SPEAKER_00: 1 Samuel chapter number 15.
SPEAKER_00: We'll be flipping around a little bit through 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15.
SPEAKER_00: Y'all don't worry.
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to let you out at a pretty good time, all right?
SPEAKER_00: We're not going to dive too deep into all of it.
SPEAKER_00: But last week we looked at a man after God's own heart.
SPEAKER_00: And we focused not mainly on the man, but we focused on the heart.
SPEAKER_00: We looked at the heart of God.
SPEAKER_00: This morning I want to start a study, a series, that it will probably go to about the end of the year.
SPEAKER_00: We're going to be here for a while, okay?
SPEAKER_00: And it's and it's a study on the life of David.
SPEAKER_00: We looked at last week.
SPEAKER_00: David is a man after God's own heart.
SPEAKER_00: All right?
SPEAKER_00: And we're going to do a lot of focusing on the heart, all right?
SPEAKER_00: Because, like we have here on the screen, the heart of the matter is a matter of the heart.
SPEAKER_00: It all comes down to the heart.
SPEAKER_00: And listen, every single one of us, we have one thing in common is that God is pursuing your heart.
SPEAKER_00: God doesn't just want your actions and he doesn't just want your service.
SPEAKER_00: He wants your heart.
SPEAKER_00: And my prayer for this study, my desire is that he won't just cause some behavior modification, but there'll be some heart transformation.
SPEAKER_00: That God will peel back the layers in our heart and dig around a little bit in our heart and maybe make us a little bit uncomfortable about some things.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I know it's good to be uncomfortable in your life because if you get comfortable, then you ain't changing, and God has constantly called us to grow more into the likeness of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: And my heart for this study is that we will become more like Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: That we will love and live more like our Savior.
SPEAKER_00: It all comes down to the heart.
SPEAKER_00: Proverbs 4.23, it says, Guard your heart above all things, above all everything else, because out of it flow the issues of life.
SPEAKER_00: Your words, your actions, your behavior, your attitude, your relationships, your parenting, your marriage, your everything comes back, your obedience.
SPEAKER_00: It all comes back to the heart.
SPEAKER_00: The heart of the matter is a matter of the heart.
SPEAKER_00: And we're going to study this, uh, get into this series, a man after God's own heart.
SPEAKER_00: All right.
SPEAKER_00: But before we do that, we're going to look not at a man after God's own heart, but we're going to look at a man against God's heart.
SPEAKER_00: All right?
SPEAKER_00: Throw your little curveball there, okay?
SPEAKER_00: Say we're studying David, but before we can study David, we have to contrast that with Saul, who is the first king of Israel, David being the second king of Israel.
SPEAKER_00: And Saul, you know, he is polar opposite of David.
SPEAKER_00: And as we look at this study, we're gonna dive into this more and more.
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna see a contrast, not just of two kings, but a contrast of two hearts.
SPEAKER_00: And the and the beauty of David's heart is is brighter, it shines brighter against the backdrop of Saul's heart.
SPEAKER_00: Because while David was a man after God's own heart, Saul was a man that became against God's heart.
SPEAKER_00: David was pursuing God's heart.
SPEAKER_00: Uh Saul was resisting God's heart.
SPEAKER_00: David was humbling himself before God, and Saul was lifted up in pride.
SPEAKER_00: It all comes back to the heart.
SPEAKER_00: Let's not get spiritual right now.
SPEAKER_00: Let's get physical.
SPEAKER_00: All right.
SPEAKER_00: Your heart is pretty important, right?
SPEAKER_00: All right?
SPEAKER_00: It don't matter how, it don't matter how good your hair looks if your heart ain't beaten, you got problems.
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't matter how white your teeth are, if your heart is got problems, you got problems, all right?
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't matter how good everything looks on the outside.
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't matter if you're dressed up in a three-piece suit, you could be dead if your heart's not beaten.
SPEAKER_00: It is what we call a vital organ.
SPEAKER_00: It's pretty important.
SPEAKER_00: All right?
SPEAKER_00: And the thing about the heart is that everything can look good on the outside, but if something's going on with the heart, then you then it ain't good.
SPEAKER_00: It ain't good.
SPEAKER_00: It is a vital organ.
SPEAKER_00: It is important.
SPEAKER_00: And and and physically, people str people struggle.
SPEAKER_00: And y'all know this?
SPEAKER_00: The greatest killer is heart disease.
SPEAKER_00: Y'all know that?
SPEAKER_00: Heart disease.
SPEAKER_00: More than cancer, more than anything else.
SPEAKER_00: Heart disease is the greatest killer.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, one third of people will die with heart disease.
SPEAKER_00: And it's known as a silent killer.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because it creeps in.
SPEAKER_00: Creeps in unnoticed, creeps in undetected, creeps in unaddressed.
SPEAKER_00: But even though it's known as a silent killer, look, there are usually some warning signs.
SPEAKER_00: There's usually some things going on physically.
SPEAKER_00: Shortness of breath.
SPEAKER_00: By the way, if you're dealing with something, go get your heart checked, all right?
