Should Christians no longer grieve the death of a loved one, since "death has lost its sting?"

It’s a well-known phrase among Christians, made popular by several songs. It’s a phrase that makes us feel vaguely encouraged because it sounds a note of triumph—death has lost its sting. I say “vaguely” encouraged because when we hear it, we probably don’t know exactly what it means.

So what does this phrase mean, and what does it mean for our behavior and our responses to death? Most importantly for now, how should we answer the question that forms the title of this blog post? Does the word “sting” in that phrase refer to emotional pain over someone’s death? Would we be dishonoring our hope in Christ, then, if we felt emotional pain over someone’s death?

It’s important to note that the phrase “death has lost its sting” is not found in the Bible in that exact wording. That’s not necessarily a big deal, but making that observation helps us understand that the phrase is an interpretation or a summary of the exact language of the Bible. Interpretations can sometimes be less than accurate, and summaries can actually be unhelpful if they miss the heart of what they intend to condense. Is that the case with this phrase?

In this case, the phrase “death has lost its sting” is meant to summarize the teaching of the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:56, which I present here in its context:

“When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory.’ ‘O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?’ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Two observations are in order here. First, notice that Paul is writing about a victory that is assured to us right now, but it not yet a reality. This victory will be realized “when the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality”—that is, when we’re resurrected in our imperishable, immortal bodies. That is a victory that not even deceased believers have enjoyed yet, since they are still awaiting the resurrection, too.

Second, notice that Paul defines for us what the “sting of death” is—it is sin. Sin is the tool through which Death (personified here) inflicts its harm; it is the means through which Death captures its prey. Sin creates this opportunity for Death because of the Law of God, which calls for death as the penalty for law-breaking. But since Christ perfectly fulfilled the Law on our behalf, and since his death has “[cancelled] the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands (Col 2:14),” we are now presently assured of the ultimate victory over death—resurrection!—even though we may have to experience physical death first.

So has death presently lost its sting? Yes and no. Perhaps we should compare it to an army that is cut off from its supply lines. Such an army can still do damage at the moment, but its days are numbered. The life-blood of its power to harm is draining away and will not be replenished. So it is with death. Though we might die physically before God wraps up the fullness of His plan for the ages, death’s days are numbered. Paul was right—thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!

To answer the question that sparked this post, it is perfectly appropriate to grieve the loss of a loved one. To do so does not dishonor the hope we have in Christ. If you’ve ever felt guilty for grieving because you thought this phrase meant “death is no longer painful,” please leave behind that misunderstanding. Grief is normal, but thank God that as Christians, our grief is not the same as those “who have no hope (1 Thess 4:13).” In Christ, we have the assurance of one day seeing our loved ones who have shared our faith—an assurance which can take a bit of the edge off of our grief.

“And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.”—1 Peter 5:10

Did God promise to grant any request made by two or three people gathered in His name?

A few days ago, a post by a Facebook friend caught my eye and stuck in my mind for hours (that’s rare for me for a Facebook post!). This lady was asking for prayer for a baby who is facing a heartbreaking illness. It is good to invite people to pray, and her compassion was obvious.

What stuck in my mind, however, was the claim that her post made about God and his promises concerning prayer. I don’t know if this lady wrote these words or if she was simply sharing them from someone else’s post, but here’s what it said:

“The power of prayer. God says where ever there is three or more gathered in his name in complete harmony he will give them whatever they ask for. So please let’s all be in complete harmony and say this prayer…” What followed was a suggested prayer that we could all pray for this baby.

This claim about God grieved me deeply and stuck in my mind for hours. Why such a strong reaction, you ask? Because the truth is this:

If God made that promise, then he is utterly untrustworthy.

How did I reach that conclusion? Just think about what your own experience has taught you. How many times have you and a group of family or friends all made the same specific prayer request to God, only to see it go unfulfilled? I would suspect we have all lived through that experience a number of times.

Do you see the dilemma that our experience raises in light of that claim? If God did in fact make such a promise about prayer, then he has failed to deliver on it repeatedly. If any other person you know repeatedly fails to deliver on a promise, don’t you eventually conclude that he is not trustworthy? Logically, we are backed into a corner on this one – if God made that promise about prayer, we would be foolish to trust him, because he has failed to deliver on it time and time again.

So we have a crucial question to consider – did God in fact promise that “wherever there is three or more gathered in his name in complete harmony he will give them whatever they ask for?”

This language of “three or more gathered” is found in Matthew 18:15-20. Here is that whole passage, so you can get the context of the whole train of thought:

"If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. 18 Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 19 Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them."

A couple of questions at this point will bring us some much-needed clarity regarding any promise that God is making in these verses. First of all, why are the two or three gathered in this passage? We quickly discover that they are not gathered for any general purposes regarding prayer, but rather for a very specific purpose – to help resolve a dispute that has arisen within the church body. Initially, they are gathered in verse 16 to provide evidence that the claims of the offended brother are indeed true. Then, they are (presumably) gathered with the rest of the church in verse 17 as the church makes a pronouncement regarding the unrepentant brother’s status within the church body (the meaning of “let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector”).

Second, what would the two or three be asking about in this context (their asking is mentioned in verse 19)? Here, we have to trace the line of thinking from verse 17 forward. At the end of verse 17, an action is prescribed as the end result of church discipline for an unrepentant brother – let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. This statement would refer to the removal of the brother’s privileges and responsibilities within the church body (it certainly does NOT mean anything like “act mean and nasty toward him”).

This act is then referred to in verse 18 as “binding” and “loosing.” Notice then that in verse 19, Jesus begins by saying “again I say to you.” The word “again” would indicate that Jesus is about to refer back to the action at the end of verse 17 in different language than what he used in verse 18. So then, what would the two or three be asking about in verse 19? The most natural answer, based on the context, is that they would be asking God to approve and confirm their decision to remove the unrepentant brother’s privileges and responsibilities within the church body.

