62 praises unto you and the seeds that we plant your spirit as he preaches give us as your congregation a ten of years to the message
Lord in Jesus name. I pray amen next him if you would turn to him number
280
Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling him number
280 number 280 we'll go ahead and start there right on the first saw
Tender and you want this chapter 6 at the end of this chapter will receive a prize between a couple different options
That I ordered for this chapter on the inside is our service times listed Sunday morning 1030 Sunday evening
430 p.m. And our Wednesday evening Bible study through 1st Samuel of course tonight at 7 all of our soul winning times are listed there
Our Saturday rally is the one highlighted in gold nursing home ministry schedule coming up. Do take note of that and
See November 10th is coming up. Does anyone know is the door gonna be in Phoenix all weekend? Okay
I'm gonna get with one of you guys to cover for nursing home. We'll work on that later
steadfast
Salvation and baptism statistics are listed there on the bottom left and as usual
Please report those salvations to the soul winning leader or to that email address on the top, right?
Please keep miss Whitney read and prayer for her pregnancy
That just maybe be healthy and everything would go well for their family upcoming events really excited this week on Friday morning
I'm flying to Faithful Word and we're gonna be helping out with the emissions conference there
Pastor Thompson's already there and I'm really blessed and honored to preach about Germany that day on Saturday
That is November 6 through the 10th is that conference?
November 24th is going to be the transition from Setfast Baptist Church to Anchor Baptist Church
Really looking forward to that. We're gonna have pastor Shelley and pastor Thompson preaching for us that day December 20th
Is the ladies Christmas party that's just in there so men can make note of that and plan on watching the kiddos
For that evening that is gonna be nurselings only preferred for that and November 21st is gonna be our Christmas soul-winning push
It's gonna be like our regular Saturday soul-winning rally. We're just gonna cater some food and coffee for that morning
There's also a couple different events that's gonna be happening late December. I'll put those in the bulletin soon
Something that I've done at every church. I've been at has been like a New Year's Eve party
I really enjoy doing stuff like that men's preaching night. So if that's something you guys are interested in it's definitely something I'd like to host
QR code there if you'd like to give online that is an option for you and some church rules for you to read over at your
Own time there. Also our prayer list is updated every week update that usually right before Wednesday service
So if you have a prayer request, please do email that to me and I'd be happy to add that for you
At this time, let's go ahead and go to the Lord in prayer as a church Lord. Thank you for this day
And thank you for steadfast Baptist Church and faithful members that are here
I just pray that you'd bless this congregation Lord that you'd help us to go out and reach people with the gospel
But you give us more laborers and I just pray that you would be with all the different prayer requests
That our members need from you this evening Lord that you'd answer these
According to your will and just pray for those that are looking at a new job whether doing interviews or just searching
I just pray that you would bless those people Lord, and we pray also for for the Cameron's mother Barbara
I just pray that she would recover well from her surgery and that she would just continue to get the best treatment possible for cancer and
more importantly Lord that you would just put your hand on her and heal her Lord and help her and
Also that she would please just soften her heart and she'd be receptive to the gospel
And we pray also for those needing healing from tumors and cancer this Terry and this Remy pray also for
Family members of church members here that need salvation that those people's hearts would be softened
And they would just get clear opportunities to have the gospel preached to them in their lives God
We pray for the faithward Baptist Church missions conference that's starting this evening
I just pray that you would use this conference to inspire people to go out and preach the gospel and
That we could use the freedoms that we still have in this country and in this world
To go out and reach people with the gospel freely that you would just bless our efforts as we do that
That more people would be saved. We love you. Jesus name. We pray. Amen. All right with that
We're gonna go to our third song for a third song
It's gonna be the handout if anyone does not have a handout that you can raise your hand
It's gonna be a new song that we're gonna sing Psalm chapter number three since it is new
Just let a couple verses go by before you're comfortable singing it
Just go ahead and jump in whenever you're comfortable Psalm chapter number three
We're gonna go ahead and start their ride on the first Lord. How are they in Greece?
That trouble me many
Me your Bible is a first Samuel chapter number 13 first Samuel chapter number 13 evening first Samuel 13
The Bible reads Saul reigned one year and when he had reigned two years over Israel
Saul chose him three thousand men of Israel whereof
22,000 were with Saul and Micmash and in Mount Bethel and a thousand were with Jonathan and Gibeah of Benjamin and the rest
of the people he sent every man to his tent and Jonathan smote the garrison of the Philistines that was in
Giba and the Philistines heard of it and Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land saying let the Hebrews hear and all Israel
Heard say that Saul had smitten a garrison of the Philistines and that Israel also
Was had an abomination with the Philistines and the people were called together
After Saul to Gilgal and the Philistines gathered themselves together to fight with Israel
30,000 chariots and 6,000 horsemen and people as a sand which is on the seashore and
Multitude and they came up and pitched and mick mash eastward from Bethhavon when the men of Israel
Saw that they were in a straight for the people were distressed
Then the people did hide themselves in caves and in thickets and in rocks and in high places and in pits and some of
The Hebrews went over Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead as for Saul
He was yet in Gilgal and all the people followed him
Trembling and he tarried seven days according to the set time that Samuel had appointed
But Samuel came not to Gilgal and the people were scattered from him and Saul said bring hither a burnt offering to me and peace
Offerings and he offered the burnt offering and it came to pass that as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt offering
Behold Samuel came and Saul went out to meet him that he might salute him and Samuel said what hast thou done and Saul said
Because I saw that the people were scattered from me and that thou camest not within the days appointed and that the Philistines
Gathered themselves together at Micmash
Therefore said I the Philistines will not come down now upon me to Gilgal, and I have not made supplication to the Lord
I forced myself therefore and offered a burnt offering and Samuel said to Saul thou hast done foolishly
That has not kept the commandment of the Lord thy God which he commanded thee for now would the Lord have established thy kingdom upon
Israel forever
But now thy kingdom shall not continue the Lord hath sought him a man after his own heart and the Lord hath commanded him to be
Captain over his people because thou has not kept that which the Lord commanded thee and Samuel rose and get him up from Gilgal
Until Gibeah of Benjamin and Saul numbered the people that were present with him about 600 men and
Saul and Jonathan his son and the people that were present with them abode in Gibeah of Benjamin
But the Philistines encamped in Micmash and the spoilers came out of the camp of the Philistines in three companies
one company turned into the way that leaded to Oprah unto the land of Shulau and
Another company turned the way of Beth Horan and another company turned to the way of the border that looketh to the valley of Zebulim
Toward the wilderness now
There was no smith found throughout all the land of Israel to the Philistines saidless the Hebrews make them swords or spears
But all the Israelites went down to the Philistines to sharpen every man his share and his culture and his acts and his maddock
Yet they had a file for the Maddox and for the cultures and for the forks and for the axes and to sharpen the goats
So it came to pass in the day of battle that there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people
That were with Saul and Jonathan but with Saul and with Jonathan his son was there found and the garrison the Philistines
Went out to the passage of Mick mash our heads forward a prayer father in heaven
We thank you for this day and our church and everyone gathered here
Amen, all right. Well, we are in first Samuel chapter number 13 and so far as we've been going through this book
It's been really focusing on the positive attributes of Saul and we've been really talking about what a great leader that he has been
But it's this chapter where things start to change a little bit in the life of Saul and we're gonna take a look at that
This evening. Let's start reading in verse number one
The Bible says Saul reigned one year and when he had reigned two years over Israel Saul chose him 3,000 men of Israel
whereof
2,000 were with Saul in Micmash and in Mount Bethel and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin and
the rest of the people he sent every man to his tent and
Jonathan's smote the garrison a garrison is just a body of troops and Jonathan smote the garrison of the Philistines
That was in Gibeah and the Philistines heard it and Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land saying
Let the Hebrews hear so so far we have Saul he's leading the army and he's kind of split up the army into two different groups
He has two thousand people with Saul if I remember correctly. Yeah, two thousand people with Saul and
1,000 people with Jonathan so Saul's got more troops, but Jonathan is the one that actually just with his 1,000
Smites a garrison of the Philistines and when he does that it says that the Philistines hear of this and you can imagine
They're probably pretty angry about that. They're ready to fight. And so Saul says well
Let's blow this trumpet and make sure that Israel also hears that this battle just took place
so you can imagine they blow the trumpet but look at verse number four it says and all Israel heard say that
Saul had smitten a garrison of the Philistines and that Israel also was had an abomination with the Philistines and
The people were called together after Saul to Gilgal
So when Saul blows this trumpet because he wants the children of Israel to hear that there was just this victory
What is it that they heard they heard that Saul defeated the Philistines in battle yet?
