WEBVTT 00:00:00.400 --> 00:00:01.760 Good morning, church. 00:00:03.359 --> 00:00:09.519 If you look around, all around you, you're gonna see other members of your family. 00:00:09.839 --> 00:00:11.759 Because in Christ we are a family. 00:00:12.320 --> 00:00:14.240 We are brothers and sisters in Christ. 00:00:14.560 --> 00:00:18.320 In fact, the Bible tells us that we are all one blood. 00:00:20.000 --> 00:00:22.719 So here's our family. 00:00:23.679 --> 00:00:25.359 Now, you guys are my beta group. 00:00:25.440 --> 00:00:26.879 You're my tryout group. 00:00:27.199 --> 00:00:35.359 So we'll work through this in this first service, and then I'll have it perfected by the second service, and you're welcome to come back if you want to. 00:00:37.840 --> 00:00:45.039 What I want to do is preach Jesus and Him crucified, buried, and resurrected. 00:00:46.799 --> 00:00:50.640 And I'm going to in a little bit, but we're going to talk about Saul first. 00:00:55.119 --> 00:00:59.039 The title of this is called The King Who Feared People More Than God. 00:01:01.119 --> 00:01:03.600 Or when approval becomes your master. 00:01:04.879 --> 00:01:08.400 Now Saul was the very first king of Israel. 00:01:09.519 --> 00:01:22.959 We're going to find that as we go through the Chronicles of the Kings, that there's going to be bright spots, just wonderful things that they did. 00:01:23.519 --> 00:01:27.120 But there's going to be some really dark spots as well. 00:01:28.159 --> 00:01:40.079 And what we see in them is, I guess, maybe the purest form of humanity, because they're really not different than we are. 00:01:42.480 --> 00:01:48.879 And we think about that, we think about God's plan for their lives as we think about God's plan for our lives. 00:01:49.120 --> 00:01:57.040 And we want to, because God has a plan as He's as Saul becomes king, God is working out a plan here. 00:01:57.280 --> 00:02:03.200 In other words, Saul reigned in Israel from approximately 1052 to 1025 BC. 00:02:03.359 --> 00:02:06.239 That's about 3,078 years. 00:02:08.879 --> 00:02:09.520 Ago. 00:02:10.639 --> 00:02:12.240 That's a long time ago. 00:02:12.479 --> 00:02:14.400 He didn't reign for 3,000 years. 00:02:15.120 --> 00:02:19.360 But our texts are all going to come out of 1 Samuel. 00:02:19.680 --> 00:02:27.280 Now, 1 Samuel's, I can remember my grandmother Warnick teaching me out of Samuel as a little boy. 00:02:27.439 --> 00:02:39.680 And one of the things she taught me, now, guys, this is 70 something years ago, was how Samuel was born. 00:02:40.240 --> 00:02:41.680 His mama was barren. 00:02:41.919 --> 00:02:48.560 She prayed, she said, Lord, if you'll give me a baby, if you give me a son, I'll dedicate him to you for all of his life. 00:02:48.719 --> 00:02:49.439 And God did. 00:02:49.599 --> 00:02:51.120 He honored that prayer. 00:02:51.439 --> 00:02:57.280 And Samuel, after he was weaned, he was taken to Eli, who was the priest. 00:02:57.520 --> 00:03:08.240 And the thing that I realize now, I didn't know it then, but the thing that my grandma was trying to teach me how to do was listen for the voice of God. 00:03:08.639 --> 00:03:13.360 Because Samuel heard his name called as a child. 00:03:14.479 --> 00:03:18.960 Samuel, Samuel, and he runs into Eli and he said, You know, what you call me, what do you need? 00:03:19.039 --> 00:03:20.159 And he said, I didn't call you. 00:03:20.319 --> 00:03:21.360 Go back to bed. 00:03:22.560 --> 00:03:26.319 So he goes to bed and his name is called again, Samuel Samuel. 00:03:26.400 --> 00:03:27.360 And he runs back in. 00:03:27.439 --> 00:03:28.879 He said, You called me. 00:03:29.120 --> 00:03:29.599 What do you need? 00:03:29.759 --> 00:03:30.719 He said, I didn't call you. 00:03:30.879 --> 00:03:31.759 Go back to bed. 00:03:32.000 --> 00:03:32.960 But wait. 00:03:34.080 --> 00:03:38.719 When you're called again, respond, I hear you, Lord. 00:03:38.879 --> 00:03:40.319 What do you want me to do? 00:03:42.479 --> 00:03:49.280 So Grandma was trying to, I think, help me to understand, to listen for the voice of the Lord. 00:03:50.560 --> 00:03:55.360 Well, you really can't talk about Saul without talking about Samuel. 