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 --> 00:00:17,560 Now, come along. 8 00:00:17,560 --> 00:00:21,440 Let's look into the Bible and see what God has for us here today. 9 00:00:23,680 --> 00:00:27,320 All right, let's go ahead and get right into our Bible study here 10 00:00:27,320 --> 00:00:27,600 tonight. 11 00:00:27,600 --> 00:00:29,680 We're in First Samuel, Chapter 12. 12 00:00:30,590 --> 00:00:31,670 First Samuel, Chapter 12. 13 00:00:31,670 --> 00:00:33,070 You can turn there with me. 14 00:00:33,470 --> 00:00:37,190 And where we left off last time was Saul. 15 00:00:37,190 --> 00:00:41,710 And the people of Israel had this amazing victory over the Ammonites. 16 00:00:41,710 --> 00:00:46,910 And if you remember, there was an individual named Nahash who was 17 00:00:46,910 --> 00:00:48,550 a type of Satan. 18 00:00:48,550 --> 00:00:51,390 Nahash, his name even means the serpent. 19 00:00:51,550 --> 00:00:55,630 And we see Nahash coming in, and he tempts the people there in 20 00:00:55,630 --> 00:00:57,630 Israel to make a compromise. 21 00:00:57,630 --> 00:01:00,990 And they offered that compromise, and they were about to 22 00:01:00,990 --> 00:01:04,670 give into that compromise until the Lord brought Saul around 23 00:01:04,910 --> 00:01:06,830 for leadership and for strengthening. 24 00:01:06,830 --> 00:01:09,550 And they stood up against the enemy. 25 00:01:09,550 --> 00:01:11,790 And through that, God gave them the victory. 26 00:01:11,790 --> 00:01:15,990 So at that point in time, Saul had already been anointed king, the 27 00:01:15,990 --> 00:01:17,150 first king of Israel. 28 00:01:18,030 --> 00:01:23,750 But really it was through that victory and through a culmination 29 00:01:23,750 --> 00:01:27,060 that happened after that that he would be coordinated. 30 00:01:27,060 --> 00:01:31,900 And the people were calling out to Saul, giving him honor and 31 00:01:31,900 --> 00:01:32,420 glory. 32 00:01:32,660 --> 00:01:35,420 And really, through Saul's godly leadership. 33 00:01:35,420 --> 00:01:39,180 And the Bible mentions that in that specific instance, he was led 34 00:01:39,180 --> 00:01:40,260 by the Spirit of God. 35 00:01:40,420 --> 00:01:43,500 But through that godly leadership, the people were driven 36 00:01:43,500 --> 00:01:44,660 to worship God. 37 00:01:44,660 --> 00:01:49,940 And really, through the life of Saul, we really see what we would 38 00:01:49,940 --> 00:01:51,380 call a dichotomy. 39 00:01:51,540 --> 00:01:53,220 One side of the coin. 40 00:01:53,220 --> 00:01:55,620 He follows the Lord, and there's great blessing on the other 41 00:01:55,620 --> 00:01:55,940 side. 42 00:01:56,320 --> 00:01:59,280 He follows his flesh, and he follows darkness and sin. 43 00:01:59,280 --> 00:02:03,480 And obviously, there's difficulty and danger and destruction 44 00:02:03,480 --> 00:02:04,160 with that. 45 00:02:04,560 --> 00:02:08,000 And so starting in chapter 12, Samuel, you guys know Samuel. 46 00:02:08,000 --> 00:02:08,560 He's the. 47 00:02:08,720 --> 00:02:10,280 The longtime prophet. 48 00:02:10,280 --> 00:02:13,840 And we even see in First Samuel, he's a judge there for the 49 00:02:13,840 --> 00:02:14,880 people of Israel. 50 00:02:15,040 --> 00:02:15,360 And. 51 00:02:15,360 --> 00:02:17,880 And he had been essentially the leader. 52 00:02:17,880 --> 00:02:20,080 Even though God was the king there. 53 00:02:20,080 --> 00:02:23,040 There was something called a theocracy at that point that God 54 00:02:23,040 --> 00:02:23,680 was the king. 55 00:02:23,680 --> 00:02:27,520 But really God was using Samuel as the figurehead, as the 56 00:02:27,520 --> 00:02:28,800 man to lead the people. 57 00:02:28,800 --> 00:02:32,720 And so basically, there's a passing of the torch from Samuel 58 00:02:32,720 --> 00:02:33,360 to Saul. 59 00:02:33,760 --> 00:02:37,720 And Samuel is giving some honest advice. 60 00:02:37,720 --> 00:02:42,240 He's giving biblical guidance to the people of Israel to how they 61 00:02:42,240 --> 00:02:47,280 should follow God as they are in the new way of thinking, with 62 00:02:47,440 --> 00:02:50,890 Saul being the king, because the temptation for the people would 63 00:02:50,970 --> 00:02:55,970 keep their eyes only on Saul as their king and as their guide 64 00:02:55,970 --> 00:02:56,970 and as their everything. 65 00:02:57,690 --> 00:03:00,250 But here, what we're going to see is that Samuel is explaining 66 00:03:00,250 --> 00:03:02,730 to the people of Israel that even though Saul is your leader, 67 00:03:03,050 --> 00:03:06,250 you should still keep your eyes ultimately on the Lord. 68 00:03:06,490 --> 00:03:07,810 And that goes for all of us. 69 00:03:07,810 --> 00:03:10,610 And I think that this is a lesson that all of us can take with 70 00:03:10,610 --> 00:03:13,170 us, is that there is going to be an opportunity for us in our life 71 00:03:13,170 --> 00:03:16,250 to have people over us in levels of leadership. 72 00:03:16,250 --> 00:03:16,930 That just happens. 73 00:03:16,930 --> 00:03:20,320 All of us have folks that lead us, and there's nothing wrong with 74 00:03:20,320 --> 00:03:20,600 that. 75 00:03:21,000 --> 00:03:25,360 What does come to be an issue in our lives is if we look at those 76 00:03:25,360 --> 00:03:29,160 leaders as the final authority on everything, if we look to someone 77 00:03:29,240 --> 00:03:31,320 as the object of our worship. 78 00:03:31,320 --> 00:03:36,760 And oftentimes we even see situations where a leader, a man 79 00:03:36,920 --> 00:03:41,720 can or a woman could be an object of someone's worship and they 80 00:03:41,720 --> 00:03:45,160 could eventually leave the proper worship that should be for 81 00:03:45,160 --> 00:03:49,390 the Lord and appropriated upon someone who should not receive that 82 00:03:49,390 --> 00:03:49,950 worship. 83 00:03:50,350 --> 00:03:53,030 And so Samuel is explaining his testimony. 84 00:03:53,030 --> 00:03:55,510 We're going to see a little bit about Samuel's character and 85 00:03:55,510 --> 00:03:56,510 his integrity here. 86 00:03:56,510 --> 00:03:59,870 He's going to talk about how he tried to lead them according to 87 00:03:59,870 --> 00:04:01,070 the word of God, which he did. 88 00:04:01,230 --> 00:04:03,750 And then he's going to remind them of some things that they need 89 00:04:03,750 --> 00:04:05,910 to think about when there is a passing of a torch. 90 00:04:05,910 --> 00:04:08,510 He says, these are some things that you need to think about as you're 91 00:04:08,750 --> 00:04:12,350 in this new situation of having a king. 92 00:04:12,350 --> 00:04:15,460 And I think it's a good picture for all of us to learn about 93 00:04:15,460 --> 00:04:19,940 how we should see transition of leadership and how we should follow 94 00:04:20,100 --> 00:04:21,500 under man's leadership. 95 00:04:21,500 --> 00:04:25,380 And so verse one, Samuel says here, and Samuel said unto all of 96 00:04:25,380 --> 00:04:29,100 Israel, behold, I have hearkened unto your voice and all 97 00:04:29,100 --> 00:04:32,100 that you have said unto me and have made a king over you. 98 00:04:32,420 --> 00:04:37,780 So Samuel reminds Israel that really this situation that is happening 99 00:04:37,780 --> 00:04:39,220 is because you asked for it. 100 00:04:39,780 --> 00:04:42,340 We'll see a theme in the book of First Samuel that there's a lot 101 00:04:42,340 --> 00:04:43,940 of reminding of the people of Israel. 102 00:04:44,320 --> 00:04:46,320 That is their decision that got them to this place. 103 00:04:46,320 --> 00:04:48,560 They wanted a king, they desired a king. 104 00:04:48,800 --> 00:04:50,960 And so what Samuel is telling them is this. 105 00:04:50,960 --> 00:04:55,000 He says, look, what you find yourself in now is a decision that 106 00:04:55,000 --> 00:04:55,600 you have made. 107 00:04:55,600 --> 00:04:58,720 God has allowed it and God has worked through it. 108 00:04:58,960 --> 00:05:01,120 But this is certainly a decision that you have made. 109 00:05:01,120 --> 00:05:02,800 And that's a lesson for all of us. 110 00:05:02,800 --> 00:05:05,640 We make decisions in our life and we have to understand that the 111 00:05:05,640 --> 00:05:08,400 outcome of those decisions is, is not something that we can blame 112 00:05:08,400 --> 00:05:11,120 on God, it's not something that we can blame on somebody else. 113 00:05:11,660 --> 00:05:14,700 I think a lot of times what happens is that we see something 114 00:05:14,700 --> 00:05:16,620 that we do or that we decide. 115 00:05:16,620 --> 00:05:20,140 But yet, at least for me, in my own flesh, I want to blame somebody 116 00:05:20,140 --> 00:05:20,340 else. 117 00:05:20,340 --> 00:05:21,900 I want to deflect the blame. 118 00:05:21,980 --> 00:05:23,620 I want to deflect the responsibility. 119 00:05:23,620 --> 00:05:26,700 And what Samuel is saying is, the responsibility of the situation 120 00:05:26,700 --> 00:05:29,500 that you're in is because of your decisions. 121 00:05:29,660 --> 00:05:32,940 So verse number two, he says, and now behold, the king walketh 122 00:05:32,940 --> 00:05:33,300 before you. 123 00:05:33,300 --> 00:05:36,300 He says, so say, look, here is Saul, this is your king. 124 00:05:36,300 --> 00:05:38,660 He says, and I am old and gray headed. 125 00:05:38,980 --> 00:05:42,700 So essentially what Samuel is saying is my time has passed, I'm 126 00:05:42,700 --> 00:05:46,500 at the very end and now I'm coaching you, I'm teaching you, I'm 127 00:05:46,500 --> 00:05:49,780 discipling you how to follow a new leader. 128 00:05:50,420 --> 00:05:53,900 So he says, I'm old and gray headed, and behold, my sons are with 129 00:05:53,900 --> 00:05:54,260 you. 130 00:05:54,900 --> 00:05:57,500 Now that's interesting that he says, my sons are with you. 131 00:05:57,500 --> 00:06:00,900 Because if you remember back, Samuel's sons were not godly. 132 00:06:01,460 --> 00:06:04,500 And so really Samuel's son should have been the ones that were 133 00:06:04,500 --> 00:06:04,900 leading. 134 00:06:04,900 --> 00:06:06,430 But now he says, they're with you. 135 00:06:06,430 --> 00:06:10,870 Meaning Samuel made the right decision by demoting his sons to 136 00:06:10,870 --> 00:06:12,910 the level of just every other person. 137 00:06:12,910 --> 00:06:16,270 Because what typically happened in the Bible is that individuals 138 00:06:16,270 --> 00:06:18,950 would promote their children no matter what the case was, no matter 139 00:06:18,950 --> 00:06:20,070 what their spirituality was. 140 00:06:20,070 --> 00:06:21,270 We saw that with Eli. 141 00:06:21,270 --> 00:06:23,750 Remember, Eli had his sons there and they should not have been 142 00:06:23,750 --> 00:06:24,030 there. 143 00:06:24,270 --> 00:06:27,950 So Samuel was aware of the sins of his sons. 144 00:06:27,950 --> 00:06:32,190 And we can see that in, in other cases earlier on in First Samuel. 