The Bible tells us that it was actually Jonathan, right?
So it's kind of interesting how Saul all of a sudden kind of translate that that message to saying well
it was actually Saul that got that victory and
It also says here that the children of Israel were held in abomination of the Philistines
That's because they were kind of held under tribute at this time
But really what I really want to focus on when it comes to that verse is that you could start to see Saul
Struggling with pride a little bit in this chapter
This is where things start to change a little bit with Saul and I'll prove that to you because flip one chapter backwards
Or I'm sorry to chapter back backwards one first Samuel 11 first Samuel 11 verse 13 after they had won a victory
This is what Saul said and Saul said there shall not be a man put to death this day for today
Notice the Lord hath wrought salvation in Israel
So in times past when the children of Israel were blessed with some sort of victory over the enemies of God
Saul had no problem giving glory to God during that time, right?
And he says hey, we're not gonna put anyone to death during this time because God has given us this great victory
So Saul, he didn't really have problems sharing glory with God giving glory to God
But all of a sudden when a different man got victory when a different man did something good
Saul kind of had trouble sharing the spotlight with Jonathan
but you would think that Saul would want to
Glory and Jonathan because Jonathan is literally his son and every father if they found out like hey
My son became a general and destroyed the enemies of God in battle. It'd be like that's pretty cool
that's something to be proud of right but Saul here he starts getting prideful and
When he blows the trumpet and wants the whole nation to know what happened in battle. What is the whole nation here that Saul?
Defeated those Philistines in battle, which of course was not the truth go to Romans chapter 12
And I'm gonna read for you Proverbs 27 verse 2 Proverbs 27 2 says let another man praise thee and not thine own mouth
a stranger and not thine own
Lips see even if it was true that Saul was leading the army that killed the Philistines
It would be kind of prideful to blow a trumpet saying like hey
I want everyone to know that I won this battle because here's the first of all there's
2,000 other men with him that share credit for this victory if he was the person to actually get the victory
But the other big problem with that is that he didn't even get the victory in the first place
So the Bible saying let another man praise you not your own lips he's praising himself for something that he didn't even do
Something that he didn't even accomplish
it's kind of like these stolen valor guys not quite because obviously
Saul is a warrior and Saul did you know kill some people in battle?
But he's taking credit for a battle that he didn't fight and didn't win
it's kind of like these guys that walk around in military uniforms and
Pretend to be ex Navy SEALs or you know ex Marines or something like that and they usually get called out on it, right?
Because what would be the only purpose? Let's let's say you've never served in the Marines. You've never been a Navy SEAL
What is the purpose of donning that uniform and walking around?
Pretending that you are one so that people will think you're awesome, right?
So that you could just bask in vainglory and just be heaped up with praises that don't belong to you
Well, why would you want to lift up your name and take credit for something that you didn't do to bask in that same glory?
right, it's a selfish motive that
Saul is having here and look what the Bible says in Romans chapter number 12 verse 10
The Bible says be kindly affectioned one to another with brother brotherly love notice in honor
Preferring one another so when it comes to hey, someone's gonna get honored. We should prefer other people to get honored
If anyone's gonna get praise if anyone's gonna get
recognition a godly person actually desires other people to be given that honor and recognition and
How much more so when the other person actually did the work actually won the battle?
It would be so inappropriate like here's thing, you know, let's say you go so what let's say me and Eric go soul-winning
Right, and let's say that brother Eric got the salvation. Okay, I could see you coming into church being like hey
We got someone saved right because I'm laboring with Eric. He's laboring with me. I'm a silent partner
He's the talker, you know, there's definitely credit being given to both those people there
But what if Eric was the talker I was the silent partner and I walked in I said I got someone saved tonight
It's just it would just strike me as a little odd to say something like that
When it's like why wouldn't you just want the team to get credit or why wouldn't you just want your honor being given to your brother?
I just be like hey Eric got the person saved even though as a silent partner
I do believe you still get rewards for that. I do still think you're partaking in that labor
You know
I think it's better just to default to giving your brother the honor giving your friends the honor giving your parents your your wife
Whoever it is in life
We should prefer that other people are honored above ourselves
And you know what don't ever try to take credit for something that you don't do people love to do this in the workplace
Right people love to you know, the boss comes in and says oh man, you know great job on this wiring right here
So I'm gonna be like, oh, thanks. This is like you didn't do that. That was you know, Tom. That was a different person
What's going on? You know people do that kind of stuff, but you know what? It's not right
It's not right even something as small as the workplace. It's not right even on the battlefield either
It's just uncomely for Christians go to Philippians chapter number two Philippians chapter number two now think about it
Would Saul's credibility have even been hurt if Saul just got up and said blew the trumpet said Jonathan got the victory
I don't think that would have hurt Saul's credibility one bit. If anything, it actually hurts his credibility
Lying about the situation and taking the credit for himself because the 1,000 soldiers that were with Jonathan
know for sure who actually won the battle and actually
usually your credibility is bolstered when you as a leader are seen giving honor to other people and giving credit and
Recognition to other people. It doesn't diminish you as a leader, you know, it's actually showing like hey, you know
You raised a pretty cool son Jonathan who's out slaying the enemies of God, you know, if anything
I think it would have helped salt look at Philippians 2 verse 3. Let nothing be done through strife or vain
Glory but in lowliness of mine let each esteem other better than themselves
Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others
So, you know the Bible tells us not to do anything for strife or for vain glory. What is vain glory?