00:03:56.240 --> 00:04:05.360 So from 1 Samuel chapter 8, verse 1, we're going to go 1 through verse 5. 00:04:05.520 --> 00:04:09.520 If you've got your Bibles, you can follow, or we should have it on the screen up here. 00:04:09.840 --> 00:04:15.120 But this says, when Samuel became old, he made his sons judges over Israel. 00:04:15.360 --> 00:04:19.519 The name of his firstborn son was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah. 00:04:20.000 --> 00:04:21.920 They were judges in Beersheba. 00:04:22.000 --> 00:04:28.079 Yet his sons did not walk in his ways, but turned aside after gain. 00:04:28.240 --> 00:04:30.319 They took bribes and perverted justice. 00:04:30.480 --> 00:04:41.040 How many times do we see families that are godly families serving the Lord, mamas and daddies serving the Lord, blessing their kids, praying for their kids, and the kids are rotten. 00:04:44.079 --> 00:04:45.279 But there's hope. 00:04:46.000 --> 00:04:47.279 There's always hope. 00:04:48.879 --> 00:04:58.639 Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Rahman and said to him, Behold, you're old and your sons do not walk in your ways. 00:04:58.879 --> 00:05:03.439 Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations. 00:05:03.680 --> 00:05:05.759 It made Samuel furious. 00:05:06.720 --> 00:05:08.240 Because God was their king. 00:05:08.480 --> 00:05:09.759 He was the king of Israel. 00:05:10.000 --> 00:05:14.879 And he became furious at them for wanting another God. 00:05:15.360 --> 00:05:17.199 I'm sorry, another king. 00:05:21.279 --> 00:05:23.839 But God told him to go ahead and do it. 00:05:27.519 --> 00:05:33.360 And the king that they ended up with, that they wanted, was Saul. 00:05:33.519 --> 00:05:41.759 Now Saul came from a wealthy family, and it's not going to be up here, but in Samuel, 1 Samuel 9, Saul came from a wealthy family. 00:05:41.920 --> 00:05:43.360 He was a Benjamite. 00:05:43.519 --> 00:05:48.240 Saul is described as a man more handsome than any in Israel. 00:05:48.399 --> 00:05:50.800 He was a head taller than other men. 00:05:51.680 --> 00:05:53.680 Israel wanted a king. 00:05:54.079 --> 00:05:58.240 And by all appearances, Saul fit the bill. 00:06:02.959 --> 00:06:04.800 A lot like me, probably. 00:06:17.360 --> 00:06:20.319 But have you ever heard it said? 00:06:22.879 --> 00:06:27.680 Sometimes you get what you ask for, and you really don't want it. 00:06:29.759 --> 00:06:32.560 So God told Samuel to anoint Saul. 00:06:32.800 --> 00:06:37.439 And God told Samuel, they haven't rejected you, they rejected me. 00:06:38.879 --> 00:06:40.720 Well, that's pretty strong. 00:06:41.680 --> 00:06:44.079 Well, Samuel had given Saul instructions. 00:06:44.240 --> 00:06:54.959 One of the things was that Saul was not to, and we find this in 1 Samuel 13, that any sacrifices that were to be made, Samuel would always be there. 00:06:55.759 --> 00:06:58.319 And Saul didn't do that. 00:06:58.639 --> 00:07:08.079 He he, out of expediency, I guess, he had waited on Samuel, and it had taken Samuel a while to get there. 00:07:08.480 --> 00:07:11.199 And so Saul did a sacrifice on his own. 00:07:11.759 --> 00:07:13.759 So he had disobeyed. 00:07:14.959 --> 00:07:19.120 We kind of began to see a pattern setting up here. 00:07:19.439 --> 00:07:22.160 Our main text is going to be from 1 Samuel 15. 00:07:22.560 --> 00:07:27.199 Rather than read the whole chapter, I'm just going to try to hit some of the high spots. 