Get a cup of coffee, this is a long one

14 "What does he look like?" he asked.
      "An old man wearing a robe is coming up," she said.
      Then Saul knew it was Samuel, and he bowed down and prostrated himself with his face to the ground.

 15 Samuel said to Saul, "Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?"
      "I am in great distress," Saul said. "The Philistines are fighting against me, and God has turned away from me. He no longer answers me, either by prophets or by dreams. So I have called on you to tell me what to do."

 16 Samuel said, "Why do you consult me, now that the LORD has turned away from you and become your enemy? 17 The LORD has done what he predicted through me. The LORD has torn the kingdom out of your hands and given it to one of your neighbors—to David. 18 Because you did not obey the LORD or carry out his fierce wrath against the Amalekites, the LORD has done this to you today. 19 The LORD will hand over both Israel and you to the Philistines, and tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. The LORD will also hand over the army of Israel to the Philistines."

 20 Immediately Saul fell full length on the ground, filled with fear because of Samuel's words. His strength was gone, for he had eaten nothing all that day and night.

 21 When the woman came to Saul and saw that he was greatly shaken, she said, "Look, your maidservant has obeyed you. I took my life in my hands and did what you told me to do. 22 Now please listen to your servant and let me give you some food so you may eat and have the strength to go on your way."

 23 He refused and said, "I will not eat."
      But his men joined the woman in urging him, and he listened to them. He got up from the ground and sat on the couch.

 24 The woman had a fattened calf at the house, which she butchered at once. She took some flour, kneaded it and baked bread without yeast. 25 Then she set it before Saul and his men, and they ate. That same night they got up and left. 1 Samuel 28:14-25

It's really easy to get lost in this story; did your mind wander as you read?

A witch; the images of the old man; Samuel being called back from the grave; his harsh words; the "I told you so" statements; Saul's fear; where did your mind take you?

Hopefully you are able to look through the story to see the message.

This is the story of us, the children of God, like Saul we were chosen not because of anything we did (Deut 7:7-8); God raised us up to set things apart for Him; we were called to trust in God and keep His commandments; not to imitate the world; but like Saul we live in consistent rebellion.

But if we stubbornly rebel, He will not listen to our prayers, He will cease disclosing
Himself and His will to us, and we will begin to wander.

2People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— 5having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them. 2 Timothy 3:1-13

Like Saul then, we start grasping at straws, and looking for "the ways of God" in anything. From the story above we saw what happened to Saul; here's what could happen to us:

3For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. 2 Tim 4:3-4.

The whole message of 1 Samuel is about total obedience to God. In fact we are told that partial obedience is disobedience; if that's the case is partial truth, non-truth?

Here's what I see; we live in the rebellious culture like the one in 2 Timothy. To make us feel better about ourselves we go looking for the "things of God" that make us feel good. We want to hear about a god who is so loving that he is totally okay with my continued rebellion…sounds good, right?

Would that make Him just?

I used to be a person who prided himself on seeing the "grey areas", but God has been teaching me that there is only "black or white"; it is either true or false; it is either for God or against Him; it is either of the Kingdom or of the "world".

I know for me I didn't look long or hard enough to find truth or when I did see truth, I thought I was smarter and could see "another side" to it. What I was actually doing was trying fit God and His ways into my rebellion or making others feel better about their own rebellion so they would like me.

Why is it, like Saul we look for anyway other than the ways of God? Do we think we know better than our Creator? Do we think His ways are not "just"? Do we not trust that He loves us?

Dang, we are a skeptical, hard headed, stubborn, prideful, rebellious bunch, aren't we?

Out of my box

7 Saul then said to his attendants, "Find me a woman who is a medium, so I may go and inquire of her."
      "There is one in Endor," they said.

 8 So Saul disguised himself, putting on other clothes, and at night he and two men went to the woman. "Consult a spirit for me," he said, "and bring up for me the one I name."

 9 But the woman said to him, "Surely you know what Saul has done. He has cut off the mediums and spiritists from the land. Why have you set a trap for my life to bring about my death?"

 10 Saul swore to her by the LORD, "As surely as the LORD lives, you will not be punished for this."

 11 Then the woman asked, "Whom shall I bring up for you?"
      "Bring up Samuel," he said.

 12 When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out at the top of her voice and said to Saul, "Why have you deceived me? You are Saul!"

