Sermon Tone Analysis

! Introduction:

!!! 1.                  Saul hides his experience from his family (v.14-16).

!!!! a)                  Where did you go (v.14)?

!!!!! (1)                 This may have been a simple, logical question.

Or, *Saul’s uncle *may be asking because he noticed that Saul had very, very oily hair!

!!!!!  

!!!! b)                  About the matter of the kingdom, he did not tell him (v.16):

!!!!! (1)                 We must be honest when we are dealing with others, although we don’t tell everybody everything, those who are over us (parents) we must tell.

!!!!!! (a)                 Samson did a similar thing as well (Judges 14:6)

!!!!!! (b)                Proverbs 29:11 /Don’t be a fool / 

!!!!! (2)                 Of course, it seems strange that Saul would not tell of what he had experienced.

Didn’t he have a lot to tell about?

!!!!! (3)                 Perhaps Saul was wise, knowing that the LORD had to reveal him as king over Israel.

What point was there in saying, “I’m the king now!” until the LORD had declared him to be king?

!!!!! (4)                 Or, perhaps Saul is just experiencing what many experience after a powerful encounter with the LORD: an attack from the enemy, making us fearful and cowardly to tell others what God has done in our lives.

!! B.                  Saul proclaimed as king.

!!! 1.                  Samuel’s Speech To The Nation Before The Appointment Of A King (v.17-19).

!!!! a)                  I brought Israel out of Egypt (v.18):

!!!!! (1)                 Before God appoints a king for Israel, God reminds Israel of all He has done for them.

In a sense, God is reminding Israel that He was still more than qualified to be their king, and their rejection of Him was all because of them, and not because of the LORD.

!!!!!  

!!!! b)                  But you have rejected your God (v.19).

!!!!! (1)                 Ultimately God himself was King (Exod 15:18; Num 23:21; Deut 33:5); he alone possessed absolute power and authority (Exod 15:6, 11; Judg 5:3-5; cf. also Judg 8:22-23).

!!!!! (2)                 Because Israel lived in a land surrounded by nations that had kings, their desire arose for a king as well.

According to (Deut.17:14),

God knew their desire for a king would arise and He would let it happen:

/“When you enter the land which the Lord your God gives you, and you possess it and live in it, and you say, ‘I will set a king over me like all the nations who are around me,’ you shall surely set a king over you whom the Lord your God chooses, one from among your countrymen you shall set as king over yourselves; you may not put a foreigner over yourselves who is not your countryman."

(Deuteronomy 17:14-15, NASB95)/

!!!!! (3)                 This Was Great Wickedness & Evil On Israel’s Part (1 Samuel 12:16-25).

!!!! c)                  What Caused Them To Reject God (1 Samuel 8:5, 20)?

!!!!! (1)                 They Wanted To Be Like Other Nations (1 Samuel 8:5, 20)

!!!!!! (a)                 God never wanted this to be the goal for Israel.

God wanted to make them /a special treasure to Me above all people . . .

a kingdom of priests and a holy nation /(Exodus 19:6).

God wanted to make Israel something special, and they wanted to be just like everyone else! 

!!!!!! (b)                You are His own special people now (1 Pet.2:9-10)

!!!!!! (c)                 Tickle me Elmo, cabbage patch dolls, always wanting what others have!

!!!!!! (d)                Wanting to be like the world (Romans 12:1-2), instead of being conformed into the image of Jesus Christ (Rom.8:29) is a bad mistake.

!!!!!! (e)                 God Told Samuel Give Them What They Want.

God was going to give them what they want to teach them a lesson, not because they were right.

!!!!!! (f)                  Sometimes, when we insist of having something bad, God will allow us to have it, and then learn the consequences *(Hosea 13:9-11; Psalm 88:11-12)*.

!!!!!! (g)                God will not force you against your will to serve Him.

If You Don’t Want To Serve God, He’s Not Going To Force You To Serve Him. 

!!!!!! (h)                 That’s not what the kingdom of God is about.

It will be when Jesus comes: He will rule with a rod of iron (Rev.19:15) and that will be enforced righteousness for one thousand years.

People will be forced to serve Him at that time.

