1 Samuel 28:3-25 - PF

We’re looking at 1 Samuel 28 today. But before we read the passage, let me pray.

PRAY

If you ask Raquel, she will tell you I’m good at doing a couple of things. Playing video games, moving heavy objects, cooking and… making excuses when I don’t want to do something.

Do you also get that? Mum looks into your room, it’s an absolute mess. She tells you to tidy up. But there’s always an excuse… “I’ve got to study.” “I’m practicing the flute.” “I’m reading the Bible.” And so we postpone things and plan do it later.

But what if later never comes? Maybe you’ve had a friend that you’ve always liked and you wanted to do something nice for them. But then you or they move away and now it’s too late.

Sure, now you can do it through the Internet but it’s not the same.

Or perhaps a story with a family member.

When I was in Year 9, my grandfather passed away. I loved him but I always thought “I’ll tell him later when I’m older.” Well, later never came.

Guys, the truth is that we’re good at making excuses. At postponing things to do later. But what if later never comes? What if it’s too late?

Well, here in 1 Samuel 28, we see a similar situation where it was too late. Let’s read the passage.

READ 3-14 + 15-25

In this bit, we see Saul very much afraid. Verse 5 - “Saul was afraid; terror filled his heart.” Why was Saul afraid do you think?

Exactly. The Philistines have come with a huge army! So, what does Saul do in response? (v6)

Which is the right thing to do, right? We see in the Bible how people reach out to God when they’re in trouble and afraid. But what is the problem this time?

Saul picks up the phone to speak to God and all he gets is that sound when the line is dead…

So, he decides to do something else instead. Verse 7 - “Find me a woman who is a medium, so I may go and inquire of her.” Now, a medium was someone who, through some weird and very questionable means, could actually speak to dead people. I know it all sounds impossible and made up. But, back then, people actually did it and, as we’re going to see, it worked sometimes!

But look at the end of verse 3. Given what Saul did back then, do you think that Saul is doing the right thing now?

Of course not! After all, Saul kicked out mediums because he was obeying God! Look at God told Israel about mediums back in the book of Leviticus:

Leviticus 19:31 NIV

“ ‘Do not turn to mediums or seek out spiritists, for you will be defiled by them. I am the Lord your God.

So, seeking mediums is a really bad idea! But Saul is desperate! So off he goes in a disguise to speak to this medium they find…

Now, when Saul finds the medium, she reminds him of what Saul did: he kicked out all the mediums. So, if she does this for this random person she doesn’t know, what if they go and tell the guards?

Of course she doesn’t know it’s Saul. Which is why he can say “Don’t worry, it will be fine. Nothing’s going to happen to you!”

So, who does Saul want to speak to? He tells the woman - verse 11 - “Bring up Samuel.”

And Samuel does come! But when the woman sees Samuel, she puts two and two together! I mean, who is it that would want to speak to Samuel at this time? Of course this has to be Saul!

And look at what Saul says to Samuel. Verse 15 - “I am in great distress. The Philistines are fighting against me, and God has departed from me. He no longer answers me, either by prophets or by dreams. So I have called on you to tell me what to do.”

In other words, Saul is afraid and God doesn’t seem to be helping. So hey, I’m sure that disobeying God by speaking to people who have died will surely solve the problem!

So, look at verse 16. Does it solve the problem? What does Samuel tell Saul? What’s going to happen?

This is it Saul. There’s no turning back. Saul has been disobeying God time after time after time. So, God is going to keep His promise of judging Saul and removing him as king of Israel. He and his family will die in the battle. And Israel is going to lose the battle. There’s no turning back. This is it.

Now, what do you think about this? Is God doing the right thing? Should He stop His plan and spare Saul?

Saul had so many chances to repent. To say sorry to God. But what did he do? He kept disobeying God. He even tried to kill David, the new king that God chose. Now, it’s too late. God is going to deliver what He promised to Saul back in chapter 15.

Do you remember what happened in chapter 15 that made God reject Saul as king?

He is going to take the kingdom away from Saul and give it to David. Because Saul rejected God as his own King, Saul is rejected by God. And because Saul rejected God as his own King, the people of Israel are about to suffer a brutal loss. Saul has failed to look after his people. Because he is a bad king.

The good news, though, is that someone better than Saul came - the Lord Jesus! He is the King who, unlike Saul, always obeyed God His Father. Including giving His life for us!

Do you understand what that means? Jesus went through the worst death ever because of us to give us the best life ever in heaven. We gave Jesus our worst and He gave us His best! He is truly an amazing King!

But here’s the thing: this is only true for us if we are trusting in Jesus. Only those who say “Jesus, you are the King. I believe and follow you.” - only those receive what Jesus is giving!

But, like Saul, we’re also on a timer. Saul never said sorry to God. He never changed his ways. He only thought about doing that when it was too late.

And here’s the thing guys - one day, like me and my grandfather, it will be too late to put your trust in Jesus. Because one day He will come back and there will be no more second chances. That’s it.

So, we have to stop making excuses. We have to stop thinking “I’ll think about Jesus later when I’m older.”

No, we have to put our trust in Jesus today. Not tomorrow. Not next year. Not when we’re done with school. Now. Today. Because we don’t know what will happen tomorrow or next year or when we’re done with school. It might be too late.

What we do know today is that Jesus is the King and we need to put our trust in Him. So stop saving that decision for later. Stop making excuses. Will we put our trust in Jesus or not? Will you put your trust in Jesus or not? That’s the decision you need to make.

And the wonderful thing is that, if we do decide to follow Jesus, that’s it. We’re safe. He’s not going to let us down. Unlike Saul, He will always look after us and make sure we get to heaven. Because, unlike Saul, Jesus really is a good king. The best king!

So stop making excuses. Don’t make a decision about Jesus later. Do it now before it’s too late.

Let’s pray.