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Source: https://www.sermonindex.net/speakers/dave-hunt/god-calling/
I'm going to read tonight in 1 Samuel chapter 3, for our first reading. 1 Samuel chapter 3, and we'll read at verse 4. 1 Samuel chapter 3, and reading at verse 4, or we'll read at verse 3. Connection, 1 Samuel chapter 3 and verse 3, And ere the lamp of God went out in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was, and Samuel was laid down to sleep, that the Lord called Samuel.
And he answered, Here am I. So we notice right away he's calling to a young lad, a young boy, Samuel. And so the Lord is calling. And he ran unto Eli and said, Here am I, for thou callest me. And he said, I called not, lie down again.
And he went and lay down. And the Lord called yet again. Now verse 7. Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, neither was the word of the Lord yet revealed unto him. So you notice here he didn't recognize who was calling.
He was being called, but he didn't recognize who really was calling him. And the Lord called Samuel again the third time. And verse 9. Therefore Eli said unto Samuel, Go lie down, and it shall be, if he call thee, that thou shalt say, Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth.
So Samuel went and lay down in his place. And the Lord came and stood and called, as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak, for thy servant heareth. First Corinthians chapter 15.
First Corinthians chapter 15. And verse 51, verse 50. First Corinthians 15 and verse 50. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Neither does corruption inherit incorruption.
Behold, I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment. In the twinkling of an eye at the last trump. For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
Now just over a few pages to Ephesians chapter 2. Ephesians chapter 2. And verse 8. Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 8. For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.
And then one last reading is in John chapter 3. John's gospel chapter 3 and verse 35. John chapter 3 and verse 35. The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life.
And he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. Now the Lord will bless what we've been listening to, I'm sure, and help we trust for a few moments in the last part of our meeting.
One has said that life is a highway of which we are all travelers. So the highway of life, you and I tonight, every one of us in this company, we are on the highway of life. We are travelers on the highway of life.
And this, of course, has to do with this life. What is reality is we are everyone that travels on the highway has a destination. And in our meeting tonight, every one of us here in this meeting tonight, this company tonight, we are traveling, we are travelers on the highway of life, and every one of us have a destination of which we are heading, we are going.
Some in our company tonight, as I look over this company, I'm aware that the majority and maybe the vast majority of this company tonight is traveling the highway for heaven, the highway to heaven. And there are some in our company tonight, sad to say, and burdens our heart.
Some here that we've come to know in the last little while that we've been praying for night and day actually at times. And there's some tonight that's not on the highway to heaven. Which highway are you on tonight?
If we were to ask you going out of the hall tonight, as we shook your hand, which highway are you on? The highway to heaven or the highway to hell? There's only two roads. That's on the chart behind us.
We've noticed that night after night, one of those highways, one of those roads lead up and one of those roads lead down. One of those roads are going to heaven and one of those roads are going to hell.
And so we are travelers tonight. And if you're traveling on that broad road tonight, as we've been reminded already, the heart's desire of the people of God, which is great, the heart's desire of the preachers, which is great, but not as great as the heart of God.
Because God's heart tonight is reaching out to boys and girls, men and women. And God desires that, you know what the Bible says, God is not willing that any should perish. He is not willing that one soul, one boy, one girl, one man, one woman, he is not willing that anyone should perish.
You know how I know that? Because into this world there came God's beloved Son. God so loved the world, He gave His only begotten Son. And into this world He came that He might go to the cross, to die on the cross, to be buried, to rise again.
And up from the grave He arose. We've been reminded for the purpose, my friend, that you and I might have our sins forgiven and that we might be put on the road, the highway to heaven, that we might enter through that open door.
I'm thinking tonight of a call that is made to this young man Samuel in 1 Samuel chapter 3. And so God is interested. God is interested in young people. God is interested in young boys. God is interested in young women.
God is interested in every soul in our meeting tonight. And you know what the first thing when I noticed, think about this call that is made, it was a call to get this boy's attention. He's sound asleep.
Samuel is sound asleep. It says that he does not yet know the Lord. And he didn't even recognize that it was God that's calling. Now you think tonight that it's the preachers that are calling. Or you think tonight it's mom and dad that's calling me, that's interested in me, that wants me to hear the gospel and wants me to be saved.
Maybe you think it's a husband or a wife that is interested and that's calling. Well, I want to tell you, friend, it goes way higher than that tonight. And it's a call really from heaven itself because God is calling to men and women, boys and girls.