00:07:27.600 --> 00:07:45.519 And Pastor Mike says, you know, I have to be careful because sometimes you have a tendency, or I do, to talk really fast, and you kind of blow through your scriptures and you blow through the things you want to say, and you've been given 30 minutes to speak, and you're done in 10 and a half. 00:07:45.759 --> 00:07:48.000 I'm going to try not to do that today. 00:07:48.240 --> 00:07:55.040 So if I need to talk more slowly, I will as we go through this. 00:07:55.600 --> 00:08:04.480 But I'm going to hit some high spots and we're going to read from 1 Samuel 15, 1 through 3. 00:08:05.680 --> 00:08:11.120 Then Samuel said to Saul, The Lord sent me to anoint you king over his people Israel. 00:08:11.279 --> 00:08:15.120 Now therefore, listen to the words of the Lord. 00:08:15.360 --> 00:08:17.759 This is what the Lord of hosts says. 00:08:18.079 --> 00:08:24.480 I witnessed what the Amalekites did to the Israelites when they ambushed them on their way up from Egypt. 00:08:24.639 --> 00:08:43.519 The Amalekites, as Israel was coming out of Egypt, they would ambush that group of people, and they would ambush the weakest and the least evil to help themselves in that group, the most helpless among them, the women, the children, the end of the column. 00:08:46.000 --> 00:09:00.879 And because they did those things, and because the Amalekites were evil, God told him, God told Samuel to tell Saul, now go and attack the Amalekites and devote to destruction all that belongs to them. 00:09:01.279 --> 00:09:10.000 Do not spare them, but put to death men, women, children, and infants, oxen and sheep, camels and donkeys. 00:09:10.960 --> 00:09:25.519 And you know, I've read about that, and many years ago, uh, and we've read in the Old Testament several times where God would uh have Israel go wipe out a whole group of people, and that would bother me. 00:09:25.600 --> 00:09:33.200 And so I looked at the Amalekites, I thought, well, maybe they were Nephilim, but but it doesn't appear that they were. 00:09:33.440 --> 00:09:34.879 They were just evil. 00:09:36.000 --> 00:09:39.039 And they propagated evil through their generations. 00:09:40.080 --> 00:09:45.039 And so God wanted them taken out, every one of them. 00:09:45.279 --> 00:09:46.879 Nothing spared. 00:09:47.200 --> 00:09:50.879 No man, no woman, no child, no animal. 00:09:51.200 --> 00:09:54.399 Spared, all of it, because it had all been dedicated to evil. 00:09:54.480 --> 00:09:57.200 The children were being raised to do evil. 00:09:59.200 --> 00:10:02.879 Well, that's what God told Samuel to tell Saul to do. 00:10:03.200 --> 00:10:04.559 But what do you think? 00:10:04.960 --> 00:10:06.320 He didn't do it. 00:10:06.879 --> 00:10:08.240 He didn't do that. 00:10:08.559 --> 00:10:12.000 Now he kind of did, but he didn't completely. 00:10:13.600 --> 00:10:25.759 And Samuel confronted him, and in 1 Samuel 15, 15, we see where Saul answered, he said, the troops brought them from the Amalekites. 00:10:25.840 --> 00:10:31.519 They spared the best sheep and cattle to sacrifice to the Lord your God. 00:10:33.120 --> 00:10:35.840 But the rest we devoted to destruction. 00:10:36.080 --> 00:10:42.320 Now that the way that reads to me and the way Saul said that, the Lord your God. 00:10:44.080 --> 00:10:47.440 So is the Lord not Saul's God? 00:10:47.919 --> 00:11:03.039 It kind of feels like in his mind that he hadn't devoted or consecrated himself to the Lord because he was doing what Samuel told him to do, and he thought what they were doing would be pleasing, obviously, or maybe he wouldn't have done it. 00:11:03.200 --> 00:11:06.320 But he said the troops did it, and Samuel told him to stop. 00:11:06.480 --> 00:11:09.440 Actually, I think Samuel said, Saul, shut up. 00:11:11.679 --> 00:11:13.039 And rightly so. 00:11:15.039 --> 00:11:30.399 In 1 Samuel 15, 17, and we're going to go 15, 17 through 23, Samuel said, Although you were once small in your own eyes, have you not become the head of the tribes of Israel? 00:11:30.639 --> 00:11:33.519 The Lord anointed you king over Israel. 