In the Shelter of Gods Grace
“In the Shelter of God’s Grace”
(1 Samuel 12:6-25)
Opening Video
• Start with the video of thunderstorm and run until done reading 1 Samuel 12:12-25.
Point of Contact
• It getting to be that time of year again where we experience the spectacular thunderstorms common to this area. For some, those thunderstorms mean a welcome relief from the heat and dryness. For others, they mean the threat of blown over trees, flash floods, or lightning strikes that start hungry wildfires.
• One such thunderstorm became a decision point for the children of Israel as we see in 1 Samuel chapter 12. The people of Israel had asked for something that wasn’t in God’s timing, but he graciously granted their request for a king; yet Samuel points out that this request came from wrong motives and was rooted in sin.
Main Portion of the Message
Let’s take a look at 1 Samuel 12:12-25...
• This is Samuel’s farewell address as Israel will now have Saul as their leader instead of Samuel.
Focus on verses 20-21 especially.
• When we sin, there are often consequences for that sin - either physical or spiritual consequences. But look at the forgiveness available through God’s grace and mercy - shown in verses 20-21.
• God not only provides forgiveness and healing, but He also gives us instructions on how to proceed from there on.
• Isn’t it great that we can take shelter from the wrath we otherwise deserve under His wings of grace and mercy?
So, Why did Israel ask for a king?
• They put their trust in what they could see - the leadership of a king - rather than trusting in the God they could not see.
• They wanted to be like the nations around them who were powerful and prosperous.
• They lost sight of what God had done for them and wanted to be like the world around them.
This is the plague of our time too, isn’t it?
• We tend to put our trust in what we can see and feel rather than in the invisible Creator of the Universe - even though the evidence of God’s hand in our lives is all around us. The Holy Spirit said it well through Paul in Romans 1:18-25.
• What did Jesus say about the seen and the unseen? Do you remember his discussion with Thomas in John 20:26-29?
Why do we doubt? Why do we seem to need something physical or spectacular to happen to remind us that God is really here and He loves us?
• We are weak in our natural selves - Romans 6:19 says, “I put this in human terms because you are weak in your natural selves.”
• When we become Christians, a transformation takes place that will continue to change us until Jesus returns once again to gather us up. Philippians 2:12 and 13 says, “continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.”
• The natural man without the mind of Christ focuses on the outward rather than on the heart or the inward, as expressed in 1 Samuel 16:7, “The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”
Consider Jeremiah 17:9-10 “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve.” Also, (Psa 94:11) The LORD knows the thoughts of man; he knows that they are futile.
• God knows exactly who we are and what we are like on the inside, and yet He still desires a relationship with us. Romans 5:8 says, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
When He forgives us of our sins, He does it once and for all - Hebrews 7:27 - “Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself.”
• However, we damage our fellowship with God when we continue to sin. In 1 John 1:8-10, the Bible says, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.” This was written to Christians!!
• We get spiritually dirty as we wrestle with this day-to-day life. We stumble and sin as we learn to put on the mind of Christ. Jesus has a remedy for that too - confess our sins and “He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
• In addition to 1 John 1:9, Jesus also demonstrated the concept to His disciples in John 13:3-17. There he washed their feet. When Peter wouldn’t let Jesus wash his feet, Jesus responded that unless He washed Peter’s feet, Peter would have no part with Jesus." Then Peter replied, "not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!" Jesus answered, "A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is clean.”
• If you are a Christian, if you have trusted in Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross and bodily resurrection from the dead as your basis for eternal life in God’s presence, then you simply need to follow the 1 John 1:9 pattern of keeping your feet clean as you walk through this dusty world.
The past can’t be undone. Often we suffer the physical and emotional consequences of our sins. But be assured that the future is clear and untainted.
So what does the Bible really mean when it sounds like it condemns us for messing up after becoming a believer in Jesus? For example, look at verse 25 of 1 Samuel 12 - “Yet if you persist in doing evil, both you and your king will be swept away.” We already saw in 1 John that we do sin and shouldn’t deny it, but should confess and ask forgiveness of God who gives freely. So what does it mean to persist in doing evil?
