Danger of Compromise

I Samuel 8:1-22

Good morning friends!

Here we are, it is the first Sunday of June.… Wow.

This is hard to imagine. I want to say thank you to everyone who prayed for us this week. I am thankful that Marci did well and we look forward to better days with the Lord’s help.

We are a week away from the youth summer camp kicking off, I want to encourage you to pray, pray and pray more for this mission, that God would be glorified and the lives of youth attending changed.

We are going to have a great week and if you can, come by and see for yourselves, come and witness God at work. I think you will enjoy it.

Now as we prepare for for our message for this morning, let me ask you a question… How have you had to compromise on something lately?

Maybe you had to choose between one thing over another?

At times compromise isn’t harmful, maybe we wanted steak for dinner but we just couldn’t find the cut we wanted and we settled either for a lesser steak or decided to eat chicken.

But there are other times when compromise is harmful, harmful to us and to our walk with God.

Maybe addiction has led you to make choices you never thought you would make..

Maybe relationships have brought about compromise in areas you never thought would come.

Maybe your employment has forced you to compromise over your personal convictions.

Or just maybe its the desire to fit in that brought about compromise.

There are lots of ways it can happen but be clear, compromise can be dangerous even when it looks simple, namely because we have failed to consider the consequences.

So this lets go to the Old Testament book of I Samuel. And we will look at chapter 8.

It is here in chapter 8 that we see the people of Israel calling out “We want to be like everyone else...” So lets look at this first thought for today.

1 Selfishness is a Sin...

Much of the sin that people commit, whether it is private or public is selfish in nature.

And often people do not get that, they do not think about how their actions effects the people around them. Now, here is the most unique thing…

We never understand how far reaching our influence is to those around us. Our influence goes way beyond what we think...

And we see this here in our text in several ways. Lets look at verses

1 Samuel 8:1–5 ESV

1 When Samuel became old, he made his sons judges over Israel. 2 The name of his firstborn son was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judges in Beersheba. 3 Yet his sons did not walk in his ways but turned aside after gain. They took bribes and perverted justice. 4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah 5 and said to him, “Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.”

Now looking at the text there are a couple things happening that I want to point out to you.

A. Samuel’s Actions… As Samuel became old and in his last years, he made his sons judges over Israel.

Now understand, Samuel has been a good judge over the nation, he without a doubt was called of God from the days of his youth and Samuel has served faithfully.

He has not done anything wrong per say, but there were some actions that have caused harm.

Up until this point in time, God has appointed those who served as Judges as the nation of Israel needed them. Usually when the people fell into sin, God allowed other nations to rise up, like in Judges chapter 6.

In Judges 6, Israel was in sin and God allowed the Midianites to oppress them. And then the people cried out to God, and God raised up a man of valor to lead them, Gideon. And so God used Gideon for His glory to see the victory over their oppressors as God worked, but also to lead the people back to God

Now Samuel has been one of those, but Samuel is getting old, his days are coming to a close. And as his age advanced, Samuel appointed his two sons as judges over Israel.

Now, I think Samuel may have thought he was doing good, but in a way it is selfish. Samuel appointed his sons and did not inquire of the Lord.

You see the only thing that God has established up to this point and time whereby offices were passed from father to son is the Levitical priesthood.

So Samuel passed this office of leadership down to his sons, but there is another problem.

B. Samuel’s son’s were not righteous. They did not walk or act in the ways of their father, or their spiritual father either.

Sometimes people think they are doing the right thing, but it may not be… Here Samuel failed in knowing who His sons were and how they would act.

If you look back at verse 3 again we are told more about those boys. 1 Samuel 8:3 “3 Yet his sons did not walk in his ways but turned aside after gain. They took bribes and perverted justice.”

It is a great parallel to his old master’s sons, do you remember Eli, the High Priest, who served when Samuel was a boy, his sons were corrupt as well.

1 Samuel 2:12 “12 Now the sons of Eli were worthless men. They did not know the Lord.”

That sums it up pretty well. This also pretty much could sum up the sons of Samuel.

Look at the charges against Samuel’s sons, Joel and Abijah.

