Pursuing the Pattern of the World

We're going to begin our worship this evening, and we're singing firstly in Psalm 48a.

48a, that's on page 63, singing to Choon Paisley, and we're singing verses 1 to 8.

Great is the Lord who rules on high, with praise his temple fill, within the city of

our God and on his holy hill.

Mount Zion, with its graceful height, gives joy to all the earth.

The great king's city far excels, the mountains of the north.

Within her citadels and towers, God's presence is revealed, for he has shown himself to be

her fortress and her shield.

Down as far as verse 8, these verses, great is the Lord.

Mount Zion, with praise his temple fill, within the city of our God and on his holy hill.

Mount Zion, with its graceful height, gives joy to all the earth.

Mount Zion, with its graceful height, gives joy to all the earth.

The great king's city far excels, the mountains of the north.

John 9.

FI 29a, this day has beenures by king and on his holy hill.

God's presence is revealed.

For he has shown himself to thee,

had fortress and earth shield.

When kings joined forces to attack,

as one they marched ahead.

They saw hand and they were amazed,

they all in terror play.

Like women giving birth in pain,

they trembled in disdain.

You wrecked them like a merchant tree,

by tempest blown away.

As we have heard, so have we seen,

God's city will endure.

The Lord Almighty evermore

has sent in his Savior.

Let's once more join together now in prayer.

Let's call upon the Lord in prayer.

Lord, our ever-bressed God,

gracious and merciful,

full of kindness,

full of loving kindness toward his people,

God who will by no means clear the guilty,

yet you have provided forgiveness for us.

We bless you, Lord our God,

that we come together tonight to praise you.

And we have already used these words in your praise

that remind us and teach us

of the way in which you are so unchangeably

the king of your people,

and of which they too are your people,

your flock,

that city that you prepare

for your abode forevermore.

We thank you, Lord, tonight,

that we come in acknowledgement of your greatness.

And we thank you that as we sing your praises

and acknowledge your greatness,

so we also take note for our own assurance

of your interest in your people,

of your provision for them,

of your care and attention to them

each and every moment of their lives.

Lord, we pray that these great truths

may be impressed upon us tonight

as well as we come to worship you here together.

We pray that they may be a reality for us

throughout each and every day of our lives.

Lord, we need your truth each day

to occupy our hearts and our minds

and guide our thoughts.

We need the power of your truth

working within us

by your Holy Spirit's energy

in such a way that will daily lead us

in the ways of righteousness.

Lord, we come before you

not only to bring you our praises

and our thanksgivings,

but also our confessions.

A confession of our sin,

confession of our own failures

in so many ways

to be what we should be.

A confession, Lord,

how far short we come

in every way,

in every aspect of our lives,

short of glorifying your great name

as we ought to.

Forgive us, we pray,

and cleanse us

from our iniquities this night.

We thank you

that your word reveals to us

the extent of our sinfulness

and the various ways

in which our sin itself

is active in our lives,

from the root of sin within us

in our fallenness

to the very acts of transgression

and of sin

that we ourselves

are guilty of each day.

And we thank you

for the freeness

with which pardon

is available to us.

You have opened a fountain

for us

for sin

and for uncleanness

in our Lord Jesus Christ.

We give thanks,

O Lord,

as we come to you

and claim his merits

and place our trust in him

that we are assured

that you will forgive us

our sins

and cleanse us

from all unrighteousness.

and we thank you tonight,

Lord,

for the assurance

that that gives us.

For we know that sometimes,

indeed very often,

Lord,

on a daily basis,

our sin troubles us.

We find ourselves,

Lord,

sometimes perplexed

at how easily

we find ourselves

straying into

the ways of sin,

even in our thoughts of mind.

We pray, O Lord,

that you would grant us

the garrisoning

of your truth

and the guidance

of your spirit

throughout each day.

And once again,

we bring before you

our needs

as a congregation.

Lord,

we thank you

for all

that you continue

to be for us,

for everything

that you have proved

yourself to be

down over the course

of the years.

And as we have begun

another new year

and our experience

as a people,

we ask, O Lord,

that you would

go before us

and that you would

prepare us

to live as your people

in the world

and to hold forth

the word of truth,

that word of righteousness,

which is so necessary

not only for ourselves

but for the circumstances

in which we find ourselves

in our day,

when your word

is so easily set aside,

when your word, Lord,

is all too commonly despised

and ignored.

And in many ways,

Lord,

your word

is trampled

under people's feet

and the way

in which they're treated.

We pray for

our community.

We pray for

each and every home

that we know of

around us.

We pray

for the congregations

of your people,

not only

in this town

and this community

but throughout our land

and indeed

throughout the world.

We pray, O Lord,

that you would prosper

your people.

