Allen Jackson - A Heart for God - Part 2
You know, a lot of language amongst us about our generations and how we’re different, I have arrived at a conclusion of that because I’ve heard it for such a period of time now. Our age and our season in life to me feels a great deal like a darkened room with a spotlight moving across it. You know, in that moment when the spotlight rests upon you and then it moves again, that’s to me that’s similar to the impact of your generation. Because at the end of the day, the things that make us similar are far greater than those influences that we think make us so different, amen. In our heart we’re rebellious, we’re stubborn. We’re reluctant to cooperate with God. It’s true of all of the generational separation.
It’s great for marketing ploys and it works really well, but before God, we’re far more alike than we are different. There’s a disgruntled group in Samuel, 1 Samuel 11. God establishes Saul’s leadership through a really a supernatural intervention. It’s a deliverance from an enemy that has plagued them for a great deal of time. And through Saul’s leadership, the people find deliverance. «When Saul hears their words, the Spirit of the Lord came upon him in power». One of the great differences in the old covenant and the new covenant, in the old covenant, the Spirit of God would come upon people intermittently.
The Bible says that Samson would shake himself and the Spirit of God would come upon him and he’d have tremendous strength. Here the writer records that the Spirit of God comes upon Saul in power and he leads the people through a tremendous victory over a very persistent, seemingly an adversary they couldn’t defeat. In the new covenant, the Spirit of God dwells within us. It’s a remarkable distinction. It’s not an intermittent visit because we’ve been made new creations, new creatures in Christ Jesus. Our sin hasn’t simply been atoned for. We have been delivered from the kingdom of darkness. And the Spirit of God no longer dwells in the holy of holies in a tabernacle or in the temple.
The Spirit of God dwells within his people. It’s one of the tremendous shifts between the old and the new covenant. And it’s not about our ethnicity or the denomination we belong to or our biological sex. It has to do with the condition of our heart. The same spirit that brought Jesus out of the tomb dwells in you. It’s an amazing statement. «And Saul took a pair of oxen, and cut them into pieces, sent the pieces throughout the country». This is what will be done to anyone who doesn’t follow Saul and Samuel, it’s just worth noting in passing that Saul’s still pulling Samuel in. I’m leading, but Samuel’s with me. It’s not an isolated, but his leadership is being established.
In same chapter verse 14, «Samuel said to the people, 'Let’s go and reaffirm the kingship.' So all the people went and confirmed Saul as king in the presence of the Lord». After the tremendous victory, Samuel again adds his influence to secure the place for Saul. It’s a tremendous transition. Israel’s never had a king. They have no capital city, they have no central government, there’s no centralized authority, they’ve been a theocracy. God led them. When they needed leadership, God provided and the people said, «We don’t like that system». We wanna be like all the other nations.
Folks, you and I don’t wanna be like everybody else. Weird does not make you godly. It just makes you weird. Sometimes Christians get confused on that. They think if they act more weird, it means they’re more spiritual. No, you’re not more spiritual, you’re just weird. On the other hand, godliness and holiness will make you distinctive from people who don’t wanna be godly or holy. You will yield to the authority of God. You’ll yield to the authority of his Word. You will willingly be an ambassador for Jesus of Nazareth. It will influence every aspect of your life. That will bring a distinctiveness to you. It will cause people who don’t yield to the authority of Scripture to say you’re a little different. You won’t have to act weird.
In fact, I would like to invite you out of weird acting. It was a problem for me as a young person. I didn’t want to hang around with Christians 'cause I knew some that, you know, they said they were being spiritual, they weren’t being spiritual. They were being carnal with a lot of godly language and weirdness. You still love me? I mean, I give you examples. We do goofy things. You know, years ago, it’s been a while 'cause my driver’s license was still freshly minted. And I was given the assignment, somebody had come to the community to teach a Bible class. He’s a retired Army colonel, big guy. And then I was gonna take him to the airport, but on the way I was supposed to stop and let him pray for somebody.
This was before GPS. This was almost before M A P S but I had an address and I knew the general neighborhood and so, but I couldn’t find the, I couldn’t find the house. And so I was gonna have to go on to the airport. He was gonna miss his flight. And I said, «Well, I guess the devil didn’t want you to pray for that person». He looked over at me and he said, «Son, this has nothing to do with the devil. You had lousy directions».
