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You Well, good evening everyone welcome to Mountain Baptist Church Take your song books and turn to song number 65 Song number 65 in your song books will sing just over in the glory land and if you would stand We'll sing song number 65 I've a home prepared where the Saints up high just over in the glory land And I long to be by my Savior's side just over in the glory land Just Over in the glory land. I'll join The happy angel band just over in the glory land just over in the glory land there with The mighty host I'll stand just over in the glory land I am on my way to those mansions fair just over in the glory land There to sing God's praise and his glory share just over in the glory land just Over in the glory land. I'll join The happy angel band just over in the glory land just Over in the glory land there with The mighty host I'll stand just over in the glory land With the blood wash throng I will shout and sing just over in the glory land Glad hosannas to Christ the Lord and King just over in the glory land just Over in the glory land. I'll join The happy angel band just over in the glory Land just over in the glory land there with The mighty host I'll stand just over in the glory All right, let's pray heavenly father Lord again, we just want to thank you God for just another opportunity We get to gather and hear your Holy Bible preached I pray Lord now that you would just be over pastor film with your power spirit. We love you for it's in Jesus name We ask all but amen. I may be seated and take your song books and turn to song number 51. Oh My bad no take your mountain Baptist song books Take your mountain Baptist Psalms hymns and spiritual song books and turn to page number 10 Page number 10 in your mountain Baptist song books. We'll sing Psalm 150 on page number 10 Praise ye the Lord Praise God in his sanctuary Praise him in the Ah Moment of his power praise him for his mighty acts praise him according to his Excellent greatness praise him with Of the trumpet praise him with Sultry and Praise him with the timbrel and dance praise him with stringed instruments Praise him upon the Symbols praise him upon the high sounding symbols let everything that had breath praise The Lord praise ye the Lord Amen well welcome to Mount Baptist Church On this Wednesday evening just some announcements here Church times should be normal coming up this Sunday And so winning times and all that As far as our main so many time on Sunday We do have the marathon coming up this this Saturday. It's calling for rain. So I mean Kind of we'll just see what happens but I mean it as right now we're gonna push through with it but we'll see How bad that is so? Because I think it might be calling for a thunder and stuff like that So let's keep an eye out on the on the forecast there but yeah, so and then Prayer meetings on here. We have the prayer meetings for the women and for the men coming up at the end of the month here Some announcements to we have ants. Okay, so When it comes to food we really got to be careful on not Having food everywhere on the floor, but specifically the mother-baby room There's there's been ants in there as well. So really we don't want to have food in the mother-baby room and specifically You know, it's getting on the ground kids are eating it and there's ants and did I mention there's ants so Anyway, it's like a plague over there. So So if you had if you have coffee tonight, you might have some extra protein in that coffee Yep feel like Bear Girls So I say anyway so Obviously, we're gonna try to you know, take care of the ants as best possible, but obviously they like sugar They like that type of stuff so just really try to keep your food off the ground it's obviously the kids and all that stuff too, so Yeah and then as far as our Bible memory for the month, we're in Jonah chapter 2 in the month of March and And then Philippians 4 8 is a memory verse for the week. So It's a longer one, but it's actually not that long if you think about it because there's a lot of whatsoever things Being said over and over again, okay, so and then as far as Pregnancy's obviously congratulations to the Gandy family and Lana. He was born on a Thursday So Jai which I knew all along, you know But Congratulations there Congratulations to the McShea family that just had their little one. And so Was it Malachi Malachi? Marshall McShea, so They see like M cubed, you know, like we're gonna It's like triple M We're gonna have to have some nickname for him. So anyway And then Krista McCloy is on still on the list there for pregnancy, but being a prayer for all ladies I just had little ones as well You know during their pregnancy, you know delivery recovery all of that to be impaired there and so I Think that's about what I have for announcements that I can think of We're gonna be continuing our study through the book of 1st Samuel. So we're gonna be in 1st Samuel chapter 28 tonight Brother David's gonna be reading that for us after brother Dave Sings one more song the offering box in the back if you want to give a tithe or an offering and the mother baby rooms for the mothers babies only and Just watch out for the ants All right, take your song books and turn to song number 51 Song number 51 in your song books will sing where we'll never grow old Song number 51 I have heard of a land on the faraway strand Tis a beautiful home of the soul Oh Built by Jesus on high Where we'll never shall die Tis a land where we'll never grow Never grow Never grow old in a land where we'll never grow Oh Never grow Never grow old in a land where we'll never grow In that beautiful home where we'll never more Rome we shall be in the sweet by and by Happy Praise to the king through eternity Sing tis a land where we'll never shall die Never grow Never grow old in a land where we'll never grow Oh Never grow Never grow old in a land where we'll never grow When our work here is done and the life crown is won and our troubles and trials are all Before All our sorrow will end and our voices will blend with the loved ones who've gone on before Never grow old Never grow old in a land where we'll never grow old Never grow Never grow old in a land where we'll never grow All right take your Bibles and turn to the book of first Samuel chapter number 28 First Samuel chapter number 28 in your Bibles, and we'll have brother David come and read that for us first Samuel 28 if you found your place amen The Bible reads and I came to pass in those days that the Philistines gathered their armies together for warfare to fight with Israel and Achas said unto David know thou assertively that thou shalt go out with me to battle thou and thy men and David said to Achas surely thou shalt know what thy servant can do and Achas said to David therefore Will I make the keeper of mine head forever? now Samuel was dead and all Israel had lamented him and buried him in Rhema even in his own city and Saul had put away those that had familiar spirits and the Wizards out of the land and the Philistines gathered themselves together and came and pitched and soon him and Saul gathered all Israel together and they pitched in your Boa and when Saul saw the host of the Philistines He was afraid and his heart greatly trembled and when Saul inquired of the Lord the Lord answered him not Neither by dreams nor by urine nor by prophets and Saul said then said Saul unto his servants seek me a woman that hath a familiar Spirit that I may go to her and inquire of her and his servant said to him behold There was a woman that hath a familiar spirit at Endor and Saul disguised himself And put on another raiment and he went and two men with them and they came to the woman