Only now can we properly understand the statements “it will be done for them by my father in heaven” and “for where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” Jesus is promising that if we take the proper care and caution in overseeing the discipline of the church, God will approve and confirm the decisions that are made through this process.

There is no general promise made here about any and all prayers that may ever be spoken. It’s very important that we don’t conclude that God is making such a promise here. Why is it so important? Among several reasons, this one stands out:

People sometimes lose their faith when they expect God to grant a request and he doesn’t.

This whole discussion thus becomes very relevant very quickly. We MUST make sure that the expectations we have for God are based on what he himself has said in the Bible and not simply on popular sentimentality. Otherwise, we may end up disappointed with God for no legitimate reason, but simply because we have embraced a misunderstanding about him. That is a very sad state of affairs, indeed.

We must be very careful when we start saying “God promised us this…” or “God promised us that…” We do not want to put God on the hook for things he did not actually say! There certainly is power in prayer. May I be the last person to ever discourage people from praying! But we don’t want to find ourselves in a crisis of faith that could’ve been avoided by simply spotting an unfortunate misunderstanding.

A Giant Concern for God's Honor--Life of David Series (A First-Person Sermon)

(Note: In a first-person sermon, I speak as if I am the character whose story I'm telling. In this sermon, I spoke as if I were King David himself.)

            Good morning to all of you! I’m so glad to be here with you today. I was flattered to hear that you are studying the story of my life in the Bible. I praise God for all that he has taught people through my life – both my good times and my bad – and if he teaches you something as well, I will praise him all the more!

            I was thrilled when I heard that I would get to come here today and talk to you about one of the most significant stories from my life – the story of God and the Philistine. Ah-- you thought I was going to say David and Goliath, didn’t you? I know that’s what people call it these days, but I’ve never really liked that title. It makes it sound like this story is all about me, but I don’t want anyone to get that impression. This story is about God and his honor and how great moments can come when we care more about God’s honor than anything else.

            I also don’t quite understand why people have made this out to be the ultimate underdog story. The whole reason I marched out there was because I never thought of myself as an underdog! I had God on my side, and I knew this puny little giant was no match for him. But I suppose that everyone else who was there that day did see me as an underdog, so I suppose that description kind of fits.

            I get kind of nostalgic whenever I get to tell the story, and I suppose there are a couple of reasons for that. First, this was the moment that God used to put me on the public stage among my people. Even after Samuel the prophet had told me that I would be the next king of Israel, I couldn’t help but think, “How could that possibly happen? I’m a nobody – the youngest son in my family!” Well, this battle became the springboard that launched me into the public eye.

            Second, this story is one of the highlights of the good old days for me. Before long, you’re going to read about some moments in my life that I would rather forget. Later on, I would commit some sins that would stay with me for the rest of my life. My actions would hurt so many people; my own family would come almost to the point of ruin.

            But this story was one of the shining moments, and it wasn’t because I was so brave or so courageous. It was just because at that time, I cared more about God’s honor than anything else. I hope you’ll remember that lesson from my story today:

The most significant moments of your life will come when you care more about God’s honor than anything else.

            When you forget about that, you’re asking for trouble. But when you live to honor God rather than just make yourself happy or to build up your own reputation, then you will always be in the right place.

            Well, let me get to the story. The Philistines lived to our West, between the land of my people and the Mediterranean Sea. We had been enemies for hundreds of years, and one day, they marched their army into the Valley of Elah, which was a very strategic place to control because one of the main roads went through that Valley for people who were traveling east and west.

            King Saul marched our army down there to meet them, and my three oldest brothers joined the ranks. You might remember that I had already served King Saul with my music, and I had been appointed as one of his armor bearers. But at that point, I was still so young and small that when real battle looked likely, I was left behind. So I was back with my father’s sheep and I was also acting as a messenger between my dad and my brothers.

            One day, my father asked me to take some food to my brothers at the battlefield and to bring back word of how they were doing. So the next day, I got up earlier than before to make the trip, and that turned out to be a fateful decision.

            The trip from my home in Bethlehem to the Valley of Elah was around 13 miles. I had gotten to know the path pretty well, and I even knew some shortcuts that allowed me to save some time on my walk. Before I even arrived in the valley, I could hear the commotion of our army mustering in their ranks and shouting our war cry. I ran down the rest of the path and got to our camp first, where I left all of the food with the man who was in charge of the supplies, then I ran out to the front lines where our army had positioned themselves.

Seeing and Hearing Goliath

            When I got to the ranks, the air itself was thick with tension and suspense. The two armies were positioned across from each other on opposite hillsides with the Valley in between, and down in the middle of the Valley was one solitary man – a giant of a man, over 9 feet tall. His body was covered in bronze armor from head to toe. All that armor must’ve easily weighed over 100 pounds, but he paced back and forth in that Valley as if he was wearing nothing at all!

            But it wasn’t the sight of him that astonished me the most – it was the words that came out of his mouth. This man looked up the hillside at us and bellowed, “Why have you come out to draw up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me. If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants. But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and serve us. I defy the ranks of Israel this day. Give me a man, that we may fight together (vv. 8-10).”

            I could hardly believe the arrogance of this man! What you must understand is that at that time, we all thought of battles as not just contests between armies but also as showdowns between the gods – their god versus our God, and the armies were just the method of confrontation.

            This Philistine’s boasts made it clear that he had no fear of our God whatsoever – our God, who had humbled the Egyptians and drowned their army in the sea; who had stopped up the Jordan River and made the walls of Jericho come tumbling down!

            I couldn’t believe this man could think so much of himself and so little of our God. I halfway expected our boys to fight each other just to see who could take the first crack at this man, but to my surprise, our soldiers were moving backward, not forward. No one wanted to give even the impression that they were volunteering to fight this man.