You see, sometimes we get so spiritual 'cause we don’t wanna deal with reality. Not too long ago I was doing a Bible study and it was predominantly healthcare workers. And we were doing prayer requests at the end of the small group which was pretty normal and I asked them to pray 'cause I had three dear friends at the same time they were all battling cancer. And I said, you know, it just feels like a spiritual attack and one of the docs spoke up he was a little newer to the faith and he said, «Attack? Nothing, you’re just getting old».
I didn’t invite him back to Bible study. But I think we all succumb to that sometimes. You know, we hyper spiritualize things when there is a more ready response to us that would engage us more directly with the purposes of God. Don’t be weird. You’ll be weird enough if you choose to honor the Lord. Samuel makes a farewell speech. It’s a masterful piece. I just gave you a very small snippet. He says, it’s verse 23, «As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by failing to pray for you. And I’ll teach you the way that is good and right. But be sure to fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart: consider what great things he’s done for you. Yet if you persist in doing evil, both you and your king will be swept away».
What’s not there? There’s no animosity. There’s no hatred, there’s no resentment, there’s no bitterness. It’s amazing what Samuel is processing in real time. He said, «We learn the way that is good and right. Fear the Lord, serve him faithfully with all your heart. Remember the great things he’s done, but if you persist in evil, you’ve made an evil choice,» he said, «But don’t persist in evil». Do you have room for that that the people of God, we’re navigating and it’s not always, it isn’t typically just a straight line. We need God’s help. We have to help one another. We’ve got to encourage one another. We don’t, we’re not opposing one another. We’re working together.
And then the narrative begins to change. Saul’s leadership has been secured. Samuel has stepped back. He’s made his official resignation. And what we discovered very quickly is that Saul’s level of obedience is very casual even though God has chosen him. He has a military victory, but he doesn’t do it in compliance with the instructions of God. And who does God send? Samuel. I’m reading that and I’m thinking, «I’m not going. You picked him, you put him in place, I blessed him. I have made my speech. You deal with him». But Samuel stays engaged. And he goes to see Saul. Now, this is dangerous. The man has been secured the throne and Samuel is going to provide something of a rebuke to him. «What have you done? asked Samuel».
It’s 13:11. And Saul says, «Well, when I saw that the men were scattering, and that you didn’t come when I thought you should be here, the Philistines were assembling and I thought the Philistines might attack us and so». And Samuel said, «You acted foolishly». Can we put that in good old Tennessee English? You played the fool you clown. But he didn’t stop there. He said, «You haven’t kept the command the Lord your God gave you; If you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time». That’s what was on the table for Saul. Honor the Lord with your whole heart and God will establish your throne for all time. But Saul was casual, indifferent, ambivalent, sloppy, whatever words you preferred.
«Now your kingdom will not endure; the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him leader of his people». Now he doesn’t remove Saul from the throne, but he said, «I have, I’m renegotiating the contract. Your heart isn’t fully invested in me, so I’ll find someone who is». That’s really the heart of my invitation to you in this session. It’s the condition of our heart towards the Lord. Do we think we’ve done our God business and so now my life is my life or do we truly intend on a routine regular basis to keep God at the center of who we are? Not simply to hold up a sign that says, «I’m a Christian». But do we really intend to honor God? Saul struggled with this. He retains the position, but he forfeits the blessing of God.
You see, I think it’s truly a narrative, a conversation about the sovereignty of God. We serve him, we obey him, we yield to him. Those are not easy words. I mean, they’re easy words to use in a presentation, but they’re not easy words for me to live out. But they lead me or you to the best outcomes of life. Will I serve God? Will I obey God? Will I yield to God? Within us, within all of us is a persistent voice which urges us to cast off restraint. It’s the same voice we hear in the opening chapters of Genesis. Did God really say? Did he really mean that? He’s just trying to keep you from a fully experienced life. Isn’t that the message we all hear? Why accept the constraints of godliness? Why, accept the constraints of holiness? Why accept the constraints of purity? Why would you yield? Why would you do that? Why would you say no to yourself?
