Sign Guestbook

View Guestbook

Copyright © 2006, 2007, 2008
All Rights Reserved.

Campbell Chapel
Free Will Baptist Church
1709 Campbell Drive
Ironton, Ohio 45638

Contact Webmaster

 

Saul Lost it All

September 30, 2007

Bob Bradley

_________________________ 

 

I Samuel 8:1-5

 

1 And it came to pass, when Samuel was old, that he made his sons judges over Israel.

2 Now the name of his firstborn was Joel; and the name of his second, Abiah: they were judges in Beersheba.

3 And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment.

4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah,

5 And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.

 

As you read, you will find that during this time it had been a very dark time in Israel.  There was no King in the land, as we know.  God would raise up different Judges and they would sin; God would raise up a Judge and give them deliverance.  They would do well for a while, and then they would sin again and fall back into the same mess.  This went on for many years.  When you read the book of Judges, this was a time when people did what seemed right to them in their own eyes.  It was a very dark time, spiritually speaking.

 

Samuel was going to be the last Judge.  We know that he was a great man.  He was a fellow that was acquainted with God.  Even back in his beginning, his birth and everything about Samuel, we know God had His special blessing upon Samuel.  Samuel is going to do some great things.

 

When we get to this part of Samuel’s life, he is old.  I don’t know exactly how old he is, but he is an old fellow.  He has taken his sons and made them Judges.  He has placed them to be Judges, or those that were going to be the ones that were going to instruct Israel in the way that they should live about spiritual things and doing things right in living for God. 

 

3 And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment.

 

What happens is that Samuel is old and he knows that he is going to die before long.  He takes his two sons and makes them Judges.  However, they were not of the same character as what Samuel was.  As you read about these guys and what they did, they were very corrupt people.  They were more concerned about things and money.  That is what “lucre” means.  “Lucre” means “money.”  They were concerned about what they could get for themselves.  If someone could pay them more than somebody else, in their judgment in dealing with people, they did not care about what right or wrong.  They just wanted what they could get out of things.  They did some very horrible things.  The elders of Israel saw this. 

 

Something stuck in my mind about this lesson.  The elders saw the problem.  The elders saw that the Judges were corrupt.  Their request to Samuel was, “Samuel, make us a King.”  They knew the problem was with Samuel’s two sons because of their being wicked.  They knew Samuel was old.  They said, “Samuel, make us a King so that we can be like all the other nations that are around us.”  They knew the problem.  The problem was easily corrected.  However, instead of dealing with the problem, they are going to abandon the leadership of Almighty God.  God was the one that was directing this nation.  He wanted to be the one that this nation would lean upon and seek for direction.  That is what He had been doing, that is what He wanted.  Yet, the people did not want that. 

 

It tells me something about these elders, these leaders of this nation.  It tells me something that they were not where they should be with God.  Had they been, they would have never been encouraging Samuel to set a King over them.  They would not have done that.  Instead, they would have been seeking the face of Almighty God.  God we have a problem here.  Direct us in how we need to deal with it.  These boys are corrupt.  These priests are corrupt.  These judges are corrupt.  We need to get rid of them.  Instead of doing that they start asking Samuel to set a King over them. 

 

The Bible says that this thing displeased Samuel.  Do you know why it displeased Samuel? 

 

There are many things in life that displeased me.  There are many things in life that upsets me.  Many things in life don’t always go well.  One of the greatest things that upset me more than anything is when I see people making wrong decisions and going in the wrong direction; that upsets me.  That should upset you.

 

It upset Samuel tremendously because he knew that these folks were rejecting the leadership of Almighty God.  They were rejecting Samuel as their leader also.  They were also rejecting the hand of Almighty God because they wanted to be like everybody else.  They wanted a King over them.

 

Here is what happens.

 

The Bible says that this thing displeased Samuel.  We know that.  The Bible says that Samuel goes and prays.  He seeks the face of Almighty God.  He rehearses these things unto Almighty God.  He says, Lord, this nation wants a King.  God says, Samuel, just harken unto their words.  In other words, Samuel, what these people are saying for you to do, you go ahead and do it.  God knew that this nation had already rejected Him.  He knew that their leadership that was coming from Him, He knew that was already gone.  They were not going to listen to Him anymore. 