by night And he said I pray thee divine unto me by the familiar spirit and bring me up him through my self name unto thee And the woman and the woman said unto him behold thou knowest what Saul hath done Or he hath cut off those that hath familiar spirits and the Wizards out of the land Wherefore then lays thou a snare for my life to cause me to die And Saul sware to her by the Lord saying as the Lord liveth There shall no punishment happen to thee for this thing Then said the woman whom shall I bring up unto thee and he said bring me up Samuel And when the woman saw Samuel she cried with a loud voice and and the woman spake to Saul Saying why has that deceived me for thou art Saul and the King said unto her be not afraid for what saw us there And the woman said unto Saul I saw a God descending out of the earth and he said unto her What firm is he of and he said an old man cometh up and he is covered with a mantle and Saul perceived that it was Samuel and he stooped down with his face to the ground and bowed himself and Samuel said to Saul why has that described me to bring me up and Saul answered I am I Am so distressed for the Philistines make war against me and God is departed for me any answer with me normal neither by prophets Nor my dreams therefore. I have called thee that thou may'st make known unto me. What sorry what I shall do then said Samuel Wherefore then does thus does that ask of me seeing the Lord is departed from thee and has become thine enemy As the Lord hath done to him as he spake for as And the Lord hath done to him as he spake by me for the Lord hath rent the kingdom out of thine hand and given It to thy neighbor even to David because thou obeyest not the voice of the Lord nor execute his fierce wrath upon Amalek Therefore hath the Lord done this thing unto thee this day Moreover the Lord will also destroy deliver Israel with thee into the hand of the Philistines and Tomorrow's south out and thy sons be with me and the Lord also shall deliver the hosts of Israel into the hand of the Philistines Then Saul fell straightway all along on the earth and was so afraid Because of the words of Samuel and there was no strength in him for yet for yet eaten nor bread all the day Nor all the night and the woman came unto Saul and saw that he was so troubled and said unto him Behold that handmaid hath obeyed thy voice and I have put my life in my hand and I've hearken unto thy words Which thou spake ist unto me now Therefore I pray thee how can thou also unto the voice of thy handmaid and let me set a muscle of bread before thee And eat that thou may'st have strength when thou goest on thy way But he refused and said I will not eat but his servants together with the woman compelled him So he hearken unto their voice So he arose from the earth and sat upon the bed and the woman had a fat calf in the house And she hasted and killed it and took flour and kneaded it and did bake unleavened bread thereof And she brought it before Saul and before her servants and they did eat and then they rose up and went away that night Let's pray dear Lord. I thank you for this opportunity to come back to your house I pray that you feel past with your spirit and help us to learn something. In Jesus' name. Amen Hey man, so you're there in 1st Samuel chapter 28 and we're getting to the end of the book here but This story here is what? dealing with The witch at Endor now, it doesn't call her a witch but at the same time she has a familiar spirit So I'm gonna get in some verses in that but definitely an interesting story here where Samuel is brought back To basically speak to Saul and so definitely very miraculous type of event here. And so Let's get into the story here now in verse 1 It says and it came to pass in those days that the Philistines gathered their armies together for warfare to fight with Israel And Achish said unto David know thou assuredly that thou shalt go out with me to battle Thou and thy men. Now if you remember in the last chapter David flees to the Philistines and basically Gets in good with Achish the king of Gath, right? So he basically is joining with them and they give him the zik lag to basically stay and all of his men and and so basically he's just kind of In asylum if you will like, you know, he's taking up asylum in the in this Philistia and so We basically ended it end of chapter 27 with the fact that it that David states that he basically went into South Judah, but if you remember he only killed those that were basically the remnant of the Canaanites That were not really Israelites They were there But he basically just destroyed all of them and he didn't really destroy those that were of Israel he basically destroyed just those that were thorns in the side of Israel and So now they're gonna go against Israel itself And if you remember Achish at the end says, you know, basically David has made his name to stink among Israel He'll be my servant forever. So at this point Achish thinks well David he'll just he'll take out all of Israel right and Notice David's response because basically Achish is stating David you're you and your men are gonna come with me. We're going out We're gonna go basically fight Israel right and David said to Achish surely thou shalt know what thy servant can do Now he doesn't say yes. I'm gonna go destroy Israel, right? He just makes he makes a statement You know what I can do, right? It's kind of like, you know What I'm capable of right and so notice how David I don't believe David was actually gonna go destroy Israel because when you read through the story, you're like, what is David doing? He's like teaming up with with the Philistines He you know, he's gonna go to battle with them And obviously the Lord basically stops this from happening the next chapter spoiler alert He doesn't actually go out to battle with the Philistines And I believe the Lord is really kind of holding him back from even being in that situation But the thing is is that Achish You know basically Has full confidence that David is going to do What he wants them to do and it says and Achish said to David therefore Will I make the keeper of mine head forever? Okay, so At this point David and his men are set to go into battle against Israel all of that verse three here. I I love this verse right here is really just setting us up for this story that's about to happen Okay notice what says here in verse three it says now Samuel was dead and All Israel had lamented him and buried him and Rhema Even in his own city and Saul had put away those that had familiar spirits in the wizards out of the land Now if you didn't know what this chapter was about you'd be like, why is this being brought up? Right? You're like, okay Cuz in chapter 25 we see that Samuel died right chapter 25 verse 1 it says in Samuel died and all the Israelites were gathered together and lamented him and buried him in in his house at Rhema and So we know that he died Now you say well, how long has he been dead? Well basically if David that is coming to the end of David being in the land of the Philistines How long was David in the land of the Philistines for a year and four months, right? And really this is going to be coming to the end because he's not gonna go to battle all of this But I'd say probably a year that at least that he's been dead And the thing that's interesting about this is that there's a famous writer. There's a famous book out there Charles Dickens a Christmas story or not a Christmas story. That's that's a movie. I don't like Okay Christmas Carol Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens and Who here has ever read the actual story you probably seen like the the film but you've read the actual book Okay, well the