Introduction

In 1 Samuel, chapter 13:1-4, we see the “Early Success of King Saul”.  We read how Saul “chose for himself” (v2) 3,000 men of Israel.  Jonathan, Saul’s son attacked the garrison of the Philistines and gained victory (v.3), but Saul easily takes the credit for another mans victory.  We begin to see Saul’s decline. 

Earlier in Chapter 10, Samuel had anointed Saul, the Spirit of the Lord came upon Saul, and he became another man.  Samuel gives Saul some strict instructions concerning what he is to do:

“And you shall go down before me to Gilgal; and behold, I will come down to you to offer burnt offerings and sacrifice peace offerings.  You shall wait seven days until I come to you and show you what you should do.”  (1 Samuel 10:8)

Saul was given strict instructions, however he did not obey.  When Samuel does come at the appointed time and confronts Saul with his disobedience, Saul begins to make excuses:

"As soon as he finished offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him and to greet him. But Samuel said, “What have you done?” And Saul said, “Because I saw that the people were scattering from me, and that you did not come within the appointed days, and that the Philistines were assembling at Michmash, therefore I said, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not asked the favor of the Lord.’  So I forced myself and offered the burnt offering.”" (1 Samuel 13:10-12)

Saul offered an excuse for not obeying the Lord God!  It doesn’t matter what you say; there is never an acceptable excuse for disobeying the Lord.

You remember Peter, when Jesus was going to wash his feet, Peter said, “Never shall you wash my feet”, the Lord responded by saying, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me” (John 13:8).   

The word “Lord” means master, and if God is your Lord that means He is your Master, which means He has the right to tell you what to do. 

Saul did not listen to God and suffered the consequences and when we fail to listen to God, we will suffer many consequences.  However in 1 Samuel 13, Samuel confronts Saul, and instead of repenting, Saul begins to make excuses for his actions.  And that is what I want to talk about tonight is the issue of making excuses. 

A.           The Nature Of Excuses.

1.            The Excuse Of Blaming Others.

a)            Offered By Adam For Disobedience (Gen.3:8-13).

(1)           He Attempts To Explain His Sin.

(2)           He Attempts To Blame His Sin

(3)           He Makes No Attempt To Confess His Sin:

David: “I have sinned against the Lord.”  (2 Samuel 12:13)

David goes on to say in Psalm 32 "When I kept silent, my bones grew old Through my groaning all the day long.  For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; My vitality was turned into the drought of summer.  I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I have not hidden.  I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” And You forgave the iniquity of my sin.”  (Psalm 32:3-5, NKJV)

All sin is against God, David said "Against You, You only, have I sinned, And done this evil in Your sight— That You may be found just when You speak, And blameless when You judge.”  (Psalm 51:4)

Hiding your sin and not repenting is not good, proverbs says "He who covers his sins will not prosper, But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.”  (Proverbs 28:13, NKJV)

The Prodigal Son Took Responsibility: "And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son."  (Luke 15:21, NKJV)

John says in his first epistle that "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.”  (1 John 1:8-10, NKJV)

b)            Offered By Aaron For Making An Idol (Exodus 32:1-10, 19-24).

(1)           Aaron blames the people & takes no responsibility for himself (v.22-24 cf. v.2-4).

(2)           Aaron should have obeyed god rather than man (Acts 5:29).

(3)           They Clearly Violated the First 3 Commandments (Ex.20:3-7).

The Lord said that "You shall have no other gods before Me. “You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. “  You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.  “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.”  (Exodus 20:3-7, NASB95)

(4)           Aaron Was Responsible: He failed to restrain the people, showing a lack of leadership (Ex.32:25).

Moses Re-caps Israel’s Rebellion: "I fell down before the Lord, as at the first, forty days and nights; I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all your sin which you had committed in doing what was evil in the sight of the Lord to provoke Him to anger. “  For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure with which the Lord was wrathful against you in order to destroy you, but the Lord listened to me that time also.  “The Lord was angry enough with Aaron to destroy him; so I also prayed for Aaron at the same time.”  (Deuteronomy 9:18-20, NASB95)

(5)           The Israelites in the wilderness were examples for us (1Cor.10:1-13).  Disqualified For:

(a)           Idolatry (v.7), Sexual immorality (v.8), Testing God (v.9), Complaining (v.10)

(b)           Paul did not want to be disqualified (1Cor.9:27)

c)            Offered By Saul For Sparing An Enemy (1 Samuel 15:1-24).

(1)           Saul was commanded to utterly destroy Amalek (15:3), but did not (15:9).

(a)           David Later had to deal with the Amalekites (1Sam.27:8; 30:1; 2Sam8:12).

(b)           Haman, who tried to wipe out all the Jewish people, was a descendent of Agag (3:1)!

(c)           Saul was killed on the battle field by the hand of an Amalekite (2Sam.1:8-10).

(d)           Not obeying God will lead to death.

