Sound Doctrine

Guest (Male): What happens when we take our eyes off of God and onto ourselves? All you have to do is look at what happened to Saul to realize it's a huge mistake. Here's Pastor Jeff Johnson.

Jeff Johnson: When God's hand is off of your life, you're a sad case. You're in shambles. And that's where we find Saul. Saul is in rebellion, disobedience to God, and there's no reply from God. He is in sin.

What separates us from our God? Isaiah 59:1. It's your sin that has separated you between you and your God. It's not that God's ear is deaf or His arm is not long enough to save you. It's your sin. So we need to stay far away from sin.

Guest (Male): This is Sound Doctrine. Thanks for joining us today. The hold that sin has on us gets stronger the more we sin. And so does the deception that goes along with it. We think we're okay and can escape it at any point, not realizing the power sin has over us.

Let us instead submit ourselves to God's righteous and loving discipline to make certain the invisible chains of sin and compromise are not taking over our lives. Let's join Pastor Jeff Johnson in 1 Samuel chapter 28 and learn from David's lapse into compromise. To be forewarned is to be forearmed.

Jeff Johnson: 1 Samuel chapter 28. We're going to be talking this morning concerning spiritism in the Bible. Let me ask you a question as you're turning to 1 Samuel chapter 28. How many of you were dabbling in the occult or the cults before you came to the Lord? I'm talking about tarot cards and even to drugs. Raise your hands up. Look at how many all around. Many, many, many. And it's no different today. So we're going to be talking about spiritism and all that includes and the Bible as we look at 1 Samuel chapter 28.

Let me give you a little look back now where we're coming from. David is in Gath. He is in the enemy's territory. That's where we find David backslidden. He's lying and stealing from those around him, and yet he's also learning a very important lesson. And that is the difference of trusting God and His word, which will bring peace in your life, versus doing your own thing and living in torment and bloodshed. And that is a horrible way to live in frustration in this world without God, without hope.

Of course, time is being wasted as David is in Gath. Any time you are doing your own thing, time is wasted. But the Psalms always have been written in the caves, and there's something about the bad times and the tragedy times that we have that come out for good because God says all things work for good. David is going to grow from this very pit experience in Gath.

Chapter 28, we go now to the camp of Israel to see how Saul is faring. How is Saul holding up through all of this? This is really Saul's—and he's the king of Israel at this time—this is his real low and darkest hour as king. This is the low point of his life. You can't get any lower than he's at right here.

The Philistines are gathering to attack. Samuel, of course, has died. The priest is gone. He is alienated from God. What does that do when you're alienated from God? God doesn't answer you. When you're away from God, God doesn't hear your prayers. He might hear them, but He doesn't answer you. And so he's not getting any answer. The enemy is about ready to slaughter all the Israelites, and Saul begins to panic.

Here's where we take off in chapter 28, verse one. "And it came to pass in those days that the Philistines gathered their armies together for the warfare to fight with Israel. And Achish said unto David, 'Know thou assuredly, David,' he said, 'thou shalt go out with me to battle, thou and thy men.'" Remember, he had 600 men with him. And David said to Achish, "Surely thou shalt know what thy servant can do." And Achish said to David, "Therefore will I make thee keeper of mine head forever."

David's been 16 months in the enemy's camp. And his new king has now come to him, confronts him with something he hoped would never happen. He hoped that this time would never come, and yet it has come for him to go out with his 600 brothers and fight those that he loved, his own brothers. It's a jam that he finds himself in. He's between a rock and a hard place.

The time has finally come. David in the world caught up with the things of the world couldn't say no now to this heathen king because if he would have said no, it would have been ingratitude for all the months that he's given him Ziklag and he could live there and blessed him so much.

This is the reason the Bible says don't ever be unequally yoked with unbelievers. Don't even mess around with them. Don't even be linked to them or indebted to them. Why? Because sooner or later the bill's going to come. Payday is come to David. The king saying, "Now, David, after I blessed your life so much and let you live here and do your thing, now this is what I want you to do."

He's in a jam. He's in a pickle. His answer is very cool politically. He says, "Well, you know what I can do, king." In other words, "Okay, I'm ready to go." He says, "Oh man, if you do this, you're going to be my second man. You'll be with me all my life forever, David."