145 00:06:32,190 --> 00:06:35,820 And that's, I think, First Samuel 8 and he reminds the people 146 00:06:35,820 --> 00:06:39,940 that, hey, I did the right thing by taking my sons out of leadership 147 00:06:39,940 --> 00:06:43,180 and making them just the average everyday person because of 148 00:06:43,180 --> 00:06:44,380 their sins that they committed. 149 00:06:44,380 --> 00:06:47,180 And I think that's a good sense of integrity and character 150 00:06:47,180 --> 00:06:50,940 in the life of Samuel because he didn't allow his personal inclinations 151 00:06:50,940 --> 00:06:52,740 to get in the way of his decision making. 152 00:06:53,380 --> 00:06:55,860 And that's a note of Samuel's integrity. 153 00:06:56,420 --> 00:07:00,820 And so he says then, and I have walked before you from my childhood 154 00:07:00,820 --> 00:07:01,780 unto this day. 155 00:07:02,190 --> 00:07:05,190 And we know Samuel, we saw Samuel before he was even born. 156 00:07:05,190 --> 00:07:07,990 Remember, his mom, Hannah had prayed for him. 157 00:07:07,990 --> 00:07:12,070 And so from the very beginning, Samuel had been serving 158 00:07:12,070 --> 00:07:14,270 the Lord and serving the people of the Lord. 159 00:07:14,350 --> 00:07:16,670 And that just shows Samuel's faithfulness. 160 00:07:16,670 --> 00:07:19,190 And we even look at First Corinthians. 161 00:07:19,190 --> 00:07:23,350 And First Corinthians tells us that a steward, a servant of God 162 00:07:23,350 --> 00:07:24,510 should be found faithful. 163 00:07:24,510 --> 00:07:26,510 And so Samuel was a faithful leader. 164 00:07:27,150 --> 00:07:29,790 And so he's reminding them of God's faithfulness. 165 00:07:29,790 --> 00:07:31,630 He's reminding them of his faithfulness. 166 00:07:31,970 --> 00:07:37,010 And verse three says, behold here I am, witness against me before 167 00:07:37,170 --> 00:07:40,490 the Lord, meaning this, if there's anything that I have done 168 00:07:40,490 --> 00:07:45,730 wrong that maybe I don't even know about, maybe I've offended you, 169 00:07:46,370 --> 00:07:49,610 being unawares and I, I didn't know that something that I said or 170 00:07:49,610 --> 00:07:50,810 something that I did offended you. 171 00:07:50,810 --> 00:07:53,890 He says, if I have done anything, if I have done anything 172 00:07:53,890 --> 00:07:57,650 against you before the Lord, he says, and before his anointed, 173 00:07:57,920 --> 00:07:59,040 whose ox have I taken? 174 00:07:59,120 --> 00:08:00,480 Or whose ass have I taken? 175 00:08:00,800 --> 00:08:02,640 Or whom I have defrauded? 176 00:08:02,640 --> 00:08:04,000 Whom I have oppressed? 177 00:08:04,240 --> 00:08:08,080 Of whose hand have I received any bribe to blind mine eyes therewith, 178 00:08:08,160 --> 00:08:09,600 and I will restore it to you. 179 00:08:09,600 --> 00:08:13,240 Now the idea would be this, that Samuel is a man who has lived 180 00:08:13,240 --> 00:08:17,320 blamelessly, so he knows that none of this can come back on him. 181 00:08:17,320 --> 00:08:20,240 But what he's showing is transparency, authenticity. 182 00:08:20,240 --> 00:08:23,040 He's saying this, I'm not above you calling me out. 183 00:08:23,610 --> 00:08:25,930 I'm not too good, I'm not too prideful. 184 00:08:25,930 --> 00:08:28,450 I'm not identifying myself as someone who is perfect. 185 00:08:28,450 --> 00:08:32,090 And we see really the characteristics of a strong leader 186 00:08:32,090 --> 00:08:33,290 here in the life of Samuel. 187 00:08:33,450 --> 00:08:34,290 He's authentic. 188 00:08:34,290 --> 00:08:37,970 He says, hey, if I've done anything, even though he knows probably 189 00:08:37,970 --> 00:08:41,290 that he didn't do any of these sins, he says, if I've even accidentally 190 00:08:41,290 --> 00:08:44,730 offended you or come across in a certain way, I want to restore 191 00:08:44,730 --> 00:08:45,530 that right now. 192 00:08:46,010 --> 00:08:50,090 And I think that's a great testimony of Samuel and his leadership. 193 00:08:50,090 --> 00:08:52,910 Because really if a leader gets up and says, you can't question 194 00:08:52,910 --> 00:08:56,990 me, I'm not wrong, I, I, I'm the one that's always in the right. 195 00:08:56,990 --> 00:09:00,270 That's an indication that that person is not in the place of being 196 00:09:00,270 --> 00:09:01,150 a godly leader. 197 00:09:01,710 --> 00:09:03,870 Every leader should be willing to be inspected. 198 00:09:04,430 --> 00:09:07,430 Now, there is a little bit of difficulty when there's different 199 00:09:07,430 --> 00:09:08,430 types of criticism. 200 00:09:08,430 --> 00:09:11,870 And, and just as much as a person should be open for criticism, 201 00:09:11,950 --> 00:09:14,830 so should the people criticizing understand that it should 202 00:09:14,830 --> 00:09:17,860 be constructive criticism and not destructive criticism. 203 00:09:17,940 --> 00:09:19,500 And so it's a two way street on this. 204 00:09:19,500 --> 00:09:23,340 But what Samuel is saying is this, just as he's open for this 205 00:09:23,340 --> 00:09:25,460 type of inspection, so everyone should be. 206 00:09:25,780 --> 00:09:27,180 And that's, that's really the life. 207 00:09:27,180 --> 00:09:30,420 Verse 3 is the life of every Christian, if you know, and I've 208 00:09:30,420 --> 00:09:33,700 even counseled people to do this, and even I've done this myself. 209 00:09:33,940 --> 00:09:37,980 Even if I perceive something that is not going well with a relationship, 210 00:09:37,980 --> 00:09:39,260 even if I didn't know what I did. 211 00:09:39,260 --> 00:09:41,820 I might come up to someone and say, is there anything that I said? 212 00:09:41,820 --> 00:09:43,540 Maybe you took it the wrong way. 213 00:09:43,540 --> 00:09:45,140 Maybe I came across a certain way. 214 00:09:45,660 --> 00:09:47,980 And the reality is, is that there might be a time where we need 215 00:09:47,980 --> 00:09:49,420 to admit and restore. 216 00:09:49,900 --> 00:09:52,220 And there's a beautiful picture of that in the New Testament, 217 00:09:52,220 --> 00:09:53,140 Matthew chapter 18. 218 00:09:53,140 --> 00:09:56,060 And that talks about the confrontation that Christians should 219 00:09:56,060 --> 00:09:56,340 have. 220 00:09:56,340 --> 00:10:00,540 And really, with confirmation, with all of what God has said, we 221 00:10:00,540 --> 00:10:02,220 do find restoration can happen. 222 00:10:02,220 --> 00:10:03,820 And so that's what he's talking about here. 223 00:10:03,900 --> 00:10:06,260 He's just talking about this idea of transparency. 224 00:10:06,260 --> 00:10:09,300 Now, we would hope that Saul would follow this example, because 225 00:10:09,300 --> 00:10:14,610 no doubt Saul is hearing this, and Saul is around this teaching. 226 00:10:14,610 --> 00:10:18,130 And later on, we know that Saul gets to a place in his life 227 00:10:18,130 --> 00:10:21,570 where he's not open for inspection, he's not open for criticism, 228 00:10:21,570 --> 00:10:24,650 and actually he gets upset to the place where nobody can come against 229 00:10:24,650 --> 00:10:25,010 him. 230 00:10:25,410 --> 00:10:29,690 And so Saul is not a picture of what Samuel is describing here. 231 00:10:29,690 --> 00:10:32,290 Then we get to verse number four, and they said, thou hast not 232 00:10:32,290 --> 00:10:33,170 defrauded us. 233 00:10:33,410 --> 00:10:35,330 So this is the testimony of the people back. 234 00:10:35,810 --> 00:10:39,100 They say, no, you've never defrauded us, nor oppressed us, nor 235 00:10:39,170 --> 00:10:41,290 neither hast thou taken out of any man's hand. 236 00:10:41,290 --> 00:10:46,210 So again, this is a picture of a leader being what we call blameless 237 00:10:46,210 --> 00:10:48,810 in the New Testament and First Timothy, chapter three. 238 00:10:48,810 --> 00:10:51,970 It speaks of one of the character traits that should be possessed 239 00:10:51,970 --> 00:10:55,049 by a pastor or a leader of the church. 240 00:10:55,049 --> 00:10:57,570 And really one of those things is called being blameless. 241 00:10:57,570 --> 00:11:00,970 It doesn't mean sinless, by the way, because no one ever could 242 00:11:00,970 --> 00:11:03,290 be qualified for any position if it means sinless. 243 00:11:03,290 --> 00:11:05,530 And no doubt Samuel had sin in his life. 244 00:11:05,530 --> 00:11:08,690 We know that he is not perfect because we know that there is none 245 00:11:08,690 --> 00:11:09,850 good, no, not one, in. 246 00:11:09,850 --> 00:11:11,530 In the fact that all of us have sinned. 247 00:11:11,530 --> 00:11:15,250 And so they're not saying here that Samuel never sinned, but what 248 00:11:15,250 --> 00:11:16,930 they're saying is, is that he's blameless. 249 00:11:16,930 --> 00:11:18,010 And really the. 250 00:11:18,010 --> 00:11:21,290 The literal term there, blameless means that nothing can 251 00:11:21,290 --> 00:11:21,770 stick. 252 00:11:22,010 --> 00:11:24,610 I mean, people can accuse you of things, people can say things 253 00:11:24,610 --> 00:11:27,770 about you, but because of your public testimony, there's nothing 254 00:11:27,930 --> 00:11:31,290 that is going to stick to you when it comes to the negativity and, 255 00:11:31,290 --> 00:11:34,130 and that sin nature that all of us have. 256 00:11:34,130 --> 00:11:36,970 It's not going to be a character trait in that person's 257 00:11:36,970 --> 00:11:37,170 life. 258 00:11:37,170 --> 00:11:39,410 And so they say they're no, you're not blameless. 259 00:11:39,410 --> 00:11:39,770 Verse 5. 260 00:11:39,770 --> 00:11:42,930 And he said unto them, the Lord is witness against you and his 261 00:11:42,930 --> 00:11:46,690 anointed is witness this day that ye have not found ought in my 262 00:11:46,690 --> 00:11:46,930 hand. 263 00:11:46,930 --> 00:11:48,610 And they answered, he is witness. 264 00:11:48,610 --> 00:11:52,930 And so essentially the end of verse 5, all Samuel is doing is just 265 00:11:52,930 --> 00:11:58,530 confirming that, that before the Lord there's nothing in the midst 266 00:11:58,530 --> 00:11:59,170 of a problem. 267 00:11:59,170 --> 00:12:01,850 And really this is, this should be something that all leaders 268 00:12:01,850 --> 00:12:03,890 should do as they are transitioning out. 269 00:12:04,290 --> 00:12:07,010 There should be restoration before the new man comes in. 270 00:12:07,250 --> 00:12:08,730 And that's really the struggle. 271 00:12:08,730 --> 00:12:11,050 Sometimes leaders leave a mess. 272 00:12:11,050 --> 00:12:14,130 And the reality is, is that the next guy comes in and finds out 273 00:12:14,130 --> 00:12:15,890 all the problems that might be there. 274 00:12:15,890 --> 00:12:18,250 And what Samuel is doing here is she's. 275 00:12:18,250 --> 00:12:20,970 He's, to the best of his ability, trying to leave a clean 276 00:12:20,970 --> 00:12:22,530 slate for Saul to walk into. 277 00:12:23,170 --> 00:12:26,690 And so if Israel were to later accuse Samuel, something wrong. 278 00:12:26,990 --> 00:12:31,310 So, for example, once Saul takes office, so to speak, as a king, 279 00:12:31,310 --> 00:12:33,750 and they come up and they say, hey, King Saul, you know what Samuel 280 00:12:33,750 --> 00:12:33,950 did? 281 00:12:33,950 --> 00:12:36,870 Samuel did this, this, this, this, and this, then they're able 282 00:12:36,870 --> 00:12:39,270 to go back and say, no, you confirmed on that day that there 283 00:12:39,270 --> 00:12:41,070 was nothing that you had against Samuel. 