00:11:33.919 --> 00:11:41.120 Small in your own eyes, if you kind of go back to when Saul was uh became king, he wasn't that's not what he was expecting. 00:11:41.279 --> 00:11:47.840 He actually was out looking for his daddy's donkeys when Samuel showed up in his life. 00:11:48.000 --> 00:11:54.559 And he'd been out a long time, and his servant that was with him, he said, he said, you know, we hadn't found the donkeys. 00:11:54.720 --> 00:11:59.360 Uh, dad's gonna probably start worrying about us and not worry so much about the donkeys. 00:11:59.519 --> 00:12:01.759 But they had heard there was a prophet. 00:12:02.240 --> 00:12:07.600 And so they were gonna go to the prophet, and the prophet was Samuel, and maybe he could tell them where the donkeys were. 00:12:07.840 --> 00:12:09.759 Well, God had other plans. 00:12:10.080 --> 00:12:15.600 And so that when they met Samuel, God had told Samuel, I'm gonna show you who's gonna be king. 00:12:15.840 --> 00:12:20.080 And so along comes this tall, good-looking guy. 00:12:22.480 --> 00:12:24.159 And God said, That's him. 00:12:24.399 --> 00:12:26.559 So Samuel took him aside. 00:12:26.799 --> 00:12:28.960 Uh they had he spent the night. 00:12:29.120 --> 00:12:32.399 Um Samuel sent the servant on home. 00:12:32.480 --> 00:12:35.279 The donkeys had already made it home safely. 00:12:35.600 --> 00:12:40.399 And um, Saul wasn't expecting that. 00:12:40.559 --> 00:12:50.799 I mean, but if you think about that, here you are doing what you're doing because your dad sent you on a mission, and all of a sudden the prophet in the land comes up to you and says, You're gonna be king. 00:12:51.120 --> 00:12:53.120 God says you're gonna be king. 00:12:56.320 --> 00:13:10.000 And sent you, God sent you on a mission saying, Go and devote to destruction the sinful Malachites, fight against them until you've wiped them out. 00:13:12.480 --> 00:13:15.840 And he says, Why did you not obey the Lord? 00:13:16.000 --> 00:13:20.639 Why did you rush upon the plunder and do evil in the sight of the Lord? 00:13:21.120 --> 00:13:23.440 And this is what Saul says back. 00:13:23.840 --> 00:13:26.960 But I did obey the Lord, Saul replied. 00:13:27.279 --> 00:13:29.840 I went on the mission that the Lord gave me. 00:13:30.000 --> 00:13:36.720 I brought back Agag, king of Amalek, and devoted the Amalekites to destruction. 00:13:36.879 --> 00:13:39.279 That's not what God had told him to do. 00:13:41.679 --> 00:13:43.679 That's incredible to me. 00:13:45.360 --> 00:14:01.360 And here again in verse 21 he says, the troops took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of the things devoted to destruction, in order to sacrifice them to the Lord your God at Yogal. 00:14:03.519 --> 00:14:12.960 But Samuel declared, Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obedience to his voice? 00:14:13.360 --> 00:14:19.440 Behold, obedience is better than sacrifice, and attentiveness is better than the fat of rams. 00:14:19.600 --> 00:14:23.600 And we've we've heard that verse, that scripture for years, probably. 00:14:24.080 --> 00:14:27.519 Um I have heard it most of my life. 00:14:27.840 --> 00:14:30.480 Obedience is better than sacrifice. 00:14:30.960 --> 00:14:42.240 You can do all of the good things you can possibly think of to do, but if you don't obey what God tells you to do, all of those good things don't mean anything. 00:14:42.559 --> 00:14:44.000 They don't mean a thing. 00:14:49.360 --> 00:14:55.759 He says, for rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance is like the wickedness of idolatry. 00:14:56.320 --> 00:15:03.039 Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has rejected you as king. 00:15:04.080 --> 00:15:04.320 Man. 00:15:05.919 --> 00:15:13.039 I I I can only imagine what Saul may have thought when Samuel told him that. 00:15:15.279 --> 00:15:17.840 Uh to me that would be devastating. 