We pray that today

they may know

of your own work

amongst them,

advancing the understanding

that they have of you

and increasing

their commitment to you.

We pray in all

our own activities,

O Lord,

as a people,

that you would bless us

and bless us

through these activities

to the world

around us too.

We pray for all

that happens

throughout the course

of each week

in addition to

the services

of worship

on weeknights

and weekdays

and also

on the Lord's day.

And we give thanks

for this day

and we give thanks

that you have sanctified it

and given to us,

Lord,

that conviction

that it is our privilege

to know

and to acknowledge

your day

and to come to seek

to keep it holy

as you have commanded.

And we ask, Lord,

when we depart

from that too

that you would redirect

our steps

and that you would

especially grant to us

as a community

and as a people

that we may once again

turn to value your day.

Turn to prize

all that it means

and all that it has

to offer us,

especially in the ways

of the gospel.

And we ask,

O gracious one,

that you would

return to us

and return us

to that way

in which your day

should be honored

and upheld by us

and exalted.

Help us,

we pray,

to commend your day

and all its values

to our people,

to the community

around us.

Remember,

we pray those

who rule over us

at this time,

be near to them,

Lord,

we pray to give them

the help

and the insight

that they need

and perhaps

that they themselves

do not look

for in yourself.

We ask that you would

bless our first minister,

bless his ministers,

bless the prime minister,

bless his cabinet,

bless the government,

bless each and every assembly.

Lord,

bless us,

we pray,

with light from on high.

Turn us away

from the ways

of man

and of sin

and of secular thinking.

Give us,

we pray,

to have our confidence

reset in the Lord.

Enable them,

Lord,

who rule over us

to meaningfully reflect

upon what you have been

to this nation

over the course

of the centuries

and how much,

Lord,

we lack

of those values

that have now

been set aside.

Gracious one,

we pray

that you would return us

into your ways

and help us to repent

over the many ways

in which we

have fallen short

of your glory

and your praise

and which you have

despised your ways.

We ask tonight

that you bless those

who belong to us

as a congregation

who are ill.

We know that there are

many, Lord,

during this past week

or two

who have picked up

illnesses

of various kinds.

And we ask

that you would

grant blessing

to them

to restore them

to health

and to strength.

We pray

bless those especially

who have gone

to hospital

in these recent days.

We pray for

little Matthew McLeod

and ask that you

bless him

and bless his parents

as he once again

has gone into hospital

here.

We pray for Donny Graham

as he's been taken

to hospital

in the mainland.

We ask for him

that your blessing,

Lord,

will be with him

with all who care

for him.

Grant that your good

hand may be upon him

and that you'd be

pleased, Lord,

to grant your own

recovery to him

if it please you

and your protective

care of him.

Remember all

who in these days

mourn the passing

of loved ones.

Remember those families

in the past week

or two

who have lost

loved ones

who belong to us

as a people.

Grant them

your comfort,

we pray.

Give to them

that they may know

of you as their God

and as their guide

and as their stay

in this time.

We ask that you

would graciously,

Lord,

bless all others

who have begun

this new year

thinking of times

gone by

and have loved ones

no longer with them.

We pray that you

would continue

to bless them

and continue

to uphold them

and strengthen them.

Continue to give them,

we pray,

to look to yourself.

and we ask

that you would

grant blessing now

to all whom

we commit to you

in the wider church.

We pray for,

Lord,

all our students

in the seminary,

for all who teach there,

for all the activities

related to that training.

We pray for Scott

with ourselves

and ask that you

would continue

to bless him

in his preparations.

Bless Fiona

and the family

and give them,

Lord,

as they wait upon you

that they will know

of your further direction

of their lives.

Bless all others,

we pray,

who in different institutions

throughout the world

seek to prepare

for gospel ministry.

We pray for all

of these institutions,

especially for

Reformed seminaries

and colleges

throughout the world.

Lord,

grant that they may

be kept

from straying

from your truth

and that they may know

that your blessing,

Lord,

is assured

to those who trust in you

and seek to put

your word above

the thinking

and the wisdom

of men.

Graciously bless us

now,

we pray.

Hear us in our prayers

and cleanse us

from all our sin.

For Jesus' sake,

Amen.

We'll sing again

to God's praise.

We're singing this time

Psalm 106.

That's on page 382.

And from verse 43,

the tune this time

is Argyle.

He many times

delivered them,

but with their counsel

so they him provoked

that for their sin

they were brought

very low.

Yet their affliction

he beheld

when he did hear

their cry,

and he for them

his covenant

did call to memory.

And Psalms like

Psalm 106,

as you know,

reflect upon

some of the history

of God's people,

covenant people

in the Old Testament times,

and how frequently

they provoked the Lord

by their idolatry,

by their turning

to idols,

and so on.

