Most of us understand that, but what many do not seem to understand is what God has called them to do and equipped them to do, HE EXPECTS THEM TO DO!
Our desire should be as Christ's. He said in John 4:34, "...My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work."
He not only has created us to do certain things, he also has equipped us with a mind, so we can understand WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE and HOW IT SHOULD BE DONE! These minds are one of the marvels of His creation. It is unbelievable the things we can achieve with them.
Illus: For example, a college philosophy professor asked one question on his final exam. He picked up a chair, put it on his desk, and wrote on the board, "Using everything we have learned this semester, prove that this chair does not exist." They knew what their job was to do and now they were to take the skills God had given them to accomplish the job. The students dug deep and wrote like crazy for a whole hour, some of them churning out 30 pages of heady philosophical debate and logic. But one student turned in his paper after less than a minute. Turned out he was the only one to get an "A." What did he write so quickly that turned out to be just the right answer? He simply wrote "What chair?"
The minds God gave us are amazing. We can use them to do anything God has called us to do.
Illus: For example, one class that graduated was disappointed that their school would not allow them to mention God in their graduating exercise. But clever people can not be stopped. This class was a clever class. They decided they can mention God in their graduating exercise by having the President of the student body “sneeze” when he got ready to make his Senior Class speech.
• He did and the whole senior class stood up and said, “God bless you!”
• The crowd saw and heard what had happened and they all stood up and said to the senior class, “God bless you!”
It is simply amazing the things we can accomplish if we will use the God given minds and talents He gave us. Nothing can stop us from accomplishing what God would have us to accomplish.
It is amazing what we mortals can do, but many times even animals who were put here for a very specific purpose can amaze us.
Illus: For example, a local business was looking for office help. They put a sign in the window, stating the following: "HELP WANTED”. But the sign also listed these things:
• Must be able to type
• Must be good with a computer
• Must be bilingual
“We are an Equal Opportunity Employer." A short time afterwards, a dog trotted up to the window, saw the sign and went inside. He looked at the receptionist and wagged his tail, then walked over to the sign, looked at it and whined. Getting the idea, the receptionist got the office manager. The office manager looked at the dog and was surprised, to say the least. However, the dog looked determined, so he led him into the office. Inside, the dog jumped up on the chair and stared at the manager.
• The manager said "I can't hire you. The sign says you have to be able to type." The dog jumped down, went to the typewriter and proceeded to type out a perfect, flawless letter. He took out the page and trotted over to the manager and gave it to him, then jumped back on the chair.
• The manager was stunned, but then he told the dog "The sign says you have to be good with a computer." The dog jumped down again and went to the computer. The dog proceeded to enter and execute a perfect program, that worked flawlessly the first time.
• By this time the manager was totally dumbfounded! He looked at the dog and said, "I realize that you are a very intelligent dog and have some interesting abilities. However, I still can not give you the job."
• The dog jumped down and went to a copy of the sign and put his paw on the sentence that told about being an Equal Opportunity Employer.
• The manager said "Yes, but the sign also says that you have to be bilingual." The dog looked at the manager calmly and said, "Meow!"
All the creatures God put here on earth are doing what they were put here to do. The only one who is not, is MORTAL MAN.
For example, in our text, in 1 Samuel 15, God gave Saul a task to perform and God expected him to obey. God gave him the brains and the skills to do the job. Let’s look at Saul and how he handled the task God sent him to do. First, we need to consider-
I. SAUL'S MISSION
1 Sam. 15:3 “Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.”
Saul completed most of the task God sent him to do, but not all. Saul could not say he did not understand what the command was. It was simple, God said, “…Utterly destroy all that they have…”
The word “Destroy” is not a complicated word. Now we all have read things that confused us.
Illus: (humor) Dr. Odell Belger tells how he was visiting in a local hospital and he saw signs everywhere that said, “Wet Paint”. He said that sign confused him because everything he touched was not wet! Why would they say it is wet when it wasn’t?
But listen, when it comes to the word “Destroy”, this word is so simple it should not confuse anyone. You can give a child a hammer and a toy and tell him to destroy it and he will destroy it.
But we need to ask ourselves, why would God give such an order? We have to admit that on the surface it sounds like:
• The God of love is not very loving
• The God of patience is not very patient
• The God of kindness is not very kind
In so many words, God told Saul that He wanted the Amalekites wiped from the face of the earth.
WHY DID HE GIVE SUCH A COMMAND? Once we come to know WHO THE AMALEKITES WERE and WHAT THEY HAD DONE, we then can understand why God gave Saul such a command. It was because of WHAT THEY DID IN THE PAST.
But now the past is catching up with them, and even though Saul had some GOOD EXCUSES, he was not getting off the hook with God. In this life, some folks have gotten off the hook with good excuses.