SPEAKER_00: All right, don't put it off because it's a silent killer because people do not, they let it go unaddressed and let it go unchecked.
SPEAKER_00: Go to the doctor.
SPEAKER_00: All right?
SPEAKER_00: But it's the same applies spiritually.
SPEAKER_00: There's been many Christians fall and fail and destroy their life because of a heart problem.
SPEAKER_00: Not things on the outside, but something going on on the inside.
SPEAKER_00: The heart of the problem is always a problem with the heart.
SPEAKER_00: And many Christians have ruined their lives, ruined their families, ruined their marriages, ruined their reputation, ruined their witness, ruined their testimony, and even destroyed their life, not because of outside external forces coming against them, but of things going on in the inside of their heart.
SPEAKER_00: Your heart is the mind, the emotions, and the will.
SPEAKER_00: It's who, it's what's going on on the inside of you.
SPEAKER_00: And that's where it all comes down to.
SPEAKER_00: We have to protect, we have to guard, we have to be be careful with our heart.
SPEAKER_00: Saul had a heart problem.
SPEAKER_00: Not physically that we know of, but spiritually, he had a heart problem.
SPEAKER_00: He had a heart condition, he had a heart disease.
SPEAKER_00: And we're gonna look and see that there were warning signs, there were red flags, there were signs that he needed to check up on himself that he would let go unaddressed, undetected, and he just acted like it was no big deal.
SPEAKER_00: And you know what happened?
SPEAKER_00: Saul, it ended, it ended in Saul losing his kingdom, losing his reputation, losing his sanity, losing his mind, losing his family, and eventually losing his life.
SPEAKER_00: And Saul, the first king of Israel, he died in tragedy because of an unaddressed heart issue.
SPEAKER_00: Now, what was Saul's heart issue?
SPEAKER_00: Comes down to one word.
SPEAKER_00: What is it?
SPEAKER_00: Pride.
SPEAKER_00: Man, y'all good y'all some good Bible students this morning.
SPEAKER_00: Pride.
SPEAKER_00: Pride led to Saul's downfall.
SPEAKER_00: Pride led to Saul losing his kingdom, and pride eventually led to Saul committing suicide and dying by his own sword.
SPEAKER_00: Pride was, he went down a path of pride.
SPEAKER_00: And here's what's sobering is I don't think Saul woke up one day and said, I think I'm just gonna go down this path to ruin my life.
SPEAKER_00: I think I'm just gonna go down this path of ruining every good thing in my life, ruining my calling and losing my kingdom and losing my son and losing my life.
SPEAKER_00: Saul didn't go wake up one day and say, I'm just gonna go down this path and ruin my life.
SPEAKER_00: It happened one day at a time, one heart issue at a time that he let go unaddressed, undetected, and unchecked.
SPEAKER_00: And this morning I want us to look at Saul, but really I want us to look at ourselves.
SPEAKER_00: Because we all got a little Saul in us.
SPEAKER_00: We all got a heart.
SPEAKER_00: Listen, here's the thing.
SPEAKER_00: Here's where it gets, here's where it hits home.
SPEAKER_00: We all struggle with the same disease that Saul struggled with.
SPEAKER_00: We all struggle with a heart condition of pride.
SPEAKER_00: And if you're here this morning and you're like checked out already, and you say, well, this sermon don't apply to me, then you're probably one of the most prideful in here.
SPEAKER_00: Told y'all this ain't gonna be comfortable.
SPEAKER_00: If if if you're like, well, I'm pro I'm I'm the most humble person I know, then you are prideful about your humility.
SPEAKER_00: You're like that old country song, Lord, it's hard to be humble when you're perfect in every way, right?
SPEAKER_00: Man, this sermon don't apply to me.
SPEAKER_00: You you are the first one.
SPEAKER_00: We all struggle with this disease of pride, and and if we think we don't, then we're too prideful to realize that we struggle with pride.
SPEAKER_00: Just like Saul was, you're just going with it.
SPEAKER_00: And it's gonna end up destroying your life if you're not careful.
SPEAKER_00: And destroying every, look, every good thing in your life will be destroyed by pride.
SPEAKER_00: C.S.
SPEAKER_00: Lewis said, it is the utmost evil, it is the anti-God state of mind.
SPEAKER_00: And pride will lead to destruction.
SPEAKER_00: It always leads to a fall, right?
SPEAKER_00: Proverbs 16, 18.
SPEAKER_00: Uh pride cometh before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.
SPEAKER_00: It always leads to a fall.
SPEAKER_00: Adam and Eve fell in the garden into sin because of pride.
SPEAKER_00: Satan fell from heaven because of pride.
SPEAKER_00: He wanted to lift himself up as God, right?
SPEAKER_00: It all comes back to pride.
SPEAKER_00: And we all are in danger of this heart disease.
SPEAKER_00: So let's just go ahead as we get into this and not look at everybody else.
SPEAKER_00: That's pride, by the way.
SPEAKER_00: Pride will say, Oh, this sermon's good for this person that I know.
SPEAKER_00: That's pride.
SPEAKER_00: Let's I want to just let y'all know beforehand.
