Real People- Real Problems
A study of 1 Samuel
Part 9
“Becoming what God called you to be”
1 Samuel 11:1-15
Today as we continue our series in the book of 1 Samuel
We are going to address another real problem
Becoming what God has called us to be
In the prior week’s we studied as Samuel privately anointed Saul as the king of Israel
A week or so later we studied how Saul
Reluctantly made this appoint public and how most but not all of the people had accepted Saul
This acceptance as we studied was more on appearance than merit
And as a result many rejected him as their king
Last week we studied about how the Israelites from the tribe of Ruben and Gad had tried to make a deal
In order to get along
They were willing
If no one came to save them
To give up
Their right eyes but more than that
Their freedom
Their identity as God’s chosen people and their loyalty to God
We saw how we sometimes also make deals that can cost us our honesty
Our integrity
Our morality
Those deals that can destroy our witness
Our reputations and
Severely cripple our spiritual growth by causing a distancing from God
A wall of separation caused by sin in our lives
And the resulting guilt and shame that can cause us to withdraw from our Lord
Let me recap last week’s message and tie it to this weeks by reading all of 1 Samuel chapter 11
In chapter 11 we see many topics
And quite honestly
I could have spent several weeks in chapter 11 alone
But the direction I felt led to go this morning is wrapped up in the last verses of chapter 11
Please open your bibles to 1 Samuel chapter 11
Throw your bulletins in there
We will go back her a few times this morning
I Samuel 11:1-15
About a month later,[a] King Nahash of Ammon led his army against the Israelite town of Jabesh-gilead. But all the citizens of Jabesh asked for peace. “Make a treaty with us, and we will be your servants,” they pleaded.
2 “All right,” Nahash said, “but only on one condition. I will gouge out the right eye of every one of you as a disgrace to all Israel!”
3 “Give us seven days to send messengers throughout Israel!” replied the elders of Jabesh. “If no one comes to save us, we will agree to your terms.”
Enter this is where we were last week
Nahash had tried to make a deal with the people
And they had almost gone along with it without even fighting
But notice with me
The ending of verse 3
They said
If no one comes to save us
We will agree
Thank God someone came along to save them
And thank God that someone came along to save us
While we were still making deals
Verses 4-5
4 When the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul and told the people about their plight, everyone broke into tears. 5 Saul had been plowing a field with his oxen, and when he returned to town, he asked, “What’s the matter? Why is everyone crying?” So they told him about the message from Jabesh.
The people of Jabesh sent out cries to the surrounding areas
Remember their tribes on the east side of the Jordan had already made the deal
They had already submitted to Nahash and the Ammonites so help was not coming from there
The other tribes of Israel had a low opinion of the tribes of Ruben and Gad
First because they had refused to cross into the Promised Land when the others had
They thought they were chicken
And secondly because they had submitted to Nahash
Which may have helped confirm the first point?
The others thought they were cowards and had no desire to risk their lives and property to help people who would not help them selves
So honestly
The people in their minds and in their hearts were not expecting anyone to save them
And had already in a sense surrendered
But they were not counting on the new King
Verses 6-7
6 Then the Spirit of God came powerfully upon Saul, and he became very angry. 7 He took two oxen and cut them into pieces and sent the messengers to carry them throughout Israel with this message: “This is what will happen to the oxen of anyone who refuses to follow Saul and Samuel into battle!” And the LORD made the people afraid of Saul’s anger, and all of them came out together as one.
The nation of Israel
The different tribes
Had over the years become disjointed
Every one for themselves kind of thinking
And that common problem
Of it is not affecting me kind of came out
But Saul
God’s anointed
The People’s appointed King
For the first time
Started acting like a King
He took charge
And he united Israel
In battle against the ammonites\
He and his army rode to the rescue of the people of Jabesh
Verses 8-11
8 When Saul mobilized them at Bezek, he found that there were 300,000 men from Israel and 30,000[b] men from Judah.
9 So Saul sent the messengers back to Jabesh-gilead to say, “We will rescue you by noontime tomorrow!” There was great joy throughout the town when that message arrived!
10 The men of Jabesh then told their enemies, “Tomorrow we will come out to you, and you can do to us whatever you wish.” 11 But before dawn the next morning, Saul arrived, having divided his army into three detachments. He launched a surprise attack against the Ammonites and slaughtered them the whole morning. The remnant of their army was so badly scattered that no two of them were left together.
The nation of Ammon was destroyed
The people of Jabesh were rescue but more importantly
The Nation of Israel was once again united
Verse 12
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!”
And as a result
Now
The people wanted all to follow Saul as King
And wanted anyone who opposed him to be punished
But Saul started acting like a Kin and as a result he was accepted by all the people
Verse13
13 But Saul replied, “No one will be executed today, for today the LORD has rescued Israel!”
Finally Saul is acting like the King he was called to be
And Samuel organized a ceremony to make Saul King in everyone’s eyes
Including Saul’s own eyes
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,
Verse15b
“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.”