Well, what is something that's vain meaning that it's empty. It's purposeless. It's meaningless
You're just getting glory, but it doesn't really mean anything and a lot of people will do many different things in life
Simply for vain glory, right? There's a lot of people, you know, think about this preaching in the 21st century
We use tools like YouTube rumble we use live streams to try to get the word of God out to more people
But at the end of the day a live stream is just simply a tool, right?
We're not behind this pulpit preaching to the Internet preaching to people online, but there's ministers out there
There's churches out there where they tailor and focus their entire preaching ministry to try to get the people online
And they're not really worried about feeding people in their church
They're not really worried about preaching things that are relevant to the congregation. They're just simply wanting to get vain glory
They're simply just wanting to get as many views as possible
You know, that's a bad motivation to be preaching the Word of God now. Look if someone's preaching the Word of God for vain glory
I'm still happy that they're preaching the Word of God in general
But really our heart should be that where we're not trying to do things through strife or through vain glory
You know some people they want to go soul-winning
Just for the simple fact that they want to come back to church and report how many people that they got saved
And if all of a sudden you weren't gonna be reporting numbers anymore that person would probably not be a soul winner, right?
And so, you know
We need to check our hearts every once in a while and make sure that the works that we're doing for God are not for
Ourselves not try to bring vain glory to ourselves, but rather to please the Lord go to John chapter number 3 John chapter 3
You know man who was the exact opposite of this was John the Baptist and you know if there's anyone we should follow as Baptists
It should be John the Baptist right look at what the Bible says in John chapter 3 verse 25
Then there arose a question between some of John's disciples and the Jews about purifying verse 26
And they came unto John and said unto him rabbi
He that was with thee beyond Jordan to whom thou bearest witness behold the same
Baptizes and all men come to him. So if you understand what the Jews are doing here
Is there they're coming to John and they're trying to provoke John to envy
They're trying to say hey John that guy that was out with you in the wilderness
Haven't you noticed that all men are going to him and what is a comment like that designed to make John feel like it's trying
To make him feel little small like he's not important that he's not as cool, which he is not as cool, right?
I mean Jesus is just factually cooler Jesus is factually a better preacher a better minister would be a better person to go to of course
Right, but the people that are saying this it's not like they have such a high regard for Jesus and they love Jesus
They're simply doing this just to try to tear a man of God down
All right, and don't be that person don't be that person that tries to compare one preacher to another
You know, why aren't you like this person? Why isn't this person have the same administration as the other, you know, that's just carnal
That's foolishness. It's not something that we need in any church
But I love john's answer in verse 27 john answered and said a man can receive nothing except to be given him from heaven
You know, he's saying hey any ministry any influence any power I have any opportunity
I have to minister was given to me from heaven was given to me from god and the influence and power
And ability of the lord jesus christ was given to him from heaven verse 28 ye yourselves bear me witness that I said
I am not the christ but that I am sent before him
He's saying like when did I ever claim I was cooler than this guy
When did I ever claim that I was better than him?
You know, why do you assume that i'm upset that people are going to jesus to begin with when I openly told you
I'm not the christ. I was just sent before christ verse 29
He that hath the bride is the bridegroom
But the friend of the bridegroom which standeth and heareth him rejoiceth greatly
Because of the bridegroom's voice this my joy therefore is fulfilled
He must increase but I must decrease
So john he actually compared himself to a friend of the groom, right?
And when you go to the when you go to a wedding if you go to a wedding of your friend
Unless you're a complete narcissist you're happy for your friend
You're there to celebrate your friend. You're excited for your friend
You know the day that I got married believe it or not. I had someone came up to me and said man
I wish I was getting married today. Not just like oh
That's a little cringy, you know
But look if you go to a wedding if you go to a wedding of your friend
You should be happy for your friend, right?
You should be happy for the groom you're there to support the groom. You're there to congratulate the groom
You know ladies if you go it's not about dressing up to see how pretty you can look
It's about everyone look at the bride. Okay, this is just normal life skills that people need to learn
It's a basic common sense and john's saying like this is common sense. Jesus is the groom
I'm just the friend of the groom. I'm just excited to be with him. I'm just happy that he's being exalted
He must increase I must decrease
And you know, this is the attitude that sol should have had sol should have had the attitude that hey
Jonathan's doing something good. Jonathan is on God's side. Jonathan's on my side. He's my son for crying out loud, you know
Jonathan has done something good
Jonathan should get recognized
Jonathan should get the praise but instead he just wants to take it for himself
And this is an indication that sol is going down a dark path
Spiritually go back to first samuel chapter 13 first samuel chapter 13 verse number five
And the philistines gather themselves together to fight with israel 30 000 chariots and 6 000 horsemen
And people as the sand which is on the seashore in multitude and they came up and pitched in mcmash eastward
From beth avan. So if you remember at the beginning of the chapter
We were told that sol had 3 000 people total 2 000 with him 1 000 with jonathan
Now he's coming up against an army that has 30 000 chariots. That's not 30 000 soldiers. That's just chariots
Beyond that 6 000 horsemen. That's not including footmen
You know foot soldiers and then it says and just people as the sand which is on the seashore in multitude
I mean good luck counting that right? So, I mean they're just like
Astronomically outnumbered here this just humanly speaking you're looking at this and it's just an impossible situation really really bad
Situation that they're in here verse number six says when the men of Israel saw that they were in a straight
For the people were distressed rightly
So then the people did hide themselves in caves and in thickets and in rocks and in high places and in pits
Now go to Psalm 118. So here's the thing
I can understand being stressed out in this situation, right?
