Royals: Hidden in Plain Sight
Focus: We need to acknowledge who is actually ruling our lives - Jesus or us, and stop pretending we are submitting to Jesus as Lord when we are not.
Devil in the Details
Didn’t You Say It’s All About Me?
Dying to Make a Change
Devil in the Details
Our acceptance or rejection of God’s rule in our lives is often more subtle than we would like to admit.
We want to help you understand the history of the Bible and how it all leads to the person of Jesus Christ.
Coming out of Egypt and following the death of Moses after forty years of wandering in the desert, the Israelites went into the promised land, taking initial possession of it under the leadership of Joshua (Moses’ aide) over the course of approximately 25-30 years.
During this time, the Israelites would have the Book of the Law as summarized in Deuteronomy to guide them.
Deuteronomy would be the summation of God’s law and regulations by which Israel would be measured in regards to their covenant faithfulness to God or lack thereof.
*In essence, would Yahweh and his commands in regard to identity, relationships, family structure, finances, civic responsibility, sacrifices and the rhythms of worship be their governing compass or would the ways and idols of the surrounding nations define them?
The same question is asked of us today.
Now in that Law, the Holy Spirit had Moses predict a king that God would provide to rule his people, one that would be “after his own heart”.
This is how the king that God would provide would be described:
Deuteronomy 17:14-20 ESV
“When you come to the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and you possess it and dwell in it and then say, ‘I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are around me,’ you may indeed set a king over you whom the Lord your God will choose. One from among your brothers you shall set as king over you. You may not put a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. Only he must not acquire many horses for himself or cause the people to return to Egypt in order to acquire many horses, since the Lord has said to you, ‘You shall never return that way again.’ And he shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away, nor shall he acquire for himself excessive silver and gold. “And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law, approved by the Levitical priests. And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them, that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, either to the right hand or to the left, so that he may continue long in his kingdom, he and his children, in Israel.”
Yahweh said he would allow a king, but one that was ultimately representing and serving God, and not simply himself as king.
*Thus, the sin would later be not in Israel asking for leadership or a king, but in Israel putting their ultimate trust in someone or something other than God for their protection, provision and purpose.
The next period, which included the book of Judges and Ruth included a period of between 300 and 350 years where Israel moved in and out of periods of disobedience to Yahweh with subsequent subjection to the surrounding nations.
It was a time when Israel had no king, and everyone was doing what was right in their own eyes.
This reflects the trouble we create for ourselves when instead of obeying God’s word, we reason what will be best for our own lives and end up suffering because of it.
Yet the judges were God’s appointed deliverers to turn the Israelites back to the law of God as given by Moses, so that they would stop doing what was right in their own eyes and be freed from the tyranny of the foreign oppressors.
The Israelites at this time were being led by a series of deliverers, from Othniel to Deborah and eventually Samson and Samuel, who was the last recorded judge of Israel and also a prophet of the Lord.
*The Israelites eventually came to a time where they wanted to be like all the other nations and have a king rule over them.
*This was at a time when the pressures of Philistine and Ammonite threats were front and center for Israel’s leaders and they no longer considered a direct theocracy, where Yahweh was their ruler, to be sufficient.
*The Israelites wanted other means of defense, having a human king who would lead them into battle for their national security.
In doing this, they were denying the covenant of the Lord, rejecting confidence in God and his commands as their sole provider, leader and giver of purpose.
1 Samuel 8:7 ESV
“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.”
So the front was subtly towards not just Samuel, but God himself, since the people were asking for a king not like the Lord, but like all of the other nations.
*The people wanted to continue, like in the book of Judges, to do what was right in their own eyes, yet this time with a king.
How do we do this?
God, you’re good, but what I really need is…
Just as our modern democracies, art or music are a reflection of the condition of the hearts and ideologies of the people that make them, so the kings of Israel would become a representation of the devotions and pitfalls we would experience in serving other things other than Yahweh, and why we’d need the ultimate king, Jesus, to reconcile us to the one true God and out of a return to self-imposed slavery.
People in the church today want to be like everyone else, without God’s direct instruction already given in his word.
God tells Samuel to grant their wish, but let them know all of the trouble that will come with it.
Saul was anointed to be King by the prophet Samuel to deal with the oppression of the Philistines, a theme that had continued from the book of Judges.
