The King's Prophet

Grace to you and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. It is an honor to share the Word of God with the saints of Durbin Memorial Baptist Church.

If I were to bring up a speech by Abraham Lincoln, you would almost assuredly think I was going to begin with, “Four score and seven years ago,” and continue on through the rest of the Emancipation Proclamation. While that is certainly the most popular speech of President Lincoln’s life, it is not his ONLY speech. In fact, as he was boarding the train in Springfield Illinois before heading off to Washington DC to play his role in the Civil War, Lincoln addressed those he loved with the follow words:

“My friends, no one, not in my situation, can appreciate my feeling of sadness at this parting. To this place, and the kindness of these people, I owe everything. Here I have lived a quarter of a century, and have passed from a young to an old man. Here my children have been born, and one is buried. I now leave, not knowing when, or whether ever, I may return, with a task before me greater than that which rested upon Washington. Without the assistance of the Divine Being who ever attended him, I cannot succeed. With that assistance I cannot fail. Trusting in Him who can go with me, and remain with you, and be everywhere for good, let us confidently hope that all will yet be well. To His care commending you, as I hope in your prayers you will commend me, I bid you an affectionate farewell.”

In his farewell speech to the state of Illinois, Lincoln expressed his sentiments towards the people he was leaving behind and a hope for what is to come in the future.

There is one major problem in Lincoln’s farewell address to the state of Illinois. You may have noticed as I read through that statement that there were some overt allusions to “higher power”. The “Divine Being”. Trusting in “Him”. To “His” care. Lincoln made all of the allusions to something greater without ever defining it.

I want to preface my next statement with admissions that I am both not a Lincoln scholar familiar with the intricate details of his life, nor am I the Holy Spirit which is capable of knowing the intricate details of Lincoln’s heart. But that said, Lincoln’s allusions to an unspecific higher power are a problem because in the life of Lincoln, we never see that he came to know who that higher power really is. Lincoln was raised in a Baptist home. He would be associated with Christians of influence all throughout his life, but you don’t see any specific claim of faith in the life of Lincoln. Knowing this makes Lincoln’s farewell address to the state of Illinois fall flat to me.

Farewell speeches are massively important for a variety of reasons. They provide future generations with historical documentation, giving us insight to the state of affairs and experiences going on in that time period. They are an opportunity to reflect back on what has happened and establish a legacy. Farewell speeches give closure and transition, the speech can help smooth the move between two regimes. The farewell speech often includes guidance or inspiration. Its generally the last time the speaker will knowingly have the opportunity to address the people so they take the opportunity seriously.

There are many of those elements contained in Lincoln’s farewell address to the state of Illinois, but it falls short because of his unspecific allusions to some general deity. Lincoln was right to see a Divine Being working above and through all things, but blinded to not see that the God preached to him in his youth was that divine being.

Isaiah 45:5 ESV

I am the Lord, and there is no other, besides me there is no God; I equip you, though you do not know me,

Lincoln had a general knowledge of the handiwork of God without giving God the credit He is due.

I want to make one thing clear before we jump into our primary text this morning:

There is but one God, the triune God of Scripture. Anything else portrayed to be in the same light as the One God, Triune and True, is false god. A less than god with no power to save. Something not worthy of your time or your attention.

President Lincoln’s speech would have been a more beneficial farewell had he known the Triune and True God and pointed his listeners to that direction. Lincoln did many wonderful things, but even those great deeds wont last forever.

1 John 2:17 ESV

And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

If we are to make our last words, our farewell speeches, count, then let us use our breath to point people to the things that last forever.

With that in mind, turn in your Bibles, if you have not already, to 1 Samuel 12.

I wanted to go into some of the details of a farewell speech in this introduction because that is what we are seeing throughout this chapter in 1 Samuel. For the past few weeks we have been looking at how Israel has asked for a king so that they would look like the rest of the nations. They have made their request known the Samuel. The prophet and Judge over Israel. God tells Samuel to give the people what they are asking for and providentially aligns for Saul to become the first king of Israel.

What we looked at last time showed God working through Saul to lead Israel in a victory and the country responds by renewing their commitment to the Lord. This happens under Samuel’s direction.

