Choices
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· 7 views12/5/2021-AM Worship
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Introduction
Introduction
Good morning and welcome back!
This morning we are going to be looking at really a very sad passage in our Bibles, found in 1 Chronicles 10.
And our Scripture focus is on the sad end of what would have been a great king among the children of Israel.
We are talking this morning about King Saul, who preceded David to the throne of Israel.
Saul was actually the first king of Israel and was the "people's choice."
And if you recall, prior to Saul, the people had asked Samuel to give them a king to rule over them, but Samuel warned the people that God had already told them that He was all they needed and they didn't need a king to rule over them.
God had even warned them that the king would raise taxes, send their children off to war, and make the people subject to the will of the king.
However, the people didn't want to listen, they wanted to be just like everybody else, like the rest of the world and insisted on a king.
And because of this, the end up with Saul the Benjanmite as their king.
Now, even though Saul was not the most popular or righteous king in Israel, we need to make no mistake.
Saul was an anointed king over Israel by God and at one time had God's favor on his life.
Then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on Saul’s head and kissed him, saying, “Has not the Lord anointed you leader over his inheritance?
However, the choices that Saul made throughout his life led to his downfall and demise.
That is what I want to talk for a little while this morning, choices.
We all have choices we make each and every day, and those choices will dictate the direction our life ultimately takes.
And if we look at the life of Saul, we realize that Saul didn't just make one bad choice and that bad choice led to his death.
It was a series of bad choices that drove Saul farther and farther away from God until ultimately He wound up completely apart from God.
How did he get there though?
The Scripture in Chronicles talks about three things that Saul did and that is what I want to talk about.
But, before we get into that, let’s briefly look at the end of King Saul.
In 1 Chronicles 10, starting in verse 13, the Bible records that . . .
Scripture Focus
Scripture Focus
Saul died because he was unfaithful to the Lord; he did not keep the word of the Lord and even consulted a medium for guidance, and did not inquire of the Lord. So the Lord put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David son of Jesse.
Transgressions Against the Lord
Transgressions Against the Lord
So, the Bible says that the first thing Saul did was commit transgressions against God.
He was unfaithful to God.
In other words, he offended God by his actions, his attitudes, and his behaviors.
God had set plans and precepts and Saul decided that he wasn't going to do things the way that God had laid it out.
Saul decided that he was going to things the way he wanted.
He decided he was going to live his life his way and not God's way.
Sound familiar?
None of us have ever done that have we?
Decided that we know best and we know how we should live?
You know, Them "church people" can't tell us how to live.
"I don't have to answer to anyone," kind of attitude.
The writer of Hebrews reminds us to . . .
Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.
The warnings we receive from God and God’s people are not to break us down or keep us under their thumb, it is meant as a help.
We watch over and are concerned about each other’s soul.
About how we are going to ultimately end up.
So, if you are being convicted about sin, through a service or even in person, don't get mad at the person doing the confronting.
Examine yourself before God and weigh out why you are mad.
Are you angry and offended because the person was ungodly in their approach or are you angry because your sin has been revealed?
I will also say this, those doing the confronting must also be very careful.
The Bible also says . . .
Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted.
It is a very slippery slope.
The job is to restore the one who has sinned, but also we had better do it in a spirit of meekness, considering what it would be like for us if we were in that person's shoes.
Jesus also warns us to . . .
“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
I am afraid that a lot of times that is what we will want to do.
Instead of considering all the circumstances and approaching things with spirit of meekness and compassion, we want to jump right in and start passing judgment.
Our job is not to judge someone for what they have done, our job is to:
(1) Show them the truth
(2) Help them down the path to redemption and reconciliation to God.
After all, their issue may not be the same as our issue, but what are we doing about the issues we have in our life?
Are we dealing with them or are we getting dangerously close to being like Saul, known as one who transgressed against God?
You see, Saul’s problem was that he refused to listen to wise counsel.
He refused to humble himself before God.
He refused to admit his sin and his need for God.
He was arrogant and full of himself.
Thought that he had it all figured out and that he knew all he needed to know.
Not Keeping the Word of the Lord
Not Keeping the Word of the Lord
The Second thing was that Saul did not keep the word of the Lord.
Now for us, this could be generally not keeping the Word of the Lord, but with regard to Saul, there were some very specific things that Saul was told to do.
In 1 Samuel 13, we are told . . .
He waited seven days, the time set by Samuel; but Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and Saul’s men began to scatter. So he said, “Bring me the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings.” And Saul offered up the burnt offering. Just as he finished making the offering, Samuel arrived, and Saul went out to greet him. “What have you done?” asked Samuel. Saul replied, “When I saw that the men were scattering, and that you did not come at the set time, and that the Philistines were assembling at Micmash, I thought, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the Lord’s favor.’ So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering.” “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.”
And to make a long story short, Samuel had told Saul to wait for him for 7 days to come and offer a sacrifice to God before they went into battle.
Saul, again wanting to do things his way, and also folding under the pressure of the people to "get on with it," and not wait, decides that he will offer the sacrifice himself.
Saul didn't have enough faith to be patient and wait on God, he want to rush things and invent his own solutions.
Don't we get that way sometimes?
God tells us to wait and we get anxious.
The pressure begins to build, we don't know what's going on, why God hasn't moved, why all our problems are not solved.
We worry about our church and about why it's not growing the way we think it should.
We are concerned with the "numbers" with the "dollars and cents" when God says wait, be patient.