1 Samuel 9:16 ESV
“Tomorrow about this time I will send to you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him to be prince over my people Israel. He shall save my people from the hand of the Philistines. For I have seen my people, because their cry has come to me.”
Saul peaked early in his kingship.
*May we take warning and grow in our devotion to God over the years rather than coasting and finding an inevitable decline.
The example of my college friends was that many were on fire for Jesus at first, but when hit with the trials and pressures of life,petered out on divergent paths.
Matthew 13:22 ESV
“As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.”
Though Saul confirmed his kingship in I Samuel 11 by engaging and defeating the Amorites, he was dragging his feet to address the problem for which God had anointed him - dealing with the Philistines.
By I Samuel 13, Saul is thus enjoying the role of the kingship without fulfilling his God ordained mandate or duties.
This is a precursor to the pick and choose pattern that Saul would employ to eventually have him rejected as king.
Why does being rejected as king matter before Jesus?
Much of the western church lives with a mentality that they can live a “blessed life” still having all that they want while not obeying God fully.
However the New Testament writers give us some strong warning from God that we will see foreshadowed in King Saul’s life:
I Corinthians 3 - anything not built on Christ will be burned up and we will lose our reward.
Galatians 5 - those living in unrepentant sin will not inherit the kingdom of God, will be sent to Hell.
Revelation 3:14-22 - Jesus will spit out the lukewarm from his mouth.
Didn’t You Say It’s All About Me?
We express our devotion to God by obeying his commands by faith - to accomplish that for which Christ laid hold of us (Philippians 3:8-16).
At this point in the coronation, King Saul should have been about God’s business, dealing with the Philistines as he had been anointed to do, but instead his son Jonathan had to lead the charge.
1 Samuel 13:1-4 ESV
“Saul lived for one year and then became king, and when he had reigned for two years over Israel, Saul chose three thousand men of Israel. Two thousand were with Saul in Michmash and the hill country of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin. The rest of the people he sent home, every man to his tent. Jonathan defeated the garrison of the Philistines that was at Geba, and the Philistines heard of it. And Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, “Let the Hebrews hear.” And all Israel heard it said that Saul had defeated the garrison of the Philistines, and also that Israel had become a stench to the Philistines. And the people were called out to join Saul at Gilgal.”
One of King Saul’s first recorded acts of disobedience was precipitated by a lack of trust in God’s provision and timing.
I Samuel 13:8-15 ESV
He waited seven days, the time appointed by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the people were scattering from him. So Saul said, “Bring the burnt offering here to me, and the peace offerings.” And he offered the burnt offering. 10 As soon as he had finished offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came. And Saul went out to meet him and greet him. Samuel said, “What have you done?” And Saul said, “When I saw that the people were scattering from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines had mustered at Michmash, I said, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the favor of the Lord.’ So I forced myself, and offered the burnt offering.” And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the Lord your God, with which he commanded you. For then the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.” And Samuel arose and went up from Gilgal. The rest of the people went up after Saul to meet the army; they went up from Gilgal to Gibeah of Benjamin.
*How often do we walk in this guise of spirituality, but at the end of the day decide what is right and wrong for us based on our circumstances?
*The Lordship of Jesus demands faith-filled obedience, even when worldly wisdom would dictate otherwise.
Here’s the point: According to the word, you need to stop letting Your Circumstances Dictate Your Obedience to God.
We need to learn to live by faith.
*God knows better - stop trying to obey him only when you think it expedient.
In impatience and defiance, Saul offers the sacrifice, an act of treason against God.
***Do not take matters into your own hands - God often arrives at the moment we are ready to give up.
*What we learn from King Saul is that rationalized disobedience is still sin that God will judge.
*What things do we regularly do that seems a little deal to us, but are actually a big deal to God?
When you do these things over and over again, you are constructing a life that is not defined by Lordship but by you subtly and repeatedly saying that you know best and you are at the end of the day, master of your own life.
*If you say you are a man or woman of faith, you must obey God’s word.
Romans 1:1-5 NIV
“Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God— the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures regarding his Son, who as to his earthly life was a descendant of David, and who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord. Through him we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith for his name’s sake.”
*It is sin to do what you think is right to do as determined by your circumstances when God’s word has already given you instruction about what he expects you to do.
*Rationalized disobedience is still disobedience and will be judged by God.
*God’s commands take into account you learning to build a life of faith - learning to trust and obey his word and not just what you think will save you.
Why was Saul rejected as king?