He wants to get your attention. He wants to you to to be awakened. He wants you to wake up to understand that he is calling and your need is tremendous. Eternity that's before us. Every one of us are headed for the great eternity.
We are never coming back. It's a one way journey, my friend. And when we cross this pillar on this chart, when we cross this pillar and we take our flight out into the great eternity, there is we are not coming back.
None of us. And if I'm going to be in heaven, I have to start that journey here. You know what the Lord said when he was here? He said the son of man have power on earth to forgive sins. The death of Christ cannot avail here in this place.
The death of Christ, the blood of Christ, the sacrifice of Christ, the sufferings of Christ, the agony of Christ, the verse in the Bible that says he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities.
The chastisement of our peace was upon him with the stripes we are healed. And the work that he did, my friend, upon the cross can never avail a person that has gone to this place, that has crossed this pillar, that has gone into eternity.
And you and I tonight are traveling. We are travelers to eternity on the highway of life. And on that highway, you know, we would remind you tonight, heaven is calling because heaven wants to get your attention.
Boys tonight, girls tonight, young ones tonight, older person tonight, God is calling, heaven is calling, heaven is interested that you might be awakened to your need of a savior. So he awakens, Samuel, Samuel, wake up.
He didn't even know it was God calling. God calls in different ways, you know. You know, there was a young man over in Labrador that got saved one night, the late Mr. Ramsey was preaching the gospel at night at a conference, a large conference in Lancelot.
And Mr. Ramsey said these words, if the judgment of God won't awaken you, if the judgment of God won't stir you, perhaps the love of God would move your heart. And you know, that young man sitting in that meeting, that was like an arrow.
It was like an arrow went right to his heart. The love of God, God's love for me, loved me so much in the giving of his son. And that went right to his heart. Before that night was out, he went home that night and his mom and dad that couldn't read or write, but his mom used to get the calendars and she would cut the texts off the calendars, cut the text off and she would pin it, different ones over his bed at night or in the day.
And she would pin it up there where her son could look at the text of scripture, even though she couldn't read it herself. And that's that young man went to bed that night and into his room, he looked at the text that his mom had cut out of the calendar, cut off the calendar and had pinned to the wall.
And he recognized, I forget what text it was now, maybe Romans 5 and 6, 5 and 8, but God commendeth his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. You know, you could drink the truth of that in tonight.
If you were to be awakened, if you were to understand it's God, my friend, it's not the preacher. The preacher has no strength, but it is God, the mighty God, the eternal God, the creator God, the God with a heart of love to give his son.
He calls tonight and he's calling for you. He wants to get your attention. Sometimes it's sickness. Sometimes he sends sickness into a person's life to get their attention. The Bible says sometimes it's even the dreams in the night.
A person doesn't get saved in a dream, but sometimes a person is awakened. They've dreamt maybe the Lord has come as my daughter did, as I've mentioned, woke up in the middle of the night crying, just screaming.
And she said, I dreamt the Lord came and you were gone and I was left behind. A dream, sometimes a dream awakens a person. Sometimes a person has dreamed, I've heard of people that dreamt that they died and went to here, to this place, went to hell.
And God spoke to them, you know, be kind of God. If he was to speak to someone here in our meeting tonight, maybe he already has. Maybe you've already experienced that. You know what God is doing? He wants to get your attention.
But then it was a call to action. Not only was a call to attention, not only did he want Samuel's attention, not only did he want to awaken them, needed to be awakened. People are drifting. In the meeting, I've often said, when Mr. Howard called out in the meeting one night, as I was sitting down at the back there, sound asleep, I'm away to hell as fast as time could take me.
Mr. Howard looking down, he says, David, he says, wake up. It's for you that we're preaching. And of course, I didn't like it that night. You wouldn't like it either. I'm sure if we called your name. But later on, after I considered it for a while, for a few years, I realized that man had more interest in me than I had in me.
I was sound asleep. The devil had me sound asleep in my sins, going down that broad road to hell as fast as time could take me. And the devil was rejoicing, keeping me from thinking about God, being angry at the preacher, angry because he woke me up.
And that kept me with a bitterness against the preacher and against the gospel. And I vowed I would never sit in another gospel meeting. They would never tell me, speak to me like that again. I was angry.
And you know what was happening? The devil was laughing. I was going down to hell as fast as time could take me. And the devil laughing and all the time God was calling, trying to get my attention, wanting me to stop in the way I was going.
Time after time, just a hair's breadth from eternity. Young man, one night on top of a mountain after a night of whatever, left the road, rolled the car, demolished the thing, woke up at the hospital.
