20260902 1 Samuel 13 Wednesday Bible Study Dave Dickmann

saying to us, evaluate Saul and kingship in Israel

under Saul in light of everything that we've

said before, in light of what the people wanted,

in light of what God gave them, and in light

of what God's expectation of him was and was

given to him, told him through Samuel. So think

back with me, if you can, what did the people

want? O -P -L -E. Okay. A king. What was the

king going to do? What did they want him to do?

I better remember. Go out and fight their battles.

Okay. So that's number three. Go before them.

Or no, fight their battles. Oh, I just gave you

number two. Go before them. So fight their battles,

number two. Go before them. And what was number

one? No. Judges. Judges. Now, just if you glanced

at that, what you should see is that it's God

that goes before them, right? It's God that goes

before us. It's God that fights our battles,

and it's God alone who can judge us. So, just

in their declaration of what they wanted and

what they expected out of a king, it should be

obvious to us that that is a replacement for

the God that called them out of Egypt, redeemed

them, led them, and went before them through

the wilderness, and judged them. So that God...

The Lord God Almighty was the one that had done

all these things for them consistently since

he called them out of Egypt. He had done so by

means of prophets, judges, and priests, no doubt.

But it was God that was doing all these things.

So that's what the people wanted. And why did

they want that? Because they wanted to be like

everybody else. To be like everybody else. So

we'll say so that. We can be like everyone else.

We can be like everyone else. Alright, then what

about Saul? What do we know about Saul? What

do we know about the king that was given? Now

he was given, right? Is that true? It was God

that anointed him. It was God that called him.

It was God that sent him to Samuel. And it was

Samuel that told him he was going to have, he

was the desire of everyone in Israel. So what

do we know about Saul? Physically, what do we

know about him? He was tall and what else? He

was handsome. Tall and good looking. And what

is that? Handsome. Well, he was good in what?

Yeah, he may have been handsome, but just in

the way he interacted with other people, in the

way he carried himself in public, the way he

interacted with other people, he was everything

that a man would want. He was, if we wanted to

say, the politician extraordinaire. He could

get along with people. He could be friendly with

people. He was handsome and good -looking. People

would follow him based on those things. So what

we're just going to say is that's the flesh.

So in the flesh, he was perfect. He was perfectly

suited to be a king. What else do we know about

him? How does the writer to 1 Samuel present

him? Remember the time when he was chasing down

the donkeys and trying to find them? And then

he was anointed. He prophesied. He was declared

to be king in the people. He led the people out

into battle, and then he was finally confirmed

as king. How does the writer present him in all

those things, in all that whole narrative, those

four chapters? Is it generally speaking positive?

Generally negative. Okay, so it's generally negative.

Generally. Not everything. Negative. Generally

a negative presentation. What else do we know?

What specifically do we know are the reasons

why he's not spoken highly of by the author?

What do we know about his character? I have two

things. Okay. Why is he timid? Or what makes

him timid? Okay, so he has a fear of the people

because why? Huh? Okay, so he's afraid of the

people because he wants their approval. He's

not sure he's going to get it. So he's seeking

the approval of men. Seeking men's approval,

and he's fearful because of that. Who should

he be afraid of, and whose approval should he

be seeking? God's. Okay, and then, did somebody

say something? No? And then number four, what

else do we know about him? He acknowledged, and

I think we said, that there's no reason to doubt

his humility when he protested his calling as

king. But no, it wasn't because of that humility

that he didn't want to be king. It was memory

was hiding in the stuff until what? The mighty

men came alongside him, and then he won. And

then what did he do when the mighty men came

out? Yeah, what did he do? Remember at the end

of the chapter, there were lots of people that

were applauding him. There were some people that

were holding him in derision. They weren't too

thrilled about him. They said, is this guy really

going to be able to deliver us? And what did

he do? He let it slide. He ignored it. What should

he have done? What's that? In what way? When

you come against the Lord's anointed, the penalty

is death. When you come against the king, the

penalty is death. So he was then... And who prescribed

that punishment, that consequence for that rebellion?