So David is biding his time. I don't know. And you kind of wonder when we jump to some other chapters going on here, I'll bring it up to your attention again, is David biding his time? Was he wise politically here? Or is he in his own heart really wanting to go after his brethren? We'll look at that later on. How far has David backslid? How hard is his heart? When you backslide, you get hard.

Look at verse three now. "Now Samuel was dead," again we're reminded of this, "and all of Israel had lamented him and buried him in Ramah, even in his own city. And Saul had put away those that had familiar spirits and the wizards out of the land." The reason it's saying that Samuel is dead here is to remind us that now Saul is cut off from the Lord because he doesn't have a high priest to intervene.

It's interesting that Israel laments after him after he's dead. They wouldn't listen to him when he was alive and obey him. But now that he's dead and gone, they're sorry he's dead and gone. Saul had cleared the land of spiritism and witches.

Of course, we know that Deuteronomy chapter 18 says this, and I'll read it to you in verse nine: "When you come into the land," God speaking to the children of Israel, "which the Lord thy God will give you, thou shalt not learn to do the abominations of those nations. Thou shalt not be found among you any one that makes his son or daughter to pass through the fire, uses divination, or an observer of times, an enchanter or a witch, or a charmer, a consulter with familiar spirits, a wizard or a necromancer, for all of those that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord."

God made it very clear to them. "I condemn all of this spiritism. When you go into the land, I want them removed." And so Saul had them removed. Of course, when you try to do away with something, usually that something goes underground. And we're going to see that that whole spiritism thing, instead of being right out in front of everybody, went underground like it always does.

Verse 11 in Deuteronomy there struck my attention because it talked about those charmers, those consulter with familiar spirits, wizards, and necromancers. That's what we're going to be talking about this morning. These individuals. They're sort of like our psychics of today. Those that we call "channelers" of today. That's the new name for a necromancer.

A wizard is in the Hebrew "one that is the all-knowing one." In other words, one who claims to have all knowledge about the spirit world without God in it. In other words, one who has all knowledge of the demonic world. And that's a wizard.

According to Exodus chapter 22 in verse 18, it says this: "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live." And then over in Leviticus chapter 20 verse six, it says: "And the soul that turns after such that have familiar spirits and after wizards to go a-whoring after them, I will even set my face against that soul and I will cut him off from among his people."

Very interesting. Those who raise the dead, those necromancers, those who are against the Torah, against what God has said in the word, are to be eliminated totally from them. They're to be taken away and killed even.

Today these individuals flourish throughout our world, don't they? They have new names, but it's still the old lie. And today there's not that removing of them from our society, of course, and they are allowed to live amongst us. These have been here since the time of Babel. Babel was the very birthplace of all things that were demonic. It came out of Babel, went on then into Babylon and got its throne.

From Babylon it went into Pergamum, and then from Pergamum to Rome. And then in the last days, the Bible talks about that it's going to go back to where? To Babylon. Babylon is going to be rebuilt as a city. And so many believe that the wickedness of this world, its throne will be ancient Babylon again.

These necromancers claim to be individuals who allow themselves to be possessed by someone else's spirit. And they're used then to talk—and actually they're talking by the person's voice to those that are bringing back the dead. They're a channel. These seek to entice, these seek to destroy those who get caught up in it.

That's why we are told in the scriptures that we're not to mess around with the dark side. We're not to mess around with Ouija boards. A lot of people just play those little party games with these things and think it's real fun. We're not to mess around with crystal balls, with seances, with tarot cards. Back then it was a capital offense to even mess with it.

I think you're going to see that this chapter in no way endorses spiritism. Look at verse four. "The Philistines gathered themselves together and came and pitched at Shunem. And Saul gathered all Israel together, and they pitched in Gilboa. And when Saul saw the host of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart was greatly trembling." He just—he shook. "And when Saul inquired of the Lord," notice the Lord answered him not, "neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by the prophets."

As these two great armies make the standoff there in that area—actually it was in the area of Armageddon where the battle of Armageddon's going to be fought—they actually make this standoff. Saul sees the numbers of the Philistines and really many believe that Saul was responsible for the numbers of the Philistines.