 

He said, Samuel, just go ahead and do what they want to do, but you tell them what is going to happen and what this King is going to do when he gets here.  You tell them what they are going to do.  Warn them Samuel.  Go ahead and do it anyway.

 

I think that we have a misconception today about the will of God.  I have heard preachers in our own conference say, “What’s going to be is going to be.”  That is wrong.  That is not right at all.  If I believed that, than I would quit tonight.  If I just believed that what’s going to be is going to be.  If I believed that my life could not change your life or somebody else’s life, if I thought that the Word of God by it being preached and taught, if it couldn’t change other people’s lives, then I would just quit.  However, that is not true.

 

There is a permissive will of God that when we make up our minds that we are not going to listen to the voice of God and to the will of God then God will say, “You go ahead and do it.  It is not right and you are going to suffer because of it.  I am not leading you that direction, but if that is what you are going to do then you go ahead and do it.”  Trouble is coming. 

 

We use prayer as a crutch many times.  The word prayer, I’m not talking about the “act” of prayer.  We sometimes mutter a few words, and we get something in our mind that we want or want to do or don’t want to do and we try to excuse ourselves by doing or not doing.  We say well, I really prayed about that.  We may have muttered a few words, but our prayer that we prayed about that situation did not get any higher than our nose.  Because our minds were already made up.  You can go right on.  When you have made up your mind that you are not going to listen the will of God.  You are not going to listen for what God has said for you to do.  You want to go this direction, I promise you that God is going to let you loose and you are going to be able to go.  However, there are dark days ahead when we will not allow the Lord to be the Lord of our lives. 

 

That is what Saul’s problem was.  God said you tell them Samuel what is going to happen.  The Bible says that Samuel was very displeased.  He goes back and tells the people.  He tells them what God says.  As you look down through here at verses 11-22, he tells the people exactly what God is going to do with their children. 

 

I Samuel 8

 

11 And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots.

12 And he will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties; and will set them to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots.

13 And he will take your daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers.

14 And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your oliveyards, even the best of them , and give them to his servants.

15 And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants.

16 And he will take your menservants, and your maidservants, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and put them to his work.

17 He will take the tenth of your sheep: and ye shall be his servants.

18 And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the LORD will not hear you in that day.

19 Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us;

20 That we also may be like all the nations; and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles.

21 And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he rehearsed them in the ears of the LORD.

22 And the LORD said to Samuel, Hearken unto their voice, and make them a king. And Samuel said unto the men of Israel, Go ye every man unto his city.

 

He is going to take their children and make slaves out of them.  He is going to take their sons and put them in the military.  He is going to take their daughters and make slaves or cleaning people out of them.  He is going to make menservants and maidservants out of them.  He is going to tax them.  He is going to take ten percent of their land.  He is going to take ten percent of their seed.  He is going to take 10 percent of their sheep.  They are going to suffer but they want a King.  Even though Samuel tells them all that is going to happen, that their kids are going to be abused, and misused and all that was going to happen.  The people said that’s okay, we want a King. 

 

Our wants get us in trouble many times.    We look at money and we look at things, homes, cars, people, prestige and we look at positions and we look at power.  We look at all those things many times and we pick and choose out of it sometimes what we want.  Many times, we don’t need any of it.  When I am persistent in not allowing Him to lead my life, God will that is fine.  If that is the direction that you want to go in but there is going to be an awful price that we have pay.  In chapter 10 verse one.  We know that Samuel anoints Saul to be King.

 

When you look at the things about Saul, He had many things going for him.  Saul had many things going for him.  If you read some things about him, you will find out that Saul was big fellow.  He was head and shoulders above the whole crowd.  When you would look at Saul, you would see a fellow that was a very big fellow and muscular looking guy.  He was probably someone that looked very healthy and was very healthy and very strong.  He had that going for him.  If you are going to be a leader and fighting in war and leading people then you need to be healthy.  How many battles do you think you could fight if you are down sick?  Not only that but he had a humble mind going for him.  He was not lifted up in pride here in the beginning.  That is a good trait for an individual that is going to be a leader.   You need to be humble.