And yet also

the psalmist

reflects us here

on God's

great patience

with them,

his mercy

and redirection

of them.

And we need

these things

for ourselves,

that we sing them

meaningfully

as we remember

the Lord's patience

with ourselves.

Psalm 106,

then from verse 43,

he many times

delivered them.

He many times

delivered them,

but with their counsel's soul,

they did promote

that for their sin

they were

from their

very low.

Yet their affliction

be held

when he did hear

their cry,

and before them

his covenant

go of the Zhou

malting

heart of

may

cả

thing

else in death

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Let's turn now to read God's Word, and you'll find that this evening in the first book of

Samuel, first book of Samuel in chapter 8.

We'll read through from the beginning to the end of the chapter.

So that's 1 Samuel, and chapter 8 is around page 278 or so.

When Samuel became old, he made his sons judges over Israel.

The name of his firstborn son was Joel, and the name of his second Abijah.

They were judges in Beersheba.

Yet his sons did not walk in his ways, but turned aside after gain.

They took bribes and perverted justice.

Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah, and said to him,

Behold, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways.

Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.

But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, Give us a king to judge us.

And Samuel prayed to the Lord.

And the Lord said to Samuel, Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you.

For they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.

According to all the deeds that they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt

even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you.

Now then, obey their voice.

Only you shall solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.

So Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking for a king from him.

He said, These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you.

He will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen and to run before his chariots.

And he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties,

and some to plough his ground and to reap his harvest,

and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots.

And he will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers.

He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his servants.

He will take the tenth of your grain and of your vineyards

and give it to his officers and to his servants.

He will take your male servants and female servants

and the best of your young men and your donkeys and put them to his work.

He will take the tenth of your flocks and you shall be his slaves.

And in that day you will cry out because of your king,

whom you have chosen for yourselves.

But the Lord will not answer you in that day.

But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel.

And they said, No, but there shall be a king over us,

that we may also be like all the nations,

and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.

And when Samuel had heard all the words of the people,

he repeated them in the ears of the Lord.

And the Lord said to Samuel, Obey their voice and make them a king.

Samuel then said to the men of Israel,

Go, every man, to his city.

And may God again bless to us that portion of his word.

Before we turn to this chapter, let's sing again, this time in Psalm 47.

47 in Sing Psalms, that's page 62.

And soon as Duke Street will sing these five verses.

All nations, clap your hands and shout.

Let joyful cries to God ring out.

How awesome is the Lord Most High,

great King who rules the earth throughout.

He has subdued beneath our feet

the nations who had been our foes

in blessing Jacob whom he loved,

a heritage for us he chose.

So the whole of Psalm 47,

all nations, clap your hands and shout.

All nations, clap your hands and shout.

Let joyful cry to God ring out.

Let joyful cry to God ring out.

How awesome is the Lord Most High,

great King to the rules the earth through us.

God bless you.

He has subdued beneath our feet

the nations who have been our foes

in blessing Jacob whom he loved,

and blessed in blessing Jacob whom he loved,

a heritage for us he chose.

God has got a wish of God,

grace of joy that false e ingly tries,

God has got a place

and jösden.

And blessed are Michigan for you.

His ifiов.

And so strong who have been the fairest,

God has got a place to God,

in the hält Casa on r einen like God,

in the industrial world where he loved,

God gives us the »c labouratio 6ºC2–

To God our King let praise God.

For God is King of all the earth.

Sing sounds of praise to Him alone.

God who's the nations come on high,

He sits upon this holy throne.

The leaders of the nations come,

To heal themselves, to reign as God.

To Him belong, the kings of all earth.

And the kings of the King, the kings of all earth.

Let's turn for a short time now as we wait on the Lord to 1 Samuel chapter 8.

1 Samuel 8 · chapter mention

And we're looking at most of what's in this chapter.

I'd like just to read verse 7 first of all and then on to verse 19 as well.

So at verse 7 we actually read these words.

The Lord said to Samuel,

Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you,

for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.

And then in verse 19,

The people refused to obey the voice of Samuel and they said,

No, but there shall be a king over us, 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.

Well, this is another crucial, critical time in the history and the development of God's people

in the Old Testament times, God's covenant people of Israel.

As they come to this juncture, they've come to this point where they're demanding really a king of Samuel.

And you can see the context in which it happened.

It was a very difficult situation for them to manage,

and sadly they got it wrong, as they all too often did.

They came in these circumstances.

At the beginning of the chapter we read that Samuel had become old,

and he had made his sons judges over Israel.

But his sons did not walk in his ways,

but turned aside after gain, they took bribes and perverted justice.

In other words, the sons of Samuel turned out to be very different to their father.

At least in this respect, they didn't judge in a way that was righteous,

though he had appointed them to these positions.