Okay, so who sanctioned that? Okay, so God was

the one that said, this is what happens when

you rebel against me, especially publicly and

against my anointed. When Saul didn't then deal

with them in the way that God had outlined for

them, what is that an indication of? It's an

indication of two things. Number one is fear

of people. Number two, what? Disobedience. So

sometimes he just wanted to do what he wanted

to do. Okay. So he's not submitted. Not submitted

to God's authority. Okay, so that's what we have,

what the people want. That's the king that God

has given them. Is kingship then lost? Does everyone,

including God, just throw up their hands and

say, this is it, we're doomed, nothing good can

happen. Perhaps we would have come to that conclusion

except for chapter 12, where we have the renewal

of the kingdom. Or of the... Is it kingdom? Well,

I can't find the verse. But we have this renewal

ceremony, and in that ceremony, Samuel lays out

the way that kingship can function, even under

Saul, in Israel, if something happens. Does anybody

remember what is required from chapter 12? That's

where we were last week. How can kingship, or

how can the king and the people function properly

in a God -honoring way in Israel right now, even

with Saul? What does Samuel tell them? There's

three things that they have to do. Fear God,

is that one? Okay, so renewal. Number one, fear.

Number two. Is this all in verse 24 of chapter

12? 14 is what I wrote down, but it could have

been 24. No, I see it there, 14. Okay, so what

else? Serve. And what else? Obey. And then what

else is going to be necessary alongside of this?

There's going to have to be something else going

on, something else functioning properly in Israel

if the king and the people are going to go in

the right way. What are they going to have to

have? A priest. What did you say, Jake? A priest.

And? A prophet. Okay. And who is that prophet

priest? Okay. So you have to have these three

things plus Samuel. As a prophet. And what does

a prophet do? Okay. And he had done that flawlessly,

remember? And then he has functioned as a priest

offering sacrifices, peace offerings, and other

sacrifices and then what in verse 23 what else

is he going to do he has the law which is what

amanda said and what's he going to do with that

law as prophet and priest he's going to teach

it so if if the people would have listened to

the teaching of samuel and if samuel interceded

for them which he swore to them he was going

to do and if he offered the sacrifices as he

was committed to doing, and the king and the

people would listen and would follow, then even

under Saul, with all of his faults, with all

of his shortcomings, with the bad start that

it was, it would have functioned properly, and

God would have been honored in that thing. So

what we have here then in these next two and

a half chapters is an opportunity to look at

what Saul does now. anointed king. He's been

declared king by the elders. He's been declared

king in the presence of all of Israel. He's gone

through the Urim and the Thurim or the casting

of lots. He's been in every way shown that this

is God's man. This is God's king. Now how's he

going to act? Anybody got any guesses? Anybody

got any thoughts? on how he acts in chapter 13.

Anybody give any thought to that? He doesn't

change directions at all, does he? And then we

have this contrasting views of who? Do you remember?

Jonathan. And in chapter 13, we don't even know

that Jonathan is his son. We don't find that

out until chapter 14. Which is ironic because

had Saul done what he was supposed to have done,

it appears that Jonathan would have been a great

king. A man who feared the Lord, a man who trusted

in the Lord, a man who was ready, willing, and

able to submit to the authority of God. And yet,

Saul is the king. Alright, so then let's read

chapter 13. I have a quick question. Yeah, go

ahead. Chapter 9. Okay. Where it says that Saul

was a choice young man and a goodly I have. And

there was not among the children of Israel a

goodlier person than he from his shoulders and

upward he was higher than all of the people.

Are you saying like all of that is just about

his physical appearance? Yeah. Well his physical

and his personality that's all flesh. Okay. The

goodly part. It may have been that he was wealthy.

