1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:03,520 Hello and welcome to the Middletown Baptist Church Podcast, 2 00:00:03,600 --> 00:00:06,480 where we are proclaiming the truth to the world. 3 00:00:06,640 --> 00:00:09,720 My name is Pastor Josh, and I want to thank you for listening to 4 00:00:09,720 --> 00:00:10,480 this podcast. 5 00:00:10,960 --> 00:00:14,680 I hope that this podcast can be a blessing to you and strengthen 6 00:00:14,680 --> 00:00:16,080 you in the word of God. 7 00:00:16,800 --> 00:00:20,160 Now, come along, let's look into the Bible and see what God has 8 00:00:20,160 --> 00:00:21,440 for us here today. 9 00:00:23,440 --> 00:00:26,320 Let's continue our study here in First Samuel. 10 00:00:26,650 --> 00:00:29,930 And so if you're following along with us, we're in 1st Samuel, 11 00:00:29,930 --> 00:00:35,610 chapter 14, and we're gonna start where we left off last week. 12 00:00:35,610 --> 00:00:37,770 And that's verse number 23. 13 00:00:37,930 --> 00:00:39,330 If you weren't here last week. 14 00:00:39,330 --> 00:00:43,330 We studied the bravery and the faith of Jonathan. 15 00:00:43,330 --> 00:00:45,290 Jonathan's the son of King Saul. 16 00:00:45,290 --> 00:00:50,130 And King Saul is waiting back, not acting in what the Lord would 17 00:00:50,130 --> 00:00:52,930 call him to do by taking out the Philistines, Jonathan and his 18 00:00:52,930 --> 00:00:56,820 armor bearer go out in faith and they begin this conquest against 19 00:00:56,820 --> 00:00:57,620 the Philistines. 20 00:00:57,620 --> 00:01:03,100 And we see that God here gives the power to the Israelite army to 21 00:01:03,340 --> 00:01:05,500 continue to push the Philistine army away. 22 00:01:05,660 --> 00:01:08,980 And we see in verse 23, a recap of every that everything there. 23 00:01:08,980 --> 00:01:12,540 And it says, so the Lord saved Israel that day, and the battle passed 24 00:01:12,540 --> 00:01:13,740 over unto Beth Haven. 25 00:01:13,980 --> 00:01:17,420 And so we see the initiation of the victory that God had promised 26 00:01:17,420 --> 00:01:18,620 to the people of Israel. 27 00:01:19,020 --> 00:01:21,540 We see that Jonathan acted in faith. 28 00:01:21,540 --> 00:01:25,600 And we see now Saul trying to jump on and take credit for it. 29 00:01:26,080 --> 00:01:30,120 And we see Stahl making decision after decision that continuously 30 00:01:30,120 --> 00:01:33,200 leads him away from the will and the plan of God. 31 00:01:33,600 --> 00:01:38,000 And I wanted us to go to a New Testament passage to kind of get 32 00:01:38,000 --> 00:01:41,000 our minds adjusted to what we're going to be talking about here 33 00:01:41,000 --> 00:01:41,680 this evening. 34 00:01:41,680 --> 00:01:44,120 And the passage of Scripture in the New Testament is found in 35 00:01:44,120 --> 00:01:45,120 James, chapter one. 36 00:01:45,120 --> 00:01:49,080 So keep your finger there in First Samuel, chapter 14, and go 37 00:01:49,080 --> 00:01:50,800 with me to James chapter one. 38 00:01:51,460 --> 00:01:54,380 And we're going to look at a verse here that probably most of 39 00:01:54,380 --> 00:01:59,300 you have heard in your life and, I hope, desire to follow, but 40 00:01:59,300 --> 00:02:00,380 oftentimes we don't. 41 00:02:00,380 --> 00:02:03,860 Within our flesh, within our own way of doing things. 42 00:02:04,180 --> 00:02:07,740 And we see that Saul in this passage in First Samuel does not 43 00:02:07,740 --> 00:02:10,500 practice what we're about to talk about in James chapter one. 44 00:02:10,740 --> 00:02:14,140 But James chapter one, verse 19 says, Wherefore, my beloved brethren, 45 00:02:14,140 --> 00:02:18,990 let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to 46 00:02:18,990 --> 00:02:19,390 wrath. 47 00:02:19,550 --> 00:02:23,630 Now we know that Saul was a man of wrath. 48 00:02:23,630 --> 00:02:28,070 And certainly there is a point in time at which we should act out 49 00:02:28,070 --> 00:02:30,350 in righteous indignation against sin. 50 00:02:30,670 --> 00:02:33,310 But what we're going to see in this passage in 1st Samuel, chapter 51 00:02:33,310 --> 00:02:39,790 14 is that Saul's wrath is not out of the love for God and the love 52 00:02:39,790 --> 00:02:41,870 for truth and making things right that way. 53 00:02:41,870 --> 00:02:45,690 Saul's wrath is based in his sinful pride and his ego. 54 00:02:46,170 --> 00:02:49,290 And, and we see that he's going to act out and make an oath, 55 00:02:49,530 --> 00:02:51,930 and it's an oath that he should not make, and he gets himself 56 00:02:51,930 --> 00:02:52,810 in a lot of trouble. 57 00:02:53,290 --> 00:02:55,810 And what we're going to see here is that I think that there's 58 00:02:55,810 --> 00:03:00,010 a lesson to be learned in many ways, that when we are in a place 59 00:03:00,010 --> 00:03:03,210 where we're following the Spirit, we're able to rest, we're 60 00:03:03,210 --> 00:03:06,210 able to have peace, we're able to have comfort, we're able to speak 61 00:03:06,210 --> 00:03:09,010 wisely, and we're able to sometimes hold our tongues. 62 00:03:09,010 --> 00:03:12,410 But what we see here in James, chapter one, and also what we're 63 00:03:12,410 --> 00:03:15,480 going to see in S. First Samuel, chapter 14, is that when 64 00:03:15,480 --> 00:03:18,760 we're acting in the flesh, oftentimes we say things that we 65 00:03:18,760 --> 00:03:21,280 don't understand the complete outcome of and can get ourselves 66 00:03:21,280 --> 00:03:22,240 into a lot of trouble. 67 00:03:22,400 --> 00:03:25,040 I know there's been times in my life when I'm acting in the flesh 68 00:03:25,040 --> 00:03:29,480 and I say something, and as those words are leaving my lips, 69 00:03:29,480 --> 00:03:30,640 I want to take them back. 70 00:03:30,799 --> 00:03:32,800 I I know that they're going to be cutting. 71 00:03:32,960 --> 00:03:36,040 I know that there's probably going to be something later on that's 72 00:03:36,040 --> 00:03:38,120 going to cause me to regret that. 73 00:03:38,120 --> 00:03:41,480 And so what we're going to see here in this passage in 1st Samuel, 74 00:03:41,480 --> 00:03:44,770 chapter 14 is that Saul is going to make a couple of oaths that 75 00:03:44,770 --> 00:03:45,410 he shouldn't make. 76 00:03:45,410 --> 00:03:47,610 He doesn't have the authority to make, and he doesn't have the 77 00:03:47,610 --> 00:03:49,490 wisdom to make, but he makes it. 78 00:03:49,490 --> 00:03:51,410 And ultimately what he does, he puts him. 79 00:03:51,410 --> 00:03:54,690 He puts a son in jeopardy, Jonathan, the one who's acting in 80 00:03:54,690 --> 00:03:55,050 faith. 81 00:03:55,050 --> 00:03:58,530 And so we go to James, chapter one, verse 20, and it says, for the 82 00:03:58,530 --> 00:04:01,890 wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. 83 00:04:02,690 --> 00:04:05,250 So we see something in the Bible called the wrath of God. 84 00:04:05,250 --> 00:04:07,570 And the wrath of God is something that's righteous. 85 00:04:07,570 --> 00:04:10,050 The wrath of God is always based in holiness. 86 00:04:10,050 --> 00:04:14,640 And when God enacts his wrath upon individuals and groups of people, 87 00:04:15,040 --> 00:04:18,600 he does it in a way that aligns with his character of complete 88 00:04:18,600 --> 00:04:19,120 holiness. 89 00:04:19,520 --> 00:04:23,280 So it says there not the wrath of God, but verse number 20 in James 90 00:04:23,280 --> 00:04:25,120 chapter one, for the wrath of man. 91 00:04:25,440 --> 00:04:27,640 So the wrath of man is not based in holiness. 92 00:04:27,640 --> 00:04:31,240 The wrath of man is based in selfishness and fleshly desires. 93 00:04:31,240 --> 00:04:34,920 And it says the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of 94 00:04:34,920 --> 00:04:35,240 God. 95 00:04:35,240 --> 00:04:38,820 So when we're acting in our own wrath, when we're acting in our 96 00:04:38,820 --> 00:04:42,460 own flesh, getting vengeance for ourselves, the Bible says that 97 00:04:42,460 --> 00:04:42,940 doesn't work. 98 00:04:42,940 --> 00:04:43,500 Righteousness. 99 00:04:43,500 --> 00:04:47,140 It talks more about how later on in this passage in James chapter 100 00:04:47,140 --> 00:04:48,740 one, that we. 101 00:04:48,740 --> 00:04:52,020 We can fall into the trap of being hearers of the Word, but not 102 00:04:52,020 --> 00:04:52,460 doers. 103 00:04:53,020 --> 00:04:57,540 And certainly Saul heard the truth from Samuel, and Saul heard 104 00:04:57,540 --> 00:05:01,180 the truth from other people, including his son in this passage. 105 00:05:01,500 --> 00:05:05,700 But Saul was someone who heard the word of God, but did not practice 106 00:05:05,700 --> 00:05:07,540 the Word and practice his own Word. 107 00:05:07,620 --> 00:05:10,580 And that's what we're going to be studying here in 1st Samuel, chapter 108 00:05:10,580 --> 00:05:10,780 14. 109 00:05:10,780 --> 00:05:15,180 So keep James, chapter 1, verse 19 and 20 in mind when we come 110 00:05:15,180 --> 00:05:17,460 to this passage here in First Samuel, chapter 14. 111 00:05:17,620 --> 00:05:21,620 So First Samuel, chapter 14, verse 23, reminds us that the victory 112 00:05:21,620 --> 00:05:22,980 was not Jonathan's victory. 113 00:05:23,140 --> 00:05:24,900 It certainly wasn't Saul's victory. 114 00:05:25,140 --> 00:05:27,700 It was the salvation of the Lord. 115 00:05:27,700 --> 00:05:29,300 And that's really what we're reminded with. 116 00:05:29,300 --> 00:05:34,490 In every victory in our life, any victory, any gift, any salvation, 117 00:05:34,730 --> 00:05:37,850 anything that's positive in our life comes from God. 118 00:05:38,170 --> 00:05:41,970 No matter what part we have in that process, no matter if God uses 119 00:05:41,970 --> 00:05:44,890 an individual or a group of people, it's still the salvation 120 00:05:44,890 --> 00:05:45,530 of the Lord. 121 00:05:45,850 --> 00:05:50,130 And so we get the first Samuel, chapter 14, verse 24, and 122 00:05:50,130 --> 00:05:52,970 it says, and the men of Israel were distressed that day. 123 00:05:53,370 --> 00:05:55,690 And there's many reasons why they would be distressed. 124 00:05:55,690 --> 00:05:58,730 One would be that they had been fighting for a very long time. 125 00:05:58,730 --> 00:06:00,810 They're exhausted, number one. 126 00:06:00,810 --> 00:06:04,450 But then, number two, they're being led by a man named Saul who 127 00:06:04,450 --> 00:06:05,290 is erratic. 