(2)           God said Saul did not performed God’s command (15:11), Saul says he did (15:13, 20).

(3)           Saul then blames the people, again showing a lack of leadership (v.21).

(4)           Saul confesses his sin (v.24), but does not repent (v.30).

d)            Offered By Those Who Blame God (James 1:12-16; esp.v.13).

(1)           Excuses: (1) it’s the other person’s fault; (2) I couldn’t help it; (3) everybody’s doing it; (4) it was just a mistake; (5) nobody’s perfect; (6) the devil made me do it; (7) I was pressured into it; (8) I didn’t know it was wrong; (9) God is tempting me.

The Apostle Paul says that "No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it." (1 Corinthians 10:13, NKJV)

!!! 2.            The Excuse Of Claim Inadequacy.

a)            Offered By Moses To The Call Of God (Exodus 3:7-11; 4:1, 10, 13).

(1)           First excuse: “who am I that I should go to Pharaoh” (Ex.3:7-11).

(2)           Second excuse: “what if they don’t believe me” (Ex.3:16-4:9).

(3)           Third excuse: “I am not a gifted speaker” (Ex.4:10-18).

Paul made it clear to the Corinthians that he "did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God…  And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God." (1 Corinthians 2:1-5, NKJV)

b)            Offered By Gideon To The Call of God (Judges 6:11-15).

c)            Offered By Jeremiah To the Call of God (Jer.1:1-10).

(1)           Inadequacy Comes When We Are To Confident In Our Own Ability.

Writing to the Corinthians, Paul said "For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God." (1 Corinthians 1:26-29, NASB95)

To young Timothy he said "Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity.”  (1 Timothy 4:12, NKJV)

(2)           God gave Moses the resources he needed (God Himself, Aaron, ability to do miracles).

(3)           God gives us the resources we need.

Peter says "His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness" (2 Peter 1:3)

When we are living for God, the Psalmist says "For the Lord God is a sun and shield; The Lord will give grace and glory; No good thing will He withhold From those who walk uprightly.”  (Psalm 84:11)

Listen to this, Romans 8:32 says "He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?”  (Romans 8:32, NKJV)

Paul understood his own inabilities and because of this, the Lord said to him "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.”  

That’s why Paul was then able to say “Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”  (2 Corinthians 12:9, NKJV)

3.            The Excuse Of Lacking In Trust.

a)            Offered By Ten Spies for Not Entering The Promised Land (Num.13:26-33).

(1)           God gave them a promise (13:1), but they did not believe (13:26-14:5)

(2)           Joshua and Caleb believed, but the congregation wanted to stone them (14:5-10).

(3)           God said they would not enter into the land (14:20-24).

Remember, "Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him." (Hebrews 11:6, NKJV)

You need to guard your heart and "Beware… lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God;" (Hebrews 3:12, NKJV)

The writer of Hebrews says "For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it." (Hebrews 4:2, NKJV)

We must remember the great things God has done in our lives "They forgot God their Savior, Who had done great things in Egypt…  "Wondrous works in the land of Ham, Awesome things by the Red Sea…  "Then they despised the pleasant land; They did not believe His word," (Psalm 106:21, 22, 24)

!!! 4.            The Excuse Of Putting Yourself First.

a)            Offered By those whom Christ Called (Luke 9:57-62).

5.            The Excuse Of Not Receiving Salvation.

a)            Offered by Three Invited Guests (Luke 14:15-24).

(1)           Earthly possessions (v.18).

(2)           To Busy (v.19).

(3)           Relationships (v.20).

Listen to this powerful verse in Hebrews 2: "For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him," (Hebrews 2:2-3, NKJV)

The writer of Hebrews goes on to say that "Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.  Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?”  (Hebrews 10:28-29, NKJV)

To the Pharisees, Jesus said "Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell?”  (Matthew 23:33, NKJV)

6.            These Excuses Are Only Excuses.

a)            Excuses will not turn away God’s Punishment (Matt.11:20-23).

(1)           What about those who haven’t heard the Gospel (Rom.1:18-23)?

"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them.  For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.  Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.”  (Romans 1:18-23, NKJV)

(2)           What about those who think they are morally right (Rom.2:1)?

b)            Jesus said they have no excuse for their sin (John 15:22).

(1)           He exposed their sin and set the truth before them.

(2)           He provided the remedy for their sin, (forgiveness, and power to do what is right).

(3)           Where much is given, much is required (Luke 12:41-48).

(4)           People just hate Him without a cause (Ps.35:19; 69:4).

I.     Excuses, Excuses, Excuses.

A.   The Nature Of Excuses.

1.    The Excuse Of Blaming Others.

2.    The Excuse Of Claim Inadequacy.

3.    The Excuse Of Lacking In Trust.

4.    The Excuse Of Putting Yourself First.

5.    The Excuse Of Not Receiving Salvation.

6.    These Excuses Are Only Excuses.