00:15:19.519 --> 00:15:38.559 But how many of us as God told to do things, and I'm speaking to myself as well, and I didn't do completely that thing, or I didn't do any of what he said, and did what I wanted to, and expected a blessing in my life. 00:15:39.519 --> 00:15:47.360 But again, it goes back to redemption and and how that can take place. 00:15:48.320 --> 00:15:50.879 So God had rejected him as king. 00:15:51.200 --> 00:15:53.919 Now, this is what I find interesting. 00:15:54.080 --> 00:15:57.279 This is this is what Saul, this is Saul's response. 00:15:58.240 --> 00:16:04.720 In my head, I'm thinking, well, this is what he should have done, but that's not really what he what I think he should have done. 00:16:04.799 --> 00:16:05.440 It's not what he did. 00:16:05.519 --> 00:16:08.480 He said, Saul said, I have sinned. 00:16:08.960 --> 00:16:10.399 Saul replied. 00:16:11.120 --> 00:16:13.440 Now, this is the kicker to me. 00:16:14.080 --> 00:16:19.600 Please honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel. 00:16:19.840 --> 00:16:23.600 Come back with me so that I may worship the Lord your God. 00:16:25.519 --> 00:16:29.600 Well, I mean, he didn't want to bear shame. 00:16:29.919 --> 00:16:33.440 He didn't want it to be known that he had been disobedient. 00:16:34.320 --> 00:16:37.039 He said, Honor me before the people. 00:16:38.159 --> 00:16:41.679 So Samuel went back with Saul, and Saul worshiped the Lord. 00:16:41.759 --> 00:16:45.279 Then Samuel said, I love this, guys. 00:16:45.360 --> 00:16:47.840 Um forgive me, please. 00:16:47.919 --> 00:16:50.399 This is kind of the marine rising up in me. 00:16:50.639 --> 00:16:55.840 Um said, Bring me Agag, king of the Malachites. 00:16:55.919 --> 00:17:02.480 And Agag came to him cheerfully, for he thought, Surely the bitterness of death is past. 00:17:04.160 --> 00:17:12.000 Samuel looked at him and he declared, As your sword has made women childless, so your mother will be childless among women. 00:17:12.160 --> 00:17:17.119 And Samuel hacked Agag to pieces before the Lord at Gilgal. 00:17:18.880 --> 00:17:21.759 He didn't, that evil didn't get away. 00:17:22.079 --> 00:17:23.920 Justice was served there. 00:17:25.519 --> 00:17:29.519 And what Saul didn't do, Samuel did. 00:17:31.920 --> 00:17:39.839 Then Saul went to Rama, but I'm sorry, then Samuel went to Rama, but Saul went up to his home in Gibeah of Saul. 00:17:40.079 --> 00:17:47.359 And to the day of visited Saul, Samuel mourned for Saul, and the Lord regretted that he had made Saul king over Israel. 00:17:47.599 --> 00:17:49.359 That's so sad to me. 00:17:50.720 --> 00:17:58.480 That you know, the Lord had taken Saul, made him king. 00:17:59.680 --> 00:18:04.319 There are three ways that kings would become kings in Israel, beginning with Saul. 00:18:04.480 --> 00:18:06.400 One, they had to be anointed king. 00:18:06.559 --> 00:18:10.240 They had to go do, two, they had to go do kingly things. 00:18:10.480 --> 00:18:15.200 Well, typically that means they went to battle to protect the nation of Israel. 00:18:15.440 --> 00:18:17.440 Three, then there was a coronation. 00:18:17.599 --> 00:18:19.599 They were crowned as king. 00:18:20.640 --> 00:18:26.559 And at that, I think at that last one, they found Saul hiding in the baggage. 00:18:27.519 --> 00:18:30.799 Well, that says a lot to character as well, to me. 00:18:31.039 --> 00:18:34.160 That when he was to be coronated, he was hiding in the baggage. 00:18:36.240 --> 00:18:39.440 But Samuel never visited with him again. 00:18:40.000 --> 00:18:41.599 He mourned for him. 00:18:45.039 --> 00:18:48.960 And the Lord regretted that he had made Saul king over Israel. 