Because the designer of all things has given us a pathway towards the best possible fulfillment for our journey in time. But that message within us, Saul’s compromise is very reminiscent to me of Esau selling his birthright for a bowl of soup. It wasn’t that he didn’t want his birthright, he just treated it shabbily. There was an ambivalence. I can get it. I’ll beat it out of my brother. I mean, that was his attitude. But he misunderstood. It wasn’t a physical issue between he and his brother. It wasn’t about who could outrun the other. It was a spiritual issue. It was a blessing from God. And we’ve discounted spiritual things. We thought other things were more important asset accumulation. Power and our access to it. And I’m not opposed to any of those things. I believe God brings them to our lives, but underneath all of those is the true resource and that’s God himself.
Says in that 14th verse that the Lord sought out a man after his own heart. It’s a theme of Scripture. I gave you just a quick recounting. I’ll tag him. 2 Chronicle 16, «The eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those who are fully committed to him». He’s looking for people. Searching for people. Jesus in Matthew 4 said, «Come follow me. I’ll make you fishers of men». Jesus was looking for people. They issued that same invitation to others and they said, «No thank you». They declined. We act like it’s a slam dunk. Oh yeah, I do that.
Folks, God’s issued invitations to all of us and we go, it’s not really a good time for me. I’m a little busy. That’s a season in my life where I don’t really wanna lead with godliness. I don’t want to abandon God, but I don’t want it to be like the defining characteristic of who I am right now. I’ll get to that. God is looking throughout the earth for people whose hearts are fully committed to him. Acts chapter 9, Jesus is back. He left in Acts chapter 1. He went back to heaven. It’s the ascension, but in Acts 9, he’s back on the Damascus road. «Saul, why do you persecute me»? Saul, «Who are you, Lord? 'I’m Jesus, whom you’re persecuting.' Now get up and go into the city.'» Look at that last phrase, «You’ll be told what you must do».
That’s nothing about, that’s a request. Get up, get into the city, you’ll get your instructions. I thought Jesus was about a group hug. In fact, Saul’s blind. «Get your blind self out of the dust, get to town, I’ll see you in a bit». «Sir, yes, sir». See, we’ve lost a little of the vision of the sovereignty of God. Matthew 11, Jesus again, «Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I’ll give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, learn from me. I’m gentle and humble in heart, and you’ll find rest for your souls». «Come to me,» he said. It’s a great invitation, but we don’t come to him to dictate the order of march. We put his yoke upon us. He said, my yoke is not burdensome. But we nevertheless, are yoked to the purposes and the plans of Almighty God.
You see, if we will seek the Lord, he will take notice. What I love about this is it eliminates all of the things that we think limit our lives. You don’t have to be a freakish athlete to seek the Lord. You don’t have to have a three digit IQ to seek the Lord. You don’t have to have studied in elite places to seek the Lord. You don’t have to have been a global traveler, you don’t have to be an influencer, your family didn’t have to be all together. You maybe come from the family that put the fun in dysfunctional and you can still choose to seek the Lord. It’s an opportunity for all of us. There’s a second time that Saul ignores God’s direction. It’s another battle scenario and Saul this time ignores the Lord again. He’s had the warning, he’s had his authority trimmed, the story of his life dramatically changed, and yet he rebels again. And this time Samuel shows back up.
It’s 1 Samuel 15. «The word of the Lord came to Samuel; 'I’m grieved that I’ve made Saul king, because he’s turned away from me.'» And Samuel said, «I told you so». I’m sorry, it’s not there that’s in the Allen version. «He’s turned away from me and he hasn’t carried out my instructions. And Samuel was troubled, and he cried out to the Lord all that night». At the end of the day, Samuel has a heart for the people. There’s some lessons in leadership there. Same chapter verse 23. This was the renunciation of Saul. «Rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry».
So there’s two things we don’t wanna to make space for in our hearts, rebellion and arrogance. We can’t afford them. They will disrupt the purposes of God for you. If God has written a story for you, provided an assignment for you, invited you into the heart of his purposes, if we choose rebellion and arrogance, we will forfeit the privileges of that. It’s a sobering message. «Because you’ve rejected the word of the Lord, he’s rejected you as king». He’s rejected you as king. Now he wasn’t removed from the throne that day. Saul served for 42 years. But the balance of his kingship, he never saw Samuel again. That was the last time Samuel went to see him. The man who had helped secure his place who had written the directions for his leadership, who had brought a blessing to his life, Saul forfeited the blessing of God. He held the place.