Who among us would not be stressed out if you know
We have the size of this church and we're fighting against an army of 30,000 people
You know, we would be stressed out
But I think that sometimes this I think this could be a picture about sometimes in life or throughout the Bible
You see God's people facing
impossible situations
Physically speaking right but the truth is when God is on your side
It doesn't matter if you're facing a situation that's impossible from a carnal standpoint
Because we have a secret weapon that the world doesn't have and that is the Lord that is God now you're going to Psalm 118
I'm gonna read for you Psalm 24 10. The Bible says if thou faint in the day of adversity thy
Strength is small. So however you want to slice it whether you justify these men fear
These men's fears are not the truth is the people that left Saul are weak because when the day of adversity came for them
They fainted they quit they fell away and the Bible says that when you do that when you quit when you faint in the day
of adversity your strength is
Small look at psalm 118 verse 8. The Bible says it is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in
Man, you know if you apply that to warfare, you know
This would be saying that it's better to trust that God is on your side
then to put confidence in the fact that you have a really big army or that you have the greatest weapons or that you have the
Best training because what beats the armies the training the weapons is the Lord. He can beat all of those things
So it's better to put your trust to put your confidence in the Lord rather than in man verse 9
It is better to trust in the Lord then to put confidence in princes. That's leadership
So it's better to trust God than to even just trust Saul, right?
You don't want to just trust Saul because Saul is a man and Saul is about to go down a dark path
But the one that you could always trust no matter what is God, right? This is why you know, no, I'm not against voting
I'm not against Christians being involved to a certain level with politics
But I am against Christians putting their trust in human leadership to deliver our nation
I am against Christians putting all of their trust in Donald Trump that oh if Donald Trump gets in office
Then all our problems will be solved. That's not true because if our nation is ungodly if our nation is not putting their trust in the Lord
You know what?
We're in dangerous territory and while I think it's just blatantly obvious to say of course Trump is better than the communist whore
Kamala Harris obviously that doesn't necessarily mean that our country is all of a sudden gonna be saved from every problem that we have
Would we probably have had way worse problems under her?
Absolutely, I think so. I thank God that she did not become our president last night
Okay, thank the Lord for that. But at the end of the day my trust is not in Donald Trump
My confidence is not in him. It's not in his cabinet. It's not in police officers
It's not in any of those things at the end of the day. My trust is in the Lord
My trust is in the King James Bible the promises of God not the promises of government
What a sad thing to trust in you know Ronald Reagan talked about how some of the scariest words in the human language or in the English
Language is I'm from the government and I'm here to help. That's not someone you want to trust, right?
But the Lord is someone that we could trust why look at verse 10 all nations compass me about
But in the name of the Lord will I destroy them?
How would you like to be in battle against all nations because the Bible saying if God is with you
You can destroy all nations. They compass me about yay. They compass me about but in the name of the Lord
I will destroy them. They compass me about like bees
They are quenched as the fire of thorns for in the name of the Lord
I will destroy them and you know
This is the confidence that the children of Israel should have had during this time
Even though humanly speaking you just look at the situation from a carnal eye. You say yeah, you guys are toast
Yeah, you guys have no hope. Yeah, it's three thousand people versus people
Innumerable like the sand on the seashore
But how much more people is just all nations because the Bible saying here all nations compass me about they compass me about
But in the name of the Lord, I will destroy them
So, you know if God is on our side if God before us who can be against us
And so it does not matter how many people hate us how many people speak against us
How many people fight against us how many people try to stop what we're doing if we trust in the Lord
That is the only hope that we have, you know
What we can't ever put our hope and how many members we have or how much money we have or what type of building?
We have the only thing we could trust in is God not in human leadership
Just the Lord go back to first Samuel 13 verse number 7 first Samuel 13 verse 7
And some of the Hebrews went over Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead as for Saul
He was yet in Gilgal and all the people followed him trembling. So some of the Hebrews they just bounced
They just crossed the Jordan River to Gad and Gilead. They just said I'm out of here. I'm quitting
So now Saul's in an even worse situation
He went from having three thousand verses innumerable to a bunch of people just leaving him just leaving him high and dry
You know, I could see how Saul is in a stressful situation here, which oftentimes when you're stressed out
When things are not going well could be the time of temptation for you
It could be the time where Satan tempts you it could be a time where your faith is tested and where a lot of people
Make mistakes in the Christian life when they're stressed out when they're overburden first eight any tarried seven days
According to the set time that Samuel had appointed but Samuel came not to Gilgal and the people were scattered
From him go back to first Samuel 10 flip a few pages
So he says he waited there he tarried there seven days according to the set time that Samuel had appointed
So Samuel told him this back in first Samuel 10 look at verse 8
The Bible says and thou shalt go down before me to Gilgal and behold
I will come down unto thee to offer burnt offerings and to sacrifice sacrifices of peace offerings
Seven days shalt thou tarry till I come to thee and show thee what thou shalt do so
Samuel's job
Samuel was the priest right Saul was the king. They had different titles. They had different responsibilities
It was Samuel's job and Samuel's authority only to do the sacrifices
This is not something that was appropriate or allowed for Kings to do. Yes, Saul was a king
Yes, he had authority, but he did not just have unlimited authority unlimited scope
He was not into venture into things like doing the sacrifices
Why because that was the high priest job that was Samuel's job
No one else is and he told Saul you need to wait there in Gilgal for seven days
And then I'm gonna come and I'm gonna take care of those sacrifices, but Saul's in a straight. He's in a really bad situation
He's really stressed out things are going poorly for him
And so he's about to make a really big mistake in his life look at verse 9 and first Samuel 13
So he waited there seven days then verse 9 and Saul said bring hither a burnt offering to me and peace offerings
And he offered the burnt offering and it came to pass
That as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt offering behold
Samuel came Saul went out to meet him that he might salute him and Samuel said what is thou done?
Saul said because I saw that the people were scattered from me and that thou came is not within the days appointed and that the Philistines
Gather themselves together at McMash therefore said I the Philistines will come down now upon me to Gilgal
And I have not made supplication to unto the Lord
I forced myself therefore and offered a burnt offering get the picture here. Don't miss this story
He's there for seven days
According to the time that Samuel told him to wait. He's in a bad situation
he thinks that they're probably all about to die and so in a
Impatient moment for him. He just decides you know what? I'm just gonna do the sacrifice bringing me the stuff to do the sacrifice
I'm just gonna do it myself
He does it and as soon as he gets done offering the sacrifices immediately Samuel shows up
And then he makes this excuse saying well, basically you told me that you'd be here in seven days and you weren't but here's the thing
If he waited seven days, he did the offering and immediately Samuel came Samuel did make it within the seven days
He may have made it in the evening or later than Saul would have liked but Samuel did make it there
According to the time that he said but Saul what he did here was he committed a sin of presumptive presumption
Okay, and I want to explain that go to numbers chapter 15 numbers chapter 15
I'm gonna read for you a verse in second Peter 2 verse 10
Bible says but chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise government
Presumptuous are they?
Self-willed they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities
So in second Peter 2 the Bible describes someone that's presumptuous as someone who is self willed, right?