            Then I thought, “Perhaps they’re just clearing the way for King Saul to come out.” Yes, surely that had to be it. Surely our king would go out before us and fight our battles! But Saul was nowhere to be seen.

            What was wrong with my people? Did they care so little about the honor of God that no one would even try to defend it? Did no one believe that God could once again do a mighty deed?

Conversing with the Soldiers and Eliab

            Instead of the sound of a sword being drawn from its sheath, I heard the sound of talking among our ranks. One soldier was saying to another, “Have you seen this man who has come up? Surely he has come up to defy Israel. And the king will enrich the man who kills him with great riches and will give him his daughter and make his father’s house free in Israel (v. 25).”

            When our soldiers had retreated, they had come back far enough that I was now standing among them. I wanted to make sure I had heard these words correctly, so I asked, “What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God (v. 26)?”

            When I spoke those words, all the soldiers around me turned and stared at me with disbelief. One soldier came pushing and shoving his way through all the others, and when he got to me I discovered that I was staring right into the face of my oldest brother, Eliab!

            I was happy to see him, but it became clear right away that he wasn’t very happy to see me. His face was red with anger, and he said to me, “Why have you come down? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your presumption and the evil of your heart, for you have come down to see the battle (v. 28).”

            Friends, let me tell you – that’s when I began to realize that when you, in your own heart, put a concern for God’s honor above everything else, some people just won’t understand the way you act. They’ll misinterpret your motives; they’ll think you’re trying to act “holier than thou” or that you believe you’re better than them. Until someone has come to put God’s honor ahead of their own, it’s hard for them to understand why you do the things you do. Don’t let that stop you! Remember – the most significant moments of your life will come when you care more about God’s honor than anything else.

Conversing with Saul

            Well, as my older brother was doing what jealous older brothers sometimes do, some of the other soldiers had sent word to King Saul about the confidence that I had expressed through my words. The king sent for me, and I was taken to him. I’m sure he was rather surprised to see my face, but I said to him, “Let no man’s heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.”

            If I’m not mistaken, Saul was trying to suppress a laugh when he replied, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are but a youth, and he has been a man of war from his youth.”

            But I had more experience with battle than he realized! “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father,” I said. “And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him. Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God. The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.”

            I hope you can understand from my words why I felt so confident. It’s not that I was just naturally more brave or courageous than anyone else. I just had complete confidence that God would help me take down this arrogant Philistine. When my people had first marched into the land of Israel, God had promised that he would drive out the Philistines before us if we would simply trust in that promise and take action to do it. And besides, the Lord had also proclaimed through Samuel the prophet that I would be the next king of Israel. I can’t tell you why he chose me, but he did, and as I stood there among the army that day, I just chose to believe that if God made a promise, then the matter was settled. I knew I could live and act as if his promise had already come true.

            Saul could see that I was raring to fight, so he gave me permission to go. He offered to let me wear his own armor, and he even had me try it on, but you have to remember – King Saul was the tallest man in all of Israel. With his armor on, I looked like a boy trying to walk around in his dad’s shoes! I was going to trip all over myself if I tried to fight with that stuff on, so I declined as politely as I could, and I decided just to go out with the tools that had always allowed me to defend my sheep before – my staff and my sling.

The Battle

            Now you have to understand – my sling truly was a deadly weapon in the right hands. It was an overhead style sling, and I could sling a stone out of it at about 150 mph! That didn’t impress this Philistine however, because when he saw me walking out there to challenge him, he just about fell over laughing!

            “Am I a dog,” he said, “that you come to me with sticks?” Then he said something about his great and mighty gods, and I thought, “Just you wait, buddy! Your statues of stone couldn’t hurt me unless you threw them at me!” Then he said, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the field.”

            I had had enough of him insulting my God, so I said, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the Lord saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give you into our hand.”

            I wanted to make sure that everyone knew what this encounter was really all about. It wasn’t about me or anyone else who was on the field that day. This was about upholding the honor of God and giving him a chance to put his power on display.

            I apparently got under the giant’s skin with my words, because that was all he wanted to hear from me! He started to walk toward me, and I was more than happy to oblige, so I ran toward him and got a stone loaded into my sling. I twirled it over my head and aimed it right at that big, ugly head of his, and the Lord made it fly true. The stone struck him in the forehead with such force that it sank in and lodged there.

            I don’t know if the Philistine really was this arrogant or what, but he acted like he never even saw my sling. He just kept coming at me, so when the stone struck him, his momentum caused him to fall forward onto his face. He almost crushed his own armor bearer, and when that guy saw what happened, he took off running for the hills.

            I marched right up and true to my word, I took the Philistines own sword and cut off his head. Now please don’t think of me as some brute or butcher. You might think differently about it today, but that was standard warfare back then.

            With that, the battle was on! The Philistines turned tail and started running back home, and our army chased them all the way there before they came back to collect the spoils of victory.

            As I looked out over the ranks of my people celebrating, I prayed to God that they would remember that God could be trusted and that His honor is worth defending. We are His people—and you, today, are His people—so the way we act reflects directly on Him. When we act in confidence that His promises are true and His commands are right, we bring great honor to Him.

The Lessons

            As I thought back on that day over the years, it dawned on me that in just that one event, the Lord highlighted some of the most significant lessons that he kept trying to teach my people over and over again. I wonder if you noticed any of them.

            The first was this – do not see merely as man sees. Don’t live your life based on nothing more than what you can see! King Saul and the rest of the people – all they could see was Goliath’s stature. They couldn’t see that the real battle that day was not physical but spiritual. God’s honor was being called into question, and what were they going to do about it? If they would’ve acted for the sake of his great name, he would come through for them!