00:18:50.880 --> 00:19:02.160 It it really scares me to think that something I do the Lord would regret his call upon my life for that. 00:19:07.279 --> 00:19:08.880 And I think about that. 00:19:10.720 --> 00:19:20.720 To me, that kind of goes along with the scripture where Jesus said, you know, uh, there's going to be those who are going to say, Lord, Lord, and he's going to say, I don't know who you are. 00:19:20.880 --> 00:19:21.839 Who are you? 00:19:22.160 --> 00:19:25.680 And they they've done all these things in his name, and he says, I don't know you. 00:19:25.920 --> 00:19:30.559 So that's a scary scripture to me, to an extent. 00:19:31.359 --> 00:19:33.279 Because but God is redemptive. 00:19:34.319 --> 00:19:40.240 Over in Samuel 28, we see Saul doing something else that was forbidden to do. 00:19:40.880 --> 00:19:45.200 Um Samuel had passed away, but Samuel had died at this point. 00:19:46.319 --> 00:19:52.880 And and Saul I'm not sure where Saul was mentally, but I think this kind of makes it evident. 00:19:53.119 --> 00:20:02.240 He went to a witch so she could uh conjure up Samuel's spirit to come and give him counsel. 00:20:02.559 --> 00:20:05.599 That's called necromancy, that's called calling up the dead. 00:20:05.759 --> 00:20:08.079 That's forbidden, that's witchcraft. 00:20:08.319 --> 00:20:17.519 And the punishment for that is given, I think, in Leviticus, I don't remember for sure, was death. 00:20:17.680 --> 00:20:21.359 They take you outside the city and stone you to death for doing that. 00:20:21.920 --> 00:20:24.720 But that's what Saul did, and he tricked the witch. 00:20:24.799 --> 00:20:30.480 Uh he disguised himself, told her what he wanted to do, and she said, Well, no, I'm not going to do that. 00:20:30.559 --> 00:20:31.279 That'll get me killed. 00:20:31.359 --> 00:20:33.680 And he said, No, it's okay, I'm not going to tell on you. 00:20:33.920 --> 00:20:39.359 And so typically, when someone does that, the thing they conjure up is a familiar spirit. 00:20:39.440 --> 00:20:52.640 It's a demon that's familiar with that person's life and will speak into it with a knowledge of that person's life because that old spirit might have been around that person's family for hundreds of years. 00:20:54.799 --> 00:20:59.279 But what came up when she did that was not a familiar spirit. 00:21:00.079 --> 00:21:01.440 It was Samuel. 00:21:02.400 --> 00:21:04.160 And it liked to scare her to death. 00:21:04.319 --> 00:21:05.759 She said, You lied to me. 00:21:07.279 --> 00:21:17.519 So the my point is that again there's that seems to be that propensity to do things that God has strictly forbidden or said not to do. 00:21:21.039 --> 00:21:32.400 And then in 1 Samuel 31, Saul and his sons were they were in a battle and they were just they were getting trounced, they were getting pounded. 00:21:33.599 --> 00:21:47.039 And and Saul came to a place where he wanted his his uh armor bearer or his servant to put on his sword, and he he he died by committing suicide. 00:21:48.880 --> 00:21:52.960 If you think it that's a tragic life, folks, to me. 00:21:53.119 --> 00:21:54.880 That's just tragic, one thing after another. 00:21:55.039 --> 00:21:59.519 All of his all of his sons, Jonathan, David's, King David's best friend. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:01.279 Died as well. 00:22:04.079 --> 00:22:05.920 That's devastating. 00:22:06.720 --> 00:22:09.359 The consequences of disobedience. 00:22:10.480 --> 00:22:15.359 And we see this trend throughout Saul's life. 00:22:15.680 --> 00:22:23.359 That he would halfway obey or not obey at all, and typically went and did what he wanted to. 00:22:25.039 --> 00:22:27.440 But he was the first king of Israel. 00:22:28.240 --> 00:22:41.119 And as I said earlier, we're going to see dark times and bright times and times where these guys do good things and they don't do good things. 00:22:41.759 --> 00:22:47.279 The two kings that I know most about in Israel are Saul and David. 00:22:49.599 --> 00:22:51.839 But I was asked to talk about Saul. 00:22:52.000 --> 00:22:54.319 So I love David, though. 