Cornerposts Of Our Faith 2 " Marks Of A Good Servant Of God" Series

Corner posts

Sermon 2

Marks of A Great Servant of God

1 Samuel 11:12-15, 1 Samuel 12:1-25

Periodically we are going to take a break from our sermon series

And preach a series called corner posts

As I have said many times in the past

A fence is absolutely worthless without strong corners

And it is on strong corners that we must also build our faith

In this case it ties directly in with our study of 1 Samuel

Several weeks ago, I preached a sermon about Saul

Finally becoming what God had called him to be

How when he started acting like a king

The people began to treat him as one

This brings us to today and our corner post lesson

“Marks of a good servant”

We are all called to be servants by God

When he saves us

He expects us to serve him and others

Sometimes we do that well

Other times not so well

So today

Through the life of Samuel

And chapter 12 of 1 Samuel

Let’s look at

What doing it well looks like

Let’s start out in 1 Samuel 11:12-15

Let me recap just a bit as you turn to 1 Samuel

Samuel had been set aside from birth to serve the lord

And God used him in a mighty way

He was the last of Israel’s judges and a good and Godly man

Oppression and fear from the other nations had caused the people to believe that in order to beat their enemies they must become like their enemies

So they rejected God as their king and asked Samuel to give them a king like the other nations had

Samuel advised them against this

And God told Samuel

Give them what they want

So we studied that Saul was first chosen by God

Anointed by Samuel

Appointed by most of the people and then when he started acting like a king

He was accepted by all

And now it was time for Samuel to change roles

This brings us to today’s lesson

1 Samuel 11:12-15

12 Then the people exclaimed to Samuel, “Now where are those men who said, ‘Why should Saul rule over us?’ Bring them here, and we will kill them!”

13 But Saul replied, “No one will be executed today, for today the LORD has rescued Israel!”

14 Then Samuel said to the people, “Come, let us all go to Gilgal to renew the kingdom.” 15 So they all went to Gilgal, and in a solemn ceremony before the LORD they made Saul king. Then they offered peace offerings to the LORD, and Saul and all the Israelites were filled with joy.

This is where chapter 12 comes in.

Samuel at the solemn ceremony makes a farewell speech to the people.

The heading in my bible and most likely yours says

“ Samuels farewell speech”

This is a bit misleading

He was changing roles

He was stepping aside

No longer would he be their leader

But he would still continue to serve as their prophet and spiritual guide

He would continue as we will see to pray for and teach the people

He would also be instrumental in the life and rule of David as we will see later in our Study of the life of David

But for now

The nation would now look to Saul their King to lead them instead of Samuel

This is important

Samuel is not stepping down, but stepping aside for Saul

You see

A good leader knows when to step aside when a new leader emerges

Samuel is an excellent model for us for the marks of a great servant of God

We got to know him from the beginning, even before he was born, when his mother Hannah prays for a child in chapter 1

We learned how he answered the call from God to service at an early age in chapter 2

We studied how he was used by God to lead and teach the people in chapters 4-9

And then in chapters 10-11 we saw how he was used to give them the king they wanted

Samuels life is an outstanding illustration of a great servant of God

Three things in today’s passage of scripture and his life stand out for me:

(1) His Integrity (12:1-5);

(2) His Faithfulness (12:6-18)

(3) His Love for his people (12:18-25).

Let’s begin in chapter 12 verses 1-5

Then Samuel addressed all Israel: “I have done as you asked and given you a king. 2 Your king is now your leader. I stand here before you—an old, gray-haired man—and my sons serve you. I have served as your leader from the time I was a boy to this very day. 3 Now testify against me in the presence of the LORD and before his anointed one. Whose ox or donkey have I stolen? Have I ever cheated any of you? Have I ever oppressed you? Have I ever taken a bribe and perverted justice? Tell me and I will make right whatever I have done wrong.”