 

In I Samuel 10:9 he had a new heart. 

 

9 And it was so , that when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, God gave him another heart: and all those signs came to pass that day.

 

God placed within him a new heart and a new spirit.  He had that going for him.  If we are going to be leaders that are going to be effective for God then we need a change of heart.  We cannot lead a congregation, we cannot lead a people, and we cannot lead anyone in spiritual things if we are not spiritual.  It is impossible for the hand of God will be upon our lives and the lives of those around us if we have not had a change of heart.  Saul here had that. 

 

I Samuel 10:10

 

10 And when they came thither to the hill, behold, a company of prophets met him; and the Spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied among them.

 

Saul had some power in his life.  He had some spiritual power in his life.  He had some spiritual power in his life because the presence of God was in his life.  He had that going for him.  If we are going to do anything for God, it is going to be because the spirit of God that He is indwelling us and that He empowers us to do what we do; if He is not in there then we cannot do spiritual work.  We will never win one spiritual battle.  When you look down through here, he had some loyal friends. 

 

I Samuel 10:26

 

26 And Saul also went home to Gibeah; and there went with him a band of men, whose hearts God had touched.

 

He had some loyal friends that loved him.  If you are going to be a leader, you are going to have to have some loyal friends because you cannot stand all by yourself.  You must have people that will stand with you.  If you are going to be a leader that is going to lead a church in the right direction, then you have to be a leader that has somebody standing with you.  You must have loyal friends.

 

Most of all he had Samuel.  A man that was in contact with God.  A man that had a great relationship with God.  A man that would instruct him right and tell him what was right, to lead him in the right direction and show him what to do.  He had that.  He had a spiritual advisor there to lead him and guide him and show him how he needed to go.  He had a many things going for him. 

 

He had all these things going for him.  He had Samuel that was praying for him.  He had the spirit that was dwelling on the inside of him.  He had a changed heart.  He had many good things going for him, but something happened along the line to change things.  Even though he had all these going for him, he is going to fail miserably.  His life is going to be a total failure when all is said and done. 

 

Wouldn’t that be sad to think about?  When your life ends, wouldn’t it be sad to look at your life and say Lord, I have just been a mess.  Lord, I have just been a failure.  As we look at our kids, and as we look at our kids having kids.  That tells me that I am not going to be here long.  My life is getting shorter and shorter and your life is everyday.  That is actually a song.  The song spoke about that when the last grain of sand went through the hourglass; I still yet want to be standing.   That is what the song says.  That means the day that I leave earth in death I want to busy for Almighty God.  The day that life goes from this body, whether it is today or 35 years from today, I want to be doing something for the cause of Christ, because I know my time is very short.  I don’t’ have any time to waste. 

 

Saul is going to fail miserably.  The reason he failed is that he would not allow the Lord to be Master of his life.  That is why he failed.

 

Saul, when he started out, was a very humble fellow.  He listened to Samuel.  He listened to his spiritual advisor.  He was a fellow that wanted to do right.  It didn’t take Saul long to get proud.  It did not take Saul long to think that he could just do whatever he wanted to do. 

 

I Samuel 10

 

8 And thou shalt go down before me to Gilgal; and, behold, I will come down unto thee, to offer burnt offerings, and to sacrifice sacrifices of peace offerings: seven days shalt thou tarry, till I come to thee, and shew thee what thou shalt do.

9 And it was so , that when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, God gave him another heart: and all those signs came to pass that day.

 

Also, as you read chapter 10, Samuel had told Saul to meet him at Gilgal at some point later on down the road.  As they were fighting battles, Samuel told Saul, “Meet me at Gilgal and we will have time of worship and I will tell you the direction that you need to go.  You go there.  I’ll make a sacrifice.  I will give you direction on what you need to do.  You go there and you wait for me and when I get there, I will give you direction.”  Saul goes there and waits for seven days and that is what Samuel said.

 

I Samuel 13:8

 

8 And he tarried seven days, according to the set time that Samuel had appointed : but Samuel came not to Gilgal; and the people were scattered from him.