128 00:06:05,290 --> 00:06:08,810 They're being led by a man named Saul who's making decisions 129 00:06:09,130 --> 00:06:12,010 not based out of the will of God, but based out of the will of 130 00:06:12,010 --> 00:06:12,490 himself. 131 00:06:12,890 --> 00:06:16,490 And anytime we have someone who is leading that's erratic and 132 00:06:16,490 --> 00:06:20,170 filled with anxiety and filled with all these types of doubt. 133 00:06:20,170 --> 00:06:23,050 And what we're going to see later on in this passage, insecurity 134 00:06:23,290 --> 00:06:25,850 that's going to pass along to the people that he's around. 135 00:06:25,850 --> 00:06:29,400 So he's causing this distress with the people that he's leading. 136 00:06:29,800 --> 00:06:32,840 And it says, for Saul had abjured the people. 137 00:06:33,320 --> 00:06:37,000 And so what we really see here is that, that Saul is going to be 138 00:06:37,000 --> 00:06:39,880 placing a people under an oath, basically forcing the people 139 00:06:40,040 --> 00:06:41,960 to do this, because he makes this oath. 140 00:06:42,040 --> 00:06:46,440 And he says, cursed be the man that eateth any food until evening. 141 00:06:47,560 --> 00:06:53,720 So basically what he does is he enacts not an involuntary fast, 142 00:06:53,720 --> 00:06:53,980 but. 143 00:06:54,450 --> 00:06:55,010 But he. 144 00:06:55,010 --> 00:06:55,410 He. 145 00:06:55,490 --> 00:06:58,010 He enacts, or, excuse me, not A voluntary fast. 146 00:06:58,010 --> 00:07:00,970 But he enacts basically a mandatory fast upon them. 147 00:07:00,970 --> 00:07:05,010 And he says, curse be the man that eateth any food until the evening. 148 00:07:05,650 --> 00:07:09,090 And so at first, this kind of might seem to be something that he's 149 00:07:09,090 --> 00:07:11,490 doing in a spiritual way, like, hey, we're gonna fast, guys. 150 00:07:11,650 --> 00:07:15,290 But instead of him saying, hey, I'm fasting, you're fasting. 151 00:07:15,290 --> 00:07:16,930 And we're doing this because of the Lord. 152 00:07:17,090 --> 00:07:21,010 We're doing this to call upon the wisdom of God, call upon the 153 00:07:21,090 --> 00:07:21,840 word work of God. 154 00:07:21,840 --> 00:07:24,600 And by the way, I do believe that even when we look at the New 155 00:07:24,600 --> 00:07:28,520 Testament, anytime we see fasting, we see fasting marked with 156 00:07:28,520 --> 00:07:29,000 prayer. 157 00:07:29,160 --> 00:07:30,720 Fasting and prayer go hand in hand. 158 00:07:30,720 --> 00:07:34,520 And fasting is for a purpose, and fasting is for hearing from God 159 00:07:34,520 --> 00:07:35,600 and relying on God. 160 00:07:35,600 --> 00:07:38,360 But what Saul says here is, he says, cursed be the man that eateth 161 00:07:38,360 --> 00:07:39,640 any food until evening. 162 00:07:39,960 --> 00:07:42,520 And so it might seem to be spiritual. 163 00:07:43,160 --> 00:07:46,440 It might seem to be something that he wants to do for a spiritual 164 00:07:46,440 --> 00:07:46,760 reason. 165 00:07:46,760 --> 00:07:50,710 But then we see at the end of verse 24, really his motivation. 166 00:07:51,110 --> 00:07:52,150 We see his focus. 167 00:07:52,230 --> 00:07:53,790 We see what it's all about. 168 00:07:53,790 --> 00:07:59,550 He says, we're not going to eat, that I may be avenged of mine 169 00:07:59,550 --> 00:08:00,150 enemies. 170 00:08:00,790 --> 00:08:05,270 And so we see at the heart of this religious act of fasting and 171 00:08:05,270 --> 00:08:06,630 this oath that he makes. 172 00:08:06,790 --> 00:08:09,230 And basically what we would see is this. 173 00:08:09,230 --> 00:08:11,830 This curse that he's going to put upon anyone who eats. 174 00:08:12,150 --> 00:08:14,710 This is all done out of selfish motivations. 175 00:08:16,070 --> 00:08:22,270 And so he puts the army that he's over under this oath, not so 176 00:08:22,270 --> 00:08:26,510 that they could hear from God, not so that they could perceive the 177 00:08:26,510 --> 00:08:27,870 will of God in their life. 178 00:08:27,870 --> 00:08:31,710 But he does this in such a way so that he could get vengeance upon 179 00:08:31,710 --> 00:08:32,470 his enemies. 180 00:08:32,630 --> 00:08:35,270 And he regards this as his battle, his. 181 00:08:35,510 --> 00:08:37,350 His thing, his victory. 182 00:08:37,670 --> 00:08:40,590 And so if it was his thing, he should have just fastened himself 183 00:08:40,590 --> 00:08:41,510 and done his own thing. 184 00:08:41,510 --> 00:08:44,930 But instead, he's trying to lump people into his own personal 185 00:08:45,010 --> 00:08:46,690 battle that he's facing. 186 00:08:46,770 --> 00:08:47,410 So Saul. 187 00:08:47,410 --> 00:08:51,610 Saul shows that even if it looks like something spiritual from 188 00:08:51,610 --> 00:08:55,690 the outside, if the focus is on ourself, it's not about the Lord. 189 00:08:55,690 --> 00:08:56,610 It's about ourselves. 190 00:08:56,770 --> 00:08:57,810 It's about attention. 191 00:08:58,530 --> 00:09:02,050 And we could stop here and we could talk about this within the 192 00:09:02,050 --> 00:09:06,490 practical sense within Christianity today is that oftentimes 193 00:09:06,490 --> 00:09:12,320 we do things outwardly that look to be religious, that look to 194 00:09:12,320 --> 00:09:15,080 be what we would consider to be a spiritual action. 195 00:09:15,160 --> 00:09:18,480 But if we're doing it with the wrong reasons, if we're doing it 196 00:09:18,480 --> 00:09:21,160 for selfish motivations, whatever that motivation might be, 197 00:09:21,640 --> 00:09:23,760 then what we See, is that it's not honoring God. 198 00:09:23,760 --> 00:09:24,640 It's honoring ourselves. 199 00:09:24,640 --> 00:09:28,160 And it's actually not an act of worship, but it's an act of selfishness. 200 00:09:28,160 --> 00:09:29,240 It's an act of sin. 201 00:09:29,640 --> 00:09:30,680 So what would that look like? 202 00:09:30,680 --> 00:09:33,680 Well, that would look like anything when it comes to the idea 203 00:09:33,680 --> 00:09:34,600 that, hey, I'm gonna. 204 00:09:34,600 --> 00:09:36,200 Let's say I'm gonna read my Bible, okay? 205 00:09:36,200 --> 00:09:37,480 That's a very good thing to do. 206 00:09:37,990 --> 00:09:39,390 We should be reading our Bibles. 207 00:09:39,390 --> 00:09:40,790 We should be studying the word of God. 208 00:09:40,790 --> 00:09:42,470 We should be applying it to our lives. 209 00:09:42,710 --> 00:09:44,150 But let's say somebody says this. 210 00:09:44,150 --> 00:09:47,430 Well, I'm going to read my Bible not to glean knowledge from 211 00:09:47,430 --> 00:09:50,950 God and apply that to my life and do that because it's God's love 212 00:09:50,950 --> 00:09:51,750 letter to me. 213 00:09:51,830 --> 00:09:54,750 I'm going to read my Bible and I'm going to let everybody know that 214 00:09:54,750 --> 00:09:57,470 I'm reading my Bible so that people will think that I'm super 215 00:09:57,470 --> 00:10:00,870 special, that people will praise me, that maybe someone will 216 00:10:00,870 --> 00:10:03,510 even write me up a certificate that says that I'm the best Bible 217 00:10:03,510 --> 00:10:05,350 reader at Middletown Baptist Church. 218 00:10:05,350 --> 00:10:05,510 Right. 219 00:10:05,510 --> 00:10:07,230 Do you see the difference there? 220 00:10:07,390 --> 00:10:07,750 That. 221 00:10:07,750 --> 00:10:11,990 That I'm reading the Bible not because of my desire to know God 222 00:10:11,990 --> 00:10:14,350 more, but I'm reading the Bible so that people will notice 223 00:10:14,350 --> 00:10:14,670 me. 224 00:10:14,670 --> 00:10:18,670 And so it's a spiritual act on the outside, but on the inside, it's 225 00:10:18,670 --> 00:10:19,710 a fleshly desire. 226 00:10:20,590 --> 00:10:23,670 And so what we have to do is we have to be very careful on what 227 00:10:23,670 --> 00:10:26,110 we're doing outwardly and, And. 228 00:10:26,110 --> 00:10:27,870 And bringing other people into it. 229 00:10:28,190 --> 00:10:30,990 And are we doing it in such a way that honors God? 230 00:10:30,990 --> 00:10:33,670 Is it aligned with the will of God or is it aligned with our own 231 00:10:33,670 --> 00:10:33,870 will? 232 00:10:33,870 --> 00:10:37,940 We see that at this point in time, Saul has not sought after the 233 00:10:37,940 --> 00:10:39,340 Lord's guidance in any of this. 234 00:10:39,820 --> 00:10:40,140 There. 235 00:10:40,140 --> 00:10:41,820 There was a point in time where he went. 236 00:10:42,140 --> 00:10:45,140 Actually, a little bit earlier on, he was asking God, like, should 237 00:10:45,140 --> 00:10:45,540 we go? 238 00:10:45,540 --> 00:10:46,180 Should we go? 239 00:10:46,180 --> 00:10:47,020 Who's doing this? 240 00:10:47,020 --> 00:10:48,340 And eventually he goes. 241 00:10:48,340 --> 00:10:51,180 And we're going to see later on in this passage that Saul calls 242 00:10:51,180 --> 00:10:53,500 out to God and God doesn't answer him right away. 243 00:10:53,980 --> 00:10:57,580 And so through this curse that Saul is eventually putting in, through 244 00:10:57,580 --> 00:11:00,900 this oath, he's going to actually see that it's going to come 245 00:11:00,900 --> 00:11:01,980 back to bite him later. 246 00:11:02,430 --> 00:11:04,870 He doesn't know that in this moment, but it's eventually going 247 00:11:04,870 --> 00:11:07,550 to come back because it's going to be done in such a way that 248 00:11:07,550 --> 00:11:11,230 Saul doesn't know that it's actually his son that breaks this 249 00:11:11,390 --> 00:11:13,790 oath, which is he curses his own son. 250 00:11:14,110 --> 00:11:19,350 Now, I don't think that Saul would have voluntarily cursed his 251 00:11:19,350 --> 00:11:19,630 son. 252 00:11:19,630 --> 00:11:22,390 I don't think Saul, in his mind, would go against Jonathan and 253 00:11:22,390 --> 00:11:25,190 curse him and say, okay, he's going to be cursed to death just 254 00:11:25,190 --> 00:11:26,270 on the front end of things. 255 00:11:26,590 --> 00:11:29,910 But we see that Saul makes a fleshly decision that has a ripple 256 00:11:29,910 --> 00:11:34,510 effect that will eventually lead to his son facing possible death 257 00:11:34,510 --> 00:11:35,510 within this passage. 258 00:11:35,510 --> 00:11:38,150 And so I think that that's also a lesson for us to understand 259 00:11:38,230 --> 00:11:42,430 is that sometimes we'll make a fast, rash decision with what we 260 00:11:42,430 --> 00:11:43,510 say or by what we do. 261 00:11:43,510 --> 00:11:47,310 And we might not intentionally do something on the front end, but 262 00:11:47,310 --> 00:11:50,790 that decision that we make at the very beginning of the line of 263 00:11:50,950 --> 00:11:54,310 our rationale will eventually get to a place where it will impact 264 00:11:54,390 --> 00:11:55,350 the people that we love. 265 00:11:55,350 --> 00:11:56,650 It will impact the people who. 266 00:11:56,800 --> 00:12:00,600 That we're trying to impact in our life with the cause of the truth. 