284 00:12:41,550 --> 00:12:47,310 And so if Israel ever tried to blame Saul for the problems that 285 00:12:47,310 --> 00:12:50,670 he's has in his life on Samuel, they would not be able to 286 00:12:50,670 --> 00:12:52,910 because Samuel had that blameless testimony. 287 00:12:53,330 --> 00:12:56,490 Now Saul's gonna have a lot to blame about his life, but he can't 288 00:12:56,490 --> 00:12:59,210 look to the people and say, well, it was all Samuel's fault. 289 00:12:59,210 --> 00:13:00,290 He left this for me. 290 00:13:01,170 --> 00:13:04,410 So again, Samuel is showing us what it means to be a good leader. 291 00:13:04,410 --> 00:13:07,010 And now he's going to leave them with some advice. 292 00:13:07,330 --> 00:13:09,370 And I think that these are some things that we can take with 293 00:13:09,370 --> 00:13:11,330 us as we walk about our Christian life. 294 00:13:11,330 --> 00:13:15,250 And when we look at people that are leading us and their checks 295 00:13:15,250 --> 00:13:17,410 really within our Christian walk to the lord. 296 00:13:17,490 --> 00:13:18,170 So verse 6. 297 00:13:18,170 --> 00:13:21,620 And Samuel said unto the people, it is the Lord that advanced 298 00:13:21,620 --> 00:13:24,860 Moses and Aaron and that brought your fathers up out of the 299 00:13:24,860 --> 00:13:25,580 land of Egypt. 300 00:13:25,580 --> 00:13:26,620 So what is he doing here? 301 00:13:26,620 --> 00:13:30,900 He's reminding them of God's provision and deliverance in their 302 00:13:30,900 --> 00:13:31,260 past. 303 00:13:31,820 --> 00:13:34,820 So I think it is good to note that when we're walking in our Christian 304 00:13:34,820 --> 00:13:38,100 life, we do need to recount the past of what God has done for 305 00:13:38,100 --> 00:13:42,220 us before, and not just for us, but for the generations that 306 00:13:42,780 --> 00:13:46,460 came before us and ultimately for the generations to follow, because 307 00:13:46,460 --> 00:13:47,820 that's really what Samuel's doing here. 308 00:13:48,260 --> 00:13:53,380 Samuel is preparing the next generation to live for the Lord. 309 00:13:53,700 --> 00:13:56,140 And so the next generation is not going to know these things. 310 00:13:56,140 --> 00:13:59,460 And so there's this reminder here to make sure that we tell people 311 00:13:59,860 --> 00:14:03,700 that are coming up in the ranks, so to speak, that they should 312 00:14:03,859 --> 00:14:05,940 remember what God has done in the past. 313 00:14:05,940 --> 00:14:09,180 And that's what we should do for the next generation if, if God 314 00:14:09,180 --> 00:14:09,740 allows. 315 00:14:09,740 --> 00:14:14,380 And if God tarries, there's going to be people that are in this 316 00:14:14,380 --> 00:14:18,740 church that are serving the Lord, that are, are coming up and 317 00:14:18,740 --> 00:14:21,520 becoming ad, finding opportunities for leadership. 318 00:14:21,520 --> 00:14:24,840 And they might not know what happened here at this church through 319 00:14:24,840 --> 00:14:27,760 way of testimony 30, 40, 50 years ago. 320 00:14:28,160 --> 00:14:29,640 And how are they going to know about that? 321 00:14:29,640 --> 00:14:31,560 Well, they're not going to know about it by reading the history 322 00:14:31,560 --> 00:14:31,920 book. 323 00:14:31,920 --> 00:14:35,040 How they're going to find out about that is for this generation 324 00:14:35,040 --> 00:14:38,160 that's experiencing the blessings to pass along the truths 325 00:14:38,160 --> 00:14:39,120 of God to them. 326 00:14:39,600 --> 00:14:43,760 And so that's why the Bible is so, so emphatic even in the Old Testament 327 00:14:43,760 --> 00:14:47,160 and the New, that each generation should remind the next 328 00:14:47,160 --> 00:14:49,500 generation of the faithfulness of God. 329 00:14:49,500 --> 00:14:50,300 And that's what he's saying here. 330 00:14:50,300 --> 00:14:54,420 He says, don't you guys remember that God, he was the one 331 00:14:54,420 --> 00:14:58,580 that delivered us through the leadership of Moses and Aaron and 332 00:14:58,580 --> 00:15:00,940 that brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt. 333 00:15:00,940 --> 00:15:02,900 Now here's what they don't do. 334 00:15:03,620 --> 00:15:06,940 Samuel does not tell the people, remember how blessed and 335 00:15:06,940 --> 00:15:11,140 holy Moses and Aaron were because that would be man worship, 336 00:15:11,140 --> 00:15:12,500 that would be man focused. 337 00:15:12,500 --> 00:15:15,660 He reminds them that it was the Lord that advanced Moses and 338 00:15:15,660 --> 00:15:16,180 Aaron. 339 00:15:16,430 --> 00:15:19,550 So there's a recognition of God's power through individuals. 340 00:15:19,790 --> 00:15:20,390 Verse 7. 341 00:15:20,390 --> 00:15:21,710 Now therefore, stand still. 342 00:15:23,150 --> 00:15:27,350 So there's a remembrance of the power of God, there's the remembrance 343 00:15:27,350 --> 00:15:28,310 of God's goodness. 344 00:15:28,310 --> 00:15:31,910 But then there's also a challenge to stand still and rest 345 00:15:31,910 --> 00:15:33,550 and wait and hear this. 346 00:15:34,190 --> 00:15:38,270 And so he says, stand still that I may reason with you before 347 00:15:38,270 --> 00:15:42,180 the Lord of all the righteous acts of the Lord which he did to 348 00:15:42,180 --> 00:15:43,460 you and to your fathers. 349 00:15:44,420 --> 00:15:47,380 So he basically says this, sit down and listen because I'm about 350 00:15:47,380 --> 00:15:48,340 to give you the history. 351 00:15:48,420 --> 00:15:51,180 I'm about to give you all the blessings that God has done for you 352 00:15:51,180 --> 00:15:52,980 and your fathers. 353 00:15:53,220 --> 00:15:53,820 Verse 8. 354 00:15:53,820 --> 00:15:56,980 When Jacob was come into Egypt and your fathers cried unto the Lord, 355 00:15:56,980 --> 00:15:59,980 then the Lord sent Moses and Aaron which brought forth your fathers 356 00:15:59,980 --> 00:16:02,340 out of Egypt and made them dwell in this place. 357 00:16:02,660 --> 00:16:04,180 And when they forgot the Lord. 358 00:16:04,500 --> 00:16:08,740 And so he doesn't just tell them all the good, he, he tells them 359 00:16:08,740 --> 00:16:11,820 all the good about God, but he reminds them of their flaws as well. 360 00:16:11,820 --> 00:16:14,820 And I think we need to be reminded of our shortcomings a lot 361 00:16:14,820 --> 00:16:15,220 of times. 362 00:16:15,940 --> 00:16:19,220 We see, I'm gonna identify myself here. 363 00:16:19,460 --> 00:16:22,860 I see my past is through rose colored glasses like Everything was 364 00:16:22,860 --> 00:16:23,540 good back then. 365 00:16:23,540 --> 00:16:24,460 The good old days. 366 00:16:24,460 --> 00:16:29,780 I remember back when I first started teaching at a Christian school, 367 00:16:30,420 --> 00:16:31,700 and there was a lot of problems. 368 00:16:31,700 --> 00:16:32,500 There was a lot of. 369 00:16:32,580 --> 00:16:34,670 Just like, I didn't know what I was doing. 370 00:16:34,750 --> 00:16:35,150 I was. 371 00:16:35,150 --> 00:16:35,830 I was overwhelmed. 372 00:16:35,830 --> 00:16:37,870 But now I look back on, I'm like, man, that was such a smooth 373 00:16:37,870 --> 00:16:38,390 time of my life. 374 00:16:38,390 --> 00:16:40,110 It was such a simple time of my life. 375 00:16:40,110 --> 00:16:41,390 But in that moment, it wasn't. 376 00:16:41,390 --> 00:16:43,390 I mean, I was relying on God in every step. 377 00:16:43,630 --> 00:16:44,990 And oftentimes we can do that. 378 00:16:44,990 --> 00:16:47,550 We can look back in our past and we can say, well, everything 379 00:16:47,550 --> 00:16:48,230 was so easy. 380 00:16:48,230 --> 00:16:49,229 God was always there. 381 00:16:49,229 --> 00:16:50,270 I never doubted. 382 00:16:50,430 --> 00:16:54,150 But he reminds them here in verse nine, he says, and when they 383 00:16:54,150 --> 00:16:57,990 forgot the Lord their God, meaning there was a time, and not 384 00:16:57,990 --> 00:17:00,980 just one time, multiple times, which the people of Israel forgot 385 00:17:00,980 --> 00:17:01,620 their Lord. 386 00:17:01,780 --> 00:17:05,460 And it says, he sold them into the hand of Cicero, captain of the 387 00:17:05,460 --> 00:17:07,900 host of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and into 388 00:17:07,900 --> 00:17:09,060 the hand of the King of Moab. 389 00:17:09,140 --> 00:17:10,260 And they fought against them. 390 00:17:10,260 --> 00:17:14,020 Meaning there were times not only when God blessed you in deliverance, 391 00:17:14,180 --> 00:17:17,420 but there was also times when God disciplined you and allowed you 392 00:17:17,420 --> 00:17:21,220 to go into bondage for certain periods of time to teach you a lesson. 393 00:17:21,780 --> 00:17:24,980 And I think that just as much as we teach our next generation, 394 00:17:24,980 --> 00:17:28,349 our children about all the blessings that God has given us, 395 00:17:28,429 --> 00:17:31,269 we also should teach them about the lessons that we have learned 396 00:17:31,269 --> 00:17:32,269 in our own failures. 397 00:17:32,749 --> 00:17:35,429 And I think that that's one thing that I sometimes struggle with, 398 00:17:35,429 --> 00:17:37,989 is I want to tell my children all the good things that God has 399 00:17:37,989 --> 00:17:42,509 done that's completely natural and great, but at the same time, 400 00:17:42,509 --> 00:17:46,749 am I willing to share with my children, the next generation, all 401 00:17:46,749 --> 00:17:49,149 the problems that I had and the mistakes that I made and the 402 00:17:49,149 --> 00:17:51,669 lessons I had to learn the hard way so that they don't have 403 00:17:51,669 --> 00:17:52,549 to learn it the hard way. 404 00:17:53,180 --> 00:17:55,540 There's a common teaching out there that says, well, everyone's 405 00:17:55,540 --> 00:17:56,620 got to learn it the hard way. 406 00:17:56,700 --> 00:17:58,020 Well, not necessarily. 407 00:17:58,020 --> 00:18:00,220 We're all going to go through hardships on our own, and we're all 408 00:18:00,220 --> 00:18:01,660 going to find our new hardships. 409 00:18:01,740 --> 00:18:04,700 But we should not just resign to the fact that the next generation 410 00:18:04,700 --> 00:18:06,700 has to go through the same problems we've gone through. 411 00:18:06,940 --> 00:18:09,060 Actually, that's why we've gone through those problems, so we 412 00:18:09,060 --> 00:18:12,220 can try to protect, to the best of our ability, the same mistakes 413 00:18:12,220 --> 00:18:12,780 from happening. 414 00:18:12,780 --> 00:18:15,780 That's why God always reminded the people of Israel of those same 415 00:18:15,780 --> 00:18:16,940 mistakes that they were making. 416 00:18:16,940 --> 00:18:18,140 And it was cyclical. 417 00:18:18,140 --> 00:18:18,620 Look at. 418 00:18:18,860 --> 00:18:19,860 Read the Book of Judges. 