            Second, do not trust in the strength of man to save you. So many times, my people got into trouble and danger because of their own sins. But rather than just confess those sins and return to the Lord, we thought, “If we just make an alliance with the Egyptians or the Syrians, then we will be okay!” We thought we could make all of our problems go away through our own strength or our own wisdom, when all we ever needed was to stop running away from God and just obey him once again.

            Third, the God of Israel is the living God; all other so-called gods are lifeless and powerless. Time and time again, we gave our worship and affection, our money and our resources to these things that could not help us at all. They held out nothing but a false hope, when all the while our God – the living God – promised to give us all we would ever need if we would just obey him.

            Fourth, God delights to work through unexpected channels. How often has God chosen the most unlikely person to accomplish something great for him! If you think there’s something about you that would prevent God from using you, think again! You might be the most likely person for him to use, so just prize his honor above anything else and get ready to see the great ways that he can use you.

            Fifth, the people of God represent God. The most shameful thing about that day was not the Philistine’s insults but the cowardice of my people. Their actions betrayed a very small view of God. Never forget that your actions reflect on the God you claim to love. Everything you do reflects on him either for the better or for the worse.

            Sixth and lastly, God acts on behalf of his people for the sake of his great name. God didn’t give me victory that day just so we could control a strategic valley, even though that did happen. He didn’t give me victory just to catapult me to fame, although that happened, too. He won the victory that day so that all the earth would know that there is a God in Israel. Everything he does for us he does ultimately to put his glory on display. God highly values the honor of his name, and so we should, too, more than anything else in life.

What's So "Great" About the Great Commission?--Baptism Sermon

            Words like “great” and “awesome” have lost a little bit of their punch in our language. We use them so often and for so many things that they’ve lost a little bit of their significance. For example, we might eat a really tasty pizza and say, “Wow! That pizza was awesome!” Or on the Fourth of July, we might rig up some kind of homemade bomb and when we set it off we say, “That was awesome!”

            I think it’s kind of humorous to put the dictionary definition of “awesome” into those statements. We’d feel kind of silly saying, “That pizza filled me with an overwhelming sense of reverence!” The dictionary does also mention an overwhelming sense of fear, so that might apply to your homemade bomb on the Fourth of July!

            Because of the way that we use words like “great” and “awesome,” when we talk in church about the Great Commission, we might wonder what’s great about it. Why do we call it the “Great” Commission, anyway? I’d like to give you four answers to that question today as we take a look at the commission that Jesus gave his disciples in Matthew 28:16-20.

            The event recorded in this passage is taking place after Jesus rose from the grave. The text says, “Now the 11 disciples went to Galilee [remember that Judas Iscariot is no longer part of the group!], to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted.”

            That statement takes us by surprise in this story. What were the disciples doubting? Were some of them doubting whether Jesus had really come back to life?

            Most likely, their doubts were about their worship. The Greek term here includes the act of bowing down to someone, and even though the disciples were coming to understand that Jesus was God and the Messiah, he was also a human being, and the thought of bowing down to a human being would have been very foreign to the minds of these Jewish men.

            So most likely, they were having questions or doubts about what they should do now in the presence of Jesus. “Does he want us to bow down to him? After all, we remember him washing our feet and telling us not to act all high and mighty. What does he want us to do?”

            Jesus doesn’t address any questions of etiquette, but instead he gives them a mission, or we might say he commissions them for a job. Starting in verse 18, we begin to see why we refer to this as the “Great” Commission.

1. It comes from a great authority

            [READ v. 18] The first part of the Father’s plan for Jesus required him to submit to various human beings. He submitted to his parents while he was growing up, then later he submitted to the Jewish and Roman authorities.

            But the days for Jesus to submit to other humans are over. The Father has declared him to be the Lord of heaven and earth, and if only all men everywhere would worship him as such! But many people have not heard that Jesus is their Lord and Savior, or some have heard and they have continued in rebellion against him. And so, there is a need for the commission Jesus gives his disciples in verses 19 and 20.

2. It has a great goal

            [READ v. 19-20] What a lofty and satisfying goal this is, to call people to become apprentices of Jesus – to call them to embrace Jesus as their Lord and Savior, then to make that fact known through baptism, then to learn from Jesus’ teachings how to navigate all the ins and outs of life.

            This is the greatest goal to which we could possibly devote our lives. What even compares to it? Accumulating a fortune that you just have to leave behind anyway? A fortune that your kids might fight over or even squander? Grasping for your 15 minutes of fame that might be gone even before you are?

            No goal could possibly be greater than this commission, and this commission also serves as the marching orders for the church. If you’ve ever asked yourself, “What should our church really be focused on?” there’s really no mystery to the answer. We are to make disciples of all nations, lead people to be baptized, and teach them how to live a life that’s based on the commandments of God. Now sure, some of the details will be different for different churches based on where they’re located and the resources they have, but our common goal is laid out right here, and it’s as plain as day.

3. It has a great scope

            Notice that Jesus told them to make disciples of all nations. Previously, in Matthew 10, Jesus had sent the disciples out on a short-term preaching tour, and at that time he had told them to stay within the boundaries of Israel.

            But now there was to be no such restriction. Since Jesus has all authority on earth, all the inhabitants of Earth need to hear the offer of peace from their crucified and risen King. The Gospel is not a message for Israel alone, but for all people. There is also no room for prejudice or racism in our efforts to spread the Gospel. The offer of salvation is made to all people, and all people need to hear it.

4. It comes with a great promise

            After giving his disciples this commission, he gives them this promise: “And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

            In may seem ironic that after giving this promise, Jesus left the Earth and returned to heaven just a few days later. But by doing so, he made it possible to be with all of his disciples all the time – at the same time, no matter where they might be. Remember that Jesus’ physical body could not be in two places at once any more than yours or mine can.