You see, honoring the Lord with our lives has a value. There are limits of grace and mercy. There are consequences for rebellion. Saul ignores God’s direction a second time and he loses his leadership of the nation. He didn’t lose his title or his position. He’s already forfeited a generational heir, the second time he forfeits God’s blessing upon his efforts. And all he’s left with is the facade of a position. 15:34, «That day Samuel left, Saul went home, but until the day Samuel died, he didn’t go see Saul again».
So there’s a question here, and I’m gonna close. Do you think God made a mistake with Saul? Now, that’s an important question. Did he select the wrong person? No, I don’t believe that’s the lesson of the narrative. I believe God provided an opportunity to Saul. He established Saul before the people in supernatural ways with demonstrations of his own power. He brought the blessing of Samuel who had been the voice to the people for decades. Saul was given an established place to lead the people, but Saul’s responsibility was to follow the Lord. You see, they had an inheritance. They have a promised land, but in order to maintain their place and the blessings of the inheritance, they had to choose to honor the Lord. You and I have been given amazing promises.
Jesus offered himself as a sacrifice on our behalf that we might live transformed lives in our journey through time and participate in his eternal kingdom. But in order for that to impact our journey, we must maintain a heart and a desire to honor the Lord. I’m not suggesting we earn our salvation, that’s nonsense. But it’s worse than nonsense. It’s apostasy to suggest that your behavior doesn’t matter. It’s just not scriptural. You can’t practice sin. You can’t make sin your habit and imagine you can live in the privilege of God. God is moving in the earth. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a shaking like we’re experiencing in my lifetime. It seems that there’s tremor after tremor with things that have been hidden in darkness being exposed and truth being told.
Expressions of freedom that are coming, the systems that we’ve looked at with trust and confidence have been shaken to their core. They’re no longer trustworthy. You’d be foolish to trust them. But what’s being exposed is the unshakeable authority of God. Those biblical values and it’s uncomfortable for the church 'cause we’ve drifted so far away from it. We haven’t really been anchored there. But I believe God is giving us an opportunity. From that last passage, God sends Samuel to choose a new king. I’ll close it with this idea. It seems abundantly clear to me from the text that the most impactful part of Samuel’s life is after he’s rejected by the tribal leaders.
What seemed like the great failure, an untimely conclusion to his leadership in truth, Samuel’s presence was more needed more necessary in that transitionary period than it was when he served as a judge making his routine trips through the cities of Israel. It was Samuel’s stability that managed, enabled Saul to occupy the throne and it was Samuel’s significance that gave authority to David to succeed Saul. Most important part of his life after he suffered at the hands of ungodly decisions.
You see, ungodly people don’t have the power to keep you from God’s purposes. It’s a very important thing. People who reject the purposes of God for themselves don’t have the power to keep you from God’s best for your life. Do not choose the seat of a victim. You can acknowledge the harshness of the circumstance, but then you’ve got to forgive and you’ve got to release those people and you’ve got to go forward. That’s not the message that predominates in our culture. We’re being taught to hate and to divide and to separate. And we protect our ungodliness because we think it gives us access to power. And it’s a lie from the pit. If we will choose the Lord with our whole hearts, he will bring you his very best into your life. God is faithful.
I brought you a prayer and it’s really just an affirmation of the principles we’ve been reading from Samuel. If you’ll stand with me we can read it together. It’s a prayer worth putting in your devotional this week. I don’t intend to leave it to a one-time prayer in my own life. I would share it with you for something that’s worth repeating, at least through the days of this week. Let’s read it together. Have you found it? If you’ve been ignoring the notes, the sheet’s worth it just for the prayer.
Heavenly Father, Teach me to walk in your ways, to recognize your direction and understand your purposes. May my ears be open to listen to all your instruction. My desire is to walk uprightly and to be pleasing in your sight. Let the fear of God grow within me and the power of God be evident through all the days of my life. Amen.