419 00:18:19,860 --> 00:18:20,220 Okay? 420 00:18:20,220 --> 00:18:23,420 If you, if you've never read through the Book of Judges and saw 421 00:18:23,420 --> 00:18:26,060 that vicious cycle that happened with the people of Israel, 422 00:18:26,140 --> 00:18:28,460 you see that they weren't learning their lessons and God would 423 00:18:28,460 --> 00:18:29,660 condemn them for that. 424 00:18:29,980 --> 00:18:32,500 And so, folks, we need to learn our lessons so that we can 425 00:18:32,500 --> 00:18:34,220 teach the lessons to the next generation. 426 00:18:34,380 --> 00:18:35,940 And that's exactly what he's saying here. 427 00:18:35,940 --> 00:18:39,300 So he points out their failures, but not only their failures, 428 00:18:39,300 --> 00:18:41,260 but also the discipline that came along with it. 429 00:18:42,220 --> 00:18:42,780 Verse 10. 430 00:18:42,780 --> 00:18:46,320 And they cried unto the Lord, so he doesn't leave them without 431 00:18:46,320 --> 00:18:46,640 hope. 432 00:18:46,640 --> 00:18:49,760 He says, and they cried unto the Lord and said, we have sinned 433 00:18:49,760 --> 00:18:54,800 because we have forsaken the Lord and have served Balaam and Ashtaroth. 434 00:18:55,360 --> 00:18:58,360 But now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies and we will serve 435 00:18:58,360 --> 00:18:58,680 thee. 436 00:18:58,680 --> 00:19:02,360 So he reminds the people how they got out of the problems that 437 00:19:02,360 --> 00:19:02,960 they had. 438 00:19:03,280 --> 00:19:05,320 The problem that they had was sin and rebellion. 439 00:19:05,320 --> 00:19:07,120 And we see what their problem was there. 440 00:19:07,120 --> 00:19:09,200 They admitted to serving Balaam. 441 00:19:09,200 --> 00:19:09,920 That's baal. 442 00:19:09,920 --> 00:19:11,320 He has know who BAAL is. 443 00:19:11,320 --> 00:19:16,680 He was one of the more popular false gods and Ashtaroth, both were 444 00:19:16,680 --> 00:19:21,760 pagan gods who had terrible practices that people would practice 445 00:19:21,760 --> 00:19:27,200 along with them and everything from, you know, all measures of debauchery 446 00:19:27,200 --> 00:19:31,720 and child sacrifice that would all come along with these false gods. 447 00:19:31,720 --> 00:19:35,840 And so he mentions in verse 10 how they got back on track. 448 00:19:35,840 --> 00:19:40,110 It wasn't that they worked hard, it wasn't that they just fought 449 00:19:40,270 --> 00:19:40,910 harder. 450 00:19:41,390 --> 00:19:42,350 It was this. 451 00:19:42,910 --> 00:19:46,310 They cried unto the Lord with humility and said, we have sinned. 452 00:19:46,310 --> 00:19:49,430 That's repentance and confession because we have forsaken 453 00:19:49,430 --> 00:19:49,830 the Lord. 454 00:19:49,830 --> 00:19:52,350 That's an admission of their faults. 455 00:19:52,350 --> 00:19:53,950 It's a mission of their sin. 456 00:19:54,590 --> 00:19:56,270 And they, they named their sins. 457 00:19:56,270 --> 00:19:58,590 We worship baal, we worship Ashtaroth. 458 00:19:59,070 --> 00:20:02,830 And then it was a plea for the Lord to deliver them out of the hand 459 00:20:02,910 --> 00:20:03,830 of their enemies. 460 00:20:03,830 --> 00:20:08,290 And then a promise, a commitment to serve him right then 461 00:20:08,290 --> 00:20:13,610 I think, I think verse 10 is a great summary of how we can even 462 00:20:13,610 --> 00:20:18,170 teach people today how to get out of a life of pain and a life 463 00:20:18,170 --> 00:20:21,770 of discipline and a life of feeling like God is against them. 464 00:20:21,770 --> 00:20:23,410 Because really God's not against his people. 465 00:20:23,650 --> 00:20:26,970 God's allowing us to go through situations because of our 466 00:20:26,970 --> 00:20:27,810 poor decisions. 467 00:20:27,970 --> 00:20:31,850 But it's when we humbly submit ourselves to him and confess our 468 00:20:31,850 --> 00:20:35,890 sins and commit ourselves to the mighty works of God and admit 469 00:20:35,890 --> 00:20:39,210 our failures and admit that we need his mercy and his grace and 470 00:20:39,290 --> 00:20:40,410 commit to serving Him. 471 00:20:40,410 --> 00:20:44,010 That's when God allows us to find that renewal and that restoration. 472 00:20:44,490 --> 00:20:47,850 And we often hear about revival that should happen in America, 473 00:20:47,850 --> 00:20:49,850 revival that should happen within the churches. 474 00:20:50,010 --> 00:20:53,690 Folks, if you want to see revival, let's follow verse number 475 00:20:53,690 --> 00:20:53,930 10. 476 00:20:53,930 --> 00:20:56,810 Because verse number 10 really shows us that we have to admit that 477 00:20:56,810 --> 00:20:59,380 the problems that we are in are not because of God, but they're 478 00:20:59,380 --> 00:21:00,580 because of our own decisions. 479 00:21:01,140 --> 00:21:03,580 Now, oftentimes we go through other physical problems that are 480 00:21:03,580 --> 00:21:04,140 not our fault. 481 00:21:04,140 --> 00:21:04,460 I'm not. 482 00:21:04,460 --> 00:21:07,140 I'm not saying that every single physical struggle that you 483 00:21:07,140 --> 00:21:08,300 go through is because of sin. 484 00:21:08,300 --> 00:21:10,100 The Bible teaches us that that's not true. 485 00:21:10,260 --> 00:21:12,900 Even though some decisions can lead to physical struggles. 486 00:21:12,980 --> 00:21:15,620 I'm not talking about that, but I am talking about bad decisions 487 00:21:15,700 --> 00:21:19,660 that we make in rebellion to God that leads us to a place of disciplining 488 00:21:19,660 --> 00:21:20,060 from God. 489 00:21:20,060 --> 00:21:22,580 And really, if we're Christians, we should understand 490 00:21:22,740 --> 00:21:26,580 that even though it doesn't sound right, that discipline is a 491 00:21:26,580 --> 00:21:27,060 good thing. 492 00:21:27,220 --> 00:21:30,940 Because the Bible says in the book of Hebrews that God disciplines 493 00:21:30,940 --> 00:21:31,540 his children. 494 00:21:32,580 --> 00:21:34,300 God takes care of his own. 495 00:21:34,300 --> 00:21:36,140 And taking care of his children means sometimes we have 496 00:21:36,140 --> 00:21:37,300 to learn the hard lessons. 497 00:21:37,940 --> 00:21:38,260 If. 498 00:21:38,260 --> 00:21:41,140 If we're not part of the family of God, he's going to let 499 00:21:41,300 --> 00:21:41,700 his. 500 00:21:41,940 --> 00:21:45,900 His people that are rebelling against him just keep that light. 501 00:21:45,900 --> 00:21:49,260 And that's exactly what we see happening in the Old Testament and 502 00:21:49,260 --> 00:21:49,620 the New. 503 00:21:49,620 --> 00:21:51,420 But there is that call for deliverance. 504 00:21:51,420 --> 00:21:53,780 There's that call for revival. 505 00:21:53,940 --> 00:21:57,380 So verse number 11, and the Lord sent Jerubaal. 506 00:21:58,100 --> 00:22:01,620 So what the Bible says here, basically in verse number 11, is 507 00:22:01,620 --> 00:22:06,020 that when they called out to God, he did his work, but he sent 508 00:22:06,100 --> 00:22:08,340 individuals to lead in those times. 509 00:22:09,620 --> 00:22:13,300 And so God always works. 510 00:22:13,300 --> 00:22:15,020 God is always powerful. 511 00:22:15,020 --> 00:22:19,300 And many times God uses individuals for his purposes. 512 00:22:19,590 --> 00:22:20,510 And that's what he says here. 513 00:22:20,510 --> 00:22:21,910 So there's this guy named Jale. 514 00:22:21,910 --> 00:22:24,950 If you don't know who Jale is, you might know him by his other name, 515 00:22:24,950 --> 00:22:25,830 that is Gideon. 516 00:22:25,990 --> 00:22:29,670 In the Book of Judges, Gideon was called by God to come and give 517 00:22:29,670 --> 00:22:30,630 them deliverance. 518 00:22:30,630 --> 00:22:33,270 And you know the great story of Gideon, he started with all those 519 00:22:33,270 --> 00:22:36,070 men and then eventually pared it all the way down to 300 by the 520 00:22:36,070 --> 00:22:36,630 waterside. 521 00:22:36,790 --> 00:22:38,870 And they went in and had that great victory. 522 00:22:39,110 --> 00:22:43,270 Well, what Samuel is saying is this God, when you cried out to him, 523 00:22:43,270 --> 00:22:45,550 God gave you the type of leader that you needed. 524 00:22:45,550 --> 00:22:49,550 And it was Jerabel, or in this case, Gideon, which you know him 525 00:22:49,550 --> 00:22:49,910 by. 526 00:22:50,310 --> 00:22:53,270 There's another name that's mentioned here, Bedan, which is. 527 00:22:53,350 --> 00:22:53,870 There's. 528 00:22:53,870 --> 00:22:54,230 There's. 529 00:22:54,230 --> 00:22:58,630 Bedan is not mentioned in the Book of Judges, but most people would 530 00:22:58,630 --> 00:23:02,030 believe that he was some deliverer in their history, but he 531 00:23:02,030 --> 00:23:04,550 was not recorded in the book of Judges. 532 00:23:05,350 --> 00:23:08,870 Some people argue that that is actually a variant name of a guy 533 00:23:08,870 --> 00:23:11,590 named Barrick or Barack, which is in Judges chapter four. 534 00:23:12,290 --> 00:23:14,530 And so we really didn't want to get hung up on that too much. 535 00:23:14,530 --> 00:23:17,970 But it obviously, by way of context, was someone in their history 536 00:23:18,290 --> 00:23:20,890 that gave them some sort of deliverance through the power of 537 00:23:20,890 --> 00:23:21,250 God. 538 00:23:21,730 --> 00:23:25,490 And then we, we see more names that are given here. 539 00:23:25,490 --> 00:23:26,610 He says, and Samuel. 540 00:23:26,770 --> 00:23:31,090 So again, that the name Samuel is familiar to you, and obviously 541 00:23:31,090 --> 00:23:34,290 the speaker there is reminding them of, of what God had done in 542 00:23:34,290 --> 00:23:34,610 his life. 543 00:23:34,610 --> 00:23:36,930 And he says, and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on 544 00:23:36,930 --> 00:23:39,000 every side, and ye dwelled safe. 545 00:23:39,000 --> 00:23:42,520 And so again, this speaks just to God's deliverance into the fact 546 00:23:42,520 --> 00:23:49,560 that God was using individuals to get to a place where they could 547 00:23:49,640 --> 00:23:52,160 follow God and find deliverance. 548 00:23:52,160 --> 00:23:56,160 And so another thing I will say is that he mentioned something 549 00:23:56,160 --> 00:23:57,800 that was very recent to them. 550 00:23:58,040 --> 00:24:00,360 So he mentioned all these things that came from their past. 551 00:24:00,600 --> 00:24:03,040 So maybe their fathers or their grandfathers remembered it. 552 00:24:03,040 --> 00:24:05,080 But then he reminded them of something that just happened. 553 00:24:05,080 --> 00:24:05,640 Verse 12. 554 00:24:06,200 --> 00:24:10,520 And when ye saw that Nahash, the king of the children of Am Amnon 555 00:24:10,760 --> 00:24:14,440 Ammon came against you, ye said unto me, nay, but a king shall 556 00:24:14,440 --> 00:24:15,040 reign over us. 557 00:24:15,040 --> 00:24:17,080 And the Lord your God was your king. 558 00:24:17,320 --> 00:24:20,240 Now therefore, behold the king whom ye have chosen and whom ye have 559 00:24:20,240 --> 00:24:20,640 desired. 