267 00:12:00,600 --> 00:12:03,600 And so for me, that might be that, you know, something that I 268 00:12:03,600 --> 00:12:07,080 say to my child might not initially be something that's going 269 00:12:07,080 --> 00:12:10,600 to mislead them, but maybe because of initial reaction of my 270 00:12:10,600 --> 00:12:13,640 fleshly desire that that's going to eventually have a ripple 271 00:12:13,640 --> 00:12:16,800 effect and a chain reaction to leading them away from the truth 272 00:12:16,800 --> 00:12:17,800 of the word of God. 273 00:12:17,800 --> 00:12:20,680 So think about that as we move forward in this passage. 274 00:12:20,680 --> 00:12:26,490 And so this shows that Saul is promising punishment, and him promising 275 00:12:26,490 --> 00:12:27,370 punishment's wrong. 276 00:12:27,370 --> 00:12:29,090 He doesn't have the authority to do this. 277 00:12:29,490 --> 00:12:32,130 Saul doesn't have the guidance from the Lord to do this. 278 00:12:32,290 --> 00:12:35,170 And it shows us that really the way that the people respond to 279 00:12:35,170 --> 00:12:37,530 this isn't the way that the Lord would have it to be. 280 00:12:37,530 --> 00:12:38,770 So look at verse number 25. 281 00:12:38,770 --> 00:12:39,410 And all they. 282 00:12:39,410 --> 00:12:40,610 That all they. 283 00:12:40,610 --> 00:12:43,970 The land that came to the wood and there was honey upon the ground. 284 00:12:45,330 --> 00:12:48,010 Now we're going to see here that this is going to be a test for 285 00:12:48,010 --> 00:12:48,290 them. 286 00:12:48,290 --> 00:12:48,550 Now. 287 00:12:48,620 --> 00:12:51,620 Now, actually, I skipped one last sentence there at the end of 288 00:12:51,620 --> 00:12:53,420 verse 24, which I think we should note. 289 00:12:53,420 --> 00:12:55,900 It says, so none of the people tasted any food. 290 00:12:55,900 --> 00:12:57,660 Meaning they went along with this. 291 00:12:58,060 --> 00:13:01,060 And they went along with it, probably for the reason that many 292 00:13:01,060 --> 00:13:03,660 of us might go along with it, is that we would fear the king. 293 00:13:04,140 --> 00:13:04,460 They. 294 00:13:04,460 --> 00:13:05,500 They don't do what's right. 295 00:13:05,500 --> 00:13:05,780 They. 296 00:13:05,780 --> 00:13:07,060 They don't just say, well, you know what? 297 00:13:07,060 --> 00:13:07,460 That's a. 298 00:13:07,460 --> 00:13:08,500 That's a bad thing, Saul. 299 00:13:08,500 --> 00:13:09,980 They're going along with their leader. 300 00:13:10,060 --> 00:13:10,380 And. 301 00:13:10,380 --> 00:13:12,860 And we can't necessarily condemn them for this. 302 00:13:12,940 --> 00:13:16,340 But what we do see is that one person's bad decision can lead to 303 00:13:16,340 --> 00:13:17,740 a lot of other bad decisions. 304 00:13:18,150 --> 00:13:20,150 And so what we're going to see is that they're going to go into 305 00:13:20,150 --> 00:13:21,670 battle with no nourishment. 306 00:13:21,670 --> 00:13:23,030 They're going to go into battle weak. 307 00:13:23,030 --> 00:13:24,630 They're going to go into battle with. 308 00:13:24,630 --> 00:13:26,310 With no strength. 309 00:13:26,310 --> 00:13:28,510 And we're going to see that it almost gets them to a place where 310 00:13:28,510 --> 00:13:31,070 they fall into a trap of the Philistines. 311 00:13:31,070 --> 00:13:33,590 And then what we're also going to see is that it leads them into 312 00:13:33,590 --> 00:13:35,110 sin later on in their. 313 00:13:35,430 --> 00:13:36,430 In their battle. 314 00:13:36,430 --> 00:13:37,470 So verse 25. 315 00:13:37,470 --> 00:13:42,150 So they come from this place where Saul gives this oath, and they 316 00:13:42,150 --> 00:13:45,070 see that as they come up to verse number 25, it says, and all 317 00:13:45,070 --> 00:13:48,810 they that came in the land came into the wood, and there was 318 00:13:48,810 --> 00:13:49,930 honey upon the ground. 319 00:13:50,650 --> 00:13:53,850 So they find this honey on the ground and they. 320 00:13:53,850 --> 00:13:58,010 And they find this opportunity here, and they're afraid to take 321 00:13:58,010 --> 00:13:58,170 it. 322 00:13:58,170 --> 00:13:58,810 Verse 26. 323 00:13:58,810 --> 00:14:01,450 And when the people were coming to the wood, behold, the honey 324 00:14:01,450 --> 00:14:02,089 dropped. 325 00:14:02,170 --> 00:14:05,890 But no man put his hand to his mouth, for the people feared the 326 00:14:05,890 --> 00:14:06,330 oath. 327 00:14:07,370 --> 00:14:11,130 And so this was something that God had provided for them. 328 00:14:11,290 --> 00:14:15,110 The army needed to be sustained with this type of nourishment. 329 00:14:15,110 --> 00:14:18,630 And this was an opportunity for them to come to a place where 330 00:14:18,630 --> 00:14:20,030 they could be strengthened. 331 00:14:20,510 --> 00:14:23,750 They needed the energy to fight, and God provides this for 332 00:14:23,750 --> 00:14:24,030 them. 333 00:14:24,030 --> 00:14:28,150 But what we see is that they fear man more than they're actually 334 00:14:28,150 --> 00:14:29,390 going to obey God. 335 00:14:29,550 --> 00:14:32,190 And we're going to see Jonathan walk up here and Jonathan's 336 00:14:32,190 --> 00:14:34,030 going to make a decision because Jonathan wasn't there for 337 00:14:34,030 --> 00:14:34,510 the oath. 338 00:14:34,750 --> 00:14:35,710 Verse 27. 339 00:14:35,790 --> 00:14:38,590 But Jonathan heard not when his father charged the people with 340 00:14:38,590 --> 00:14:39,070 the oath. 341 00:14:39,390 --> 00:14:42,830 Wherefore he put forth the end of his rod that was in his hand and 342 00:14:42,830 --> 00:14:46,030 dipped it in the honeycomb and put his hand in his mouth, and his 343 00:14:46,030 --> 00:14:47,470 eyes were enlightened. 344 00:14:48,270 --> 00:14:49,510 Now, what does this mean? 345 00:14:49,510 --> 00:14:52,790 What does it mean that his eyes were enlightened or his countenance 346 00:14:52,790 --> 00:14:53,550 was brightened? 347 00:14:53,550 --> 00:14:54,350 Well, it meant this. 348 00:14:54,350 --> 00:14:54,630 He. 349 00:14:54,630 --> 00:14:56,830 He basically took this, and this sustained him. 350 00:14:56,830 --> 00:14:57,870 This gave him strength. 351 00:14:58,030 --> 00:15:01,070 This gave him alertness as they go into the battle. 352 00:15:01,390 --> 00:15:03,830 And I don't know about you guys, but there's been times in my 353 00:15:03,830 --> 00:15:07,010 life where I'm really hungry and I'm weak and I'm thirsty. 354 00:15:07,010 --> 00:15:09,490 And when I'm able to get that sustenance in my body, I'm. 355 00:15:09,490 --> 00:15:10,850 I'm awake, I'm ready to go. 356 00:15:10,930 --> 00:15:12,330 And that's exactly what happens. 357 00:15:12,330 --> 00:15:13,490 And for some of us, that's. 358 00:15:13,730 --> 00:15:16,010 You know, maybe it's in the morning with your morning coffee 359 00:15:16,010 --> 00:15:18,930 or tea that gets you up and gets you moving, but either way, 360 00:15:18,930 --> 00:15:21,570 we see that this was a great blessing to Jonathan, whether he 361 00:15:21,570 --> 00:15:22,450 knew the oath or not. 362 00:15:22,450 --> 00:15:24,930 He comes in, he takes the honey and his. 363 00:15:24,930 --> 00:15:26,770 It says here, his eyes were lightened. 364 00:15:27,170 --> 00:15:32,760 And so though Jonathan does break his father's oath, he doesn't 365 00:15:32,760 --> 00:15:33,800 know that he's breaking the oath. 366 00:15:33,800 --> 00:15:35,120 And he does nothing wrong here. 367 00:15:35,360 --> 00:15:38,800 And so ultimately he comes to this place where he takes the honey 368 00:15:38,800 --> 00:15:39,800 and he is. 369 00:15:39,800 --> 00:15:40,640 He is strengthened. 370 00:15:40,640 --> 00:15:41,360 Verse 28. 371 00:15:41,520 --> 00:15:44,600 Then answered one of the people and said, thy father straightly 372 00:15:44,600 --> 00:15:47,639 charged the people with an oath, saying, cursed be the man that 373 00:15:47,639 --> 00:15:48,880 eateth any food this day. 374 00:15:48,880 --> 00:15:50,400 And the people were faint. 375 00:15:51,280 --> 00:15:52,560 So what, what happens here? 376 00:15:52,960 --> 00:15:55,000 Well, basically they. 377 00:15:55,000 --> 00:15:57,320 Whoever is brave enough to tell Jonathan that, hey, you just 378 00:15:57,320 --> 00:15:58,200 broke your dad's oath. 379 00:15:58,200 --> 00:16:01,120 Your dad made an oath about whoever eats is going to die. 380 00:16:01,960 --> 00:16:04,640 And so they see the honey dripping, they're all afraid to take 381 00:16:04,640 --> 00:16:06,200 it, Jonathan takes it. 382 00:16:06,360 --> 00:16:08,920 And Jonathan's reaction is very interesting. 383 00:16:08,920 --> 00:16:10,840 Here he says verse 29. 384 00:16:10,920 --> 00:16:14,200 Then said Jonathan, my father hath trouble troubled the land. 385 00:16:14,360 --> 00:16:17,040 Jonathan recognizes the flaws in his father. 386 00:16:17,040 --> 00:16:20,240 Jonathan recognizes that Saul shouldn't have made this oath, that 387 00:16:20,240 --> 00:16:21,960 Saul has been causing a lot of problems. 388 00:16:22,200 --> 00:16:24,760 Now, some commentators would say that Jonathan shouldn't have 389 00:16:24,760 --> 00:16:28,680 disobeyed his father and brought shame to his father's name 390 00:16:29,410 --> 00:16:30,530 or, or the king's name. 391 00:16:30,530 --> 00:16:33,530 But nonetheless, whether it's respectful or not, he's speaking 392 00:16:33,530 --> 00:16:34,050 the truth. 393 00:16:34,290 --> 00:16:37,010 His father had brought a lot of trouble to the land. 394 00:16:37,650 --> 00:16:38,370 And there. 395 00:16:38,370 --> 00:16:42,290 There was a sense here where he is questioning his father's leadership. 396 00:16:43,010 --> 00:16:46,930 And so one might say that his father's leadership should have been 397 00:16:46,930 --> 00:16:47,570 questioned. 398 00:16:47,650 --> 00:16:49,970 And so he says here, my father have troubled the land. 399 00:16:49,970 --> 00:16:52,570 See, I pray you, how mine eyes have been enlightened. 400 00:16:52,570 --> 00:16:55,690 Meaning, this would have been a good thing for all of you to take 401 00:16:55,690 --> 00:16:56,130 this in. 402 00:16:56,410 --> 00:16:57,730 This would have been a blessing for everyone. 