Father we are grateful to you for the ancient words You have granted us the the privilege of having it before us and now we get to study it together And we ask that you would meet us there that you would show us the beauty of Christ and you show us the beauty of your word and you would break up the fallow ground of our hearts so that the seed of the gospel would land and bear much fruit. Help us, help us to see what is needed. We love you, we trust you. And we ask this in Jesus' name and God's people said. Amen. Please be seated. Kids' church, you are now dismissed from this part of the building. Next door. Alright, thanking the Lord for those who are serving us by serving our children. We also have preschool and birth through five. age five, and his church is K-5. The rest of us, we stay here. We're going to study God's Word together. Hopefully, you have a Bible or your Bible app. If you don't have a Bible, you can check in the back. We might have one for you, or if not, in the row that's in front of you. Whenever a great leader comes to the end of his career, What what he says his final address to his followers are interesting and always important the great leaders rise to the occasion and That that is also true when we consider the great leaders of God's people as found in the Bible if you travel back in time with me to the day of Moses and Moses is about to go and He's going to die soon, and he addresses the people of God for the last time and you can find this in Deuteronomy 32 And in fact, if you haven't read it, I suggest you do. Deuteronomy 32. In Deuteronomy 33, He blesses each tribe of Israel. And in Deuteronomy 34, it is recorded His death. Obviously, He did not write Deuteronomy 34. He's dead, right? But someone preserved that, and it still falls under the authorship of Moses. But Deuteronomy 32, He rises to the occasion. He knows it's His last. He's taken the top of Mount Nebo, and He's shown the promised land. He will not enter the promised land. And from there, He talks, gives His final address, and then dies. His successor, Joshua, does pretty much the same thing in that. He knows His days are coming to an end. And He addresses the people. He gathers them up. And we have the immortal words that they still ring in our ears this day in Joshua 24, 15. Choose this day whom you will serve. where the gods of our forefathers, the false gods of our forefathers are the true God of Israel. And then He sets the standard. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Those are just... Those are ancient words that you can live by. Whenever culture calls you to compromise, you preach to yourself, choose you this day whom you will serve. The false gods of culture and compromise. The false god of the voices that are trying to get into your mind and trying to justify sin and trying to justify a lifestyle that's not honoring to God. Choose you this day whom you will serve. You can serve the false gods of those around you. Or you can preach to yourself, I will choose to follow the God of Israel. And then you set the standard for me and my house. We will serve the Lord. You fast forward to the book of Acts and you have the New Testament church theologian, church planter par excellence, the Apostle Paul. And he's making his final journey through the city of Ephesus. And he gathers with the leaders and the church on the shores. And they start crying, because he knows he's not going to see them again. And again, great leaders rise to the occasion. They know what they need to say. And he tells them in Acts 20, 20, I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable. A few verses later he says, I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God. And may that be my, this humble servant's, my saying to you, if that day should come, that I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God. It's not always popular, not only from the outsiders, but even in the insiders. They don't like to hear truth. But the reality is, as God's under-shepherd, I am a truth broker, first and foremost. That's what you have me here for. That's why the Lord called me, to put forth His truth. It may not be always welcome, but that's not my problem. Though I sometimes make it my problem, and you try to people please. But Paul sets the example, the leader, the great leader rises to the occasion. He knows. He could have just, you know, he could have tinkered with their psyche. He could have just, you know, listen, you guys just hang in there. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. I did not shrink from declaring everything. And then he goes on to say at the end or further on in that chapter, Hey, listen, let me just forewarn you. Wolves are going to come and they're going to come from within. The false teacher is going to come from within, not from outside, from within. And I'm just giving you a heads up, I will not shrink from telling you that unless God's Word prevails, it's going to be a tough time for you. What about the Lord Jesus Christ? The greatest of the great. The true GOT. His last day on planet earth. His last night. He's gathered with His disciples. Matthew 20. 6, and he's enjoying the Passover, and he takes that moment to address what's going on and to institute the Lord's Supper. And we know what they talked about because the Bible, these ancient words, record it through God's inspiration and preservation. We have John 13 through 17, what is known as the Upper Room Discourse. That's his final address to his disciples before death. Great leaders rise to the occasion. What we have this morning is a great leader rising to the occasion. So if you have your Bible, 1 Samuel chapter 12. 