 

If you read in I Samuel 13:8, after awhile when it looked like Samuel was not coming.  When it looked like the Philistines were going to overtake him, when it looked like his people were getting discouraged and he didn’t know where Samuel was at; Saul thought that he could just do whatever he wanted to do.  He told the crowd, “Bring me a sacrifice.  Bring me something over here.  I’m going to be the one that is going to be doing the sacrifices and making the offerings.”  That was not the king’s job.  The king was not permitted by Almighty God to be the one that is going to make the sacrifice.  He was being impatient.  As you and I live on planet earth, the more we are impatient, the more trouble we get in.  The more we will not wait upon God, the worse shape that we get in.  If I will allow the Lord to be the master of my life, then I’ll be patient and I’ll wait upon him.  I will learn to be patient.  Saul did not do that here.

 

I Samuel 13

 

8 And he tarried seven days, according to the set time that Samuel had appointed : but Samuel came not to Gilgal; and the people were scattered from him.

9 And Saul said, Bring hither a burnt offering to me, and peace offerings. And he offered the burnt offering.

 

Something that absolutely God had not permitted and allowed him to do.  If you just read that and don’t know what God has said in His Word, we would think, “What’s wrong with that?”

 

I have heard people say all the time, “That’s just a little sin.  That’s not too bad.  That’s just a little white lie.” If God says you can’t do it then we can’t do it.  If God says that it is wrong then it is wrong.  I don’t care if the king is doing it, it is wrong.  He was the king and he was doing it.  He was wrong.  He gets himself in a mess.

 

I Samuel 13

 

10 And it came to pass, that as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him, that he might salute him.

11 And Samuel said, What hast thou done? And Saul said, Because I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that thou camest not within the days appointed, and that the Philistines gathered themselves together at Michmash;

12 Therefore said I, The Philistines will come down now upon me to Gilgal, and I have not made supplication unto the LORD: I forced myself therefore, and offered a burnt offering.

 

First, he blames Samuel because he was not there.  Second, he says the people are scattered, looks around and sees all these things. 

 

When I get impatient, when you get impatient we blame everybody else for our problems. 

 

He was blaming everybody else.  Everybody else was at fault except Saul.

 

When I will not allow the Lord to be master of my life then I am going to make some decisions that are dead wrong.  That’s not going to stop at one decision or two decisions or three decisions.  If I will not let the Lord be master of my life, I’ll make a bunch of bad decisions.  One after another.  If we are not careful, we will go through life being impatient, not making the right decisions, not letting the Lord be the master of our life, not letting the Lord direct us and we go through life miserable and that is where Saul was at.

 

He had made some very bad decisions.  He was a man that was handsome.  He was a man that was big.  He was a man that had the spirit of God on the inside of him.  He was a man that had some power spiritually.  Now he got to the place where pride takes over where impatience gets him.

 

As you read on down through here:

 

I Samuel 13

 

13 And Samuel said to Saul, Thou hast done foolishly…

 

Saul, what you have done is absolutely foolish.  Thou has not kept the commandments of the Lord thy God which he has commanded thee for now

 

13 And Samuel said to Saul, Thou hast done foolishly: thou hast not kept the commandment of the LORD thy God, which he commanded thee: for now would the LORD have established thy kingdom upon Israel for ever.

14 But now thy kingdom shall not continue: the LORD hath sought him a man after his own heart, and the LORD hath commanded him to be captain over his people, because thou hast not kept that which the LORD commanded thee.

 

Do you think that it was serious that Saul decided to play the role here of the priest and make the offerings?  That cost him in the kingdom.  The kingdom that he had been placed over, that cost him that because he was foolish. 

 

Not only was he filled with pride, not only was he impatient, but he was disobedient.

 

I Samuel 15

 

5 And Saul came to a city of Amalek, and laid wait in the valley.

6 And Saul said unto the Kenites, Go, depart, get you down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them: for ye shewed kindness to all the children of Israel, when they came up out of Egypt. So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites.

7 And Saul smote the Amalekites from Havilah until thou comest to Shur, that is over against Egypt.

8 And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.

9 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.