560 00:24:20,640 --> 00:24:22,640 And behold, the Lord hath set a king over you. 561 00:24:22,640 --> 00:24:26,200 So he reminds them of the most recent victory that God gave them 562 00:24:26,200 --> 00:24:29,800 through the Ammonites and Nahash, which we talked about last 563 00:24:29,800 --> 00:24:30,200 week. 564 00:24:30,520 --> 00:24:32,140 And he says, hey, you know what? 565 00:24:32,140 --> 00:24:33,900 You need to remember the things of the past, but you also 566 00:24:33,900 --> 00:24:35,780 need to remember the things that are happening right now. 567 00:24:36,100 --> 00:24:39,100 And so often we forget about the things that God gives us just 568 00:24:39,100 --> 00:24:40,180 on a regular basis. 569 00:24:40,580 --> 00:24:43,860 And so Samuel remembered the most recent example, and he. 570 00:24:43,860 --> 00:24:47,380 He links together all of these things and he marks it basically 571 00:24:47,380 --> 00:24:49,140 as these righteous acts of God. 572 00:24:49,140 --> 00:24:52,900 He says that this is God working through you and, and for 573 00:24:52,900 --> 00:24:53,140 you. 574 00:24:53,140 --> 00:24:55,620 And that's important for the people of Israel to remember. 575 00:24:55,620 --> 00:24:56,820 It's important for us to remember. 576 00:24:58,110 --> 00:24:58,990 And, and so that's. 577 00:24:58,990 --> 00:25:02,270 That's something that we should always remember in our own 578 00:25:02,270 --> 00:25:02,550 life. 579 00:25:02,550 --> 00:25:06,190 And so he says in verse 14, if. 580 00:25:06,510 --> 00:25:09,870 And this is great advice, this is ultimately the advice that he's 581 00:25:09,870 --> 00:25:10,030 given. 582 00:25:10,030 --> 00:25:15,470 He says, if you will fear the Lord and serve him and obey his voice, 583 00:25:15,710 --> 00:25:18,750 and not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then shall 584 00:25:18,830 --> 00:25:22,610 both ye, and also the king that reigneth over you continue for 585 00:25:22,760 --> 00:25:23,960 following The Lord your God. 586 00:25:24,600 --> 00:25:26,600 And so I couldn't summarize it any better. 587 00:25:26,600 --> 00:25:30,800 Samuel tells the people, these are the things that you need to have 588 00:25:30,800 --> 00:25:34,120 in your life to experience the power and the work of the Lord. 589 00:25:35,080 --> 00:25:35,400 And. 590 00:25:35,400 --> 00:25:37,760 And so he says, you know, all these things. 591 00:25:37,760 --> 00:25:40,840 He reminds them of the great works of the Lord. 592 00:25:40,840 --> 00:25:43,720 And he says, if you want your life to be characterized by that 593 00:25:44,040 --> 00:25:44,920 fear, the Lord. 594 00:25:45,400 --> 00:25:48,520 And that's often advice that we don't give anymore because we're 595 00:25:48,520 --> 00:25:50,040 afraid to use that term, fear. 596 00:25:50,900 --> 00:25:55,700 Because in many ways, in our English language, it's hard to delineate 597 00:25:55,700 --> 00:25:58,620 the two fears that are mentioned, because the Bible does 598 00:25:58,620 --> 00:26:03,180 say in First Timothy or Second Timothy that there shouldn't be that 599 00:26:03,180 --> 00:26:03,940 type of fear. 600 00:26:05,060 --> 00:26:07,220 There shouldn't be a spirit of fear. 601 00:26:07,540 --> 00:26:10,620 So if I'm not supposed to have a spirit of fear, how am I supposed 602 00:26:10,620 --> 00:26:11,260 to fear God? 603 00:26:11,260 --> 00:26:12,580 Well, they're really two different things. 604 00:26:12,740 --> 00:26:15,660 The Bible says that that spirit of fear is the type of fear 605 00:26:15,660 --> 00:26:17,940 that we're fearing all the bad things in this world. 606 00:26:18,100 --> 00:26:20,260 We're fearing what could happen to us. 607 00:26:20,260 --> 00:26:20,510 We're. 608 00:26:20,580 --> 00:26:24,380 We're fearing all the things around us to the place where we're 609 00:26:24,380 --> 00:26:25,420 petrified in our fear. 610 00:26:25,420 --> 00:26:28,020 We're not able to serve God and trust God. 611 00:26:28,180 --> 00:26:32,300 So, so basically, that bad type of fear is the fear that's faithless. 612 00:26:32,300 --> 00:26:32,900 There's no. 613 00:26:32,980 --> 00:26:35,300 There's no faith in that type of fear. 614 00:26:35,300 --> 00:26:38,220 But on the other side of fear, that's the proper fear. 615 00:26:38,220 --> 00:26:41,540 And some people will delineate this way, a healthy respect. 616 00:26:42,180 --> 00:26:43,780 I would agree with that. 617 00:26:43,780 --> 00:26:47,220 There is a level of awe and amazement and respect with the Lord. 618 00:26:47,400 --> 00:26:50,440 I would take it just a little bit step further because oftentimes 619 00:26:50,600 --> 00:26:52,480 when we talk about the fear of God, we. 620 00:26:52,480 --> 00:26:53,800 We just say, well, it's just a respect. 621 00:26:53,800 --> 00:26:56,720 Like, just as you respect someone in your life, I would say 622 00:26:56,720 --> 00:26:59,320 it needs to take just a step further when it comes to fear and 623 00:26:59,320 --> 00:27:03,320 understanding how powerful God really is and understanding what 624 00:27:03,320 --> 00:27:06,920 God could do to us, understanding what God should do 625 00:27:06,920 --> 00:27:10,560 to us, but then also understanding that God is gracious 626 00:27:10,560 --> 00:27:11,480 and merciful. 627 00:27:11,960 --> 00:27:14,020 And so it's an awe of the Lord. 628 00:27:14,020 --> 00:27:15,300 It's in awe of his power. 629 00:27:15,620 --> 00:27:17,260 And so he says we should fear the Lord. 630 00:27:17,260 --> 00:27:18,980 There should be a healthy respect. 631 00:27:19,060 --> 00:27:21,740 There should be some level of submission in that. 632 00:27:21,740 --> 00:27:23,060 And he says, and serve him. 633 00:27:23,380 --> 00:27:27,820 So really, we see that type of fear is not a fear that petrifies 634 00:27:27,820 --> 00:27:30,860 us to a place of not moving for the Lord, but it's a type of 635 00:27:30,860 --> 00:27:34,620 fear that actually has faith that will drive us to do what? 636 00:27:34,620 --> 00:27:36,100 Well, it Says there and serve him. 637 00:27:36,580 --> 00:27:38,980 So this type of fear brings service. 638 00:27:39,900 --> 00:27:43,060 This type of fear brings commitment, because we see that tied 639 00:27:43,060 --> 00:27:45,500 together in that next phrase and obey his voice. 640 00:27:46,060 --> 00:27:48,540 So there's fear, service, obedience. 641 00:27:49,340 --> 00:27:51,260 And then we see the opposite of that. 642 00:27:51,260 --> 00:27:53,860 It says, and if you do those things, you're not going to rebel 643 00:27:53,860 --> 00:27:57,500 and not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then shall 644 00:27:57,500 --> 00:28:00,980 both ye, and also the king that reigneth over you continue following 645 00:28:00,980 --> 00:28:01,740 the Lord your God. 646 00:28:01,740 --> 00:28:06,730 So it's a commandment, it's a challenge to the people, but it's 647 00:28:06,730 --> 00:28:10,450 also a challenge to Saul to do the same thing, because the temptation 648 00:28:10,450 --> 00:28:12,050 would be that, well, you know what? 649 00:28:12,050 --> 00:28:13,450 The people are supposed to do that. 650 00:28:13,450 --> 00:28:14,930 But Saul, he can do what he wants to do. 651 00:28:14,930 --> 00:28:16,210 No, he says there, what? 652 00:28:16,290 --> 00:28:21,130 Both ye, both you, the people, and also the king are on the same 653 00:28:21,130 --> 00:28:25,810 level because both of those groups, the king and the people, 654 00:28:26,130 --> 00:28:28,810 had to submit themselves ultimately to the Lord. 655 00:28:28,810 --> 00:28:29,970 And that's really for all of us. 656 00:28:29,970 --> 00:28:31,890 I have to submit to the Lord as the pastor. 657 00:28:32,070 --> 00:28:34,990 We all have to submit to the Lord when it comes to our. 658 00:28:34,990 --> 00:28:35,830 Our Christian life. 659 00:28:35,830 --> 00:28:41,150 And so he challenges them with that really, really important advice 660 00:28:41,150 --> 00:28:43,910 that we see there in verse number 14, verse 15. 661 00:28:44,310 --> 00:28:47,350 But if he will not obey the voice of the Lord, so he's going 662 00:28:47,350 --> 00:28:48,149 to tell them the other side. 663 00:28:48,149 --> 00:28:51,390 And by the way, when we tell people the news, when we tell people 664 00:28:51,390 --> 00:28:54,630 the good news of God and the power of God, and we often call it 665 00:28:54,630 --> 00:28:56,030 the gospel, we have to tell them the whole story. 666 00:28:56,030 --> 00:28:56,750 And that's what he does here. 667 00:28:56,750 --> 00:28:57,750 He tells them the whole story. 668 00:28:58,370 --> 00:29:01,250 But if you will not obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against 669 00:29:01,250 --> 00:29:04,170 the commandment of the Lord, then shall the hand of the Lord be 670 00:29:04,170 --> 00:29:07,570 against you as it was against your fathers, meaning you're not 671 00:29:07,570 --> 00:29:11,370 exempt from making the same mistakes and finding the same problems 672 00:29:11,370 --> 00:29:13,490 and the same judgment that came before you. 673 00:29:14,049 --> 00:29:16,050 Oftentimes people think, well, you know what? 674 00:29:16,050 --> 00:29:16,970 I'm exempt from that. 675 00:29:16,970 --> 00:29:17,850 My parents went through that. 676 00:29:17,850 --> 00:29:18,770 I don't have to go through that. 677 00:29:18,770 --> 00:29:23,250 No, he says, you're not bound by the decisions of your ancestors, 678 00:29:24,040 --> 00:29:24,920 but also you. 679 00:29:25,000 --> 00:29:28,720 If you don't change everything about it, you will be doomed to repeat 680 00:29:28,720 --> 00:29:29,000 it. 681 00:29:29,000 --> 00:29:30,480 And so there's a warning there. 682 00:29:30,480 --> 00:29:33,400 And I think this is so important for us, as we're teaching 683 00:29:33,400 --> 00:29:38,480 and instructing and guiding the next generation, is that if they're 684 00:29:38,480 --> 00:29:41,240 not careful, they can fall into the same traps and have that 685 00:29:41,240 --> 00:29:44,280 cyclical sin that it's not. 686 00:29:44,360 --> 00:29:47,520 I think a lot of times people teach that there's generational sins 687 00:29:47,520 --> 00:29:51,080 and the concept of, like, if dad did this sin, then then Son is 688 00:29:51,080 --> 00:29:51,920 bound to that sin. 689 00:29:51,920 --> 00:29:52,220 That's. 690 00:29:52,370 --> 00:29:53,890 That's not necessarily taught in Scripture. 691 00:29:53,970 --> 00:29:56,690 What is taught in Scripture is that mistakes that have been made 692 00:29:56,850 --> 00:29:59,010 can be picked up by the environment. 693 00:29:59,250 --> 00:30:02,970 And therefore, if not taught and not applied and not heeded and 694 00:30:02,970 --> 00:30:06,050 obeyed, there can be those generational things that get passed 695 00:30:06,050 --> 00:30:06,170 down. 696 00:30:06,170 --> 00:30:07,570 And that's what he's warning about there. 697 00:30:08,050 --> 00:30:11,970 So verse 16 again, something, something so, so important. 