1 Samuel chapter 12. I'm going to read it, you're going to follow along. 1 Samuel chapter 12. It's not that Samuel is going to die. He doesn't die until about... It's not recorded until chapter 25. But he is addressing the people of God as in the role of prophet and judge. And he talks to them. 1 Samuel 12, I'm going to read it, you're going to follow along. I'm reading from the English Standard Version. 1 Samuel 12, And Samuel said to all Israel, Behold, I have obeyed your voice in all that you have said to me, and I have made a king over you. And now behold, the king walks before you, and I am old and gray. And behold, my sons are with you. I have walked before you from my youth until this day. Here I am. Testify against me before the Lord and before His anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Or whose donkey have I taken? Or whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed? Or from whose hand have I taken a bribe to blind my eyes with it? Testify against me, and I will restore it to you, they said. You have not defrauded us, or oppressed us, or taken anything from any man's hand.' And he said to them, The Lord is witness against you, and His anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand. And they said, He is witness. And Samuel said to the people, The Lord is witness, who appointed Moses and Aaron, and brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt. Now therefore stand still, that I may plead with you before the Lord concerning all the righteous deeds of the Lord that He performed for you and for your fathers. When Jacob went into Egypt and the Egyptians oppressed them, then your fathers cried out to the Lord. And the Lord sent Moses and Aaron, who brought your fathers out of Egypt and made them dwell in this place. But they forgot the Lord their God. And He sold them into the hand of Sisera, commander of the army of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab. And they fought against them. And they cried out to the Lord and said, We have sinned because we have forsaken the Lord, and have served the Baals and the Ashtoreth. but now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, that we may serve you.' And the Lord sent Jeroboam." Who's Jeroboam? Let me stop there. Remember from your time reading in Judges? A.K.A. Gideon. Okay? So He sent Gideon, Jeroboam, and Barak, and Jephthah, and Samuel, and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side, and you lived in safety. And when you saw that Nahash, the king of the Ammonites, came against you, you said to me, No, but a king shall reign over us. When the Lord your God was your king. And now behold the king whom you have chosen, for whom you have asked. Behold, the Lord has set a king over you. If you will fear the Lord and serve Him, and obey His voice, and not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, and if both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the Lord your God, it will be well. But if you will not obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then the hand of the Lord will be against you and your king. Now therefore stand still and see this great thing that the Lord will do before your eyes. Is it not weed harvest today? I will call upon the Lord, that He may send thunder and rain. And you shall know and see that your wickedness is great, which you have done in the sight of the Lord, and asking for yourselves a king. So Samuel called upon the Lord, and the Lord sent thunder and rain that day. And all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel. And all the people said to Samuel, Pray for your servants to the Lord your God, that we may not die. For we have added to all our sins this evil, to ask for ourselves a king. And Samuel said to the people, Do not be afraid. You have done all this evil. Yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. And do not turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty. For the Lord will not forsake His people for His great namesake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you a people for Himself. Moreover, as for me, far be from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you. I will instruct you in the good and the right way. Only fear the Lord and serve Him faithfully with all your heart, for consider what great things He has done for you. But if you still do wickedly, you shall be swept away, both you and your king." Talk about a man stepping up and standing straight and delivering what they needed to hear, whether they liked it or not. I hope you caught the tension between God is righteous and holy, you have sinned, and God still remains gracious as ever. That's the beauty of God. He can be both at one time, where you and I trip ourselves up, whether we're this or that, God can coexist perfectly with both holiness and mercy. This chapter formally marks the end of the period of the Judges. It comes, Samuel is stepping down as Israel's judge and he's handing over the judicial function over to Saul. Scholars debate, believe it or not, when this happened. You know, you have chapter 11 and then you have chapter 12. You and I, we read linear. We just go, OK, of course, whatever happened in 11, happened in 12, just follows 11. Ah, scholars go back and forth. They got to write books, right? They got to make some money. So they write, and the commentators, they go back and forth, back and forth. And basically, it's two things. Either verse 12 is an extension in detail of chapter 11, because remember, chapter 