It might have been that he was influential. It

could be any number of things. It seems. That

it was. You know it could have been all those

things. That's why he was the ideal choice. Anybody

else? Alright now. We have to deal with a couple

of hard verses. And a couple of. strange concepts

here so we'll do that. Number one is the timeline

and number two is this first verse. Saul reigned

one year and when he had reigned two years over

Israel Saul chose him three thousand men of Israel

whereof two thousand were with Saul in Mishmash

and in Mount Bethel and a thousand were with

Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin and the rest of

the people he sent every man to his tent. And

Jonathan smoked the garrison of the Philistines

that was in Geba, and the Philistines heard of

it. And Saul blew the trumpet throughout the

land, saying, Let the Hebrews hear. And all Israel

heard say that Saul had smitten a garrison of

the Philistines, and that Israel also was had

an abomination with the Philistines. And the

people were called together after Saul to Gilgal.

And the Philistines gathered themselves together

to fight with Israel, 30 ,000 chariots and 6

,000 horsemen and people as the sand which is

on the seashore in multitude. And they came up

and pitched in Mishmash, eastward from Beth -Avon.

When the men of Israel saw that they were in

a strait, for the people were distressed, then

the people did hide themselves in caves and in

thickets and rocks and in high places and in

pits. And some of the Hebrews went over Jordan

to the land of Gad and Gilead. As for Saul, he

was yet in Gilgal, and all the people followed

him, trembling. 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. And Saul said, Bring hither

a burnt offering to me, and peace offerings.

And he offered the burnt offering. 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. 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 Mishmash, 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. 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 forever,

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. And Samuel arose and

gat him up from Gilgal unto Gibeah of Benjamin.

And Saul numbered the people that were present

with him, about six hundred men. And Saul and

Jonathan his son, and the people that were present

with them, abode in Gibeah of Benjamin. But the

Philistines encamped in Mishmash. And the spoilers

came out of the camp of the Philistines in three

companies. One company turned unto the way that

leadeth to Ophrah, unto the land of Sheol. And

another company turned away to Beth Haran, to

the way of the border that looketh to the valley

of Zeboim toward the wilderness. Now there was

no smith found throughout all the land of Israel.

For the Philistines said, Lest the Hebrews make

them swords or spears. But all the Israelites

went down to the Philistines to sharpen every

man his share, and his coulter, and his axe,

and his mattock. Yet they had a file for the

mattocks, and for the coulters, and for the forks,

and for the axes, and to sharpen the goads. So

it came to pass in the day of battle that there

was neither sword nor spear found in the hand

of any of the people that were with Saul and

Jonathan. But with Saul and with Jonathan his

son was their found weapons. And the garrison

of the Philistines went out to the passage of

Mishmash. So here we have this story of what's

going on. Saul has made it to Gilgal and he's

waiting for Samuel. Samuel shows up. On the seventh

day, Saul was convinced he wasn't going to make

it, so he goes ahead and offers the sacrifice.

Samuel calls him a fool and tells him that the

Lord will not establish his kingdom. And then

we hear of the plight of Israel under the hand

of the Philistines. The Philistines were in control

of the entire area. The only thing I come up

with is kind of like when you have a battleship

and you have an aircraft carrier protected by

battleships and destroyers, it controls that

entire area. If there's a battleship parked on

your coast, or a carrier parked on your coast,

you don't get to do anything that the admiral

of the carrier doesn't want you to do. Because

if he finds that you've done anything, all he's

got to do is he can either send his helicopters

in there, he can send his jets in there, he can

send the Marines in there, or he can just have

the battleship bomb you to smithereens. So you

are beholden then to the power that exerts influence

over a certain area. That's what the Philistines

were to Israel. They were there, and so they

said, you can't even have any weapons. We're

not going to allow any kind of smiths, blacksmiths.

Nobody's going to be able to work iron in Israel.

If you want to have your axe sharpened, then

bring it on down here to us. We'll charge you

an exorbitant fee. We'll sharpen your axe, and

you can go back. But there was nothing available

in Israel. And then, not only did they disarm

them, But even when they sent them out, you remember,

in three different directions, those were all

the trade routes. Those were all the main roads

in Israel controlled by the Philistines. So Israel

then, they were in a strait. They were in a real

pickle. They were without any kind of weapons,

and they were beholden to these Philistines.