They just make their own decisions. They just call the shots. They make their own rules
That is what someone who is presumptuous is like and Saul may not have his whole life just been a presumptuous person
Necessarily, but in this moment, he is a committing a sin where he is being a presumptuous person
He's being a self-willed person. Let's look at some more examples of this numbers 15 verse 30
The Bible says but the soul that doeth ought presumptuously whether he be born in the land or a stranger the same
Reproacheth the Lord and that soul shall be cut off from among his people
So the Bible saying when someone does something presumptuously they're
Reproaching God meaning that they are being blatantly
Disrespectful to God and really someone that's presumptuous just self-willed. They're being blatantly disrespectful just to any authority
Okay, that's what presumptuous people are like. They're being disrespectful to
authority verse 31
Because he hath despised the word of the Lord. So someone that's presumptuous
They are contempting they are reproaching God and they're despising word of the Lord and that broken his commandment
That soul shall be utterly cut off his iniquity shall be upon him
And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness
They found a man that gathered sticks upon the Sabbath day
so the Bible is explaining what a presumptuous person is like why that's something that's a big problem the
Consequences of that and then the Bible is going to give us an example of someone that does this and it brings up a man
That picks up sticks on the Sabbath day and a lot of people read this and they think what's the big deal about picking up?
Sticks on the Sabbath day stay there
I'll read for you Exodus 35 to the Bible says six days shall work be done
but on the seventh day there shall be to you and holy day a
Sabbath of rest to the Lord whosoever doeth work therein shall be put to death
Sounds like God was very clear about the Sabbath. He was saying look anyone that violates the Sabbath
If you do work on the Sabbath you are to be put to death now
I don't know about you if God told me that I would be very scared to break the Sabbath and it would take a very
Presumptuous person to just be like I don't care. I'm just gonna build a fire real quick
I'm gonna start stacking up firewood making sure that I'm good to go for the winter. That's someone that is just reproaching God
They just don't really care. They're despising the word of the Lord, right?
Because that was God's commandments and why is the death penalty given for breaking the Sabbath?
I think it's to highlight the severity of the New Testament version of the Sabbath, which is faith in Jesus Christ
Which if you break that Sabbath if you don't get on the New Testament Sabbath program faith in Jesus Christ
You know what the penalty is eternal death in hell
So physical death is nothing compared to what people who break the Sabbath in the New Testament are gonna experience
Eternal hell because of course we know Jesus is our rest we that have you know
Ceased from our own works have entered into his rest by faith in Jesus Christ
With all that being said look at verse 33 of numbers 15 and they that found him gathering sticks
Brought him unto Moses and Aaron and unto all the congregation and they put him in ward
Because it was not declared what should be done to him
So they kind of detain him they put him in some sort of makeshift jail and they're talking about
What should the penalty be for this crime that has been committed?
First 35 and the Lord said unto Moses the man shall surely be put to death all the congregation shall stone him with stones
Without the camp and why did Moses give that severe of a penalty not because it was just Moses's opinion
He's just a mean guy. He's just a mean leader. No, that was just what the Bible said in Exodus and he's just executing what God
Said go back to first Samuel chapter number 13 first Samuel chapter 13
So we kind of got a picture of what this
presumptuous style of a sin is and look at verse 13 the Bible says and Samuel
Said said to Saul thou hast done foolishly
Thou has not kept the commandment of the Lord thy God which he commanded thee
For now with the Lord have established thy kingdom upon Israel forever
So this was a very foolish mistake because it was something that it literally cost him his kingdom in the long run and Samuel saying look
God was ready to establish you as the leader
He was willing to continue to use you but now he's gonna strip that from you and you know
Even in the New Testament in first Timothy 3 and Titus 1 talks about how pastor cannot be self willed
Right because any sin of presumption presumption is a very serious issue
And you know, it's it's really easy to just look at the story of Saul and just apply this to Saul
But you know what we should be doing is we should be applying this to ourselves. Let's apply this to you this evening
Okay, let's talk about the authority structure of a church because in a church like this
This has been a satellite plant for five six years something like that
And in those six years, there's been a variety of different leaders that have filled in and preached and stuff like that
boots on the ground leaders great guys like evangelist
Fur right we've had all those different types of leaders
But this church has never had a pastor that is full-time day-to-day
Running things from a human perspective here at a church
But what you have to understand about the New Testament how the Bible describes the church authority it is a pastor led church
Meaning that the human authority in a local church is the pastor, okay
I'm gonna show you this from the Bible go to Hebrews chapter 13 because look there's just some people have are new to church
Some people have never experienced a church like this and quite frankly you guys have been without a pastor in person for six years
So there could be in your mind a dynamic difference that you're used to compared to other churches that you would visit
Okay, look at Hebrews chapter 13 while you're turning there
I'm gonna read for you first Timothy 5 17 the Bible says let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor
especially they who labor in the word and
Doctrine so the Bible is describing the elder the pastor. What is he doing?
He's ruling well meaning that he's in charge a ruler makes rules
Okay, and people that are under a ruler follow those rules. Okay, this is pretty simple
But let's just explain all this Hebrews 13 verse 17 notice what the Bible says
Obey them that have the rule over you and submit yourselves
For they watch for your souls as they must give an account that they may do it with joy and not with grief for that is
Profitable for you. So the Bible gives us the admonition to obey those that have a rule over us and
Honestly, that's applied to any authority wives to husbands employees to bosses people to government church to pastor
You're just supposed to obey those that have the rule over you specifically pastors
This is talking about it says to submit yourselves for they watch for your souls as they that must give
Account. Okay, James 3 talks about my brethren be not many masters knowing that you shall receive the greater condemnation
You know the pastor is in charge, but there's a great deal of responsibility
That is on that person because that person is gonna be judged by God for the decisions that that person makes, right?
So someone that's in that position needs to be someone that's not self-willed because yes
They are the human authority and while that gives them a lot of discretion and autonomy
The pastor is still under someone though the Lord Jesus Christ and that person must be following what the Bible says
But things outside of the Bible the person that is in charge in a church is the pastor
So, you know who decides when the service times are the pastor
You know who decides how to set up the church where to go soul winning
What missions trips to do how the music ministry is gonna be run
How all sorts of different things in the church is gonna be run who decides that is the pastor?
Now, of course the pastor can delegate authority to other people, right? For example, I am NOT a pastor
I am here in charge of this church only because pastor Shelley has commissioned me to do that
He said you're in charge of this church you run this church, right now pastor
Shelley would tells me what to do at any time. I must obey him because he's the pastor. I'm not the pastor, right?
