1 Samuel 15
Samuel • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 47:32
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· 859 viewsHow does Saul prove that actions speak louder than words?
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Intro
Intro
- Regent to Reject
Actions speak louder than words...
Imagine with me a marriage...
Imagine with me a parent and child...
Imagine with me a King and his servant…
Pray
Pray
400 Prayers for Preachers Grant that We May Attend to Your Teaching
Grant, Almighty God, that as you are pleased daily to exhort us to repentance, and do not suddenly execute your judgment by which we might be in an instant overwhelmed, but give us time to seek reconciliation—O grant that we may now attend to your teaching, and all your admonitions and threatenings, and become teachable and obedient to you, lest you be constrained, on finding us hardened against your threatenings, and wholly irreclaimable, to bring on us extreme vengeance. Make us then so to submit ourselves to you in the spirit of teachableness and obedience, that being placed under the protection of your Son, we may truly call on you as our Father, and find you to be so in reality, when you shall show to us that paternal love, which you have promised, and which we have all experienced from the beginning, who have truly and from the heart called on your name, through the same, even Christ our Lord. Amen.
JOHN CALVIN
Message
Message
1 And Samuel said to Saul, “The Lord sent me to anoint you king over his people Israel; now therefore listen to the words of the Lord. 2 Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘I have noted what Amalek did to Israel in opposing them on the way when they came up out of Egypt. 3 Now go and strike Amalek and devote to destruction all that they have. Do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’ ”
Samuel - You are here because God put you here!!
Because God put you here - Listen to Him
1 Sam 15.1-3
This is one of the messages of the whole Bible.
LORD - I did not forget Amalek…
Judgement - do not be deceived God will not be mocked…
We think of this as harsh but who are you to judge God?
What we deserve…
8 And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive and devoted to destruction all the people with the edge of the sword. 9 But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep and of the oxen and of the fattened calves and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them. All that was despised and worthless they devoted to destruction.
Saul’s Choice - partial obedience
1 Sam 15.8-9
What is the difference between all and most?
How did they pick?
10 The word of the Lord came to Samuel: 11 “I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following me and has not performed my commandments.” And Samuel was angry, and he cried to the Lord all night.
The LORD - noted Amalek… notes Saul too…
1 Sam 15.
Regret = not mistake
Samuel - angry - cries out
Sorrow over sin
Grieved by God’s Glory
12 And Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning. And it was told Samuel, “Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set up a monument for himself and turned and passed on and went down to Gilgal.” 13 And Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, “Blessed be you to the Lord. I have performed the commandment of the Lord.” 14 And Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears and the lowing of the oxen that I hear?”
Samuel - can’t sleep - early day
Saul - self monument !!!
5.12-
Saul - self delusion
Samuel - bleating sheep instead of bleeding sheep...
Samuel loves God & Saul - truth
Have you ever heard the term “Nose Blind”?
Where are your sins bleating when they should be bleeding?
16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.
19 My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, 20 let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.
15 Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites, for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen to sacrifice to the Lord your God, and the rest we have devoted to destruction.” 16 Then Samuel said to Saul, “Stop! I will tell you what the Lord said to me this night.” And he said to him, “Speak.”
Saul’s Response - They… The People… sacrifice
Blame Shift / Rationalization / Justification
Samuel - STOP!!
15 “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.
SIN is sin… Opinion is not sin… preference is not sin
God and His Word are the plumb line…
17 And Samuel said, “Though you are little in your own eyes, are you not the head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king over Israel. 18 And the Lord sent you on a mission and said, ‘Go, devote to destruction the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.’ 19 Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord? Why did you pounce on the spoil and do what was evil in the sight of the Lord?”
Samuel - Irony - tallest in Israel head and shoulders…
Personal opinion of ones self matters…
Little People… No Little Positions !!
Remember Earlier = God is harsh to punish them this way… SINNERS !
If God’s Word is black and white do not make grey !!
Are we asking God to train our hearts not to be color blind?
20 And Saul said to Samuel, “I have obeyed the voice of the Lord. I have gone on the mission on which the Lord sent me. I have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and I have devoted the Amalekites to destruction. 21 But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the best of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.”
Saul - Argues…
was not supposed to bring Agag… Personal Glory ! [old tradition]
5.20-
the people did it… Who is the king anyway..?
I asked Elisa when I did something like this… She didn’t remember and neither did I but sounds like me!!
What if the person you love asked for a quiet evening at home and you hired a marching band to play for them?
What if you were constantly telling them and others how much you loved them while still consistently not honoring their requests?