698 00:30:12,370 --> 00:30:16,130 He reminds them that God will keep his word. 699 00:30:16,210 --> 00:30:18,410 And he says that God's going to confirm his word. 700 00:30:18,410 --> 00:30:18,890 Verse 16. 701 00:30:18,890 --> 00:30:22,140 Now, therefore stand and see this great thing which the Lord will 702 00:30:22,140 --> 00:30:23,700 do before your eyes, meaning this. 703 00:30:24,740 --> 00:30:28,820 God's telling you these things, and he's about to show you 704 00:30:28,980 --> 00:30:30,380 that he's serious about it. 705 00:30:30,380 --> 00:30:31,300 He's going to give a sign. 706 00:30:31,300 --> 00:30:34,580 Now, I don't believe that we should always sit and ask God for 707 00:30:34,580 --> 00:30:38,300 signs, but when God does send confirmation and signs, we should 708 00:30:38,300 --> 00:30:39,700 be aware and we should be ready. 709 00:30:39,780 --> 00:30:43,380 And so he says in verse 17, is it not wheat harvest today? 710 00:30:44,100 --> 00:30:46,100 And so he asked them a question that they already know. 711 00:30:46,180 --> 00:30:48,180 He says, is it not wheat harvest today? 712 00:30:49,120 --> 00:30:52,720 And there's significance to that which we're going to talk about 713 00:30:53,040 --> 00:30:53,880 here in a minute. 714 00:30:53,880 --> 00:30:57,480 But he says, I will call unto the Lord and he shall send thunder 715 00:30:57,480 --> 00:31:01,680 and rain that ye may perceive and see that your wickedness is great, 716 00:31:01,680 --> 00:31:05,080 which ye have done in the sight of the Lord in asking you a 717 00:31:05,080 --> 00:31:05,440 king. 718 00:31:06,560 --> 00:31:09,280 And so he says, you, you. 719 00:31:09,280 --> 00:31:11,400 You're still in your rebellion, even though you might 720 00:31:11,400 --> 00:31:14,300 feel like you're good because God's given you a king, but you're 721 00:31:14,300 --> 00:31:15,220 still in your rebellion. 722 00:31:15,220 --> 00:31:18,820 So this storm that's going to come, this thunder and this rain, 723 00:31:18,820 --> 00:31:22,500 is assigned to you to turn away from your rebellion, to turn 724 00:31:22,500 --> 00:31:23,780 away from your wickedness. 725 00:31:24,100 --> 00:31:28,060 And so Samuel prays and asks God to send a sign of confirmation. 726 00:31:28,060 --> 00:31:30,339 And God will, will reward that. 727 00:31:30,339 --> 00:31:31,380 He will answer that. 728 00:31:32,100 --> 00:31:37,220 And, and so why, why would Samuel and the Lord do this? 729 00:31:37,300 --> 00:31:39,500 Well, obviously they needed a sign. 730 00:31:39,500 --> 00:31:39,980 He, they. 731 00:31:39,980 --> 00:31:41,540 They waited for this king to come. 732 00:31:41,540 --> 00:31:44,540 And now at this point in time, there's going to be this thunder. 733 00:31:44,540 --> 00:31:46,730 And is this such a sign? 734 00:31:46,730 --> 00:31:49,330 I mean, in Florida, this wouldn't be a big sign. 735 00:31:49,330 --> 00:31:49,690 Okay. 736 00:31:49,690 --> 00:31:51,610 In the summertime, thunder and rain, it's going to. 737 00:31:51,610 --> 00:31:53,530 I could say that every afternoon it's going to come. 738 00:31:53,530 --> 00:31:54,490 That's a sign from God. 739 00:31:54,490 --> 00:31:54,850 It's. 740 00:31:54,930 --> 00:31:56,650 That wouldn't be that weird of a thing. 741 00:31:56,650 --> 00:32:01,090 But because of the wheat harvest, it's a time of dryness, 742 00:32:01,090 --> 00:32:03,370 and so therefore this would be rare. 743 00:32:03,370 --> 00:32:06,290 This would be evident to the people that this was something from 744 00:32:06,290 --> 00:32:06,770 God. 745 00:32:07,410 --> 00:32:09,490 And so this was a sign from God. 746 00:32:09,490 --> 00:32:12,850 And because it was the wheat harvest, the sign displayed not only 747 00:32:13,330 --> 00:32:18,690 God's ultimate power, but also his judgments because that, that 748 00:32:18,690 --> 00:32:21,570 rain during the crops could destroy their crops. 749 00:32:21,570 --> 00:32:25,650 And so it shows them that not only can God do things that are beyond 750 00:32:25,650 --> 00:32:29,770 their power, but God can judge them at any point and take away what 751 00:32:29,770 --> 00:32:30,290 they have. 752 00:32:30,850 --> 00:32:34,650 And again, I, I, I know that that isn't something that we take 753 00:32:34,650 --> 00:32:37,850 in as, as something that palatable, like God could take away 754 00:32:37,850 --> 00:32:38,490 something from me. 755 00:32:38,490 --> 00:32:41,380 But the, the truth is, is that the power of God can judge us. 756 00:32:41,380 --> 00:32:44,460 And just as much as he can bless us with gifts, he can take 757 00:32:44,460 --> 00:32:45,180 those gifts away. 758 00:32:45,340 --> 00:32:47,980 You don't believe that you can read the book of Job and you can 759 00:32:47,980 --> 00:32:49,340 see evidences of that. 760 00:32:49,340 --> 00:32:52,860 It doesn't mean that God's an arbitrary evil God that's sitting 761 00:32:52,860 --> 00:32:55,500 up there just making his own decisions, but ultimately we know 762 00:32:55,500 --> 00:32:56,620 that he's the righteous judge. 763 00:32:57,100 --> 00:32:59,580 And then who are we to dictate to God that, hey, you know what? 764 00:32:59,580 --> 00:33:00,460 I have to have this. 765 00:33:00,460 --> 00:33:04,300 I've heard people even within their walk as a Christian say, you 766 00:33:04,300 --> 00:33:07,600 know, God can do anything, but he just can't take this, he can't 767 00:33:07,600 --> 00:33:08,560 take that away from me. 768 00:33:08,720 --> 00:33:11,960 The truth is, is that we can never stipulate these things with 769 00:33:11,960 --> 00:33:14,400 God because we know that God is ultimately in control and he can 770 00:33:14,400 --> 00:33:15,280 give and he can take away. 771 00:33:16,320 --> 00:33:17,840 And so what's the result of this? 772 00:33:18,640 --> 00:33:21,280 Well, Samuel called unto the Lord and the Lord sent the thunder 773 00:33:21,280 --> 00:33:23,119 and rain that day, and God keeps his promise. 774 00:33:23,119 --> 00:33:25,440 And all the people greatly fear the Lord and Samuel. 775 00:33:25,440 --> 00:33:26,560 So there's that fear. 776 00:33:26,560 --> 00:33:29,440 And all the people said unto Samuel, pray for thy servants, unto 777 00:33:29,440 --> 00:33:35,330 the Lord thy God, that we die not, for we have added unto all our 778 00:33:35,330 --> 00:33:37,330 sins this evil to ask us a king. 779 00:33:37,330 --> 00:33:40,770 So really we see verse 18 and 19 is them coming to a place of the 780 00:33:40,770 --> 00:33:44,290 fear of the Lord and then the admission or the confession, Remember, 781 00:33:44,290 --> 00:33:48,170 confession is to say the same thing, to confess the Lord that what 782 00:33:48,170 --> 00:33:49,330 they had done was wrong. 783 00:33:50,450 --> 00:33:53,650 So, so this is, this is, I think, important for us to understand 784 00:33:53,650 --> 00:33:57,410 as a Christian, because in, in the midst of our confession, it doesn't 785 00:33:57,410 --> 00:33:59,810 mean that when we confess and admit to God that we were wrong, 786 00:33:59,810 --> 00:34:01,970 that God is just going to keep us in that condemnation. 787 00:34:02,380 --> 00:34:03,740 No, he's going to keep blessing. 788 00:34:03,980 --> 00:34:05,740 And so that's exactly what we see here. 789 00:34:05,900 --> 00:34:06,460 Verse 20. 790 00:34:06,460 --> 00:34:10,260 And Samuel said unto the people, fear not, ye have done all 791 00:34:10,260 --> 00:34:13,220 this wickedness, yet turn not aside from following the Lord, but 792 00:34:13,220 --> 00:34:14,340 serve the Lord with all your hearts. 793 00:34:14,340 --> 00:34:16,660 He says, remember, they're in the wrong type of fear. 794 00:34:16,660 --> 00:34:18,860 He says, don't fear, don't, don't have that type of fear. 795 00:34:19,340 --> 00:34:22,900 And allow yourself to serve the Lord and see what God will do. 796 00:34:22,900 --> 00:34:23,460 Verse 21. 797 00:34:23,460 --> 00:34:27,340 And turn ye not aside, for then should ye go after vain things. 798 00:34:27,340 --> 00:34:30,030 So he says, what happens, what your problem is? 799 00:34:30,030 --> 00:34:31,070 I, I love Samuel. 800 00:34:31,070 --> 00:34:33,470 He talks very plainly, like many of the prophets. 801 00:34:33,710 --> 00:34:36,670 He says, look, what your problem is, is you veer to the side 802 00:34:37,150 --> 00:34:38,670 and you go after vain things. 803 00:34:39,230 --> 00:34:42,070 I mean, that could be the message of, of most American churches 804 00:34:42,070 --> 00:34:42,350 today. 805 00:34:42,350 --> 00:34:44,630 I mean, the pastor could get up and say, you guys get distracted 806 00:34:44,630 --> 00:34:46,150 with things that don't matter right there. 807 00:34:46,150 --> 00:34:47,310 That's what Samuel's saying. 808 00:34:47,310 --> 00:34:48,830 And so things have not changed. 809 00:34:48,830 --> 00:34:51,310 After thousands of years, we still have the same problems. 810 00:34:51,310 --> 00:34:54,230 We get distracted, we go astray and we go after things as 811 00:34:54,230 --> 00:34:54,990 it says they're vain. 812 00:34:54,990 --> 00:34:58,980 Things which cannot profit nor deliver, for they are vain. 813 00:34:59,940 --> 00:35:02,780 So Samuel is preaching a message and he's preaching the message 814 00:35:02,780 --> 00:35:03,060 of this. 815 00:35:03,060 --> 00:35:04,460 You guys are chasing after the wrong things. 816 00:35:04,460 --> 00:35:05,780 You need to chase after the Lord. 817 00:35:05,860 --> 00:35:08,380 You're chasing after things that don't bring you any satisfaction. 818 00:35:08,380 --> 00:35:10,740 And only God can bring you complete satisfaction. 819 00:35:10,980 --> 00:35:12,260 And this is great advice. 820 00:35:12,260 --> 00:35:16,420 I mean, Samuel, first Samuel, chapter 12, is just jam packed full 821 00:35:16,820 --> 00:35:20,020 of just really, really valuable eternal advice. 822 00:35:20,260 --> 00:35:24,060 Verse 22, he says this, he says, okay, so this is why you should 823 00:35:24,060 --> 00:35:26,340 seek after the Lord and not those vain things. 824 00:35:27,130 --> 00:35:30,330 For the Lord will not forsake his people for his great namesake. 825 00:35:31,370 --> 00:35:34,410 Says here, the reason why you should commit to the Lord is because 826 00:35:34,410 --> 00:35:35,650 he's the one that can sustain you. 827 00:35:35,650 --> 00:35:37,210 He's the one that's not going to forsake you. 828 00:35:37,370 --> 00:35:39,090 I mean, there's a New Testament principle there. 829 00:35:39,090 --> 00:35:42,530 Hebrews tells us that he's never going to leave us nor forsake 830 00:35:42,530 --> 00:35:42,810 us. 831 00:35:43,210 --> 00:35:44,850 And that's the idea that he's reminding them. 832 00:35:44,850 --> 00:35:47,210 He says, stop chasing the things that will forget about you. 833 00:35:48,010 --> 00:35:51,290 You know, for them, they were chasing after BAAL and Ashtaroth 834 00:35:51,290 --> 00:35:55,970 and all the ways of the people there, all the pagans and those gods 835 00:35:55,970 --> 00:35:57,010 weren't caring about them. 836 00:35:57,170 --> 00:35:58,610 Those people weren't caring about them. 837 00:35:58,610 --> 00:36:03,010 They were using them, abusing them, and ultimately to a place where 838 00:36:03,010 --> 00:36:04,770 they found themselves in torture. 