book starts off It's actually pretty funny how it starts off But I want to read to you just a little bit of how it starts off and what the point I'm trying to make here Is that the Bible sets up the story? Just like Charles Dickens, but really Charles Dickens set up his story like the Bible sets up the story okay, and the kind of the point that I want to make here is that The Bible is a litter literary masterpiece Okay meaning this is that people are taking steps from the Bible and like a lot of the best well the best stories that are out there and The best books that were written are basically following suit with how the Bible and how God's Word is written okay, and I want I'm just gonna read a little bit of You forgive me But I just think that this is kind of the when I read this I'm when I was reading this and I'm studying this I Was like this is just like how a Christmas listen what happens in the story Samuel is brought back from the dead Okay, and he has a conversation with Saul Anybody here that's ever read the story of a Christmas Carol or seen the movie? You have Marley coming back from the dead. Okay, but this is how the whole book This is the first line of the book Marley was dead to begin with That's how it starts, okay Marley was dead to begin with there is no doubt whatever Whatever about that the register of his burial was signed by the clergyman the clerk the undertaker and the chief mourner Scrooge signed it and Scrooge's name was good upon change for anything He chose to put his name to old Marley was as dead as a doornail and literally the next paragraph is Is Charles Dickens basically talking about why he doesn't know why dead of the door at dead as a doornail is even a thing He's like, I don't know what's so dead about a doornail Like literally I'm laughing the first time I've ever read this story. I was just like, are you serious? This is like we're gonna talk about how dead a doornail is But then it goes on to say the mention of Marley's funeral brings me back to the point I started from there is no doubt that Marley was dead This must be distinctly understood or nothing wonderful can come of the story. I'm a going I am going to relate Meaning that one of them, you know whether you like that story or not, okay Charles Dickens is known for I mean, he's a well-known writer with his literary work the point I'm trying to make is that the Bible is Always the trendsetter when it comes to this Listen, the story this story was written before Charles Dickens wrote his story I don't know if you know this Charles Dickens was like an 18th century writer, you know, like so, you know This is way after First Samuel was written and so the Bible is always Kind of setting the trends when it comes to literary work and all of that And so I just think that's interesting because This really does set you up the whole point of this verse is to show you this is a marvelous thing That Samuel's talking in this passage Right Samuel is speaking in this passage and he is dead right? It's kind of like he was dead We're yes, it even basically says they lamented for him. They buried him, right? It's like it's known he's dead But also it's known that Saul put out all the wizards and all those that have familiar spirits why is that stated because he goes to a woman with a familiar spirit and Then he talks to Samuel who's dead Okay So I just think that's interesting how the Bible will kind of set you up with You need to know this before you go forward, right? This must be known before you move forward here because if you're just reading this, okay Obviously most people should read chapter 25 before you get to chapter 28, right? But if you're just reading this story that's about to happen here and you don't know that Samuel's dead You're gonna be like, what's the big deal? Right Samuel's talking to Saul and if you're just reading this and Samuel's going back and forth. You just be like, okay, you know Same story different day except for the fact that Samuel's dead, right? It's like this is very pertinent information All right, maybe you didn't care about that But I think that you know what I was reading this couldn't help but think about how just a literary kind of genius of the Bible and just how it sets you up for the story and Just that's a tool that you aren't realizing when you're reading through the Bible That if there's tools like that that God uses to really set up a story and to you know Really make it a master masterpiece. And so anyway First same was after 28 in verse 4 Saul first of all tries to inquire of the Lord You know the right way, you know as far as not going to like a witch not going to someone with a familiar spirit verse 4 it says in the Philistines gather themselves together and came and pitched and Shunem and Saul gathered all Israel together and they pitched in Gilboa and when Saul saw the host of the Philistines He was afraid and he and his heart Greatly trembled and when Saul inquired the Lord the Lord answered him not neither by dreams nor by Urim nor by prophets So obviously God who at sundry times and divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets There was different ways that Urim is talking about the priests. Okay, so the priests would have the Urim and the thummim which I don't believe we can really speak particularly about what that is, but Basically you're dealing with it's kind of like he didn't he wouldn't talk to him in a dream He wouldn't speak to him with the priests. He wouldn't speak to him through the prophets Basically any way that he went God was just not talking to him so He goes to a familiar spirit But the thing that I want you to think about here is that I do believe Saul saved and you know Some people are gonna be like, well, he's reprobate and therefore God's done with him But what you gotta understand is that as a Christian if you're in sin God may not hear your prayers Okay, doesn't mean that you're not a child of God, but notice what go to first Peter chapter 3 first Peter chapter 3 first Peter chapter 3 and verse 10 You know, it's always funny when people are just like where's God at, you know when something terrible happens or whatever It's like well you weren't talking to him when things were good. Why? Should he talk to you when things are bad? So Or they're like living wicked lives and just like why is it God, you know, why isn't God answering me? Why isn't God blessing me? Listen, he has set before us blessing and cursing and it's based off whether we keep his commandments in this life As far as whether we're blessed in this life or whether we're being cursed in this life And so this is something that as Christians. Yeah, we have eternal life and we can never lose our salvation But in this life you want the blessings of God you want protection from God you want safety from God Then you need to keep his commandments Then you need to love the Lord and you need to keep his commandments and in verse 10 here and Saul obviously is not keeping the commandments, right? He's killing priests He's going after David a man for God's own heart that God has annoyed be king He's obviously doing a lot of wicked stuff and in verse 10 it says for he had He that had he that will love life and see good days Let him refrain his tongue from evil in his lips that they speak no guile Let him eschew evil and do good let him seek peace and ensue it for the eyes of the Lord are Over the righteous and his ears are open unto their prayers But the face of the Lord is against them to do evil Listen, yeah, this is true for unsaved people But this is definitely true for saved people that if you're doing that, which is right It says the Lord is beholding you and his ears are open unto your prayers