The Godly Leader

Intro

For the Glory of God’s great name, serve Him with your whole heart and pray for one another for He always keeps His promises. 1 Sam 12:21-24

As a godly leader we are to hold ourselves up to a certain standard. God has caleld us to eladership and therefore we need to live as such. As a Godly leader we are to lead by example for others to follow. So as they see the way that God has caleld our leaders to live, so we must follow the example and live for God ourselves. So then the high standards that are set out for the godly leader we can safely say they are a good standard for all people to live by.

One of the hardest things to do as a leader is to be held accountable ofr the way that we live, but what if we started asking people, is there anything n me that you find fault in? How often do we go to eachother and ask is there anything in my life that I need to ask forgiveness for? That loosk like what Samuel did here. But if we did invite people to look into our lives and see where we have sinned against God would they find anything?

There was once a man in a small town who ran a general store. He wasn’t flashy or wealthy, but he was respected. People knew that if you bought flour from him, it weighed what the scale said. If you lost your wallet and he found it, he’d return it unopened. If he made a mistake in your favor, he’d correct it—even if you never noticed.

One day, a competitor opened a store across the street. Prices were lower, marketing louder. Business shifted. But the old man kept doing what he’d always done—serving with honesty, treating people fairly, and closing shop every Sunday for church.

Then one day, a rumor spread. Someone claimed he had cheated on his taxes. The town buzzed. Customers whispered. Reporters even showed up.

But as the investigation unfolded, something remarkable happened. Every person who knew him—from the mail carrier to the banker to the pastor—said the same thing:

“I don’t know what the report says, but I know him. That’s not who he is.”

And they were right. The man was cleared. The accusation didn’t stick—not because he was perfect, but because he had lived above reproach for so long, his reputation spoke louder than the rumors.

For the glory of God’s great name do we serve Him with our whole hearts. so that we live a life above reproach so that we can invite people to bring a charge against us and that nothing will stick. We must serve one another, praying for one another for we are the people of God and our duty is to tell the world about Him. How do we see this in the lives of the Israelites?

Above Reproach

Samuel is ready to retire it would appear. He had been serving the Lord on behalf of the Israelites for a long time and he was soon going to be done. but it is what he did upon before His retirement that I find interesting. Remember that the main pojnt of all this that we find at the end is that we are to serve God with our whole hearts for the glory of His great name.

1 Samuel 12:1–3 CSB

1 Then Samuel said to all Israel, “I have carefully listened to everything you said to me and placed a king over you. 2 Now you can see that the king is leading you. As for me, I’m old and gray, and my sons are here with you. I have led you from my youth until now. 3 Here I am. Bring charges against me before the Lord and his anointed: Whose ox or donkey have I taken? Who have I wronged or mistreated? Who gave me a bribe to overlook something? I will return it to you.”

Imagine that as a leader, or anyone else in the church for that matter. To come to the church and say, here I am, bring charges against me before the Lord and His annointed. That would take courage to do. Often at jobs we have yearly performance reviews where we get to sit and isten to our bosses say what we are doing well and what w eare not doing well. I know everyone likes doing that.

this is also something that we are taught to do elsewhere in the bible as well. the idea is that as a godly leader we are to be above reproach. But I am going to take it a step further. As people of God we need to be above reproach, but what does that even mean?

well first of all this idea is repeated in

1 Timothy 3:1–2 CSB

1 This saying is trustworthy: “If anyone aspires to be an overseer, he desires a noble work.” 2 An overseer, therefore, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, self-controlled, sensible, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,

again the saying is for an elder, but the truth applies to us all, so I am going to be speaking to us all.

The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Volume 11: Ephesians through Philemon D. Overseers (3:1–7)

Literally it means “not to be laid hold of.” N.J.D. White says it describes “one against whom it is impossible to bring any charge of wrong doing such as could stand impartial examination”

I like that definition. To be above reproach is one word that means if someone lays any charges aginst you they will not stick, so to help explain that even more we can go all the way back to 1 sam.

1 Samuel 12:3 ESV

3 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.”

now as with some of the lists in the bible, this is not an exhuastive list of charges that can be brought against you. But it was none the less a list of stuff that other priests before him had done and so when he brought it up it would not have been a big thing for Him to have done them.

Samuel’s ministry was a faithful ministry, unlike some that had gone before Him. And the first thing we learn from this is how to live a life of faithfulness and why exactly we are to live a life of faithfulness. We do this because we are to serve God with our whole hearts for the glory of His great name and because all that He has done for us.

So invite friends and loved ones that are followers of Jesus to come to you and maybe ask, is there something in my life that someone can charge me with sin about? Am I living my life for the glory of God? Or maybe you have heard something from others about things you have done, then you need to deal with that.

I was informed a little while ago of charges laid against me. Well not charges but false accusations. I was being accused of stealing something. Upon being informed of this I let people know that I was not guilty, and I had recipets to prove I actually paid for what I was accused of stealing. Maybe I should have waited, I know I am not perfect. But It also made me realzie that as a leader in the community and specifically a follower of Jesus, I need to make sure people see me striving to live my life honestly for Jesus and when things like that come u they wont stick because I have been living for God.

