I Don’t Want To Hear

turn your Bibles to Hebrews chapter 11 Hebrews chapter 11 as we're going through a series called broken we're talking about how that God heals broken people and then God uses broken people this is God's Hall of Fame these are the great men and women of faith and we've gone through and looked at each one of them saw how in their lives that they had something that was broken something that was wrong in their life some sin in their past some things that challenges that they've had to face and yet God worked in their lives then God also used them for his glory and so today we're coming down to one of the last ones named specifically and that's in verse number 32 of Hebrews chap 11 and it says

and what shall I more say for the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and of baric and of Samson of jeepa and David also and Samuel and of the prophets so here now the writer of Hebrews is getting down to the end of his list he realizes he's running out of time and and and so he just kind kind of runs through a list of names and most of them are fairly well known especially like Gideon and David and then Samuel and Samuel's the one we're going to look at today in fact we're going to look at Samuel today and next week as well because Samuel was one of the greatest prophets that ever lived and there's much I believe we can learn from his life but I want to start in the early years of Samuel's

life and so if you'll turn over to the book of 1 Samuel chapter 3 1 Samuel chapter 3 if you have any problem find is right for 2 Samuel all right so 1st Samuel chapter 3 2 Samuel and then 1 and 2 Kings and 1 and 2 Chronicles you got a bunch of firsts and seconds right there together and you want to have 1 Samuel chapter 3 and uh what I want to talk about today is the title of my message is this I don't want to hear what you don't want to tell me I don't want to hear what you don't want to tell me have you ever had your spouse or somebody else come up to you and say um I need to talk to you and usually when they say something like that you you in your mind you're thinking I don't want to hear

it because you know it's going to be something you're not going to like you know it's going to be something that's wrong or something that you need to take care of and and you really don't want to hear it and you're going to do everything you can to avoid hearing that as well and on the other side of the coin I I don't know about you but as a husband and as a parent when my kids were younger and even as a pastor one of the hardest things to do is to realize I'm going to have to go talk to that person because there's a problem because you know when you have to go talk to somebody you never know how they're going to react right some people get mad at you for telling the truth some people will

get uh depressed and upset and all down about it some people they'll react in so many different ways and I found over the years that most people's attitude is I don't want to hear what you don't want to tell me so I hope that you will hear what God wants to say to you today in 1st Samuel 3 and: 1-9 we introduced to Samuel as a child it says in verse number one and the child ministered unto the Lord before Eli and the word of the Lord was precious in those days there was no open vision and it came to pass at that time when Eli was laid down in his place and his eyes began to wax dim that he could not see and a the lamp of God went out in the temple of the Lord where the Ark of God was in

Samuel was laid down to sleep that the Lord called Samuel and he answered here am I and he ran unto Eli and said here am I for thou calls me and he said I called not lie down again he went and lay down and the Lord called yet again Samuel and Samuel Rose and went to Eli and said here am I for thou D call me and he answered I called not my son lie down again now Samuel did not yet know the Lord neither was the word of the Lord re yet revealed unto him and the Lord called Samuel again the third time and he came went to Eli and said here am I for thou D call me and and and Eli perceived that the Lord had called the child therefore Eli said unto Samuel go lie down and it shall be if he should

call thee that thou shalt say Speak Lord for thy servant heareth so Samuel went and laid down in his place and the Lord came and stood and called as at the other time Samuel Samuel then Samuel answered and said speak for thy servant Heth and so we see here the introduction of Samuel as a young boy he was ministering onto Eli Eli was old and couldn't see very well couldn't get around because it like his it kind of like he's a seing eye boy you know and uh would do a lot of uh things for him and to help him out and that he was dedicated to the Lord to do that and so where you have Samuel and God calls Samuel and he calls them four different times now in 1 Samuel 3:1 though it says and the

child Samuel Minister unto the Lord before Eli and the word of the Lord was precious in those days there was no open Vision you see in that time period there was no open Vision there was no prophets that were speaking from God they weren't hearing from the Lord in Proverbs 29: 18 it says where there is no vision the people perish but he that keepeth the law happy is he and and so we want to hear from God and I hope you came here today the church saying I want to hear from God I want God to speak to me now let let me ask you a question what is precious to you it says that the word of the Lord was precious in those days uh the idea of the word precious here is that it was very rare and that