and your prayers Aren't answered one because you're asking miss because you consume it upon your own lust but also because you're not doing those things which are pleasing in his sight and That is something that we have to understand that our prayers need to be according to his will they need to be obviously, you know Things that we're not consuming upon our lusts We need to ask it in faith But one of the big requirements there for your prayers to be answered is that you're doing those things that you're pleasing in his sight That you're keeping his commandments and that's really listen the the the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man abaleth much and It's not that God doesn't hear it like he can't hear Right, like he's not able to hear somebody that's you know A sinner that's praying when it's talking about like his ears are open unto their prayers. It's the fact that he's listening, right? He's act. He's he's he's listening to what you're saying Obviously knows you're talking He knows you're asking for something But if you're if you're just belligerently going against his will at all times and then you're asking for him to do something for you You know, that's where Saul's at right now. Saul is rock bottom The you know, but he is I mean he's killing he had 85 priests killed right those that were a linen ephod and then do I went and just killed the whole town Didn't do anything about that He's constantly going after David all the things that he's doing there And so it's no marvel that God's not speaking to him and really Saul is in a spot where he's without remedy not spiritually speaking But physically speaking and there is a sin unto death for saved people Right, there is a sin not unto death, right If you see your brother sin a sin, which is not a death she'll ask and he shall give him life for them to sin not unto death and Then but it says but you know those that sin unto death. I do not say that you should pray for it All on righteousness is sin and there is a sin not unto death Meaning that not every sin that everybody commits is like worthy of death and has the death sentence on them, right? But there are sins that people can commit to where they're worthy of death and Saul is at that point And David already mentioned that he's gonna die in battle or something's gonna happen to him. And and really this is the point where Saul is going to die and there's really no way out You know, God's not answering him and even when he talks to Samuel, you know, what Samuel's response is you're gonna die, right? you're done and You know that it's his time he's going down and so in verse 7 here It he seeks a woman with a familiar spirit, so basically You know all this stuff isn't working God's not answering me. So I need to find Somebody I need to find a witch I need to find a wizard, you know I need to find someone with a familiar spirit. That seems like the logical conclusion to come to right and Verse 7 it says then Saul Then said Saul unto a servant seek me a woman that hath a familiar spirit That I may go to her and inquire of her and his servant said unto him behold There is a woman that hath a familiar spirit at Endor. So this is where you know Most people would call this like the story of the witch at Endor You can say the woman with a familiar spirit at Endor, but it just doesn't roll off the tongue as well Right now woman with a familiar spirit anyway The thing is though obviously What Saul did when he took all the those with familiar spirits and wizards out of the land that was right thing to do I'll just give you just some verses here and you could follow me on this This this, you know I guess diatribe if you want to call it that on just verses against like witches and wizards and all that but in verse Exodus chapter 22 in verse 18. It says thou shalt not suffer a witch to live so Those that are witches and listen you say well witches aren't real. I Mean why would the Bible is gonna have capital punishment on something that's not real Right No, which is our real wizards are real and what you're dealing with are those that are dealing with devils Okay, and really all these different things witches wizards necromancers Charmers like all these different things are all the same thing but kind of different flavors If you want to think of it that way, it's like they're all dealing with familiar spirits. They're all dealing with devils and stuff like that But it's just kind of different flavors of the same. It's kind of like, you know, what's the difference between the tarot card reader and You know the the psychic, you know Is there is a really a dip, you know, like the median that's gonna talk to like, you know The necromancer or something like that. Is there really much of a difference between them? They're really the same just different flavors You know different ways of doing the same thing Leviticus 19 verse 31. I know you all need convinced that witches and wizards are bad, but I'm gonna do it anyway, so So in verse 31, so Leviticus chapter 19 verse 31 It says regard not them that have familiar spirits neither seek after wizards to be defiled by them I am the Lord your God Leviticus 20 27 a man also or a woman that has a familiar spirit or that is a wizard just surely be put to death They shall stone them with stones their blood shall be upon them Deuteronomy 18 verse 10 Deuteronomy 18 verse 10 Deuteronomy 18 verse 10 and this is where you kind of see I Guess a lot of the different names. Okay. And again, I think you're dealing with the same thing You're just dealing with different flavors of the same thing It says in Deuteronomy 18 verse 10 it says there shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire or that uses divination or observer of times or an enchanter or a witch or a charmer or a Consultor with familiar spirits or a wizard or a necromancer You're like what's a necromancer? Well? Necro it means like dead. So you're talking about people that speak with the dead kind of thing Okay, you're like, well, can they really speak with the dead? Well in this story it actually does happen Okay, but I think most time you're dealing with people speaking with devils Okay, and really the only dead people that you ever see coming back are saved people The one exception that I see to that role is the Antichrist That comes back from the dead, okay but all the cases that I see in the Bible of anybody coming back from the dead saved and And I'm not talking about the resurrection, you know, obviously that's all gonna happen and they're gonna Resurrection adjust and the unjust I get it but the resurrecting the unjust are still dead. Okay, they don't actually come back to life now You don't have to turn there But in Isaiah 8 19 says this and when they shall say unto you seek unto them that have familiar spirits and unto wizards That peep and that mutter Should not a people seek unto their God for the living to the dead And so you can think about like well, who are these witches? Who are these? I mean think about the people that are peeping and muttering and like chanting enchanters, chanters, murmurers, like all these different things when it comes to like what they're doing and You know Pentecostals are definitely in that group when it comes to peeping and muttering but obviously there's people that don't call themselves Christian that do these type of things and Chants and spells and whatever, right? so obviously Not a good thing something that you should stay away from and the thing is that You know Saul did get rid of all of them. So it's setting you up right? He got rid of all these now he's going to one and The woman that has a familiar spirit knows that Saul got rid of them and then he made