I DID IT MY WAY

This is the first of a three part series covering the need for us to be faithful to God’s Commands.  This week we will Consider God’s Command.

1 Samuel 15:5-8 KJVR  (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 showed 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.

 

Humble servants listen to God’s commands.  Saul was to wipe out Amalek.  I know this sounds harsh but, God’s commands are for the good of His creation. 

Did your Mom and Dad ever do something that at the time seemed harsh but looking back it was for your benefit?  When they do that, our part is to simply obey.

Submissive servants prepare to fulfill God’s commands.  Saul prepared 210,000 men to go into battle.  This is twice the size that was used to invade Iraq.  What are ways that you prepare to obey God?

Determined servants act on God’s commands.  God told Saul to kill Agag.  Saul attacked and destroyed the Amalekites. 

BUT

He did not kill Agag.  Saul failed to obey.

Remember that obedience and disobedience requires a decision.  How do our decisions affect our lives and how do our decisions affect others?

 

Next week we will look at Subverting God’s Commands.

Disobedient Servants

1 Samuel 4:2-4 NASB (2)  The Philistines drew up in battle array to meet Israel. When the battle spread, Israel was defeated before the Philistines who killed about four thousand men on the battlefield.  (3)  When the people came into the camp, the elders of Israel said, "Why has the LORD defeated us today before the Philistines? Let us take to ourselves from Shiloh the ark of the covenant of the LORD, that it may come among us and deliver us from the power of our enemies."  (4)  So the people sent to Shiloh, and from there they carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD of hosts who sits above the cherubim; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.

1 Samuel 4:7-10 NASB (7)  The Philistines were afraid, for they said, "God has come into the camp." And they said, "Woe to us! For nothing like this has happened before.  (8)  "Woe to us! Who shall deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? These are the gods who smote the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues in the wilderness.  (9)  "Take courage and be men, O Philistines, or you will become slaves to the Hebrews, as they have been slaves to you; therefore, be men and fight." (10)  So the Philistines fought and Israel was defeated, and every man fled to his tent; and the slaughter was very great, for there fell of Israel thirty thousand foot soldiers.

1.     Disobedient servants are over confident.  Israel lost 4000 men in the battle against the Philistines.  They lost because God was not pleased with them.  When things are not going well with us we need to check ourselves with God.  Israel failed to repent and the same thing happens to us.

2.     Disobedient servants trust the wrong things.  The Israelites said let’s send to Shilo and get the Ark.  This was their plan to get God back on their side.  We need to search out and follow God’s plan.  The Ark symbolized the presence of God.  The error in their plan was they thought that symbols of God’s presence were just as good as God’s presence.

3.     Disobedient servants are deceived.  The Israelites were deceived.  God requires obedience not a semblance of obedience.  The Philistines understood more about God then the Israelites.  They were afraid when they realized the Ark of Covenant was in the camp.

4.     Disobedient servants ultimately fail.  God was not with Israel.  In a single day they lost 30,000 men and the Ark of the Covenant.

Obedient Servants

1 Samuel 3:9-13 NASB  And Eli said to Samuel, "Go lie down, and it shall be if He calls you, that you shall say, 'Speak, LORD, for Your servant is listening.'" So Samuel went and lay down in his place.  (10)  Then the LORD came and stood and called as at other times, "Samuel! Samuel!" And Samuel said, "Speak, for Your servant is listening."  (11)  The LORD said to Samuel, "Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel at which both ears of everyone who hears it will tingle.  (12)  "In that day I will carry out against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end.  (13)  "For I have told him that I am about to judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knew, because his sons brought a curse on themselves and he did not rebuke them.

1)    Obedient servants are active in God’s service.  Samuel proved to be reliable to God at an early age. As Eli became old and started to lose his sight, Samuel made sure the lamps burned in the tabernacle.

2)    Obedient servants listen to God.  Samuel thought it was Eli calling, but Eli knew it was God and told Samuel what to do.  Samuel heard God’s voice.  Do you hear when God speaks?  We can only hear God’s still small voice when we humble our hearts and yield to His will.

3)    Obedient servants accept unpleasant truth.  God told Samuel that He would deal with Eli’s sons.  God also said that when He dealt with Israel their ears would tingle.

4)    Obedient servants declare God’s judgments.  Samuel told Eli what God had said.  Eli had allowed sin to go unchecked in his children and God would deal with him and his house.

Total Commitment

Romans 12:1-2 NASB  Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.  (2)  And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

Let’s start this week with a story that demonstrates what we are talking about, when we say total commitment.

A pig and chicken are walking down the street and pass a mission that is fixing Ham and Egg breakfasts for the poor.  The chicken looks at the pig and says “we should give”.  The pig says “that’s ok, for you it is just a donation but for me it’s total commitment”.

Paul is begging us to present ourselves a living sacrifice to God.  See Paul is telling us that in light of the mercies of God it is our reasonable service to give all to him.

He goes on to explain to us that we are to separate ourselves from the world. We should not look like the world we should look like Christ.  The world wants us to conform to what they think a Christian should be and God tells us to transform ourselves.

This is accomplished by renewing our minds.  We do this through studying God’s Word, attending church, Sunday school, Bible study, prayer, and meditation.  See God has given us the entire growth plan for our lives.

It takes TOTAL Commitment. 

I’m A Believer (Part Five)

We are still looking at Freedom.  When I say freedom, I am talking about real freedom that comes from the right relationship with Jesus Christ. This week let’s explore the second necessity.

Romans 6:12-14 NASB  Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts,  (13)  and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.  (14)  For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.

Necessity Two: 

Believers must be disciplined in their living.  The bible teaches us to resist the temptation to sin.  In a former life I was land surveyor.  I thought it was funny that many times we would run into the surveys of an old land surveyor who was notorious for conducting bad surveys.  This would give us nightmares and extra hours of work trying to sort through the mistakes that he left behind.  On day in a company meeting we were talking about a particular survey and someone mentioned this old surveyor.  The comment was made “Isn’t he dead?” and the reply “Well that was the only thing that was going to stop him.”

When it comes to temptations we must remember what Paul is telling us.  We are dead in Christ. How do we resist temptation, we play dead.  This calls for us to rededicate our bodies to righteousness.  We must pursue holiness and recognize the demands of grace.

Sin does not have dominion over the person who is under grace.  Grace does not encourage sin. It promotes holy living.

Yes we are free and as the POP Group of the Sixties stated, “Yes I’m a Believer, Not a Trace of Doubt In my Mind”