made it of Great Value because they hadn't heard from God uh but what is of Great Value to you in Psalms 139:1 17 it says how precious also are thy thoughts unto me oh God how great is the sum of them is it precious to you that God thinks about you is it precious to you that you have the opportunity every day to hear from God through his word is the Bible precious to you in second Peter chapter one and verse number four it says whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises that by these you might be partakers of the divine nature having escaped the corruption of the world through lust you know back in Samuel's day they didn't have very much of the word of God and uh and and

and so what they wanted to hear from God they had to wait for God to reveal himself to a prophet or to a priest or someone in the nation of Israel and they would speak onto the nation for God and and and that was a rare occurrence to happen you and I we have the complete word of God we have a more sure word of God the Bible tells us we have something that we can rely upon and we can hear from God any day any time any place but yet the truth is most Christians very rarely open their Bible it is precious in their day because they don't open open the Bible very often is the word of God precious to you is it something you say I want to hear from God and open the word of God is preaching precious

to you in 1 Corinthians chapter 1 and verse 18 it says for the preaching of the Cross is to them that perish foolishness but unto us which are saved it is the power of God it you know is the preaching of God's word precious you wake up on Sunday and say I get to go and hear God's word I I get to go hear a message from God through his word word you see when you're not in church I found this truth in my life personally and I found this true as a pastor as well is it's the message that I miss is the one I need the most you know as a pastor i i i as I said many times I never write a message for somebody you I I promise you that I will never get up preach a message with your name on it now now I

will tell you this there's sometimes I'm working on a message and I'm thinking that is so and so needs this message you know but I never write a message for somebody if I'm going to tell you something personally I'm going to tell it to you personally I'm not going to tell you you from the pulpit but I had a lot of people tell me after the message Pastor you were talking to me well it wasn't me talking to you it was the Holy Spirit talking to you but you know what I found a lot of times is the very message I'm thinking this person needs it that's the service they're not in it it's like and and a few times early on in my Ministry I wrote a message for somebody they were never there anyway and

and so uh and and they never reacted to it even if they were it seemed seems like the message that you miss is the one that you need the most and you know you ought to have an attitude you only get to hear the word of God preached couple times a week on Sunday morning on Sunday night on Wednesday night or a Bible study and I I want to be there because that message is for me that is God's word speaking to me is the preaching of God's word precious to you is counsel precious to you uh hold your place in 1 Samuel and go over to Proverbs chap 15 proverbs Proverbs chap 15 and look at verses 31-33 Proverbs chap 15 and beginning with verse number 31 it says the ear that heareth the reproof of life

abideth among the wise he that refuses instruction despises his own soul but he that heareth reprove GTH understanding the fear of the Lord is instruction of wisdom and the and before honor is humility do you do you appreciate counsel do you want to hear uh other people give you counsel do you want to hear from other people when there's something wrong in your life do you want people to come to you and say listen I've observed something I'm concerned about do you seek out counsel and and getting counsel and making decisions is counsel precious to you H how do you react to counsel how do you react when somebody comes to you and says listen I I I see a problem in your life I wanted to share

with you I I see something I'm concerned about how do you react to that now some people they react in Ang anger you ever had anybody like that you you go and tell them something they just get mad at you and what do you mean and they react in Anger other people they react with an attitude like you can't tell me what to do or some people they'll react by getting all depressed oh I'm such a terrible person or other people react and and they'll just ignore you they'll hear they may hear what you say but they ignore what you say they really don't want to hear it you know there's a lot of ways people react one of the ones I love the most a lot of teenagers will do this is when the when you go to

them and say something about something they're doing wrong or something that needs to be corrected in their life they'll say this I know I know you know I found out when people say I know I know they don't know you know they're just trying to push you off and tell you you don't know anything and and and and don't at don't have that attitude you see the Bible says in Psalms chapter 10 and verse number four it says the wicked through the pride of his countenance will not seek after God God is Not all's thoughts a lot of times when I go to somebody to say listen I'm concerned about somebody I can tell what their attitude is by their countenance by the way they look they you know sometimes