But at the present time, God doesn’t force a man to serve Him. 

 

!!!!! (2)                 Don’t Take It Personal Samuel, They Are Rejecting Me, Not You (v.7b-8) 

!!!!!! (a)                 Jesus said, *“He who receives you receives Me” (Matthew 10:40)*.

A person who receives us and our testimony also receives Christ, because we are His ambassadors.

/"Then he said to the disciples, “Anyone who accepts your message is also accepting me.

And anyone who rejects you is rejecting me.

And anyone who rejects me is rejecting God who sent me.”" (Luke 10:16, NLT; John 13:20) /

/“Saul!

Saul!

Why are you persecuting me?”" (Acts 9:4, NLT) /

/"Do you remember what I told you? ‘A servant is not greater than the master.’

Since they persecuted me, naturally they will persecute you.

And if they had listened to me, they would listen to you!

The people of the world will hate you because you belong to me, for they don’t know God who sent me." (John 15:20-21, NLT) /

 

!! C.                  Is Jesus your king?

(John 6:15)

 

!!! 1.

A King Is One Who Rules, Not One Who Is Ruled By Others.

!!!! a)                  Luke 19:11-14—This Is The Message The World Has For The Lord Jesus Today.

!!!!! (1)                 People do not want Jesus ruling over their lives, for they love darkness (John 3:18-21)

!!!!! (2)                 They rebelled against God and His Messiah; they did not want Him to rule over them so they nailed Him to the cross.

!!!!! (3)                 At the beginning of His life, magi came to Herod, asking where they could find the King of the Jews (2:2).

At the end of His life, Pilate asked Him, “Are you the King of the Jews?”

He affirmed that He was (27:11–12), and Pilate approved His crucifixion on that basis (27:37).

!!!! b)                  The Multitude Was Determined To Use Jesus But Had No Desire To Obey Him.

!!!!! (1)                 In John 6, Jesus had delivered a particularly hard message, & the Scripture tells us:

!!!!! /“As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew, and walked with Him no more” /(v.

66).

As the crowds left, our Lord turned to His disciples and asked, “You do not want to go away also, do you?”

(v.

67).

Peter’s reply on behalf of the Twelve is significant: “Lord, to whom shall we go?

You have words of eternal life” (v.

68).

That was the right response.

!!!!! (2)                 Peter’s response revealed the difference between true disciples and hangers-on: their hunger for /the Word/.

/Jesus said, “If you continue in my word, then are you my disciples indeed” /(John 8:31).

!!!!! (3)                 People seeking to be entertained or fed, curiosity-seekers, and people who just follow the crowd are by no means true disciples.

It is those who love & obey the Word of God that are true followers of Christ.

Jesus said why do you call Me Lord, Lord and do not do the things I tell you (Luke 6:46)

!!!  

!!!!! (4)                 There Is A Sense In Which Their Rejection Of God As Their King Is Prophetic.

When Jesus stood before Pilate, the assembled Jewish mob declared, /we have no king but Caesar /(John 19:15).

Jesus was a rejected King also.

!!!!! (5)                 *God Himself saved them out of all their adversities tribulations.

*The LORD, speaking through Samuel, is showing Israel how their rejection of Him made so little sense.

Why would anyone reject the one *who Himself saved you out of all your adversities and your tribulations*? 

!!!!! (6)                 It is easy for us to think, “Wow, those Israelites were really stupid.

How foolish to reject God like that!”

But are we much different?

Whenever we, even in the smallest way, reject God, we show the same lack of sense.

!!! 2.                  Saul is selected by lot (v.20-21a).

!!!! a)                  And Saul the son of Kish was chosen (v.20)

!!!!! (1)                 Why did God do it this way, when He had already anointed Saul as king over Israel?

Because this would show the whole nation that Saul was the right man.

It would show that God had chosen Saul, not that any man had chosen him.

!!!!! (2)                 *They inquired of the L**ORD*: “Either by Urim or Thummin, which was the usual way of inquiry . . .

or by Samuel, who by his prayer procured an answer.”

(Poole)

!!!!! (3)                 “It appears that, in order to find out the proper person who should be made their king, they must determine by lot:

!!!!!! (a)                 The /tribe/.