11 ends. with a great victory and they're in Gilgal and they're renewing the kingdom. And 12 is the detail of it, or 12 happens sometime later. The honest truth is we don't know and both can happen. And for our purposes, it's not of ultimate importance. Though I favor, me personally, that it's an extension. Okay, it's part of what happened in chapter 11, you were getting the details of it. What we do know is that Saul and the people rejoiced greatly. We saw that last time in chapter 11. God intervened, the Spirit of God came upon Saul. He acted, it was Saul's finest hour. That's what we saw in chapter 11. He did everything right. And he leads an army in great victory. And he gives God the victory. And he gives God the glory. But yet, yet Samuel rightly detects that perhaps if you're not careful, you're going to depend on this human king much more than you depend on God as king. And the right leader sees that, that even in victory, what can be dangerous if we're not careful? And Samuel just lets us see that. Listen, the new king is making them feel very secure. And we know that, we know that feeling well. When life is good, life is good. I mean, listen, we don't always get called to live in misery and in poverty, okay? But sometimes life is really, really, really good. You have that new job, you have that new spouse, you got that new house, you finally moved out of here, and now you're living up there. We're moving on up. And all of a sudden you got that new degree, and any of these things and a hundred things like these. And we're feeling pretty confident about ourselves, not realizing that that's what Israel would do eventually and forsake God as king and trust their human king. So he sees it. He sees the possibility and that this new kingdom, they're about to make it official. He is now stepping out and Saul and his new administration, this old economy is going bye-bye. There's a new economy, there's a new way of doing things. This old way of doing things is going bye-bye. And he says, you know, there's some danger here. There's some danger. Listen, the king was only God's king. Just like the pastor is God's pastor. Just like you, church leader, you're God's church leader. We all belong to Him. And we are called to obey Him. Samuel, basically, in this chapter, he defends his ministry, he reviews God's kindness toward Israel, and then he admonishes them to remain faithful. Samuel mentions the word LORD, by the way, in your Bible, it should be all small caps, capital L and then small caps O-R-D, which is Jehovah or Yahweh. He mentions it no less than 30 times, because he's drawing the attention that this is the covenant keeping God. When you and I fail to keep our promises, God continues to keep His. That's what he's after here. So let's take a look at it, all right? Thankfully, we're providing lunch, so I am really relaxed. I can just yap. I can just yap. We'll get you out of here by 1.30. Number one, opening five verses, a factual reflection. A factual reflection. He's reflecting. It's the end of his days. He's about to retire. He's stepping out. And he's reflecting, but it's factual. His example is one that the people, the king, and those succeeding generations can imitate. He's saying, listen, I'm laying it all on the line. Samuel's review of his many years of service was clear and concise, no exaggeration. Look what he says in the opening three verses. Samuel said to all of Israel, Behold, I have obeyed your voice and all that you have said to me, and have made a king over you. And now behold, the king walks before you, and I am old and gray, and behold, my sons are with you. I have walked before you from my youth until this day. Here I am. Testify against me before the Lord and before His anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Whose donkey have I taken? Or whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed? Or from whose hand have I taken a bribe to blind my eyes with it? Testify against me. I will restore it to you." Let me tell you, I don't know about you. I don't know if at the end of my days I want to make that thing to you all. Because I know I fall flat. I know I have failed you. And who knows, I haven't taken a bribe, that much I can say, all right? But to say who's... and notice how he contrasts my ministry to you under God as king has been a ministry of giving. Remember chapter 8, he told them, listen, under the new economy, when you have a king, he's going to be known for what he takes from you. He's going to take the best from you. My ministry under God's economy has been giving. That's why he says, he goes out of his way and he says, whose donkey have I taken? Whose ox have I taken? Who am I defrauded? Did I take other money? Did I take a bribe? No, no, no. My ministry under God as king has been a ministry of giving, giving and giving. And you've been good. And it's been good under that economy. The response of the people is unanimous. Verse 4, they said, you have not defrauded us or oppressed us or taken anything from any man's hand. They would never say that once Saul becomes official and his administration is in place. Because he's going to take. Samuel says no no no and they say yeah, that's right see his administration Samuels had impeccable justice unquestionable integrity Child of God may you and I be known as people of integrity Integrity in days when when integrity suffers so much listen it is not popular, but it's always welcome to be a life That's marked by integrity That's what He says to them. And then in verse 5, He says, And He said to them, The Lord is witness