 13 The king said to her, "Don't be afraid. What do you see?"
      The woman said, "I see a spirit coming up out of the ground." 1 Samuel 28:7-13

I lived a sheltered life for the first 40 years…not in the way most would think…I have been blessed to have experienced a ton of stuff. But, I'm coming to understand how sheltered I was spiritually during that time.

Maybe, I'm still leaving you scratching your head about what I mean. Think about the verse above, mediums, spiritist, spirits, seeing the dead, I mean, come on! That stuff doesn't happen…I'm sure we never covered this verse in my Presbyterian Sunday School class!

Things like this I would have tried to explain away or say "that was a long time ago, it doesn't happen today".

Before I even got to this verse this morning, my prayer was one of confessing how I've put God in a box that I could understand and comprehend. If you know me I pride myself on thinking "outside the box"…but this seems to blow the box up! What Saul was experiencing was not of God, but what God directly opposes, I must take that for what the Bible says even if I can't explain it.

Here's what I'm learning:

• I can't explain everything, nor do I have answers for everything…that's arrogance and pride!
  
• I don't get a vote in truth, truth is truth based solely on God's word.
  
• I don't get a vote on what God is like, he didn't ask me and I don't think he asked you. When I try to make God in an image I can understand that's idolatry. He is much bigger than my thoughts or imagination.
  
• His ways are not my ways, yeah, we've all heard that, but think about how many times we want an explanation.
  
• I can't explain the verse above so I won't try.
  

I am coming to understand the truth of this verse though:

12 For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. Gal 6:10-12

Because I can't explain something doesn't make it false. Evil is real. Saul turned to witchcraft for help, he disobeyed God's command of not consulting the dead (Deut 18:9-14).

As a Christ follower I don't live pretending there is no such thing as demons and evil spirits because they are mentioned throughout Scripture. I live with the reality that there are forces at work that affect human beings that I cannot explain. But I live with the full conviction that the devil and those evil forces
have been conquered!

4You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. 1 John 4:4

The battle is real and our God is greater
than anything!

Fear nothing but Him!

If you have trusted Christ and surrendered to Him, He who lives in you is Greater!

Go conquer evil with good today!

No signal

3 Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had mourned for him and buried him in his own town of Ramah. Saul had expelled the mediums and spiritists from the land.

 4 The Philistines assembled and came and set up camp at Shunem, while Saul gathered all the Israelites and set up camp at Gilboa. 5 When Saul saw the Philistine army, he was afraid; terror filled his heart. 6 He inquired of the LORD, but the LORD did not answer him by dreams or Urim or prophets. 1 Samuel 28:3-6

We live in a wired world (yeah, it's weird too), we are always connected these days.

What would happen to you if you lost your connection?

What if you lost your connection when you needed it most?

No cell, no e-mail, no internet, no TV, no text, no facebook, nada, nothing!

That's where Saul is, it's the worst day of his life and he has no connection.

The Philistines have gathered all their forces (the numbers are staggering) and are about to attack; their plan is to cut Israel in half!

Saul cannot count on all of his forces either!

One of his best warriors and his men has joined the Philistines! Not only is David one of his best, but Saul's been trying to kill him, don't you think he might be a little ticked?

Scared, you bet! It's Saul, he was scared looking for his father's donkey, he was scared about being king, he never imitated any attacks against the Philistines, and he has been racked with fear since about chapter 16! He is literally scared to death!

To make it worse, he has lost his connection!

…but the LORD did not answer him by dreams or Urim or prophets.

Not by prayer, not by word, not by preacher, not by phone, not by text, not by e-mail, no signs, nothing!

Samuel, whose prayers opposed their enemies, was dead!

David, the "national champion", you chased into a foreign land and has sided with the enemy!

You let Doeg kill all the priest!

The chickens have come home to roost!

Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Gal 6:7

Man, he is reaping some bad seed!

 

But, he’s our hero

 1 In those days the Philistines gathered their forces to fight against Israel. Achish said to David, "You must understand that you and your men will accompany me in the army."

 2 David said, "Then you will see for yourself what your servant can do."
 Achish replied, "Very well, I will make you my bodyguard for life." 1 Samuel 28:1-2

Ever been stuck in a situation like this?

Maybe you're thinking what situation?

The Philistines are constantly at war with Israel. David was once the armor-bearer for Saul, king of Israel, and now Achish says I'm taking you with me to fight against your people.

How'd he get in this position?

He got here because he had doubts about God's provision and took matters into his own hands.

What does he do?

Our hero David, a man after God's own heart, responds by drawing his sword and killing the enemy…WRONG…he brags about how good he is!

What?