And when I worked for him, you know, for example, he gave me some responsibility running music ministry
I would make the song list I would make the song schedule
But at any time pastor Shelley could say no, we're not singing that song sing something else or he would tell me
I don't like how you said saying that sing it a different way and I just said yes, sir
I could I would never have imagined in a million years walking up to pastor Shelley and just be like
Hey, this is what we're doing. No, that's not how church works
You don't get to just walk up to the pastor and tell him hey, this is what we're doing
Hey, I just want to let you know this is the mission strip that we're doing next year. No, that's not how church works
You know and no one's done these things. So I'm just bringing random examples, but it's be like hey Dylan
You know when steadfast Baptist Church becomes anchor. We're just gonna start anchor Baptist Church podcast
It's like that would be presumptuous right or just being like hey, you know Dylan you're gonna preach on this topic next week
Or or like someone has told me before don't preach on vegetarianism because it'll make me look bad to my kids
And I just said well, I know what one of the first sermons
I'm gonna be preaching is don't ever tell me what I can and cannot preach. That's a bad idea
That's a terrible terrible terrible idea
But look the Bible does not teach that churches should be deacon board led
Where you get all the rich businessmen of the church and they get together and they vote and decide what the pastor is gonna do
This is what a lot of churches do church is not a congregation led
Establishment churches in the old if you do this where they literally take a vote on how to spend every dollar like like hey
We need to buy. I don't know more toilet paper. Let's just do a quick quick vote hands up for yay
Like that's ridiculous. That's insanity, right? This is not gonna be a church member led church
This is not gonna be deacon board church. This is not gonna be a woman run led church
This is going to be a pastor led church
And that is something that this church quite honestly has never experienced
But I would just rather just make it make it plain now that way everyone understands in the future like hey
This is how a church runs because quite honestly
It's it's kind of hard if you're just like the boots on the ground guy and you're just being asked to help the church
To preach to really like assert any authority because you're not really the one that has the ownership over that
You haven't really been given that authority. So I'm not even blaming the men that have filled that role in the past in this church
I think that they've done a great job except for Bo Ballard. Of course, he's wicked as hell
But I'm just trying to get you to understand that if this church becomes an independent Baptist church
This will be a pastor led church and there's some things that are just inappropriate
to assert yourself over sins of
Resumption, so let me just make it super clear if there's a pastor here that's running things that's ruling that is
Over God's people and the Lord obviously not not lording over God's heritage
This means that you have to ask permission to do things
Okay, this means you can't just say hey, I'm starting this ministry. That's not how church works
Hey, we're just gonna start this anchor Baptist Church podcast. That's not how church works. Oh, I'm just I'm just gonna run this event
I just want to let you know I'm running this event
Did anyone ask you to do that because if no one asked you to do that you have no authority over that and here's what you
Should do in unless you have been specifically delegated authority. You should assume that you have zero authority, right now
Here's the thing. There's men in this church that I've even asked to help me with things
I asked men to be like, hey, will you help me make soul winning maps for Sunday?
I don't tell them where to go soul winning. I just want them to figure it out
Right and they totally have the authority to choose where to go soul winning. That's great
But at any time if I just want to say like hey this Sunday, we're going here. The answer should be let's do it, right?
That's just how a church works and someone that just wants to do their own thing do their own program
Not ask for permission. Hey brother Dylan next weekend. I'm using the church building for my kids birthday party. No, you're not
Okay, and look, I'm not a pastor right now. I've never claimed to be a pastor
No one can ever lay this accusation to me that I've been trying to take authority on myself or anything like that
I've always said I'm under pastor Shelley's authority
But as long as he's given me any authority to rule over this church
You must ask me permission to do things and if I'm the pastor you dead sure must ask me permission to do things
You can't just you know make things up on your own. That would be being presumptuous
Okay, and look I understand this church hasn't always had that dynamic. That's okay
That's why I'm trying to let that be known to you right now. That way. It's very clear go to if you would
Titus or no, let's go back to first Samuel 13 and and think about it
This doesn't just apply to work or church this applies to work too. Don't just go to your boss be like boss
I just bought you a new saw today. It's like what was wrong with our old saw nothing
I just thought you you would want the newer cool one, but that costs money
It's like you don't just do that to your boss. You don't just like presume. Oh boss will be cool with it
Hey boss, I just decided I changed the blueprints today on the construction project. It's like what are you doing?
That's not how authority works, right and this applies in any area of authority
Don't be presumptuous if you've been delegated a task do that if your boss has given you some autonomy
This is my recommendation find out what your left and right parameters are don't just assume like oh cool
Boss told me I could do this. That means that I could do anything. I want find out like hey, what's my left and right parameters?
What's your vision? What's your idea for this?
How much money are you wanting to spend on this project not just like alright leave this project?
It's just like seven million dollars like let's just go no
you know you need to not be presumptuous and just assume those things because
Look at the consequence of this verse 14, but now thy kingdom shall not
Continue what was the consequence of Saul being presumptuous being self-willed? It was called
Demotion demotion saying look you're not gonna be the king anymore at the end of the day
And you want to get fired real quick. You want to lose your place in ministry real quick?
Just start making up your own rules and doing whatever you want and not asking for permission for things
That is a really quick way to get demoted. That's a quick way to get fired at your job
Okay
the Lord hath sought him a man after his own heart which we know is talking about David and
The Lord hath commanded him to be captain over his people because thou has not kept that which the Lord
Commanded thee there never even would have been a king David if Saul would have just done what God told him to do
Through Samuel the man of God if he would have just obeyed the man of God if he would have just stayed in his lane
As king. I mean you're already king. Isn't that cool enough? Isn't that good enough?
Aren't you just content with your position Saul, but no he also had to do the job of a priest
Why because he was self-willed and presumptuous and that's the only reason David even came into the picture
Because Saul was told your kingdom's not going to continue verse 15 and so Samuel arose and got him up from Gilgal
Unto Gibeah of Benjamin and Saul numbered the people that were present with him about
600 men so he went from three thousand to six hundred
Saul and Jonathan his son and the people that were present with them abode in Gibeah of Benjamin
but the Philistines and camped in McMash and the spoilers came out of the camp of the Philistines and three companies one company turned unto
the way that leadeth to Afra unto the land of Shuol and another company turned to the way of Bethuron and another company turned to
the way of the border that looketh to the valley of Zebulim toward the wilderness.
Now there was no Smith found throughout all the land of Israel for the Philistines said lest the Hebrews make them swords or spears.
Now let's shift gears a little bit here.
There is no Smith that's found in the land of Israel.
Smith there I believe is referring to a blacksmith and at this time what does a blacksmith do.
They can make weapons they can make swords and the Bible saying there was no weapons manufacturing facility at all in the land of Israel.
Why because their enemies the Philistines said lest so that the Hebrews make that don't make them swords or spears.
