From His Heart

Dr. Jeff Schreve: Fear 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?

Guest (Male): When you ignore God and your life revolves around carrying out your own will, you eventually will see the day when you desperately need God and you pray to him and you won't get an answer. You're listening to From His Heart with Pastor Jeff Schreve.

Thank you for being with us today for the last part of the last lesson in Pastor Jeff's new eight-message series, Leaving a Legacy: Lessons from the Life of Samuel. Today's lesson entitled, The King, the Witch, and the Prophet. If you missed part one from last time, you can easily go to fromhisheart.org, click the listen link.

Now here's the truth that we'll learn about today. If you sin like Saul, you will experience silence from God. Toward the end of King Saul's life, there was no prophet that was giving him any word. All was silent and he was in deep trouble. Let's find out how to avoid that kind of trouble in our own life. Open your Bible to 1 Samuel chapter 2. Here again is Pastor Jeff.

Dr. Jeff Schreve: 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. 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. 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. 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?

Saul said to his servant, 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. 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.

It 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. 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. 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. Verse eight. Then Saul disguised himself by putting on other clothes and he went, he and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night and he said, conjure up for me please and bring up for me whom I shall name to you.

But the woman said to him, behold, you know what Saul has done, how he has cut off those who are mediums and spiritists from the land. Why are you then laying a snare for my life to bring about my death? Saul vowed to her by the Lord saying, as the Lord lives, no punishment shall come upon you for this thing. Then the woman said, whom shall I bring up for you? And he said, bring up Samuel for me.

When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice. And the woman spoke to Saul saying, why have you deceived me? For you are Saul. The king said to her, do not be afraid, but what do you see? And the woman said to Saul, I see a divine being coming up out of the earth. And he said to her, what is his form? And she said, an old man is coming up and he is wrapped with a robe.

And Saul knew that it was Samuel and he bowed with his face to the ground and did homage. Then Samuel said to Saul, why have you disturbed me by bringing me up? And Saul answered, I am greatly distressed for the Philistines are waging war against me and God has departed from me and no longer answers me, either through prophets or by dreams. Therefore, I have called you that you may make known to me what I should do.

Samuel said, why then do you ask me since the Lord has departed from you and has become your adversary? The Lord has done according 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.

Moreover, the Lord will also give over Israel along with you into the hand of the Philistines. Therefore tomorrow, you and your sons will be with me. You and your sons will be dead. Indeed, the Lord will give over the army of Israel into the hands of the Philistines. Then Saul immediately fell full length upon the ground and was very afraid because of the words of Samuel. Also, there was no strength in him for he had not eaten food at all, day or night.

Wow. A message from the deceased prophet. Now, what are we supposed to make of this? Was this really Samuel or was this a trick from a witch? Was this some demon that she conjured up? Well, I think it was really Samuel. I think God allowed Samuel to be called up to give a final word to Saul. And why do I think that? Well, because the woman, when she went through her incantations, when she saw Samuel, she screamed.

This isn't like it was before where it's this demon that I'm familiar with that comes and pretends to be so and so. No, this is a divine being coming up in a robe, in the robe of a prophet. Saul knew it was Samuel. And the Bible indicates that these are the words of Samuel. And this one conjured up knows the future because he says that Saul is going to die along with his sons the next day.

And guess what happened in chapter 31? Saul died along with his sons, just like the prophet told him. This is Samuel's final message from the grave to Saul. It's a warning to us, very, very important. Now, people say, well, where did Samuel go? Where did Old Testament people go when they died? They didn't go to heaven because the price had not been paid yet.

They went to a place called Paradise or Abraham's bosom. The Bible talks about the place of the dead. It's called Sheol, or it's also called Hades. That's the holding place of all the dead. That's where people go before the cross, that's where they went. Everyone went, the wicked dead and the righteous dead, they would go to Sheol.

And you have Old Testament saints, upon their death, they went to Paradise. We read that in Luke chapter 16, the rich man and Lazarus. And the rich man ends up going to the place of torment, and Lazarus goes to Abraham's bosom. Also, Jesus called it Paradise. He said that to the thief on the cross, "Truly I say to you, today you shall be with me in Paradise."

That's where all the righteous dead went. That's where Samuel was. All the unrighteous dead go to the place of torment. That's also referred to in Revelation as Hades. We know about Hades and Hell, those things are kind of interchangeable in our minds. Well, in Revelation chapter 20, when Jesus judges every unbeliever, he empties out that place, Hades, the place of torment.

Paradise, the place of the righteous dead, when Jesus died on the cross and where did he go for three days? He went there. He went there and he told those people, he said, "Hey you guys believed on God's provision for your sins. That's me. That's me." See, they didn't know the name of Jesus, but they knew that God had a provision for their sin and they put their faith and trust in God's provision for their sin.