SPEAKER_00: I don't want to wait till after the sermon where you've then thought of every single person on your friends list.
SPEAKER_00: I want you to know beforehand, let's turn the magnifying glass on ourselves.
SPEAKER_00: Don't even think about anybody else and let God do a heart examination on you.
SPEAKER_00: Let him search your heart.
SPEAKER_00: Let him dig around in it.
SPEAKER_00: Let him look get real with him, all right?
SPEAKER_00: Because we all struggle with pride.
SPEAKER_00: The greatest threat to your life is not outward failure, but it's inward pride.
SPEAKER_00: Now I want to look at Saul, we're gonna skip through his life real quick this morning and try to get to David next week.
SPEAKER_00: Uh we'll see how that goes because we have a lot to cover.
SPEAKER_00: So I want you to look in your Bibles.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, first, let me give you the first point here.
SPEAKER_00: As we look at Saul, we see pride resulted in a few things.
SPEAKER_00: We see some evidences of pride.
SPEAKER_00: We see some red flags of pride in his life that we need to look at ourselves and see if they exist there.
SPEAKER_00: Number one is this pride exalts self above God.
SPEAKER_00: Pride exalts yourself above God.
SPEAKER_00: Now, really quick, uh, if you if you have your Bibles, if you want to turn there, I might have it on the screen or not, but but 1 Samuel chapter 9, we see Saul started well.
SPEAKER_00: He started well.
SPEAKER_00: Look at chapter 9, verse number 1.
SPEAKER_00: There was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish, the son of Abel, the son of Zaror, the son of Becharath, the son of Aphiah, the Benjamite.
SPEAKER_00: Look at this, a mighty man of power.
SPEAKER_00: Saul's lineage, he came from a mighty man of power.
SPEAKER_00: And in verse number two, he had a choice and handsome son whose name was Saul.
SPEAKER_00: Not only was he handsome, it says, there was not a more handsome person than he among the children of Israel.
SPEAKER_00: Saul got it going on.
SPEAKER_00: Saul would put us to shame, fellas.
SPEAKER_00: Like I said last week, he was tall, he was dark, and he was handsy.
SPEAKER_00: Handsy, handsome.
SPEAKER_00: How do I know he was handsome?
SPEAKER_00: How do I know he was tall?
SPEAKER_00: It goes on to say, from his shoulders upward, he was taller than any other people.
SPEAKER_00: So Saul looked the part of a king.
SPEAKER_00: He was he was the people's choice.
SPEAKER_00: God chose him as king.
SPEAKER_00: He looked the part, he was taller than everybody.
SPEAKER_00: He was more handy, he looked good on the outside.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: But we're gonna look as we go through it.
SPEAKER_00: There was something drastically wrong on the inside.
SPEAKER_00: But it starts out good.
SPEAKER_00: He's chosen as king in chapter 9, he's anointed as king in chapter 10, he wins his first battle in chapter 11, but then in chapter 13, everything starts going downhill.
SPEAKER_00: Pride starts creeping in.
SPEAKER_00: In chapter 13, verse number 3.
SPEAKER_00: I want you to look at it.
SPEAKER_00: It says, And Jonathan attacked the garrison of the Philistines that was in Geba, and the Philistines heard of it.
SPEAKER_00: Then look at this.
SPEAKER_00: Then Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, Let the Hebrews hear.
SPEAKER_00: Now all Israel heard it said that Saul attacked the garrison of the Philistines.
SPEAKER_00: Now, what's the big deal in that?
SPEAKER_00: Who attacked the Philistines?
SPEAKER_00: Jonathan.
SPEAKER_00: Who took the credit?
SPEAKER_00: Saul.
SPEAKER_00: What does pride do?
SPEAKER_00: It always wants the recognition.
SPEAKER_00: It always wants the attention.
SPEAKER_00: It always wants the spotlight.
SPEAKER_00: And in fact, pride, and we can look at Saul, but I want you to look at yourself.
SPEAKER_00: Pride will even get jealous when other people get the attention than you.
SPEAKER_00: Pride will get jealous whenever when other people are being lifted up and you're not, when people are praising others and you're not getting the praise.
SPEAKER_00: That's a subtle form of pride.
SPEAKER_00: Heard a story one time of a proud turtle.
SPEAKER_00: I don't think it's a true story.
SPEAKER_00: But there's this turtle who was in a pond, and this turtle, he was, he was more prideful than any other turtles.
SPEAKER_00: He would get up on his stump and he would look down over all the other turtles, and he was like, I'm the king of this pond.
SPEAKER_00: And then this turtle looked up and he saw some birds flying above his head.
SPEAKER_00: And he's like, Well, I'm not as high as them.
SPEAKER_00: I want to get higher.
SPEAKER_00: And he came up with this idea.
SPEAKER_00: He saw some geese in the pond.
SPEAKER_00: He's like, Look, I'm gonna get this stick and y'all hold it with both ends of your mouth, and I'm gonna grab hold of this stick and y'all take me flying.
SPEAKER_00: I want to be high like y'all are.