So the Philistines looked at Israel who are under their subjection and they said you know what we're not going to allow you to make any weapons whatsoever.
We're not going to let you to have these Smiths so that you don't make any swords or spears.
Let me just tell you this anyone that wants to disarm you is your enemy anyone that wants to disarm you wants to hurt you.
OK there's no reason why the Philistines should have any problem with the children of Israel having blacksmiths unless they had some nefarious reason why they wanted to take away their firearms.
And you just you look at history you look at dictatorships in the past they always without fail want to disarm the population because when they want to hurt you when they want to do harm to you they don't want to meet any resistance.
This is one thing that is unique to America that no other country has.
It's called the second amendment and you know our founders recognized that a tyrannical government could literally be a threat to your life and that what deters a government from becoming too tyrannical or wanting to put you in subjection like the Philistines had to the children of Israel is people being armed right.
And so thank God in the United States of America we do have the right to keep and bear arms and that was given to us not for hunting okay not for sport it was given to us to protect ourselves and our families.
And you know I don't believe you should ever give up your guns for any reason you say well what if the government orders you to well obey the higher powers last time I checked the second amendment is the highest law of the land it's called the U.S.
Constitution OK so I think I don't think you should ever give up your firearms it's a terrible idea because any government that wants to disarm you wants to eventually kill you whether you want to live in liberal you know Fufu latte Starbucks land or not and just believe that here's the thing people don't understand and if you actually read books you'll understand this is that the thin line between our soft pushy easy lives in two thousand twenty four America.
And complete hell on earth and utter chaos is such a thin line many people have no clue unless you're like a war veteran or you've read some books okay go read the gulag archipelago about the twentieth century in the Soviet Union where people are being rounded up
and charged with crimes against the state anti-communist propaganda which are just completely made up charges that have nothing to do with anything just arrested in the middle of the night taken to a gulag where you're packed into a room this size with like 15 other people standing up and people are literally eating their shoe leather to survive that's how bad communism got in the Soviet Union where tens of millions of people starved to death and guess what that population was disarmed and you want to know why
probably stuff like this doesn't happen in the United States of America is
because our leaders aren't that stupid because they know if they start coming
and rounding people up that they're gonna face resistance to that and guess
what I don't think that's a wrong thing to do someone tries to round up your
family yeah over my dead body and you know if more people had that mentality
and had that mindset it would keep people scared from doing something like
that you know we got the Philistines here they're banning they're banning the
extended magazines right there they're doing extra background checks on buying
anything metal they're making sure that there's no gun manufacturing plants
going on why because they're enemies that want to kill them in war and you
know there's a famous quote by the leader of Japan whatever he was called
Emperor I think in World War two where he was asked why don't you just invade
the mainland why don't you just invade California and what's interesting if you
go to the west coast all along the coast there's bunkers there's lookouts there's
all these World War two things looking for bombers coming on the west coast and
he's like well the problem with that is that in America there's a gun under
every blade of grass and it literally prevented an invasion of our western
coast just by Americans being armed let's bring that back let's get that
culture back where American men are strong armed and dangerous not just fat
lazy and addicted to video games and pornography you know we could actually
if we got godly again we could actually put the fear of God into other nations
again like we used to now we're the laughing stock of the world and we would
have been even more so if the stupid whore Kamala Harris got elected last
night oh that's gonna scare Russia that's gonna scare China unburdened by
thoughts in my brain oh thank God we don't have to hear that for the next
four years can I get an amen on that I'm gonna read for you Luke 22 36 then
said he unto them but now he that hath a purse let him take it and likewise his
script and he that hath no sword let him sell his garment and buy one Jesus said
you don't have a sword you're better off selling your clothing and buying a sword
and you know what thank God in America we have the right to do that without
being molested or harmed by the government it's actually legal here and
even more so in Oklahoma you could carry that thing without a permit look you
should take advantage of that and my recommendation to every single man is to
get a firearm to train with it regularly and to carry it every single day of your
life that is my recommendation to you do with that whatever you will that's my
opinion all right I'm just I'm telling you that's my opinion I'm not preaching
the Bible right now my opinion is men carry a gun every single day that's what
I do that's what I think you should do with training verse 20 go back to 1st
Samuel chapter number 13 and isn't this what the enemy always likes to do
disarm you like this a feminine guy Mark Ward that wants to disarm you from the
King James Bible and wants to put a new King James in your hand you know he
wants he wants to take away your Glock and give you a nerf gun right he wants
to take away your Smith and Wesson and give you like one of those like pool
noodles to try to fight off bad guys with it's like no I'll stick with the
King James okay I'll stick with the 50 cal right here this is what I like
verse 20 but all the Israelites went down to the Philistines to sharpen every
man his share and his culture and his axe and his mattock so they have to go
to the enemy to sharpen their equipment that's really sad being dependent upon
the enemy for anything verse 21 yet they had a file for the mattocks and for the
cultures and for the full forks and for the axes and to sharpen the goads and so
it came to pass in the day of battle that there was neither sword nor spear
found in the hand of any of the people that were with Saul and Jonathan but
with Saul and with Jonathan his son was there found and the garrison of the
Philistines went out to the passage of Micmash so notice when it actually came
to the day of battle they were so weak they were so disarmed that the only
people that had weapons was the privileged leaders themselves Saul and
Jonathan and you know that is a bad state to be in physically that's a bad
state to be in spiritually as well you know we need to make sure that in a
church in any church that it's not just the leader that has the sword it's not
just the leader that is trained how to use the sword and knows how to use the
sword you know we want as we're going out to battle spiritually this whole
army to be well armed well trained and ready to kick some spiritual butt that's
what we need in a church today not just because you go to a lot of churches I
visited churches before where the pastor was cool the pastor was knowledgeable
the pastor was a soul winner but not really anyone in this congregation was
and that's an imbalanced church that'd be an imbalanced army right if just the
general is armed well how do we make sure that all of us are armed go to
Ephesians chapter number six Ephesians chapter number six you don't want to be
going into battle with just your shield or just your helmet on or just you know
your your armor plates or whatever you want the full armor don't you he Ephesians
6 verse 10 finally my brethren be strong in the Lord and in the power of his
might put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the
wiles of the devil for we rational wrestle not against flesh and blood but
against principalities against powers against the rulers of the darkness of
this world against spiritual wickedness in high places so you know today we're
not going out to war against the Philistines or the Amorites or anything
like that we're going out to war against the Mormons we're going out to war
against the Jehovah's Witnesses against the Catholics against false religions
that are battling for men's souls right now right there's a spiritual battle
