1 Samuel
14:16-15:35
What is this word ?
Honest mistake – Minute or
Minute
Spelled the same
Mistake – Denise
says Ice cream
Cookies & Cream – I
heard Cookie dough
Mistake – Sneaking into Dana point Prom
At the south coast Plaza
Hotel – Tim F
Chased out by Hotel Security
Some place I didn’t belong –
doing something
I should not have been doing
– Rebellious
Saul makes several mistakes
- avoided
Review Ch 14: Saul sitting
Jonathan seeking – victory
commotion
RD V.16-18
Now remember what happened
the last time they called for the Ark in a time of battle – Disaster
A) Saul is doing the same thing – get the priest get
the ark – let’s see if we can find out what is going on here –
B) What Saul is doing here is seeking Spiritual things
as a token for fortune – Blessings
C) Whenever we do that we are Putting faith in the
wrong thing - DOVE
/ name Calvary Chapel
Some of you remember back
when we moved into this building – received two things for CCCM
A) Pews – And Pulpit – Now what if { not saying they
did } they didn’t –
B) But what if the mentality was - This is going to bring the anointing –
CCCM –
1) Confidence is in the wrong thing
C) Speakers were from the AC/DC tour
1) Sound
problems – Then & Now
Another way: Confidence in People – I made it
A) Worship leader – Church grow
B) Didn’t work - but our Church grew in worship
Jer 17:5 Cursed is the man who trusts in man
And makes flesh his strength,
Whose heart departs from the LORD.
For he shall be like a shrub in the
desert,
And shall not see when good comes,
But shall inhabit the parched places in
the wilderness,
C) Problem #1- Saul was seeking to put his confidence in
the wrong place –
1) So out of touch – trying to surround himself with
spiritual things –
What happens next would be comical if it
wasn’t so Sad – 19 Now it happened, while Saul talked to the priest, that the
noise which was in the camp of the Philistines continued to increase; so Saul
said to the priest, "Withdraw your hand.
A) Here Saul is trying to have this spiritual moment
in seeking some direction
B) And then he hears the noise in the camp of the
Philistines and is like we don’t have
time for this
1) Withdraw your hand – lets go fight
C) Now before we come down to hard on Saul how many of
us have done the same
D) We are seeking the Lord about
something –maybe pray for an Hour or a couple of days
1) Then we
say to ourselves – I can’t wait any longer I have to do something – off we go
E) That is what Saul is doing here:
RD V.20-23
So the Lord gave to
Israel a great victory that day
A) Now we have already noted that one of Saul’s major
problems was his Pride
B) Jonathan’s victory – Saul
blew the trumpet – Saul took the Credit –
1) Problem #2 Center of attention
2) Pride – Pride can get us into a lot of trouble
Webster’s Dictionary Def of Pride - An inordinate Self Esteem an
unreasonable conceit of one’s own superiority in talents beauty, wealth,
accomplishments, rank or office.
D) Websters def from 1869 –
But wait someone might say
isn’t there a Proper Pride – is pride all bad
A) Pride is so subtle it changes – today’s Webster
A sense of one’s own proper
dignity value & self respect
B) Wow in a little over 100
yrs Pride has gone thru a major Transformation
1) From an unreasonable conceit to a Proper sense of one’s own
dignity & self worth
C) What does
the Bible Say ?
Prov 6:16-17
16 These six things the
LORD hates,
Yes, seven are an
abomination to Him:
17 A proud look,
Prov 13:10 By pride comes
nothing but strife,
Prov 28:25 He who is of a proud heart stirs up
strife,
Now those 2 verses are
interesting to me because one of the marks of Pride is a Critical spirit
A) Attitude that always looks at things from the
negative – if
I was in Charge ………..
B) If they really knew what they were doing….
C) All that is, is Pride – Pride in the heart that
wants to look critically on everyone – and everything - RESULT : STRIFE
D) That leads to Problem #3
Because Saul is Striving in Pride – he is laying unnecessary burdens on the
people. { RD v.24-30
Now I feel sorry for Jonathan
– He is going to struggle with his dad for yrs to Come
A) He sees his dads stupidity – My father has troubled the land
B) Saul’s Pride causes him to put unnecessary burdens
on the people of God
C) Pride causes us to lay trips on others
1) In Pride we place our convictions on others
D) Wrong for me – wrong for them –
Listen in every ministry:
every company – there has to be Standards that are set
A) What is the purpose ? Why
is that standard that way – what is the purpose – what is the benefit ?