against you, and His anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in My hand. And they said, He is witness. And He points to them, He says, Remember, remember, remember, because in saying that it was good under this administration, you are condemning yourselves, because what reason did you have for wanting a different administration? If my administration under God as king was this good, impeccable justice, unquestionable integrity, why then? And that's his point. It's been good until now. This is a leader rising to the occasion. Why then? Why? You had it pretty good under God as king and I was his prophet and judge. But you didn't like that. You really had no reason to ask for a king, but you did. And that he goes right into verses 6 through 13. And if you think the opening 5 verses are tough, the next 8 from 6 to 13, he just lays it on. He just lays it on. He says, by the way, Samuel said to the people, don't worry, God is nice and God is kind. He'll never send anyone to hell because He's love. He'll never discipline you, people of God, because he loves you too much. If your Bible says that, grab it right now and just toss it. Toss it to the center aisle. We'll have somebody pick it up, okay? If you have it on a Bible app, throw away your phone. No, he says, the Lord is witness. And now he just starts giving them the history. The Lord is witness who appointed Moses and Aaron and brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt. Now therefore stand still that I may plead with you before the Lord concerning all the righteous deeds of the Lord that he performed for you and your fathers. When Jacob went into Egypt and the Egyptians oppressed them, then your fathers cried out out of the Lord and the Lord sent Moses and Aaron who brought your fathers out of the Egypt and made them dwell in this place. But they forgot the Lord their God and he sold them into the hand of Sisera, commander of the army of Hazor. and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab. And they fought against them, and they cried out to the Lord. And they said, We have sinned, because we have forsaken the Lord, and have served the Baals and the Ashtoreths, the false gods. But now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, that we may serve you. And the Lord sent you Jeroboam, Gideon, Barak, and Jephthah, and Samuel, and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side, and you lived in safety. And when you saw that Nahash, the king of the Ammonites, came against you, you said to me, No! But a king shall reign over us, when the Lord your God was your king. And now behold the king whom you have chosen, for whom you have asked. Behold, the Lord has set a king over you." Ouch! He reads them the riot act. You foolish, stiff-necked people. How quickly you forget the goodness and kindness of God. But isn't that you and me today? Isn't that you and me? We cry out to the Lord, oh my gosh, my life is falling apart and I'm doing this and this is going on. And the minute the Lord answers, who's the Lord? It's optional. While we're in the thick of things, we don't miss a Sunday. Everybody waits. Everything else is second priority. But once we got it good, who got? Who got? We are not any different here, so don't get off your little horse here. You and I do the same. I do the same. We're looking in the mirror of God's Word, and we're seeing the same scenario. Samuel shows him the importance of an accurate understanding of history. Child of God, if God has been good to you in the past, He will continue to be good to you in the present and in the future. Now, it doesn't mean you don't go through things. It just means that God remains good. in spite of things. He says, listen, He underscores how the Lord their God had been in the past. And He tells them basically two things on the screen there. Whenever they had forsaken the Lord, they had been brought into trouble. And whenever they had repented and cried out to God, He had delivered them out of their difficulties. Straight. God is the same yesterday, today, and forevermore. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forevermore. He doesn't change. And He says, know your history. Have you forgotten? He traces it back to Egypt. He traces it through the wanderings. He traces early on in the life in the promised land. He says, you're forgetting some things. Samuel had given no reason to the people to demand a king and neither had God given them a reason God had been good to them and the Lord consistently show showed his sovereignty by disciplining Spiritual apostasy had been punished by physical oppression child of God. He loves you that much that he will not leave you in sin. Oh He made me may take time but the wheels of God's justice they may turn slow, but they grind fine and So just because you're getting away with it right now, doesn't mean anything. It just means that God is patient, and good, and kind. But He remains holy. That's what they're saying here. Listen, you forget this. And repentance has always brought deliverance. You'll see it in a few verses later on in verses 10 and 11. When they realize the mistake, the sin they have committed. What is needed to be restored? Repentance always has been, always will be. A declaration that I have sinned against you. Because ultimately all sin is against God. He says it. And He says, listen, you had all this, you had all this. And then when you get to verse 12, He says, And when you saw that Nahash the king of the Ammonites came against you, you said to Me, No, set us over a king. Now the glamour was, no, no, no, no, no, this