SPEAKER_00: So the the geese took the stick, they're holding it on each side, and the turtle bites onto it, and they take off with him, and he's flying across the sky, and people are looking.
SPEAKER_00: It's like, my goodness, look how amazing that is.
SPEAKER_00: Who in the world thought of such a great idea?
SPEAKER_00: You know, those birds must have come up with that.
SPEAKER_00: Who would come up with such a great idea?
SPEAKER_00: And the turtle could not help it anymore.
SPEAKER_00: He said, Me.
SPEAKER_00: Pride that's a terrible joke, man.
SPEAKER_00: Pride.
SPEAKER_00: That just hit me, y'all.
SPEAKER_00: I don't think that was the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: That was just pride will lead to a fall.
SPEAKER_00: Pride always wants the attention.
SPEAKER_00: Pride cannot help handle someone else getting the credit.
SPEAKER_00: So we see it's not a big deal, but Saul was subtly, we see, subtly we see pride creeping in his life.
SPEAKER_00: And then that leads to farther down in chapter 13, we see his first great sin.
SPEAKER_00: Now, just real quick context.
SPEAKER_00: Well, let's read it.
SPEAKER_00: Verse number eight.
SPEAKER_00: Then he waited seven days.
SPEAKER_00: They're going to battle with the Philistines.
SPEAKER_00: He waited seven days.
SPEAKER_00: Saul waited seven days according to the time set by Samuel.
SPEAKER_00: But Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the people were scattered from him.
SPEAKER_00: So Saul said, Bring a burnt offering and peace offering here to me.
SPEAKER_00: And he offered the burnt offering.
SPEAKER_00: Now, so what is what is the big deal here?
SPEAKER_00: Saul and his army are loading up, getting ready to go to battle.
SPEAKER_00: And before they do that, it's required that they offer a sacrifice, which is an act of worship before they go to battle.
SPEAKER_00: They're offering a sacrifice as an act of worship before they go into battle, proclaiming and revealing their dependence upon God.
SPEAKER_00: That's what they were called to do.
SPEAKER_00: All right, and by the way, it'd be a good idea for us before we wake up and go throughout our day and start battling the things of this world, that we first offer an act of worship to God.
SPEAKER_00: And we set up an altar of sacrifice of ourself.
SPEAKER_00: So, so they're called to offer a sacrifice.
SPEAKER_00: Samuel told Saul, Samuel, who is the prophet and he is the priest ruling in that day, he tells Saul to wait seven days until I get there.
SPEAKER_00: And what is so important about that?
SPEAKER_00: Only a priest could offer a sacrifice.
SPEAKER_00: A king could not offer a sacrifice.
SPEAKER_00: That was out of his lane, so to speak.
SPEAKER_00: He was not uh commanded, he was not uh allowed to offer a sacrifice.
SPEAKER_00: So what did Saul do?
SPEAKER_00: Saul exalted himself and said, Well, seven days is up, Samuel's not here.
SPEAKER_00: I know God said not to offer a sacrifice, a king couldn't do it, I know that a priest should do it.
SPEAKER_00: I know Samuel told me to wait, but Saul in his pride and his impatience, in his haste, he said, I will offer the sacrifice.
SPEAKER_00: Doesn't seem like a big deal, but what is it?
SPEAKER_00: It's deliberately disobeying the word of God.
SPEAKER_00: We see pride continuing to get the best of Saul.
SPEAKER_00: And and and we see that this pride kept going on and on, unchecked.
SPEAKER_00: There was no, there was no evidence of repentance, no evidence of remorse.
SPEAKER_00: Saul didn't say, Oh, I'm I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that.
SPEAKER_00: He he just let it go.
SPEAKER_00: And then it leads to the final straw in chapter 15, the the straw that broke the camel's back, chapter 15, we see in verse number one, let's read verse number one.
SPEAKER_00: It says, Samuel also said to Saul, The Lord sent me to anoint you king over his people over Israel.
SPEAKER_00: Now therefore, heed the voice of the words of the Lord, and thus says the Lord of hosts.
SPEAKER_00: This is what God is saying to Samuel to say to Saul.
SPEAKER_00: He says, I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, how he ambushed him on the way when he came up from Egypt.
SPEAKER_00: Now go and attack Amalek and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them.
SPEAKER_00: But kill both man and women, infant, and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel, and donkey.
SPEAKER_00: So what is God telling Saul to do?
SPEAKER_00: He's saying, Wipe out the Amalekites completely.
SPEAKER_00: Utterly destroy all of them.
SPEAKER_00: And we look at this and we're like, that seems pretty harsh, but the Amalekites were enemies of God.
SPEAKER_00: They were evil, they were cruel, they were constantly a problem to the nation of Israel, and God had had enough.
SPEAKER_00: His judgment was about to fall on the Amalekites, and he said, Wipe them out completely.
SPEAKER_00: Alright?
SPEAKER_00: So what does Saul do?
SPEAKER_00: Verse number, let's look at verse number seven.
SPEAKER_00: It says, And Saul attacked the Amalekites, which is good, from Havilah all the way to Shur, which is east of Egypt.
SPEAKER_00: And look at verse number eight.
