From His Heart

Dr. Jeff Schreve: If you sin like Saul, you will experience silence from God. And there was no prophet that was giving him any word. Everything is silent, and he's in trouble.

Now, when you blow off the will of God to do your own will, you hit a day when you will desperately need God. And the day will come when you call and you don't get an answer. Saul is such a tragic character in scripture.

Guest (Male): What a sobering thought. We’ve ignored God for so long that we now don’t get an answer when we call out to him. Thank you for joining us today on From His Heart with Pastor Jeff Schreve and the lesson: The King, The Witch, and The Prophet.

This last message in Pastor Jeff’s series, Leaving a Legacy: Lessons from the Life of Samuel, will be a blessing to you. You see, Saul turned to a witch for guidance instead of seeking the Lord. He crossed a dangerous line that led to his downfall, a line we don’t want to cross.

In today’s message, Pastor Jeff reveals the tragic consequences of ignoring God’s clear warnings. Just as Samuel’s words rang true for Saul, they still speak volumes to us today, calling us to repentance, humility, and obedience. Turn now to the book of First Samuel to help us see the truth about the king, the witch, and the prophet.

Dr. Jeff Schreve: Today, we're finishing up that series on Samuel with a very interesting passage of scripture in First Samuel chapter 28. I’ve entitled this message "The King, The Witch, and The Prophet" because this is the prophet Samuel’s last message to King Saul after death.

He died, and Saul is going to go to a witch, to a medium, to somebody who conjures up the dead, so that he can inquire of the prophet Samuel one last time. It's an interesting passage of scripture in First Samuel chapter 28, and there are very key lessons that we can learn from Saul and from Samuel’s interaction with the king via the witch.

Now, when the prophet Samuel spoke to Saul before his death, it was about 18 years before First Samuel chapter 28. It was the passage that we went through, First Samuel chapter 15, where God gave the king, King Saul, a very specific task: Wipe out the Amalekites, don’t spare them, wipe them off the map.

And Saul heard the command. And when the prophet Samuel comes on the scene and realizes he didn’t wipe out all the livestock, he didn’t wipe out King Agag, he didn’t kill everyone like he was supposed to, this is what he had to say to Saul:

"For rebellion is as the sin of divination or witchcraft, and insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He has rejected you from being king." Then Saul said to Samuel, "I have sinned. I have indeed transgressed the command of the Lord and your words because I feared the people and listened to their voice. Now therefore, please pardon my sin and return with me that I may worship the Lord."

But Samuel said to Saul, "I will not return with you, for you have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel." As Samuel turned to go, Saul seized the edge of his robe and it tore. So Samuel said to him, "The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to your neighbor who is better than you."

The last recorded interaction between the prophet Samuel and Saul. Not a good interaction. They didn’t see each other until after Samuel’s death, and they’re going to have this encounter in chapter 28 about 18 years later.

Now, what he says to Saul in the interaction and the encounter in chapter 28 is very, very similar to what he had already told him. I’ll give you a little sample in verse 16 of chapter 28: "Why then do you ask me, since the Lord has departed from you and has become your adversary? The Lord has done according to as He spoke through me, for the Lord has torn the kingdom out of your hand and given it to your neighbor, to David, as you did not obey the voice of the Lord and did not execute His fierce wrath on Amalek. So the Lord has done this thing to you this day."

Very, very similar to what he told him before. Now, here's our question as we look at this passage of scripture: What are we to learn from Samuel’s final encounter with Saul? Saul is such a tragic character in scripture.

So, I want to share three warnings from this passage of scripture and from the life of Saul. Number one: If you sin like Saul, you will experience silence from God.

What does it mean to sin like Saul? That means you hear the word of the Lord and you don’t do it. You reject it. You say, "I have a better way. I’m going to kind of do the will of the Lord, but I’m going to put my spin on it." God’s not interested in your spin. He’s interested in you obeying the voice of the Lord.

As Saul would say to Samuel, "Well, I kept the best of the flock from Amalek to sacrifice to the Lord your God." He said, "Does the Lord have as much pleasure in sacrifice as in obeying the voice of the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice," Samuel tells Saul. God is interested in obedience. He’s not interested in you taking His word, twisting His word, and doing your will with His will.

