February 4, 2007

• Covetousness Part Two by Pastor Ted

  Continued from the previous post.

  Pastor Ted said that we think we live in the realm of reality, but when truth (God’s truth) touches reality, reality doesn’t exist. God is outside of our limited perspective of reality.

  The anointing gives us power and authority to overcome, but if we don’t keep His covenant, He can choose not to bless us. How can God reward disobedience. (Heather’s note, if we do not set limits on our children’s behavior, and if we reward wrong actions, there is no incentive for our kids to grow into respectful, mature adults. A good example of kids gone wild is to watch a few minutes of the program where the nannies come into a household that is reduced to chaos because of kids that are out of control.)

  Romans 11 talks about a remnant of God’s people who are preserved. Even within the Church there is a spiritually minded group of people, and a carnally minded group. Just attending church does not make one spiritual or sanctified or set apart. It also takes the choice to obey God, to be led by the Spirit, and to turn away from the carnal things that we are doing.

  After looking at Achan, Pastor Ted directed us to 1 Samuel to study the life of Saul.

  1 Samuel 15:1  Samuel also said to Saul, “The LORD sent me to anoint you king over His people, over Israel. Now therefore, heed the voice of the words of the LORD.

  So often after a mountain top experience, there is the depths. After God speaks usually the next voice we hear is that of satan. Adam heard God speak and offer Him all the Garden for dominion, and then after that satan came and convinced Eve to disobey God. After Jesus was Baptized and the Spirit of the Lord descended like a dove on Him and He heard the words of His father calling Him beloved Son, Jesus was led to the wilderness to fast for 40 days and was tempted by satan.

  1 Samuel 15:2-3 “Thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, how he ambushed him on the way when he came up from Egypt. Now go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them. But kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’ ”

  This reminded Pastor Ted of the parable of the field where the farmer planted good seed, and satan came and planted tares. The farmer instructed his workers to let the two grow together and at harvest separate the wheat from the tares. God does that in our lives too. Sometimes He allows a wicked king like Amalek to rule for a season. That does not mean that God condones this king or what he is doing, God is just waiting for the right time and the right place to put an end to the evil rule.

  Someone asked a question of Pastor Ted and he pointed out that when God gives us some message or teaching to share, we have to share it. To not share it can cause great harm not only to others but also to ourselves for our disobedience. They continued to try and figure out how to decide if a prophesy is true or not. Pastor Ted said that a true prophesy edifies and comforts. That does not mean that the truth of the prophesy doesn’t hurt or cause pain, but the end result will be spiritual growth in the person. If a person tells a false prophesy it will not edify the person and can lead to pain, destruction, hurt.

  Of course our human nature does not always want to hear what God is speaking to us. Sometimes the Pastor speaks from the pulpit and it seems that he is reading a laundry list of our sins, and speaking to something we have to deal with in ourselves. We might get ticked off at what is said. But our heart knows that it is the truth that we need to hear. Sometimes we don’t want, with our minds, to hear the truth. We need to stifle that Babylonian nature in ourselves that wants the fleshly pride, and to focus on the truth of God, to be changed by God.

  The natural man wants to be liked by many. So often the prophets of the children of Israel were not treated well by the nation of Israel. They did not want to hear the truth.

  Samuel told Saul what God wanted Him to do, but Saul did not listen to God. Saul wanted to do what he wanted to do, and to be liked by the people so we are going to see Saul disobey God’s instructions. (Heather’s note, this disobedience will profoundly affect the nation of Israel in later time periods, and still does now).

  Saul was anointed king. Pastor Ted pointed out that we are all kings and priests.

  1 Samuel 15: 4-6 So Saul gathered the people together and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand foot soldiers and ten thousand men of Judah. And Saul came to a city of Amalek, and lay in wait in the valley. 

  Samuel gathered his troops to defeat the enemy, but does not do ALL that God told him to do.

  1 Samuel 15: 4-9 Then Saul said to the Kenites, “Go, depart, get down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them. For you showed kindness to all the children of Israel when they came up out of Egypt.” So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites. And Saul attacked the Amalekites, from Havilah all the way to Shur, which is east of Egypt. He also took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were unwilling to utterly destroy them. But everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed.

  What did Samuel tell Saul God wanted? To destroy all, women, children, men, the animals. Saul did not do that. He spared the King Agog and the best of the sheep, and other animals, anything that was good. But only destroyed what he despised and thought was worthless. God had real reasons for his instructions. (Heather’s note, so often we second guess God, thinking we know better, only to find out that we created more problems for ourself by our disobedience than we would have done by obedience). Saul will face serious repercussions for this act of disobedience.

  1 Samuel 15:10-11 Now the word of the LORD came to Samuel, saying, “I greatly regret that I have set up Saul as king, for he has turned back from following Me, and has not performed My commandments.” And it grieved Samuel, and he cried out to the LORD all night.

  When we disobey God it grieves Him. So often we go by what looks good, feels good, sounds good, even if it is not God’s best for us. And when we disobey God, there is judgment. (Heather’s note, with my kids, when they do things that I know are not in their best interests, I too am grieved because I see further than they what the effects of such disobedience can have.)

  1 Samuel 15: 12 So when Samuel rose early in the morning to meet Saul, it was told Samuel, saying, “Saul went to Carmel, and indeed, he set up a monument for himself; and he has gone on around, passed by, and gone down to Gilgal.”

  Remember that Gilgal means wheel, so Saul is going another time around the wheel. And notice, Saul has set up a monument for HIMSELF. This is not giving God he glory.

