The fall of a king

1 Samuel 15:13–19 KJV 1900

13 And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of the Lord: I have performed the commandment of the Lord. 14 And Samuel said, What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear? 15 And Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites: for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed. 16 Then Samuel said unto Saul, Stay, and I will tell thee what the Lord hath said to me this night. And he said unto him, Say on. 17 And Samuel said, When thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the Lord anointed thee king over Israel? 18 And the Lord sent thee on a journey, and said, Go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they be consumed. 19 Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of the Lord, but didst fly upon the spoil, and didst evil in the sight of the Lord?

Introduction

Explain: The commandment that Saul disobeyed.

Explain: How Saul was given all the opportunity in the world to be a great king.

-He was chosen directly by God

-He had the support of his kingdom

-He had God’s power behind him.

-He was respected by all.

But here he decides that he knows better than God, and disobeys the direct commandment from God.

He follows his own plan. He refuses to do what God had commanded him to do.

He only obeys in part.

And so God decides to take the kingdom from him, and give it to someone else.

We see the fall of a king.

Where did Saul go wrong?

What caused him to make these mistakes that led to his demise?

The simple answer to that question is in V17.

1 Samuel 15:17 KJV 1900

And Samuel said, When thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the Lord anointed thee king over Israel?

When thou was little in thine own sight...

The enemy that defeated Saul was not a Philistine, or any other king, or some traitor within his ranks.

He was defeated by himself.

Because when God chose him, he was little in his own sight. He was humble.

He didn’t think he was anybody and he didn’t think he could do the job.

But in time, he began to lose that.

He began to think that he was really something.

He became proud.

And eventually he lost his kingdom and even his life because of it.

The same way that king Saul lost his kingdom, many christians have also fallen…especially many christian leaders.

They were defeated by their #1 enemy…their own pride.

Pride is one of the most dangerous enemies of a christian, especially a christian leader.

In 1 Tim 3, the apostle Paul explains the qualifications of a minister.

He specifically warns of the dangers of pride that a pastor must avoid.

1 Timothy 3:6 KJV 1900

Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil.

Many have begun just like Saul.

They were humble, they were little in their own eyes.

But through time, especially if they were placed into any type of leadership…they began to lose their humble spirit, and it was replaced with pride.

It was replaced with arrogance.

A title can make us proudful

Explain: The danger of a title.

Example: Getting a title in church or work

Example: When I was first called pastor Peter and then in time how the temptation is to think that you are something. - sign my Bible.

Power can make us proudful

Explain: How Saul was corrupted by the power he was given.

Example: Satan was lifted up with pride when he was made the anointed Cherub

Example: The cowoker who is made a supervisor and then in pride begins to treat others badly

Example: In Colombia how a security guard will be proudful and treat others pourly just because he feels he has power over them.

Power has a way of revealing the true character of a person, and corrupting those of humble spirit.

It is a dangerous thing to give power or leadership to someone who does not have strong character.

Success Can make us proudful

Example: The humble pastor who is lifted up in pride as his church grows.

Churches have become trophies for proud leaders in to many places.

Example: When soulwinning numbers become a contest.

What a blessing it is to win a soul to Christ, what a tradgedy it is when we boast about it.

Example: Our new building…we probably have the nicest Christian church building in our city now…but that can also cause us to be lifted up in pride and be a danger.

Example: How Charles Spurgeon said he didnt pay attention to too much criticism or too much praise.

Poem IF

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;

If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster

And treat those two impostors just the same;

Experience can make us proudful

Example: Saul starting out humble, but in gaining experience as king became proudful

Example: People now call me a veteran missionary…we must be careful of experience making us less reliante on God.

When we first began the Christian journey, we were little in our own eyes.

When we taught Sunday School or preached for the first time, we were humble and prayed and depended completely on God.

We must be careful to do the same with the same amount of dependence and humbleness even when we have much experience.

Lest we fall as Saul did.

Lest we stop being little in our own sight.

Proudful leaders can do incredible damage

Leaders have an incredible opportunity to do good and help people, but they also have great power to do harm.

Example: Look at modern politics

Example: How Saul turned into a monster who attacked his most loyal servant, almost killed his own son, and killed 85 priests and burned the city of Nob killing all its inhabitants.

How was he able to do all that?

That is what pride will do to you.

I have seen pastors, lifted up with pride, instead of feeding and guiding the sheep…scatter and wound the sheep.

I had this happen in my own church recently, when my assistant pastor was lifted up with pride.

Note: I have seen wives of leaders do the same.

Being a leader in any sense (we all have some leadership) is a great responsability.

If you allow pride to lift you up as a leader, the devil will turn you into one of his most effective tools.

Leadership is an incredible responsability.