And so, if you sin like Saul, you will experience silence from God. What is going on in First Samuel chapter 28, verse 1? "Now it came about in those days that the Philistines gathered their armed camps for war to fight against Israel."

Verse 3: "Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had lamented him and buried him in Ramah, that’s his hometown, his own city. And Saul had removed from the land those who were mediums and spiritists. So the Philistines gathered together and came and encamped in Shunem; and Saul gathered all Israel together and they encamped in Gilboa."

"When Saul saw the camp of the Philistines, he was afraid and his heart trembled greatly. When Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord did not answer him, either by dreams or by Urim or by prophets."

And so, here's the picture. They’re getting ready for battle, and you have the enemies of God, the Philistines, they’re in Shunem. And Saul and his troops are at Mount Gilboa. And so, he’s very afraid. He can look down and see all the armies of the Philistines.

And so, as was the custom, the king would inquire of God: "God, what do you want me to do? What's your word to me as we face this battle, as we go up against the enemies of Israel, which makes them the enemies of God?" And there is no word from God.

And he doesn’t get communicated by a dream. He doesn’t get communicated through the Urim and the Thummim. You say, "What is that?" Well, those were the stones of the breastplate of the high priest. That's the Urim and Thummim, and they would discern the will of God through that, kind of like casting lots, but there was nothing coming from that. And there was no prophet that was giving him any word. Everything is silent, and he's in trouble.

Now, when you blow off the will of God to do your own will, you hit a day when you will desperately need God. Jesus talked about that in Matthew chapter 7. He said, "Everyone who hears these words of mine and acts upon them, let me tell you what he’s like: He’s like the man who built his house on the rock. And the rains descended and the floods came and the winds blew and burst against that house, and it did not fall because it was founded on the rock."

"But everyone who hears these words of mine and doesn’t act upon them, Saul, he’s like a man who built his house on the sand. And guess what? The rains descended and the floods came and the winds blew and burst against that house, and great was its fall." Saul’s a sand-builder, and the storms are coming in. He’s in terrible trouble.

The day will come when you will desperately need God, and the day will come when you call and you don’t get an answer. Now, we don’t like that. We don’t even like to say, "Well, I don’t understand that. I mean, God is the God who always called to me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things which you do not know."

And so, how is it that God is not answering the king of Israel? It's because the king of Israel has sin and rebellion in his heart toward the Lord. In Psalm 66, verse 18, it says, "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me."

Proverbs chapter 1, there's an interesting discussion beginning in verse 20. Solomon says, "Wisdom shouts in the streets. She lifts her voice in the square. At the head of the noisy streets she cries out; at the entrance of the gates in the city she utters her sayings: 'How long, O naive ones' -- remember, we talked about the scoffer, the naive one, and the wise -- 'How long, O naive ones, will you love being simple-minded? And scoffers delight themselves in scoffing and fools hate knowledge? Turn to my reproof. Behold, I will pour out my spirit on you; I will make my words known to you.'"

"'Because I called and you refused. I stretched out my hand and no one paid attention.'" The King of kings and Lord of lords, the God of the universe, the God who spoke the worlds into existence, is calling, and people are blowing Him off.

"'Because I called and you refused, I stretched out my hand and no one paid attention, and you neglected all my counsel and did not want my reproof. I will also laugh at your calamity. When your dread comes like a storm and when your calamity comes like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you, then they will call on me, but I will not answer. They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me. Why? Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord. They would not accept my counsel. They spurned all my reproof.'"

Serious business to blow off God.

Guest (Male): Serious, very serious business. You're listening to From His Heart with Pastor Jeff Schreve today, and he'll return in just a moment to continue this last message in the new series Leaving a Legacy: Lessons from the Life of Samuel.

But first, listen. Without fail, there are tragic consequences when we ignore God's clear warnings. Just as Samuel's words rang true for Saul, they speak to us today about repentance and humility and obedience. Don't let pride or fear drown out God's voice. Listen while there's still time to turn back to Him.