 

We know that God speaks to them, speaks to Saul and speaks to Samuel and says they need to go down and destroy the Amalekites and there were reasons for that.  God says that I want you to destroy everything that they have.  Every man, every woman, every child, every animal, kill the king; I want you to utterly destroy them.  Get rid of them all.  Kill them all.  That is what God said.  We know that Saul takes the troops and we know that they go up and kill a bunch of the Amalekites, but the best of the sheep they spared.  That which was vile and no account they killed.  They kept the best of the sheep and the animals and so forth.  The king that God commanded for him to be killed, they kept alive. 

 

I Samuel 15

 

10 Then came the word of the LORD unto Samuel, saying,

11 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. And it grieved Samuel; and he cried unto the LORD all night.

12 And when Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning, it was told Samuel, saying, Saul came to Carmel, and, behold, he set him up a place, and is gone about, and passed on, and gone down to Gilgal.

13 And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of the LORD: I have performed the commandment of the LORD.

14 And Samuel said, What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?

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.

16 Then Samuel said unto Saul, Stay, and I will tell thee what the LORD hath said to me this night. And he said unto him, Say on.

17 And Samuel said, When thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the LORD anointed thee king over Israel?

18 And the LORD sent thee on a journey, and said, Go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they be consumed.

19 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?

20 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.

21 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.

 

The Bible tells us that God speaks unto Samuel and when God tells Samuel what happens, Samuel goes up to meet Saul after the battle is over.  Saul and Samuel meet.  Saul begins to tell Samuel, he greets him as though he had done exactly like what God said for him to do.  He was putting on a big show.  The command was to destroy all the Amalekites, destroy the kids, destroy the animals, destroy the king; kill them all—that was the command.

 

Saul decided that he knew more than what God knew.  He would keep the king alive.  He would keep the best of the sheep, goats and animals and so forth.  He would keep all those because he thought those would be necessary to him.  When Samuel gets there, Saul starts blaming again, everybody else.  He blames the people for saving the sheep alive and keeping them.  He was always blaming somebody else.

 

I can go through life being disobedient to God and God speaks unto me, God directs me, somebody may reprove me through the Word of God and I can blame everybody else.

 

Saul said to Samuel, “Hey, I’ve done the will of God.”  Our sins will find us out.  Just as he was saying these words, the sheep over in the background began to bray, they begin to make noise and Samuel said to Saul, “What is this I am listening to then?  If you have killed all the sheep then what is this noise that I am hearing over hear.”  Saul said, “The people saved some of the sheep.  We are going to offer them unto you though Lord.”  He was lying through his teeth.

 

We make all kinds of excuses when we get caught in our sin.  He was very disobedient here.  He was to kill the Amalekites.  Everything about them, he was to kill.  When Samuel gets to Saul and the discussion continues we know that Samuel kills Agag the king.  We know that he takes his sword and cuts him in pieces, but Saul loses something this day, that I don’t know if you ever lost or not, Saul lost something here this day that I don’t ever want to lose and that is people that pray for me.  He lost Samuel this day.  Samuel was never again going to come and worship with him because Saul had chose to turn his back and be disobedient to God.

 

Friendship

 

Has anybody ever “sold you out?”  Has anybody ever abandoned you?  Someone that you loved and cared about, a dear friend.  Has anybody ever mistreated you?  Has anybody ever betrayed you?  That is really the word that I am looking for. 

 

To Samuel, what Saul has done was a betrayal.  Samuel did not approve of what Saul was doing.  He lost a friend on this day that loved him, cared for him, prayed for him.  Friends are too hard to find.  People that will stick with you through thick and thin, when all the chips are down, when you don’t have any money, when everybody else in the world is right on your back with both feet trying to stomp you and kill you, a friend will be there.  They won’t be standing a hundred feet behind you.  They won’t just say friend I am going to be praying for you.  They will be standing right beside of you and helping you to go through whatever you have to go through. 

 

Friends are too hard to come by to lose.  We sell each other out cheaply sometimes.  Friendship is worth fighting for.  One of things that the devil hates is unity among Christians, and fellowship among Christians.  He will lie to you about me and he will lie to me about you.  Satan will do that.  If we are not very careful, we will believe those lies.  It hinders friendships.

