit comes. And then in the active, we see God’s hand coming upon David. There’s no accident here. It’s a changing of the guard, so to speak. Very powerful. And so we see the protective hand of God being taken away from Saul, and that is a frightening thought. Another thing under this verse is to consider the danger that sinning brings us to the place of not being used by God. Now, all of us are sinners and all of us sin, but do you continue in your sin? God will deal with you in any amount of sin, be it in your thought or in your actions. But know this, that apparently, clearly, from the life of Saul, and even in New Testament theology, that if you keep sinning and you keep rebelling against God, even though God loves you, God will remove His hand of protection, and in fact, you will become unusable. Now, you might be saying, well, Pastor, I’ve known people who are absolute renegades, and God’s using them, and how come He hasn’t stopped using them? I don’t know the answer to that. I know people, too, that I wouldn’t even, I wouldn’t let my… wallet be in their hand, yet they’re in the ministry. I don’t trust them. Wouldn’t turn my back on them. And I wonder, God, what are you doing? You ever been there? Have you ever wondered that? What’s the deal? And then the Lord speaks back to my heart. Hey, every servant, as Romans tells us, stands or falls before me. You’re not their judge. And that’s right, Lord, I back up. And besides, if I just stop and think for a minute, does God, as we were talking on Sunday, does God grade on a curve? No. If I tell you the fish I caught on the boat was this big when it was this big, what’s the difference in robbing a bank to God? There’s no difference. There’s no difference. So we want to be gracious. But we can become unusable. Salt is going to become unusable, though it’s going to take years for that to go on. It seems that whatever was a blessing to Saul, by the way, God is transferring to David. God seems to have transferred this anointing, obviously, from Saul to David. And it says that the spirit departed from Saul. Can you imagine such a thing? 1 Samuel 15.10, we studied before that. Now the word of the Lord, it says there, came to Samuel saying, now listen, 1 Samuel 15.11 says, I greatly regret that I have ever set up Saul as king. for he has turned his back from following me. Listen, that’s a warning to all of us. Don’t turn your back from following the Lord. And he has not performed my commandments. And it grieved Samuel, and Samuel cried out to the Lord all night. See, Satan filled that void. You can be a Christian tonight. You can walk with God and then depart from the Lord. Listen, it doesn’t mean you lose your salvation. It means you’re going to get kicked all over town. by a loving God who may not send the boot from his own foot. He will literally use Satan, the world, and the flesh to attack you. Did you know that? To humble you, to get you flat on your back. He’ll do that. And I don’t know how that sits with you, but when God loves somebody, the Bible tells us in the book of Hebrews, he spanks every one of his kids. Did you know that? Well, Pastor, I don’t like that because I was raised under Dr. Spock. And I ran my house. I ran my mom and dad. Nobody told me what to do. And look at you now. None of the work that God is having to do with you now because of that. But you know what? You sit a little junior down. You instruct them. You lead them. And I tell you, it keeps them out of trouble. Steers them in the right way. The Bible says this. And, of course, this is increasingly under attack in our liberal world. But what does our world know about God? Absolutely nothing.
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pastor and Bible teacher, Jack Hibbs, here on Real Life Radio, and his message called Advancing the Kingdom. Thanks for participating with us today. You know, this message is part of Pastor Jack’s series called First Samuel. It’s a series that highlights the prophet Samuel who was called by God during one of Israel’s darkest times to bring the people back to a heart of true worship. And we’ll continue on the next edition of Real Life Radio. Hey, Pastor Jack, this is the time of year when we normally start talking about the one-year Bible because we like to get together as a church and as everybody who listens to our various broadcasts to do the one-year Bible together, right? This is the time of year we start talking about that. But we’ve got this special deal going on where you can get the one-year Bible and your new book, Watching Waiting, the devotional, the 40-day devotional.
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Yeah.
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For a gift of any amount, we’re going to send you both of those books. Tell us about the one-year Bible. Tell us about watching, waiting.
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Yeah, thank you. Wow, you’re making me go back now four decades, and I mean many decades. Could be three decades where we as a church, the entire church family, you know, how do you have a big church stay small, feel small? Well, here’s what we do. Every year, we all start out reading the one-year Bible, starting on January 1st. And so every November, every December, we make sure that those who don’t have the one-year Bible, that they make sure that they get it. And so on January 1st, all of us dive into the Word of God. And my goodness, I think we’re coming up on 30 years of going through the Bible. 30 times. Isn’t that amazing? And so it’s been amazing, and we’re just encouraging people. And then, of course, as you mentioned, getting a copy of the brand new devotional. It’s a 40-day devotional, watching, waiting. It’s a devotional written about really the expectancy of Christ’s coming. Are we ready? How do we get ready? What does it mean to be ready? And so it’s all Scripture-versed and Scripture-referenced, and we think that you’re going to love it. I think it’d be a good addition to your one-year Bible.
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the one-year Bible, and the 40-day devotion by Pastor Jack called Watching and Waiting. Get your copy for a gift of any amount at jackhibbs.com slash real radio. That’s jackhibbs.com slash real radio. This program is made possible by the generous contributions of you, our listeners. Visit us at jackhibbs.com. That’s jackhibbs.com. Until next time, Pastor Jack Hibbs and all of us here at Real Life Radio wish for you solid and steady growth in Christ and in His Word. We’ll see you next time here on Real Life Radio.