Today we are getting a closer look at the speech Samuel gave to the people of Israel as part of “renewing the Kingdom.” This would be the last time the judge would address all of Israel in this way. This farewell speech is an important for the transition of leadership in Israel. It was an historic moment. Samuel reflects on what had happened and looks forward, giving guidance to the people. The most wonderful attribute of this speech for our enjoyment today is that Samuel knew the Lord and these words he gives to the Israelites at that time and us today are breathed out by God and oh so profitable. Let us begin feasting on God’s Word through the prophet judge Samuel.

We’re going to break this down into sections. Let’s begin with verses 1-5:

1 Samuel 12:1–5 ESV

And Samuel said to all Israel, “Behold, I have obeyed your voice in all that you have said to me and have made a king over you. And now, behold, the king walks before you, and I am old and gray; and behold, my sons are with you. I have walked before you from my youth until this day. Here I am; testify against me before the Lord and before his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Or whose donkey have I taken? Or whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed? Or from whose hand have I taken a bribe to blind my eyes with it? Testify against me and I will restore it to you.” They said, “You have not defrauded us or oppressed us or taken anything from any man’s hand.” And he said to them, “The Lord is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand.” And they said, “He is witness.”

This collection of verses could rightly be subtitled, God working through faithful men. One of the primary purposes of a farewell speech is to reflect upon what has happened between the person leaving and the group they used to lead. Both this section and the next we will look at in a few moments serve as reflections on the history of Israel with different points of emphasis.

Here we see God working through faithful men, more specifically, God has been working in Israel through the faithful man and prophet Samuel. These five verses serve as a walk through the faithful ministry of Samuel as judge in Israel, affirmed by Samuel, God, and the people. Our eyes are drawn back to the beginning of Samuel’s life. He says that he has walked before Israel from his youth until this day.

Let’s take a moment to remember what all has happened in Samuel’s life thus far:

Samuel was born to a woman named Hannah, who had been barren for many years. Hannah made a vow to God, promising that if she had a son, she would dedicate him to God's service. In due course, Hannah conceived and gave birth to Samuel. True to her vow, she presented him to the priest Eli at the tabernacle in Shiloh when he was still a young child. Samuel grew up under the guidance of Eli, serving in the tabernacle and ministering before the Lord. One night, while Samuel was sleeping in the tabernacle, he heard a voice calling his name. Believing it was Eli, Samuel went to him, but Eli realized that it was God calling Samuel. Eli instructed Samuel to respond, "Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening." From that moment onward Samuel was used by God to deliver God’s Word to the people. Samuel guided God’s people as the Lord’s emissary. He called the people to repentance. He interceded for the people and led as God brought the ark of the covenant back to the Israelites. He guided the nation and provided counsel. And just recently he took their request for a king before God and presented the people with Saul.

Samuel did a lot in service to the Lord for the people of Israel. In verse 3 he also explains what he did not do to them. He did not take their ox or donkeys. He did not defraud them. He did not oppress them or take bribes. Now, when you see that in verse 3 and you think about the life of Samuel you can draw a couple of connections. First, this is in deep contrast to Hophni and Phineas, the wicked sons of Eli. Their treachery is really explained in 1 Samuel chapters 2-4. Give that a study at home. But the second connection you should draw here, which is also a contrast, is to the warning Samuel gave them about what would happen if Israel got an earthly king. You can make a note to look at 1 Samuel 8:10-18. In that section Samuel warns the people that if they get a king the king will force work on the land, the king will take their livestock, he will enslave and oppress the land. If you remember back to that warning when we looked at it a few weeks ago, the people heard the warning and said, bring it on! Give us a king!

Remember that this farewell speech of Samuel is serving as a transition. Israel is about to fully get their king and Samuel is reminding them that they had already been dissatisfied with what had been a really positive set up.

In Verse 3-5 Samuel uses a court room like argumentation to show the truthfulness of his claims confirmed by God and the people.

There are two primary applications that we can take from this portion of Samuel’s speech:

Finish well! Samuel is reflecting back on a life well lived for the glory of God and looking back with fondness even. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I’ve never seen anyone sincerely regret serving the Lord with their life. I’ve seen plenty of regrets and things that people wish they could change, but I’ve never seen a faithful servant look back on their life and think well I just wish I didn’t serve God so much. That just doesn’t happen. Though he was a prophet and judge, Samuel did not live a perfectly righteous life. We see glimpses of his human, sinful nature throughout this book. But no one can deny that his life was marked by an overarching disposition of serving the Lord. I would hope that the same would be able to be said about all of us here today. However, many of us, myself included can look back on our lives thus far and over look the good service we’ve done for the Lord because our attention is given to the sin and the shortcomings. If that is the position you find yourself in, I want to remind you that we can do nothing to change the mistakes of our past, but if you have been saved by grace through faith in jesus Christ, though you cannot change your past, it has been paid for. You cannot go back and undo the the wrongs you have done, but you can from this very moment be resolved to finish well for the glory of God. You can, as the Apostle Paul wrote, forget what is behind and strain toward what is ahead. Another phrase I have said often, if you have breath God ain’t done with you yet. So rather than being hamstrung by yesterdays failures, may you be empowered by God’s new morning mercies. You don’t know how much time you have left, but you can spend the rest of it building up the next generation of the faith, you still have an opportunity to make reconciliation with that person you fell out with over silly pride, you can still be an ambassador for Christ imploring the lost to be reconciled to God through Him. Finish well.

The second application here goes right along with the first. Notice in verse 4 that none of the people were able to speak poorly of Samuel because he had been good to them. What would people say about your conduct? Would you be able to recognized as someone who serves the Lord? We should desire to be thought of well by others so that they may see our good works and give glory to our Father who is in heaven. But beyond what others will say about you, I think it is good for us to consider what played out in verse 5. Ask what will God say about you? In Samuel’s case God is witness to the faithful service. God’s view of us is what ultimately, really matters. We should not fear what man can do to us, but we rightly tremble before the one who destroys both the body and spirit, none other the Triune and True God. What will God say about you? How does God see you? Does God see you as righteous? Have you been perfectly righteous in your life? Know that the wrath of God is coming upon the disobedient. But also know that by the grace of that Holy God, Jesus Christ became sin though He knew no sin, so that in Him all who believe in Him would become the righteousness of God. What does God think about you? If you believe in Jesus Christ, you are seen as the righteousness of God. Live in light of that truth. If you do not know Christ, I must implore you to repent for wrath is on the horizon.

Let’s continue to look through our text, now finding ourselves in the next reminder in this farewell speech:

1 Samuel 12:6–12 ESV

And Samuel said to the people, “The Lord is witness, who appointed Moses and Aaron and brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt. Now therefore stand still that I may plead with you before the Lord concerning all the righteous deeds of the Lord that he performed for you and for your fathers. When Jacob went into Egypt, and the Egyptians oppressed them, then your fathers cried out to the Lord and the Lord sent Moses and Aaron, who brought your fathers out of Egypt and made them dwell in this place. But they forgot the Lord their God. And he sold them into the hand of Sisera, commander of the army of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab. And they fought against them. And they cried out to the Lord and said, ‘We have sinned, because we have forsaken the Lord and have served the Baals and the Ashtaroth. But now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, that we may serve you.’ And the Lord sent Jerubbaal and Barak and Jephthah and Samuel and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side, and you lived in safety. And when you saw that Nahash the king of the Ammonites came against you, you said to me, ‘No, but a king shall reign over us,’ when the Lord your God was your king.

So in the first part of this speech, Samuel reminded the people of God working through Faithful men, particularly the faithful man Samuel, to take care of the people of Israel. Here we are reminded of God’s direct intervention for Israel.

If we were to take a look around the room today we would see people all around us. Normal, ordinary people. We see so many people on a regular basis in our regular lives, that we undervalue just how incredibly rare and beautiful the human life is. There is quite literally no one else on this earth that is exactly like you. When you see another person, you are seeing a one of a kind masterpiece with a specific combination of genetics that is unparalleled anywhere else. Even identical twins have minute differences in their genetics and personalities. Seeing another person walking and breathing in front of you should cause us to be dumbfounded at the artistry and craftsmanship of the Maker who designs us all! But because we’ve become so familiar with seeing other people we just think, “Theres that shlub in the tie, up at the pulpit again.” When we become familiar with something we often over look its beauty and magnitude.

In somewhat of a similar fashion, we’re tempted to be so familiar with the stories from the early part of Scripture that we ignore the beauty and magnitude. I suspect ffrom the constant reminders throughout the history of Israel, that they were as well!

Samuel draws our attention back to the Exodus story. We think yeah, yeah Moses led them out Egypt. But look at where Samuel places the emphasis, The LORD is Witness. HE appointed Moses and Aaron. HE brought your fathers out of Israel. The Israelites faith would consistently wane, but God’s provision came time and time again. God would bring them into the promised Land. TheIr they once again forgot their God. They were allowed to be oppressed by Sisera, the leader of a Canaanite army. In their distress, God would once again provide for them. This time giving them national heroes who would lead and fight for the Israelites.