Now, let's remember back. Because remember here

it says that he waited for the appointed time

that Samuel had given him. So let's try to think

back where he heard that from Samuel and then

let's think back and try to remember why it was

that God chose Saul and what God instructed Saul

to do. What was his main mission as king? Anybody

remember? To defeat the Philistines. That's what,

and I, where did we find that? 9, 16. Chapter

9, verse 16. Tomorrow about this time I will

send thee a man out of the land of Benjamin,

and thou shalt anoint him to be captain over

my people Israel. that he may save my people

out of the hand of the Philistines. For I have

looked upon my people because their cry has come

unto me. Okay, so Saul's mission. Defeat the

Philistines. Who started to bring the victory

over the Philistines? Well, which one? Samson

was the one that began the victory over the Philistines.

When he brought the temple down, when he shoved

the pillars aside, and the entire temple or whatever

the building that it was fell down on all the

important people, all the powerful people in

the, I can't remember what city that was in.

He began the victory and the deliverance from

the Philistines. Saul's mission was to finally

defeat the Philistines. His only mission thus

far has been what? What has he accomplished?

Well, who did he fight? In chapter 11, Chapter

10? Yeah, chapter 11. Nahash the Ammonite. So

from the beginning, he's supposed to go out and

he's supposed to defeat the Philistines. Now,

if you're trying to remember, go back to chapter

8. We'll look at that too. Let you know. Okay,

it's chapter 10. We'll read verse 6, 7 and 8.

And the Spirit of the Lord will come upon thee.

Remember, that's rush upon thee, the same terminology

used of Samson. And thou shalt prophesy with

them, and shalt be turned into another man. And

let it be when these signs are come unto thee,

that thou do as occasion serve thee, for God

is with thee. 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 show thee

what thou shalt do. Now before we get into it,

let's turn back to Judges chapter 9. Judges 9,

Judges 9 · chapter mention

this is who? Abimelech. 9, verse 33. And it shall

be that in the morning, as soon as the sun is

up, that thou shalt rise early and set upon the

city, and behold, when he and the people that

is with him come out against thee, then mayest

thou do to them as thou shalt find occasion.

Sounds very similar then to Samuel's instruction

to Saul to do as occasion serve thee for God

is with thee. And then to go down to Gilgal and

to wait for Samuel seven days for Samuel to offer

the sacrifice. Where was that? Gilgal. Chapter

10 verse 8 or in Judges. That's Judges 9 .33.

That was... Huh? Judges. Judges 9 .33. Now, here's

Saul. The Spirit has rushed upon him. He has

prophesied already. He's been given instruction

to Samuel on where to go and how long to wait.

He's been He's been told that he's going to defeat

the Philistines. He's got everything that he

needs, in other words. And yet, nothing. Now,

the question is, how long did this last? How

much time has lapsed in between here? That was

a military instruction to Abimelech. Due as occasion.

As occasion serves thee. The same instruction

that's given to Saul by Samuel. Do as occasion

meet me at Gilgal. The spirits come upon you.

When these signs are coming to thee. That thou

do as occasion serve thee. For God is with thee.

So the first thing he did was he did prophesy.

That was appropriate. That was right. Secondly

then. He's got all these signs. The people have

come out with the instruments. He's prophesied

with them. And the next thing he's supposed to

do, then, is go to Gilgal and defeat the Philistines.

But then, in the time between that conversation

that he had with Samuel, it appears that he had

this fight with the Amalekites? Ammonites? What

is it? Ammonites. And we've had this ceremony

with Samuel and other ceremonies. So the question

is, how does that, is this chronological? And

it's not, I don't have a for sure answer for

you tonight. But that is clearly when, in chapter

13, when Samuel says that he hasn't done what

he told him to do. In verse 8 of 13, and he tarried

seven days at Esau according to the set time

that Samuel had appointed. That's referring back

to chapter 10 when Samuel told him after the

spirit had rushed upon him that he was going

to go to Gilgal and do whatever occasion I had

with him. Wait for me for seven days and I'll

offer the sacrifice. That's finally happening.