00:22:57.839 --> 00:22:58.480 I know. 00:22:59.359 --> 00:23:02.240 But my point's not to disparage Saul. 00:23:04.880 --> 00:23:07.359 It appears to me he didn't have a relationship with God. 00:23:07.599 --> 00:23:09.599 That's what Pastor Mike was talking about a while ago. 00:23:09.759 --> 00:23:24.160 If you're coming in here on Sunday to get fueled up, and then your tank is draining all through the week, and you come back next Sunday to get fueled up, that's not going to work. 00:23:24.319 --> 00:23:26.240 You've got to stay full all the time. 00:23:27.279 --> 00:23:28.400 And what are we full of? 00:23:28.559 --> 00:23:29.440 The Holy Spirit. 00:23:29.680 --> 00:23:34.079 He is our, I don't want to say fuel, but really he is. 00:23:34.240 --> 00:23:35.279 He's the dynamos. 00:23:39.359 --> 00:23:43.920 Saul disobeyed God, and the consequences of disobedience were tragic. 00:23:44.000 --> 00:23:44.799 And you know what? 00:23:45.119 --> 00:23:48.319 That's what happens in every life. 00:23:48.799 --> 00:23:52.480 Disobedience brings about tragedy. 00:23:52.720 --> 00:23:54.000 It just does. 00:23:54.319 --> 00:23:58.799 It's not God doing it to you or to us or to me. 00:23:58.960 --> 00:24:01.200 It's the consequences of sin. 00:24:01.599 --> 00:24:03.359 What are the wages of sin? 00:24:03.920 --> 00:24:04.559 Death. 00:24:05.599 --> 00:24:06.240 Death. 00:24:07.519 --> 00:24:10.400 And what is sin but disobedience? 00:24:11.200 --> 00:24:17.039 You know, it's I know it's defined as missing the mark, but that's basically the same thing. 00:24:18.640 --> 00:24:23.200 Would you guys agree with me that those were hard days in Saul's life? 00:24:23.279 --> 00:24:25.920 That Saul basically had a pretty hard life. 00:24:26.960 --> 00:24:29.680 And as a result, uh Israel did too. 00:24:30.880 --> 00:24:34.559 They were getting attacked, they were getting killed, they were getting carried off. 00:24:35.279 --> 00:24:39.359 But even in Israel, they were doing things they weren't supposed to be doing. 00:24:41.279 --> 00:24:46.480 But would you also agree with me that he's working that plan. 00:24:46.559 --> 00:24:56.799 And he was working that plan then as well, because he's be he big he started that plan in the beginning, and he works that plan until we plan B. 00:24:57.519 --> 00:25:15.200 But he's but what's wonderful is that out of the lineage, now and I'm gonna back up a little bit here, and this wasn't part of what I was gonna say, but Samuel had already anointed David king over Israel while Saul was still king. 00:25:15.920 --> 00:25:20.079 And there's a whole story there that's just incredible to me. 00:25:20.559 --> 00:25:25.680 And and King David did some things that were bad. 00:25:27.680 --> 00:25:30.799 But God called him man after my own heart. 00:25:31.119 --> 00:25:32.319 God loved him. 00:25:32.960 --> 00:25:34.160 Redemption, it goes back. 00:25:34.319 --> 00:25:38.960 It's redemptive, a redemptive plan that God has for us. 00:25:39.119 --> 00:25:42.960 But out of the lineage of King Saul comes King David. 00:25:46.960 --> 00:25:51.279 And out of King David comes the king we serve. 00:25:53.440 --> 00:25:57.680 Out of the lineage of the next king in Israel will be born the king of kings. 00:25:59.119 --> 00:26:03.200 I, we, have no other king but Jesus. 00:26:03.519 --> 00:26:04.880 He is our king. 00:26:05.599 --> 00:26:07.279 And that king's name is Jesus. 00:26:07.440 --> 00:26:13.279 He obeyed completely everything God his father told him to do. 00:26:14.000 --> 00:26:17.200 And because he did, we can overcome sin through him. 00:26:19.920 --> 00:26:21.759 He is our king. 00:26:22.400 --> 00:26:28.720 Well, part of that, overcoming sin is repentance. 00:26:30.559 --> 00:26:33.519 Because we're saved by grace through faith. 00:26:34.400 --> 00:26:37.039 Grace alone, through faith alone, and Christ alone. 