839 00:36:05,250 --> 00:36:06,570 And that's the same thing for us today. 840 00:36:06,570 --> 00:36:09,730 I mean, we don't, we don't necessarily worship baal. 841 00:36:09,730 --> 00:36:12,410 I mean, even though one could argue that there's still BAAL worship 842 00:36:12,410 --> 00:36:15,530 in the world today, the idea would be this we turn to these things 843 00:36:15,530 --> 00:36:18,690 of the world that we think are going to give us satisfaction but 844 00:36:18,770 --> 00:36:21,410 never, never can promise us the same thing that God promises 845 00:36:21,410 --> 00:36:23,730 us and the fact that it'll never leave us nor forsake us. 846 00:36:25,170 --> 00:36:27,090 So why does God stay faithful? 847 00:36:27,570 --> 00:36:28,650 Because that's a big question. 848 00:36:28,650 --> 00:36:31,010 Because I think that if we think about, well, God stays faithful 849 00:36:31,010 --> 00:36:34,130 to us because we're pretty great people and we're worth it. 850 00:36:35,090 --> 00:36:37,930 Well, it says, because it hath pleased the Lord to make you his 851 00:36:37,930 --> 00:36:38,170 people. 852 00:36:38,170 --> 00:36:41,130 Really the reason why God is faithful to us is because it pleases 853 00:36:41,130 --> 00:36:42,610 him and it gives him glory. 854 00:36:43,570 --> 00:36:45,730 He's not faithful to us because we're faithful. 855 00:36:45,970 --> 00:36:47,410 I think that's important to note. 856 00:36:47,570 --> 00:36:51,210 I think that that's oftentimes what's taught in church, depending 857 00:36:51,210 --> 00:36:55,650 on your background, depending on your denominational affiliations. 858 00:36:55,650 --> 00:36:59,330 In the past, there have been certain teachings of, look, God will 859 00:36:59,330 --> 00:37:01,650 love you and be faithful to you when you're perfectly faithful 860 00:37:01,650 --> 00:37:02,090 to him. 861 00:37:02,570 --> 00:37:04,050 That's not what this passage is saying. 862 00:37:04,050 --> 00:37:06,570 This passage is saying, be faithful to him and receive the blessings 863 00:37:06,570 --> 00:37:07,050 of it. 864 00:37:07,210 --> 00:37:10,210 Understand God's faithfulness, but God's going to stay faithful 865 00:37:10,210 --> 00:37:14,970 to his people regardless of their decisions, because it pleases 866 00:37:14,970 --> 00:37:15,290 him. 867 00:37:15,780 --> 00:37:18,740 In verse 23, moreover, as for me, God forbid that I should sin 868 00:37:18,740 --> 00:37:20,460 against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you. 869 00:37:20,460 --> 00:37:24,380 So he says, I have the responsibility to pray for you, but 870 00:37:24,380 --> 00:37:26,180 I will teach you the good in the right way. 871 00:37:26,180 --> 00:37:29,740 Meaning, and I, I, I, I look at verse 23 and. 872 00:37:29,740 --> 00:37:33,060 And I, I'm like, man, Samuel, you're speaking my language here. 873 00:37:33,220 --> 00:37:35,460 Because he says, you know, I should be praying for my people. 874 00:37:35,700 --> 00:37:39,340 I should be, you know, interceding on their needs and on 875 00:37:39,340 --> 00:37:40,100 their behalf. 876 00:37:40,100 --> 00:37:43,150 But he says, going to be kind to you in that way and compassionate 877 00:37:43,150 --> 00:37:43,830 to you on that way. 878 00:37:43,830 --> 00:37:46,030 But don't think that I'm going to hold back the truth from you. 879 00:37:46,270 --> 00:37:47,630 And that's really what Samuel's saying. 880 00:37:47,630 --> 00:37:50,990 He says, I pray for you, I care for you, but I'm going to teach 881 00:37:50,990 --> 00:37:52,110 you the good and right way. 882 00:37:52,590 --> 00:37:56,670 And that's what every leader should preach, is that, hey, I care 883 00:37:56,670 --> 00:38:00,150 for you, I want the best for you when it comes to your spiritual 884 00:38:00,150 --> 00:38:03,710 walk, but I'm not going to compromise the good and right way 885 00:38:03,950 --> 00:38:05,190 to make someone feel better. 886 00:38:05,190 --> 00:38:08,050 And that's what we see often happening, is that, well, I don't 887 00:38:08,050 --> 00:38:11,450 want to offend somebody or I don't want to get them to a place 888 00:38:11,450 --> 00:38:13,170 where I drive them away. 889 00:38:13,330 --> 00:38:15,690 So I won't preach the good and right way. 890 00:38:15,690 --> 00:38:19,490 I'll preach some good things, but not the good thing. 891 00:38:19,570 --> 00:38:22,330 I might preach some right ways, but not the only way. 892 00:38:22,330 --> 00:38:25,810 And we know in the New Testament the only way is Jesus, 893 00:38:25,810 --> 00:38:27,170 the way, the truth and the life. 894 00:38:27,170 --> 00:38:30,530 And so what we see here is that a good leader, a good teacher, 895 00:38:30,770 --> 00:38:35,850 a good pastor, a good spiritual guide should always say, 896 00:38:35,850 --> 00:38:40,010 I love you, but I'm not going to sacrifice the truth for my love 897 00:38:40,010 --> 00:38:40,410 for you. 898 00:38:40,410 --> 00:38:43,290 And actually because of my love for you, I'm going to give you 899 00:38:43,290 --> 00:38:43,810 the truth. 900 00:38:44,290 --> 00:38:47,530 That's sometimes a hard pill to swallow for, for many people, 901 00:38:47,530 --> 00:38:48,370 including myself. 902 00:38:48,610 --> 00:38:51,730 I want to tell you that some of the best preaching that I have 903 00:38:51,730 --> 00:38:55,490 heard and some of the most convicting preaching that I've heard 904 00:38:55,490 --> 00:38:59,010 have, have been in situations where the pastor is preaching and 905 00:38:59,170 --> 00:39:02,490 you know, he was hitting right, right where I didn't want 906 00:39:02,490 --> 00:39:03,010 him to hit. 907 00:39:03,010 --> 00:39:03,490 Okay. 908 00:39:03,490 --> 00:39:05,570 I was like, okay, as long as he doesn't preach on this today, 909 00:39:05,570 --> 00:39:07,250 because I don't really want to deal with that today. 910 00:39:07,250 --> 00:39:09,610 And of course that's exactly when he preaches that. 911 00:39:09,610 --> 00:39:11,970 And it's not because he knows my life, it's because the Holy Spirit 912 00:39:11,970 --> 00:39:12,610 knows my life. 913 00:39:12,930 --> 00:39:15,850 And in that moment when that, that preaching's happening, my, I, 914 00:39:15,850 --> 00:39:17,490 I don't know if any of you guys have ever felt this. 915 00:39:17,490 --> 00:39:18,290 Maybe you haven't. 916 00:39:18,930 --> 00:39:22,850 But for me, when that is, when I'm open to hearing the word of God, 917 00:39:22,930 --> 00:39:26,050 my spirit is wanting that preaching, but my flesh is fighting 918 00:39:26,050 --> 00:39:26,610 against it. 919 00:39:26,840 --> 00:39:30,280 And it's kind of like I'm in this, this battle and the question 920 00:39:30,280 --> 00:39:33,440 is going to be is am I going to allow the spirit to guide me or 921 00:39:33,440 --> 00:39:35,560 am I going to allow the flesh to guide me? 922 00:39:35,560 --> 00:39:38,360 The flesh makes me put up a, you know, stiff arm. 923 00:39:38,360 --> 00:39:40,840 I walk out of the service upset, mad, offended. 924 00:39:41,240 --> 00:39:44,200 And you know, sometimes people have never come back because the 925 00:39:44,200 --> 00:39:45,800 preaching convicted. 926 00:39:46,120 --> 00:39:48,480 Or it could be like, hey, I need to get this right, I need to 927 00:39:48,480 --> 00:39:51,680 address this, I need to repent, I need to confess, I need 928 00:39:51,680 --> 00:39:53,440 to have my toes stepped on a little bit. 929 00:39:53,440 --> 00:39:56,460 And I heard one preacher say, okay, everyone wearing their steel 930 00:39:56,460 --> 00:39:58,660 toed boots today, because I'm going to step on some toes. 931 00:39:58,900 --> 00:40:01,580 And, and the reality is, is that you don't want to come into 932 00:40:01,580 --> 00:40:04,140 like, I, I think any good leader doesn't want to come in to 933 00:40:04,140 --> 00:40:07,180 provoke people on purpose because there are, there, we all 934 00:40:07,180 --> 00:40:10,620 know there, there are preachers who revel in the provoking. 935 00:40:10,620 --> 00:40:10,980 Okay? 936 00:40:10,980 --> 00:40:12,340 That's just, it is what it is. 937 00:40:12,340 --> 00:40:12,740 Okay? 938 00:40:12,740 --> 00:40:16,220 So we see that there are people that like, they, they love 939 00:40:16,220 --> 00:40:19,060 conflict and there's Other people who don't love conflict. 940 00:40:19,220 --> 00:40:21,740 And so I don't think it's like I should come into every sermon just 941 00:40:21,740 --> 00:40:24,180 looking to hurt people and offend people and beat them up. 942 00:40:24,570 --> 00:40:26,450 But really, we allow the word of God to speak. 943 00:40:26,450 --> 00:40:29,250 And that's what we see verse 24 or 23 say. 944 00:40:29,250 --> 00:40:29,570 And then. 945 00:40:29,570 --> 00:40:32,250 And then he concludes in these two verses, and I'll end with this. 946 00:40:32,650 --> 00:40:33,770 Only fear the Lord. 947 00:40:33,930 --> 00:40:34,330 So he. 948 00:40:34,330 --> 00:40:35,570 He summarizes it. 949 00:40:35,570 --> 00:40:38,410 He comes back around and he reminds them of the. 950 00:40:38,410 --> 00:40:39,130 The big picture. 951 00:40:39,130 --> 00:40:42,090 He says, only fear the Lord and serve him in truth with all of 952 00:40:42,090 --> 00:40:42,730 your hearts. 953 00:40:43,130 --> 00:40:45,850 For consider how great things he hath done for you. 954 00:40:46,410 --> 00:40:49,730 But if you shall do wickedly, ye shall be consumed, both ye and 955 00:40:49,730 --> 00:40:50,410 your king. 956 00:40:51,880 --> 00:40:55,880 Foreboding words and ultimately, we know that Saul does 957 00:40:55,880 --> 00:40:59,080 not follow, and the people follow his leadership. 958 00:40:59,400 --> 00:41:01,800 And there is great destruction, there is great loss. 959 00:41:02,840 --> 00:41:06,759 And obviously God could have just let go and forgot. 960 00:41:06,759 --> 00:41:08,280 But we know the rest of the story. 961 00:41:08,520 --> 00:41:13,960 We know that God chose a new king David, man after God's own heart. 962 00:41:14,600 --> 00:41:16,720 And so I see it's a picture of. 963 00:41:16,720 --> 00:41:18,680 Even today, I think, I think you could take. 964 00:41:18,680 --> 00:41:22,110 Personally, I think you could take 1 Samuel, chapter 12 and go 965 00:41:22,110 --> 00:41:25,710 from verse 6 to verse 25 and preach it today in the context of 966 00:41:25,710 --> 00:41:26,150 the church. 967 00:41:26,150 --> 00:41:28,950 And it would make a lot of sense and it would apply very well 968 00:41:29,350 --> 00:41:29,910 and as. 969 00:41:29,910 --> 00:41:31,110 As all of the sermons do. 970 00:41:31,590 --> 00:41:31,950 But. 971 00:41:31,950 --> 00:41:33,910 But I look at this and I say, what. 972 00:41:33,910 --> 00:41:35,310 What is Samuel really telling the people? 