And it does remind us, of course, that we cannot have a guarantee

that a generation that knows the Lord and serves the Lord

and is true to the Lord will be followed by one of the same caliber.

It's the same as true of individuals, of course.

But why did they not manage it so well?

What was it about the situation that they got wrong?

Well, why was it that they got it wrong?

Because, as we'll see, they actually put their own preferences

ahead of God's direction of them, ahead of God's provision.

They put their own wisdom ahead of God's wisdom.

They put their own way of looking at things ahead of the way

that God himself had arranged things for them up to that point.

I want to look at two things from the passage.

We'll focus on the verses we've mentioned, but we'll see how they fit into the context.

First of all, we'll look at the people's demand for a king.

And in looking at the demand for a king,

we'll see that they turned against Samuel,

but more importantly, they rejected God.

That's what God himself said to Samuel.

And they have not rejected you, they have rejected me from being king over them.

And not only did they turn against Samuel and reject God,

but they also rejected the solemn warning that Samuel gave them,

having been instructed by God to warn them of what would happen

if they got their own desire and got this king that they were looking for,

a king to be like the kings of the nations around about them.

All that is built into the demand they had for a king.

Secondly, we're going to look at the people's desire to be like the nations around them.

Because as we'll see, that's really a fundamental part of their thinking at the time.

They wanted a king like the nations, as they put it, that surrounded them.

The pagan nations around them, they wanted to be like those nations

in the sense that they wanted a leader like those leaders in these nations,

kings that went out to battle and proved to be,

as they knew very well, these nations had kings that were very much given to pomp and ceremony

and attracting a lot of attention to themselves

and a lot of resources to themselves, as Samuel indeed warned them.

So the two things, the people's demand for a king and also their desire to be like the nations.

Now the demand for a king meant a turning against Samuel, first of all.

All the elders gathered in verse 4,

they came to Samuel at Ram and said,

Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways.

Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.

The fact that their sons were corrupt, to that extent at least,

that they took bribes and perverted justice,

there's no blame attached to Samuel in that.

And there's no hint of any fault with the way that Samuel presided over the people as a judge,

approved of by God and appointed by God.

And yet what they're doing is really looking for an excuse

so that they'll have a king like the nations around them.

So not only do they point attention or give attention,

point out the difficulty of having these sons of Samuel who are taking bribes and perverting justice,

they're also including Samuel himself and saying,

You are old. You're past it.

We need somebody other than you.

We need something different.

We need a king like the nations around about us.

You've saved your time, but you're getting old.

In other words, they're really saying,

You're no longer fit to be leader, and we want a different type of leader to the leader that you were to us.

And that's a very sad reflection, isn't it,

in our thinking of the people at that time,

because Samuel at this point was probably around 60 or 65 years old,

and yet they're really here saying about him that he's pretty much basically too old to continue as leader,

especially in view of the way his sons are behaving.

And it's a very sad reflection on their thinking as a people,

that they're using the failure of these sons and the relative age of Samuel himself

to be an argument for change.

And the argument for change turned out really to be not so good,

because, of course, as you know, the history,

they were given a king, King Saul,

who turned out not to be the best thing at all for the nation.

Where could they have gotten a better leader than Samuel as a judge?

If you go back just to the previous chapter,

chapter 7 and verses 3 to 10,

you'll find there Samuel judging Israel

and doing things that really he was led by the Lord to do.

But here he is at that time actually leading the people

in terms of the way in which they need to resist their enemies,

the hands of the Philistines.

So the people of Israel, they put away the bales,

and then Samuel said,

Gather to Israel, I will pray to the Lord for you.

So they gathered at Mizpah and so on,

and they confessed we have sinned against the Lord.

And then as you go through the chapter,

the people of Israel said to Samuel,

Do not cease to cry out to the Lord our God for us,

that he may save us from the hand of the Philistines.

And all the way through there,

you find an emphasis on how successfully he led them

then against the Philistines.

How soon they forgot.

How soon they failed to take account of

or just dismissed from their thoughts.

What Samuel had been to them

and the demonstration of God's blessing

that they had come to know through Samuel.

Well, it's very human, isn't it?

Our failures are really reflected in that in many ways.

And here they are saying,

You are old,

and your sons don't walk in your ways.

It's not good enough for us anymore.

Make us a king.

Appoint us a king who will go before us.

And that's sadly how you find it down through the course of history as well.

And you find it on the part of people who even today will say to us,

not necessarily within the church,

but certainly outside the church in our society,

people will say to us,

Look, we don't actually want,

we don't think that people who are really committed Christians,

especially of the type that go to the free church,

we don't think they should be given political power or political office.

They're not really fit to be in office.