22 And 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 listen than the fat of rams. 23 For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has also rejected you from being king.”
This is what the LORD requires...
How are you doing here? How seriously do we take this?
1 Sam 15.22-
Presumption - do we presume to much upon the grace and mercy of God
24 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. 25 Now therefore, please pardon my sin and return with me that I may bow before the Lord.”
Saul - takes ownership upon threat from God
What does it take to bring you to repentance?
1 Sam 15.24-
Your Words - Feared the People
Adam / Eve - listened to the voice of …
Saul asking Samuel for forgiveness ?
Samuel is Saul’s
26 And 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.” 27 As Samuel turned to go away, Saul seized the skirt of his robe, and it tore. 28 And Samuel said to him, “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you this day and has given it to a neighbor of yours, who is better than you. 29 And also the Glory of Israel will not lie or have regret, for he is not a man, that he should have regret.”
You know those cartoons where someone does something bad and the person next to them takes a big step to the side and then lightning hits the other guy… I wonder if that was part of that Samuel is thinking…
Samuel - is broken hearted and fed up - Samuel does not want to support the man God has rejected
Saul - seeks to take the kingdom by force !!
- Had to come to Saul’s mind…
God’s plans will come to stand regardless of our interference
1 Sam 15.26-
30 Then he said, “I have sinned; yet honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel, and return with me, that I may bow before the Lord your God.” 31 So Samuel turned back after Saul, and Saul bowed before the Lord.
Saul - wants honor without integrity | wants to lead without following
Have you noticed that Saul continues to speak like God is not his God… your God…
Samuel turns back after him but not because of him I think…
5.30
32 Then Samuel said, “Bring here to me Agag the king of the Amalekites.” And Agag came to him cheerfully. Agag said, “Surely the bitterness of death is past.” 33 And Samuel said, “As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women.” And Samuel hacked Agag to pieces before the Lord in Gilgal.
Samuel - seeks to put right that which is in his power to
Agag - is unaware that a delay in punishment does not mean a lack of punishment
Would you find yourself acting more like Samuel or Agag?
… Moral = cut it out or God will cut you off!
1 Sam 15.32-33
34 Then Samuel went to Ramah, and Saul went up to his house in Gibeah of Saul. 35 And Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death, but Samuel grieved over Saul. And the Lord regretted that he had made Saul king over Israel.
Samuel - Kept his distance but I believe never stopped praying for him...
Close
Close
Seek to remember God’s past favor to drive you to future obedience.
Beware and do not serve a leader who fears man’s opinion more then God’s.
When you find that someone you know is directly opposed to God’s will and unrepentant of it have nothing more to do with them.
If it is in your power to make right a wrong then seek to do it.
Repent while you can lest you be rejected from the kingdom!
Application
Application
Obedience is greater then sacrifice!
God is God, and God demands obedience from you!
We fall short of God’s glorious perfect standard of obedience
We deserve to be rejected from the kingdom
5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. 3 And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. 4 Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, 5 but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: 6 whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.
13 And the Lord said: “Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men,
The gift of the gospel is not just the sacrifice of Christ’s death for our life, it is his obedience in place of our disobedience.
Our only proper response is obedience out of a heart of thanksgiving
When we fail… our only proper response is heartfelt repentance in a spirit of thanksgiving that no further sacrifices be made and Jesus fulfilled obedience when we could not.
Brothers and Sisters may you glory at this Gospel and be driven to fight the good fight of the faith!
Beloved if you do not know Christ as both sacrificial lamb and victorious obedient King I beg you to recognize Him as such now, stop trying to earn it, and rather accept it as already yours. Lay yourself at His feet and allow his mercy and grace to cover you!
Pray
Pray
God our father how often we like Saul forget that it is us you want not our acts, that it is our active obedience not our success that you desire. Father what is $1,000 given if given from a twisted heart. Lord Jesus what is a large building when filled with empty words. Spirit convict us that consistent attendance is nothing without active obedience.
Father sometimes we can grow so used to the bleating of the sheep that we become deaf to their call. Sometimes we can make excuses of following the letter of the law without truly following it’s spirit.
What are sacrifices to you? Do you need our works? Do you need our riches? Do you need our food, our clothes, our homes, our cars?… No Lord what you desire is a broken and contrite heart. What you desire is our love and adoration born out in relational obedience to you.
Help us put to death the Agags in our hearts, make us hear the bleating of the sin that we must slaughter, help us to foster a life of Spirit lead obedience to you!!! AMEN!!!
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13 And the Lord said: “Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men,