Bro Bill Sunday School 9/16/12

Bro Bill Sunday School 9/16/12

Pro 28:13  He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.

There is a truth about sinners coming to and owning the realization that they have sin.

1Sa 15:1  Samuel also said unto Saul, The LORD sent me to anoint thee to be king over his people, over Israel: now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the words of the LORD.

Samuel was telling Saul to do what God tells him to do.

1Sa 15:2  Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt.

1Sa 15:3  Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.

God told him to destroy them all.

1Sa 15:4  And Saul gathered the people together, and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand men of Judah.

1Sa 15:5  And Saul came to a city of Amalek, and laid wait in the valley.

1Sa 15:7  And Saul smote the Amalekites from Havilah until thou comest to Shur, that is over against Egypt.

1Sa 15:8  And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.

1Sa 15:9  But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them: but every thing that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly.

It says that “Saul and the people spared Agag.”  Later on we see that Saul blames it on the people.

1Sa 15:10  Then came the word of the LORD unto Samuel, saying,

1Sa 15:11  It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king: for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments. And it grieved Samuel; and he cried unto the LORD all night.

God told Samuel, “Saul hasn’t done what I’ve told him to do.”

1Sa 15:12  And when Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning, it was told Samuel, saying, Saul came to Carmel, and, behold, he set him up a place, and is gone about, and passed on, and gone down to Gilgal.

1Sa 15:13  And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of the LORD: I have performed the commandment of the LORD.

Saul knew better than that; he wasn’t stupid.  He knew that he hadn’t done what God, through Samuel, had told him to do.

1Sa 15:14  And Samuel said, What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?

1Sa 15:15  And Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites: for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.

We see here the same story as always: the blame game.  “The people spared the best so they could sacrifice to God.”  Our worship is not worth anything if we don’t obey God.  We can sacrifice and go overboard on certain areas but if we don’t obey God then it is nothing.

1Sa 15:16  Then Samuel said unto Saul, Stay, and I will tell thee what the LORD hath said to me this night. And he said unto him, Say on.

1Sa 15:17  And Samuel said, When thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the LORD anointed thee king over Israel?

1Sa 15:18  And the LORD sent thee on a journey, and said, Go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they be consumed.

1Sa 15:19  Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of the LORD, but didst fly upon the spoil, and didst evil in the sight of the LORD?

Another example:

1Sa 15:20  And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the LORD, and have gone the way which the LORD sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.

1Sa 15:21  But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God in Gilgal.

“The people…”  He blamed it on someone else.

1Sa 15:22  And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.

1Sa 15:23  For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.

“Thou has rejected…”  Samuel said it like it was.  Saul was the one responsible; he was the one that had disobeyed.  He was the one that needed to humble himself before God and repent of the wrong done.

1Sa 15:24  And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.

It appears here if I am seeing things right that even now there wasn’t a true repentance.  Down further in verse 30 it says, “I have sinned yet honor me before the elders and my people.”  He was saying, “I’ve sinned, but honor me in the presence of them, don’t make me look bad in front of the people.”  His mind was on something other than repentance from his sin; his attitude was wrong. 

Always be honest, never be deceptive.  Always be honest and upfront with God.  Always take the humble route.  It is a miracle that we can be completely honest with God.

It later says that Saul went on to the temple to worship God.  People can go through a form of worship without a right heart. 

When I read about David, what a man!  I want the pattern he set to be the pattern of my life.  We know that David messed up with Bathsheba:

2Sa 12:1  And the LORD sent Nathan unto David. And he came unto him, and said unto him, There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor.

2Sa 12:2  The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds:

2Sa 12:3  But the poor man had nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up: and it grew up together with him, and with his children; it did eat of his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter.

2Sa 12:4  And there came a traveller unto the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man that was come unto him; but took the poor man's lamb, and dressed it for the man that was come to him.

2Sa 12:5  And David's anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As the LORD liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die:

2Sa 12:6  And he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.

2Sa 12:7  And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul;

I wonder if the reason that Nathan brought this example to David was because David could really see the wrong in the story.  It seems that often we don’t see the things that we do as being wrong until we look at others that do the same thing and we recognize, “That is wrong.” 

Nathan brought this out to him to help him to see.  An individual only sees in parts: the part that they want.  To see the whole is different and if we did then we would not be enticed.  To see the whole as God does is wonderful.

God told David, “I’ve been really good to you, I’ve given you this, this, and this and if that wasn’t enough, I would have given you more.”

2Sa 12:8  And I gave thee thy master's house, and thy master's wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things.

2Sa 12:9  Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in his sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon.

There were consequences for David’s sin even though he had a thoroughly repentant heart.

2Sa 12:13  And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. And Nathan said unto David, The LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die.

David could have taken a different attitude, he was king, he could have ordered Nathan killed and then tried to cover it up.  David was in a situation where this was a big deal to be found out.  Imagine the president found in the same position.  Yet David said, “I am the man.”

David had a love for truth above himself and above his friends.  He valued truth.  This could be why he was a man after God’s own heart.  His attitude was, I don’t care if it will cost me even my reputation, I will honor God. 

What a pattern to pattern ourselves after, to have victory over man and man fear so that we obey God no matter what the cost.  Saul and David both said, “I’ve sinned.”  It is not all in the confession it is in the repentance, the heart attitude. 

Psa 51:1  To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.

Psa 51:2  Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.

Psa 51:3  For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.

David acknowledged his transgressions.  Unless we acknowledge our sins God cannot work with us.  David made such a big deal of his sin that he even wrote his confession and repentance down.  When you have a leader that does wrong then it opens up to the people, “He did it; I can do it if I want.” 

In both cases the penalty was that there would be a humiliation before all the people.  David didn’t say, I have sinned, but please spare me from the humiliation.  Saul wanted honor before the people foremost.  That was a side issue with David.  He had in the forefront that he had sinned against God. 

David knew what had happened to Saul.  He knew that he had messed up and knew that God had taken the kingdom from him.  God could have done the same thing if He’d wanted to with David.  I kind of think that David’s attitude would have been: “That doesn’t matter, I deserve the consequences and I want to be clear with God.”  His example was a good one to his generation and to every generation since.

Saul wanted to cover up; without total humility there is no confession.  You must be humble all the way without reservation in order to be forgiven.  One of the consequences to David’s sin was the loss of the child.  He fasted and prayed for the child, while the child lived, hoping for mercy.  But when the child died, he got up and went on with his life. 

He let God be God.  He didn’t want to be the exception.  Saul wanted to be the exception.

Psa 51:4  Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.