But, David is our hero! Exactly the problem; we should have one hero, Jesus, yeah, that may sound like a "church answer", but it's true.

God does not want us to worship men or make them our idols; He wants us to worship Him.

Here's what I see, as a culture we don't like to do the hard things, so when we see anyone with courage or fortitude we put them up on a pedestal…we make them our heroes, we worship them.

When it comes to the "things of God" we are the same way, just like we've always been…

"…they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance 19 and said to Moses, "Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die…The people remained at a distance, while Moses approached the thick darkness where God was." Exodus 20:18-19, 21

Then the people who follow us put us up on a pedestal. Then, what happens…think about it, how many "Godly men" have let you down? They are not perfect and when they fall our faith is crushed.

Here's what happens when we start worshipping the created, instead of the creator:

For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.

Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen. Romans 1:21-25

David was just like you and I; like Elijah:

Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, James 5:17

Human nature is very weak. What we become in God's hands is totally by His grace, not our strength. David got weak in his faith.

That's why we should learn from David, but not make him or anyone other than Christ our hero. In fact, Jesus warned against this:

"Don't let anyone call you 'Rabbi,' for you have only one teacher, and all of you are equal as brothers and sisters. And don't address anyone here on earth as 'Father,' for only God in heaven is your spiritual Father. And don't let anyone call you 'Teacher,' for you have only one teacher, the Messiah. The greatest among you must be a servant. But those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted. Matthew 23:8-12

We have one Rabbi, one Father, one Teacher, and only ONE HERO…He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords!

No, he isn’t?

5 Then David said to Achish, "If I have found favor in your eyes, let a place be assigned to me in one of the country towns, that I may live there. Why should your servant live in the royal city with you?"

 6 So on that day Achish gave him Ziklag, and it has belonged to the kings of Judah ever since. 7 David lived in Philistine territory a year and four months.

 8 Now David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites, the Girzites and the Amalekites. (From ancient times these peoples had lived in the land extending to Shur and Egypt.) 9 Whenever David attacked an area, he did not leave a man or woman alive, but took sheep and cattle, donkeys and camels, and clothes. Then he returned to Achish.

 10 When Achish asked, "Where did you go raiding today?" David would say, "Against the Negev of Judah" or "Against the Negev of Jerahmeel" or "Against the Negev of the Kenites." 11 He did not leave a man or woman alive to be brought to Gath, for he thought, "They might inform on us and say, 'This is what David did.' " And such was his practice as long as he lived in Philistine territory. 12 Achish trusted David and said to himself, "He has become so odious to his people, the Israelites, that he will be my servant forever." 1 Samuel 27:5-12

Is it just me, or does sound like "24"?

"David's a terrorist now, working with another government, killing men, women and children?"

Surely, not!

Look close, it isn't too far from last night's episode, where we find out…stop reading if you haven't watched it yet…Tony isn't the traitor we first think he is.

But David is raiding all those villages and killing all those people?

I can't explain that, nor will I try, but here is the thing I do want you to get…God is good on His promises.

Let's start with Ziklag…what? Not a what, but a town, Ziklag was one of towns in the Promised Land that was given toJudah (Joshua 15:31). For whatever reason Ziklag was in the hands of the Philistines and God was giving David back a portion of his inheritance that He had promised.

Remember the Amalekites…

Then the LORD said to Moses, "Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and make sure that Joshua hears it, because I will completely blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven."  Moses built an altar and called it The LORD is my Banner. He said, "For hands were lifted up to the throne of the LORD. The LORD will be at war against the Amalekites from generation to generation." Exodus 17:8-16

God said He would wipe them out:

22 If you listen carefully to what he says and do all that I say, I will be an enemy to your enemies and will oppose those who oppose you. 23
My angel will go ahead of you and bring you into the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites and Jebusites, and I will wipe them out. Exodus 23:22-23
(Also Numbers 21:3; Deuteronomy 7:1-5; Judges 1:17)

David maybe fulfilling God's promises, but it wasn't for the right reasons; he was just providing food and clothing to his people.

Stop and think about that for a moment…

God's promises are true and they will come about, even if God accomplishes them through self serving men who do so unknowingly.

Here's the lesson for me; in the eyes of the world I might fail, I might be a fool, and my actions
might be questioned, but His plan, His promises
will ALWAYS
prevail.

If it's about my glory, well, I'll have a hard time with that. But, if all I'm concerned about is His glory, then I'll be up for whatever!

Look through every situation and see how God is bringing about His good.