they'll give you that stink eye you know what I'm talking about sometimes they'll look away they'll they'll give you this not looking at me and not listening to me you know give an attitude what you want to do is you want to receive that counsel in Proverbs 12 and verse number 15 the Bible says the way of a fool is right in his own eyes but he that hearken the counsel is wise you see for a lot of people their attitude is I'm right and you're wrong and and they just don't want to hear what you have to say uh you know people come to me for counsel quite often and a lot of when they come to your counsel they're not looking for my opinion they're not looking for the word of God you know what

they want to hear is they want to hear their opinion coming out of my mouth that's what most people with counseling they're they're looking for somebody will give them their opinion out of my mouth and and and and that's not what you need you need to hear the truth you need to hear What God Says in Job chapter 18 and verse number seven it says the steps of the of his strength shall be straightened and his own counsel shall cast him down you know I've learned a long time ago that I'm probably wrong and and that's why I need counsel to straighten me out I need counsel to help me to do what's right because I've got a heart that is deceitful above all things and and my heart likes to deceive me

and tell me what I want to hear and tell me what I want to do rather than what I need to do and that's why I need counsel because I need someone who's not invested in the same way I am to tell me the truth you know sometimes the Bible says in Proverbs 11:14 where no counsel is the people fall but in the multitude of counselors there safety you know especially when more than one person is telling you there's a problem you got to listen to it if if the whole world stinks check your children because you may be the problem if a lot of people are coming to you telling you the same thing then maybe there's a problem that you need to deal with look at first Samuel chapter 2 and verses 22 and 23 1

Samuel chap 2:22 it says now Eli was very old and heard all that his sons did unto Israel and how they lay with the woman that that assembled to Door the Tabernacle of the congregation and he said unto them why do you such things for I hear of your evil dealings by all this people now a little bit later we're going to look at Eli and Eli had heard from a lot of people hey your sons are not doing well but he did nothing about it and so often I see that where people they they they hear the truth whether it's in the preaching or whether it's in counsel or wherever it is but they do nothing with what they've heard and we need to listen to that Council we need to listen to the word of God and we

want to hear from God as he speaks to our lives so I want Wonder today are you open to hearing it are you wanting to hear what God wants to tell you in 1st Samuel 3 and: 7 it says now Samuel did not yet know the Lord neither was the word of the Lord yet revealed unto him in Ezra 7:10 it says for Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord and to and to teach it and to do it and to teach it in Israel statues and judgment see Ezra prepared his heart to hear what God had to say to them did you prep prepare your heart for the sermon this morning see I prepared a sermon to preach to you but you also have a responsibility to prepare your heart to receive that message to receive that

sermon when you open your Bible you need to prepare your heart and say God I want you to speak to me I want you to show me what I need to do in my life do you do you seek counsel really wanting to learn the truth rather than hear what you want to hear see we have to come open to hear it we have to open our ears go over to the book of Acts chapter 28 keep a marker in 1 Samuel we're going to come back there again but Acts chapter 28 and look at verses 26 through 28 Acts chapter 28 and beginning with verse number 26 Bible says saying go onto go onto this people and say hearing you shall hear and shall not understand and seeing you shall see and not perceive for the heart ofest people's wax

gross and their ears are dull of hearing and their eyes have they closed th they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and could be con could be converted and I should heal them be it known therefore unto you that the salvation of God is sent un Gentiles and that they will hear it you see you come in with an attitude of listening with an attitude of hearing do you come saying God I've got my ears open I've got my heart open to you I want to hear what you have to tell me today you need to come open your ears to listen you know a lot of times you watch people you watch me during the sermon I get to watch you and and sometimes you can see things

with people and their attitude and the way they sit you know your body language speaks a lot about your what you're doing in Jeremiah chapter 17 verse 23 it says but they obeyed not neither inclined their ear but made their neck stiff and they that they might not hear nor receive instruction in Acts 7:51 it says ye stiff necked and uncircumcised in heart ears you do always resist the Holy Ghost as your father so do ye you know so often we come to church and we've got this attitude try to teach me something got this attitude where I I don't want to hear it you know you can see this in church you can see this with maybe your spouse or your children you can see this when you try to talk to