Example: The wolf in the new testament and the scorner in the old testament are the same person. Their motivation is pride.

Proverbs 21:24 KJV 1900

Proud and haughty scorner is his name, Who dealeth in proud wrath.

A proudful leader will turn into a scorner and will act like a wolf in the church.

This is what happend to Diotrophes

3 John 9–10 KJV 1900

I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not. Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious words: and not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them out of the church.

A man that we can assume once was a humble leader in the church became motivated by pride…to be seen of men…to have the preeminence.

Our motive for serving the Lord must be love and not a desire for preeminence.

God sees our heart and our motives.

Our motives cannot be pride.

Explain: How we can desire fruit no out of a pure motive but out of a proudful one.

The church and work of God cannot become a trophy we use to lift ourselves up.

A desire to be great in the eyes of others shows that we are motivated by pride

I want to be a great missionary, a great pastor, a great christian.

Its good to desire fruit for the glory of God.

But be careful of that desire to be great. It will destroy you.

Don’t desire to make a name for yourself or be well known, desire to lift up Jesus Christ.

We must repent of that desire to have preeiminence.

He that will be first will be last.

Mark 9:35 KJV 1900

And he sat down, and called the twelve, and saith unto them, If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all.

We show the pride in our hearts when we talk good about ourselves.

Proverbs 27:2 KJV 1900

Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; A stranger, and not thine own lips.

We show pride when we esteem ourselves better than others

Example: Always looking for faults in others so that we can feel better about ourselves.

Example: Saul with the ladies singing in the market.

Cutting down others to lift up ourselves.

We do this because of pride.

We want to esteem ourselves better than we esteem others.

We must esteem others better than ourselves.

Philippians 2:3 KJV 1900

Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.

We show pride when we demand others respect us

Example: someone in authority telling you to respect them.

Proudful leaders do not lead others…they drive and manipulate them.

They demand respect.

This is not Christian leadership.

1 Peter 5:3 KJV 1900

Neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being ensamples to the flock.

Amy Carmichael: Good leaders: Always come, never go

How can we avoid being lifted up with pride?

Remember the following.

God says that we are nothing

Galatians 6:3 KJV 1900

For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.

The Bible says that we are nothing.

Pride says we are something.

That we have something to offer the world.

But God says the opposite

We are nothing more than dust

Ecclesiastes 3:20 KJV 1900

All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.

We are nothing more than dust and one day we will go back to being dust.

All the good we do is because of God working through us

Isaiah 10:15 KJV 1900

Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith? Or shall the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it? As if the rod should shake itself against them that lift it up, Or as if the staff should lift up itself, as if it were no wood.

Example: Winning souls in Trinidad because I can speak Spanish.

It is God that worked through me, not my own goodness that did that.

Example: When an artist paints, we don’t praise the brush. We are the brushes and God is the artist.

All the credit belongs to God.

God does not need us

He can use a donkey to speak, rocks can cry out.

He doesn’t need you.

If you are lifted up in pride he will use someone else.

Example: God didn’t need Saul to be king, he had David.

Example: How God took the children of Israel into the promised land

We are fooling ourselves to think we are something

Galatians 6:3 KJV 1900

For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.

You are literally just believing a lie if you are a proudful person.

We are nothing.

Saul learned this the hard way.

When he saw himself as small in his own eyes, he saw what was the literal truth.

God will not use a proud person

Isaiah 42:8 KJV 1900

I am the Lord: that is my name: And my glory will I not give to another, Neither my praise to graven images.

God will not share his glory with you. He will not use you if you are going to take any of the credit.

Proudful people are an abomination to God

Proverbs 6:16–17 KJV 1900

These six things doth the Lord hate: Yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, And hands that shed innocent blood,

God hates the pride in man.

It is an abomination.

It was the original sin of satan.

There is not a word that is stronger to use against something that God hates than abomination.

God is literally against the proud person

1 Peter 5:5 KJV 1900

Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.

Instead of God’s hand of blessing on your life.

God will be against you.

God only uses the humble

1 Corinthians 1:25–29 KJV 1900

Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence.

God wants to use us…but only when we are humble

Only when we are weak and little in our own sight.

Only when we rely on Him.

Note: God will humble us through trials so that we come back to this point.

This is why we should be thankful for trials.

1 Peter 1:7 KJV 1900

That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:

We must understand that we are nothing.

Out of all the character traits we must maintain as Christians, humility is one of the most important.

Without humility we can do nothing.

Proverbs 3:34 KJV 1900

Surely he scorneth the scorners: But he giveth grace unto the lowly.

Conclusion

Romans 12:3 KJV 1900

For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

Am I little in my own sight?

Lets avoid falling into pride and being destroyed like Saul did and walk in humility.

Let’s be small in our own sight.

Invitation