Why? Because he was so adamant about going after David. In all these chapters we've been talking about, what's Saul's occupation? Going after David. What's he doing as far as the enemies in the land? Very little. So the enemies of the land are growing strong as he's running after David everywhere.

So they really say that Saul was the reason why the Philistines were so strong. Saul cries out to God, and guess what? There's no answer. Silence. As a lot of people do today, they live their own lives, they live for themselves, and then a tragedy happens. In the emergency room, what do they do? "Oh God!" they now cry out, like God's going to rush to their immediate need and hear their prayer. No God. Without God, there's fear, man. There is tremendous fear.

When God's hand is off of your life, you're a sad case. You're in shambles. And that's where we find Saul. So Saul is in rebellion, disobedience to God, and there's no reply from God. He is in sin. And what separates us from our God? What is it? Isaiah 59:1. It's your sin that has separated you between you and your God. It's not that God's ear is deaf or His arm's not long enough to save you. It's your sin. So we need to stay far away from sin.

So no dream, no vision, not even the Urim or Thummim could help him out. And remember, these were the two stones that were behind the breastplate of the priest that they would take out. And many believe it was a white and black stone that they would throw like dice and to see if it was a yes or no answer. And not even that was giving an answer to him.

The black one is where you get the word being "blackballed," when you get so many black ones out of the little jar. You're blackballed, you're isolated, you're kicked out. And that's where they get this term from. But remember, Saul had all the priests killed, so there was no communication between Saul and God.

As I was studying this, I thought of Hebrews chapter one where it says very simply this: that in sundry times and in different manners, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son. God still speaks. He speaks through His Son, Jesus Christ. For those who will receive the Son, they will hear God, and they will communicate with God. But Saul had a scary silence. He was in desperate need, and nothing.

Look at verse seven now. "Then said Saul unto his servants, 'Seek me out a woman that has a familiar spirit, that I may go to her and inquire of her.' And his servants said to him, 'Behold, there is a woman that hath a familiar spirit at Endor.'" Interesting here is that one area that Saul really demanded of his people, the one area that he had a high standard in, was no witches. And he drove them out of the land. It just said that, didn't it?

Yet in his own life, he went to a witch. Interesting. But isn't this so common? Those issues that some pastors come down on are the areas that they're the weakest in. And the one guy I could remember is—I don't mean to pick on him, but Jimmy Swaggart. And he had a problem with sexual sin. And he talked about it all the time. Yet that was the one area he was weak in, and that's where he fell in. And it happens all the time.

Saul is very desperate here. And you've got to be desperate when you're seeking to go after spiritism. This is the last-ditch effort. "I've got to go this way," and he's reaching out. "Get me a woman with a demon spirit," he says. This is desperation.

Many today are turning to spiritism. Why? Because they're not hearing God. You say, "Well, wait a minute. I mean, it seems that Saul was inquiring of God, and he was trying to get God's answer, and God just wouldn't answer him. He had no other choice but to go to somewhere else." Wait a minute.

Would you turn with me to 1 Chronicles chapter 10? Look at this very interesting verse speaking of this situation that Saul's in here. 1 Chronicles chapter 10, verse 13. It says, "So Saul died for his transgression which he committed against the Lord, even against the word of the Lord, which he kept not, and also for asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit to inquire of it."

And notice verse 14 of 1 Chronicles 10. And it says, "Inquired not of the Lord; therefore He slew him and turned the kingdom unto David the son of Jesse." Therefore God wiped him out. Why? Because he didn't inquire of the Lord.

You say, "But it says here that he inquired of the Lord." Well, let me put it this way. Maybe he inquired seemingly but not sincerely. Let me put it another way. Maybe he sought the Lord hurriedly but not wholeheartedly. Think about that for a moment.

Don't we flippantly say at times, "Well, I prayed about it"? Have you prayed about it? "Yeah, sought the Lord." Did you? Did you really inquire of God? Did you really fast and pray about it? "Well, I don't know." Did you really inquire of the Lord? Or maybe were you fooled that you had sought the Lord? Something to think about.

Saul, instead of finding out why God refused him and why God didn't speak to him, went to where? To witchcraft. Instead of seeking out in his own life, "What is it in me that's causing this block? What is it that I don't feel like I'm really getting anything?" He goes right to witchcraft.