So it may be that Saul just, in his state of

timidity and his refusal to submit to the Lord,

in his fear, whatever it is, that he just postponed

what he was supposed to do. He just wouldn't

do it. That's one possibility. The other possibility

is that any time Saul was going to go out to

battle, he was to go to Gilgal, wait for Samuel,

and Samuel would offer the sacrifices. I don't

have a clear -cut answer for you as to which

one that is. I don't think that it matters because

it doesn't affect the teaching here in the chapter.

But if you're reading that and you're trying

to figure out, well, how is this all going on?

Then you add to that the complication of verse

1 of chapter 13. In the King James I have, Saul

reigned one year and when he had reigned two

years over Israel. Now, who has a new American

standard? Read that for us. Okay. Where do those

numbers come from? Anybody got any? Is that a

different text? Did somebody find a different

manuscript? Okay. Okay. So let's just be clear.

There is no, that's just made up. Why? I don't

know. Unfortunate. What you have in the Hebrew,

if there's no number, what number is it? One.

Okay. So that's why the King James says one.

One year. He reigned one year. Now, this is similar

to, and you can turn here if you want, 2 Samuel

2 Samuel 10 · chapter mention

chapter 10. No, I'm sorry. 2 Samuel chapter 2,

2 Samuel 2:10

verse 10. Ish -bosheth, Saul's son, was 40 years

old when he began to reign over Israel and reigned

two years. But the house of Judah followed David.

And then turn to 2 Samuel chapter 5. Verse 4.

2 Samuel 5 · chapter mention

David was 30 years old when he began to reign.

And he reigned 40 years. So it may be that. I

mean there's a couple possibilities for this

one. It may be that. The author just left the

number out. Didn't know how old he was when he

became king. The two years over Israel is in

the text. What the New American Standard Bible

doesn't like is that it doesn't fit with their

understanding. So they substituted 42 or 30?

42. They should have just followed the... King

James translator and stuck with what they had,

which was two years. Is it possible that Saul

only reigned two years? Yes, possible. Okay,

then that's the question, isn't it? So in what

sense was Saul king for longer than two years?

We know that without any question. That's obvious.

But he is King, we can put that in quotation

marks, and he's also king legitimately. How is

a person a legitimate king? Anointed by God.

There cannot be a king over Israel that's not

God's chosen king, or there cannot be a legitimate

king over Israel who is not anointed or chosen

by God. If you are king in Israel by deceit or

by murder or by any other means, then you are

not king in Israel. You are only king in Israel.

So legitimately then, it is probable that there

were two years that Saul had before God rejected

him and said, I've anointed another man, a man

after my own heart. The kingdom has been removed

from you. And that time span is, it's not hard

for us to imagine that that's two years from

the time he finally accepted that he was king

to the time that he was rejected by God. So I

believe that that is what's going on there in

verse one. What's going on with the number one?

I have no idea. And neither does anybody else,

whether that was, you know. some kind of scribal

error along the line, whether he was going to

go back and write something else in there. He

obviously was not one year old when he began

to rain. So we've done the best that we can with

that. We've tried to take care of the timeline

with the whole command from Samuel for him to

go to Gilgal and wait for seven days. Yes? I

think that what is going on there is that he

really only reigned two years as king over Israel.

There was only two years when he was God's anointed.

Yes. And then his quote -unquote reign where

he was quote -unquote king, right, was a longer

amount of time. I think Josephus said it was,

I think that might be where they came up with

the 30 years. extra biblical sources. So we're

better off to leave it as it is. Wait, so you're

saying he's already rejected? Yes. Within two

years. That's what I'm saying. Yeah, at the end

of the chapter, God said he's taken the kingdom

from him. We're going to read about that. We're

going to read about God rejecting him. Well,

I don't know if we're going to read about that

tonight. In verse 13 of chapter 13, Samuel said

to Saul, Thou hast done foolishly. What does

that mean, foolishly? Does everybody have foolishly?

Okay. What does that mean when you see that in

your Bible? Okay. And you are a fool if you don't

do what God says. And the fool can't do what

God says. So when you see that word foolishly,

it's not just like you've acted like, we might

say you're acting a fool because you're out dancing

in the rain. This is willful, purposeful rebellion

against God. So because of that, Samuel says,

because 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 forever.

