Abounding Grace

Guest (Male): Today on Abounding Grace, consider this question: Who is your king?

The role of government is to judge the evildoer. Put another way, it's to restrain evil and promote righteousness. And so governments and its judges are God's ministers and should rightly represent him. Well, there's an obvious breakdown that we'll take note of in 1 Samuel chapter 8. It led a nation of people into discouragement and disillusionment, crying out for a king. Here is Pastor Ed Taylor with the details on Abounding Grace.

Pastor Ed Taylor: Take your Bibles, would you open them to 1 Samuel chapter 8? It's where we left off last time. We saw the value and the joy and the importance of laying out these Ebenezer stones. Remember they came to that place after victory and an Ebenezer stone was laid before that phrase, "Thus far the Lord has helped me." They had put away their false gods. They confessed their sins. They prayed for God's help—the children of Israel, that is.

They commemorated the victory. And if you look back at chapter 7, verse 13, "So the Philistines were subdued." You love that. Their enemy was subdued. They did not come anymore into the territory of Israel. And the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel. They were subdued. They didn't come back. The hand of the Lord was against them and what was taken was restored. It says in verse 14, the cities which the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel.

From Ekron to Gath, it says these cities. And Israel recovered its territory from the hand of the Philistines. And there was peace between Israel and the Amorites. And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life. And he went from year to year on a circuit to Bethel, Gilgal, Mizpah, and judged Israel in those places. But he always returned to Ramah for his home was there. And there he judged Israel, and there he built an altar to the Lord.

And there appears to be ample proof of God's faithfulness in the life of Israel. That God was faithful. And there were episodes in the children of Israel's life where they were unfaithful, but God remains faithful. He's just and he's righteous. And here we see his presence and his power in the lives of the children of Israel. And yet, and yet with all that God has done for them, it's still not enough. I wonder how many times we've been there where God has done great and wonderful things.

His faithfulness is undisputed, crystal clear. And yet, it's not enough. It's a very dangerous place to be. We may call that a place of discontentment. It may come, as we'll see in a moment, in times of discouragement or disillusionment. But here we have such a great testimony of Samuel in his ministry. Such a great testimony of God using him and showing his faithfulness. God responding to repentance. God responding to a people that would humble themselves before him. And yet it's still not enough.

Because the children of Israel's eyes, they wander around. And with that in mind, pick up in verse 1 of chapter 8, where it came to pass when Samuel was old. And just for you note-takers or those of you that like to write in your Bibles, there's about a 20 to 25-year gap between chapter 7 and chapter 8. Some time has passed from this time of victory and this time of describing the ministry of Samuel in this circuit. It came to pass when Samuel was old that he made his sons judges over Israel.

The name of his firstborn was Joel, and the name of his second was Abijah, and they were judges in Beersheba. But verse 3, his sons did not walk in his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain and took bribes and perverted justice. Now, it reminded me because this is a sad statement for any dad to have said over his son. Samuel is on this circuit of ministry and serving God faithfully, but his sons did not serve the Lord.

Does it remind you of anyone in our study in Samuel? It's the same pattern that we saw with Eli and his sons. Eli even himself had drifted away. We don't have any indication that Samuel did, but in the home somehow, somewhere, that distinction of commitment in Samuel's heart didn't pass over. Wasn't caught by his sons. Not only that, but they decided in their place of spiritual leadership to take advantage of people with dishonest gain and bribes and even pervert justice. You couldn't even trust them to determine what was right or wrong.

They made decisions that would benefit themselves in Samuel's sons. It's a sad statement, but it reminds me of what John says because John says later on in his letters, "I have no greater joy than to hear my kids or my children are walking in the truth." And here's an exact opposite of that. There's no greater sorrow to a parent's heart when their kids aren't walking in the truth. And Samuel's older now. His children are adults. And it's a new generation. This is representative of a new generation coming on the scene.

His sons and all the young people that they represented, their generation. And because of verse 3, verse 4 takes place. And it says, "Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah and said to him, 'Look, you're old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.'" There's always a danger with new generations. There's a great freshness with new generations. That's not a danger at all.

I think there's new generations in the church. Of course, there's new generations by age. There's new generations by new believers. There's a freshness and an excitement and a wonderful zeal that comes through new generations, but there's also a danger. And there just seems to be in every new generation, in every stage where the new generation starts to despise the older generation as if their value and contribution to society or to the church is no longer valid. And let's just do away with the older generation and the old ways of doing things.