You know what I thought? I laid there for a week. My mom was a nurse so she used to be there every day working. Laid in that hospital bed for a week. And I thought if I'd have been killed, I'd been in hell.
Still didn't stop. Didn't call a halt. Maybe there's someone tonight in our meeting. If God got your attention tonight, if you understood God, it's been God that's speaking to me in His kindness, wanting me to stop, to halt in my life.
He wants to save me. He wants to make me ready for heaven. He wants to forgive my sins. The Son of Man has power on earth right here, right now, tonight my friend. He has the power to forgive sins. The blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son cleanses us from all sin.
Mrs. Joyce, Mr. Joyce's wife, she said one night, we spoke a little bit or tried to in Corner Brook, and she said, there's one thing you did wrong tonight. Well, I said, one thing I suppose not too bad.
But I said, what was that? She said, you didn't speak about the blood. It's the blood, the blood of Christ that cleanseth from all sin. And I never forgot that word of exhortation. And I would like to try every night the blood.
The Lord Jesus gave His life. He shed His blood. And we heard today it's the value, the precious blood of Christ, the value of the one who shed His blood. I've often thought in Exodus chapter 12, when that lamb was slain, when that little one was taken and the knife plunged into that lamb and the blood was taken and applied on the top of the door and the two side posts, you know what that blood was?
That was precious blood because the son was saved. The son in that family, the oldest one in that family, he was saved when the destroying angel passed through. And I'm sure they looked at that blood and they would appreciate its precious blood.
The lamb has died and the son is safe. Precious blood. But you know, when it comes to the cross, the man who died upon the cross, the one who was nailed upon the cross, it was precious blood. The son was not saved.
The son gave His life. The son suffered on the cross. He bore our sins on the cross. He shed His blood on the cross. And we sing that hymn, see from His head, His hands, His feet. And we could add His side.
Sorrow and love flowed, mingled down. Did e 'er such love or sorrow meet or thorns compose so rich a crown, my friend? Would the love of God maybe reach your heart tonight? If the judgment of God won't stir your soul, perhaps the love of Christ would reach into the depths of your soul tonight to recognize that God loves you so much.
And He wants you to be saved, wants to forgive your sins. And He wants to do that tonight. First Corinthians 15, a coming moment. We've already heard about that. The truth of the Lord's coming. And I would just remind you tonight, when I think of the Lord's coming, it's going to be soon.
You know that? Probably heard that lots of times. It's going to be soon. It's going to be silent. No big announcements. Not going to hear about it. Not going to be in the newspapers. Not going to be burst over the radio.
The sirens might go off for a tornado. You might hear the roar of the sirens when the tornado is approaching. And we would hear that, I suppose, tonight if a tornado approached from wherever and came rushing like the train, like someone said.
It just sounded like a train going through. The tornado. When Christ comes, my friend, no sirens are going to go off as a warning. The Lord is coming. You need to get ready because He's coming. It's going to be silent.
No rushing of mighty winds. No crashing of a roar of a train going through. It's going to be, we heard today, suddenly. The preacher always said a twinkling of an eye, a half a wink. And so one of the little boys tried to do it.
See how quick it would be? A half a wink. But we heard today is going to be quicker than that. So no time to get ready. One man said here, you know, he said, I thought that when the Lord came, I would get a hold of my mom and I would go with her.
She would take me with her. You know, that's not going to happen. You're going to wonder where mom is, though, and dad for a while. What an awful awakening. For those that know the truth of the Lord's coming.
So He's coming soon. It's going to be silently. It's going to be sudden, sudden. And what a separation. Tremendous. The separation. Can hardly take that in. To think of loved ones that know the truth.
Children brought up under the gospel. Names on a Bible with your own Bible, with your name on it. I can remember the first Bible I got. Sunday school teacher gave it to us when we could quote the books of the Bible.
Didn't even know the books of the Bible. When we started the Sunday school, wouldn't know one book from another. And she taught us the books of the Bible and gave us her own Bible. And there's some here, you probably got more than one Bible.
And with all those Bibles, you could come to this building. You could knock the door. You could cry. What a moment. What a day. What a separation. Let them touch your heart. If you're not saved tonight, consider what it will be like for wisdom to be wise.
To fear, to have that fear. I was afraid. I was afraid the Lord would come. I'll be honest tonight. You can call that scaredy if you want. Didn't scare, didn't worry about a lot of things. But when I thought about the Lord's coming, that scared me.
When I thought about dying, that scared me. And the Bible says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. You know what? I'm glad tonight I'm saved. I'm glad for that moment in my life's experience when I surrendered to the claims of Christ and I accepted what he did upon the cross.