403 00:16:57,730 --> 00:17:02,250 And so it's my father's disobedience and his wrath and his 404 00:17:02,410 --> 00:17:05,730 being not slow to speak, but being quick to speak and not thinking 405 00:17:05,730 --> 00:17:06,890 about what this would mean. 406 00:17:07,130 --> 00:17:11,450 That essentially it's his vengeance and his pride getting in 407 00:17:11,450 --> 00:17:14,330 the way of the blessing that could come to his people. 408 00:17:14,890 --> 00:17:17,610 And he says, see what the little honey has done for me? 409 00:17:18,170 --> 00:17:18,570 It's. 410 00:17:18,570 --> 00:17:19,410 It's strengthened me. 411 00:17:19,410 --> 00:17:22,570 So if my father wouldn't have said this, we all would be strengthened. 412 00:17:22,989 --> 00:17:23,509 Verse 30. 413 00:17:23,509 --> 00:17:26,709 How much more if happily, the people had eaten freely today of 414 00:17:26,709 --> 00:17:29,069 the spoil of their enemies, which they found. 415 00:17:29,309 --> 00:17:33,309 For had there not been now a much greater slaughter amongst the 416 00:17:33,309 --> 00:17:35,309 Philistines, meaning we got a victory. 417 00:17:35,309 --> 00:17:38,868 But think about how much of a greater victory we could have had 418 00:17:38,868 --> 00:17:42,349 if we were able to freely eat of this blessing that God has given 419 00:17:42,349 --> 00:17:42,669 us. 420 00:17:43,549 --> 00:17:47,229 And so King Saul troubled the land because of his selfish decision. 421 00:17:47,469 --> 00:17:51,189 And really what it does is it limits the blessing that God could 422 00:17:51,189 --> 00:17:55,640 have done through obedient people, through people who were ultimately 423 00:17:55,640 --> 00:17:58,320 willing to follow him instead of follow Saul. 424 00:17:58,320 --> 00:18:02,000 And so they were weak and distracted and the victory was still 425 00:18:02,000 --> 00:18:02,480 theirs. 426 00:18:02,480 --> 00:18:05,520 But ultimately the victory was not as large as it could have been. 427 00:18:05,680 --> 00:18:08,159 That Jonathan notes that the, the victory could have been much 428 00:18:08,159 --> 00:18:10,960 larger if my dad didn't make this oath. 429 00:18:11,040 --> 00:18:15,600 So what we're going to see now is that because of them missing out 430 00:18:15,600 --> 00:18:20,520 on this blessing from the Lord, the people of the army are 431 00:18:20,520 --> 00:18:23,440 going to be so hungry that they get to a place in their life 432 00:18:23,440 --> 00:18:25,640 where they don't care about any rules and they're just going 433 00:18:25,640 --> 00:18:26,160 to eat. 434 00:18:26,480 --> 00:18:29,880 And what it does is it actually leads the people to a place 435 00:18:29,880 --> 00:18:30,400 of sin. 436 00:18:30,560 --> 00:18:33,320 And so I was reading through this passage and I'm, I'm thinking, 437 00:18:33,320 --> 00:18:34,560 what, what does this mean? 438 00:18:34,800 --> 00:18:37,520 Why would this lead to such a way where they would sin? 439 00:18:37,520 --> 00:18:39,520 And I think about the idea of legalism, right? 440 00:18:39,840 --> 00:18:45,200 Legalism is the idea of putting man made principles upon 441 00:18:45,200 --> 00:18:49,280 the principles of God, meaning exercising the things of God in a 442 00:18:49,280 --> 00:18:50,200 man made way. 443 00:18:50,600 --> 00:18:54,600 So for example, legalism would be, yes, the Bible says that we should 444 00:18:54,600 --> 00:18:57,840 do a certain thing within our worship service, but we're going 445 00:18:57,840 --> 00:19:01,040 to do it in a way that we feel is best and that we're better than 446 00:19:01,040 --> 00:19:03,080 other people because of this is how we do it. 447 00:19:03,160 --> 00:19:06,720 And so what we see is that legalism is always adding something 448 00:19:06,720 --> 00:19:10,600 fleshly upon something that God has ordained to be good and true. 449 00:19:11,780 --> 00:19:13,780 So the Pharisees would take the law, right? 450 00:19:13,780 --> 00:19:15,740 So we have the New Testament legalism. 451 00:19:15,740 --> 00:19:18,980 The Pharisees would take the law, which was a good thing from 452 00:19:18,980 --> 00:19:21,860 the Lord and then they would impose other things on top of that 453 00:19:21,860 --> 00:19:25,540 law and do very man made fleshly things upon the law and actually 454 00:19:25,780 --> 00:19:29,140 twist the law and use the law for their good and use the law for 455 00:19:29,140 --> 00:19:30,420 their own fleshly benefits. 456 00:19:30,420 --> 00:19:33,500 And so really we see legalism is always about the flesh. 457 00:19:33,500 --> 00:19:36,660 Legalism is always about doing things with man's focus. 458 00:19:36,660 --> 00:19:40,470 And so what we see happening here is that remember he does this 459 00:19:40,470 --> 00:19:44,070 idea of like, hey, let's fast good thing, but let's do it in a 460 00:19:44,070 --> 00:19:45,150 way that's selfish. 461 00:19:45,150 --> 00:19:48,790 Let's do it in a way that has those prideful motivations. 462 00:19:49,110 --> 00:19:52,590 And so essentially what we see is that this legalism leads to people 463 00:19:52,590 --> 00:19:54,230 rebelling and going into sin. 464 00:19:54,550 --> 00:19:58,590 What that shows is this legalism or a list of rules or man 465 00:19:58,590 --> 00:20:01,790 made impositions upon a group of people are never going to get 466 00:20:01,790 --> 00:20:04,070 people to a place of living righteously and holy. 467 00:20:04,410 --> 00:20:05,530 It's always a hard change. 468 00:20:05,530 --> 00:20:07,690 It's always a love relationship with God. 469 00:20:07,770 --> 00:20:10,530 It's always adhering to the obedience that God has called us 470 00:20:10,530 --> 00:20:14,690 to do, not out of forcefulness and man's focus, but out of a love 471 00:20:14,690 --> 00:20:16,250 and a stirring of our hearts. 472 00:20:16,330 --> 00:20:19,050 And so what we're going to see in this passage of Scripture is that 473 00:20:19,050 --> 00:20:22,490 because of Saul's legalism that he's imposing upon the people 474 00:20:22,730 --> 00:20:25,330 that they do get to a place where they completely rebel and they 475 00:20:25,330 --> 00:20:29,170 completely turn away and they fall into the trap of sin, which 476 00:20:29,170 --> 00:20:32,850 we're going to see that they disobey God by eating food that God 477 00:20:32,850 --> 00:20:33,930 told them not to eat. 478 00:20:33,930 --> 00:20:37,690 At least not in a way that God told them not to eat it in. 479 00:20:37,690 --> 00:20:39,690 So basically, let's read this and then we'll explain it. 480 00:20:39,690 --> 00:20:40,490 Verse 31. 481 00:20:40,490 --> 00:20:43,370 And they smoked the Philistines that day from Mikmash 482 00:20:43,450 --> 00:20:44,490 to Asiaon. 483 00:20:44,490 --> 00:20:46,090 And the people were very faint. 484 00:20:46,650 --> 00:20:49,130 So verse 31 tells us that they did have the victory. 485 00:20:49,210 --> 00:20:51,170 The victory was already promised by God. 486 00:20:51,170 --> 00:20:53,970 So Jonathan and the people of Israel move forward in that. 487 00:20:53,970 --> 00:20:56,250 But remember, Jonathan said it could have been a greater victory. 488 00:20:56,330 --> 00:20:57,930 And it says that they were very faint. 489 00:20:57,930 --> 00:21:02,100 At the end of verse 31, we see that they are basically at the point 490 00:21:02,100 --> 00:21:02,780 of passing out. 491 00:21:02,780 --> 00:21:06,380 They're basically at a point where they're going to lose themselves 492 00:21:06,380 --> 00:21:08,380 because they are so malnourished. 493 00:21:08,460 --> 00:21:09,300 Verse 32. 494 00:21:09,300 --> 00:21:11,500 And the people flew upon the spoil. 495 00:21:12,140 --> 00:21:15,460 So they find the spoil there in the land of the Philistines. 496 00:21:15,460 --> 00:21:19,740 And it says they took the sheep and oxen and calves and slew 497 00:21:19,740 --> 00:21:22,380 them on the ground, which again, would not be something that 498 00:21:22,380 --> 00:21:22,820 they should do. 499 00:21:22,820 --> 00:21:26,820 They should have done it upon an altar and the people did eat them 500 00:21:26,820 --> 00:21:27,660 with the blood. 501 00:21:27,940 --> 00:21:32,340 Now, some of you I know might like your steaks medium rare. 502 00:21:33,540 --> 00:21:35,220 This is little different than that. 503 00:21:35,220 --> 00:21:36,020 What would happen. 504 00:21:36,100 --> 00:21:39,660 Most of you know that in the, in the customs of, of the book of 505 00:21:39,660 --> 00:21:43,860 Leviticus and the dietary laws of the Jewish people, they would 506 00:21:43,860 --> 00:21:47,060 need to drain the animals of their blood before they could eat 507 00:21:47,060 --> 00:21:47,220 them. 508 00:21:47,220 --> 00:21:49,780 That's what we would call today kosher eating. 509 00:21:50,020 --> 00:21:52,260 But that would be something that they had to do that was part 510 00:21:52,260 --> 00:21:53,260 of God's plan for them. 511 00:21:53,260 --> 00:21:56,840 And there were many reasons why God had the dietary laws in the 512 00:21:56,840 --> 00:21:57,560 Old Testament. 513 00:21:57,640 --> 00:22:01,400 And there's many reasons later on when we see in the New Testament 514 00:22:01,400 --> 00:22:03,880 that God frees us from those dietary laws. 515 00:22:04,040 --> 00:22:06,640 It doesn't mean that someone's wrong if they want to follow those 516 00:22:06,640 --> 00:22:08,960 dietary laws, as long as they don't think that's going to save 517 00:22:08,960 --> 00:22:09,240 them. 518 00:22:09,559 --> 00:22:12,240 But at that point in time, it was God's plan for the people to 519 00:22:12,240 --> 00:22:14,120 follow those dietary restrictions. 520 00:22:14,440 --> 00:22:18,600 And so for them to not drain the animals of the blood would have 521 00:22:18,600 --> 00:22:20,230 been a sin because they were breaking the. 522 00:22:20,380 --> 00:22:21,220 The law of God. 523 00:22:21,220 --> 00:22:23,500 They were breaking the plan that God had for them. 524 00:22:24,220 --> 00:22:27,620 And so God specifically commanded the people of Israel that 525 00:22:27,620 --> 00:22:30,860 they should always properly drain the blood from the animal as 526 00:22:30,860 --> 00:22:32,260 they prepared it for eating. 527 00:22:32,260 --> 00:22:36,740 That's Deuteronomy chapter 12 and other places in the Old Testament 528 00:22:36,740 --> 00:22:37,340 law that. 529 00:22:37,500 --> 00:22:38,940 That they were taught about this. 530 00:22:39,100 --> 00:22:43,740 And so on this day of battle, because of originally Saul's foolish 531 00:22:43,740 --> 00:22:46,980 decisions and his foolish oath that he made and that fleshly oath 532 00:22:46,980 --> 00:22:50,000 that he made, the people were so, so hungry. 