this decree because she's afraid To even like do anything even though at the time she doesn't know it's Saul Okay, it says in verse 8 so first Samuel chapter 28 in verse 8 and Saul disguised himself And put on other raiment and he went and two men with him and they came to the woman by night And he said I pray thee divine unto me by the familiar spirit. So you're dealing with the divination Familiar spirit. I believe you're dealing with a witch right? It's I mean tomato tomato, right? someone with a familiar spirit is either wizard or witch and so Anyway Going on from there. It says and bring him I'm sorry. I pray thee divine unto me by the familiar spirit and bring me him up whom I shall name unto thee So he's basically asking he's not asking for her to inquire of the Lord He's going there as a purpose. He wants to talk to Samuel and Notice what it says here in verse 9. It says and the woman said unto him behold thou knowest That what Saul had done how he hath cut off those that have familiar spirits and the Wizards out of the land Wherefore then layest thou a snare for my life to cause me to die? So she's basically like what are you doing? Like no, you know like that Saul, you know what Saul's commanded So she's not exactly Seeming like she wants to like do this Or that she's baby doing this all the time or anything like that right because at again at the moment she doesn't know this is Saul right She thinks probably this is just some random guy that's wanting this to be done and she's basically like no No, right So basically his decree worked really well to the point where you have people that people know This person is known for this and when someone comes to her to do it. She's like You know, I don't want to die So when you think about what you're like, well, will the death penalty be a deterrent case in point Case in point you have people that actively were known for it that are afraid to do it because of the death penalty And you're like, how do you know it's definitely because she's talking about dying. That's how and the Bible obviously States that's what the penalty for it is Now Saul it says in Saul's swear to her by the Lord saying as the Lord liveth there shall no Punishment happen to thee for this thing so basically he's like this you're not gonna get punished all this stuff and Then it says in verse 11 then then said the woman whom shall I bring up unto thee and he said bring me up Samuel and When the woman saw Samuel she cried with a loud voice and the woman spake to Saul saying why hast thou Deceived me for thou art Saul now the thing that I want you to notice here with the story is that this woman The narrator saying she saw Samuel So anybody that's looking at the story and thinks that well, she says she saw Samuel But was it really Samuel was this really Samuel here She never said she saw Samuel actually when you read this whole story nowhere Does she even know this is Samuel or that she's telling Saul I saw Samuel or anything like that Saul's the one that is figuring out it must be Samuel by the description. Okay the narrator is Stating that it's Samuel and then the narrator is saying Samuel said right So there is no doubt that this is Samuel, okay and but When she sees Samuel, which I don't believe she even knows who this is like what's going on Somehow she realizes this is Saul Right that this is so I think she's surprised to see anything right? It's kind of like, you know A lot of these people are charlatans and a lot of these people like they may be dealing with devils But a lot of times it's all made up mumbo-jumbo, right? It's not I'm not saying Devils can't do things and they can't like speak to demons stuff like that but when it comes to raising up the dead, I Think in a lot of cases this it's a bunch of they're just making up stuff, right? They're like, oh I'm talking to your grandfather. No, you're talking to a devil who's saying it's their grandfather I don't know, you know, like obviously the Devils can lie. I mean if if the Devils if If Satan's the prince of the Devils and he's the father of a lie then it's no Marvel whether that all his angels are all his Devils are gonna be liars too, but So I want you to note that okay, there is no doubt the narrator stating that this is Samuel and the woman is obviously You know shocked by what she's seeing But notice in verse 13 it says and the king said unto her be not afraid for what saw us down so All she said Was your soul? Right, so she sees this she shocked the narrator saying she saw Samuel so But if you're in her shoes What is she gonna say that she saw? Okay So this is what she said she saw and the woman said and saw I saw gods ascending out of the earth now Obviously, it wasn't really gods ascending out of the earth, you know, this is where the Mormons would probably be like see there it is There's gods, you know, it's like because some woman with a familiar spirit said she saw gods coming out of the earth Okay, there you go. I mean, that's probably I'll say this that's better proof than your golden tablets read by Joseph You know Smith or whatever You got more validation, you know with at least that woman's real, you know anyway So she says she saw gods ascending out of the earth Okay now what you keep seeing here and this is is that he's come up he's coming up out of the earth all these different things and This is where those that Believe in some kind of like holding chamber for the Old Testament Saints will take you Okay, and I'll say well see Samuels coming up and he's coming up out of the earth and that's where you know Paradise is at No in hell Have fun, you know, but what you gotta understand is that what I want to show you here is that He Saw what she saw was Someone that came up out of their grave Okay, and I believe this next verse is really gonna prove that point because notice what it says in verse 14 And he said unto her what form is he of? Okay, so the narrator saying it's Samuel she's like I saw gods ascending up out of the earth right so at this point He's understanding it's just one person she's saying gods it's kind of like when they make a golden cabinet behold thy gods, you know It's like I thought it was one calf But they are always putting multiple gods, you know with one one object, right? But it says here What what form is he up and she said an old man cometh up and he is covered with a mantle Okay so Let me ask you this when you die You know and yeah, because they want you to think that he like came up out of paradise and he's like You know coming up at floating up out of the earth like a specter, you know, and he's just floating in so You know, this isn't Star Wars. Okay when you die, you don't just like stay the age that you die Okay You're just old, you know and decrepit if you die at an old age That's the way you're gonna be for all eternity. Your spirits is gonna be old The the truth of the matter is is that he was old when he died right very clear before Saul's ever made King it's very clear like he's gray headed he's old and He dies at a very old age Okay, and probably he was covered with his mantle meaning a mantle talking about like a garment like that you would wear, right? and he was covered with that when he was buried and he's coming up out of the earth because he's physically coming out of his grave and He's speaking to him bodily or speaking to this woman and speaking and all of that Bodily and it says and Saul perceived that it was Samuel and he stooped with his face to the ground and bowed himself now, you know The Woman doesn't know what saying is that it's Samuel now. She probably does because Saul's like it's Samuel, right? So I want you to get that the woman that's seeing this She's just seen