It's not a new thing,

but it fits into the same category,

really in principle,

people saying,

Well, you know,

that's no longer something that's relevant or fit for our times,

for our days.

So here's a turning against Samuel.

But more importantly and more seriously,

they're really turning against God.

Samuel took the matter to God.

That's so typical of Samuel.

He actually took the matter to God in prayer.

And God said to him,

Obey the voice of the people,

for they have not rejected you,

but they have rejected me from being king over them.

And he went on to say,

This is just how they had always been.

They showed themselves to have been very fickle people,

people who very soon forgot what the Lord had done for them

and turned to idols or to other ways of living their lives.

And that's what he says,

They have rejected me.

According to all the deeds they have done

from the day I brought them out of Egypt,

even to this day,

forsaking me and serving other gods,

so they are also doing to you.

Now, therefore, obey their voice.

Now, God is not approving,

in principle, of what they're asking for,

not approving of the way they're going about it,

but they're going to find out

that if God gives a people or a person

over to their own desires,

it's not going to be a very good outcome.

And what God is really saying to Samuel is,

Obey them, give them what they're asking for,

but tell them at the same time

what it's going to mean for them.

They have not rejected you.

They have rejected me.

In other words, they were tired.

They had gone tired of God's arrangement of their lives,

of their lives as a people,

of God's provision for them.

And once you start getting tired

or not really seeing the relevance

of what God is providing for us in the gospel,

that's very much a danger signal to yourself

and to myself or to any society or people.

If we find the ways of God becoming somewhat boring,

if we're saying, well, we need a change

because this has just been going on,

the same emphases in the gospel for years,

the same type of thing being emphasized

in the teaching of the Bible,

the same kind of things that the Bible

is bringing out for us.

It was okay for Paul's day.

It's okay in the Old Testament days.

But really, we need to change that for our day.

You know, if you and I get tired ourselves

or begin to just become a bit weary

of reading the same things in the Bible

that are so central and so important

to a Christian life

and to a life of pleasing God,

well, we have to really beware of that

because that means we're on the path

that really leads to decline

and to maybe even falling away from God altogether.

So that's what they had become tired of.

And you know, all the way through history,

not least with these people of Israel

during the Old Testament days,

you really have to admire the patience of God.

We sang in some of the Psalms tonight

that of God's patience with the people of Israel,

despite the fact that He had done so much for them,

they turned against Him,

they rebelled against Him,

and yet for His mercy's sake,

He again forgave them.

When they cried out to Him,

He heard them.

You know, tonight,

we just cannot possibly measure

the patience of God,

the forbearance of God,

the long-suffering of God.

Look at your own life

as I need to look at mine.

How many times have you and I provoked the Lord?

How many times have we failed

to do what He requires us to do?

How many times has our thinking gone astray

in our thoughts about God

and about His wisdom

and about His arrangement of our lives as well?

And yet He's not gone away

and He's not kicked us into touch,

as it were,

and just left us there.

Tonight,

we are worshiping the patient God.

That's no excuse for us

to continue to resist Him

or to reject Him

or to choose some other way

rather than His,

but it does demonstrate

the caliber of our God,

the glorious nature of our God

as a God of patience

and of mercy

and of long-suffering.

And here He is with Israel

as well so many times

proving that.

So, there's a turning against Samuel,

but there's also a rejection of God

and along with that,

there's a rejection of very solemn warnings

because God said to Samuel,

now then,

obey their voice,

verse 9,

only you shall solemnly warn them

and show them the ways of the king

who shall reign over them.

In other words,

Samuel was to tell the people,

if you get a king

like the nations that are around you,

you'll suffer for it.

It's not going to be an easy journey for you.

He's going to take lots of the things

that you presently prize

and hold precious

and he's going to use them for himself

and he's going to be greedy

of his own personal gain

and his own personal prestige

and you're going to have to give him

as much,

at least as you're now giving,

to the service of God

in the tithes that you're giving

in the offerings of the temple

and the offerings of the sanctuary.

That's what He's saying to them.

This is the kind of king He will be

if He's going to emulate,

as you want,

the kings of these nations.

If you're going to be led

by that sort of king,

this is what it's going to mean for you.

So Samuel came back

and told them this.

In that day,

he says in verse 18,

you will cry out because of your king

whom you have chosen,

but the Lord will not answer you

in that day.

If you go down this route,

he's saying,

this is really going to be

the situation you'll be in.

What did they do?

They said,

no, but we will have a king.

Whatever God says,

whatever you say,

whatever your advice is,

whatever your counsel is,

this is how we want it.

We insist on this.

We want to be like

the nations around us.

So you can tell us what you like,

really,

pretty much is what they're saying

to Samuel.

You can say what you like,

but we will have a king

to rule over us.