            But after returning to heaven, Jesus sent his Spirit upon his disciples on the day of Pentecost. The Spirit has come to live in every believer since that time. So Jesus has certainly made good on this promise, and he will continue to do so.

            The Spirit’s presence within us is a wonderful reality of the unity that we enjoy with Jesus through faith. Baptism is a wonderful picture of that unity as we symbolize the fact that through faith, we have died, been buried, and have been raised to new life with Jesus. Let us celebrate with those who choose to take this important step.

Phases of the Lord's Second Coming--Definite Convictions Series

            Planning a vacation with your grown-up siblings or extended family can be an interesting process. You quickly find out that even though you’re family, you probably disagree about all kinds of vacation details.

            Some people want to hit all of the tourist hotspots. The larger the crowds, the better, because crowds mean energy and liveliness. Other people want to get away from it all. They’d rather find a cabin out in Montana and spend a week with no Internet and no cell phone reception.

            Some people like to pinch every penny when they’re on vacation. It’s like a personal challenge for them to beat the system! They want to take all their own food, and they know that if everyone gets 2 ½ pieces of bread each day, they can stretch three loaves over the entire trip. Other people like to live it up when they’re on vacation. They want to see what it feels like to be Warren Buffet, so their credit card never leaves their hand.

            But despite these differences, you realize that at the end of the day, you’re still family. You can live with differences like this because they’re not the core of what really makes you a family, anyway.

            Today, as we continue through our church’s Statement of Faith, we come to an issue on which there is some disagreement within the Christian family. It’s disagreement we can live with—we don’t need to denounce other churches over this issue, but there is value to taking a clear position within our own church.

            All Christians believe that Jesus is going to return to this world someday because he said he would. There is disagreement, though, about how he will return and when he will return. The specific question is this – will the events that we call the Rapture and the Second Coming happen at the same time in one event, or will they happen at different times and thus be two separate events?

            Our church believes and teaches that the Rapture and the Second Coming will be two separate events. Thus, our Statement of Faith refers to phases (plural) of the Lord’s Second Coming. It says:

We believe in the Blessed Hope (Titus 2:13), the personal, imminent, pre-tribulation and pre-millennial, bodily coming of the Lord Jesus Christ for His Church; and in His subsequent return to Earth with His saints to establish His Millennial kingdom. (John 14:3; Acts 1:11; 1 Thess 1:10; 1 Thess 4:13-18; 2 Thess 1:7-9; Rev 3:10; 19:11-16; Zech 14:4-11)

You see a long list of verses there, and I’d like to read just a few of them – two of the main passages on the Rapture, and one of the main passages on the Second Coming [READ John 14:1-3; 1 Thess 4:13-18; Rev 19:11-16].

Why Do We Believe That The Rapture and The Second Coming Will Be Separate Events?

            All of these passages describe Jesus returning to this earth. Why do we believe that they refer to two separate events instead of just one? I’ll focus today on just three reasons.

1. The stated purpose for Christ’s return is different in different passages

            In John 14, Jesus said that he was leaving to prepare a place for his disciples and that he would come back for them so they could all live in that place together. That is a rather different purpose from Revelation 19, which describes Jesus coming to strike down the nations and to tread the wine press of the fury of the wrath of God.

            Now, this point all by itself does not make a slam-dunk case for the idea of separate events. After all, one event can certainly serve several purposes. Think of a wedding, for example. A wedding serves as a time for celebration, an opportunity for spiritual dedication as a couple takes vows before the Lord, and it marks the beginning of a legal contract between a husband and wife that is acknowledged by the government. So one event can fulfill several purposes, but recognizing different purposes in different passages at least opens the door to the idea that there could be different phases to Christ’s return.

2. Christ’s return is said to be imminent, yet many events are described that must happen before Christ returns

            Passages like James 5:7-9 teach us that Christ’s return could take place at any moment [READ James 5:7-9]. This passage pictures Jesus as being ready to step into our world right now. And yet, the Book of Revelation describes seven years’ worth of events that must take place before Christ can return. How can both of these ideas be true?

            That question is a real conundrum for Christians who believe that the Rapture and Second Coming are one event. The tension is resolved, however, when we view these happenings as two separate events. In this point of view, the Rapture is imminent, with the Second Coming then taking place seven years later.

            So the Rapture could happen at any moment, wherein the Lord will descend into the skies to take us out of the world to live with him in heaven. Then, seven years later, Jesus will return to the world with all of us in tow in order to establish his kingdom of peace on this planet.

3. The Apostle Paul calls the transformation of living Christians a “mystery”

            1 Thessalonians 4 spoke of living Christians being caught up into the clouds to meet the Lord and thus being instantly transformed in that moment. In 1 Corinthians 15, the Apostle Paul referred to that truth as a “mystery” [READ 1 Cor 15:51-52].

            Paul uses that word “mystery” a few times in his writings, and when he does, he uses it to refer to truths that had not previously been revealed to mankind. In other words, he’s saying, “I’m going to let you in on a secret,” or “I’m going to tell you something you’ve never heard before.”

            That’s significant for this discussion because Christ’s coming to defeat his enemies and establish his kingdom was clearly foretold in the Old Testament. What we read about in Revelation 19 had already been clearly predicted in passages like Zechariah 14.

            The point is that Paul could not have referred to the Second Coming as a mystery since it had already been revealed. So, when he talks about living believers being instantly transformed and meeting the Lord in the air, he must be referring to a different event than what had already been foretold in the Old Testament.

Monday Matters

            So what difference does it make for you in your daily life to know that there will be two phases to Christ’s return – the Rapture and then the Second Coming? It means that you can live with this confidence and assurance:

God has not destined you to taste his wrath.

            Why will Jesus rapture us out of this world seven years prior to his Second Coming? Because the period of time between those two events will be a time of anguish unlike anything this world has yet seen. Jesus said in Matthew 24 that it will be a time of great trouble and tribulation, and that if God did not limit that period to just a few years, no one at all would survive it.