And don't you know there are new ways to do things now? And in some ways, that's very, very true. If we were still typing the bulletin, every single one of them, on a typewriter, I would want someone in the new generation to say, "Hey, dude, you know there's an internet now?" A what? I said we're just typing away our bulletin and then putting it on the mimeograph. Do you guys remember the mimeograph where that thing, that big thing that you turn? And as soon as the teacher gave you the piece of paper that came out, it had purple ink on it.

What was the first thing you did? [Smells] Yeah. A lot of you don't know. I'm talking to the older generation, I know. And the new generation says, "What?" Remember we used to write letters on a piece of paper? Put them in an envelope, address the envelope, put a stamp—I mean, you see now, you just email. You probably send dozens and dozens of an email in a week, and maybe a few years ago, you'd send two or three letters. Things have changed, for sure. And new generations bring freshness.

They bring new perspective. They bring—I embrace the new generation in the church. And I embrace the newer generation of things that are happening that we might harness for the kingdom of God. But there is a danger. New generations offer both a great freshness but also provide a great challenge as they begin to assess the older generation and cannot distinguish between offering good advice and trying to undermine, or will even undermine those old Ebenezer stones. They're walking through and thinking, "What are these rocks?"

And we've taught them about the Ebenezer stones and the value and not to forget where you came from. And in another place in the Bible, it speaks of not removing the ancient landmarks. And of course, that was a reference to the boundary lines of property, but there's a great spiritual perspective. Don't remove the ancient boundaries. Truth is truth in every generation. It's delivered a different way, perhaps. It's refreshed and illustrated a different way, but truth is truth. Jesus himself said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

You can't move that as much as you would try. You'll only cause confusion. And here's a newer generation coming on the scene, responding to bad leadership. And they responded the wrong way. They're seeing things the way they are, and they want a significant change to take place. They want change. They saw not only how old Samuel was, but also that his sons were not godly men. And they were spiritual thieves. And it's sad. It's sad that both Eli and Samuel had sons who failed to follow the Lord.

Eli, as we studied him, appeared to be too easy on his sons, where Samuel seemed to be away too much from his sons. That's what I get back here in chapter 7, as he had this circuit type of ministry, which would put him away from the home quite a bit. And he was fulfilling the call of God on his life, but now being away created perhaps a vacuum that his sons didn't listen. And watching bad leadership fed the flesh. You guys that are in spiritual leadership, for example, at this water baptism.

I encouraged the pastors to take out with them, as I do from year to year. But this was—I made a very strong emphasis this year—of all the people that they're serving with, to pick one person that they're discipling, they're pouring into, that they're serving alongside of. I want them to pick one person and I want them to be trained how to do water baptisms. And so they did. You saw them in the video. And you guys were there, you saw the different people. But before we went out for the water baptism, I gathered them together.

I gathered all the men and the security folks and everybody that's there to help, the ushers and folks that were in the water. And I said, "Look"—and this is for all of you that weren't in the water, so this is for the sake of everyone, but they got it first. I said, "I want you guys to be very careful and understand this is an important day in people's lives and this is very spiritual. But I want you to understand that when you stand in the water, your faces are going to be facing all of those thousands of people that are up on the sand there, up on the beach."

It's hard for me to call that a beach, but I guess it is. It's the beach. The sand or whatever they crushed rock, whatever it is. Fake sand, fake beach. How's that? And I said, "I want you, I want you to know something. That when they see you face-to-face, there is a higher expectation now on you that wasn't there before. It's the same as standing on the stage if someone leading in worship or coming up for a testimony. When you are face-to-face with someone in the church, you are now held to a higher standard."

There is a higher expectation upon you now that when the baptism is over, the videos will be playing, you will be walking around the sanctuary. And if you don't take this serious, then just get out of the water right now. Let's just be, just get out right now. I won't hold you to it. You're voluntarily coming in. No, those aren't all my exact words, but this is what I shared with them. And then we prayed. Because that's a very significant thing that they were a part of.

They were a part of a very special part of someone's life. And they represented the Lord, and they represented the church, and they represented the church family to the church family by being face-to-face. And that's no small thing. Sometimes we go through—we had hundreds and hundreds of baptisms. And because we had hundreds and hundreds of baptisms, it's very easy to just say, "Well, it's just a baptism. It's just a bunch of people getting baptized."