You can learn how to do just that and why in Pastor Jeff's new series, Leaving a Legacy: Lessons from the Life of Samuel. It's our gift to you for your support to From His Heart this month. Simply call 866-40-BIBLE, 866-402-4253, or go online to FromHisHeart.org and request the series, Leaving a Legacy: eight messages that will bless your heart. Again, go to FromHisHeart.org and get your copy of Leaving a Legacy. Now let's conclude part one of the message, "The King, The Witch, and The Prophet."

Dr. Jeff Schreve: Says in the book of Romans, the Lord says, "All day long I’ve stretched out my hand to a disobedient and obstinate people." You know, you keep blowing God off and blowing God off and blowing God off and blowing God off, and finally, God says, "All right, that's it. I will step back from you. Have at it, big boy. You can do it on your own."

The day will come when you desperately need God, and you will not get an answer from God. Ezekiel chapter 20, the elders of Israel who are besieged by the Babylonians. It's serious because the Babylonians are going to come in and destroy them. And Jeremiah and Ezekiel are saying, "This is what's going to happen."

And the elders come in and they ask Ezekiel, "Inquire of us of the Lord." And the Lord says to Ezekiel, "Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel and say to them, 'Thus says the Lord God: Do you come to inquire of me? As I live,' declares the Lord God, 'I will not be inquired of by you.'"

"You are living in rebellion toward me, and yet you come to me asking me what to do when I’ve told you what to do: Repent and live, and you won’t do that. But you want to ask me what to do over here. Well, the answer's the same."

The Lord says in Ezekiel chapter 18, verse 32, "Do I have any pleasure in the death of anyone who dies? Of course not. Therefore, repent and live." But here is Saul: "I don’t want to hear about repent and live. I just want to know about the battle."

Warning number one: If you sin like Saul, you will experience silence from God. He’s not going to answer you because when He called, you refused, and you’re not repentant and God can’t deal with you in that fashion.

Number two: If you sin like Saul, you will become fearful and desperate. So, here’s his situation: "I don’t know what to do." Now, Saul has spent his years trying to kill David because what happened when God rejected Saul as being king, well, then He had Samuel anoint David. Little David, 12-year-old David, to be king. That's First Samuel chapter 16.

First Samuel chapter 17, that's when David goes and defeats Goliath. And then Saul gets David to be part of his army, to go out with his armies, because the hand of the Lord is on him. But then Saul hears the women sing their song, "Saul has slain his thousands and David his tens of thousands." And Saul says, "What in the world is this?"

"We can’t have this. They’ve only ascribed to me thousands, but they’ve ascribed to David tens of thousands." And he looked with suspicion at David from that day onward, and then he determined in his mind and in his heart, "That guy’s a threat to my kingdom. I need to kill him." And he spends years chasing David, trying to kill him. David is not the enemy, but Saul sees him as the enemy.

And so, because Saul sees David as the enemy, guess what? He’s not preparing for the real enemy, the Philistines. And so, when the day comes for the Philistines to attack him, he’s not ready. His army’s not ready. He’s not prepared because he’s been focusing on the wrong enemy. And now he’s fearful and desperate because Samuel is dead and the Lord is not answering him.

And so, he says, "Well, what do I do now?" Well, desperate times call for desperate measures. "Hey guys, do you know of any witches? Do you know of any spiritists, any mediums, anybody who can conjure up the dead for me?"

Now, he had eradicated, supposedly -- not everybody -- but he had tried to eradicate all the witches and the mediums and the spiritists from Israel. But they said to him in verse 7: "Saul said to his servants, 'Seek for me a woman who is a medium that I may go to her and inquire of her.'" And his servants said to him, "Behold, there is a woman who is a medium at Endor." She’s known in theological circles as the witch at Endor.

And so, Saul says, "I’ll go see her." Desperate times call for desperate measures, and he is desperate, and he is going to go to a witch. Isn't it interesting with Saul? Samuel had said to him, "You've rebelled against the word of the Lord, and rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft," and that sticks in Saul's mind.

And so, he eradicates, tries to eradicate, all the witches and the mediums and the spiritists and the diviners and the fortune tellers from Israel. But at the end of his life, who does he turn to? A witch. A medium. A spiritist. That's just in his heart, this rebellion, this witchcraft. It is there. And so, he goes to her.