Illus: Did you hear about the man that bought a new anniversary model Corvette and was out on I-75 for a nice evening drive. The top was down, the breeze was blowing through his hair and just outside of "Land O' Lakes", he decided to open her up. As the needle jumped up to 90 mph he suddenly saw a flashing red and blue light behind him. "There ain't no way a policeman can CATCH UP with a Corvette," he thought to himself and opened her up more. The needle hit 100, 110, 120 and finally 130 with the lights still CATCHING UP all the time. Then the man came to his senses and said, "What am I doing?" He pulled over. The police officer came up to him, took his license without a word and examined it and the car. He then said, "I've had a tough shift and this is my last traffic stop. I don't feel like more paperwork, so if you can give me an excuse for your driving that I haven't heard before, you can go!"
"Last week my wife ran off with a cop," the man said, "and I was afraid you were trying to give her back!" The policeman said, "Have a nice day!”
Listen, we can give people excuses and get off the hook, but that doesn’t work with God. These evil Amalekites had lived a wicked life and now their evil was catching up with them.
Illus: Talking about “Catching up”, did you hear about the man who went out and bought a 2003 model Corvette? One night he takes it out for a spin, and stops at a red light. An old man pulls up next to him riding a moped. The old man looks at the Vette and says, "What kind of car ya got there sonny?" The man replies, "It's a Z06, the best sports car in the USA; it cost me over $60,000." "That's a lot of money" says the old man.
“Why do they cost so much?" The man answers, "Because they can go 190 miles an hour!" The old man pokes his head in the window and looks around.
Leaning back on his moped, the old man says, "That's a pretty nice car all right!" Just then the light changes, so the guy decides to show the old man what the car can do. He floors it, and in a few seconds the speedometer reads 120 MPH. Suddenly he notices a dot in his rear view mirror that seems to be catching up to him. Afraid it might be a cop, he slows down to 65 and suddenly whhhoooosshh! Something whips by him going much faster. "What on earth could be going faster than this Vette?" the man asks himself. Then, ahead of him, he sees a dot coming towards him. Whhoooosshh! It goes by again, heading the opposite direction! And it sorta looked like the old man on the moped! "Couldn't be," thinks the guy. "How could a moped outrun a Vette?" Then again he sees a dot in his rear view mirror! Whhooosshh - Blam! It plows into the back of the Vette! The man jumps out. It is the old man! Of course, the moped and the old man are in a world of hurt. The guy runs up to the old man and cries, "You're hurt bad! Is there anything I can do for you?" The old man groans and replies, "Yes, could you please unhook my suspenders from your side mirror?"
These Amalekites had been living a very evil life and their evil was CATCHING UP with them fast. THERE WAS NO GETTING OFF THE HOOK! God gave very specific orders to UTTERLY DESTROY EVERY ONE OF THEM!
In Gal. 6:7, we read, “Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” They had sown much evil and they were preparing to reap much evil.
A person can do some evil and then forget they ever did it, but God will not forget. And God did not forget the evil they had done.
WHAT DID THEY DO?
Illus: In the State of the Union Address, President George W Bush, calls Iraq, Iran and North Korea an 'Axis of Evil" -- N.Y. Times, 1/30/02. They are evil, but listen the Amalekites were just as evil as any nation that ever existed. AND GOD WAS PREPARING TO PAY THEM BACK FOR WHAT THEY HAD DONE!
The Amalekites were the most evil people on the face of this earth, and God was very angry with them, and God was going to remove the problem makers from the face of the earth.
Today this is the same lesson we need to learn about the problem makers in the Middle East.
Illus: For example, President George W. Bush got the Prime Minister of Israel and the Palestinian Prime Minister together to bring about peace in the Middle East and to sign a Peace Treaty. Listen, the ink did not have time to dry on the peace treaty before the group of terrorists in Palestine called “Hamas” began to blow up Israelis.
Listen, this may sound cruel, but as long as that group of terrorists is allowed to do such things, there will never be peace in the Middle East. The only way they are going to have peace in the Middle East is to send the military over there and utterly destroy every terrorist in the area.
The Amalekites were the cruel and evil people of that day, and God told Saul to remove them from the face of this earth. UTTERLY DESTROY THEM ALL!
WHY DESTROY THE AMALEKITES IN PARTICULAR? Look at Deut. 25:17-18 “Remember what Amalek did unto thee by the way, when ye were come forth out of Egypt; How he met thee by the way, and smote the hindmost of thee, even all that were feeble behind thee, when thou wast faint and weary; and he feared not God.”
As God’s people came out of Egypt, the Amalekites attacked them from the rear. The Amalekites did not attack by the normal rules of combat, but cowardly attacked the weak people at the rear of the procession. They were the TERRORISTS of that day.
We see SAUL’S MISSION, now look at....
II. SAUL'S MISTAKE
1 Sam. 15:7 9, “And Saul smote the Amalekites from Havilah until thou comest to Shur, that is over against Egypt. And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them: but every thing that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly.”
Saul made a BIG MISTAKE! Even though God had told him to utterly destroy all of the Amalekites, HE ONLY PARTIALLY OBEYED GOD’S ORDERS!