goddess king, no, that's not as glamorous. We need a human king. And you had no reason to request one. Because until that day, God had been faithful to you. On that very day. But no, no. You had the pattern. Spiritual apostasy, physical oppression, repentance, restoration. You had it. God had been the same God each and every time. And now because the Ammonite king Nahash comes against you? No, no, no, no. Throw the flag. You know, on the play there's a flag. No, no, no. No more God as king. We need a human king. We want to be like the other nations. You see, losing sight of all that God had taught them through Moses and Judges, they blamed their troubles on the form of government under which they lived. They actually thought that a man was the solution to their problem. On the screen there, Israel's restlessness and discontent evidenced a distrust in the providential care and blessing of the Lord. They ignored the fact. No external form of government can provide for you what you need spiritually. They didn't consult with Samuel or the priest or with God. They just said, we want a king like the other nations. And he gives them a fearless rebuke. In spite of their presumption and pride, God graciously gives them victory over Nahash. He's kind. He's kind. Even though they sin, God is kind to his people. Why? Don't miss the point on the screen there. The established pattern of God as king has been a pattern of faithfulness again and again and again. The established pattern of the people is rebellion, idolatry, and sin again, again, and again. What a contrast. Do you live there sometimes? Will you just continue to sin against the goodness and kindness of God? We make excuses for our lives or in the lives of others. And all we have is a pattern of God being kind and gracious, kind and gracious. And He looks at us and all He sees is the opposite. In fact, this is nothing new. We saw some of this in chapter 8. Remember when we travel back in time, in chapter 8, and they make the request made known to Samuel? And he tells them, hey, listen, listen, listen, listen. They're not rejecting you, they're rejecting me. And we said then this on the screen. The consistent pattern of the people of God has not been primarily faithfulness with a little bit of rebellion. On the contrary, the pattern has been primarily rebellion with a season of faithfulness. Ouch! And if you don't care to feed your soul, and if you choose not to walk in righteousness and holiness, this will be you. This will be me. My life will be more about rebellion with a season of faithfulness, instead of a life of faithfulness with seasons of rebellion. We love the latter. We love to think we're that much more spiritual. We love to think that our life is just faithfulness. Faithfulness with a little bit of rebellion. With a pinch. But if we're not careful, It's been in my life, maybe not yours. There's been times in my life where it's been just rebellion, rebellion, rebellion, with a pinch of faithfulness. And maybe that's me. That's why they say preachers, they go through seminary because it's an expensive course in sanctification. We're that bad, we need it, we need it. But I don't know about you, but I don't want to be caught there. And it happens. And it happens. And we're glad for God's Word that in God's man who was fearless in his rebuke, you did wrong. And sometimes we have to look at people in their eyes and say, you did wrong. They're not going to like you. Sometimes my wife looks at me and she says, you did wrong. We're still married. We lost the receipt, we can't even get store credits, you know, so we're stuck, we're stuck, we're stuck. But that's the value of a good spouse who turns in love and says, you did wrong. And this is the value of a good leader who looks at the people of God and says, you did wrong. But he doesn't end there. He ends the chapter with a fervent reminder. A fervent reminder. Look at verses 14 and 15. Again, God is gracious. If you will fear the Lord, and serve Him, and obey His voice, and not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, and if both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the Lord your God, it will be well. But, if you will not obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then the hand of the Lord will be against you, and your king. That's covenant language. If this, then that. That's covenant language. You trace that kind of language, that kind of how He expresses things in covenant. That's God saying, if you do this, then this will happen. But, if you choose to do this, then this will happen. Full disclosure, there's no little tiny... You don't have to hire a lawyer to figure out what He means. He's saying, listen, here's the catch. Listen, this is where we are in history. This is not what God wanted. God did not want you to choose a human king over Him. This is where we're at. It was wicked. It was evil. That's the choice you made. So here we are. We can't deny it. That's the reality we're living with. But, but, God is still available. Should you turn to Him in repentance, and He will extend grace. God was not saying, because you made this decision, I'm done with you. He was saying, listen, even though you're replacing an administration that's lesser and evil, listen, I'm still willing to meet you at the place of repentance. Look at verse 16 through 18. Now therefore, he wants to prove to them, this is Samuel, that this is a big day here. And this is God being consistent. Now therefore, stand still and see this great thing that the Lord will do before your eyes. Is it not