SPEAKER_00: He also took Agag, king of the Amalekites.
SPEAKER_00: What does that say?
SPEAKER_00: Alive.
SPEAKER_00: Is that what God called him to do?
SPEAKER_00: And utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.
SPEAKER_00: But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep and the oxen and the fatlings and the lambs and all that was good, and were, look at this word, unwilling to utterly destroy them.
SPEAKER_00: But everything despised and worthless that they utterly destroyed.
SPEAKER_00: What did Saul do?
SPEAKER_00: He did not obey the voice of the Lord, the word of God.
SPEAKER_00: He obeyed partially, but he did not obey completely.
SPEAKER_00: And church, listen, partial obedience is disobedience to God.
SPEAKER_00: God told Saul to destroy, wipe them out, kill the king, kill everyone, kill the animals, completely destroy them.
SPEAKER_00: And Saul kept the king alive, and he kept the animals alive.
SPEAKER_00: He didn't mind killing all the other innocent people, right?
SPEAKER_00: But he killed.
SPEAKER_00: He disobeyed the word of God.
SPEAKER_00: Partial obedience is disobedience.
SPEAKER_00: God says to surrender all of yourself, all of your heart, all of your life to him, not just the easy parts.
SPEAKER_00: We're not called to just pick and choose what we're going to obey.
SPEAKER_00: We're called to offer complete obedience.
SPEAKER_00: And the danger we have is sometimes we like to say, okay, God, I'll obey this, but I don't know about this.
SPEAKER_00: We what do we do?
SPEAKER_00: We're elevating ourselves on the throne of our own heart.
SPEAKER_00: And there's no room for two kings on your heart.
SPEAKER_00: Either God is king.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is Lord or He's not of your life.
SPEAKER_00: We say, well, I'll go to church, but I won't serve, or I'll serve, but I won't give, or I'll give, but I won't serve, or I'll, or I'll forgive this person, I won't forgive that person, or I'll or I'll, you know, do this, but not.
SPEAKER_00: You can't pick and choose.
SPEAKER_00: God is calling us to complete obedience and surrender.
SPEAKER_00: And that's what I want us to get through in our heart is that we won't just ride the fence and we won't compromise God's word.
SPEAKER_00: But we'll get all in and say, God, my heart is yours completely.
SPEAKER_00: I give myself completely to you.
SPEAKER_00: Everything I have.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because He has the best life for you to live.
SPEAKER_00: It's not like He's wanting to punish you that you can't have fun.
SPEAKER_00: He knows that you will have a much better life when you do it His way.
SPEAKER_00: He knows that if you go down this path and you flirt with that sin and you choose to obey here and not there, you are missing out on the abundant life that Jesus has for you.
SPEAKER_00: And He's pointing it out this morning not to condemn you, but to call you into something greater.
SPEAKER_00: Full surrender.
SPEAKER_00: He didn't kill the king of Amalek.
SPEAKER_00: And you ever think about why didn't he kill the king of Amalek?
SPEAKER_00: He didn't kill him because it wasn't out of sympathy and compassion.
SPEAKER_00: He didn't kill him because he wanted to bring him back to Israel as a trophy.
SPEAKER_00: He wanted to say, look how great I am.
SPEAKER_00: And parade him around.
SPEAKER_00: It was an act of pride, not sympathy, not compassion.
SPEAKER_00: And then in verse number 10, look at verse number 10.
SPEAKER_00: Now the word of the Lord came to Samuel saying, I greatly regret that I've set up Saul as king, for he has turned back from following me and has not performed my commandments.
SPEAKER_00: And it grieved Samuel, and he cried out to the Lord all night long.
SPEAKER_00: In verse number 12, so when Samuel rose early in the morning to meet Saul, it was told Samuel, saying, Saul went to Carmel, and indeed, look at this, he set up a monument for himself.
SPEAKER_00: Talk about pride.
SPEAKER_00: You know what pride does?
SPEAKER_00: It sets up monuments for yourself instead of altars to God.
SPEAKER_00: He wanted to lift himself up where everybody sees how great he is.
SPEAKER_00: And before you look, before you start getting down on Saul, we set up our own monuments.
SPEAKER_00: Where we can say, hey, everybody, look how great I am.
SPEAKER_00: We may set up monuments in our career and set up monuments in our reputation.
SPEAKER_00: Here's a big one in 2026 now.
SPEAKER_00: We set up monuments on our social media.
SPEAKER_00: Where it's all about attention.
SPEAKER_00: It's all about everybody saying, see how great you are, how great your life is, how everything is wonderful, how you're better, how many clicks you can get, views you can get, likes you can get, tweets you can get.
SPEAKER_00: Tweets ain't even a thing anymore, is it?
SPEAKER_00: How many shares you can get?
SPEAKER_00: It's all about me, me, me.
SPEAKER_00: It's all about I.
SPEAKER_00: Pride puts I where God should be.
SPEAKER_00: He set up a monument.
SPEAKER_00: Y'all know even in ministry we can set up monuments.
SPEAKER_00: Look, God stepped all over my toes before I'm stepping on yours, okay?