In short
Saul started acting like a king
So the people started treating him like a King
This brings us to us
And our relationship with Jesus
To our Bona Fideness in Christ
I preached a few weeks back
About How God first dealt with the heart of Saul
Samuel had anointed Saul in private
One on one
Though the guidance and direction of God
We saw how
God began working on the heart of Saul
How the promises he made to him through Samuel came true
How God had used a bunch of Donkeys to get Saul where he wanted him
And how he had placed Samuel in the right place at the right time in order to begin unfolding the plan for Saul and the nation of Israel
And we related that to ur own conversion
At one time in our lives
Each of us was lost
We were living our lives apart from the salvation that God provided
Through the blood sacrifice of his one and only Son Jesus
Then
God through the power of the Holy Spirit began working on our hearts
And he used people
Circumstance
Situations
Sometime storms
And His word
To move us in the direction he wanted us
In order for his plan to begin unfolding
He dealt with each of us privately
To get us saved
Step one
Then we saw that when it was time to make it public
Saul hid
He tried to make excuses
He even went back to his old life
Not telling anyone in his family
That he was King
Not telling them he was changed
This ties to us and how after God deals with our hearts
And we accept Jesus
But then we want to just go back to our old lives
We want heaven
We want salvation
Without the change that goes along with it
But Saul did make his anointment public
And most of us do end up making our salvation public
In view of the church
Saul and we are chosen by God
We show the people we are chosen
Listen
Make no mistake
Saul was King at the moment Samuel anoint him
You were saved at the moment you cried out for salvation
The box was sealed
The card stamped
Then Saul was accepted by some of the people at his public appointment
And so are we
I can tell you
Everyone who comes here and accepts the Lord
And submits to be baptized is accepted to be a Christian
And here at Church
Surrounded by other believers
You will be welcomed
Prayed over
Encouraged
But remember
I said
Saul was accepted by most of the people of Israel at Mizpah
At his public ceremony
What about the rest
Why would they not accept his Kingship?
Why were they hesitant to embrace him as ruler?
Why did some reject his claim?
Even though God had anointed him
Even though the some of the people had embraced him
Why were there still those who rejected him?
Because
He was not acting like what he was called to be
Listen
People rejected him
Because he was not acting like a King should act
He first tried to argue his way out of being King
Then he tried to hid from being King
Then he simply went back to life as usual
No one could see a change
No one sensed a difference in Saul
So they rejected him
Until he started acting like he should
This brings us back to us
Listen
At the very moment that the Holy Spirit convict you of your sins
At the very moment you cry out for Salivation
At that very moment
You are a born again believer in Jesus Christ
You are custom made and signed sealed and delivered
And please never let anyone tell you any different
Eternal life means eternal life
Not eternal life unless
Forever means forever
And all means all
Bu at this time in your relationship with Jesus
Only you- God- and possibly the person or persons who God used to get you there
Know about it
It is at this point that many Believers simply say
Whew
I made it
And drift away
Back to their old lives and problems
The next step as we have discussed is making it public
Going to talk to someone
If you prayed the sinners prayer at a service
Or in private
Telling them about your decision
Then showing the church
The body of Christ
Your new self
The new you
By standing before them
Being baptized and introduced
I will always ask for the church to promise to pray for you
Encourage you and to say amen to show their acceptance of you
And at that time many of the people your life
Will accept that you are indeed changed
But what about the ones who don’t accept it
Why don’t they accept it
Let’s get real
Some people will always
Reject your change
They will miss the old you
Because when you were still partying with them
They did not feel so bad about what they were doing
They were in the mud and they were happy you were there with them
These are not the ones I am talking about this morning
But ironically
They may come to recognize the new you for the same reason the rest of the world does
Saul was rejected by some
Because he did not act like a King
We are often rejected by people for the same reason
We say we are believers
We stand before the church and confess our faith
And get baptized
But then
We just go back to life as usual
Nothing changing
Listen to me
I am not taking about walking around in a choir robe
Singing hymns all day long
I’m not talking about quitting your jobs and becoming some kind of monk or something
I’m not talking about going far away to Africa of some other country
These are not the changes that the world needs to see
How we talk is a big change
I can tell you when I surrendered to the Lord
Not when I was saved
But when I submitted to his Lordship
I had to relearn how to talk
The old me
Even the old saved but not surrendered me
Could cuss with the worst of them
So
I could go ut and talk about Jesus
Talk about my salvation
Talk about their relationship with Christ
Then open my mouth and destroy my witness
Destroy my testimony
And cause the person I was talking to reject my claim to be a believer
I had accepted Christ
I had stood before the church
I had been baptized
But I was not acting like a Christian
So I was rejected as one
Paul says in Ephesians 4:29
29 Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them”
I was rejected as a believer
Because I was not acting like a believer
You will be as well if you choose to not act like one
It is not just foul or abusive language that can cast doubt on our Bona Filenes as belivers either
Gossip
Nagativity
Harsh talk
Rudeness
Selfishness
Crooked dealing
Laziness
Lack of patience
Anger
Lying
Manipulation
Sexual immorality
Guys I could go on and on
You see what I am trying to get to today
Is if we are going to be identified as Christians
And accepted as Christian
We must act
Like Christians
24-7
365
And guys
I don’t mean we have to be perfect
If we had to be
None of us would be saved
I mean
We must act like a Christian
Talk like a Christian
We must live like a Christian
I can tell you
One of the biggest compliments you can ever hear from people
Especially people outside those doors
Is
There’s something different about you
You used to ----
But Now
Then
Because they see change
You have an open door to help them change as well
Let me close with Paul’s words from Ephesians 4:17-32
17 With the Lord’s authority I say this: Live no longer as the Gentiles( The Lost) do, for they are hopelessly confused. 18 Their minds are full of darkness; they wander far from the life God gives because they have closed their minds and hardened their hearts against him. 19 They have no sense of shame. They live for lustful pleasure and eagerly practice every kind of impurity.
20 But that isn’t what you learned about Christ. 21 Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, 22 throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. 23 Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. 24 Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.
25 So stop telling lies. Let us tell our neighbors the truth, for we are all parts of the same body. 26 And “don’t sin by letting anger control you.”[d] Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 for anger gives a foothold to the devil.
28 If you are a thief, quit stealing. Instead, use your hands for good hard work, and then give generously to others in need. 29 Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.
30 And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own,[e] guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption.
31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. 32 Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.
Close from the heart
Pray