somebody and and and so often our body language is said don't talk to me I don't want to hear it I know I do that with my wife many times I I I I know there's a problem and I don't want to hear the problem so I just kind of give her that attitude to keep her keep her backed away to realize don't come closer you're going to get hurt you know and we so often our body languages speaks louder than anything else in Proverbs chapter 22 turn over to there if you would Proverbs chapter 22 in verses 17- 22 Proverbs chapter 22 and beginning with verse number 17 says bow down thine ear and hear the words of the wise and apply thy heart unto my knowledge for it is a pleasant thing if thou keep them

within thee they shall with all be fitted in thy lips that thy trust may be of the Lord and I have made known to thee this day even to thee have not I written to thee excellent things and counsels and knowledge that I might make thee know the certainty of the words of truth that thou mightest answer the words of truth to them that send unto thee notice what he says in verse 17 bow down thine ear and hear the words of wise apply thine heart you see you can tell people that really want to learn because they're sitting forward a little bit their their ear is tilted towards you they they got eye contact with you because they really want to hear what you have to say you know parents if you're if

you got a problem one of your kids and you talk to them and they're looking all over the place what you what do you think do you think they're listening to you many times we'll say as parents hey look at me why because that that shows our attitude of Desire of learning and I wonder is we come to church if we open our Bible if we seek out counsel and and we're open to hearing what needs to be said to receive it see the Bible talks about receiving counsel go over to James chapter 1 James chapter 1 and look at verses 21- 23 James chapter 1 and beginning with verse number 21 says wherefor laying apart all filthiness and superfluity of natin and receive with meekness the INR Ed word which is able

to save your souls but be doers the word and not hears only deceiving your own selves for if anybody hear the word and not a doer he like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass you see he said listen put all this other stuff aside and and receive the the with meekness the engrafted word of God listen to what's being said it's kind of like the the picture of that word receive is like when you put a leash on a dog to receive it to not fight against it and and to receive counsel to receive the wisdom uh what's being taught to you to listen with a heart that says I want to learn I want to understand I want to I want to know what's wrong in my life and what I need to fix in my life and

and and we have to have open ears and we have to have an open heart and and and even a body language that says listen I want you to speak to me I want you to talk to me go to Proverbs Chapter 2 Proverbs Chapter 2 and look at verses 1-5 Proverbs 2: 1-5 my son if thou receive my words and hide my Commandments with thee so that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom and apply thine heart to understanding y if Thou criest after knowledge and lifted up the voice for understanding if thou seekest her silver and searches for his H Treasures then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God you see what you see the words he's using here he says it's not something that's

passive it's something that's active when you come to church you actively need to say God speak to me and open your heart to listen and reach out to grab what's being said it's actively when you sit down with your spouse or your parents or somebody else to listen to when there's a problem it's saying I want to understand the problem I want to know what I need to correct here I want to know what I need to fix we when we go for counsel it's it's not to just hear what we want to hear but really we're seeking in the Lord and say Lord I want I want to understand I want to do the right thing is that the attitude that you have do you have a heart that's open to counsel to open to the wisdom that

God has given do you want what God wants in Psalms 37: 4 and 5 the Bible says Delight thyself also in the Lord and He Shall give thee desires of th heart commit thy way unto the Lord trust also in him and he shall bring it to pass do you truly want what when you're going for counsel do you want God's will in your life when you come to church do you want God to change you in 1st Samuel chapter 3 1st Samuel chapter 3 and verse number 7 it says now Samuel did not yet know the Lord neither was the word of the Lord yet revealed unto him if you want to hear from God you've got to know God do you know God in 1 John 5: 12 and 13 the Bible says he that hath the son hath life he that hath not the Son

of God hath not life these things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the son of God that you may know that you have eternal life and that you may believe on the name of the son of God do you know that you're on your way to heaven do you know that your sins are forgiven do you know that you have eternal life do you know that you have a relationship with God if you want to hear God speak to you you've got to know him and if you don't know him then you need to trust him as your savior in Revelation 3 and verse 20 it says behold I stand the door and knock If any man will hear my voice and open the door I will come into him and I will s with him and he will me you know sometimes