            But God will take us out of the world prior to that time in order to spare us from it. God has a history of protecting his people in moments when he expresses his appropriate anger toward sin. He did it for Noah and his family when he flooded the earth; he did it for Lot when he destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah; he did it for the children of Israel when the plagues ravaged Egypt but left them unscathed. Apparently, he is going to do it for us before he sends judgments upon the world for our rejection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

            So God has not destined you to taste his wrath. I think that truth should also influence the way that we interpret the normal sufferings of life that we face here in a fallen world. When we face hard, painful times, it is very common for us to wonder, “Is God angry at me? Is that why this is happening? Am I facing his anger for something?”

            This truth about the Rapture should remind us of the glorious deliverance and salvation that we have through Jesus Christ. We are saved from the wrath of God through him, so when we face the trials of life, we don’t need to jump to the conclusion that God is angry with us. Since you are God’s child, his fundamental outlook toward you is one of acceptance and love and mercy. The gaze that looks down on you from heaven is always tender and compassionate, never angry and stern.

            We are saved from the wrath of God, both now and in the future when God will express his wrath toward mankind in the Tribulation. And so we look forward with great anticipation to the moment when Jesus will come to take his children out of the world to be with him in the place that he is preparing. And we will rejoice greatly on the day when we come back from heaven with him to enjoy the kingdom of peace that he will establish in this world.

Be Careful, Little Eyes, What You See--Life of David Series

            What kind of qualities would you say are necessary to become President of the United States? Perhaps intelligence? The ability to think on your feet? According to some research, it may not take much more than simply being taller than your opponent.

            Since 1789, when our current Constitution was adopted, the taller of the major-party candidates for President has won the popular vote 67% of the time.¹ That means that in two out of every three Presidential elections, you could correctly predict the winner of the popular vote by looking at nothing more than which candidate is taller.

            During last year’s election, Google kept a close eye on what people were searching for during one of the Republican debates. The top search had nothing to do with tax plans or foreign policy. The top search question was, “How tall is Jeb Bush?”

            As humans, we’re inclined to form all kinds of opinions about people based on nothing more than how they look. This tendency can lead us to hold opinions about others that are way off base. We can come to esteem others whom we really should not hold in high regard, and we can look down on others for whom we should truly have great respect.

            When God announced that a teenage shepherd named David would be the next king of Israel after Saul, he revealed to us how we should form our opinions of others. The Lord’s declaration in this chapter is one that we should keep in mind:

Man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.

            I enjoy watching a good musical on stage. In a musical, all of the big turning points in the drama are expressed through songs. In this story in 1 Samuel 16, all of the big turning points are expressed through the Hebrew verb that means “to see” or “to look.” God first announces that he has seen a king for himself. Samuel then sees a likely candidate for the next king, but then we discover that Samuel was not looking at the right things. Then later, King Saul must look for a man for a certain task, and his servant announces that he has seen just the man that Saul is looking for. Let’s look through this drama and learn how to see other people the way that God does.

1. God sees a king for himself  (vv. 1-5)

            [READ v. 1] Here is the first verb of seeing, though it’s not entirely clear in the English translation. We could translate that last phrase “I have seen for myself a king among his sons;” or perhaps even better, “I have seen to it that there is a king among his sons.”

            Understandably, Samuel wasn’t sure about all of this [READ vv. 2-5].

2. Samuel sees a likely candidate for king (v. 6)

            When Jesse and his sons arrived, Samuel apparently thought, “This is the easiest mission I’ve ever had! Eliab is the obvious choice.” [READ v. 6]

            Eliab must’ve had a very commanding presence to stand out so quickly in Samuel’s eyes. Perhaps he had been the all-state quarterback at Bethlehem High School – tall, strong, broad-shouldered. Apparently Samuel chose kings the same way that Americans choose Presidents. But Samuel is about to get an eye exam from the Lord.

3. God adjusts Samuel’s sight (vv. 7-13)

            [READ v. 7] The point of that final statement is not that God knows more about other people than we do – although that is certainly true. The point is that God focuses on what is truly important while we get hung up on things that really are not important. God focuses on character while we focus on clothing; he looks at humility while we look at height; he looks at service while we look at skin color.

            If we want to learn to form our opinions about others the way God does, we can’t get hung up on superficial qualities. We have to look at their character – to look at what they say, what they do, and whether those two expressions of the heart match up with each other.

            Samuel receives an immediate lesson in this principle as an impromptu parade of Jesse’s sons then passes before him [READ v. 8-11, stopping at “keeping the sheep”].

            Can you feel how Jesse is almost dumbfounded by the thought of calling in his youngest son? Jesse hadn’t even invited him to the dinner in the first place! I’m sure he had affection for David, but this lack of an invitation tells us something of what Jesse thought about David’s position in the family. No one will even miss the runt if we don’t invite him!

            Jesse also offers a slight protest by declaring where his youngest son is. Notice that he introduces it with the word behold: “behold, he is keeping the sheep.” “Samuel, you gotta understand – he doesn’t have any cell phone reception out there, so we’ll have to send someone all the way out there to get him, and then we’ll have to wait for him to get all the way back. Is it really necessary to call him in? Maybe we can just rewind the parade and you can look over my older son’s again!”

            But Samuel was starting to learn God’s lesson, so he says, [READ v. 11b-12a, stopping at “handsome’]. It’s kind of ironic that in this lesson about not focusing on a person’s outward appearance, we get this explanation that David was handsome! What this teaches us is that a person’s appearance should be neither a point for them or a strike against them. We shouldn’t fawn over someone just because they have good looks, but neither should we write them off for the same reason.

            David was God’s chosen man, and so we read this [READ vv. 12b-13].