They turned aside for gain… they served the highest bidder if you will.

The took bribes… they accepted money to cast judgements in favor of some people and not all.

The perverted justice.. Justice is always about doing what is right and best. They did just the opposite, they did what pleased themselves and others.

When I look at the life of Samuel, his wishes were sinful and selfish, for he did not see the Lord about who should serve with or after him. He contributed to the larger problem that is about to take place.

And his sons were selfish in that they served self and not the good of the people under them. They could have served God but instead served self.

My friends, we must be careful in the live we live before each other and God. Our thoughts and actions are to always be weighed in the balance of God’s will and Word. If we are not caerful, selfishness can cause the scales to not balance and thus we are done wrong.

Selfishness is a sin for we withhold what is within our power to help or change around us for the good of all and the glory of our God.

So take a moment, does self get in the way of what you do, your motivations and how you speak. If you can think of a time when it does, ask the Lord to help you, repent and seek Him.

Secondly today,

2 Dissatisfaction is a Sin...

Now lets be clear, dissatisfaction can be a generic term, and depending on how it is used, it could have a very generic meaning.

Let me explain. You go out to eat, and the description and picture of what you hoped for.. well it doesn’t match up. You’re dissatisfied. There is no sin in that… It simply didn’t meat the expectation.

But another example could be like getting our first car, we hoped for this new high performance etc..., a particular brand.

But, perhaps your parents couldn’t afford that and well when they bought something else, you scolded them and refused to drive it. (I know right, wouldn’t get another). But in all honestly, they have sinned against their parents, a sin of dissatisfaction.

And so here in our text, the people are over the aging Samuel and they certainly have no love lost for his sons, Joel and Abijah. And well, God, He isn’t even considered… look back our passage today, verses 4-9.

1 Samuel 8:4–9 ESV

4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah 5 and said to him, “Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.” 6 But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the Lord. 7 And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. 8 According to all the deeds that they have done, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you. 9 Now then, obey their voice; only you shall solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.”

Wow a lot is being said here....

Israel’s tribal leaders we are told form a delegation if you will. These are the leaders from all 12 tribes, and they come to Samuel’s home in Ramah to confront him about the problems they see taking place, to share with him their dissatisfaction.

And in their conversation they bring two reflections from the people of the nation in general. Samuel “.....You are getting old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Verse 5”.

Now while perhaps harsh for the aging Judge, I am sure he knew the words they were speaking to him had some validity to them. Samuel is getting older and I think because he never objects to their words they have concerning him or his sons.

But the next thing they speak of, I bet you could have hard a pin drop in the room. Now appoint a King to judge us like all the nations...

Wow… I wonder if Samuel thought, did I just hear that right.. give us a king...

Samuel has been God’s man for them for a good while and now they don’t what him or any more judges and God isn’t even mentioned but what they do want is clear.… They want to be like everyone else.

There is the sin.

Why?

First off, under the Old Testament law, they were called to be different than the world around them. Listen to Leviticus 20:26

“26 You shall be holy to me, for I the Lord am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine.”

And even in Numbers 23:9 they were not to count themselves as part of the nations.

They were to be a holy people, separate, distinct and free from the influence of other peoples. But that is just it, they were influenced by the other nations.

They have seen the other nations, they have seen how their kings have fought with them, led them and suddenly they want to have a king.

God was not trying to be cruel, the separation from the other nations and their false gods were to keep the people from idol worship and other ungodly practices…

Secondly, their request made no account for God. They didn’t ask Samuel in inquire of the Lord about their request, they simply told Samuel, appoint us a king.

You see my friends, Samuel wasn’t their leader, oh he may have been the visible representative for God on earth, but he conveyed and carried out the will of God.

He was a servant of the Lord God.

God was their leader and King. You see they were not meant to have a monarchy like the other nations, they were meant to exist under a theocracy, God’s rule.. God was their King.

But the people rejected everything because of their dissatisfaction. And this led to their sin… “...That we may be like the other nations..”

They were God’s children, but in their selfishness they wanted to be like everyone else. We can look at this and see that it’s wrong..

But we’ve done the same thing my friends...