And we just go through and it's not two or three where there's just a focused time where there's just two or three people and we can spend a lot of time with them right there. No, there's hundreds of people coming through. Anyway, there was a lot of people, but we still haven't seen what Peter saw on the Day of Pentecost. I want to see that one day when he preached the Gospel and 3,000 people got saved. And do you know how long it would take to baptize 3,000 people? I want to find out. I'd like to find out.

I think it'd be awesome just to get a sense of what they experienced in one day, in one moment. 3,000 people. But I repeat it now for the sake of those of you that were in the water. But I also repeat it for the sake of you, those of you that in many different ways, not just for the church, you have FaceTime with people. Therefore, you are responsible for that FaceTime. Your life matters. Your testimony matters. Your witness matters. What you do with your life matters.

How you use your freedom matters because your life matters and people are watching your life. "Well, I don't want people to watch my life." Too bad. It's just the way it is. People are looking for hope. They're looking for direction. They find out you're a Christian. Isn't it amazing sometimes we're faced with unbelievers that know more about being a Christian than even you do? And you get rebuked? You ever been rebuked by an unbeliever? I have. It's very embarrassing. It's very humbling.

I just shake my head and go, "Lord, I just need help. Like, how can you—what's this all about?" And God just reminds me, "I love you and I'll use anybody, including a donkey, to rebuke you, son. I want you to know that you matter. I want you to know that your life matters." I was driving—I'm not a speeder, by the way. I just want you to know. I'm not a speeder. I'm accused of driving like a grandma and that's just—I don't care. I'm not in a hurry. I like leaving early.

I don't have a fast car. I just have an old, 170-something-thousand-mile Toyota. It gets me from A to B. I don't care. I don't need one that goes [Vroom vroom vroom]. Mine that goes [Wee wee wee] is fine. It's no big deal. I haven't any problem. I don't speed. I'm never in a hurry. Generally, generally. Obviously, I'm sure there are times when I am, but this time I was driving my wife's car and it's got—it's a little bit different than mine.

It's got all this electronic stuff, so it tends to go faster than mine. Just automatically, I don't—and so we were on our way. We were not in a hurry. We were avoiding traffic on 225, and we were headed over for breakfast. Not in a hurry. We had just been here on Monday, welcoming the kids to the first year of the school year, and it was so exciting. And we're heading off just for a morning of breakfast so Marie wouldn't have to cook breakfast or anything.

And I'm heading down and I'm going in a new part of town and I got off 225 over there and I got over here and I'm over—I don't even know where I was. And I saw a flash. And I'm like, "Who's taking my picture?" No, I didn't think that. It was the City of Denver parked a van in the median. First of all, that's not fair. And second of all, I hope it was taking a picture of the car in front of me because by the time I looked down, I think I was over the speed limit.

I don't know how much, but I was over the speed limit. But you look at life. And if you're sensitive enough to life, you'll find that—and so I'm talking about it all day. I said, "I hope I don't get a ticket. I hope I don't get a ticket. I hope I don't get a ticket. I'm going to fight the ticket. It's not fair. Why they put a van in the middle of the median? That's not fair." Marie's going, "You were speeding, you're going to get a ticket." I'm like, "I don't even know." I'm like, "Gah."

But if I get a ticket, I probably deserve it. Probably. I don't know. Rebuked by a van. That's a new one. You got this new generation back in 1 Samuel now that is seeing the discouragement of the leadership. They're not following the ways of the Lord and they come to the false conclusion to Samuel's, "Give me a king. We need a king. We need a king." You know, maybe it discouraged them to see the leadership the way it was. Maybe they were disillusioned. I looked those words up. We use them so much.

I like to look words up in the dictionary. Just in the regular old Webster's Dictionary to—we use words so much, I wonder what the meaning is. The word "discouragement," the definition is a loss of confidence or enthusiasm. A loss of confidence or enthusiasm. That fits this. You see bad leadership, you lose confidence in them. Disillusionment literally means disappointment resulting from the discovery that something is not as good as one believed it to be. You're disillusioned. It's not what you thought it would be.