That would have happened, theoretically, had

Saul followed God. But he didn't. So in verse

14 it says, 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. So it's

at that point then, and then God leaves them

all together and rejects them in what, chapter

15 I think it is. And then that in chapter 15

is when Samuel goes and finds David with Jesse

and anoints him. At that point, then, Saul is

no longer God's anointed. That's why I believe

that's where the two years comes in. That's the

end of Saul's legitimate kingship in Israel.

All right. One more interesting thing here. Let

the Hebrews hear in verse 3. It's just interesting,

but the Hebrews, the Israelites didn't call themselves

Hebrews. Who called them Hebrews? The Egyptians.

And so apparently now the Philistines are calling

them Hebrews. So what you hear, when Saul blew

the trumpet throughout all the land, who heard

that? Okay, the Philistines. And what did the

Philistines say when they heard it? Let the Hebrews

hear. Then later on, I think is when they, what

do they say? Lest the Hebrews make them swords

or spears, for the Philistines said. So it's

just interesting, you have to remember, like

from whose perspective are we hearing this story?

So apparently when the trumpet blew, now we're

hearing it from the Philistines' perspective.

They heard it. And that's what they said. And

then they hear that Israel had, or that Saul

had smitten a garrison of the Philistines. Now,

does everybody have that in their Bibles? Garrison.

Everybody does? So that's not clear either. Now,

the question that might occur to you is, what

do you mean it's not clear? All that I can tell

you is that there has been significant progress

in understanding ancient Hebrew over the years.

And I think that they've gotten it right in most

of the cases. Where it's a difficult passage,

it may have taken time for them to get the full

understanding of the word. So this word garrison,

if you ever, I don't know what the Legacy Bible

has. Does anybody have the English Standard?

It scares him. Okay. So it could also just be

like a person, like some kind of a ruler, a really

prominent person. So if you hear somebody say

that, again, it doesn't affect what's going on

here. Jonathan goes out and causes this huge

ruckus because he goes into the land of the Philistines.

And either defeats and kills a whole garrison

full of soldiers or he kills a very prominent

person. So much so that everybody in all the

Philistines, now they hold Israel in derision.

They hate him. And then Saul blows the trumpet

and all Israel says, Saul has defeated the Philistines.

What's going on there? Anybody got any idea?

Does it seem odd to anybody that the Spirit has

rushed upon Saul? He's been commissioned to defeat

the Philistines, and here his son is with half

as many men as Saul has at his disposal, and

it's Jonathan that's going forth and wreaking

havoc in the land of the Philistines. What did

the people want in a king? We want a king that

will go out before us and judge us and fight

our battles. And here immediately then we see

Saul, the man that they wanted, the king that

they desired, sitting back while his son goes

out and starts to make war with the Philistines.

I think Jonathan is a contrast to Saul in his

own day. And I think it's a tragedy because if

Saul had done what he was supposed to do, then

Jonathan would eventually have been king. So,

but it just shows, it shows though that God's

way is best. So I don't think, Jonathan's a good

guy. He trusts in the Lord. He goes forth in

his might and he defeats. And kills and does

all kinds of great things. We'll get into it

later. But even then they have, you know, Saul

curses anybody that eats any food. And Jonathan

eats some honey. And what does Saul say? Now

here's this guy that has had all kinds of victories.

He's done everything he's supposed to do. And

what does Saul say? If it's Jonathan, I'll kill

him. His own son. Now who does that make us think

back to? Who killed an offspring of their own?

Jephthah. He's a judge, right? So, you know,

what you see is not so much a foreshadowing of

what David was going to be as just this stark

contrast between the man who's king and the son

who will never be king because his dad is a terrible

king who doesn't follow the Lord. And yet, and

still, you see that the son isn't condemned because

of the father, right? They've got this terrible

father, and yet you see the son trusting the

Lord. So my answer would be, I don't think it's

a foreshadowing, but I do think it is a man that

is submitted to the Lord and going forth in his

name and trying to please. His God. All right.