            David has now been declared to be the next king of Israel, and no one less than the Spirit of the Lord himself is now upon him. So it’s very instructive to discover that the next time anyone goes looking for David, he’s back out with the sheep! He was anointed as the next king, but in the absence of any further instructions, he thought, “Well, I guess I better go make sure the sheep are okay!”

            He didn’t surround himself with an entourage or form a transition team to prepare for his new administration. David had a very humble response, and that’s precisely one of the reasons why the Lord chose him for this significant position.

So the Lord has seen a king for himself, and Samuel has now received a new pair of glasses so that he can see the king, too. Now we read that King Saul needs to go looking for someone for a certain reason.

4. Saul looks for someone to bring him relief (vv. 14-17)

            [READ v. 14] There are two questions we should address after reading this verse. First, since the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, do we need to fear that the same thing could happen to us today? The short answer is no, because we have a different relationship with God today than Old Testament people did – even if they were sincere believers and people whom we will see in heaven.

            The death and resurrection of Jesus changed many things, and the ministry of the Holy Spirit was one of them. Under God’s administration in the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit typically empowered people only for a season. It was not a permanent indwelling.

            With Christ’s death and resurrection however, the veil between God and man has been torn. There is now a new freedom for fellowship between God and man, so the Holy Spirit’s residence in our hearts is permanent. We can certainly grieve the Holy Spirit through our sins, as Ephesians 4:30 warns us, but he will not leave us since we have been adopted as God’s own children.

            The second question from this text is, what was this harmful spirit that tormented Saul? It may have been some kind of psychological illness. I should note that the Hebrew term for “spirit” and the English word “spirit” are similar in that they can both refer to either my own personal, human spirit, or they can refer to a supernatural, spiritual being. So it could be that the Lord sent bouts of depression into Saul’s spirit or something like that.

            I think it’s more likely that we have a situation like what Job experienced. In the story of Job, God did not initiate anything harmful against that man, but he did give Satan permission to afflict him. I think that’s the situation here – that because of Saul’s sin, the Lord gave Satan permission to afflict him.

            Saul’s servants suggest a solution which may not have been the first thought in our minds, but it’s one that does teach us something important [READ vv. 15-17; in v. 17 we find the verb for “seeing” or “looking” again].

            I want to talk a bit more in a moment about the power of music, but for now, notice that one of Saul’s servants announces that he has seen just the man that the King is looking for, and it is none other than David.

5. David is seen and comes to serve (vv. 18-23)

            [READ vv. 18-23] Notice how God’s eyesight is vindicated in this passage. He had seen for himself a king among Jesse’s sons, and now other people were starting to take note of David’s qualities. The Lord had obviously seen very well!

            Notice also a lesson that we can take from these verses about the power of music. Music has the power to soothe a troubled heart and calm an anxious soul. Music has a fascinating ability to touch every part of us. It can move your body – just think about how you feel like dancing when you hear certain kinds of music. It can touch your mind by calling up certain memories for you. It can touch your emotions by moving you to tears or putting a smile on your face.

            Music has such power that it should be the regular habit of every Christian to listen to music that praises the name of the Lord and turns our thoughts toward him and his commandments. Just as you should regularly read the Bible and pray, you should listen to music that will lead you to praise the Lord. When you are tempted to sin, use the power of music to your advantage. Sing or hum a hymn or song of praise to yourself, or turn on some Christian music and allow it to change what you’re thinking about and how you’re feeling in that moment.

            Since music is such a powerful tool, I must say this to all of you – be very careful about the kinds of music that you choose to listen to. Music can affect you in ways that you won’t even realize unless you stop to think about it.

            Music has the power to embed messages deeply within your mind. When I was in high school, there were certain artists that I listened to. I haven’t listened to some of them for 17 years now, but I’ve discovered that if I hear one of their songs in a commercial or out in a restaurant, the lyrics come back to me immediately.

            Music has that kind of power to make a lasting impression upon your mind. When we want to memorize something – like the alphabet, for example – we set it to music, don’t we? It helps us remember that information or that message in a way that simply reciting it never will.

            And it’s not just the lyrics that have power – it’s the music itself. So often I hear people listen to trashy music, and they say, “Oh, I don’t listen to the words – I just like the beat.” What you have to realize is that the music itself affects you far more than you think.

            For you younger people especially, think of it like this – there’s a reason you don’t play lullabies in pep band. The band is there to get the players and the crowd into a certain mood, so you play songs that will put us in that mood.

            If you listen to music that has an aggressive, edgy beat, you will feel more aggressive and on edge! If you listen to music that has a dark, somber tone to it, you will feel somber and depressed. This isn’t rocket science, it’s just reality, because that’s the kind of power that music possesses. So be wise about what you choose to listen to.

Conclusion

            David’s ascent to the throne is now underway. He has been seen and noticed by God, and now he has been seen and noticed by King Saul himself. He is now a member of the royal court, and all that remains is to see how God will deposed the rejected king and crown the anointed king. That drama awaits us in this series, and trust me—it is must see TV!

Notes:

1. https://www.thoughtco.com/does-the-tallest-presidential-candidate-win-3367512. Accessed March 23, 2017.

A King Oblivious to God's Own Heart: The Failure of King Saul--Life of David Series

            Have you ever gotten yourself in a big mess because you failed to carefully follow some instructions that were given to you? Maybe your doctor gave you some restrictions after a surgery but you didn’t think they were that big a deal, and you wound up hurting yourself. Maybe you tried something new and thought “How hard can it be?”—so you ignored the advice of experts and created a big problem because of it.

            If you ignore the instructions of another human being, your choice may not be that big of a deal. But if you ignore the clear instructions of God, your rebellion—yes, rebellion!—reveals the presence of a very serious problem in your heart.