Then we invent our "own way."
We decide we are going to fix the problem.
On the outside it may even look like things are fixed, but we fail to deal with the real issue.
Where was our faith in this?
What is our soul's true condition?
What are we going to do the next time there is trouble?
Will we turn to God or do our own thing again?
We continue down that slippery slope.
That was the first failure, but there was also a second failure on Saul's part that sealed his fate . . .
Samuel said to Saul, “I am the one the Lord sent to anoint you king over his people Israel; so listen now to the message from the Lord. This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘I will punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel when they waylaid them as they came up from Egypt. Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy everything that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.’ ”
And skipping down to verse 7 . . .
Then Saul attacked the Amalekites all the way from Havilah to Shur, to the east of Egypt. He took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and all his people he totally destroyed with the sword. But Saul and the army spared Agag and the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs—everything that was good. These they were unwilling to destroy completely, but everything that was despised and weak they totally destroyed.
And this is what I was talking about last week.
God told Saul to completely destroy the Amalekites.
Wipe them off the face of the earth.
Saul goes to war with them but he decided he was going to spare the king and the BEST of the sheep, oxen, fatlings, lambs, and all that was good.
Good in whose eyes?
Certainly not God's.
The things that Saul felt could benefit him, help him "get ahead" he spared.
It translates like this for Christians.
Everything in their life that is considered "bad" by society, they get rid of or at least give the appearance that they have gotten rid of it.
However, those "quiet sins," the ones that "nobody knows about" or "doesn't hurt anybody," they hang on to it.
Also, it doesn't have to be a sin, it could be just something that has become an idol to us.
Something that is competing with God for that person.
It becomes more beneficial to them than God does and instead of obey the word of the Lord, they go and do what they want, satisfy the flesh and not the spirit.
It didn't end well for Saul, and it won't end well for us if we refuse to change.
But Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of sheep in my ears? What is this lowing of cattle that I hear?” Saul answered, “The soldiers brought them from the Amalekites; they spared the best of the sheep and cattle to sacrifice to the Lord your God, but we totally destroyed the rest.” “Stop!” Samuel said to Saul. “Let me tell you what the Lord said to me last night.” “Tell me,” Saul replied. Samuel said, “Although you were once small in your own eyes, did you not become the head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king over Israel. And he sent you on a mission, saying, ‘Go and completely destroy those wicked people, the Amalekites; make war on them until you have wiped them out.’ 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.”
Just like we talked about last week, we cannot make up our disobedience to God by offering sacrifices.
You can sacrifice all day long but it will do you no good.
You can good work yourself to death and it is all for naught.
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
Consulting Familiar Spirits
Consulting Familiar Spirits
The only way to make it right with God is to repent, and to do it before it is too late.
And the last part of Saul’s downfall, he consulted with spirits instead of God.
Now, what in the world is this talking about? What does this mean?
Saul had even gone so far from God that he had inquired of witches! He dove into the Occult and Witchcraft!
All of 1 Samuel 28 deals with this, but I'll read just an excerpt . . .
Saul then said to his attendants, “Find me a woman who is a medium, so I may go and inquire of her.” “There is one in Endor,” they said. So Saul disguised himself, putting on other clothes, and at night he and two men went to the woman. “Consult a spirit for me,” he said, “and bring up for me the one I name.”
Samuel had died and Saul was troubled about the upcoming battle with the Philistines and he didn't know what to do.
The anointing had left Saul.
The man of God that kept him in check was gone.
Saul was all alone and instead of turning to God in repentance, he turned to the devil.
He turned to the "familiar spirits" as the KJV puts it of the world and sought out this witch.
This is where it gets weird.
Saul asks the witch to rouse up the spirit of Samuel and bring him back from the dead.
And here's the thing, she did it!
Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?” “I am in great distress,” Saul said. “The Philistines are fighting against me, and God has turned away from me. He no longer answers me, either by prophets or by dreams. So I have called on you to tell me what to do.”
Samuel was already dead and probably pretty upset Saul had done this and here is his response.
Samuel said, “Why do you consult me, now that the Lord has turned away from you and become your enemy? The Lord has done what he predicted through me. The Lord has torn the kingdom out of your hands and given it to one of your neighbors—to David. Because you did not obey the Lord or carry out his fierce wrath against the Amalekites, the Lord has done this to you today. The Lord will hand over both Israel and you to the Philistines, and tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. The Lord will also hand over the army of Israel to the Philistines.”
Not the news Saul was wanting.
The kingdom would be torn from Saul and given to David.
The Israelites would lose against the Philistines the following day.
Saul and his sons would all die in the battle.
Do you see how far Saul has fell?
What he has resorted to?
Now, you may be sitting there thinking, "I don't get into that witchcraft stuff," "I don't deal with the Occult."
Maybe not, but do you consult with the familiar spirits of the world?
Do you put your faith in the ways of man and not the ways of God?
Are you like Saul?
Has God's anointing left you?
Do you not hear from God anymore?
You are putting your trust in all of this "self help" stuff because you don't hear from God.
Still trying to do it alone, do it yourself, just like old Saul.
Altar/Challenge
Altar/Challenge
Have you transgressed against God?
Have you ignored the Word of the Lord?
Have you been consulting with the familiar spirits of the world?
This is where you will be asked to make a choice.
You will have to choose which way you are going to go.
The way of God that leads to eternal life.
Or the way of Saul that leads to eternal death.
The time is now and the choice is yours to make.
Let’s pray . . .