Now, a medium, a necromancer, is a person who attempts to communicate and conjure up the dead. And witches did this. So, a medium -- just so we’re clear -- a medium traffics in the realm of demons. That's what that person does.

Says in the book of Leviticus, if you find somebody doing those things, stone them, put them to death, purge the evil from your midst. That is serious, serious business. This person is communicating not with the dead, but with demonic spirits.

Now, I had a lady that texted me or emailed me not too long ago, just a couple of weeks ago, and she was talking to me about communicating with her dead mother through this person at the church. And I said, "You’re not talking to your dead mother." I said, "You’re talking to a demon. You need to stop that immediately."

This is not a minor thing. This is a major thing. Anytime you start messing with the occult, that's not a minor thing. That's a major thing. It used to be people would read their horoscopes, and they didn’t think a whole lot of it. It used to be printed in the paper, when we had newspapers. I guess we still have them some places, but most people don’t get the newspaper. But when I was a kid growing up, we had the newspaper, and here I am, a lost kid, and read my horoscope. What's my horoscope say? Because I want to be prepared.

It's astrology. Astro means the stars; logos means the word. Astrology is the word of the stars. Why do you need the word of the stars when you have the word of God? A medium traffics in the realm of demons, and Saul is going. He’s saying, "Well, I can’t hear from God, so I guess I’ll go to the next best thing that I can find, and that is somebody who can conjure up for me Samuel."

Listen. You can choose the truth of God that's revealed to us in His word, or you can go with the lies of the devil. Romans 3:4 says, "Let God be found true, though every man be found a liar." Jesus said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but through me."

And Jesus said in John chapter 3, verse 19, "And this is the judgment, that light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who practices sin doesn’t come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed." Men love the darkness. Men are like roaches. They like the darkness. You flip the light on, they scurry to get under the darkness again. They don’t want to be exposed.

But he who practices the truth, as Jesus said, he comes to the light so that his deeds can be manifested as having been wrought in God. You have a choice. You can choose the truth of the word of God, or you can choose the lies of the devil. Most of life is not a gray area. It’s black and white. It’s true or false. It’s right or it’s wrong.

And when you spend time in the word of God, you can train yourself to discern good versus evil. Hebrews 5:14: "But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil." Saul, what an idiot. You’re going to go to the witch at Endor?

Why don’t you just respond to the conviction that Samuel spoke to you? Why don’t you just say, "Okay, God, I’ve blown it, but I need to repent. Please forgive me, God," and fall on the mercy of God? Why don’t you do that? He wouldn't do that. Why? Too proud to do that. And he chooses to go his own way, and he ends up at the house of a witch.

Warning number three: If you sin like Saul, you will finish in disaster. Your life will be a disaster. It will end on a sour, sour, sour note.

Guest (Male): Quite a warning, for sure. And Pastor Jeff will explain and encourage you tomorrow with the lesson: "The King, The Witch, and The Prophet." Before we close, here’s a wonderful opportunity for you to visit Israel with Pastor Jeff next year. Here he is to tell you about it.

Dr. Jeff Schreve: Hi, Pastor Jeff here, and I’m excited to announce that we’ll be going to Israel in 2027. Our trip is set for April 2nd through the 11th, and we would love for you to join us as we walk where Jesus walked. This is truly the trip of a lifetime as the sacred places you've only read about will now be seen up close and in full color.

You can find out all the details by going to our website, FromHisHeart.org, and follow the link titled "Holy Land 2027." I look forward to having you with us for this awesome experience in the land of Israel.

Guest (Male): Thank you for joining us today. I’m Larry Nobles, reminding you that tomorrow we’ll be here for part two of this dynamic lesson called "The King, The Witch, and The Prophet." Here’s part of the truth to come.

Dr. Jeff Schreve: "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction." As it says in Proverbs, "When the scoffer is punished, the naive becomes wise, but when the wise is instructed, he receives knowledge." What are you going to do with the warning from Saul’s life, from the prophet Samuel? Join us for the lesson "The King, The Witch, and The Prophet" here on From His Heart.