going on between the devil and between God and his children the devil's trying
to drag as many people as possible to hell with him and we're trying to go
reach people before he does that and to get them saved and so what we need to do
verse 13 where for take unto you the whole armor of God that you may be able
to withstand in the evil day having done all to stand stand therefore having your
loins gird about with truth and having on the breastplate of righteousness so
you want to have truth you want to be reading the Bible but not just that you
also want to be living a righteous life being separated verse 15 and your feet
shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace you want to be a soul winner
above all taking the shield of faith wherewith you shall be able to quench
all the fiery darts of the wicked and take the helmet of salvation and the
sword of the spirit which is the word of God so you know if you were to go out
today and engage in a physical battle I'd probably ask brother John all the
things that we need he'll tell me the things we're missing but you know I'd
want a gun I'd want medical gear I'd want armor plates I'd want helicopters
and airstrikes and whatever I want all this stuff right I wouldn't want to just
go in with an old you know revolver or something like that I'd want as much
arsenal as possible you know it's the same thing spiritually you don't want to
just be going to spiritual battle and you've only got your feet shot with the
preparation of the gospel of peace but you have no you know truth you have no
righteousness you have no faith you have no helmet of salvation we want to make
sure that as Christians we're giving diligence and paying attention to all
the different Christian disciplines in life so that we are well-rounded soldiers
spiritually that were well armed and well defended go to 2nd Samuel chapter 12
2nd Samuel chapter 12 so you know just just in recap here this is where things
start turning really bad for Saul and he went from being blessed and exalted and
lifted up as the leader to now just in one chapter being told hey this kingdom
isn't gonna last God's actually seeking him a man after God's own heart and he's
gonna take over and of course we know that man to be David but here's what's
interesting is that in David's life he commits a very serious sin in his life
and honestly his sin was way worse than what Saul did Saul he was presumptuous
he tried to exercise himself and something that wasn't his authority yes
that was wrong yes that was bad but David literally committed adultery a
sin worthy of death not only that he went and got the husband of Bathsheba
purposely killed in combat guilty of adultery and of murder he arguably is
the worst sinner in this situation yet David's reign continued David received
mercy of God Saul did not David was a man after God's own heart Saul was not
what was the difference between them second Samuel 12 verse 7 and Nathan said
to David thou art the man he's rebuking him for a sin thus saith the Lord God of
Israel I anointed the king over Israel and I delivered thee out of the hand of
Saul and I gave thee thy master's house and I masters wives into thy bosom and
gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah and if that had been too little I
would moreover have given unto thee such and such things wherefore hast thou
despised the commandment of the Lord to do evil in his sight thou has killed
Uriah the Hittite with the sword and has taken his wife to be thy wife and has
slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon now therefore the sword shall
never depart from nine house because thou has despised me and has taken the
wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife thus saith the Lord behold I will raise
up evil against thee out of thine own house and I will lay I will take thy
wives before thine eyes and give them unto thy neighbor and he shall lie with
thy wives in the sight of this son for thou didst it secretly but I will do
this thing before all Israel and before the Sun and David said unto Nathan I have
sinned against the Lord and Nathan said unto David the Lord also hath put away
thy sin thou shalt not die what was the difference go to 1st Samuel 13 what was
the difference between David and Saul why did David receive mercy why was
David a man's after God's own heart even though he committed a very serious sin
and if you read that what we were reading right there is punishment is
severe swords never gonna depart out of his house one of his children is gonna
sleep with all his wives in the sight of all of Israel I mean it's terrible his
punishment but when he hears that he doesn't make excuses he doesn't try to
justify his actions he simply just says I have sinned he wasn't so prideful to
say who are you talking to I'm the king you know I am King David I could do
whatever I want don't sit here and reproach me no he just takes it he says
I have sinned what did Samuel or Saul do however for Samuel 13 11 and Samuel said
what has thou done and Saul said I've sinned no because I saw that the people
were scattered from me he's scared and that thou camest not within the days
appointed excuses and that the Philistines gather themselves together at
McMash more excuses therefore said I the Philistines will come down now upon me
to Gilgal and here comes the real spiritual excuse and I have not made
supplication unto the Lord don't people love to do that justify their sins with
some spiritual reason well here's why I broke the commandment of God because I
hadn't yet prayed to the Lord it's like that doesn't make any sense you don't
sit here and transgress God's commandments and disobey the man of God
because I haven't yet made supplication to God yeah no crap because Samuel is
the one supposed to be doing that that's why you haven't done that yet
because Samuel said he would come do it and when he rebukes him for this Saul's
like well you got to understand I was scared you got to understand the
situation I was in all the enemies were coming after me well you got to
understand you know I was afraid that the Philistines would come here and I
would go engage them in battle before I had done business with God right these
are the excuses that he's given verse 13 and Samuel said to Saul that was done
foolishly notice his answer wasn't hey the Lord's taken away thy sin thou
shall not die no he's just saying you've done foolishly you're an idiot is what
he's saying thou has not kept the commandment of the Lord thy God which he
commanded thee for now would the Lord have established thy kingdom upon
Israel forever but now thy kingdom shall not continue the Lord have sought him a
man after his own heart and the Lord hath commanded him to be captain over his
people because thou has not kept that which the Lord commandeth thee and what
was the big difference between Saul and David one was a man after God's own heart
and one was not and what was it that made David a man after God's own heart
and not Saul well Saul was in it for himself wasn't he he was in it to get the
glory for himself he wanted to have stolen valor and don't give the glory to
his son or the credit to his son that actually won in battle he wants
everyone to love him and look at him and think how awesome he is why is he not a
man after God's own heart because he was presumptuous because he decided to do
something without permission without right without authority and as a result
of that you know what ended up happening to him he was replaced and you know this
needs to be a warning for us these stories are not in the Bible for no
reason these stories are very applicable to our lives right now in 2024 that if
you in your life you want to get prideful you want to get lifted up you
want to start taking authority that doesn't belong to you you want to start
becoming presumptuous and be involved in these type of things you know what God
might replace you God might demote you and so you know what let this chapter
cause us to fear God and to not be in it for ourselves not be in it for our own
glory but rather to give honor to other people to our brothers in Christ to obey
God's commandments not be presumptuous not make excuses for our sins let's
pray Lord thank you for this day thank you for this chapter in Word of God I
pray that all of us would take these things to heart and that we would just
allow the Word of God to correct us and that we would just be humble people that
want to serve you that we wouldn't wade into things without right or authority
and that you just help us to when we're wrong that we just face it admit it and
confess our sins to you and repent we love you in Jesus name we pray amen if you
would grab a hymnal we'll go ahead and sing one last song to conclude the
service hymn number 401 set my soul afire hymn number 401 number 401 we'll go
ahead and start there right on the first said my soul a fire