• The contrast between David and Saul illustrates the difference between giving your heart to God and still stumbling (even big-time stumbles) compared to never really committing to God and just going through the motions.
• It is clear from the Bible’s description that Saul was far from being committed to God. He set a pattern of disobedience that showed where his heart really stood. 1 Samuel 15:19-23 explains - “Why did you not obey the LORD? Why did you pounce on the plunder and do evil in the eyes of the LORD?" "But I did obey the LORD," Saul said. "I went on the mission the LORD assigned me. I completely destroyed the Amalekites and brought back Agag their king. The soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God, in order to sacrifice them to the LORD your God at Gilgal." But Samuel replied: "Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has rejected you as king."
• Like some people today, Saul rejected God’s word, God’s will, and sought out his own way of living.
• But David was different: Are we more like him - a sinner, saved by grace and longing after God even though we struggle with sin? Take a look at Romans 7:21-25
So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God‑‑through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.
So what is the remedy for our struggle with sin? God’s grace is the remedy.
• Grace is that undeserved kindness He showers on us in spite of our sin, as we trust in Jesus as our only hope for entering God’s presence. God the Father looks upon His son Jesus’ sacrifice in our place to pay the price for sin.
• Romans 3:22-24 says, “This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”
• Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith‑‑and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God‑‑not by works, so that no one can boast.”
What happens if we continue to sin as we try to grow in Christ? Here are some scriptures that offer hope:
• James 3:2 says,“We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.”
• Daniel 11:35 says, “Some of the wise will stumble, so that they may be refined, purified and made spotless until the time of the end, for it will still come at the appointed time.”
• Psalm 37:23-24 says, “If the LORD delights in a man's way, he makes his steps firm; though he stumble, he will not fall, for the LORD upholds him with his hand.”
• Isaiah 40:29-31 says, “He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”
The Bottom line: 1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (He was writing to believers, not unbelievers!)
• Lest you misunderstand - Romans 6:1-2 says, “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?”
• The point is to continue surrendering to God as a way of life.
Our Response?
• If you are a Christian, thank God for His grace and mercy, praise Him, and ask for His forgiveness as you stumble on your path to growth.
Refer to David as your example: God forgave him for adultery, murder, and lying. 2 Samuel 12:13 says, “Then David said to Nathan, ‘I have sinned against the LORD.’ Nathan replied, ‘The LORD has taken away your sin. You are not going to die.’” The key to understanding the difference between David and Saul is this - David admitted his sin, sought God’s forgiveness, and strove to please God.
Psalm 51, our scripture reading this morning, is a beautiful prayer that shows David’s heart after he was confronted by Samuel for his adultery and murder. God considered David a man after God’s own heart. David was a man who blew it, but deep down really desired to please God. 1 Samuel 13:13-14 says about Saul and David, “You acted foolishly,” Samuel said. “You have not kept the command the LORD your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time. But now your kingdom will not endure; the LORD has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him leader of his people, because you have not kept the Lord's command.”
• If you are not a Christian yet, understand that God forgives sin and changes people.
Paul is a great example for you. He was a religious man who followed the letter of the law, trusting in his own good works and obedience rather than relying on God’s grace and mercy. On the road to Damascus, he had a personal encounter with Jesus Christ that changed his life. In 1 Timothy 1:15-16 he lays it out, “Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners‑‑of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life.”
• If you need some reassurance, here’s our hope: 1 Peter 1:3-9 and 1 John 3:2 say it in a nutshell.
• If you are a Christian, God wants you to continually seek Him. If you’re religious but haven’t recognized that your good works won’t get you to heaven, then you too must rely on Jesus as you savior. If you don’t know much about Jesus and haven’t asked Him to represent you before God as your savior and master, then I urge you to do this right now as we pray, or in the privacy of your own home, or talk about it with a friend you trust who knows Jesus personally.
Let’s pray.
Discussion time and Feedback Sheets.
Invite worship team back up for closing music.
If you’d like to pray with me as we sing the closing song, I’ll be down in front.