533 00:22:50,480 --> 00:22:52,640 They had been basically tempted to this. 534 00:22:52,640 --> 00:22:55,880 Saul had got them to a place where they couldn't eat at all, that 535 00:22:55,880 --> 00:22:58,120 they were so hungry that they were willing to eat the first thing 536 00:22:58,120 --> 00:22:58,560 they saw. 537 00:22:58,800 --> 00:23:01,920 And that desire brought them to a place where they broke the command 538 00:23:01,920 --> 00:23:02,480 of God. 539 00:23:02,720 --> 00:23:06,840 And so the way that you could see it is that their obedience to 540 00:23:06,840 --> 00:23:11,600 Saul and Saul's foolish decisions, his selfish decisions, 541 00:23:11,760 --> 00:23:15,920 led them to disobey God where God had clearly told them not to 542 00:23:15,920 --> 00:23:17,040 disobey him, obviously. 543 00:23:17,040 --> 00:23:19,240 And that's the number one person that we have to obey. 544 00:23:19,480 --> 00:23:22,320 And so what we see is that's always going to be the result of 545 00:23:22,320 --> 00:23:22,960 legalism. 546 00:23:22,960 --> 00:23:27,800 If we have a group of people following a person and a person's 547 00:23:27,800 --> 00:23:30,840 ways, what that ends up being is that if they're following a person, 548 00:23:30,840 --> 00:23:31,560 what's going to happen? 549 00:23:31,640 --> 00:23:34,480 Well, if someone's following a person and the way that the person 550 00:23:34,480 --> 00:23:37,240 says that they should live, eventually that person's going to 551 00:23:37,240 --> 00:23:37,640 be wrong. 552 00:23:37,640 --> 00:23:40,760 So let's say, for example, everyone in Middletown Baptist Church 553 00:23:40,760 --> 00:23:43,080 needs to follow Pastor Josh's preferences. 554 00:23:43,620 --> 00:23:43,860 My. 555 00:23:43,860 --> 00:23:47,740 My opinions, everything that I say to be good, you have to do everything 556 00:23:47,740 --> 00:23:48,500 that I say. 557 00:23:48,660 --> 00:23:52,900 The problem with that is that if you try to follow that 100%, I'm 558 00:23:52,900 --> 00:23:55,820 eventually not going to be 100% right about everything in the 559 00:23:55,820 --> 00:23:56,180 Bible. 560 00:23:56,260 --> 00:23:59,700 Therefore, if your eyes are on man, they will be off of God. 561 00:24:00,340 --> 00:24:02,780 So what we teach in the church is keep your eyes on the Lord. 562 00:24:02,780 --> 00:24:06,380 Now, I teach you as a pastor and other spiritual leaders teach 563 00:24:06,380 --> 00:24:09,060 you to follow God, but not to follow man. 564 00:24:09,060 --> 00:24:11,300 Paul says, follow me as I follow the Lord. 565 00:24:11,650 --> 00:24:12,650 Don't follow me alone. 566 00:24:12,650 --> 00:24:14,690 I'm not the arbiter of the word of God. 567 00:24:14,770 --> 00:24:18,210 Therefore, what we see Here is that the people's eyes were on Saul 568 00:24:18,370 --> 00:24:20,890 and their eyes were so far unsull that they took their eyes 569 00:24:20,890 --> 00:24:22,490 off of what God had called them to do. 570 00:24:22,490 --> 00:24:25,490 And they were so hungry that they just acted in their flesh. 571 00:24:25,490 --> 00:24:29,090 And so fleshly actions lead to fleshly actions, no matter if those 572 00:24:29,090 --> 00:24:34,010 fleshly actions are directly, immediately opposed to God or fleshly 573 00:24:34,010 --> 00:24:36,690 reactions of just trying to do church on our own in our flesh. 574 00:24:37,180 --> 00:24:40,660 You know, there's a lot of churches in America that many of 575 00:24:40,660 --> 00:24:43,820 you maybe have even seen there or, or maybe you've even been a part 576 00:24:43,820 --> 00:24:46,900 of, to some degree that have tried to do everything in the church 577 00:24:46,900 --> 00:24:50,500 through the strength of man or through the strength of a preacher 578 00:24:50,500 --> 00:24:52,140 or through the strength of a movement. 579 00:24:52,300 --> 00:24:54,900 And what we have to do is we have to be very careful of those 580 00:24:54,900 --> 00:24:57,500 things because there, it's a very fine line. 581 00:24:57,580 --> 00:25:00,620 It's a very fine line between following a godly leader and following 582 00:25:00,620 --> 00:25:02,220 a leader that's focused on themselves. 583 00:25:02,710 --> 00:25:05,550 And that's what we see here in 1st Samuel chapter 14 is that Saul 584 00:25:05,550 --> 00:25:08,350 is not a man who is leading them according to the word of God. 585 00:25:08,350 --> 00:25:10,950 He's a man that's leading them to according to his own word. 586 00:25:11,910 --> 00:25:14,630 So what happens is that they sin. 587 00:25:15,110 --> 00:25:18,550 So verse 32, and the people flew upon the spoil. 588 00:25:18,550 --> 00:25:23,270 They took it without following what this is all cult told them to 589 00:25:23,270 --> 00:25:24,750 do in the book of Deuteronomy. 590 00:25:24,750 --> 00:25:27,750 And so we think that oftentimes we think that legalism 591 00:25:28,160 --> 00:25:31,280 or rules that we impose upon people will keep people from sin. 592 00:25:31,920 --> 00:25:34,800 And rules are good to some degree, but rules will never keep 593 00:25:34,800 --> 00:25:36,800 someone away from sin. 594 00:25:36,800 --> 00:25:38,640 It will only break parameters. 595 00:25:38,640 --> 00:25:40,720 It will only give parameters that they're going to break. 596 00:25:40,800 --> 00:25:41,520 So what we do. 597 00:25:41,520 --> 00:25:44,160 So for example, if I just tell the church, here's all the rules 598 00:25:44,240 --> 00:25:47,280 that you have to follow, and here's all the rules that you have 599 00:25:47,280 --> 00:25:48,560 to do to be a good Christian. 600 00:25:48,640 --> 00:25:51,080 Eventually what's going to happen is that we're going to focus 601 00:25:51,080 --> 00:25:53,760 on ourselves and focus on how much we can follow the law. 602 00:25:54,020 --> 00:25:56,380 And the Bible says in Ephesians 2, 8, 9, it's for by grace 603 00:25:56,380 --> 00:25:58,260 you say through faith and that not of yourselves. 604 00:25:58,420 --> 00:26:01,700 It is a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. 605 00:26:02,020 --> 00:26:04,500 So rules in and of themselves aren't a bad thing. 606 00:26:04,500 --> 00:26:08,140 But if rules are the basis to everything that we do, we're missing 607 00:26:08,140 --> 00:26:08,620 the point. 608 00:26:08,620 --> 00:26:13,460 Because what we actually see is that when we put out rules, rules, 609 00:26:13,700 --> 00:26:16,580 you've heard it say, stated before, someone might have even said 610 00:26:16,580 --> 00:26:16,940 this to you. 611 00:26:16,940 --> 00:26:18,500 Well, rules are made to be broken. 612 00:26:18,500 --> 00:26:20,660 And that's actually what eventually happens. 613 00:26:20,660 --> 00:26:24,780 If we just have rules, if we have a religion of rules, the rules 614 00:26:24,780 --> 00:26:28,420 will eventually be broken and will basically be at square one. 615 00:26:28,820 --> 00:26:32,780 So legalistic rules lead us to sin, whether they provoke us to a 616 00:26:32,780 --> 00:26:36,900 place of rebellion against God or they lead it lead us to pride. 617 00:26:36,900 --> 00:26:38,419 Because that's exactly what happens. 618 00:26:38,500 --> 00:26:43,100 Because when someone can follow the rules better than somebody 619 00:26:43,100 --> 00:26:44,740 else, think about this. 620 00:26:44,900 --> 00:26:48,460 Let's think about, like, okay, Middletown Baptist is 100 rules that 621 00:26:48,460 --> 00:26:49,220 you must follow. 622 00:26:49,930 --> 00:26:50,410 Okay? 623 00:26:50,810 --> 00:26:53,930 Nobody could follow the rules completely 100 of the time. 624 00:26:54,330 --> 00:26:57,450 But what would happen is, is that there would be people that could 625 00:26:57,450 --> 00:27:00,170 follow the rules maybe up to a certain point. 626 00:27:00,330 --> 00:27:03,330 Like, maybe you're like, oh, I can follow 50 of those rules pretty 627 00:27:03,330 --> 00:27:03,610 good. 628 00:27:03,930 --> 00:27:06,090 And there's another person in the church that says, why follow 629 00:27:06,090 --> 00:27:07,290 75 of those rules? 630 00:27:07,610 --> 00:27:09,370 And then someone else walks in and says, why? 631 00:27:09,370 --> 00:27:11,210 I follow 94 of those rules. 632 00:27:11,690 --> 00:27:15,490 But what happens in our human nature is that the 94 percenter looks 633 00:27:15,490 --> 00:27:18,850 to the 50 percenter and says, I'm a better Christian than that 634 00:27:18,850 --> 00:27:20,610 person because I could follow more rules. 635 00:27:21,250 --> 00:27:23,050 And really, that goes back to pride. 636 00:27:23,050 --> 00:27:26,570 So whether legalism leads us to a place of rebellion or leads 637 00:27:26,570 --> 00:27:29,250 us to a place of pride, it leads us to two places that are not 638 00:27:29,250 --> 00:27:30,610 in the righteousness of God. 639 00:27:30,690 --> 00:27:34,570 Therefore, what we see is that Saul can't just make all these rules 640 00:27:34,570 --> 00:27:35,570 and keep them under control. 641 00:27:35,890 --> 00:27:38,370 He should have been turning them to the Lord, right? 642 00:27:38,370 --> 00:27:41,090 We know that even David was a man after God's own heart. 643 00:27:41,410 --> 00:27:42,930 It's all about the heart of God. 644 00:27:42,930 --> 00:27:48,670 So what we see here, verse number 33, then they told Saul, saying, 645 00:27:48,670 --> 00:27:50,870 behold, the people sin against the Lord. 646 00:27:51,670 --> 00:27:53,030 So they're not sinning against Saul. 647 00:27:53,030 --> 00:27:56,430 They're sinning against the Lord in that they eat with the blood. 648 00:27:56,430 --> 00:27:59,190 And he said, yay, you have transgressed. 649 00:27:59,670 --> 00:28:01,270 So Saul calls out their sin. 650 00:28:02,070 --> 00:28:04,310 And, you know, it's interesting here. 651 00:28:04,310 --> 00:28:05,670 Saul does say the right things. 652 00:28:05,670 --> 00:28:08,870 And so actually, in this particular portion of scripture, 653 00:28:09,270 --> 00:28:11,750 for a little bit of time, Saul does the right thing. 654 00:28:11,750 --> 00:28:13,830 He tries to fix the problem. 655 00:28:14,390 --> 00:28:17,110 And so he says here, they have transgressed. 