You see,

God is letting them have their way

for the moment.

And that's always very ominous.

And it's something that you and I

have to be always careful to avoid

that we don't provoke the Lord

by a long-term departure

or sinning against Him

and Him saying to us,

well, have it your way.

See how you get on.

See what it means for you.

You know,

He did that more than once

with the people of Israel.

Remember back in Numbers

Numbers 11 · chapter mention

chapter 11,

how they complained

so much about the food

and that they had left Egypt

and left the delicious food

they'd left in Egypt

and hankered back

for these delicacies in Egypt.

And here they were

rising up against Moses

and complaining against God

and His provision.

And God said to Moses

pretty much in these words,

give them food.

Or He's saying,

I'll give them food.

I'll give them so much

that they'll loathe it

by the time I'm finished with them.

So the wind came

and drove hundreds and hundreds

of quails

into the camp of Israel.

And they began to eat the quails

and I'm sure they tasted

delicious to begin with.

And yet,

that chapter goes on to say,

while the food

was still in their teeth,

it's not just saying

literally still in their teeth,

but it really means

as they were eating

and as they were enjoying

the quails that they had,

or the food that they had demanded,

the Lord plagued them greatly.

It doesn't say how many died.

It doesn't say anything further than that.

But the Lord plagued them greatly.

Sent a great plague amongst them.

God was teaching them

or seeking to draw their mind

to the fact,

you have it your way

and it's going to hurt you.

You have it in a way

that departs from my ways.

It's not going to be good for you.

It's going to be very painful.

Might even mean

something like it was

for the Israelites.

A life of much suffering.

Well, here is the demand for a king.

A turning against Samuel,

despite all that he had been to them

over the course of his life.

And a turning against God,

a rejection of God as king.

And a rejection of the solemn warnings

that God had sent through Samuel.

Now we're going to look in a minute

at how important the Word of God is

in all of this.

But let's just stop at that juncture

and ask ourselves tonight,

have we been neglectful

of God's Word to us?

Have we been dismissing

the promises or the warnings

or both in God's Word

that He brings to us?

Has God's Word struck our hearts

at any time or more than once

in such a way

as has convicted of our need

to turn from sin

and to come to trust in the Lord,

to repent of our sin,

to confess our sin,

to follow Christ,

and yet we're still not

complying with that demand of God?

Well, be careful.

Don't actually treat God

as if it's just some

piece of human advice.

Here is what Samuel said to the people.

And here is the response.

No, but there shall be a king over us.

That's the second point we want to look at.

The people's desire to be like the nations.

Now, if you go back to verses 4 and 5

where they gathered together

and said,

You are old

and your sons do not walk in your way.

That, in a sense, is a pretext.

It's not that it wasn't true,

but they were presenting that

as a pretext for the real reason

that they wanted a change

in their circumstances

was because they wanted to be like

the nations round about them.

That's really what they were

concerned to be,

even though they could say

Samuel was old

and his sons were corrupt

and took bribes.

This is really what was moving them.

This is really the real reason

behind their request.

They wanted to be like

the nations around them.

They wanted to be similar to them

or identical to them

in this sense,

that they would have

a king set over them

just like the nations.

Well, it's always

a really serious matter

when God's people

don't want to be different

to the world.

When God's people

are not really careful

to make that distinction

between themselves

and the world around them.

Here are God's covenant people.

Here are God's people

instructed over the years

that God is their king,

that they have their life

regulated and governed by him

and not only by him

in a general sense

but in a very specific sense

at many times.

The God who led them

out of Egypt,

who delivered them

out of Egypt

as he reminds them

in this chapter

through Samuel.

The God who actually

brought them

the redemption from Egypt

that they enjoyed

and are enjoying.

Who brought them into

the land that he had promised them.

Who fulfilled all of these things.

And what is he saying now

through Samuel?

They have not rejected you

but they have rejected me.

They don't want me

to be a king

invisibly over them

and yet certainly

their leader,

their guide,

their protector,

their carer.

They want someone

they can see.

They want someone

like the nations.

They want a figurehead

that they can actually

point to and say

look at our king,

look at how glorious he is.

And when we find ourselves

tempted to fall in

with the ways of the world,

that again is a really

serious issue for us.

There are many places tonight,

many worshiping groups tonight,

many churches,

many denominations,

many congregations,

many individuals

who preach the gospel,

who preach,

at least to preach

from the Bible,

who have come to embrace

the ideologies of the world,

who have come to embrace

the ideology

that's so concerned

to adjust our thoughts

about marriage,

about gender,

about education,

about religious freedom,

so many things you could add to that

in our own society right now.

I'm not talking about the world,

I'm talking about

confessing Christians

that want to be

as like the world

as to import

that ideology

into their own thinking.