Because of what God has done for us.

So the first thing we learn is that we are to live a life being above reproach. The next thing we learn is why we do this, because of all that God has done for us.

1 Samuel 12:8 CSB

8 “When Jacob went to Egypt, your ancestors cried out to the Lord, and he sent them Moses and Aaron, who led your ancestors out of Egypt and settled them in this place.

God was faithful to His promise to make them a great nation and even in spite of their sin God brought them out of the land of Egypt in such a way That His great name was glorified. God is faithful to fulfill His promises, so then we must live for Him.

1 Samuel 12:10 CSB

10 Then they cried out to the Lord and said, ‘We have sinned, for we abandoned the Lord and worshiped the Baals and the Ashtoreths. Now rescue us from the power of our enemies, and we will serve you.’

They fell back into their old ways. We are prone to wander we are told. We fall to sin and do the things that we are not supposed to do, yet the lord is faithful to forgive our sins when we come to Him. That is what we see here. They cried out to the Lord. Not turned to Him in passing as they where going about their day. But they cried out to the Lord.

We to must get on our knees and cry out to the Lord for forgiveness for He is faithful to forgive when we call on His name and we must strive to live faithfully for His great name.

Repentance is not just somethign we do because we are sorry that we have been caught for our sin. Sure that might be part of why we do it but there is more to it then that. we must want to please the Lord and do what we can to serv Him with our whole hearts.

You see because of who God is and what he has done for us we must turn to Him.

What has He done for us? Like God had saved the Israelite form the captivity which was the consequences for their sin. So Jesus died on the cross to save us from our sin. We do not deserve it but the Lord shows us compassion none the less. His grace and compassion for us is shown in his love for us even though we did not deserve it. and because of that we see what our response is supposed to be, it is echoed in Phil 2:10-11

Philippians 2:10–11 ESV

so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

At the name of Jesus we bow the knee. That is an act of humility. Not just because we have been caught in our sin, but because of these things we give up our pride and give our all to Jesus.

The thing is that one day every knee will bow before the king of kings whether you like it or not. You are either going to bow with Joy before the king of kings because you are finally in His presence or you are going to do it grudgingly as someone who never believed. But either way you are going to bow.

The end of the matter

we move to the conclusion of the passage. They requested a king, but the thing was as we learned the request was a sinful one. The lord, though he allowed it to happen, was going to use this for his glory, but He had a command for them first.

1 Samuel 12:13–15 ESV

13 And now behold the king whom you have chosen, for whom you have asked; behold, the Lord has set a king over you. 14 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. 15 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.

If you will fear the Lord we are told and obey His voice and do not rebel against the Lord then you will be following God.

We can live a life that is above reproach, we can serve and obey Him by learning what it means to fear the lord. The phrase "fear of the Lord" in the Bible refers to reverential awe, deep respect, and recognition of God’s power and authority. It is not a dread, but rather the respect and reverence of children for their Heavenly Father. It is not dread for children fear their earthly fathers if they are loving and just as they are supposed to, but nonetheless they respect and revere their father. so must we fear the Lord God for He is a great and powerful god.

So with all these things in mind. Live a life above reproach for who god is and what he has done for us. Fear the Lord and worship him alone It will be well with you if you live your life for god in this way. So with this in Mind.

Samuel said this, and to make sure they where listening and obeying what The Lord has said through Samuel he did a miracle before their eyes. But the miracle was to show them something they would not have wanted to know. They where sinful in their request for a king.

1 Samuel 12:17 ESV

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.”

The conclusion of the matter is here after all of this has been said and done. Though we have sinned, we strive our hardest to live a life worthy of god so that whether people see us or not we will be found living for God.

1 Samuel 12:20 ESV

20 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.

It is hard to do this, to live a life for God but even after all is said and done we are called to not turn aside to the right or the left but follow the Lord with all your heart.

i remember walking through the streets of vegas and seeing all the people of the night handing out little flyers to advertise their wears. You could not seem to turn to the left or the right without seeing someone advertising such things. I had to learn to notice them and look the other way and keep going on my way.

This is our first point today, do not be afraid as you seek to live a life above reproach but seek the Lord and serve him with your whole heart.

1 Samuel 12:22 ESV

22 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.

The Lord will not abandon His people. The second point we read here is that we need not fear for the Lord will do what He has promised to do. But what He has promised to do is for His name sake alone, no one else. Our lives for the Lord are for the glory of the Lord alone.

1 Samuel 12:23 ESV

23 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.

Lastley as samuel did these things all in prayer, we to must commit to bringing these things to the Lord in Pray. never cease to pray for eachother and for your leaders. though the Lord God knows all he asks us to bring all these things to Him in prayer. we have the priviledge of coming before the Lord in Prayer.

We end with the same words as Samuel did, a warning and encouragement of sorts.

1 Samuel 12:24–25 ESV

24 Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you. 25 But if you still do wickedly, you shall be swept away, both you and your king.”