656 00:28:17,430 --> 00:28:17,790 He. 657 00:28:17,790 --> 00:28:19,110 He admits their sin. 658 00:28:19,830 --> 00:28:21,430 And I think that that's good. 659 00:28:22,230 --> 00:28:27,230 And I don't think that his heart is completely changed here, 660 00:28:27,230 --> 00:28:29,270 but we at least see that he recognizes sin. 661 00:28:29,670 --> 00:28:32,030 And so he says, ye have transgressed. 662 00:28:32,030 --> 00:28:33,870 Roll a stone unto me this day. 663 00:28:33,870 --> 00:28:37,680 Now, the problem with this, and I think that maybe some of you 664 00:28:37,680 --> 00:28:42,080 can even see the problem that we're getting to here, is that Saul 665 00:28:42,080 --> 00:28:44,040 doesn't say we have sinned. 666 00:28:44,680 --> 00:28:45,000 Right? 667 00:28:45,000 --> 00:28:50,760 He takes no responsibility for this sense of leadership. 668 00:28:51,480 --> 00:28:53,160 He says, you guys have sinned. 669 00:28:53,640 --> 00:28:58,360 And I think that if this was a situation where Saul could recognize 670 00:28:58,360 --> 00:29:01,080 his sin, I think this would be a great place of repentance for him 671 00:29:01,080 --> 00:29:02,080 to say, man, you know what? 672 00:29:02,080 --> 00:29:04,200 Yes, you've sinned, but I've been a part of that because I've 673 00:29:04,200 --> 00:29:05,160 led you guys astray. 674 00:29:06,210 --> 00:29:08,530 But yet nonetheless, he says, you have sinned. 675 00:29:09,570 --> 00:29:12,210 And he says, roll a great stone unto me this day. 676 00:29:12,450 --> 00:29:14,610 Now, if you don't know the context of what he's talking about 677 00:29:14,610 --> 00:29:16,770 here, you might say, well, what's he act. 678 00:29:16,850 --> 00:29:19,290 What's he asking for a stone to be rolled over there? 679 00:29:19,290 --> 00:29:22,410 What he's asking for is he's asking for an altar stone to be rolled 680 00:29:22,410 --> 00:29:25,650 there so that they can properly deal with the animals like 681 00:29:25,650 --> 00:29:27,530 the Lord had called them to do so. 682 00:29:27,530 --> 00:29:28,290 Verse 34. 683 00:29:28,770 --> 00:29:31,210 And Saul said, disperse yourselves among the people and say 684 00:29:31,210 --> 00:29:32,370 unto them, bring me hither. 685 00:29:32,740 --> 00:29:35,820 Every man is ox and every man is sheep, and slay them here and 686 00:29:35,820 --> 00:29:38,500 eat, and sin not against the Lord in eating with the blood. 687 00:29:38,500 --> 00:29:42,020 So again, we do see that Saul makes the right decision here. 688 00:29:42,020 --> 00:29:45,660 He sets up the stone, he tells them that they need to properly take 689 00:29:45,660 --> 00:29:49,060 care of the animals, and he builds an altar to the Lord. 690 00:29:49,460 --> 00:29:53,300 And so Saul did something right here, even though he was wrong 691 00:29:53,300 --> 00:29:53,620 before. 692 00:29:54,100 --> 00:29:54,420 And. 693 00:29:54,420 --> 00:29:57,940 And we're going to see that sometimes in life, Saul is going 694 00:29:57,940 --> 00:30:01,620 to make a decision that is somewhat aligned with what the word 695 00:30:01,620 --> 00:30:02,340 of God says. 696 00:30:02,580 --> 00:30:05,140 But nonetheless, we see that he does turn back and forth. 697 00:30:05,140 --> 00:30:07,540 And so he's just a man that of erratic nature. 698 00:30:07,940 --> 00:30:09,220 So we see here at ver. 699 00:30:09,220 --> 00:30:09,980 Verse 35. 700 00:30:09,980 --> 00:30:10,300 He. 701 00:30:10,300 --> 00:30:14,740 He says, and Saul built an altar unto the Lord, and the same 702 00:30:14,740 --> 00:30:16,500 was the first altar that he built under the Lord. 703 00:30:16,500 --> 00:30:18,180 So it was the first time he had ever done this. 704 00:30:18,900 --> 00:30:20,700 And he builds an altar to the Lord. 705 00:30:20,700 --> 00:30:21,260 Verse 36. 706 00:30:21,260 --> 00:30:24,100 And Saul said, let us go down after the Philistines by night. 707 00:30:24,100 --> 00:30:25,700 And so Saul has a plan. 708 00:30:25,700 --> 00:30:26,020 And. 709 00:30:26,090 --> 00:30:27,690 And he says, let's do this. 710 00:30:27,690 --> 00:30:29,730 Let's go down to the Philistines by night and spoil them 711 00:30:29,730 --> 00:30:33,330 until the morning light, and let us not leave a man of them. 712 00:30:33,330 --> 00:30:36,130 And they said, do whatsoever seeth good unto thee. 713 00:30:36,130 --> 00:30:39,610 Then said the priest, let us draw near hither unto God. 714 00:30:41,290 --> 00:30:42,409 So this is interesting. 715 00:30:42,570 --> 00:30:44,690 Saul is going to make a decision. 716 00:30:44,690 --> 00:30:47,970 Saul says, okay, we need to go down and make this a final defeat 717 00:30:47,970 --> 00:30:48,650 of the Philistines. 718 00:30:48,650 --> 00:30:50,410 We need to go down and take care of them. 719 00:30:50,890 --> 00:30:54,410 And he's reminded by the priest here he says, let us draw 720 00:30:54,410 --> 00:30:55,570 near hither to God. 721 00:30:55,570 --> 00:30:58,050 This is something that Saul should have done a long time ago. 722 00:30:58,050 --> 00:31:02,130 Saul should have drawn near to God lot, lot earlier. 723 00:31:02,770 --> 00:31:05,290 And Saul asked counsel of God. 724 00:31:05,290 --> 00:31:07,090 Now that's good. 725 00:31:08,130 --> 00:31:12,450 But we almost see that asking counsel for God is an afterthought. 726 00:31:12,930 --> 00:31:15,570 Now, it's never too late to ask the counsel for the Lord. 727 00:31:15,810 --> 00:31:19,730 But what I will say is that many times we need to learn our lessons 728 00:31:20,520 --> 00:31:21,520 earlier than later. 729 00:31:21,520 --> 00:31:23,840 Because if Saul would have learned this lesson earlier in his 730 00:31:23,840 --> 00:31:26,080 life, he would have spared himself from a lot of struggles and 731 00:31:26,080 --> 00:31:27,400 difficulties and pain. 732 00:31:27,560 --> 00:31:29,760 And I think that's a lesson that I need to learn. 733 00:31:29,760 --> 00:31:32,680 It's a lesson that we all need to learn to take the counsel of God 734 00:31:32,680 --> 00:31:34,680 earlier on in our trials. 735 00:31:35,080 --> 00:31:38,480 I know for me, my, my situation that I'll usually face 736 00:31:38,480 --> 00:31:43,160 myself, get myself in, is that I will get to a trial. 737 00:31:43,400 --> 00:31:46,760 I'll go through the trial, I'll get myself into a real pickle, 738 00:31:46,760 --> 00:31:49,760 and I'll be over my head, and then that's when I go to the Lord. 739 00:31:49,760 --> 00:31:51,480 And of course, the Lord pulls us out. 740 00:31:52,040 --> 00:31:56,160 But oftentimes we need to be the ones that are going before the 741 00:31:56,160 --> 00:32:00,280 trial, always with the Lord seeking after him, preemptively preparing 742 00:32:00,280 --> 00:32:01,760 ourselves for the trials at life. 743 00:32:01,760 --> 00:32:04,560 Now, I know that we cannot prepare for every trial that we face. 744 00:32:04,560 --> 00:32:04,800 We. 745 00:32:04,800 --> 00:32:07,720 We know that we can never guess what the next trial is going 746 00:32:07,720 --> 00:32:09,840 to be, but at least we can know that we will be going through 747 00:32:09,840 --> 00:32:10,360 trials. 748 00:32:10,360 --> 00:32:13,320 Therefore, prepare ourselves in our heart and seek the counsel 749 00:32:13,320 --> 00:32:13,960 of the Lord. 750 00:32:14,790 --> 00:32:19,270 So Saul asks God, shall I go down after the Philistines? 751 00:32:19,830 --> 00:32:22,550 So we, we saw then, verse 36. 752 00:32:22,630 --> 00:32:24,150 He already made up his decision. 753 00:32:24,470 --> 00:32:27,150 He says, let's go down and take the Philistines now. 754 00:32:27,150 --> 00:32:28,590 Oh, we better seek after God. 755 00:32:28,590 --> 00:32:29,670 God, should we go down there? 756 00:32:30,230 --> 00:32:32,150 This is kind of like me. 757 00:32:32,150 --> 00:32:35,430 Sometimes I want to make a decision and then ask God, just Lord, 758 00:32:35,670 --> 00:32:36,950 bless it, is this right? 759 00:32:37,270 --> 00:32:38,950 But nonetheless, he does this. 760 00:32:39,270 --> 00:32:42,150 And Saul asked counsel of God, shall I go down after the Philistines? 761 00:32:42,150 --> 00:32:44,710 Wilt thou deliver them into the hand of Israel? 762 00:32:45,220 --> 00:32:46,660 So he says, lord, is this the right decision? 763 00:32:46,740 --> 00:32:48,180 Is this something that we should do? 764 00:32:48,660 --> 00:32:51,020 Will thou deliver them into the hand of Israel? 765 00:32:51,020 --> 00:32:53,140 But he answered him not that day. 766 00:32:54,100 --> 00:32:55,300 So this is interesting. 767 00:32:55,860 --> 00:32:56,580 This is good. 768 00:32:56,740 --> 00:32:59,220 Saul is asking God for counsel. 769 00:33:00,420 --> 00:33:03,060 Saul should have asked the counsel of God much earlier. 770 00:33:04,420 --> 00:33:07,020 But Saul questions the Lord. 771 00:33:07,020 --> 00:33:08,540 He says, he doesn't question him. 772 00:33:08,540 --> 00:33:09,860 He asks a question to the Lord. 773 00:33:09,940 --> 00:33:13,990 Saul asked a question to God and says, lord, through the priest, 774 00:33:14,710 --> 00:33:16,070 is this the right thing to do? 775 00:33:16,070 --> 00:33:20,110 And most likely what would have happened is that they, the priests 776 00:33:20,110 --> 00:33:22,990 would have been doing something called seeking the Lord 777 00:33:22,990 --> 00:33:26,670 through the urim and the thumim, which we don't need to go 778 00:33:26,670 --> 00:33:28,070 into that too much here this evening. 779 00:33:28,070 --> 00:33:30,830 A lot of different people have a lot of questions on what the urim 780 00:33:30,830 --> 00:33:31,750 and thuring were. 781 00:33:32,150 --> 00:33:35,750 Basically what most scholars believe it was was this pouch in 782 00:33:35,750 --> 00:33:37,030 front of the priest's chest. 783 00:33:37,190 --> 00:33:40,230 And there were two stones in there, a dark stone and a light stone. 784 00:33:40,230 --> 00:33:44,010 And basically he would reach down in there and pull out a stone 785 00:33:44,010 --> 00:33:46,890 and it would be like a yes or no answer, like lord, should we go? 786 00:33:47,050 --> 00:33:48,970 And reaching down it would be yes or no. 787 00:33:49,050 --> 00:33:51,450 And the priest would communicate with God. 788 00:33:52,090 --> 00:33:55,490 And they would have been considered the discerning tools of 789 00:33:55,490 --> 00:33:59,290 the priest found in the book of Exodus, Book of Numbers. 790 00:33:59,850 --> 00:34:01,690 You see it throughout the Old Testament. 791 00:34:01,690 --> 00:34:08,580 And basically their use may be implied the fact that they're asking 792 00:34:08,580 --> 00:34:11,700 God for certain clarity and certain understanding. 