this miraculous event. Like I've seen gods ascending up out of the earth, right? So I don't know about you But I'm not gonna take the word of a woman with a familiar spirit on what she's really seeing I'm gonna take what the Bible says, you know I'm gonna take the narrator the narrator says it's Samuel that she saw and then Saul even realizes that hey this is Samuel and Notice what Samuel says, okay, which is another clue that this is really Samuel and Samuel said to Saul, okay, the narrator's right Right. I mean this can't just be some made-up story That's just fabricated or some, you know imagination of this woman This has nothing to do with the woman then the narrator is stating that Samuel said to Saul Okay Says why hast thou disquieted me to bring me up? This is where people are gonna be like, well see it's soul sleep, right? Samuel's soul is asleep except for the fact we're talking about his body coming up out of the earth and it's being disquieted Because when you die in Christ, you're sleeping in Jesus, right? So he's asleep in the earth is because his body's dead and even when Lazarus was dead. Remember it says Lazarus sleepeth And they're like, well, it's good, you know, he's taking rest And then he had said plainly to them Lazarus is dead Okay, so they understood what he was talking about But when he's talking about sleeping, he's talking about the body sleeping, right? Jesus is the firstfruits of them that slept So it makes actually a lot more sense okay, because you know, I want to say this to the To those that believe in this lower chamber of like this this non-burning part of hell paradise It's in there, right? Do they also believe in soul sleep? Do they also believe that basically souls are just like unconscious like sleeping Because you kind of have to take everything with this right if you're gonna say that this is his soul coming up out of this You know paradise chamber down in hell then you have to why is his soul being disquieted Right and so This is clearly talking about his body and it says in Saul and Saul answered I am sort of stressed for the Philistines make war against me and God is departed from me and answer with me No more neither by prophets nor by dreams. Therefore I have called thee that thou mayest make known unto me what I shall do Now I want to give you an example of Another place where people come up out of their graves and are seen by people Okay, go to Matthew chapter 27, Matthew chapter 27 And I believe you're dealing with the same type of thing only in this case You're not dealing with a woman of a familiar spirit doing this this I believe is done by the Lord. Okay and verse 50 so Matthew 27 verse 50 So Hopefully that whole verse verse 3 set us up for this, right Samuel's dead Right Samuel's dead. This must be distinctly understood. No, I'm just kidding This needs but that definitely helps set this up like whoa, what's going on here? Why Samuel talking here? He's dead. But also he goes to a woman familiar spirit and then she's like Don't you know what Saul said? Why is it all we already know that Saul commanded them to all be taken out of the land? so That verse 3 just sets you up for this whole story now And in Matthew 27 verse 50 says Jesus when he had cried again with a loud voice Yielded up the ghost and behold the veil of the temple was rent and twain from the top to the bottom And the earth did quake and the rocks rent notice this in verse 52 and the graves were opened and many what? bodies of the Saints which slept arose and Came out of the graves after his resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared unto many Now in that whole story, what's the main point that's being made there their bodies came up out of the graves And who are who are these people is just anybody no Saints We're dealing with believers here So when it's like well, you know, can you talk to Saints, you know that are dead can you talk to you know? Believers that are dead. Well, I mean there's obviously stories where you know They're in a vision and they're speaking to people in heaven, right so that can happen But really when you see that happening on earth There's bodies that are associated with that Even Moses and Elijah we don't really know but it seems like They were actually bodily there Okay, you're like, well, how can that be? How's this the story right? How did how was that when they came up out of the graves and I don't believe it was like tales of the crypt Like they were like, you know zombie looking creatures. Okay, I Think that they look just like how they look when they died right So, you know I don't think that saw or Samuel looked like a zombie. I think he just looked the age He he was when he died, you know and the same thing with probably those Saints that they came up out of the graves And all of that. Okay, so So interesting story obviously with that and the fact that Really What you see in Matthew chapter 27 happened with Samuel there for a little bit and God allowed this to happen you say well The the familiar spirit did this I believe God allowed it to happen I don't I don't believe this familiar spirit the the woman and the familiar spirit actually did anything. I think that the Lord Just brought back Samuel to tell him his death sentence, right? It really actually when you look at I believe it's the first chronicles when it talks about this it talks about him dying and Him going to a woman with a familiar spirit is one of the reasons Now In this story, he doesn't state that he states like because you didn't destroy all of Amalek But when you look at first chronicles when it's recounting this story about why Saul's killed in battle it's because he inquired of a woman with a familiar spirit and I don't have that in my notes. I don't know why but That's your homework. Go look that up. So But reading on there and first Sam just after 28 in verse 16 So basically Samuel's like why? Am I here? It's kind of like why am I here? Why am I talking to you right now? Like what's going on? Right and basically Saul's just like yeah, the Lord won't answer me And so I want you to tell me what to do In verse 16 then said Samuel wherefore then dost thou ask of me seeing the Lord is departed from thee and has become thine enemy Which is very valid points. Like what do you want me to do about this, right? It's like how am I supposed to help you if the Lord won't hear you? right and In verse 17 which kind of reminds you of like, you know when it comes to people like oh, you know You should give these reprobates the gospel. It's like Why if God gave up on them? Why should I deal with them? Right? The same thing with you know, it's kind of like well you say well How does that apply to say people the Bible says if a brother sent a sin unto death? I do not say that he shall pray for it Right, I mean if someone has sinned unto death the idea is that we're to pray for him so they don't go that far Right, so they don't you know, so we can save a soul from death, right that that yeah pray for that person Right and help that person out, but there are people that are past that there there's no remedy anymore. Right and at that point You know, what are you gonna do? Like what can you do if the Lord is done with somebody? What do you want us to do about it? Okay So that's what when people are just like you should you know always everybody has hope no, they don't Not everybody has spiritual hope and not everybody has physical hope And specifically what I'm talking about is people that are against the Lord not keeping his commandments that are in sin that are not doing what they should be doing and The fact is the matter is is that what Samuel supposed to do about it and verse 17 Especially since he's