973 00:41:35,310 --> 00:41:36,390 He says this to them. 974 00:41:37,590 --> 00:41:39,830 Verse 24, Fear God, serve him. 975 00:41:40,150 --> 00:41:42,310 Trust him with all your heart. 976 00:41:43,590 --> 00:41:45,590 Remember those good things that he's done for you. 977 00:41:46,100 --> 00:41:46,900 Then he says, why? 978 00:41:46,900 --> 00:41:50,980 Because if you go the opposite way, he says, you will be consumed. 979 00:41:50,980 --> 00:41:53,460 And the Bible says that sin does lead to destruction. 980 00:41:53,940 --> 00:41:55,780 And I think oftentimes we preach. 981 00:41:56,020 --> 00:42:00,140 We preach grace, but we have to be very wise and biblical in how 982 00:42:00,140 --> 00:42:00,980 we preach grace. 983 00:42:01,619 --> 00:42:03,460 Because, yes, grace is abundant. 984 00:42:04,100 --> 00:42:06,500 God's well of grace never runs dry. 985 00:42:07,700 --> 00:42:11,220 But at the same time, sometimes there was one, there's 986 00:42:11,220 --> 00:42:14,970 one theologian that calls it cheap grace, and he preaches it to 987 00:42:14,970 --> 00:42:15,690 the concept of this. 988 00:42:15,690 --> 00:42:18,130 We have to be very careful about just telling everybody, God 989 00:42:18,130 --> 00:42:20,730 forgives your sins, so do whatever you want to do there. 990 00:42:20,730 --> 00:42:21,370 It's a movement. 991 00:42:21,370 --> 00:42:22,370 There's a movement out there. 992 00:42:22,370 --> 00:42:23,210 It's still around today. 993 00:42:23,210 --> 00:42:24,250 They just don't call it this. 994 00:42:24,250 --> 00:42:28,370 It's called antinomianism, which basically means the law is 995 00:42:28,370 --> 00:42:31,170 dead, so you can just live however you want to live. 996 00:42:31,250 --> 00:42:33,250 And God's grace just keeps winning. 997 00:42:33,890 --> 00:42:36,970 So just live in an impure lifestyle, just Keep going, doing 998 00:42:36,970 --> 00:42:37,650 all these things. 999 00:42:38,610 --> 00:42:42,560 And so we see in Scripture a balance between the idea that, yes, 1000 00:42:42,560 --> 00:42:46,840 God's grace is abundant, and yes, when I do sin, his forgiveness, 1001 00:42:46,840 --> 00:42:48,080 it never runs dry. 1002 00:42:48,080 --> 00:42:52,080 But at the same time, true grace should never drive us to want 1003 00:42:52,080 --> 00:42:55,719 to sin and want to go after those things and deny the importance 1004 00:42:55,719 --> 00:42:57,440 of living righteous and holy lives. 1005 00:42:57,680 --> 00:43:00,560 And I think Paul just does a great job addressing that in Romans 1006 00:43:00,560 --> 00:43:00,880 6. 1007 00:43:01,520 --> 00:43:05,080 And so that's a picture of this, because oftentimes people can 1008 00:43:05,080 --> 00:43:09,430 look at the Old Testament and say, well, God obviously was all 1009 00:43:09,430 --> 00:43:12,310 about, you know, if you're not good, I'm going to judge you. 1010 00:43:12,390 --> 00:43:15,430 And people are saved in the Old Testament through their obedience. 1011 00:43:15,590 --> 00:43:18,950 The Bible clearly teaches in Hebrews 11 that everybody, throughout 1012 00:43:18,950 --> 00:43:20,710 all of the Bible was saved through faith. 1013 00:43:21,190 --> 00:43:23,790 The principles that are being taught here is that the principle 1014 00:43:23,790 --> 00:43:26,550 of sowing and reaping, that's mentioned in the New Testament, Galatians, 1015 00:43:26,550 --> 00:43:31,150 Chapter 6, that if I sow sin into my life, I got to expect to 1016 00:43:31,150 --> 00:43:33,670 reap certain aspects of that sin in my life. 1017 00:43:33,910 --> 00:43:36,310 Now, the bigger picture is that God's grace is abundant. 1018 00:43:36,310 --> 00:43:40,350 But if we misunderstand God's grace, and I would argue that the 1019 00:43:40,350 --> 00:43:42,750 Israelites in the Old Testament misunderstood God's grace, 1020 00:43:42,750 --> 00:43:45,270 I would argue that the church today misunderstands God's grace. 1021 00:43:45,590 --> 00:43:48,790 If we misunderstand God's grace, we can fall off both ledges 1022 00:43:48,950 --> 00:43:51,790 to the place of being completely legalistic and saying 1023 00:43:51,790 --> 00:43:53,750 that you have to keep every ruler, God doesn't love you. 1024 00:43:53,750 --> 00:43:56,390 Or you can fall off the ledge by saying, do whatever you want to 1025 00:43:56,390 --> 00:43:59,270 do and don't care about it, and God will just keep loving you 1026 00:43:59,270 --> 00:44:00,190 no matter what you do. 1027 00:44:01,390 --> 00:44:03,750 And so what we have to do is we have to understand the picture 1028 00:44:03,750 --> 00:44:08,030 of God's grace is that, yes, God's grace is completely, utterly 1029 00:44:08,350 --> 00:44:09,550 infinite and abundant. 1030 00:44:09,550 --> 00:44:11,950 And when we become a child, there's no more condemnation. 1031 00:44:12,110 --> 00:44:14,990 But also at the same time, there is a decision that we must 1032 00:44:14,990 --> 00:44:17,590 make in our life to yield to the Spirit and grow in our walk with 1033 00:44:17,590 --> 00:44:19,510 the Lord as we understand God's grace. 1034 00:44:19,510 --> 00:44:23,510 And so I think he summarizes it very well, and I won't ramble 1035 00:44:23,510 --> 00:44:24,230 on any longer. 1036 00:44:24,230 --> 00:44:29,590 But verse 24, he talks about following serving God in truth with 1037 00:44:29,590 --> 00:44:30,670 all of your hearts. 1038 00:44:31,710 --> 00:44:33,710 If someone says, like, how am I supposed to serve God? 1039 00:44:33,710 --> 00:44:38,750 And I say, in truth, well, that's partially true, right? 1040 00:44:38,750 --> 00:44:39,470 In truth. 1041 00:44:39,470 --> 00:44:42,030 And that's the Pharisees, right? 1042 00:44:42,030 --> 00:44:42,910 The Pharisees are. 1043 00:44:43,150 --> 00:44:45,230 It's all about the letter of the law. 1044 00:44:45,790 --> 00:44:49,390 But then he says, in truth, with all of your heart. 1045 00:44:50,190 --> 00:44:53,600 He mentions the same thing In John chapter 4, verse, worship God 1046 00:44:53,760 --> 00:44:56,160 in spirit and in truth. 1047 00:44:56,800 --> 00:45:00,480 It's the idea that God wants not only us to be by the letter of 1048 00:45:00,480 --> 00:45:02,680 the law, but also with all of our hearts. 1049 00:45:02,680 --> 00:45:03,760 God wants our hearts. 1050 00:45:03,920 --> 00:45:05,680 The outward appearance can change. 1051 00:45:06,560 --> 00:45:09,320 There could be someone that says, I look the part, someone that 1052 00:45:09,320 --> 00:45:12,320 knows all the right words to say, someone who knows how to be 1053 00:45:12,320 --> 00:45:14,720 in their place at the right time in the right way. 1054 00:45:14,720 --> 00:45:17,960 And everyone can look and say, wow, look how religious and special 1055 00:45:17,960 --> 00:45:18,800 that person is. 1056 00:45:19,050 --> 00:45:21,570 But we know at the end of the day that that doesn't necessarily 1057 00:45:21,570 --> 00:45:23,730 equate following God. 1058 00:45:23,730 --> 00:45:26,210 Following God is the heart is in the right place and the. 1059 00:45:26,210 --> 00:45:28,730 If the heart's in the right place, the actions will follow. 1060 00:45:29,290 --> 00:45:33,010 And so that's what Samuel is getting at there, that you need to 1061 00:45:33,010 --> 00:45:36,170 not just follow God by the law, but follow God with all of your 1062 00:45:36,170 --> 00:45:36,490 heart. 1063 00:45:36,890 --> 00:45:40,330 And that's when you understand God's grace and understand his forgiveness. 1064 00:45:40,330 --> 00:45:42,930 And that's when you don't want to just keep going and sinning, as 1065 00:45:42,930 --> 00:45:45,570 the Bible says in Romans 6, that grace just keeps abounding. 1066 00:45:45,570 --> 00:45:47,290 Paul says, God forbid. 1067 00:45:47,530 --> 00:45:48,890 So first Samuel, chapter 12. 1068 00:45:48,890 --> 00:45:51,770 It's one of my favorite chapters in all of the Bible because 1069 00:45:51,770 --> 00:45:53,210 of that good advice. 1070 00:45:53,610 --> 00:45:58,450 And the challenge is not only hearing it, because some of you husbands 1071 00:45:58,450 --> 00:46:00,330 in a room, you, You've heard your wife before. 1072 00:46:00,330 --> 00:46:04,170 But there's a difference between hearing and heating. 1073 00:46:04,730 --> 00:46:08,330 So hearing, listening, heeding and applying. 1074 00:46:08,810 --> 00:46:09,330 That's. 1075 00:46:09,330 --> 00:46:11,690 Those are all different steps in the Christian life. 1076 00:46:13,060 --> 00:46:14,020 The first step is hearing. 1077 00:46:14,020 --> 00:46:15,860 Faith cometh by hearing, hearing by the word of God. 1078 00:46:15,860 --> 00:46:17,460 But we also need to heed the word. 1079 00:46:18,100 --> 00:46:20,020 Heeding means I take it to heart. 1080 00:46:20,420 --> 00:46:24,500 It's important to me, not just in one ear, out the other, but then 1081 00:46:24,580 --> 00:46:26,540 making it important in our life is, is. 1082 00:46:26,540 --> 00:46:27,460 Is the great step. 1083 00:46:27,460 --> 00:46:29,940 But really it's applying it to live it. 1084 00:46:29,940 --> 00:46:31,100 And that's, that's the. 1085 00:46:31,100 --> 00:46:35,180 The greatest proclamation of our love for the Lord is not just 1086 00:46:35,180 --> 00:46:38,820 agreement, but also adherence to what he has called us to do. 1087 00:46:39,100 --> 00:46:40,380 And so those are some thoughts there. 1088 00:46:40,700 --> 00:46:42,300 Hope that that's an encouragement for you. 1089 00:46:42,300 --> 00:46:44,820 It's really one of my favorite passages of scripture, and I hope 1090 00:46:44,820 --> 00:46:48,020 that you can follow along with us in this study and we'll come back 1091 00:46:48,020 --> 00:46:49,420 in 1st Samuel chapter 13. 1092 00:46:49,740 --> 00:46:54,220 And what we will end up seeing is, I wish I could tell you else, 1093 00:46:54,300 --> 00:46:56,460 but it's not same. 1094 00:46:56,460 --> 00:47:00,100 Samuel gives the advice, Saul begins the spiral. 1095 00:47:00,100 --> 00:47:04,630 And really we see a digression in Saul's righteousness, but we we'll 1096 00:47:04,630 --> 00:47:05,830 talk more about that when we come back. 1097 00:47:06,950 --> 00:47:09,590 Thank you again for listening to the Middletown Baptist Church 1098 00:47:09,590 --> 00:47:10,230 Podcast. 1099 00:47:10,390 --> 00:47:12,790 I hope that this sermon has been a blessing for you. 1100 00:47:13,430 --> 00:47:15,710 If you would like to find out more information about our church 1101 00:47:15,710 --> 00:47:19,190 or this sermon, you can find us at middletownbaptistchurch.org 1102 00:47:19,510 --> 00:47:22,070 or find us on Facebook or YouTube. 1103 00:47:22,790 --> 00:47:27,750 You can also email me directly at Josh Massaro middletownbaptistChurch.com 1104 00:47:28,230 --> 00:47:31,720 if you've enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe and follow 1105 00:47:31,720 --> 00:47:34,480 along for future podcast and updates. 1106 00:47:35,200 --> 00:47:36,160 Thank you so much. 1107 00:47:36,320 --> 00:47:37,040 God Bless. 1108 00:47:37,280 --> 00:47:38,640 Have a wonderful day.