B) Is it just there – because
well that is the way we have always done it – or someone thought good idea
1)What purpose does it serve
? Important to establish
C) We have to be so careful –
that don’t place unnecessary burdens on those who minister w/ us
1) Those who work with us.
D) People need to know why that
standard exist
1) Hab 2:2 – Run with it –
get on board with it
If they don’t get it they
will invariable question it
A) High School Basketball – running drills
B) It was brutal – I thought it was unnecessary
1) Until the season started – best shape of our lives
– never out played in the 4th quarter
C) Sometimes people don’t see the point of the
Standard until they are in the thick of it
Saul’s oath became a burden for the
People that actually caused them to Sin
RD v. 31-34
A) God specifically commanded Israel that they
should always properly drain the blood from an animal
before they butchered it.
B)Deuteronomy 12:23-25 is one place where God
commanded this: Only be sure that you do not eat the
blood, for the blood is the life; you may not eat the life with the meat. You
shall not eat it; you shall pour it on the earth like water. You shall not eat
it, that it may go well with you and your children after you, when you do what
is right in the sight of the LORD.
C) Since the blood was the picture of life in any
animal or man (for the
blood is the life),
1) God would not allow Israel to eat meat that had not
been properly bled.
D) Instead, it was to be given to God by
pouring it out on the earth.
1) Life belongs to God, not man, and this was a way to
declare that.
On this day of battle, because of Saul’s
foolish command, the people were so hungry they broke this command.
A) Their obedience to Saul’s foolish command led
them to disobey God’s clearly declared command.
B) This is always the result of legalism!
1) Jesus said
it plainly to the legalists of His day: (Mark 7:8) For
laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men . . . All
too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition.
C) We often think that legalistic rules will keep
people from sin. - Actually, the opposite is true
1). Legalistic rules lead us into sin, because they
either provoke our rebellion,
2) or they lead us into legalistic pride.
D) Paul said
it powerfully in Colossians 2:23: These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in
self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no
value against the indulgence of the flesh.
Now Saul is blaming the
people for what was really his own fault –
A) He should have never made
such a foolish commandment, and his commandment provoked the people into sin.
B) But in his pride,
insecurity, and foolishness, Saul set the people up to sin.
1) Of course, this does not
excuse the sin of the people.
C)They are accountable
for their own sin before God.
1) Yet Saul is also
accountable. Jesus referred to this principle when He said, (Matt 18:7) For offenses
must come, but woe to that man by whom the
offense comes!
RD V
34-35
Saul was not an Altar Builder
– 2 yrs he hasn’t invested effort in worship
A) Abe – Build Altars / dug wells – 2 Priorities of
ministry – Worship God intimacy with God
B) And give the sheep something to eat & Drink
1) First Priority – Worship God – My heart before the
Lord
C) 2nd Priority – Feed the Sheep
D) Interesting said of Issac
– Dug wells – No Altars – Took care of the sheep
1) But didn’t take care of first Priority
E) Jacob – he didn’t do either – he didn’t build altars
/ didn’t dig wells
1) Gimmicks – Stripe the sticks –
Can I encourage you who are ministry minded be altar
builders first & foremost
A) Acts 13 As they ministered to the Lord …..
B) First missionary VENTURE – came about not because
of guys strategizing – gimmicks – marketing techniques –
C) But as they ministered to the Lord – He spoke
They were building an altar of worship
1) God met them there ….