00:26:37.200 --> 00:26:39.119 Not through works, not anything we can do. 00:26:39.279 --> 00:26:42.319 If we could save ourselves, why did Jesus come and be baptized? 00:26:42.480 --> 00:26:44.559 I'm sorry, be crucified. 00:26:45.440 --> 00:26:48.240 He wouldn't need to if we could be good enough. 00:26:49.519 --> 00:26:57.359 Now you heard me mention earlier that there were three things a king had to do to become king. 00:27:01.680 --> 00:27:04.160 He's anointed, which Saul was. 00:27:04.319 --> 00:27:08.000 He had oil poured over him, and he was anointed. 00:27:08.640 --> 00:27:13.119 He goes out to do battle, which Saul did, and then comes the coronation. 00:27:13.279 --> 00:27:16.319 He must be crowned king and take his place upon the throne. 00:27:16.559 --> 00:27:18.559 Saul did all of these things. 00:27:21.839 --> 00:27:24.400 But let me tell you about the king I serve. 00:27:24.960 --> 00:27:27.839 And when he completed these three things. 00:27:33.440 --> 00:27:44.559 When John the Baptist baptized him, and the Holy Spirit appeared as a dove and came upon him, and God, our Father, affirmed him as his son. 00:27:45.119 --> 00:27:46.960 He was anointed right there. 00:27:48.720 --> 00:27:50.720 Immediately he did battle. 00:27:51.039 --> 00:28:03.599 He went out into the desert for forty days and forty nights, and he did battle against our adversary, using the word of God to overcome. 00:28:04.559 --> 00:28:09.839 And he overcame in every instance in our behalf. 00:28:11.359 --> 00:28:16.559 He was tempted in every way that we're tempted, but he overcame them through the word of God. 00:28:21.680 --> 00:28:30.079 His coronation took place when they placed a crown of thorns on his head. 00:28:33.599 --> 00:28:36.640 They placed a royal robe around him. 00:28:39.359 --> 00:28:45.680 They bowed to him and they spit at him and they mocked him as the king as king and then they crucified him. 00:28:47.440 --> 00:28:50.960 But on the third day, he rose again. 00:28:52.880 --> 00:29:00.240 And he is now sitting enthroned at the right hand of God as King of kings and Lord of Lords. 00:29:01.759 --> 00:29:07.599 And Jesus, with his life's blood, paid for every sin. 00:29:11.119 --> 00:29:18.160 And for those of us who repent and call upon his name for forgiveness of sin, we are forgiven. 00:29:21.119 --> 00:29:23.119 Not sometime in the future, but right now. 00:29:23.279 --> 00:29:26.799 And my question to you is: is he your king? 00:29:27.119 --> 00:29:29.119 Is Jesus your king? 00:29:30.400 --> 00:29:39.759 And if he's not, right now, call upon his name in repentance for forgiveness of sin. 00:29:40.559 --> 00:29:41.680 He knows your heart. 00:29:41.839 --> 00:29:43.200 I don't know your heart. 00:29:43.440 --> 00:29:46.079 You don't know my heart, but he knows your heart. 00:29:46.319 --> 00:29:52.880 Right now, the word says, while it's today, call upon the name of the Lord. 00:29:53.839 --> 00:29:58.240 If you haven't done it, I'm going to pray right quick. 00:29:58.720 --> 00:30:04.319 If you haven't made Jesus King of kings in your life, if you haven't repented, pray with me. 00:30:04.480 --> 00:30:05.599 Just pray with me. 00:30:05.920 --> 00:30:09.119 Father in heaven, I'm a sinner. 00:30:10.160 --> 00:30:12.720 Lord, I deserve death in hell. 00:30:13.279 --> 00:30:22.720 But because Jesus died on that cross for my sin, I cry out to you in repentance and in his name for forgiveness of sin. 00:30:23.279 --> 00:30:29.119 Lord, I accept that salvation and I thank you for paying for it for me in Jesus' name. 00:30:30.640 --> 00:30:35.200 And again, I declare to you, I have no other king but Jesus. 00:30:36.640 --> 00:30:39.440 And I believe that that's for all of us. 00:30:39.839 --> 00:30:41.119 I appreciate you guys. 00:30:41.279 --> 00:30:41.680 Thank you. 00:30:41.759 --> 00:30:44.079 It's been an honor to share with you. 00:30:44.240 --> 00:30:44.880 Love y'all. 00:30:45.119 --> 00:30:46.160 Bless you.