wheat harvest today? And what he's asking there is, isn't it a time of the year when it doesn't rain? The wheat harvest time in Israel is a time when it didn't rain. So is it not wheat harvest today? I will call upon the Lord, that He may send thunder and rain. And you shall know and see that your wickedness is great, which you have done in the sight of the Lord, and asking for yourselves a king. So Samuel called upon the Lord, and the Lord sent thunder and rain that day. And all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel. Yeah, you think? Because the last time in their collective, Conscience they're thinking about thunderstorms and God manifesting himself that way was way back in chapter 7 when the ark returns to Israel they have a great time they meet up at and on mountaintop and they're celebrating and they're just rejoicing and and and worshiping the Lord the Philistines think that they're getting up for gearing up for for for for battle they muster their battle their people they come to come against them God intervenes read it chapter 7 it's in the book And through that, through thunderstorms and noises, they get baffled and they lose. So when they see this, they go, this is God at work. And listen, child of God, when we understand what God wants to say to us, the proper response is fear. Not fear like, oh, but fear of respect and going, I am before God in this. This is where you and I read the Word of God, and then through the ministry of His Spirit, He impresses upon us the evil and the wickedness. And you and I are called to a response. They did it. They did it. They see what happened. And in verse 19, And all the people said to Samuel, Pray for your servants to the Lord your God, that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil, to ask for ourselves a king. They got the point. They got the point. We have done, we have sinned. This is where God wants to take you and me. Because when He has us there, there's the moment at the crux where now something can happen. Some restoration may be possible if you and I react right, rightly. So He takes the man of God, takes the people of God right before the Lord and places it there and says, God is holy, you have sinned against Him unnecessarily. He was good to you and you still wanted to replace Him. Verse 20, and Samuel said to the people, do not be afraid. You have done all this evil. I mean, this guy doesn't relent. He doesn't say, hey, don't be afraid. It's OK. Angelina, come on. It's OK, sweetheart. It's nice. No, no. He still looks at you and says, you're wicked and evil. I mean, you're not. You're not. OK? But he just looks at the people. It's full throttle. He doesn't even tap the brakes. It's just, no, no, no. Yeah, yeah. You've done all this evil. Yet. Do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. And do not turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty. And he says, listen, listen, you're not beyond God's grace. It's not over, people of God. Yes, you have sinned. but there's grace available to you. And starting now, God can meet you right where you're at. And the question that should come to our minds is why? Why would God still want to? Let me tell you, after a little while, think of the relationships that you really value. If that other person just continuously just made it impossible, made it impossible, In fact, in the language of the covenant between Yahweh and the people of God, it was apostasy. It was spiritual adultery. They were stepping out on God. They were bringing a false god into the bedroom. Imagine that in your relationship. And it's constant. And it's constant. There's a point where I say, you know what? Done. Yeah, listen, I'm done. It must be my Latin heritage or whatever. I'm done, bro. Afuera. Afuera. And I followed up with a few nice select verbs and adverbs. Afuera. Bruja. That's translated into English, a bruja, which if you and I are writing this, We're done. We're done. But why? Why would God continue to meet them there? Look at verse 22. For the Lord will not forsake His people for His great name's sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you a people for Himself. Child of God, you know why God doesn't give up on you? Because He doesn't want to. It's His name at stake, not yours. It's His name at stake. See, on the screen there, because of His great name, in spite of the choices they have made, starting now, God is willing to bless them, to lead them, to provide for them, to protect them, to live out the agreement of the covenant if they will just trust Him and serve Him. What's at stake here is not our reputation, but God's. What's at stake is not our faithfulness, but His faithfulness. Does this matter? Of course it does. And why does God act this way? Because, on the screen there, fast forward the story after a thousand years, when the King of Kings will leave His throne in the heavenlies in order to become a man, in order to be nailed to a cross in payment for your sin and mine, in order to make it possible that He might lavish His grace and His blessings upon you, now and forevermore. Jesus did not die on a cross because you were worth it! Jesus died on the cross because He wanted to bring glory to the Father. And He wanted to lavish the grace upon sinners chosen by the Father and secured by the death of His Son. That's why He does it. Don't get it, as my buddy Charlie would say, don't get it twisted. Don't get it twisted. You're not all that in a bag of chips. I usually end that with, you're not even the aftertaste of Diet Coke. Don't get it twisted. It is God's glory and