This was a major Problem in
Saul’s life – He had no intimacy with God –
A) He wasn’t a man after God’s own heart
B) Well let’s see how this story finishes
Rd v36-44
Problem #4 Because of Saul’s
Pride He is not willing to admit when he is wrong
A) Good leader: Two phrases you definitely need in
your vocabulary – 1st – I was Wrong /
B) 2nd I am sorry
C) Hard for us – Fonzy –
D) Swallow your pride and admit – I was wrong I am sorry -
E)
People admire that in a leader – Saul was the opposite – but the people had
more sense Rd
v 45-52
Chapter
15 Problem #5 Incomplete Obedience rd v 1-9
A) Here we see Saul is
obedient – but only Partial
B) What he brings back here
are some trophies – the best of the animals
1) And King Agag
1 Sam 15:10-12 Now the word of the LORD came to Samuel,
saying,11 "I greatly regret that I have set up Saul as king, for he has
turned back from following Me, and has not performed My commandments." And
it grieved Samuel, and he cried out to the LORD all night.
God’s heart was broken over Saul’s disobedience. A)The man who started out humble &
submissive to God was now boldly going his own way in disobedience to God. – IT GRIEVED GOD
!!!!
B) But How can God say, “I greatly regret”?
1) Does this mean that God did not know
what would happen?
C) Does it mean that God wanted things to
happen a certain way, but was powerless to make them come to pass?
D) Not at all. This is the use of anthropomorphism,
which is when God explains Himself to man in
human terms, so man can have some understanding
of God’s heart.
God knew from the beginning Saul’s heart,
and
Saul’s ways, and Saul’s destiny.
A) He knew that He had already sought
for Himself a man after His own heart (1 Samuel 13:14).
B)Yet, as all this unfolded, God’s heart
was not
emotionless.
1) He didn’t sit in heaven with a
clipboard,
checking off boxes, coldly saying, “All according to plan.”
C) NO - Saul’s disobedience hurt God,
1) and since we couldn’t understand what
was really happening in God’s heart,
2) the closest that we could come is for God
to express it in the human terms of saying, “I greatly regret that I
have set up Saul as king.”
Pick it up in v.12 – 22
One could make a thousand sacrifices unto
God; work a thousand hours for God’s service; or give millions of dollars to
His work.
A) But all of those sacrifices mean little if there is
not a surrendered heart to God, shown by simple
obedience.
B)The important thing to know in the Scriptures: all the
way through you can find parallel passages where God is more interested in your
obedience,
C) More interested in your following Him, than in your
making sacrifices to Him.
1)The thing that God is interested in is in your
submission to His Lordship & authority in your life. “To
obey is better than any offering of sacrifices.”
David, in Psalm 51, said, “Sacrifices
and offerings thou delightest not; a broken and a contrite heart, you will not
turn away.”
D)
God will be more pleased with your attitude and brokenness towards Him than
your offerings and sacrifice.
E) Don’t use them to try & cover your sense of
guilt.
F) Too many people have tried to sort of bribe God and
buy their way out: “Yeah, I cheated the guy; but I tithed from the money I made
off of them.”
It doesn’t balance.“To obey is better than to sacrifice, and to
heed is better than the fat of rams.”
1 Sam 15:23 For rebellion
is as the sin of witchcraft, And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have
rejected the word of the LORD, He also has rejected you from being king."
A
rebellious, stubborn heart rejects God just as certainly as someone rejects God
by occult practices or idolatry.
1 Sam 15:24 Then Saul said to
Samuel, "I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the
LORD and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice.25 Now
therefore, please pardon my sin, and return with me, that I may worship the
LORD."
Problem
#6 – Saul was more interested in pleasing the people – than the Lord
A) Can’t be a people pleaser
–
B) Fear of man in a snare –
trip you up
1) Saul is all bound up
C) He says pardon me –
forgive me – but there is no real repentance – because – still the tendency of
his heart
RD V. 26- 33
That
is how you deal with Sin / Flesh
A) Swiftly & Aggressively
B) Later on in the book of
Esther – meet Haman – Haman was a Agagite – A descendant of Agag 1) He tries to
destroy the Jews ….. Mordecai
C) Some believe Agag –
somehow broke lose and Fathered a Child
D) Yrs later his Descendant
is trying to destroy the people of God
Listen
that is what the flesh does if it is not dwelt with swiftly & aggressively
A) Throw out the TV / Flush
the Cigs
B) Pour out the Booze –
Un-plug the internet
C) Whatever it takes
RD V 34-35