SPEAKER_00: Even in ministry we can set up monuments.
SPEAKER_00: And it's so subtle.
SPEAKER_00: We say, I'm just serving God.
SPEAKER_00: I'm just, I'm just pointing people to Jesus when really sometimes we can take more of the attention and put it on ourselves than we do Jesus if we're not careful.
SPEAKER_00: You know what I want for Lake Church?
SPEAKER_00: I don't want people to say how great Lake Church is.
SPEAKER_00: I want people to come here and say how great Jesus is.
SPEAKER_00: When you leave this church, I don't want you to say how great the sermon was or how great this was or that was.
SPEAKER_00: I want you to say how great Jesus is.
SPEAKER_00: I don't want you to say how great, how great the worship was and the singing was.
SPEAKER_00: Look, all those things are great to recognize and great to, you know, uh acknowledge.
SPEAKER_00: But when we leave here, ultimately, we need to be saying how great Jesus is because he is the only one that matters.
SPEAKER_00: Paul said, God forbid that I should glory except in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: We have no room to set up monuments for ourselves.
SPEAKER_00: Pride always wants to say, look at me and what I've done.
SPEAKER_00: We got two more points, but we ain't gonna finish them, y'all.
SPEAKER_00: Sorry, Byron, I got you to make that whole thing.
SPEAKER_00: I'm only going halfway through it.
SPEAKER_00: We'll get it next week.
SPEAKER_00: But look, Saul's entire problem comes down to him exalting himself and not exalting God.
SPEAKER_00: I want to give you one more thought this morning, and we're gonna close, and we'll come back and look at two more next week.
SPEAKER_00: Number two, pride defends sin instead of confessing it.
SPEAKER_00: Pride defends sin instead of confessing it.
SPEAKER_00: Listen, one of the greatest tests of your heart is not your actions, but your reactions.
SPEAKER_00: Saul messed up, all right?
SPEAKER_00: Saul screwed up, Saul, you know, disobeyed God, which is bad.
SPEAKER_00: It shows that something was flawed in his character, but Saul's greater mistake and greater failure was not his action, but his reaction.
SPEAKER_00: Because when Samuel confronted him, instead of confessing his sin, he defended his sin.
SPEAKER_00: Instead of reacting in humility and hanging his head in guilt and shame, he reacted in pride and defended and minimized his sin.
SPEAKER_00: I want you to look at chapter 13, verse number, verse number uh, where are we at?
SPEAKER_00: Verse number 11.
SPEAKER_00: Samuel said, What have you done?
SPEAKER_00: This is when he offered a sacrifice.
SPEAKER_00: Saul said, Look at this.
SPEAKER_00: When I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines gathered together at Mitchmash.
SPEAKER_00: Then I said, The Philistines will now come down on me at Gilgal, and I have not made supplication to the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Therefore I felt compelled and offered a burnt offering.
SPEAKER_00: What is Saul doing?
SPEAKER_00: Excuses, excuses, excuses.
SPEAKER_00: What is Saul doing?
SPEAKER_00: He's not taking ownership of his sin, which is what pride causes us to do.
SPEAKER_00: And look, we all guilty of it.
SPEAKER_00: We all like to point the finger, we all like to make excuses, we all like to rationalize.
SPEAKER_00: When you refuse to take ownership of your sin, it always results in excusing, rationalizing, deceiving, and blame shifting.
SPEAKER_00: Always.
SPEAKER_00: When you refuse to just humble yourself and say, God, I messed up, it always results in you creating a story where you're the hero and everybody else is the villain.
SPEAKER_00: It always results in you saying, you know, uh, you know, I had Saul said, I had to do this.
SPEAKER_00: I didn't have a choice.
SPEAKER_00: You always have a choice to obey God or disobey God.
SPEAKER_00: Saul chose to disobey God and he rationalized his sin.
SPEAKER_00: He justified his sin.
SPEAKER_00: He he twisted the story to make himself feel better about his sin.
SPEAKER_00: He said, I forced myself.
SPEAKER_00: I compelled, I was compelled, I had no other choice.
SPEAKER_00: He twisted the story, he manipulated the story, he shifted the narrative, he was deceitful and he did not take ownership.
SPEAKER_00: And the truth is, is when we do that, God sees right through it.
SPEAKER_00: He sees right through it.
SPEAKER_00: Saul was so slick and crafty about his words, the way he used them to make himself not feel as guilty as he should.
SPEAKER_00: But God saw straight through the truth, and so did Samuel.
SPEAKER_00: The other day, I was I had two days off this week.
SPEAKER_00: I was weed eating, I was cutting the grass, I was taking care of things at the house.
SPEAKER_00: I was I was like a machine.
SPEAKER_00: I was knocking stuff out, honeydews, you know, everything was getting done.
SPEAKER_00: I was on, like I woke up and I had a mission and I was fulfilling it.
SPEAKER_00: And and I was weed eating, I was kind of like in my own head, like I'm I'm gonna get all this done.
SPEAKER_00: I was weeding around the flower uh garden boxes.
SPEAKER_00: Y'all remember I told y'all about the garden boxes we got?
