Standing Tall, Falling Hard
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
Again, we are glad you chose to worship with us today at Fellowship. We have come to week 10 of a series entitled “The Story” which is a chronological look at the Bible.
Week 10 brings us to the book of 1 Samuel, if you’ll join me there - Pew Bible #___.
March 18, 2018 • Week 10
“Standing Tall, Falling Hard”
1. The Backdrop of the Three Major Distortions (1 Samuel 1)
A. A man named Elkanah in Ephraim had two wives, Hannah and Peninnah. (1:1-2a)
1. Hannah was barren (childless) and heart-broken.
2. Peninnah, who had many kids, purposely provoked Hannah’s pain.
And her rival also provoked her severely, to make her miserable, because the Lord had closed her womb.
So it was, year by year, when she went up to the house of the Lord, that she provoked her; therefore she wept and did not eat.
B. At Shiloh where the Tabernacle rested Hannah prayed to God for a child, promising to dedicate the child to God.
So Hannah rose up after they had eaten in Shiloh, and after they had drunk. Now Eli the priest sat upon a seat by a post of the temple of the Lord.
And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed unto the Lord, and wept sore.
And she vowed a vow, and said, O Lord of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the Lord all the days of his life, and there shall no rasor come upon his head.
So in the backdrop of what we will look at this morning, you have Hannah who is seeking after God, trying to make a deal with Him.
And although God doesn’t always answer in this manner, in vv. 19-20
C. God hears Hannah’s prayer and Samuel is born and dedicated to God in service at the Tabernacle.
And they rose up in the morning early, and worshipped before the Lord, and returned, and came to their house to Ramah: and Elkanah knew Hannah his wife; and the Lord remembered her.
Wherefore it came to pass, when the time was come about after Hannah had conceived, that she bare a son, and called his name Samuel, saying, Because I have asked him of the Lord.
The name Samuel means “heard by God.” His very name represented the struggle Hannah had and the answer God gave.
I think its important to note that God was not obligated to answer this way.
There is a culture in Christianity today that teaches that if you claim something or speak it to be true, then you will be able to claim it - so if you’re finances or relationships or anything else isn’t where you want it to be, you name it before God, and then somehow He is obligated to provide that for you.
This is not a biblically healthy view of God, and it is not a healthy view of prayer.
God is not obligated to grant every request that we make.
His only obligation is to His own good pleasure.
So why does God answer Hannah in this manner, and not others?
He doesn’t do it just because it was Hannah’s will.
You see, God’s will does not revolve around our will.
God is not reactionary. In His rule over everything, He is not obligated to our every request.
So, when we petition God, and it becomes apparent that His will is different than ours, we adjust to His will.
Now, we pray earnestly and expectantly with the deepest desire that God’s will would be done - and that we would submit to His will.
Illustration: Lost my keys this week...
but why? Why would God allow that craziness to just have me find them right before I hopped on my bike…
Deeper Illustration: Loved ones are sick
So, to circle back to our context in 1 Samuel, Hannah prays and conceives and gives birth to Samuel. And in chapter 2, once Samuel is old enough to serve the Lord in the temple, Hannah brings him back and fulfills her promise.
If you get time this week, read the first 11 verses of chapter 2 - Hannah’s prayer of thanks to God for the gift of Samuel…
Now in the book of 1 Samuel, you will find 3 major distortions to God’s Purpose
2. The Three Major Distortions of God’s Purpose
A. The Distortion of Phoniness. (1 Samuel 3-4)
1. At Shiloh, the Priest was Eli and he had two sons, Hophni and Phineas, who abused the sacrificial system and committed immoral acts.
2. Eli refused to reprimand his sons
Now Eli was very old; and he heard everything his sons did to all Israel, and how they lay with the women who assembled at the door of the tabernacle of meeting.
So he said to them, “Why do you do such things? For I hear of your evil dealings from all the people.
No, my sons! For it is not a good report that I hear. You make the Lord’s people transgress.
If one man sins against another, God will judge him. But if a man sins against the Lord, who will intercede for him?” Nevertheless they did not heed the voice of their father, because the Lord desired to kill them.
But evidently, this is as far as the reprimand went, so,
in chapters 4, God judged them all Hophni, Phineas, and eventually Eli with death and the Ark of the Covenant was stolen by the Philistines from Shiloh.
Application: You can’t just have an outward appearance of religion. You must be genuine on the inside. We must be authentic. Live what we believe.
Later on in the book of 1 Samuel, David is getting ready to be anointed by Samuel, but all his older brothers are big and brawny and a seemingly perfect fit to be the next king, but the Lord reiterates to Samuel a lesson he learned in his early years with Hophni and Phineas...
But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
ILLUSTRATION: You can’t have both...
B. The Distortion of Conformity. (1 Samuel 8)
To this point in Israel’s history, they did not have a King. God ruled over His people through priests and judges.
But in Chapter 8, we find:
1. The people ask Samuel to anoint a king over them.
Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah,
and said to him, “Look, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.”
So, Samuel is displeased, but God tells Samuel that the people are not rejecting him; but that the people are rejecting God
But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” So Samuel prayed to the Lord.
And the Lord said to Samuel, “Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them.
According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt, even to this day—with which they have forsaken Me and served other gods—so they are doing to you also.
Now therefore, heed their voice. However, you shall solemnly forewarn them, and show them the behavior of the king who will reign over them.”
2. So Samuel explains that the king will rule over them and enlist their children into his army and as servants and will tax them. But they respond with their real motivation in vv. 19-20.
Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, “No, but we will have a king over us,
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, what do we do with this distortion of conformity?
Application: Don’t aim to be like everyone else. God’s people are to be distinct. We are not called to be like other people. We are God’s unique people.