I don’t have the time to do it this morning, but I encourage you to use the cross references in your Bible and read through all the stories that are mentioned here in these verse. We’re tempted to just skip over and assume we remember all the details, but when we look into the depth of biblical history we see the beauty and magnitude of God’s deliverance extended to an unfaithful people.

There are two applications for us from this portion of Scripture:

We must not over the beauty and magnitude of God’s grace to deliver His people. We talk about the gospel a lot at church. I try to make it a point to present the gospel in a clear way. Don’t tune it out! It is a reminder of what the Lord has done for us and far to often we are either intentionally or unintentionally dismissive of the most beautiful truth in all of existence. That leads to the second application.

God saves undeserving people! This is a truth for us to understand, appreciate and dwell upon, and often that is more than enough application to a section of Scripture. May we praise God for His willingness to save a people prone to wander away from Him!

I want to highlight a few more things in Samuel’s farewell speech:

1 Samuel 12:13–15 ESV

And now behold the king whom you have chosen, for whom you have asked; behold, the Lord has set a king over you. If you will fear the Lord and serve him and obey his voice and not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, and if both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the Lord your God, it will be well. But if you will not obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then the hand of the Lord will be against you and your king.

Everything Samuel had reminded the people of in this farewell speech of thus far is a set up for this proclamation of transition. We see the combination of human agency and God’s sovereignty in that they asked for a king and it was provided by the Lord.

The Lord renews His covenant with His people in this moment. This is not the first time the Israelites were shown the importance of faithfully following the Lord and warned of what would happen if they do not.

Let’s read through the rest of the passage and provide final application.

1 Samuel 12:16–25 ESV

Now therefore stand still and see this great thing that the Lord will do before your eyes. Is it not wheat harvest today? I will call upon the Lord, that he may send thunder and rain. And you shall know and see that your wickedness is great, which you have done in the sight of the Lord, in asking for yourselves a king.” So Samuel called upon the Lord, and the Lord sent thunder and rain that day, and all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel. And all the people said to Samuel, “Pray for your servants to the Lord your God, that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil, to ask for ourselves a king.” And Samuel said to the people, “Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil. Yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. And do not turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty. For the Lord will not forsake his people, for his great name’s sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you a people for himself. Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you, and I will instruct you in the good and the right way. Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you. But if you still do wickedly, you shall be swept away, both you and your king.”

There is a whole lot going on in this section that I am going to try to concisely walk through for us in just a few moments.

In the section of his farewell speech we have now moved from reminders of the past and signaling of transition to the guidance given for the future portion.

First, the Lord gives the Israelites a sign through Samuel, to prove that this is more than a simple goodbye speech, this is real. A storm is called down and rain fills the area. This is another thing we might glance over. What’s the big deal with a rain storm? Well, in this part of the world at the time of the harvest, rain was virtually a natural impossibility. It doesn’t rain there that time of year. The power of God is put on full display before the people.

Seeing this great sign, the people repent! They ask Samuel to intercede for them. The y see the greatness of God to provide for them both in the past and present, they see the power and Majesty of God in full display. They see the need to be made right before God and serve Him.

What does all of this have to do with us today?

Well we need to keep in mind this is an historical narrative. God DID these mighty things and He CONTINUES to be mighty! We should see His power and providence and see that He is worthy to be served. When we connect the guidance that Samuel gave to the people here to the overarching teaching in Scripture, we can also see that real faith and love is properly expressed in obedience. If we truly see the greatness of God and love Him for it, then we should desire to follow Him!

There is no greater expression of God’s goodness, greatness, and love than when He sent the second person of the triune God to live and die and rise again. Seeing this, understanding this and loving this truth has monumental impacts on the way we live our lives. Look at this graphic

Three Circles Graphic

I know I’ve shown this before, but I want us all to have this so deeply impressed in our minds that we can’t forget it. I hope that you start doodling it on post it notes at work. I hope that we are able to show this picture to others, because this simple graphic is a picture of the greatest display of power and Majesty our God has ever displayed. And when God’s Spirit allows people to understand this, He changes absolutely everything about us.

God sent His son....

Why?

God is holy we are broken.

If that is you....