SPEAKER_00: So we got uh just a little update.
SPEAKER_00: Really wasn't worth it.
SPEAKER_00: Like we we did a lot of work and we had enough to make some salsa and and uh and uh you know some pickled uh jalapenos and stuff, you know.
SPEAKER_00: And uh Brittany ain't here, so but it really didn't feel worth it to me.
SPEAKER_00: But anyway, we had potatoes, they were like this big.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, you know, we dug them out, all this work, all this dirt I had to get, build the boxes and all that.
SPEAKER_00: But but it was fun, okay?
SPEAKER_00: It was an experience uh that I am fine not doing again.
SPEAKER_00: But I was weed eating around the garden boxes, and and and and because that's what Brittany's been wanting me to do because the grass is getting high, and I was weed eating, and we had some watermelons grow, and we had some potato tomatoes grow and all this, and and she has this prized watermelon.
SPEAKER_00: It's like like this big.
SPEAKER_00: It's like the size of a golf ball, maybe, maybe almost a softball.
SPEAKER_00: And it's the thing is it's hanging outside of the garden box.
SPEAKER_00: Now y'all know where this is going.
SPEAKER_00: Olivia's calling me.
SPEAKER_00: She knows I'm in church.
SPEAKER_00: So I am weed eating, and y'all, all I saw was a watermelon fly across the field in pieces.
SPEAKER_00: So I had a choice to make.
SPEAKER_00: Would I tell Britney, own up to my sin of what I had done, or would I just say, oh no, animal, animal must have got it.
SPEAKER_00: What do y'all think I did?
SPEAKER_00: Y'all think the pastor would lie?
SPEAKER_00: What's wrong with y'all?
SPEAKER_00: Used to, I would have, but this time I actually went to Britney and I was like, I got a confession.
SPEAKER_00: I destroyed your prize watermelon.
SPEAKER_00: Watermelon.
SPEAKER_00: And she was not happy.
SPEAKER_00: But I owned up to it.
SPEAKER_00: I confessed to it.
SPEAKER_00: Uh it was just better when I was better than how I used to be.
SPEAKER_00: When we first got married, I backed.
SPEAKER_00: This is a consistent problem, I'm seeing.
SPEAKER_00: When I was uh I was cutting the grass about 20 years ago, and I backed over her rose bush.
SPEAKER_00: That time I didn't tell her.
SPEAKER_00: So it's that's sanctification.
SPEAKER_00: That's I'm getting better.
SPEAKER_00: But I owned up to it this time.
SPEAKER_00: I confessed it, right?
SPEAKER_00: And that's what God is calling us to do.
SPEAKER_00: He's calling us to own up to our sin, which is easy in minor things, but what about bigger things?
SPEAKER_00: What about things we don't want to own up to and things that may have consequences greater than your wife being mad, you destroyed her watermelon.
SPEAKER_00: What about those things?
SPEAKER_00: God is wanting you to own up, confess, and repent of those things.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because confession is the first step to cleansing.
SPEAKER_00: The Bible says, 1 John 1.9, if you confess your sins, he is faithful and just to forgive you of your sins and cleanse you from all unrighteousness.
SPEAKER_00: What do we do when we're confronted with our sin?
SPEAKER_00: Do we defend it?
SPEAKER_00: Do we excuse it?
SPEAKER_00: Do we rationalize it?
SPEAKER_00: Do we say, you know, it's no big deal?
SPEAKER_00: God, you know, I'll just make it better next time, or do we own up and confess it and say, Lord, I'm sorry?
SPEAKER_00: Or what about when we sin against other people?
SPEAKER_00: There would be a whole lot of relationships in better places and better state if everyone would just act in humility and not pride and own up to their own faults.
SPEAKER_00: In your marriage, if you mess it up, it's okay.
SPEAKER_00: Just own up to it.
SPEAKER_00: You hurt somebody, own up to it.
SPEAKER_00: Own up to it.
SPEAKER_00: Don't excuse it, don't act like it's no big deal.
SPEAKER_00: Don't try to soften the blow.
SPEAKER_00: I hurt you.
SPEAKER_00: God, I hurt your heart, and I'm sorry.
SPEAKER_00: Own up to it.
SPEAKER_00: Confess it.
SPEAKER_00: Because you have a God who is waiting and ready to cleanse you.
SPEAKER_00: Look, he may be right now, he may be digging his finger around in your heart, pointing out some sin in your life.
SPEAKER_00: Some bad attitude.
SPEAKER_00: Some bad thing that you've done, some sin.
SPEAKER_00: Whatever that thing.
SPEAKER_00: I don't have to go through them.
SPEAKER_00: Y'all know what it is.
SPEAKER_00: You know what it is right now.
SPEAKER_00: God is pointing right at that thing in your heart.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Not to condemn you, but to bring you to a place where you will confess it and be cleansed of it.
SPEAKER_00: And the tragedy of Saul's life is that God constantly gave him an opportunity to repent.
SPEAKER_00: And his pride was stronger than his repentance.
SPEAKER_00: We can have our worship team come forward.
SPEAKER_00: I'm done.