dead. He's so like obviously he's in heaven right at the same time. It's like Samuel's done. He's run his course Like he's done. It's kind of like you know You know, they'll be like church members that'll be like pulling me up out of the grave you'd be like, hey What do you want me to do about this? I'm joking, but you kind of think about how people could do that like where they're just like they're so like Dependent on someone telling them what to do That they'll literally be like you must come back to life And so verse 16 You know, he's just basically what you want me to do verse 17 It says in the Lord Lord God I said I'm sorry in the Lord God had done to him as he spake by me for the Lord had to rent the kingdom out of thine hand and Given it to thy neighbor even to David now what's interesting about that verse right there a little bit is how It says the Lord had done to him as he spake by me and the fact that I believe this woman is Maybe interceding there. Okay, meaning this is that the woman may be hearing this and relaying it over to to solve right and You know that could be the reason there but also the thing that I see here Is that it says he's given it to thy neighbor even to David in a New Testament It kind of puts all this together when you look at when it says you That the kingdom is given to a neighbor which is better than now. It doesn't say David right there Okay Now we assess that because he anoints David right later on But here it just blatantly states it right that neighbor That he's given it to David. Okay New Testament all together Okay, you know, it's all put together for you. Okay. So anyway going on from that in verse 18 says because thou obeyedest Obeyedest not the voice of the Lord nor executest his fierce wrath upon Amalek Therefore hath the Lord done this thing unto thee this day So what you have to understand too is I believe you're dealing with two different things, right? There's two things that Saul did one. He didn't destroy all the Amalekites, right? But then he didn't obey the voice of the Lord as Well when it came to that sacrifice, right? There was two kind of events that happened So I think it's hitting on both of those really in this passage. You're dealing with the fact that remember he didn't You know, he didn't wait for Samuel He forced himself and did that sacrifice and then remember it says that your kingdom's not gonna last forever, right? It would have but it's not going to now then he didn't destroy all the Amalekites Remember the you know, what is the bleeding these sheep, you know that I hear and then it says the kingdoms rent from you and you're rejected from being king and so He's bringing that up and then when you go to the first chronicles when it's talking about Saul dying it states that You know also, you know, it's like why did he die that next day? I don't know if he would have died the next day if he wouldn't have done this But it's basically stating that because he consulted with a woman with a familiar spirit. Okay, so We're going on from that. He's basically stating to them, you know, why the Lord's not listening to you In verse 19 moreover the Lord will also deliver Israel with thee into the hand of the Philistines and tomorrow Shall thou and thy sons be with me and the Lord also shall deliver the host of Israel into the hand of the Philistines Then Saul fell straight way all all along straight way all along on the earth And was so afraid because of the words of Samuel and there was no strength in him where he had eaten no bread all the day nor all the night so You know when it when it comes to this, you know he's basically saying like you're gonna die right you got this you got a death sentence and I don't know if we could really know for sure whether that death sentence would have come if he didn't inquire of Meaning like would he have died in battle if he didn't inquire of this this familiar spirit but either way, you know, he dies the next day and When it says you and your son shall, you know, basically shall be with me You could take that in the fact that you're gonna be dead like me, right, but I believe it's Meaning like you're going to be with me, right Meaning like where's Samuel? He's in heaven. That's where Saul is gonna be. That's where his son's gonna anything Jonathan, right? Jonathan is gonna be in heaven You know Saul's and in heaven and I believe that it's kind of twofold. Yeah, your body's gonna be engraved But you're gonna be with me, right? And so I don't think there would be a separation there for him to say like you're gonna be with me Just means you're gonna be in the grave I think it's you're gonna be where I'm at, right? and so You know that that's I believe a strong proof that Saul is a saved man besides the fact that he was an ointment of God You know, he was prophesying with them all these different things I don't believe that he was just some false Believer or anything like that. I think Saul is a great example of how far an a saved person can go and an example of a saved person sinning unto death and It's an unfortunate thing But it is kind of this example that we can see as far as how far can they go down? Solomon's kind of the same way in the fact that you can see like what can I believe or someone with the most wisdom in? The world how far can they go down? You know and what's the downfall right? Because with with Saul you had the downfall of Andy, right? Envy and pride and then Solomon you have the downfall of women So, you know women ultimately caused his heart to basically Not be perfect towards the Lord and all of that and these are all Examples which is why we have the Old Testament is because it's written for our admonition There are examples for you know unto those and to whom the ends of the world are come You know all scripture is profitable For correction for instruction and righteousness, right? the idea is that this is all good because hey we can apply this and say hey, let's not be like Saul and You know, we all have those thoughts like how far can a Christian go and But you don't see here You know what? You don't see with Solomon and you don't see you know with with Saul is you don't see them Basically saying they don't believe in the Lord okay, you don't see him basically saying the Lord doesn't exist and Basically saying nuts of the Lord Solomon. He was doing sacrifices and all this stuff unto the other gods But it's because of his wives. He was trying to please his wives, right? It's not like he's like yeah, this is the true God, you know, like it was you know He didn't he didn't reject God, but he obviously was going against God with what he was doing. Okay, and so These are definitely examples for us to see there and then in verse 21 So basically he's not eating bread and I think this woman it's just interesting about this woman one when Saul came to her I She didn't want to do it I don't personally believe that this woman is probably like some reprobate woman right first you say well She has a familiar spirit how many? People the Jesus cure of unclean spirits, right like I mean Just constantly they're just like and he cast out devils and he cast out devils and he cast out devils, right? So the fact that she's a woman dealing with a familiar spirit doesn't mean that she's like reprobate now That would mean that she's not saved Right because obviously a safe person can't be possessed with the devil But at the same time like I don't think that she's some like reprobate of a person one because she wasn't just like quick Let's do this You want to go against the Lord you want to do this? Let's do it She's like no, like what are you doing? You know, like I don't want to die like what's going on here? and then she