• He spared the King
• He kept the best of the sheep
• He kept the best of the oxen
• He kept the best of the fatlings (the second best)
• He kept the best of the lambs
• He kept “all that was good”
WHY DID HE PARTIALLY OBEY GOD’S ORDERS? He was like many today who think they can do it and get away with it. Remember that PARTIAL OBEDIENCE IS DISOBEDIENCE!!
Illus: A man and his wife started attending Dr. Odell Belger’s church in Columbia, South Carolina. On the surface they seemed to be a loving family. One day when Dr. Belger was in their home, one of the most unusual things that he had ever heard was said. The wife was talking about her husband being a good husband for 51 weeks out of a year. Dr. Belger said, “I do not understand, a year has 52 weeks, what about the other week.” She said something that is unbelievable! She said, that before they got married, he told her that for 51 weeks he would be true and loyal to her. But one week out of the year he would be going out of town with his buddies and he would …
• Drink all the booze he could drink.
• Mess with as many women as he wanted to mess with
And when he got all this out of his system he would come home and be a faithful husband for 51 weeks! Then she made this dumb statement and said, “Listen, I would like to have him be a faithful husband for 52 weeks, but if he is not willing to do that, at least I have him for 51 weeks!”
Listen, there is no other way to say this than to say this, that is one DUMB woman. For a woman to marry a man like this is the dumbest thing a woman can do!
But while some think this woman is DUMB, they also think God must be DUMB! Sometimes we say we commit ALL to God, but ...
• We are not willing to give up some sin we have in our lives
• We are not willing to do something for God that He has asked us to do
• We are not willing to go somewhere that God asked us to go
We are disobedient, and God is not pleased with us in the slightest!
God placed us here on this earth…
• At a certain time in history…
• Equipped us to do a certain thing…
• To do a certain job.
When we decide we know more than God and deliberately disobey God almighty, it infuriates the Lord.
Look at 1 Sam. 15:10-11a “Then came the word of the LORD unto Samuel, saying, It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king: for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments.”
The word “repenteth” comes from a word that means to “breathe strongly or to sigh”. We need to understand that it brings sorrow to the heart of God when we disobey Him. Are we grieving God today by some area of disobedience in our life?
We have looked at SAUL’S MISSION and SAUL'S MISTAKE, now look at....
III. SAUL'S MISPLACEMENT
I am sure everyone here has misplaced something. When we say something is misplaced, we mean it is in the wrong place. And when Saul was dealing with blame in his life, he put it in the wrong place.
When we don’t obey God, we usually give some excuse for our actions, to try to justify ourselves. NOTICE THE WAY HE TRIED TO EXCUSE HIMSELF.
(1) HE TRIED TO USE A SPIRITUAL EXCUSE
Saul gives a “SPIRITUAL” excuse for the sparing of the animals, he says that the people spared them so they could use the animals as sacrifices to God.
Look at 1 Sam. 15:19 21, “Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of the LORD, but didst fly upon the spoil, and didst evil in the sight of the LORD? And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the LORD, and have gone the way which the LORD sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God in Gilgal.”
That is:
• Like a prostitute selling her body and justifying it by giving part of the money to God
• Like a gambler that gambles and justifies his gambling by giving part to God
• Like a man selling liquor and destroying homes and justifying it by giving part of it to God
• That is like saying that you will do evil so good can come out of it
Samuel reminds Saul that obedience is better than sacrifice, and disobedience is sin.
Look at verses 22b-23a “…Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry....”
When the SPIRITUAL EXCUSE DID NOT WORK -
(2) HE TRIED TO USE THE PEOPLE AS AN EXCUSE
Look at 1 Sam. 15:15, “And Saul said, THEY have brought them from the Amalekites: for THE PEOPLE spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.”
Saul BLAMES THE PEOPLE!! Here he is, King over the people and yet he blames them for what has been done.
• Saul received the command from the Lord
• Saul gave the orders to fight
• Saul led the battle and was victorious
Now Saul blames the people for the disobedience.
He finally admitted the real reason he disobeyed the Lord.
Look at 1 Sam. 15:24-25, “And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD, and thy words: because I FEARED THE PEOPLE, and obeyed their voice. Now therefore, I pray thee, pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship the LORD.”
God was displeased with his disobedience.
v. 23b “...Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.”
God made Saul King over Israel, and now, because of his disobedience, He is going to remove him from that position.
Conclusion:
Saul however was smart enough to repent. One thing that we need to see here is that while the sin can be forgiven and a right relationship can be re-established with the Lord, that does not change the fact that there is a price to be paid for disobedience.
Saul was no longer going to be king, yet he could again be right with God. That seems to be a terrible price to pay for what seems to be “a little” disobedience.
We all have a task to perform for the LORD. There is an old song that we don't seem to sing much in our Churches, which says, “We'll work ’till Jesus comes!” Let us finish the work He has set for us to do!
I. SAUL’S MISSION
II. SAUL'S MISTAKE
III. SAUL'S MISPLACEMENT