We know that God's provision for our sin is Jesus. So Old Testament saints got saved by looking forward to the cross, New Testament saints get saved by looking back to the cross, but everybody gets saved through the same way and that's the cross. There is no other way except through the blood of the Lamb. And when Jesus died on the cross, he emptied out Paradise and he took all those folks to glory.

And now when we die this side of the cross, what happens when we die? Absent from the body, present with the Lord, because the price has been paid. All those unbelievers are still there in that place of torment, in the holding place of the dead in Hades. Samuel was called up from Paradise and he spoke one last time to Saul.

Guest (Male): We'll continue right there in just a moment when Pastor Jeff returns to conclude the lesson, The King, the Witch, and the Prophet. This is the last of eight messages that we've been airing this month from Pastor Jeff's new series, Leaving a Legacy: Lessons from the Life of Samuel. And you know, with a world filled with confusion and uncertainty, God still uses faithful people to make an eternal impact. And you're making a legacy with your life right now, good or bad.

Is it one that honors God or one that ignores God? If so, you'll want to get a copy of this new series from Pastor Jeff to discover how obedience, truth, and wholehearted devotion to God can influence you for sure, but also influence your family and shape future generations. Do you want a home to reflect God's character? That includes the way you treat your spouse, raise your children, and model faith day to day.

Leaving a legacy requires that we all think beyond ourselves and build spiritual habits, values, and character that influence the next generation. This series can help you do that. It's called Leaving a Legacy: Lessons from the Life of Samuel. Eight messages that are yours for your support to From His Heart this month of any amount. Just call 866-40-BIBLE or go to fromhisheart.org.

Thank you for all you can do to help us continue to reach generations to come. Now let's get back to conclude our lesson today called The King, the Witch, and the Prophet.

Dr. Jeff Schreve: Samuel was faithful to speak the truth in love. All the time in his ministry, he was faithful to speak the truth in love. He never sugarcoated anything for the king. He spoke to him the truth in love, even though when he went to anoint David, he said to the Lord, when the Lord said, "Arise and go to Bethlehem and anoint one of the sons of Jesse," he said, "How am I going to do that? When Saul hears of it, he will kill me."

And so the Lord said, "Well, you're going to bring an offering and have a sacrifice and that will suffice the questioners from King Saul." Saul had a lot of power, but Samuel was going to be faithful to the Lord. Listen, we're called to speak the truth in love, Ephesians chapter four, so we can grow up into all aspects into him who is the head, even Christ. That's the job of a Christian, every Christian. We speak the truth in love, we stand up as witnesses for Jesus Christ.

It's definitely the job of every pastor to stand up and speak the truth in love. And if people don't like it, tough. I didn't write the Bible, you didn't write the Bible. It's the word from God. Our job is to be faithful heralds of the word of God. Did you know, as hard as this is to fathom, there are people out there who don't like me? It's mind-blowing. I'm a nice guy. They don't like me.

Why? Because they say, "How dare you say the things that you say?" I say, "Hey, I'm not making this stuff up. I'm telling you where I found it. It's thus says the Lord." Now, if I'm just saying stuff on my own and it's terrible, horrible things, well then that's one thing, but if I'm saying thus says the Lord, that's totally different. And when you call people to repentance, they get mad. "Who are you to say that I'm a sinner? How dare you call me a sinner?"

I'm not calling you a sinner, God is. "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God," and "the wages of sin is death." I am warning you. Remember I've told you before, it's like driving in the car with a friend and here you are and you're speaking the truth in love. And the friend, you're in a school zone and the guy's going like 70 in a school zone, and you're like, "Hey, that's a school zone. You need to slow down." "Hey, don't judge me, man!"

Not judging, I'm telling you it's a school zone. You could kill somebody else, you could get in serious trouble. "Well, you're not my judge." I know I'm not your judge. I'm just telling you what the law says. I'm telling you what's going to happen if you keep doing that. It's not going to go well with you. We're not the judge, but listen, we know what the judge has said. "And shall not the judge of all the earth deal justly?" as it says in Genesis chapter 18. Of course.

And so we are called to speak the truth in love. Samuel was faithful to speak the truth in love and he told Saul exactly what he told him before. "Hey, you rejected the word of the Lord and the Lord has torn the kingdom from you. I told you that already, don't you remember?" Of course he remembered. And he's given it to your neighbor David who is better than you. And so what do you have now? You got nothing.

It's the end of the line for you. Hey, Saul, you're the guy who heard the word of the Lord and you didn't act upon it and you built your house on the sand. And guess what? Now it's raining and you don't have a foundation. And now you're wanting God to lay a foundation in your life. And as anyone knows when you're building, to lay the foundation it has to be dry. The sun has to be out, it can't be raining.