793 00:34:11,700 --> 00:34:13,700 Now we know that that's not what we do today. 794 00:34:13,700 --> 00:34:16,780 We don't reach into a pocket and pull out a coin and say, that 795 00:34:16,780 --> 00:34:17,420 must be from God. 796 00:34:17,420 --> 00:34:18,660 We speak to God through prayer. 797 00:34:18,980 --> 00:34:21,460 That's the difference within the Old Testament and the New Testament, 798 00:34:21,460 --> 00:34:22,820 though it's always by faith. 799 00:34:23,060 --> 00:34:26,060 There was kind of a dividing line in the Old Testament when it 800 00:34:26,060 --> 00:34:27,260 came to communicating with God. 801 00:34:27,260 --> 00:34:29,540 It was the priests that would communicate with God. 802 00:34:29,700 --> 00:34:32,580 And even, even Saul needed to go through the priest. 803 00:34:33,099 --> 00:34:36,179 Now we know, amazingly, that when Jesus died on the cross for 804 00:34:36,179 --> 00:34:41,539 our sins, the Bible says that the, the, the veil in the holy of 805 00:34:41,539 --> 00:34:42,619 holies was torn in two. 806 00:34:42,939 --> 00:34:45,699 Therefore we don't have to have the high priest to go before 807 00:34:45,699 --> 00:34:46,059 us. 808 00:34:46,139 --> 00:34:48,898 Well, we do, but the high priest is Jesus Christ, who opens 809 00:34:48,898 --> 00:34:49,659 the door for us. 810 00:34:49,659 --> 00:34:51,139 The Bible says that in Hebrews. 811 00:34:51,139 --> 00:34:54,019 And the Bible tells us that because of Jesus Christ, because 812 00:34:54,019 --> 00:34:56,779 of what he has done for us, because he's our great high priest, 813 00:34:56,779 --> 00:34:58,099 we now have access to the Father. 814 00:34:58,099 --> 00:35:00,960 We can go in there confidently, boldly, before the throne 815 00:35:00,960 --> 00:35:01,480 of grace. 816 00:35:01,800 --> 00:35:04,880 So the way that looks like for us today is we don't have to go to 817 00:35:04,880 --> 00:35:08,240 a priest and say, hey, can you use these special stones who give 818 00:35:08,240 --> 00:35:09,640 me some kind of clarity from God? 819 00:35:09,640 --> 00:35:11,720 We can go straight to God and he will answer us. 820 00:35:12,040 --> 00:35:15,120 Maybe he'll make us wait, maybe he'll give us a yes, maybe 821 00:35:15,120 --> 00:35:16,000 he'll give us a no. 822 00:35:16,000 --> 00:35:17,680 But God answers us through prayer. 823 00:35:17,680 --> 00:35:19,080 That's the way that we communicate with him. 824 00:35:19,080 --> 00:35:21,400 That's the way we discern the will of God. 825 00:35:21,400 --> 00:35:23,520 Now I, I would say this within our Life. 826 00:35:23,520 --> 00:35:27,680 If we're making a big decision like Saul is doing here, we should 827 00:35:27,920 --> 00:35:29,680 look at it from a couple of different angles. 828 00:35:29,680 --> 00:35:32,840 Number one, we should plead with the Lord to give us clarity 829 00:35:32,840 --> 00:35:34,320 and understanding through prayer. 830 00:35:34,320 --> 00:35:36,920 Okay, so number one, ask God for His will. 831 00:35:36,920 --> 00:35:39,360 Ask God for discernment, ask God for wisdom. 832 00:35:39,520 --> 00:35:42,640 The Bible even says in the Book of James, if we lack wisdom, 833 00:35:42,640 --> 00:35:45,240 if we lack discernment, ask God, and He'll give it to us if we 834 00:35:45,240 --> 00:35:46,000 ask in faith. 835 00:35:46,240 --> 00:35:48,920 So the first step of discerning the will of God in our 836 00:35:48,920 --> 00:35:54,290 life is by prayer, asking God for clarity, asking God for direction. 837 00:35:54,290 --> 00:35:56,410 But secondly, it's listening to God. 838 00:35:56,410 --> 00:36:01,130 Now, again, we don't get the answer from God through possibly 839 00:36:01,370 --> 00:36:05,290 a stone or, or as they are going to do in this chapter, casting 840 00:36:05,290 --> 00:36:05,650 lots. 841 00:36:05,650 --> 00:36:06,410 We don't do that. 842 00:36:06,410 --> 00:36:09,450 We shouldn't do that to discern the will of God and the Word 843 00:36:09,450 --> 00:36:09,930 of God. 844 00:36:10,090 --> 00:36:11,450 So how do we hear from God? 845 00:36:11,450 --> 00:36:14,570 Well, predominantly what we see in the New Testament is that 846 00:36:14,570 --> 00:36:16,330 the way we hear from God is through His Word. 847 00:36:17,300 --> 00:36:18,780 So that's the way we communicate with God. 848 00:36:18,780 --> 00:36:21,460 We communicate with God by the way that we talk to him is through 849 00:36:21,460 --> 00:36:21,940 prayer. 850 00:36:22,180 --> 00:36:25,540 The way that we receive the word of God, the way we hear what 851 00:36:25,540 --> 00:36:27,460 he wants for us is by going to His Word. 852 00:36:27,780 --> 00:36:31,500 And the Bible even says In Romans, chapter 10, verse 17, faith 853 00:36:31,500 --> 00:36:33,780 cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. 854 00:36:34,420 --> 00:36:38,980 And so we can't ever expect to hear from God if we don't have, number 855 00:36:38,980 --> 00:36:40,140 one, a relationship with Him. 856 00:36:40,140 --> 00:36:43,780 But number two, to be involved with His Word, to. 857 00:36:44,140 --> 00:36:47,420 To going to His Word, to studying His Word by listening to 858 00:36:47,420 --> 00:36:50,660 preaching, by listening to things that are enlightening when 859 00:36:50,660 --> 00:36:53,100 it comes to the Word of God, whether it be through a Bible study 860 00:36:53,100 --> 00:36:54,300 or through a discussion. 861 00:36:54,620 --> 00:36:58,140 And so what we see is that, yes, God does speak through circumstances. 862 00:36:58,860 --> 00:37:01,700 God does speak through, I believe, the guidance of the Holy 863 00:37:01,700 --> 00:37:04,940 Spirit and peace and open doors and closed doors. 864 00:37:05,100 --> 00:37:07,660 But every open door, every closed door, every. 865 00:37:08,060 --> 00:37:11,340 Every feeling or guidance that we have through the Holy Spirit by 866 00:37:11,340 --> 00:37:14,580 perceiving the Holy Spirit's discernment and guidance in our life 867 00:37:14,580 --> 00:37:17,060 is always going to be aligned with the Word of God. 868 00:37:17,700 --> 00:37:21,940 God's message to us will never contradict His Word. 869 00:37:22,900 --> 00:37:27,740 No, no feeling or discernment from the Holy Spirit will ever contradict 870 00:37:27,740 --> 00:37:28,259 His Word. 871 00:37:28,259 --> 00:37:31,700 God's never going to call us to do something that contradicts 872 00:37:31,700 --> 00:37:33,540 what he has called us to do within his scriptures. 873 00:37:33,540 --> 00:37:37,220 And so therefore, we can't be like Saul and say, well, this must 874 00:37:37,220 --> 00:37:37,940 be from God. 875 00:37:37,940 --> 00:37:40,110 Therefore, I. I feel something happening. 876 00:37:40,110 --> 00:37:42,510 So I'm just going to act in it and I act in disobedience. 877 00:37:42,830 --> 00:37:46,470 God's word, God's spirit is not going to lead us to a place of 878 00:37:46,470 --> 00:37:47,710 disobedience in our life. 879 00:37:47,790 --> 00:37:48,470 It never will. 880 00:37:48,470 --> 00:37:52,030 The Bible says that it's our flesh that leads us to that disobedience. 881 00:37:52,030 --> 00:37:54,110 We saw that from the very beginning here this evening. 882 00:37:54,749 --> 00:38:00,750 So Saul is asking God for counsel, but God doesn't answer him 883 00:38:00,750 --> 00:38:01,390 on that day. 884 00:38:02,270 --> 00:38:06,640 Now there's a lot of reasons beyond my comprehension why God makes 885 00:38:06,640 --> 00:38:08,360 us wait there. 886 00:38:08,520 --> 00:38:11,440 There are certain times where we're walking with God and God does 887 00:38:11,440 --> 00:38:13,080 not give us an immediate answer. 888 00:38:13,640 --> 00:38:15,520 It possibly could be a test of faith. 889 00:38:15,520 --> 00:38:18,440 We see in Scripture that there's times of waiting, there's 890 00:38:18,440 --> 00:38:19,320 seasons of waiting. 891 00:38:19,800 --> 00:38:23,200 We see that throughout many of the different individuals that we 892 00:38:23,200 --> 00:38:23,960 study in Scripture. 893 00:38:23,960 --> 00:38:25,960 God doesn't always give an immediate answer. 894 00:38:26,200 --> 00:38:27,520 So why would God make us wait? 895 00:38:27,520 --> 00:38:31,070 Well, maybe one, it's because of the fact that he's testing us 896 00:38:31,070 --> 00:38:31,990 in our patience. 897 00:38:31,990 --> 00:38:32,430 He's. 898 00:38:32,430 --> 00:38:34,430 He's wanting to see where our heart is. 899 00:38:35,470 --> 00:38:38,270 Secondly, I think that the, one of the reasons why God doesn't 900 00:38:38,270 --> 00:38:41,590 respond to us is the Bible says if I regard iniquity in my heart, 901 00:38:41,590 --> 00:38:42,990 the Lord will not hear me. 902 00:38:44,430 --> 00:38:47,950 That doesn't mean that God isn't capable of hearing the individual 903 00:38:47,950 --> 00:38:48,750 that's praying. 904 00:38:48,910 --> 00:38:52,110 But the Bible says that if we're harboring bitterness and sin 905 00:38:52,110 --> 00:38:54,110 in our life, God doesn't hear us. 906 00:38:54,110 --> 00:38:58,330 He, he, he rejects that because it's like if I want to have 907 00:38:58,330 --> 00:39:00,890 a relationship with God, but yet I want to have relationship with 908 00:39:00,890 --> 00:39:01,410 my sin. 909 00:39:01,730 --> 00:39:04,410 That's a, the Bible says a double minded man is unstable in 910 00:39:04,410 --> 00:39:07,210 all of his ways and he can't expect anything to be answered in 911 00:39:07,210 --> 00:39:07,970 his prayer life. 912 00:39:08,050 --> 00:39:09,490 That's what James chapter one says. 913 00:39:09,490 --> 00:39:12,010 The Bible says in James chapter one, ask God and he'll give 914 00:39:12,010 --> 00:39:15,970 it to you liberally, but don't expect him to answer you if you're 915 00:39:15,970 --> 00:39:19,610 a double minded person, meaning Lord, I'm going to ask you 916 00:39:19,610 --> 00:39:21,130 for this, but I'm not asking in faith. 917 00:39:21,130 --> 00:39:22,570 I'm walking in my own rebellion. 918 00:39:22,570 --> 00:39:25,010 I'm acting out in my own fleshly desires. 919 00:39:25,010 --> 00:39:27,770 And so there's many reasons why God might have us wait. 920 00:39:27,770 --> 00:39:29,930 There are many reasons why God will not answer us. 921 00:39:30,170 --> 00:39:33,250 But what we're going to see here is that ultimately Saul is dealing 922 00:39:33,250 --> 00:39:37,050 with many different things that we're going to study later on 923 00:39:37,050 --> 00:39:40,890 in Psalm or excuse me, first Samuel, chapter 14, particularly 924 00:39:40,890 --> 00:39:44,410 with his son, because at this very moment he doesn't know. 925 00:39:44,810 --> 00:39:48,410 Saul doesn't know that he's cursed his son to death. 