Now, Tim, did you come up with a subject? No,

not necessarily. Maybe, though. Maybe if you

want to read Romans 1 through 4. Read Romans

1 through 4 for next week. Tim is going to lead.

I'm on vacation next week, and I forgot about

it until the last minute, so I didn't give much

notice. I guess we kind of talked about this

with the trumpet, so I'll just make this application.

I think part of the application is obvious. If

you don't follow the Lord, your life is going

to be miserable. You're not going to achieve

what you could achieve. You're not going to be

settled or content. Your life will generally

be categorized as a disaster. The other thing

that we ought to remember is that Jonathan went

forth and it was Saul that was credited with

the victory. And that's legitimate because what?

When you have a king, everything that happens

in his kingdom and everybody that goes forth

in his name is doing his bidding. We've taken

the name upon ourselves and we have a king. Who's

our king? It's King Jesus. So it just occurred

to me that that is the reality. When you go wherever

you go, when I go anywhere, I go as a Christian

and I go as an elder at Believer's Chapel. And

I am mindful of that everywhere that I go because

everywhere that I go that knows that, they're

looking at me and they're wondering and they're

judging and they're coming to certain conclusions.

And so I have to be careful. I have to be careful

of the way that I handle myself at work, the

way that I handle myself in private, the way

that I handle myself wherever I am. Because I've

claimed the name of Christ upon me. And I've

said, he's my king. And so it's legitimate for

the world to look at us and say, this must be

how Jesus would act. Because this, that is, David

is... Jesus' servant and he's going forth and

invoking Jesus' name over himself and calling

himself a Christian. It's no small thing then

to take that name upon yourself and to go out

in the world and live and when we do that we

should be mindful that it's perfectly legitimate

for the world to view us and to judge us in light

of the fact that we have taken his name upon

us. We are representing him and it's That's why

it's such a tragedy when someone who is a so

-called Christian or someone who is a Christian

falls away, goes their own way. Because it calls

into question whether or not God is sovereign.

What happened here? What's going on? This guy

appeared to be this. This gal appeared to be

that. And now here everything has changed. Or

this person is claiming to be a Christian while

at the same time stealing pens from their work.

I'll never forget it. Just one more minute. When

I was, I guess, this tall, and my Sunday school

teacher was my aunt, who wasn't my aunt, Penny.

And she was teaching us there at the Crestwood,

where the Crestwood Mall used to be. It's not

even there anymore. Down in the bank, down in

the bank basement. And I forget what the lesson

was, but she had been stealing pens. occasionally

from her work, you know, and because there's

boxes of them, they're all laying around and

doing whatever, and she would just take one home

every now and then when she needed a pen. I don't

think she was like, it wasn't that she was planning

this great pen heist, she just didn't, you know,

bother to think that, you know, I'm taking this

pen home, but I didn't buy the pen, it belongs

to my employer, and the Lord convicted her of

it, and so we heard about it in Sunday school.

And she said she would never do that again. From

now on, The paperclips, the staples, whatever

is purchased by her employer was going to stay

in her desk. She was never going to bring anything

home. Now, that's the attitude that we ought

to have. She was fearful and she was embarrassed

that she was calling herself a Christian and

somebody could say, well, you're a pen stealer.

Now, you know, probably nobody would. But if

all of her friends around her were going home

with pens and the office manager was constantly

having to replenish the supply of pens, then

you don't want to be involved in any of that.

Now that's the type of mindset that we need to

have everywhere. If we're going to impact our

culture, if we're going to have an impact in

our places of work, if we're going to have an

impact in our families, then the thing that's

got to rule the day is, and I know it's... It

sounds silly and it's just a slang or a slogan.

But what would Jesus do? That's legitimate. I

think that when people walk around and they're

just kind of saying that, they don't mean it.

But we ought to mean it. We ought to be the people

that exemplify that, that take it seriously.

I'm going to do what I believe Jesus would do.

And for my Aunt Penny, that meant leaving the

pens in the drawer at the end of the day. For

you and for me, it's going to mean different

things wherever we are. But we ought to make

that personal application in our lives, in our

families, in our homes. Because people are watching.

And souls are at stake.