sovereignty and salvation that you and I must relish in. See, that's the beauty of it. That's Ephesians 1. That's Ephesians 2. That's why God the Son, the second person of Trinity, takes on humanity and lives the perfect life, dies the perfect death, resurrects, ascends and is coming back. Why? Because He wants to display to everyone in the heavenlies and below the beauty of God's grace. Ephesians 1, 6, to the praise of the glory of His grace. See, that's the beauty. On the screen there, the sobering reality is the past is past. You can't change it. You can't undo it. No matter how many regrets you have, you can't go back and relive it. It is past, and it is settled, and it is done. We have to understand that on the basis of God's amazing grace, He has offered us the opportunity to leave the past in the past and to trust Him to begin writing a new fresh story full of blessings and relationship with Him starting now. This is where we're at. This is where we're at. This is why in verses 23 through 25, he says, Moreover, as for me, far be from me that should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you. And I will instruct you in the good and right way. Only fear the Lord and serve Him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things He has done for you. And it would have been nice if it was just done in 24. But again, he doesn't tap the brakes. Look at 25. But if you still do wickedly, you shall be swept away, both you and your king. And we know that history tells us that they were swept away. First the Northern Kingdom and then the Southern Kingdom. If God is the greatest promise keeper, whatever promises he makes, he keeps. He says, if you do this, this will happen. But if you do this, I give you my promise, you'll reap what you sow. We love God the promise keeper when everything's rah, rah, rah. But God remains a promise keeper when you and I break the covenant. When we step out on Him, when we do wrong and evil, and that's the sober reality. The past is the past. Listen, you can't live there. You can't live life looking in the rearview mirror. You'll crash. But that doesn't mean that God's done with you. What can we take with us this morning? Let me share with you some truth to ponder before we get out of here. Number one, we must be careful not to secularize sin. What do I mean by that? See, Israel thought that their problem was the wrong form of government. No, no, no. Their problem was the rebellion against God. Child of God, you may think that if this guy is in office or that guy is in office, everything is going to go great. If something you've learned, I guess, hopefully, through the last few election cycles is it doesn't matter who's in the White House, Jesus Christ remains king. Now, does that mean we should be not striving for the best person to be in the White House? Of course we should. But don't secularize the sin. See, they thought that the subjection to foreign powers was because they had the wrong form of government. Oh, we need a king, a human king. No, no, no, no, no. Your problem, like it was in Egypt, was that you're still rebelling against God. Learn your lesson. Don't secularize the sin. Churches do this all the time. When we're dealing with finances, what do we do? We try to get some type of program that will help us generate finances. Instead of going to the people of God and saying, Hey, we are managers. All belongs to God. Time, truth and talent. And you and I are responsible. If you're not being responsible, be responsible. This is God's Word. This is what we said before. This is Sola Scriptura. Everything, everything. This is the final authority on all matters of faith and practice. We don't have to go to the world to try to generate funds. When we need to organization and structure, we try to structure as a CEO, pastor, and this and that, and a vision statement. That sounds nice and dandy. But the first church didn't have any of that. They just did God's work and God's power, and they changed the world. When the church says to evangelize, we want to use marketing models, like Madison Avenue uses to sell soap or shaving cream. When the church wants to seek to solve personal and interpersonal problems, we try to hire psychologists. No, the Word of God is clear. The biggest problem in churches is interpersonal. You know why? Because churches are personal. That's to be known. That's to be expected. That's why you and I are called to walk in the power of the Spirit, so we can display the gift of the Spirit. You know why? Because when people are unloving, we need to remain loving. When people are not patient, we need to remain patient. Someone has to set the standard. We both can't live in the gutter. And I need you to love me when I'm unlovable, that way I'm loving you when you're unlovable. And that's only the work of the Spirit. So get over it. Build a bridge and get over it. You're not the center of the universe. Jesus Christ did not just die for this church to please you or me. Jesus Christ died to bring a people together that through their imperfections they can still say God is great. And we don't have. We can make concessions all the time. We have. And that's the beauty of it. Don't secularize sin. Number two. Hey, I hear you, Ethan, you've been here, bro, bro, I'm saying, man, I take it personal, but I know your mother. This is all daddy stuff right there. Those daddy issues. Yeah, I hear you, I hear you, see? I still need you to preach in May, brother, okay? All right, number two, we must value godly leadership, but recognize the idolatry of some practice in regard to the leaders. Can you give me an amen? Okay, it's good value. Listen, godly leadership is needed. The Bible says that leadership is vitally important in the life of a nation, a family and a church. 