926 00:39:49,050 --> 00:39:50,650 That's where he's standing right now. 927 00:39:50,730 --> 00:39:53,560 Saul made a hasty oath. 928 00:39:54,040 --> 00:39:58,200 He had made a hasty promise to say, whoever eats is gonna die. 929 00:39:58,520 --> 00:40:00,160 What's his son who did that? 930 00:40:00,160 --> 00:40:03,680 So now Saul is going to have to make a decision on what to do, 931 00:40:03,680 --> 00:40:07,360 because he's now basically got his son in a place where his son 932 00:40:07,360 --> 00:40:09,320 should, in his mind, be put to death. 933 00:40:09,800 --> 00:40:13,360 And so that's really where this next part of the chapter is 934 00:40:13,360 --> 00:40:17,120 going to turn to, is how Saul and Jonathan and the Lord and the 935 00:40:17,120 --> 00:40:20,380 people are going to work out what Saul did in his sin. 936 00:40:21,500 --> 00:40:25,500 And so as what we're going to see in this passage is that he seeks 937 00:40:25,500 --> 00:40:26,580 after the Lord's wisdom. 938 00:40:26,580 --> 00:40:27,740 He does not answer. 939 00:40:28,380 --> 00:40:28,700 And. 940 00:40:28,700 --> 00:40:31,980 And what we're going to see is that the priest inquires for the 941 00:40:31,980 --> 00:40:32,740 Lord for him. 942 00:40:32,740 --> 00:40:36,780 And what we're going to see in verse number 38, and Saul said, draw 943 00:40:36,940 --> 00:40:41,380 ye near hither, all the chief people, and know and see wherein 944 00:40:41,380 --> 00:40:45,990 this sin hath been this day, meaning this he's ready to see. 945 00:40:45,990 --> 00:40:46,270 He. 946 00:40:46,270 --> 00:40:47,270 What does he do? 947 00:40:47,270 --> 00:40:48,390 God doesn't answer him. 948 00:40:48,950 --> 00:40:50,390 He's going to blame it on the people. 949 00:40:50,470 --> 00:40:52,630 Obviously, someone's sinning around me. 950 00:40:52,870 --> 00:40:55,070 So we're going to figure out who's doing this sinning. 951 00:40:55,070 --> 00:40:57,670 We're going to figure out who's the one that broke this. 952 00:40:57,750 --> 00:40:58,630 This oath. 953 00:40:58,790 --> 00:41:01,950 And what he's going to find out is that later on it's his son. 954 00:41:01,950 --> 00:41:04,310 And he's going to have to come to grips with that. 955 00:41:04,630 --> 00:41:07,110 And so this shows how sure Saul was that. 956 00:41:07,110 --> 00:41:07,790 That he was right. 957 00:41:07,790 --> 00:41:07,990 He's. 958 00:41:07,990 --> 00:41:09,990 Oh, in Saul's mind, he's always right. 959 00:41:10,380 --> 00:41:11,740 Obviously someone else did. 960 00:41:11,740 --> 00:41:13,500 Obviously someone else is guilty. 961 00:41:13,580 --> 00:41:16,300 Obviously someone else is at a place where they shouldn't be. 962 00:41:16,940 --> 00:41:20,140 And he was so sure that he had pronounced. 963 00:41:20,220 --> 00:41:20,620 He. 964 00:41:20,620 --> 00:41:22,940 He pronounces another oath in this next passage. 965 00:41:23,340 --> 00:41:27,100 And so obviously, if Saul would have known that it was Jonathan 966 00:41:27,100 --> 00:41:31,660 who was the one who violated his oath, he's not going to do what 967 00:41:31,660 --> 00:41:35,020 he's about to do, but he's basically going to make this other 968 00:41:35,020 --> 00:41:37,260 oath to basically say, we're going to cast lots and we're going 969 00:41:37,260 --> 00:41:38,540 to find out who this person is. 970 00:41:39,100 --> 00:41:41,420 So he makes one wrong decision. 971 00:41:42,860 --> 00:41:46,020 But like I tell my kids and like I try to live my own life, two 972 00:41:46,020 --> 00:41:47,060 wrongs don't make it right. 973 00:41:47,060 --> 00:41:50,300 And he's basically going to try to do another wrong to fix his 974 00:41:50,300 --> 00:41:50,860 other wrong. 975 00:41:50,860 --> 00:41:54,100 And it's just going to get to a Place where ultimately we see Saul 976 00:41:54,100 --> 00:41:58,140 played out in, in chapter 15, which, if you know anything about 977 00:41:58,140 --> 00:42:04,240 chapter 15 in First Samuel, it's really the Saul's down, down, 978 00:42:04,390 --> 00:42:04,950 down moment. 979 00:42:04,950 --> 00:42:10,030 I mean, it's the place where he rejects the plan of God and doesn't 980 00:42:10,030 --> 00:42:11,390 do what God calls him to do. 981 00:42:11,390 --> 00:42:13,910 And there's, there's great problems with that. 982 00:42:14,230 --> 00:42:16,390 And, and Samuel calls him out for that. 983 00:42:16,390 --> 00:42:20,030 And then really we're going to see after that, David come on to 984 00:42:20,030 --> 00:42:20,550 the scene. 985 00:42:20,790 --> 00:42:22,870 And it's going to be an interesting study for sure. 986 00:42:23,350 --> 00:42:24,390 So we'll stop there. 987 00:42:25,590 --> 00:42:28,510 We're going to pause our study tonight because we do need to go 988 00:42:28,510 --> 00:42:29,190 to our prayer time. 989 00:42:29,190 --> 00:42:35,160 But I hope that we've learned the lesson in James chapter one, 990 00:42:36,120 --> 00:42:40,560 that we should be swift to hear, hear the whole story. 991 00:42:40,560 --> 00:42:43,160 Before I make a decision, let me hear the whole thing out. 992 00:42:46,440 --> 00:42:48,760 Slow to wrath, slow to speak. 993 00:42:48,760 --> 00:42:52,000 Meaning let me hear it, let me consider it. 994 00:42:52,000 --> 00:42:53,560 Let me put this before the Lord. 995 00:42:53,640 --> 00:42:55,080 Let me seek God's counsel. 996 00:42:55,160 --> 00:42:56,360 Then I'm going to speak. 997 00:42:56,360 --> 00:42:56,530 Yes. 998 00:42:56,680 --> 00:42:57,720 Then I'm going to act. 999 00:42:58,360 --> 00:43:00,240 And that's going to lead us to a place of. 1000 00:43:00,240 --> 00:43:02,960 Though we won't be perfect, we're going to be a lot more aligned 1001 00:43:02,960 --> 00:43:05,600 with the understanding of following God's plan for our life 1002 00:43:05,600 --> 00:43:07,000 instead of following our own plan. 1003 00:43:07,000 --> 00:43:11,160 And then secondly, just to see the pain of legalism, the, the, the 1004 00:43:11,160 --> 00:43:16,000 pain of following a person rather than God, because if we follow 1005 00:43:16,000 --> 00:43:19,320 a person, we will eventually be disappointed. 1006 00:43:19,800 --> 00:43:22,680 If we follow a person, we'll eventually be misled, whether we 1007 00:43:22,680 --> 00:43:23,320 know it or not. 1008 00:43:23,960 --> 00:43:27,760 And the idea would be for us is that as a leader, so whatever 1009 00:43:27,760 --> 00:43:31,080 capacity that I'm leading or you're leading, we must always lead 1010 00:43:31,080 --> 00:43:33,400 with the understanding that we're not the final authority. 1011 00:43:34,520 --> 00:43:39,479 Even though to my children, I'm the final authority, they really 1012 00:43:39,479 --> 00:43:43,240 need to understand that though I'm their dad and I have authority 1013 00:43:43,240 --> 00:43:45,560 over them, I'm not the final authority. 1014 00:43:45,880 --> 00:43:48,640 So that when they sin against me, they're not just sinning against 1015 00:43:48,640 --> 00:43:51,880 dad, they're sinning against the Lord and having a conversation 1016 00:43:51,880 --> 00:43:52,680 with them about that. 1017 00:43:52,680 --> 00:43:55,520 You know, the Bible says children will bear your parents in 1018 00:43:55,520 --> 00:43:56,480 the Lord, for this is right. 1019 00:43:57,600 --> 00:44:01,240 And, and I wanted to, you know, as a parent, you always want 1020 00:44:01,240 --> 00:44:02,880 them to understand, obey your parent. 1021 00:44:03,280 --> 00:44:06,840 But then sometimes I forget to emphasize the part that it says in 1022 00:44:06,840 --> 00:44:10,480 the Lord, meaning really you're obeying God as you're obeying 1023 00:44:10,480 --> 00:44:11,040 your parents. 1024 00:44:11,200 --> 00:44:13,880 And that goes for us, like in every capacity in our life, when 1025 00:44:13,880 --> 00:44:17,600 we're following the rules or when we're obeying whatever authorities 1026 00:44:17,600 --> 00:44:20,980 place in our life at whatever capacity, or we're really obeying 1027 00:44:20,980 --> 00:44:23,700 God by obeying the authority that he has ordained in our life. 1028 00:44:23,700 --> 00:44:25,620 And that's a hard pill for us to swallow. 1029 00:44:25,860 --> 00:44:28,700 But ultimately, the way that we respond to everything in our life 1030 00:44:28,700 --> 00:44:31,660 is an indication of whether or not we're submitting ourselves and 1031 00:44:31,660 --> 00:44:32,820 obey obeying God. 1032 00:44:33,060 --> 00:44:37,300 So really, Saul shows like because Saul was that in Israel, 1033 00:44:37,300 --> 00:44:38,180 Saul was the top. 1034 00:44:38,980 --> 00:44:42,100 There was no one above Saul, except the fact that he forgot that 1035 00:44:42,100 --> 00:44:42,660 sometimes. 1036 00:44:42,820 --> 00:44:46,580 He forgot that God was over him. 1037 00:44:47,190 --> 00:44:50,230 He he thought he was the peak, the pinnacle of Israel. 1038 00:44:50,710 --> 00:44:52,510 And in human eyes he was. 1039 00:44:52,510 --> 00:44:57,790 But then he forgot that at the very beginning of his royalty, his 1040 00:44:57,790 --> 00:45:01,630 his being crowned as king, Samuel reminded him that ultimately 1041 00:45:01,630 --> 00:45:02,669 he submits to God. 1042 00:45:02,669 --> 00:45:03,830 And he forgot about that. 1043 00:45:04,150 --> 00:45:06,390 Because of that, he got himself into a lot of problems. 1044 00:45:06,470 --> 00:45:07,350 So we'll stop there. 1045 00:45:08,310 --> 00:45:10,950 Thank you again for listening to the Middletown Baptist Church 1046 00:45:10,950 --> 00:45:11,590 Podcast. 1047 00:45:11,830 --> 00:45:14,210 I hope that this sermon has been a blessing for you. 1048 00:45:14,850 --> 00:45:17,050 You would like to find out more information about our church 1049 00:45:17,050 --> 00:45:20,530 or this sermon, you can find us at middletownbaptistchurch.org 1050 00:45:20,850 --> 00:45:23,410 or find us on Facebook or YouTube. 1051 00:45:24,130 --> 00:45:29,090 You can also email me directly at Josh Massaro, Middletown BaptistChurch.com 1052 00:45:29,569 --> 00:45:31,250 if you've enjoyed this podcast. 1053 00:45:31,410 --> 00:45:35,890 Please subscribe and follow along for future podcast and updates. 1054 00:45:36,530 --> 00:45:37,490 Thank you so much. 1055 00:45:37,730 --> 00:45:38,450 God Bless. 1056 00:45:38,690 --> 00:45:39,970 Have a wonderful day.