Let me share some example: Day in and day out we find ourselves seeking to be like the world.

We want to be like the world, dress like the world, talk like them and the list goes on and on…

Am I right?

We do it and yet we wonder, why am I never content,

W am I never happy? You know why? You were created to be different. You were created to be His children in both word and deed.

As a born again child of God we are meant to be different. Listen to Peter in I Peter 2:9

1 Peter 2:9 ESV

9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

You are God’s own, called from death unto life for the glory of God.

I promise you, you will not find happiness in this world or the things you pursue. Oh you may find a fleeting moment of joy,, but it will not last.

You were made for the Lord God. He will bring you lasting peace and joy as you come to Him, give yourself to him and follow His directions

So what can you do? I would ask you a question. Will you step back for a moment and choose God today and every day?

If you do not know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, understand you are separated from Christ because of sin. But if you turn to God, repent of your sin and call on Jesus to Save you. He will.

That is the first step toward peace.

The next step is to follow him daily… to be his disciple.

And we can help you with that ..We can help you if you want to make Jesus your Lord and Savior, and if you want to draw closer to him, we can help you find success there as well.

But it always is your choice.

Now there is just one last thought for today.

There are consequences for sin.

3 Consequences for Sin....

There is a law of the on energy and motion, Newtons third law that says simply “...every action as an equal and opposite reaction...”

I mention that to remind you, every action both physically and spiritually has consequences.

Some are good and some are bad consequences.… In our text today, we see some negative consequences in regard to their sin.

Let go back to our text.… VV 6-9 I Samuel 8:6-9

1 Samuel 8:6–9 ESV

6 But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the Lord. 7 And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. 8 According to all the deeds that they have done, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you. 9 Now then, obey their voice; only you shall solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.”

Looking at that text, Samuel feels heart broken, rejected even here in his advanced years. He feels broken. But the Lord tells Samuel something he didn’t expect to hear that day.

Samuel, they haven’t rejected you, they have rejected Me from being King over them.

The one who called the the nation out of captivity of Egypt, from that day until now, God says they have rejected me and served other gods as they are doing this day.

“....Obey their voice and solemnly warn them and show them how a king would reign over them.” verse 7.

They wanted a king.. that wasn’t God perfect will for their lives, but in their refusal to allow God to lead them, God allowed them to walk in his permissive will.

His permissive will allows us in our free will to choose our own path and with it there are consequences for our choices and actions.

Now sometime in the future we will do a deep dive into the difference between God perfect will and God’s permissive will.

But for now just consider this my friends, God’s perfect will is the best pace for a child of God to be, for it is there you find peace, strength, joy and hope. His perfect will is the place God always chooses for us. Why, as a Father he desires the best for his children

But often in our rebellion, in our selfishness, we push back and God will allow us to walk in his permissive will.

What is our rebellion… to do what we are not supposed too.

We want our desires, we want our ways, we want our plans for success, our relationships have to be like this or that - and the list goes on…

But God wants more for us… He wants to bless you and keep you, His desires are pure and holy and He is pure and holy.

Now as you read through the end of the chapter, Samuel would warn them concerning all they would experience with a king, but thier hearts were hard and in verse 19-20 they give their final answer

1 Samuel 8:19–20 ESV

19 But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, “No! But there shall be a king over us, 20 that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.”

So God allowed them to have a King… and this forever changes the way the nation lived...

Lets stop there and let me ask you a question this morning...

Which would you prefer, God’s perfect will for you life or God’s permissive will?

Listen God will be present in both, but one will never see all the goodness that God has for you. That is the danger of compromise...

You will settle for less instead of all that God has for you..

Now which do you want today?

If want to follow the Lord, and find his peace, hope and ways. I want to encourage you to stop today and just bow your head and pray.

Lord I am sorry for how I have tried to lead and direct my life.

Lord forgive me for not allowing you to be Lord in my life and Lord please take me and may your will be done in my life. Help me daily to give control over to you and help me to be obedient each day...

Amen

If you did that today, would you just slip down here in the invitation and let me just pray for you also. Not trying to embrass you or anything, just want to cover you in prayer.

Lets pray today