*He was living in the position of the kingship as if the privileges were all about his personal benefits and comforts versus being anointed and positioned by God to fulfill God’s purposes.
*In essence, Saul forgot who was really king.
In the moment of his great distress, Saul fails the test as to whether he would be a king under God or a king in place of God.
We often do the same, treating our walk with God as merely a means to personal blessing, protection and provision rather than the relationship through which all of our time, talent and resources are utilized for the worship of God and the advancement of his Kingdom.
How often do we say we are serving Jesus as Lord but are really attempting to use him for our ends and rely on other means of survival in place of God.
Like King Saul, we all have to answer the question as to whether we are willing to wait on the Lord in complete submission and trust, regardless of how perilous the circumstances appear.
We have to ask ourselves if we think we are above the Word and Law of the Lord.
Think:
How does this play out in your desire for companionship and acceptance?
How does it play out in your use of time and career pursuits?
How does it play out in your relationship to finances?
Pious acts (Saul asking for the Lord’s help) and religious acts (making a sacrifice to God before battle) did not make up for Saul’s disobedience.
Nor will it for us.
You can not paper over disobedience with other acts of spirituality and hope to be right with God.
God has already prescribed what he desires.
Read his Word and obey it.
If you’ve not completed the Purple Book, pick one up and start it today.
“We habitually and instinctively look to other things besides God and his grace as our justification, hope, significance, and security. We believe the gospel at one level, but at deeper levels we do not. Human approval, professional success, power and influence, family and clan identity—all of these things serve as our heart’s “functional trust” rather than what Christ has done, and as a result we continue to be driven to a great degree by fear, anger, and a lack of self-control. You cannot change such things through mere willpower, through learning Biblical principles and trying to carry them out. We can only change permanently as we take the gospel more deeply into our understanding and into our hearts. We must feed on the gospel, as it were, digesting it and making it part of ourselves. That is how we grow.”
-Timothy J. Keller, The Prodigal God: Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith
How are we similar to Saul?
*How do we need to turn from such sin to follow God’s commands even when it seems our circumstances would dictate otherwise?
Dying to Make a Change
Jesus is the Father’s appointed king, who came as the spotless sacrifice, at the perfect time, to turn us from our sin that we might be saved from our enemies.
How was Jesus the better king?
Jesus was a better king because he demonstrated total consecration to the glory of the Father and benefit of those he came to save.
Jesus is God in the flesh who lived sinlessly in obedience to the commands of the Father, by the power of the Holy Spirit.
On the cusp of Jesus’ entry into the world, Zechariah, John the Baptist’s father would prophesy this:
Luke 1:68-75 ESV
““Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us; to show the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.”
To be a disciple, we must come to repentance and change the way that we are living.
Jesus plainly said:
Matthew 6:24 ESV
“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”
He would then speak about God’s care for his children saying that we shouldn’t worry about our daily needs like food and clothing because your Heavenly Father knows that you have need of such things.
Especially in this changing economy, this is pertinent.
To counter being ruled by fear, Jesus said:
Matthew 6:33-34 ESV
“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”
This relates to any other master that would try to replace Jesus as king in our lives, whether it be a relationship, a career pursuit or even a sense of identity.
Jesus would be both the king and the prophet to turn us back to God and his commands, perfectly fulfilling them himself and thus providing righteousness for those who would repent of their sin and serve him as King.
Matthew 5:17-20 ESV
““Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”
“In the end, Martin Luther’s old formula still sums things up nicely: “We are saved by faith alone [not our works], but not by faith that remains alone.” Nothing we do can merit God’s grace and favor, we can only believe that he has given it to us in Jesus Christ and receive it by faith. But if we truly believe and trust in the one who sacrificially served us, it changes us into people who sacrificially serve God and our neighbors. If we say “I believe in Jesus” but it doesn’t affect the way we live, the answer is not that now we need to add hard work to our faith so much as that we haven’t truly understood or believed in Jesus at all.”
-Timothy Keller, The Prodigal God: Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith
When Jesus, in God’s perfect timing, went to the cross, he became the sacrifice that we needed to defeat our enemy sin, take the punishment we deserve and provide grace by his resurrection from the dead to stand in obedience to God by faith.
Galatians 4:3-7 ESV
“In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.”
Let’s choose to trust him today, obeying him not only in times of ease, but the challenging times that we might fulfill that for which Jesus laid hold of us!