They're just like Israel

in those days.

We want a king

to be like the nations

that are around us.

You know,

when you come

to actually find

any people

who confess

the Lord

as their God

to say,

well,

we need to really adjust

our lifestyle

to suit the thinking

of the age.

We need an ideology

that takes away

from this ancient

Reformed view

of the Bible

and of a Christian life

and of what

a people

and a society

should look like

and how they should behave.

And what have you left with

if you lose

the gospel

in its throughness

and its fullness?

Well,

let me just

take you back

to 1 Kings

or forward

to 1 Kings

because Solomon

was followed

by his son

Rehoboam

and Rehoboam

consulted

with the old men,

the senior men

who were there

at the time

after Solomon's death

and King Rehoboam

took counsel

with the old men

who had stood

before Solomon

his father

while he was yet alive

saying,

how do you advise me

to answer this people?

And they said to him,

if you will be a servant

to this people today

and serve them

and speak good words

to them

and when you answer them

then they will be

your servants forever.

But he abandoned

the counsel

that the old men

gave him

and took counsel

of the young men

who had grown up

with him

and stood before him.

And so that's

where he turned,

that's where he turned to.

And then as you go on

you can see

the kingdom

was divided

and then you go forward

to chapter 14

and what you find

in chapter 14

from verse 25

is that Shishak

the king of Egypt

he came

against Jerusalem

and he took away

the treasures

of the house

of the Lord

and the treasures

of the king's house.

He took away everything.

He also took away

all the shields

of gold

that Solomon

had made

and King Rehoboam

made in their place

shields

of bronze.

How pathetic

is that?

He gave away

the shields

of gold.

He probably

had not much

option

because Shishak

had come to him

and he had not

followed the ways

of the Lord

anyway

so he was weakened

in many ways.

He couldn't stand

against King Shishak

of Egypt

at that moment.

Shishak took away

all the shields

of gold

that Solomon

had made

and he fashioned

in their stead

replicas.

Replicas

made of bronze.

Now from a distance

you might think

bronze is actually

gold

if the sun

is shining

and you polished

it hard enough

but it's not gold.

And unless you look

very hard

at versions

of the gospel

that want to make

it fit into

the ideologies

of the moment

you might think

well you've still

got the gospel.

No you don't.

If you give away

the essentials

of the gospel

you don't have

a gospel left.

You have nothing

left here

that will really

reform the lives

of people

through the blessing

of God of course

but the Lord

will have us

always to retain

the essential matters

of the gospel.

That's why we have

to value

our reformed heritage

and I'm going to mention

two things in that

in closing.

Our reformed heritage

for the day

in which we live

there's so much

within that

that we need to

maintain and prize

and promote

but especially

I want to emphasize

the Bible itself

and the ethics

of the Bible.

The Bible itself

and the ethics

of the Bible

because the Bible

is to be

our ethical base

our basis for

morality

what a life

should be like

what a life

should be like

as we live it.

A conviction

about the Bible.

Why am I

saying a conviction

about the Bible?

Why is that central?

Why is that

of first importance?

Surely you might say

well surely you should

be emphasizing

Christ first.

Shouldn't you be

emphasizing keeping

to the person

of Christ

that we have

in our reformed

theology and thinking

that's been passed

on to us

through the years?

Yes of course

but where does

that come from?

What is the source

of our information

about Jesus

and about his atonement

and about his person

about the fact

that he's God

and man fully

in both senses?

You come to that

from the Bible

and once you adjust

the Bible

then there's no telling

where you're going

to end up

adjusting all other

sorts of doctrines

that follow on

from the doctrine

of scripture itself.

You give away

the shields of gold

and you're going

to be left

with at best

bronze

maybe even copper

maybe even lead.

What I'm saying

is give away

the essential

core issues

of the gospel.

What have you got left?

At best you've got

a very faded replica

which is not

the real thing.

Friends,

prize your Bibles.

I know you're doing that

but I know also

for me and for you

there's always a voice

not far away

from the dark one.

That will say

as he said

long ago

to our first parents

to Adam

has God really said

don't you need

to adjust this

to fit the thinking

of the day?

Don't you need

to just give away

some of those

more robust

reformed teachings

because people

don't want that

nowadays

and you don't want

a gospel

that people don't want?

That's the argument.

That's the ideology

of the age

and that's the kind

of temptation

that we face.

But what is

the Bible?

That's where you

have to begin.

You don't have to

you don't begin

with what does

the Bible say?

That comes next.

First thing you do

is what is

the Bible?

And the Bible

is the Word of God

and we just

briefly mention

from the confession

of faith.

This paragraph

in chapter 1

paragraph 5

We may be moved

and induced

by the testimony

of the church

to a high

and reverent esteem

of the Holy Scripture.