  1 Samuel 15: 13 Then Samuel went to Saul, and Saul said to him, “Blessed are you of the LORD! I have performed the commandment of the LORD. ‘

  Not only is there disobedience, but now Saul is lying. He didn’t perform the commandment of the LORD. He did some of what God instructed, but not the total. But the truth will come out.

  1 Samuel 15: 14-15 But Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?” And Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites; for the people spared the best of the sheep and the oxen, to sacrifice to the LORD your God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.”

  We are always ready with an excuse when we do not do God’s will. Remember Adam tried to blame God – “The woman YOU gave me….” and Eve blamed the serpent. Well Saul is blaming the people. Saul put the people’s opinion of himself over God’s opinion. So he then tries to fudge by saying He saved the sheep to sacrifice to God (Heather’s note, not true), and God does not want those sheep. He cares more about obedience than sacrifice.

  1 Samuel 15:16 Then Samuel said to Saul, “Be quiet! And I will tell you what the LORD said to me last night.” And he said to him, “Speak on.” 

  Samuel and God were not taken in by Saul’s lies.

  1 Samuel 15:17 So Samuel said, “When you were little in your own eyes, were you not head of the tribes of Israel? And did not the LORD anoint you king over Israel?

  This follows Jesus’ teaching, in order to be great you have to be less. In order to rule you need to serve, to obey God.

  1 Samuel 15:18-22 “Now the LORD sent you on a mission, and said, ‘Go, and utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.’ “Why then did you not obey the voice of the LORD? Why did you swoop down on the spoil, and do evil in the sight of the LORD? ‘ And Saul said to Samuel, “But I have obeyed the voice of the LORD, and gone on the mission on which the LORD sent me, and brought back Agag king of Amalek; I have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. “But the people took of the plunder, sheep and oxen, the best of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice to the LORD your God in Gilgal.”

  Pastor Ted said that we have to be careful in the church. We come and call what we do “worship.” A sacrifice of praise, but is it what our Holy God said He wanted. Is it really praise and worship, or do we still have things of the flesh that we are not giving up? Do we want that high position on the altar, the acclaim, the title? Are we sharing what God is telling us to share, or are we altering the message to please people? God will hold us accountable for our actions.

  Malachi 3:8-9 Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, ‘ In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings; you are cursed with a curse, for you have robbed Me, even this whole nation. “

  The priests of Malachi’s time were offering damaged goods to God, animals who were blind or blemished, not the best. And the intent of the passage was not being cursed, but to “curse with a curse.” We will be judged if we offer up blemished sacrifices.

  Pastor Ted pointed out that no two people in Church are at the same place in spiritual development. No two people have the same revelation of everything. God is revealing more and more to His people as they come in line with His will. (Heather’s note, just like we feed our babies milk, then go on to semisolid food, and finally real meat. God will give us what we can comprehend at the point that we are in our spiritual walk.)

  We need to seek the face of God. The more Word we get into us, the more God will reveal to us. The Word is eternal. To know Him is what will help us to make proper choices.  Power and Authority are given to those who know Him. We can’t get power and authority by our faith, but it is the faith of Christ, the leading of the Spirit, that gives us power and authority.

  1 Samuel 15:23 For rebelion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He also has rejected you from being king.”

  God takes our rebelion seriously, calling it as serious as witchcraft and idolatry. When God gives us the truth, the truth sets us free. If we reject the truth, we are not free, and we lose power and authority and position. Rejecting God’s Word is rejecting God.

  1 Samuel 15:24 Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice.

  God does not want our excuses, we need to fear God, not what others think our say. Our allegiance is to God and God alone, other people’s opinions are not as important as what God thinks. Saul is doing what many of us do when caught in a sin, apologize, but that does not mean that he has repented, as we will see in later verses.

  1 Samuel 15:25 “Now therefore, please pardon my sin, and return with me, that I may worship the LORD.”

  Saul was not concerned with true worship of God, but rather appearances. he wanted Samuel to come with him so that the people thought all was well.

  1 Samuel 15: 26-28 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.” And as Samuel turned around to go away, 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 a neighbor of yours, who is better than you.

  God read Saul’s heart, and knew that there was not true repentance. The covering God provided for Saul was torn away from him because of disobedience.

  1 Samuel 15:30 Then he said, “I have sinned; yet honor me now, please, before the elders of my people and before Israel, and return with me, that I may worship the LORD your God.”

  Hear Saul’s pride shows. And notice that Saul is not worshipping “His” God, but now it is “Your God”. This just goes to show how far Saul has stepped from God.

  1 Samuel 15:31 So Samuel turned back after Saul, and Saul worshiped the LORD. 

  Was it sincere worship? No.

  1 Samuel 15:32-35 Then Samuel said, “Bring Agag king of the Amalekites here to me.” So Agag came to him cautiously. And Agag said, “Surely the bitterness of death is past.” But Samuel said, “As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women.” And Samuel hacked Agag in pieces before the LORD in Gilgal. Then Samuel went to Ramah, and Saul went up to his house at Gibeah of Saul. And Samuel went no more to see Saul until the day of his death. Nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul, and the LORD regretted that He had made Saul king over Israel.

  Agag felt that he was safe from God, because his life was spared, but Samuel carried out God’s instructions. And notice that Samuel mourned for Saul. It does sadden us when people turn their backs on God.

  Pastor Ted continued the same teaching this past Friday, and I will share that teaching with you tomorrow.

  Have a blessed night!

  Heather

  • 10:23 pm
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