SPEAKER_00: Look, don't lose me here.
SPEAKER_00: Alright.
SPEAKER_00: Don't everybody start looking around at the exit.
SPEAKER_00: I'm trying to end this sermon a little earlier than I was planning on it because I want to give you time to let God do a work in your heart.
SPEAKER_00: We don't have to give God a little hour and say, God, if you don't move, then we're out of here.
SPEAKER_00: Heart work takes time.
SPEAKER_00: Heart work takes you being real.
SPEAKER_00: Being vulnerable.
SPEAKER_00: Being honest.
SPEAKER_00: Owning it.
SPEAKER_00: Confessing it.
SPEAKER_00: The tragedy of Saul is that he never, you take this point in chapter 13 on.
SPEAKER_00: He never repented.
SPEAKER_00: He never showed true remorse.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because he was constantly lifting himself up and he didn't care what God said.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus said, except you repent, you will all likewise perish.
SPEAKER_00: We shouldn't get comfortable with sin, church.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm glad we, me and the worship team, we didn't even talk about this, but I'm glad we were focusing on the holiness of God.
SPEAKER_00: Because the problem we have in church culture today is that there's no reverence for his holiness, there's no fear of God, there's no care and concern.
SPEAKER_00: We just get comfortable with living in sin and listening to things we shouldn't and seeing things we shouldn't, and doing whatever we want.
SPEAKER_00: We're exalting ourselves.
SPEAKER_00: And when someone or God starts confronting us about our sin, we're like, it's not that big a deal.
SPEAKER_00: Everybody else is doing it, everybody else is watching it.
SPEAKER_00: I pray that late church, God would shake us out of our comfort, shake us out of our idolatry, shake us out of our indifference and our empathy, and that He would do a deep work within our hearts.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: To make us become more like Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: So that we can be a light in this world.
SPEAKER_00: So that we can be that city sitting on a hill.
SPEAKER_00: So that when people look us look at us, they won't see us just hot or cold, you know, or lukewarm.
SPEAKER_00: They'll see us on fire for Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: A heart.
SPEAKER_00: Here's what it all comes back to.
SPEAKER_00: They'll see us deeply, passionately, madly in love with Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Ain't that what it all comes down to?
SPEAKER_00: We could sum all this up on.
SPEAKER_00: Are you loving Jesus right now?
SPEAKER_00: Listen.
SPEAKER_00: God, your creator, sent his son to die for you.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: To give you a heart transplant.
SPEAKER_00: To create in you a new heart.
SPEAKER_00: And you're just gonna go your own way, do your own thing.
SPEAKER_00: You have a creator that loves you.
SPEAKER_00: And he gave his life so that you could be saved and have a new life.
SPEAKER_00: You don't have to live in that fear and that anxiety and that worry and that depression.
SPEAKER_00: God sent his son, Jesus, God for that sin so that we can live in victory.
SPEAKER_00: Right now, right now, pride will hold you back from doing anything about what God is doing in your heart.
SPEAKER_00: God is calling you to something greater.
SPEAKER_00: Pride will keep you in your seat and say, I'm just gonna sit right where I am.
SPEAKER_00: If you take Saul's life at the beginning and you get a side-by-side view, say you put it on those screens, pride crept in and it ultimately ultimately destroyed his life.
SPEAKER_00: Don't let it go undetected, don't let it go unaddressed.
SPEAKER_00: What do you do?
SPEAKER_00: Run to the cross, run to your Savior, and He's welcoming you with open arms, and He says, Come unto me, all you that are weary and heavy burdened, I will give you rest.
SPEAKER_00: He's calling you right now.
SPEAKER_00: Pride will keep you from responding.
SPEAKER_00: I want everybody to stay seated, heads bowed, eyes closed.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not gonna ask you to do anything uncomfortable.
SPEAKER_00: I just want you to do this.
SPEAKER_00: If God is working in your heart, if God is doing a work in your heart right now, and you say, the Lord is digging around, he's pointing some things out, he's exposing my heart.
SPEAKER_00: I want you to, I want you to maybe step out of your seat, come down to this altar in humility, make a physical response to a spiritual nudging.
SPEAKER_00: And I want you to step out, come down to this altar and spend some time letting God do a work in your heart.
SPEAKER_00: And I don't want you to wait.
SPEAKER_00: Let's do it right now.
SPEAKER_00: If the Lord's working in your heart, maybe you need to grab someone and pray with them.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you need the Lord to do a work in your heart.
SPEAKER_00: Humble yourself before Him.
SPEAKER_00: Come down here and say, Lord, expose, challenge, and change.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you need to come and say, God, I don't even feel broken like I should.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe your prayer needs to be, God, break me over my sins.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you're here and you're not truly born again, you're not truly a Christian.
SPEAKER_00: God has so much more for you.
SPEAKER_00: Will you come this morning?
SPEAKER_00: We have our prayer team come forward.
SPEAKER_00: If you need someone to pray with you, if you need someone to just walk with you through this conversation of how to know Jesus as your Savior, don't sit there in your pride.
SPEAKER_00: Let God give you your heart.