Then listen to this.

The heavenliness

of the matter

the efficacy

of the doctrine

the majesty

of the style

the consent

of all the parts

the scope

of the whole

which is to give

all glory to God

the full discovery

it makes

of the only way

of man's salvation

the many other

incomparable excellencies

and the entire

perfection thereof

are arguments

whereby it

doth abundantly

evidence itself

to be the Word

of God.

Nevertheless

notwithstanding

our full persuasion

and assurance

of the infallible truth

and divine authority

thereof

is from the inward

work of the Holy Spirit

bearing witness

by and with the Word

in our hearts.

Now where people

reject the Bible

as authoritative

as God's Word

that has certainly

not come

from the inward

work of the Holy Spirit

bearing witness

by and with the Word

in our hearts.

That's why we pray

for God to keep us

not just the likes

of myself

and others

who preach the Gospel

but yourselves

as well

as people

in this world

who live for Christ

make sure

that you have

the Bible

centrally

foundationally

daily

constantly

in your life.

It's from it

you receive

everything you know

and understand

of every other topic

that's vital to you

including God

himself

and the Lord

Jesus Christ

and salvation.

But secondly

not just a conviction

about the Bible

but conformity

to the Bible's

ethic.

Our conformity

to the Bible's

ethic

I'm talking here

about the teaching

of the Bible

as a whole

with regard to

what our moral

Christian life

should be

and should be like.

conformity

to the ethic

of the Bible

not the other

way about.

Not the Bible

conforming

to what I think

my ethic

should be

or what I

insist on it

to be.

Romans chapter 12

Romans 12:2

verse 2

Do not be

conformed

to this world

but be

transformed

by the renewing

of your mind

that you may prove

what is that good

and acceptable

and perfect

will of God.

See what it's saying?

Don't be

conformed

to this world

but be

transformed.

And here we are

in a society

where from

the government

downwards

we're now being

led down

the path

of insisting

that people

should not

be asked

or demanded

to have their lives

changed in any way.

Be what you want

to be.

Be what's good

for you

as you see it.

Let your gender,

let your behavior,

let whatever is

pleasing to yourself

let that be

what you follow out

and don't

let anyone else

seek to change

that for you.

And that's why

we're facing

and friends

I'm saying this

because

the Bible

has to be applied

to our present

circumstances

and our present

circumstances are

that our own

government in Scotland

Westminster I think

is involved too

to an extent

but our own

government has

made it known

that they do

have thoughts

and plans

in what they

call

a law

that would

actually ban

gender conversion.

Whatever is

meant by that

they don't give you

a plain answer.

But what that

means is

and you know

this is what

the Christian

Institute said

about it

Scottish government

wants to outlaw

practices

that seek

to change

suppress

or inhibit

someone's

sexual orientation

or gender

identity.

Activists

that's people

out with the

government as well

activists

are campaigning

for this

to cover

quote

casual

conversations

quote

gentle

non-coercive

prayer

and even

depending on

your parents

consent

to change

gender.

In other words

if that were

to become law

I could actually

find myself

in a court

of law

accused

of having

prayed

with someone

and asking

God

to either

change

their mind

or to give

them a different

perspective

on life.

I would be

criminalized

for being

faithful

to God.

That's

what's likely

to be the case

and despite

assurances

and we're

thankful

there are

assurances

that say

well

religious

practices

will not

actually

come under

such

a proposed

law.

believe

believe that

if you

will.

That's

not the

pattern

from the

past.

Now if

there is

to be a

consultation

I'm not

politicizing

the pulpit

this is

part of

the

gospel's

presentation

into the

world of

our day.

If there

is a

consultation

please

make sure

you complete

it.

A government

consultation

for your

views

on this.

and if

you want

to consult

the Christian

Institute

they will

give you

the words

that you

need to

put them

into your

own words

but they'll

give you

guidance

as to

how to

fill in

the various

parts of

that

consultation.

Friends

we are in

a war.

We're in

the midst

of a

conflict

not just

for the

soul of

the country

but for

the soul

of the

church

for the

soul of

the gospel.

we're in

a situation

which says

no

let's be

like the

world around

us.

A situation

that says

you Christians

you really

should

take note

of people's

preferences

and not

try to

insist on

such things

as the

Bible says

about being

born again

or being

changed

in such a

way as to

come to

comply

Christ's

commands.

Well there's

the people's

demand for

a king

and there's

the people's

desire to

be like

the nations.

Above all

friends let's

pray.

Let's pray

and appeal

to God

and do

everything else

practical we

can to

protect

what has

come to

us

sometimes at

great cost

from the

past.

Principles

for life

and practices

for life

which in

some cases

people died

for.

We're not

going to let

them slip

through our

hands are

we?