you I try to talk to a family member maybe a spouse or a child they don't want to hear what they say what you say what do they do they go in their room and they close the door and maybe even lock it and you're knocking the door say let me in let me in and and God wants to come into your life and God wants to come into your heart and God wants to be your savior and he wants to know you and for you to know him because when you know God then you can hear him speak to you do you know God at this point Samuel did not know God the first step of hearing from God is you need to get to know him to know him as your savior to know him as your as your God in your life as your heavenly father sometimes

we have the attitude what I don't know won't hurt me but what you don't know will hurt you and for Samuel he need to know the truth and so did Eli Eli you know Samuel in verse number one it says and the child ministered unto the Lord before him before Eli you know you can minister to the Lord and not know the Lord you can be a Sunday school teacher and not know Jesus Jesus you can be an usher and not know Jesus you can see in the choir and not know Jesus you have to have that personal relationship with him but Samuel at this point in his life was ready to hear from God and and he was persistent four times God called Samuel before he finally answered and listened sometimes it takes more than

once sometimes it's not the first time you hear it or the second time you hear it or even the the third or fourth time year sometimes it takes a while to get through our thick heads but we've got to be persistent turn over your Bibles to Jeremiah chapter 29 Jeremiah chapter 29 and look at verses 11-13 Jeremiah 29: 11-13 says for I know the thoughts that I think towards you sayith the Lord thoughts of peace and not of evil to give you an expected end that then shall you call upon me you shall go and pray unto me and I will hearken unto you and you shall seek me and find me when you shall search me with all your hearts folks sometimes you got to be persistent sometimes God will speak to you in

a sermon but but then you've got to go back and you got to open up the Bible and start searching for those things to find out the answers it doesn't just I I've learned over the years one counseling session doesn't solve your problems you got to be willing to go back again and again and again to be persistent in seeking the Lord in your life do you ask God to speak to you Samuel finally said Speak Lord for thy servant heareth and I want to challenge you is ask God to speak to you when you open your Bible for devotions take a moment say God speak to me through what I read when you come to church on your way in if nothing else on your way in maybe Saturday night or Sunday morning before you

leave home or on to drive in just say God I want you to speak to me through the message today God speaks to us in so many different ways but we've got to be willing to listen in First Kings chapter 22 there's one of the kings that uh God was trying to speak to and he wasn't listening and and the other king said to him say is there anybody else he said well there's this one Prophet but I hate him and that Prophet came and told him the truth and guess what happened he got thrown in jail you ever had that happen to your marriage you ever told your spouse the truth about something and you got put into jail the silen jail I'm not going to talk to you anymore they ignore you jail whatever else it

might be ever had that happen so often what we do is we punish the messenger instead of listening to what's being said what we need to do is we need to draw it out and in in first Samuel chapter 3 let's turn on back over there 1st Samuel chapter 3 not not only did God speak to Samuel but he also spoke through Samuel to Eli I want you to look at verses number 16- 17 says then Eli called Samuel and said Samuel my son he answered here am I he said what is this thing that the Lord has said unto thee I pray thee hide it not from me God do so to thee and more also if thou hide anything from me of all the things that he said unto thee sometimes you got to draw out the counsel you got to draw out

the truth I I know sometimes my wife she's afraid to tell me what I don't want to hear and I've got to say honey listen please tell me I I need to know it I'm not going to be mad at you sometimes you got to draw that out sometimes you got to ask people to tell you the truth because most people don't want to tell you the truth because they don't want you mad at them but we've got to draw that out Proverbs Chapter 20 and verse number five it says counsel in the heart of man is like deep water but a man of understanding will draw it out I want to learn I want to know I want to understand see you can't fight God so who do we fight we fight the messenger we get mad at them in Proverbs Chapter 9:7

it says he that reproveth a scorner GTH to himself shame and he that rebuke the wicked man get himself a blot when you tell some people something's wrong they're just going to get mad at you instead of listening to you don't be that kind of person in Proverbs chapter 20 in verse number six says most men will Proclaim everyone his own goodness but a faithful man who can find you want people in your life that'll tell you the truth even when you don't want to hear it you want people that you're going to listen to and so often what we do is when somebody tells us something's wrong what do we do immediately we all said this is what I do with my spouse I don't know if you do this or not you're