 

As you turn over a few more chapters, you will find out that Saul is going to die.  The command from God to Saul was kill the Amalekites.  Kill every one of them.  Saul goes to battle and we know that he was wounded.  An Amalekite there killed Saul.  The thing that killed Saul was the thing that God told him to kill.  The thing that killed Saul was the thing that God said, “You get rid of.”

 

There may be something in your life tonight.  It may be pride.  It may be the desire to have power.  It may be the greed to have things.  It may be jealousy.  It may be lust.  It may be all kinds of things.  All those things that I just mentioned, God has already told us that we need to kill them and get rid of them.  Envy, strife, lust, cravings for power, and all these things.  In my life, these things will kill me.  If I focus on and go after these things, they will kill me.  The very thing that God said to get rid of to Saul were the very individuals that killed him.  Some of us tonight have some things in our life that is killing us spiritually.  We blame it on the preacher.  We blame it on our husbands.  We blame it on our wives.  We blame it on our jobs.  We blame it on everything coming and going, but the problem is you.  You will not allow the Lord to be the master in your life and you will not kill these things, whatever they are.  Only you know if you don’t get rid of that it is going to kill you.  It is going to destroy you.

 

A man here that had a great beginning.  A man that was handsome.  A man that had a very strong body.  A man that had a new heart.  A man that some power with God.  A many here that friends that were loyal to him.  A man here that had a priest to pray for him.  A man that was very humble in the beginning.  Now he dies at the hands of someone that God said you need to kill. 

 

The choice is yours.  It is my choice if I am going allow pride, envy, strife, jealousy, the love for other things, whatever it is; if I am going to allow those things to kill me, or if I am going to make a choice to kill them and get back to where I need to be with God.  That I can have some people that will love me and pray for me.  Some people that I can go to in confidence and talk.  We need that folks.  A friend is somebody that you can tell anything to and they will never say anything about it.  That is a friend.  I have told things to people and it didn’t take them five minutes to blab it to somebody else.  That is not a friend.  A friend is someone that you can tell your heart to and pour your heart out to and not have to worry about them telling a soul.  We need more people like that. 

 

The things that we have and are allowing that God already said that we need to get rid of, whatever it is.  If we are allowing those things in our lives then the very friends that may have been very close to us at one time are going to be a long way before long.  Because I choose to let envy, pride, jealousy, lust, hatred, bitterness let those things rule my life then someone that is Godly or spiritual is not going to want to be around me.  You are going to lose big time.  You are going to lose people that pray for you.  Saul lost it all.  He lost his loyal friends.  He lost his friend here, Samuel, that prayed for him.  Above all, the calling that God had placed upon his life was over.  He made a mess out of it because of disobedience and pride.  We don’t have one hour to waste.

 

Your children, my children, your grandchildren, my grandchildren and this community is dying lost.  I don’t have time to make an idiot out of myself.  I don’t have time to let things enter into my space and to kill me spiritually.  I don’t have time for that.  People are dying lost and the lake of fire is a real place.  I promise you, when we stand before Almighty God one day, they won’t be passing out cookies and Kool-Aid. 

 

Ask yourself:  Are you being obedient to God?  Or Are you being disobedient to God?

 

Are you being patient in waiting upon God? Or Are you being impatient?

 

Are you allowing envy, strife, jealousy, bitterness, hatred and whole list of other things to kill you?  If you don’t put it on the cross, if we don’t crucify those things as Paul said, they will destroy us.  It is your choice. 

 

You can live that life if you want to.  God will not make you get saved.  God will not make you put those things on the altar.  However, you are going to wake up one day, and I have talked to a bunch of people that were laying on their death bed, or very close to their death bed who said that they have wasted their whole their life.  They made a bad decision 20 or 30 years ago and I wouldn’t repent of it and I didn’t repent of it and my life has been ruined. 

 

I don’t want to hear from that you.  If we are here tomorrow, I know that God will take care of us tomorrow.  I know that He will do that. 

 

 Back • Up • Next

|  Home |  Pastor  |  Sermons  |  Testimony |  Salvation  |  Sunday School  |  Youth  |  Men  |
|  Ladies  |  Classes  |  Photos  |  Choir  |  History  |  Contacts  |
|  Sign Guestbook  |   View Guestbook   |

EXIT to CalvinEvans.org