And you come before the Lord and the rains are descending and the floods are coming and the wind is blowing and you say, "Oh God, now I need you to build in me a foundation." And God says, "I can't. It's raining. You've waited too long." Because I called and you refused, I stretched out my hand and no one paid attention. You did not choose the fear of the Lord. You blew me off.

You're a pimple on a flea and the God of the universe has called to you and you've blown him off and you've done it time and time and time again. And now you're wondering, "Why doesn't he answer me?" Because I called, the Lord says, and you refused. I stretched out my hand to you over and over and over again, and still as you call upon me, you're not willing to repent.

And Samuel told Saul, "Tomorrow you're going to be here with me. You're going to be in Sheol, you and your sons." And there's a big question mark over Saul's eternal destination. He was going to be dead, he was going to be in the realm of the dead where Samuel was, but would he be in Paradise or would he be in the place of torment? I don't know.

I did some research and it said most conservative Bible scholars say, "I don't think Saul was an Old Testament saint. I don't think Saul really put his faith and trust in the Lord's provision for his sin." You don't see any evidence in his life. What does he spend his life doing? Trying to kill David, the anointed of the Lord. And he ends up getting shot in battle. His sons get killed by the Philistines. He gets hit with arrows from the archers.

Life is lingering in him but he knows he can't make it, he's going to die. He asks his armor bearer, "Please run me through." And the armor bearer won't do it. "I'm not going to lift my hand against the Lord's anointed." And so Saul falls on his sword. And there's a little bit of discrepancy. Does that kill him or as it says in 2 Samuel chapter one, is he slain by an Amalekite who happened to come by?

And in the words of the Amalekite, "I saw King Saul and he said, 'Life still lingers in me, please kill me.'" And he said, "I knew he couldn't survive so I killed him." And David said, "Who are you?" And he said, "I am an Amalekite." Isn't it interesting, comes full circle. What sunk Saul's ship? God said, "Kill the Amalekites, wipe them out." And what do we read? The last thing in his life, it's an Amalekite who says, "I killed Saul." Wow.

Hey, Saul had a final opportunity to get right with God and he didn't do anything with it. He squandered it. It's not an accident that you're here today. This could be the final message you hear. God has given you an opportunity to get right with him. Listen, there's a way—Proverbs 14:12 and 16:25, the same verse—there's a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.

If you're going your own way and you're kind of blowing God off and you're saying, "Well, I'm going to kind of do God's will but I'm going to do the will of God my way." You don't do that with the King of kings and Lord of lords. You say with Jesus, "Not my will but yours be done. Lord, I'm going to do your will your way. I'm going to follow your word. I'm going to do what you say."

And you're here and you're just kind of going through and you're saying, "Well, I think I'm all right, nothing's really happening to me." Let me tell you something. If you're building on the sand, one day the rains will descend and the floods will come and the winds will blow and they'll burst against your house, and your house will fall because it's not on the rock. And today is the day to get right with God.

Today is the day to heed the warning from Samuel the prophet, from the life, the terrible life of King Saul and respond to the Lord and say, "Lord, in my hand no price I bring but simply to your cross I cling. God have mercy on me. God cleanse me and change me." And listen, maybe bad things have happened to you because you've blown off the Lord and you can't unscramble eggs. I get that. But you can from this moment forward get your heart and life right with God.

Listen, 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?

Guest (Male): Are you willing to heed this sobering warning to get your heart and life right with God today? We surely hope that these have been thought-provoking and emboldening insights for you. If you'd like a copy of this message to listen to again or to share with a friend, go to fromhisheart.org and click the listen link. There too you can also download the free outlines from Pastor Jeff on the message and a free MP3 of the audio as well. Just go to fromhisheart.org, click the listen link.

We also hope that when you do go online, you'll sign up for Pastor Jeff's weekly Real Hope email encouragement letter. It'll get into your inbox every Friday morning. You can also there listen to the daily Real Hope Minute from Pastor Jeff and also sign up to join our social media channels where you can hear regular updates from Pastor Jeff, commentary, and encouragement throughout the week. And oh so much more. All at fromhisheart.org.

Thank you for being with us today. I'm Larry Nobles, inviting you to be here on Friday as we close out our Leaving a Legacy teaching with a final message called Leaving a Legacy. Here's part of what we'll learn then.

Dr. Jeff Schreve: Suppose you were to read what the newspaper would write about you. Not what they write in the obituary because that is really dressed up. But if the paper just wrote about you, if God wrote about you right now, what would he say? Would you be glad because you lived your life well to the full to the glory of God, or sad because of all the wasted opportunities?

Guest (Male): Remember, From His Heart is the listener-supported broadcast ministry of Dr. Jeff Schreve, who believes that no matter how badly you may have messed up in life, God still loves you and has a plan for your life. Find out more, go to fromhisheart.org.