Saul located a witch, and they went on this little search. And like I said, they go underground, don't they? They're out there. Okay, it's against the law, and if you are one, you're going to be killed. Well, what do they do? They go underground like it always does.

So they kind of look around, ask around. Of course they're going to find one. Yeah, there was one in Endor, which is an interesting name. It means—Endor means "fountain of habitation." I wonder what inhabited that place. Something evil, I'm sure. It was six miles east of Nazareth, close to Gilboa, where they found this witch. This woman medium of necromancy—and the word means that she communicated with the dead.

And we're going to find this out too, and I want to bring this to your attention, that only God communicates and deals with the dead. He's the only one that can. Many say that they can, and many reveal that they do, but only God truly does. And I'll bring this to your attention as we go on. This story sounds like it should be read at Halloween, really. I mean, this is weird. Okay? It's just stuck in here in the Bible, and we've got to deal with it, right?

Okay, verse eight. Look at this. "Saul disguised himself and put on other raiment, and he went, with two other men with him, and they came to the woman by night." You can see the fog on the ground, the full moon, and the whole bit. And he said, "I pray thee," as he knocks on the door, "divine unto me by a familiar spirit, and bring me him up whom I shall name unto thee."

And the woman said unto him, "Behold, thou knowest what Saul has done, how he hath cut off those that have familiar spirits and wizards out of the land. Wherefore then layest thou a snare for my life? You're trying to trap me, you're trying to get me killed to cause me to die." And Saul swore to her by the Lord. Can you imagine? "As the Lord liveth, I swear."

This is weird. Saul's swearing by the Lord now to bring up the darkness. "There shall no punishment happen to thee for this thing." Then said the woman, "Whom shall I bring up unto thee?" And he said, "Bring me up Samuel." So Saul puts on his costume. Now this isn't his first time he put on a costume. Remember, he played the fool? So that was the first time he put on a costume. This is the second time he puts on this costume. He comes by night to the witch's house.

Costumes usually have masks, right? And I'm sure he didn't have a mask on, but he disguised himself. Masks are interesting. In the New Testament, it talks about those that are hypocrites. Now you know what a hypocrite is. Everybody knows what a hypocrite is.

It's someone that says they're one thing but they're not. All right? But in the drama back there in the Greek, it was when somebody would come out with a mask on, you would say, "Oh, look at that hypocrite." It was somebody pretending themselves to be somebody who they're not. In disguise, a deceiver. And it's interesting that Saul comes masquerade here as a deceiver.

Saul goes on now, and the necromancers and the channelers of that day would contact the dead. And so, seeing or seeking to hear from a long-lost loved one, usually people would go to a necromancer. They would want to say, "Well, I know somebody that has died, and I want you to bring them back up because I want to hear from them."

And we hear a lot of this. There's movies made, and they have these seances and they have this one person come out and say they're the long-lost loved one. And they'll usually talk about something as they're in this trance about what you did with that individual that nobody else knows about.

So you're sitting there and this individual is saying, "And remember the time we were on the beach together?" And you look around. "It's her! I know it's her!" And you're totally hooked. You're sucked in immediately. Right? I mean, nobody else knows about this.

Hey, listen. Don't you think that demonic spirits know a little bit about some things? And they can bring this information up. Demons know things. But notice that demons in the Bible are fallen angels who rebelled, remember, against God with Satan. One third of them were kicked out of heaven in Revelations chapter 12. It talks about how one third of the angels of heaven were kicked out because of their rebellion against God.

Guest (Male): Don't be misled by false doctrine being spread these days. God is a holy God. He is a loving God, and He is also a God of judgment. And every person will be judged one day. This is Sound Doctrine with Pastor Jeff Johnson. And today we brought you a message from 1 Samuel chapter 28.

I'd like to remind you that you can hear it again on several different venues. First, you can go online to sounddoctrineradio.org where you can hear today's study as well as make a donation to this radio outreach. That's at sounddoctrineradio.org.

You can also listen at oneplace.com and through the Sound Doctrine Radio app. I should also mention Sound Doctrine can be heard wherever you enjoy podcasts, including Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Be sure to join us again next time we meet for another encouraging and challenging study with Pastor Jeff in the book of 1 Samuel. That's here on Sound Doctrine, presented by Calvary Chapel Downey.