does her thing and then afterwards When Saul is basically, you know, like I don't want to eat anything. She has compassion on him and So the the attributes of this woman are not screaming to me like this person's past feeling right It's just the the sad part about this is that did this woman ever get saved, you know and Just the fact that you know Saul who's a saved man is using this woman with them with a unclean spirit with a familiar spirit and you know, I Just it's I guess my you know when I read this story, especially at the end here my heart's broken for this woman to know like hey this woman just like You know, I just hope she got saved, you know by something, you know like she got saved after this or something happened or whatever, but This is the woman came unto Saul and saw that he was sore troubled and said unto him Behold thine handmaid had obeyed thy voice and have put my life in my hand and have Harkened unto thy thy words which thou spake'st unto me now therefore I pray thee Harken thou also unto the voice of thine handmaid and let me set a morsel of bread before thee and eat thou I'm sorry and eat that thou mayest have strength when thou goest on thy way notice that That's all about him, right? I mean, it's kind of like I Took my own life into my hands and this is my request is that you don't famish I want you to think about that type of attitude from an unsaved person dealing with a familiar spirit that her reaction to him and everything that happened was You know, I just don't want you to I don't want you to faint I don't want you to like die here, you know, and you know, maybe there's ulterior motives in that But it says in verse 23, but he refused and said I will not eat but his servants together with the woman compelled him So she's like still urging him like everybody around him's like, please eat something and He hearkened unto their voice so he arose from the earth and sat up sat upon the bed and the woman had a fat calf in the house and she Hasted and killed it and took flour and kneaded it and did bake unleavened bread thereof and she brought it before Saul and before his Servants and they did eat then they rose up and went away that night So, you know this story, you know, it's a witch at Endor, you know, it's like it's this it you know He's dealing with this woman with a familiar spirit, but the woman doesn't seem like the bad guy here Honestly, you know, it's not like I look at this woman to be like this wretched woman right here. You know what I mean? I Honestly, I look at the woman I kind of have a lot of sympathy for I don't have sympathy for Saul Right Saul is he made his bed and he needs to lie in it But his kind of last act here is kind of like making this woman do something that she shouldn't do and You know basically going against the commandment of the king and a commandment of the Lord and then ultimately in the end she has a bunch of compassion on him that she doesn't want him to like faint or die or whatever and so I Kind of when I end this chapter, I kind of just had this Remorse for this woman that she needs to get saved, right? That she you know and it also shows you too, you know There's this weird there's weird doctrine out there that only say people can do right You know, like it's like this idea of like, you know, you know how we know what you're saying is because you do, right? You know that's because it's like unsaved people do right Unsaved people have compassion. I mean Jesus even said that you know, if you love them that love you What thank have you do not even the public ends and you know, it's like it's like Unsaved people love those that love them and that's not wrong He's just making a point that you need to be better than that, right? You need to love those that don't love you, right? You need to love the unlovable, you know As far as like, you know people that are your your enemies, you know that that are persecuting you and that most people wouldn't love because of that and So when I when I I see this I see someone that's unsaved that's being forced to do something that she's like obviously has a proclivity to do and But still has that compassion there still had feeling okay, and Again, the whole New Testament will back me up in this and the fact that just because someone has a familiar spirit doesn't mean that They have no hope of salvation or that their past feeling I think the end of this chapter Really proves that she wasn't past feeling that You know, she obviously is not saved but you know, she still had hope of salvation. So I just wonder, you know How are we gonna see? This woman up in heaven, you know, maybe she got saved later on maybe something happened You know what? I mean where she got saved and just makes you wonder who you might see that you may not think that you would see Right think of a nasty. I mean you read in the Bible you read the story of a nasty and you're just like this guy Right and then you read in second chronicles, you're like, I guess not You know, like I guess he's not and so I think it sometimes it might be interesting Who will meet in heaven when it comes to who ended up getting saved it's got like Nebuchadnezzar I believe Nebuchadnezzar got saved and it that story, you know It was obviously crazy to think about the stuff that he did and he's the king of Babylon But then you think of Darius I think Darius got saved and you just think about the people throughout history that you would never think that would get saved that did and All that. So anyway Definitely interesting story and If you ever read if you ever read that Christmas Carol, then you're gonna remember this sermon hopefully so And then you're gonna all wonder why we had the phrase is that as a doornail but Anyway, very interesting story Obviously doesn't the big thing I wanted to prove there is that this is not teaching soul sleep This is not teaching that there's some holding chamber down in hell called paradise where people are coming up It's just talking about where Samuel's brought up from the dead as far as the grave and it's obviously a miraculous story but He delivers the deaths. He delivers basically the news that Saul's going to die the next day and So that story is gonna come up at the end of the book so we still have a Couple of chapters where things are going to be happening and then we're gonna see that Saul will die Spoiler but and then after that we are gonna go right into second Samuel So the story just picks up where it left off. So really it's just kind of Continuing on so let's end with a word of prayer. Yeah, and they follow we think today. Thank you for your word Thank you for the book of 1st Samuel and just pray that you would help us to Learn lessons from these passages Lord and help us to see What a saved person what a believer can go down into and though we don't want to go down those paths but Lord help us to know these stories so that history doesn't repeat itself and Lord just Help us to obey you Help us to love you and keep your Commandments and Lord. We love you in paralysis in Jesus Christ's name Amen, but they will come and sing one more song And that will be dismissed All right, take your songbooks and turn to song number 41 Song number 41 in your songbooks will sing the sweet by and by if you would stand we'll sing song number 41 There's a land that is fairer than day and by faith we can see For the father waits over the way to prepare us a dwelling place there and the sweet by and by We shall meet on that beautiful shore and the sweet by and by We shall meet on that beautiful shore We shall sing on that beautiful shore The melodious songs of the blast And our spirits shall sorrow no more Not a sigh for a blessing of rest and the sweet