Sin often will do that, where you thought it was going to be one thing and it illusions you. It's not what I thought it was going to be. It didn't end up where I wanted it to be. And it's important we understand how vulnerable we are, church, when we're discouraged and disillusioned. These are two words that can be seen and come up in our lives following God, serving with others, in his church. Unrealistic expectations can sink us and send us on a path other than seeking the Lord.

Turn over to Hebrews chapter 12 with me and let me show you. Hebrews chapter 12. It's a very familiar passage, but too often we end too soon when we're reading it. And so pick up with me in verse 1, let's get the familiar out of the way. It says, "Therefore we also, since we're surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses"—this is Hebrews 12, verse 1—"let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

For consider him who endured such hostility from sinners against himself, lest you become weary and discouraged"—notice—"in your souls." That's a deep discouragement. It's a deep depression. It's a deep darkness. Consider him, so you don't become weary and discouraged. You have not resisted, verse 4, to bloodshed, striving against sin. And have you forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as sons: "My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you're rebuked by him; for whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives."

In context of remembering all those that have gone before us and in context of considering Jesus, the Bible says be careful. If you consider him and you focus and you look to him, it will enable you not to become weary and discouraged in your souls. I believe we are seeing a picture in 1 Samuel chapter 8 of a discouraged nation with a new generation. And one of the reasons I say that is because there's no mention of prayer. Now, these are the elders. Let's not miss the actualities.

The elders here, these are the elders, these are the leaders that have come to Samuel. No doubt influenced by the people. And the elders come with no prayer. They just—know it's 20 years earlier they were repenting. 20 years earlier they were humbling. 20 years earlier they experienced victory and have now had 20 to 25 years of relative peace. And now with the first sense of these bad leaders, they say we don't want it the way it's always been anymore.

Really, what they're saying here, it's a significant statement. What they're saying here is we don't want judges anymore. Or let me take it even a step further. What they're saying is we don't want God's way anymore. We've found a better way. We've found it. We know a better way than—we won't get into this mess again, your sons. As if there wasn't another man on the planet Earth that could judge them.

And they're saying, "I don't like it the way it's been. We want something new. We want something"—and so what do they do? They do what's normal. They start looking around and they see every—it seems like every other single nation, every single nation that we see has a king. We don't have a king. Okay. Every other nation, from what I see, looks like they're very successful. We're not doing well right now. What's the difference? We don't have a king. Oh, I get it. Logically, we need a king. No, we don't just need a king, we want a king. No, we don't just want a king, we demand a king, Samuel. You're old. Your two sons are no good.

Isn't that the way it works, you just come to the worst conclusions in the most difficult of times? I also see a broader picture here, too. That it seems as if the national leaders, the spiritual leaders, were more concerned with national security. They were more concerned with national protection. They were more concerned about political leadership and their overall safety and stability instead of the spiritual health of the nation. And Samuel, a spiritual man, could see that the demand was evidence of spiritual decay. And in verse 6 it says, "This thing displeased Samuel." When they said—this is back in 1 Samuel now—"this thing displeased Samuel when they said, 'Give us a king to judge us.'" You think you'd be displeased? I know he's taking it personal because we'll see it in a moment, but I don't think it's just personal. He cares about the nation.

Guest (Male): Well, thanks for studying the Word with us here at Abounding Grace with Pastor Ed Taylor. Are you interested in hearing the study from 1 Samuel again? If so, drop by aboundinggraceradio.com or 1place.com. And another way to listen to Pastor Ed's teachings is through the Calvary Church app. You know, there's a tragic and growing crisis facing the church concerning the ministry of counseling. An increasing number of churches and church leaders are forsaking God's way of counseling and turning to man's ways.

How to Counsel God's Way by Bob Hoekstra calls God's people to return to Jesus as our wonderful counselor. Whether you're in a position to give counsel or wanting to receive it, this book can be very helpful and a valuable addition to your library. When you give a donation of $25 or more to Abounding Grace, you're invited to request a copy of How to Counsel God's Way. Give us a call, 877-30-GRACE. That's 877-30-GRACE. You can also order the book online at calvaryco.store. You can also make a donation to the ministry online at aboundinggraceradio.com. And thank you in advance for helping us reach people with the love and truth of Jesus Christ here on the radio and online. Glad you've taken time out for our study in 1 Samuel. Join Pastor Ed each day as we continue to learn how to live by God's abounding grace.

Abounding Grace is brought to you by Calvary Church, Colorado, here in Aurora.