Paul said in Romans 12:1-2
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
C. The Distortion of Misrepresentation. (1 Samuel 9-13)
1. God allows the people to have a king though it was not God’s perfect will.
God’s original plan was that the people would walk with Him and would not need a King. Nevertheless, God allows their desires to be fulfilled - but remember it would turn out to not be a good thing.
2. Samuel anoints Saul who is empowered by the Spirit to defeat the Ammonites.
Then Nahash the Ammonite came up, and encamped against Jabesh-gilead: and all the men of Jabesh said unto Nahash, Make a covenant with us, and we will serve thee.
And Nahash the Ammonite answered them, On this condition will I make a covenant with you, that I may thrust out all your right eyes, and lay it for a reproach upon all Israel.
And the elders of Jabesh said unto him, Give us seven days’ respite, that we may send messengers unto all the coasts of Israel: and then, if there be no man to save us, we will come out to thee.
Then came the messengers to Gibeah of Saul, and told the tidings in the ears of the people: and all the people lifted up their voices, and wept.
And, behold, Saul came after the herd out of the field; and Saul said, What aileth the people that they weep? And they told him the tidings of the men of Jabesh.
And the Spirit of God came upon Saul when he heard those tidings, and his anger was kindled greatly.
And he took a yoke of oxen, and hewed them in pieces, and sent them throughout all the coasts of Israel by the hands of messengers, saying, Whosoever cometh not forth after Saul and after Samuel, so shall it be done unto his oxen. And the fear of the Lord fell on the people, and they came out with one consent.
And when he numbered them in Bezek, the children of Israel were three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah thirty thousand.
And they said unto the messengers that came, Thus shall ye say unto the men of Jabesh-gilead, To morrow, by that time the sun be hot, ye shall have help. And the messengers came and shewed it to the men of Jabesh; and they were glad.
Therefore the men of Jabesh said, To morrow we will come out unto you, and ye shall do with us all that seemeth good unto you.
And it was so on the morrow, that Saul put the people in three companies; and they came into the midst of the host in the morning watch, and slew the Ammonites until the heat of the day: and it came to pass, that they which remained were scattered, so that two of them were not left together.
So God’s blessing is upon His debut. But as we see in chapter 15, there is a tragic turn of events.
3. Saul disobeys God by not obeying God’s command to destroy the Amalekites for their sin.
Samuel also said to Saul, “The Lord sent me to anoint you king over His people, over Israel. Now therefore, heed the voice of the words of the Lord.
Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, how he ambushed him on the way when he came up from Egypt.
Now go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them. But kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’ ”
So Saul gathered the people together and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand foot soldiers and ten thousand men of Judah.
And Saul came to a city of Amalek, and lay in wait in the valley.
Then Saul said to the Kenites, “Go, depart, get down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them. For you showed kindness to all the children of Israel when they came up out of Egypt.” So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites.
And Saul attacked the Amalekites, from Havilah all the way to Shur, which is east of Egypt.
He also took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.
But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were unwilling to utterly destroy them. But everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed.
Now the word of the Lord came to Samuel, saying,
“I greatly regret that I have set up Saul as king, for he has turned back from following Me, and has not performed My commandments.” And it grieved Samuel, and he cried out to the Lord all night.
So when Samuel rose early in the morning to meet Saul, it was told Samuel, saying, “Saul went to Carmel, and indeed, he set up a monument for himself; and he has gone on around, passed by, and gone down to Gilgal.”
Then Samuel went to Saul, and Saul said to him, “Blessed are you of the Lord! I have performed the commandment of the Lord.”
But Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?”
And Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites; for the people spared the best of the sheep and the oxen, to sacrifice to the Lord your God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.”
4. God rejects Saul as king for misrepresenting God to the nations around him. (David is chosen.)
And Saul said to Samuel, “But I have obeyed the voice of the Lord, and gone on the mission on which the Lord sent me, and brought back Agag king of Amalek; I have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.
But the people took of the plunder, sheep and oxen, the best of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.”
So Samuel said: “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, As in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams.
For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He also has rejected you from being king.”
Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice.
Now therefore, please pardon my sin, and return with me, that I may worship the Lord.”
But Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you, for you have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.”
Saul misrepresented God to those around him. What can we learn?
Application: We, too, are representatives of God to the world. When we disobey God we distort God to the world. Let us be like Samuel who obeyed God and not like Saul who disobeyed God.
Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.
For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
If you claim to be a follower of Jesus today, you are portraying a message about Him. At home, at work, in our community - you are constantly portraying Jesus. If this is true, the question then becomes is the picture you are portraying is accurate or distorted.
If you’re honest today, at times we each have a tendency to distort the portrait of Jesus with:
Phoniness. - You can’t just have an outward appearance of religion. You must be genuine on the inside. We must be authentic. Live what we believe.
Conformity - Don’t aim to be like everyone else. God’s people are to be distinct. We are not called to be like other people. We are God’s unique people.
Misrepresentation - We, too, are representatives of God to the world. When we disobey God we distort God to the world.
Maybe today, you’re hear with us, and you don’t have a personal relationship with God. Maybe you have been burnt by a professing follower of Jesus before and their distortion has marred your view of God.
But at some point today, you have seen that people fail, and misrepresent God, and that although that person has failed - God hasn’t.
At some point throughout our time together, you have felt that drawing of God in your heart and you know you need Him.
Scripture is clear:
We were created by God.
The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork.
We have sinned and deserve judgement for our sin.
But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear.
But Jesus came to pay for your sins.
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
The Gospel requires a response - repentance and faith
But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:
Will you respond to the Gospel - the good news of Jesus Christ - that although you are lost, he came so you could be found?