Ephesians chapter two is a choice that's a must. For by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves. It's a gift, a gift of God. You know what you do with a gift? Well, you have to make a choice either to accept it or to reject it, either to receive it or to refuse it.
And you know what? Salvation tonight is a gift. And that gift is being offered tonight to everyone in this meeting, my friend. And you can't you can't get away from it. We are offering a gift tonight from the scriptures, from heaven, from God himself for by grace.
And it's the grace of God that extends it. It's the grace of God that provides it. It's a grace that brought Christ into this world. You know, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for our sakes he became poor, that we through his poverty might be rich.
And so it's grace all the way. And for by grace are you saved through faith, that not of yourselves. It's a gift of God. What are you going to do with the gift? Going to say no again, don't want it. Don't want your gift.
Not interested in your gift. Or will you say, yes, I will. I will accept it. I will receive it. I will take it. I'll take it right now. And lastly, the consequences of the message. John chapter three, verse thirty six, he that believeth on the sun.
Half everlasting life, is that true? If I asked you if that was true, what would you answer? He that believeth on the sun, why Christ that died on the cross, the one who gave his life on the cross that bore our sins on the cross, that was wounded on the cross.
Sure, I believe that. Do you believe it? Is it true or is it not? Is it true? He that believeth on the sun hath everlasting life. He that believeth not the sun shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him.
I was thinking of a girl. I'm going to close. Back in Prince Edward Island, actually. A few years ago, I went to visit a couple. We were having a few meetings over on Prince Edward Island. And so there was a young man who was from Labrador.
I knew him from Labrador when we lived up there. And his girlfriend. And they had a little girl. And so I went to visit them to ask them to a gospel meeting. And I left. When I left, of course, she never said very much.
She was never to a gospel meeting in her life. And wasn't brought up under the sound of the gospel. He was. That's why I went. So I left. When I left the house, I left a bunch of Murray McCandless's tracks there.
And so then two years runs by. Two years rolls by. And I get a call from Labrador, from this boy's mother, that says his girlfriend is bothered about being saved. And so my wife and I go over to visit her.
And him. And sure enough, we find a young lady that is bothered. She told me, she said, I've read those tracks of Murray's over and over. We've moved different times. And I always wanted to throw them away.
At first, I wanted to throw them. I just get rid of them. Throw them away. But she said there was something about them. I just didn't dare. So they went on the top of the fridge in every house we went to.
Anyway, we talked to her that night about the gospel and invite her to her gospel meeting the next night. I'll shorten the story. Anyway, we went to the gospel meeting. And during that gospel meeting, when we came to the end of that gospel meeting, I could see this young lady, tears running down her face.
And we were singing a hymn. That's the hymn we're going to sing right now. And as we sang this hymn, I could see she's touched. Just as I am without one play. But that thy blood was shed for me, and that thou bidst me come to thee, O Lamb of God, I come.
We're driving home in the van. And she's in the seat behind mine. So I said to her, calling her by name, Amanda. I said, if we, if this van had an accident right now, and you were killed, I'd asked her that night before.
And she said, well, she thought she'd be in heaven. I said, where would you be? And we were killed. She said, heaven. Just like that. Well, I said, what makes the difference tonight from last night? She said, you know, in that meeting tonight, as we were singing that hymn, she said, you know, I don't know who my father is.
Never knew a father. Never had a father. So she said, I don't even know where I came from. And she said, you know what I found out in the meeting tonight? And she had lived quite a rough wild life for a while.
She said, you know what I realized tonight? It didn't matter to God where I came from. And it didn't matter to God what I did in life. He would take me just as I am. And you know the story so well. In this story of the message of the gospel, he would take you tonight just as you are.
So as we sing this hymn, we'll close in prayer, sing a couple of verses of this hymn and the meeting is over. And thank you very much for being with us. Father, we bow. We thank you for the privilege of speaking a little word in the gospel, and we pray that it might prove a blessing to those that sit and listen tonight.
We thank you for the crucified one, the one who gave his life, who shed his blood, and who offers salvation full and free tonight. We pray there might be a soul in this meeting that will accept the gift that is offered.
Bless thy word, honor thy son, and help us to sing this hymn in sincerity we ask in our Savior's name. Amen. Hymn number 92, just as I am without one plea, but that thy blood was shed for me and that thou bidst me come to thee, O Lamb of God, I come.
We'll sing verses 1 and 5 of this hymn, verses 1 and 5.