Chosen by God, Undone by Pride

1 Samuel 8-15

Intro:

Time tends to weaken good intentions. In November of 1620, the Pilgrims landed near what is now Provincetown, Mass. They set about to establish a God honoring society that would be a model for generations to come. They saw themselves to be establishing a “city on a hill” to be seen by all. We are now almost 386 years from that historic beginning and much of that foundation has fallen into ruin.
Now let’s go back to about 1040 B.C. – about 400 years after the Exodus of Israel from Egypt. Roughly 10 generations have come and gone. Samuel, the last of the Judges of Israel, is an old man and his life’s work is nearly completed. Time had eroded the spiritual intentions of that nation either.
3 Kings. I have long wanted to preach on the life of David but I realized that it is not possible to fully understand David unless you also know something of the two kings that bracket his life. READING SCHED.

What I want to say: God calls leaders to care for his people. Today we begin to trace the lives of the first three human kings of Israel. In doing so, I want us to look at our nation and our own lives.

I. There is a cost when God is rejected as king

A. Israel had an identity crisis

1. They were afraid! Philistines from the West (9:16) and the Ammonites from the East (11:1-3)

a) Our nation is threatened by godless terror from without and spiritual confusion from within – to whom will we turn? Scientists? Allah? Buddha? Pagan gods and goddesses? Or the Living and True God?

2. when God’s people lose sight of their uniqueness in the world, they:

a) lose their appreciation of their uniqueness because of their relationship with God.

b) Begin to desire to be like the world (in spite of the evidence of their blessedness)

c) begin to look and act like the world

ILLUS> I am still haunted by studies that show that Christians in America do not act a whole lot differently than the rest of society. (The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience)

3. The Israelites were the chosen people of God who had been miraculously delivered from slavery. They had been supported for 40 years in the desert and then brought in to the Promised Land. Yet, because they now saw security as something they had to provide, they drifted from their Great Security. ( cp. Numbers 13)

B. “Like all other nations” (8:10-20)

1. This desire for a king was anticipated:

a) Jacob’s blessing of his 12 sons (Genesis 49:10)

b) Moses in his final message to Israel (Deuteronomy 17:14-20)

2. There is a cost to being like all other nations: freedom and blessing are lost

3. Don’t we hear this today?

a) “__________” legalized assisted suicide

b) “__________” allows drug use

c) “__________” legalized abortion

d) “__________” allows homosexual marriage

4. The reason we should not succumb to these calls is that America is still different! We still (feebly and with declining determination) attempt to follow God’s will.

5. Israel wanted a visible king to be a symbol and leader

II. God’s calling is everything (9:2-10:8)

A. Saul was chosen by God to be king.

1. the donkey herdsman becomes a king

a) lost donkeys lead to Samuel

2. at the ceremony he hid

B. Neither heritage nor physical traits qualify for leadership

1. Saul was about 30 years old – he would reign for 42 years

2. a physically impressive man – a head taller than others

3. he was from the tribe of Benjamin – the smallest in Israel.

…God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, 1 Corinthians 1:27-28 (NASB95)

4. He was not spiritually alert. Did not know (or think of consulting) the nation’s chief prophet, Samuel (9:6)

5. God changed Saul’s heart (10:9)

a) The New Testament calls that being born again.

b) That is what God does for everyone who comes to Jesus by faith

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NASB95)

6. His suddenly overt spiritual behavior was a surprise to those that knew him. (10:11)

7. He lacked self-confidence (10:22) – hid in the luggage.

a) It is better to be God-reliant than self-reliant

8. The whole of Saul’s qualification was God’s sovereign choice.

C. Saul did his greatest deeds in the power of the Spirit (Chapter 11)

1. Saul’s first victory confirmed his kingship to the doubters

2. Saul, the still humble new king, was plowing fields (11:4-5)

3. He courageously led the rescue of the city of Jabesh (11:6)

D. The cracks appear (Chapter 13)

1. Saul fought the Philistines all of his reign. Now he is in the hill country (SHOW MAP) with 3,000 troops

2. Jonathan instigated a fight to draw out the Philistines and the Philistines begin to mass their armies.

3. The Philistines had 3,000 chariots, 6,000 charioteers and countless soldiers.

4. The Hebrew soldiers began to desert

5. Samuel had arranged with Saul to meet him at Gilgal in 7 days to offer a sacrifice to the Lord.(MAP)

6. Saul took matters into his own hands and offered the sacrifices. (13:11-12)

a) Problem: Saul was king but not the prophet. God excluded the king from the priesthood.

RD. (Deuteronomy 17:14-20)

b) God’s work can only be done in God’s way.

c) Saul excused his action by saying he was reluctant to fight without the Lord’s blessing so he reluctantly offered it.

7. He was being disobedient. God cannot and will not bless disobedience!

a) Are there times when you pretend to obey God but you are really just putting a religious cover on things?

8. Samuel rebukes Saul (13:13-14)

a) Saul will lose the kingdom because of his disobedience

b) Isn’t God being hard on Saul? All he did was offer the sacrifice. No! Only God’s Son could ever be prophet, priest and king. Saul disobeyed.

E. The foundation crumbles (14-15, 28, 31)

1. Saul partially obeys God’s command (15:13-23)

a) He spared the king and the best cattle

b) He blamed the soldiers (cp. Aaron)

2. Saul builds a monument to himself

3. There is a place of no return with God (15:24-26)

a) You cannot disobey God/repent; disobey/repent forever. God is patient but His patience is not forever.

4. Saul begins a downward spiral

a) Alternately befriending, threatening and chasing David

b) In fear of the unknown he resorts to a witch (28)

c) Kills himself (31)

III. Four lessons from this king’s life

A. God calls people to do His work

1. The power is in the call, not your ability

2. Paul’s extensive teaching about spiritual gifts

3. If God calls, He equips.

B. Rely upon God alone

1. it is plainly stated that the Holy Spirit came upon Saul – and he acted bravely.

2. Holy Spirit: in the NT the Holy Spirit comes to live within a believer for their whole life.

3. but Saul came to rely upon his army and his cleverness instead.

C. Partial obedience is not obedience

Then the Lord said,

“Because this people draw near with their words

And honor Me with their lip service,

But they remove their hearts far from Me,

Isaiah 29:13 NASB95

1. Don’t think you are fooling God when you live one way on Sunday and another during the week.

D. Fear God rather than man

1. The most pathetic figures in Scripture are those who knew God’s will but were afraid people would not like it if they said what God said.

2. Peter and the apostles were arrested for preaching in Jesus’ name and told to stop they replied:

“We must obey God rather than men. Acts 5:29 (NASB95)

Concl:

Israel drifted from reliance upon God to rejecting Him. Our nation is drifting from our roots in God’s word and must beware. One evidence to note is that Provincetown, where the Pilgrims began their enterprise, is now a homosexual resort center.
Are there areas of your life in which you are considering compromising? In what areas do you need to trust God more?

Chosen by God Undone by Pride