1st Timothy 3, Titus 1, Ephesians 5. But God is our ultimate leader. God is our ultimate leader. And sometimes we give men more than they're due. That's where we have to be careful. And you, I know some of your stories. You've come from places where the leader has gotten more than he should. And that's not right. See, on the screen there, let us never give to man that which belongs only to God. Let us not suppose that a man will save us, that our future, the future of our church or our nation depends on one man ultimately. No! No! Never has, never will. Because if it is, then God is not sovereign. because then whatever the man does with his magic pen and executive orders can never be undone in heaven or on earth. And you and I know better than that, that it is God who rules in the affairs of man. Christ over all. You see, a church father, I forget which one, said the following on the screen, that the best of men are still men at best. And you haven't learned that lesson yet. Learn it today. The best of men are still men at best. Period. Don't think that they're gonna solve all your problems. They're not. Because the best of men are still men at best. Number three, let us receive a word of hope and encouragement for those devastated by their sin and failures to live up to God's standard. See, the reality is we all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. But if that's where we stay, then there's no hope. But there is hope. See, by God's standard, no man is successful. All men are failures, deserving God's eternal wrath. But our hope of salvation is not resting in that. It's resting on what we're about to read. Our hope of salvation is not based on our performance, but upon God's grace. It is ultimately not our choice of Him, but His choice of us. Not our faithfulness, but His faithfulness. So be encouraged, child of God. You've made a mess of your life? Welcome. Welcome. We all make messes of our life. But in Christ, it doesn't need to remain a mess. God is faithful, God is gracious. Say it brother, say it. And lastly, our text this morning is a commentary on salvation. The Israelites of Samuel's day, their danger was to look to King Saul for ultimate deliverance. See, here's what we need to talk about on the screen. Our text informs us that no human king, excuse me, can save or deliver men from their sin. What Israel's king could not do, God's king has accomplished. Salvation for sinful men who call upon His grace. That's the beauty. See, every king, if we were to go through 1 Samuel, and 2 Samuel, and 1 King, and 2 Kings, and 3 Kings, no, your Bible has the 3 Kings? Okay. All kings are going to fail. You know why? Because the best of men are still men at best. And they have to fail because they have to set the way for the one who would not fail us. God's King. The King of kings and the Lord of lords. And I leave you with this last thing. You don't have to become good enough for God to save. You're already bad enough to qualify for His grace. Amen? Stop trying. Stop trying. I could reword it some other way, you know. Here's the bad news. You'll never be good enough for God to save you. That's the bad news. Here's the good news. You already qualify. You're bad enough. See, that's the beauty of it all. That's the gospel. That's for you and me, sinners without hope outside of Christ. Beautiful thing is you can turn to Christ today. You don't have to earn to be good enough. You never will. The good news is you're bad already and you qualify for God's grace. Will you grab it in Christ? And if you cry out to the Lord, he will save you. Amen. Let's pray. Let's close our eyes and bow our heads for just a moment. Before we sing, yeah, not I, but Christ, would you take a good look and go before the Lord and just, do you know the Lord? Have you trusted in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior? Maybe you did, but like the Israel of old, you've wandered. You've wandered. You've chased after the wrong stuff. Well, perhaps today is the day to come back. To cry out to the Lord and say, Lord, I made a mess. Will you meet me in the mess? I repent. I see the sin for what it is. I stop making excuses. It's not my wife's fault. It's not my kid's fault. It's not my pastor's fault. It's not America's fault. It's my fault. I own it. This is why I got here. Meet me here. Restore. Renew. And you will. Child of God, stop playing the games. Stop playing the games. Learn from Israel of old. Perhaps, my friend, you have not trusted in Christ. You're still thinking that you're going to be good enough. Somewhere down the line, God's going to make an exception because you're you. He's not going to make an exception. If you would have made an exception, he would have made an exception of his son, Jesus Christ. But he did not. And if his son suffered the cross, you will suffer a separation from God for not trusting in God's solution. Don't get it twisted. Don't get it twisted. Lord God, help us. Our only hope is Jesus. And at the end of the race, my lips will say, yet not I, but Christ. Help us now. Enable the response. Meet with us where we're at. Thank you for your word. Thank you for your servant Samuel, a leader who rose to the occasion, pointed out your holiness, their sinfulness, but the hope of restoration through repentance. Apply it to our lives even right now. We need you. We ask this in Jesus name and God's people said.