probably better than I am but my wife will come and say to me hey there's a problem and she'll tell me what to do and I and I'll this is my first reaction but you isn't that your reaction instead of listening to what they say you immediately attack but you do this and we want to attack the other person listen whether the other person is right right or wrong doesn't matter anything else about them listen you can have a fat man tell you your fat just don't listen to them for diet advice and when people tell you there's something wrong listen to what they say in Ephesians 4:15 but speaking the truth of love may grow up into in all things which is ahead even Christ Galatians 4 and verse 16 am I

therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth we need to hear the truth of God's word in Romans chapter 7: 18- 19 says for I know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing for the will is present would be how to perform that which I would which is good I find not for the good that I would I do not but the evil which I would not that I do one of the things I've tried to learn over the years is this is if somebody says there's something wrong in my life they're not always right but they always have some right very rarely is somebody 100% right they don't know the circumstances they don't know this they don't know that but there's always some truth with when somebody has

a criticism about me sometimes it's 90% true and sometimes it's only 10% truth now I can get mad at them say well I'm going to reject you because you got some untruth here or I can say I'm going to own the truth that's what I want to learn from and so it's learning from that truth allowing it to teach me and help me to grow in 1 Samuel chapter 3 when God told Samuel about about what was going to happen to Eli it says in verse 11 the Lord said to Samuel behold I will do a thing in Israel at which both the ears of everyone that heareth shall tingle and at that day I will perform against Eli all things which I spoken concerning his house when I began I will also make an End Eli's Sons were out

of control he had brought shame to the priesthood and God said I'm going to judge Eli and and this thing that's going to happen he says it's going to it the ears are going to tingle when they hear what's going to happen and and it was it was pretty harsh judgment that Eli was going to get in second Timothy chapter 4 talks about bringing to ourselves preachers with itching ears so often what we want is we want the preacher to tell us what we want to hear instead of what we need to hear and we need to hear the truth this is not the first time God had spoken to Eli in 1st Samuel chapter 3 and 1st Samuel chapter 2 he made sure Eli knew his sons were being Wicked and what they were doing was

wrong but he did nothing about it he knew it he knew what was going on that's why he said to Samuel tell me the truth tell me what I need to hear because I haven't been listening in 1st Samuel 4: 21 the Bible tells us and she named the child ikabod saying the glory is departed from Israel because the Ark of God was taken and because of her father-in-law and her husband her father-in-law was Eli Eli had brought judgment upon the nation of Israel I don't want that and I know you don't want that and that's why we need to listen remember Matthew chapter 26 when Jesus said one of you is going to betray me what did every one of the disciples say Lord is it I is it I is it me we need to come ready

to listen to God speak to us now the problem was later on when God told Peter Jesus told Peter you're going to betray me Peter said no Lord I'll never do that he stopped listening and how often do we do that same thing Pride go Before Destruction hotly spirit before fall be the person is willing to listen to what everybody really doesn't want to tell you nobody very few there's a few people love to be bearers of bad news and you know those kind of people but most people don't want to tell you when you're doing something wrong but you need people like that in your life you need people that you've given permission to tell you the truth when you don't want to hear it and you need to listen with

an open heart and open attitude don't punish them for telling you what you need to hear in Psalm 74: 9 it says we see not our signs there's no more any profit neither is any among us that knoweth how long see this is the reality folks if one person sees it a lot of other people see it too and we're not fooling anybody except ourselves and we need people in our lives husbands and wives parents sometimes even children friends pastors who will tell us the truth and we need to listen when that truth is is told when we look at Samuel's life next week we're going to find one of the biggest mistakes in Samuel's life was being a father you would think after seeing what Eli did he would have done a

better job with his kids but he didn't and by the time he heard that they were a mess it was too late to do anything about it we need to make sure we don't make those same kind of mistakes so let me ask you three questions do you want to hear the truth do you in your heart be honest with yourself do I really want to know the truth do I really want to know what I'm doing wrong do I really want to know when there's something not right in my life do you want to hear the truth the second question is are you approachable with the truth is your spouse willing to come to you and tell you when there's something wrong or they're afraid is your parents or even your children willing to talk to you

about something they see do you have friends and people in your life that you've given the freedom and the permission to come and talk to you to tell you the truth and do you draw it out of people do you come to church saying Speak I'm listening do you seek counsel do you seek and say would you tell me the truth in this area of my life