28And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28

To Him be the glory!

No threat

2 So David and the six hundred men with him left and went over to Achish son of Maoch king of Gath. 3 David and his men settled in Gath with Achish. Each man had his family with him, and David had his two wives: Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail of Carmel, the widow of Nabal. 4 When Saul was told that David had fled to Gath, he no longer searched for him. 1 Sam 27:2-4

As a leader this is a very scary and convicting passage for me.

Remember David had not consulted God about going to Gath; he did it trying to secure his own safety. Not only did David go out of God's will, he had probably a couple thousand go with him.

Saul quit looking for him because he was no longer a threat.

To me, and maybe just me, this seems like the "church" today, as leaders we have looked for safety, security, comfort, justification, identity, whatever and gone off on tangents without asking for divine guidance and we are no longer a threat to the evil one.

I now can look back and see where I've done this. Those decisions were not done in rebellion, and at the time I thought I was doing what we should be doing. Remember Satan is the great deceiver and if he can get you just a step or two off the path by the time you realize it you will be miles from the intended destination. You are not confronting evil head on so why should he consider you a threat.

Here's what scares me…how much time and energy do we devote to getting people to follow us, to listen to our teaching, to hear our worship, to grow our church, to come to our experience, to gather and convene at our place?

But aren't these good things?

I was reminded this weekend how good is the enemy of great. Think about this, we spend so much time, energy, and resources trying to keep people coming; so much time creating the experience that we have very little time to disciple people enough to send them out.

What if you were told your small group had one year to get ready to plant a church?

Would your discipleship look different?

We felt certain we were called to Tallahassee to start a movement, not just start a church. The movement is to equip and send.

Can we raise up disciples to be the church where ever they go? Can we raise up leaders who can plant more churches so that our city, our region is transformed by the Gospel?

We have led people to safety, instead of sending them to places where they have to cry out to Christ Jesus; places that would require
His power to do things that are greater than they could ever imagine; places that would require His word to truly saturate their lives; places that would require them to pray like they've never prayed before; places they would have to be fully dependent on Him for their daily bread!

Look in this whole chapter; do you see then word "Lord" or "prayer"? No, they didn't need to cry out because they were safe!

We have led people to something that doesn't require God; all they have to do is show up and settle into just going
to church, settle into a weak Christianity!

We are called to be His witnesses, His ambassadors, His sent ones to our communities, our workplaces, to our homes, to equip them with the expectation that maybe they will be the new band of brothers and sisters that start churches in their neighborhoods to saturate our city with the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ!

Does that scare you?

Good, because it scares the crap out of me when I realize I've gotten off the path and been deceived!

Lost your mind?

1 But David kept thinking to himself, "Someday Saul is going to get me. The best thing I can do is escape to the Philistines. Then Saul will stop hunting for me in Israelite territory, and I will finally be safe." 1 Samuel 27:1

David maybe a "man after God's own heart", but he's jacked up, he's crazy, seriously!

The first time he ran to Gath he had to pretend to be crazy because he was afraid of Achish the king, but seriously he's just out of his mind this time.

"David, this is the land of the Philistines, did you forget your battles against them? Did you forget that the last time you were there you did escape, but you were so afraid you had to pretend to be a lunatic to get out of there?"

Wouldn't that be one of those times you'd say "I'll never do that again"?

What happened to the warrior, the man who had spoken so boldly, acted in such faith? Now he's full of doubts, to the point of saying Saul's going to kill me one day.

He's forgotten all the goodness the Lord has shown him.

Fear got to him. That's a lesson for us; fear can get to the best, even the best warriors, and the best of God's men!

Both times David ran in fear to Gath, he was trying to protect himself and looking for safety. Both times he didn't wait on divine guidance.

He had simply had enough, his troubles had become overwhelming. Looking for safety he didn't take into account how his life would be living among the Philistines; all the lies and the deception he would live in.

Notice that in this whole chapter (27), 16 months of David's life, there is no mention of the Lord or of prayer. This great man of God doesn't seem to be walking with Him. That has got to be horrible for David.

What causes a man to move from a great man of faith and waiting upon the Lord to provide and fight his battles, to
being overwhelmed with anxiety thinking he's going to perish?

David is not the first or the last; Elijah did it; Peter did it.

Here's what I was reminded of today; whatever I become in God's hands is always by His grace, not my strength.

5"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:5

And when my strength fails under pressure, it is only the grace of God that will preserve me.

The antidote to fear is faith: put everything into His hands and remain in Him!