            So it was with the very first king of Israel in the Old Testament, King Saul. The children of Israel had wandered away from God’s own heart for them back in 1 Samuel 8 when they demanded a king for themselves. The king they received was a perfect fit because he turned out to be just like them!

            King Saul was blessed by God in various ways, and he had some good moments because of that. But ultimately, his desire to obey God turned out to be half-hearted. When his own mind decided that a different path looked better than the road laid out by God’s commands, he didn’t hesitate to go his own way.

            We first see some rust appearing on the King’s crown in 1 Samuel 13 when Saul downplayed the importance of receiving divine guidance from the Prophet Samuel. Then, in chapter 14, he nearly killed his own son in a silly display of stubbornness.

            Here in 1 Samuel 15 today, we’ll read about the last straw that led God to declare his rejection of Saul’s kingship. What was it that sealed the demise of Saul’s reign? As we will see, it was the presumption to think that he knew better than God.

A Clear Command (vv. 1-3)

            This saga of Saul’s sin begins with a clear command from God to the King in verses 1-3 – a command that left little doubt about what God wanted to see accomplished [READ vv. 1-3].

            Now this command sounds rather harsh, and on one level, it is. Not “harsh” in an angry, sinful sort of way, but harsh in its decisiveness and comprehensiveness and finality. Saul was to leave no Amalekites alive and was to destroy all of their possessions.

            We could spend a fair amount of time talking about this command and how it relates to God’s goodness and love, but for today, let me simply make one observation. Notice that God gave this command in reference to what the Amalekites did to the Israelites as the children of Israel were coming out of Egypt. And what exactly did they do? As the Israelites traveled, the Amalekites attacked their rear and killed the stragglers who were lagging behind the rest of the group. Undoubtedly, this included the elderly, the sick, and women and children.

            That event was 400 years prior to what we are reading about in 1 Samuel 15. Apparently, in God’s eyes, the Amalekites deserved punishment all the way back then. But God chose to withhold their just desserts for 400 years, presumably to give them time to change their ways. Surely that is a sign of God’s love and goodness mingled together with his justice and holy wrath.

            We could say more about this, but for now just note the clarity of the command that was given to Saul, because what we will discover is only partial obedience to the word of the Lord.

Partial Obedience (vv. 4-9)

            [READ vv. 4-9] At this point in the story, we are only told what Saul and the people did – we are not yet given any explanation for why they chose to do it. It is clear, however, that they did not carry out the Lord’s command precisely as he had given it to them. Something convinced them that they had a better idea than what God had laid out for them, and if that seems like a small thing, let’s go on to see the Lord’s reaction to all of this.

Differing Evaluations of Saul’s Actions (vv. 10-12)

            [READ vv. 10-11] We’re not told precisely whom Samuel was angry with. Was he angry with Saul for the King’s disobedience? Probably. Was he angry with the people for insisting on a king in the first place? Perhaps.

            But while the Lord and Samuel were grieving, Saul was doing something much different [READ v. 12]. What irony! While Samuel probably wanted to forget this moment, Saul was setting up a monument to ensure that it would always be remembered!

            Here we see again the blinding effects of sin. We saw it last week in 1 Samuel 8 when the people of Israel refused to heed God’s warning about their demand for a king, and now here it is again. Saul was celebrating the very act that grieved God’s heart. A monument was going up at the same time that Saul’s reign as king was on its way down.

The Buck Stops There! (vv. 13-21)

            When Samuel finally catches up with Saul, he must confront him about his sin. Notice how Saul consistently tries to pass the blame for his actions on to the people of Israel [READ vv. 13-21].

            Ah, blame-shifting! It’s a time-honored tradition among mankind; one of our favorite pastimes, even. It started back in the Garden of Eden when Adam said, “Lord, the woman YOU gave to be with me brought me some fruit, and I ate it!” Well, passing the buck didn’t work for Adam, and it’s not going to work for Saul, either.

            Perhaps the people with Saul did have the first thought to spare the best of the spoil, but as Samuel reminded Saul, he was the king! He was the boss, so even if it wasn’t his idea in the first place, he had the authority to put a stop to it.

            But he didn’t, and perhaps that’s because he sincerely believed that sacrificing these animals to God would be better than simply killing them. That sounds so pious and holy, doesn’t it? But remember, that was not what the Lord requested, so however Saul’s decision may have looked on the surface, at its root was a poisonous and sinister thought – namely, the thought that I know better than God; the thought that says, “Yes, I know what God said, but I know what would be more appropriate for this situation.”

            That thought may come to us with the godliest appearance imaginable, but behind its mask is none other than the Devil himself. It’s just another form of the same old temptation that Satan set before Adam and Eve by telling them that they could be like God, knowing what is good and what is evil. Isn’t that what Saul did? He presumed to know what was truly best in that situation, even though his decision violated the clear command of God.

God’s Verdict on Rebellion (vv. 22-23)

            That’s why we find this verdict against Saul, and against every moment in which we may presume to know better than God. Notice this clarification from Samuel in v. 22 [READ v. 22].

            Now since we’re beginning to study the life of King David, I want to point out that David understood this truth, and more than any other reason, this may be why David is called a man after God’s own heart. For all of his failures, he always understood with the Lord truly desired from him.

            In Psalm 51, which David wrote after he confessed his sin with Bathsheba, he wrote this in verses 16-17: “For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”

            God certainly did command the children of Israel to offer sacrifices for their sins, but they were always intended to be expressions of the heart, never a substitute for the heart. Whenever you go through some kind of ritual, there is always the danger that you can do it without having your heart really in it.

            We face the very same danger today with all of our external expressions of our faith in Christ. We can sing hymns without our hearts being truly engaged; we can give an offering – even a large offering – without our gift really being sincere. You may have every Sunday bulletin from your church going back 30 years, but God is not impressed if your heart is not devoted to him.

            When you go through a ritual, you’re always offering something that is outside of you. But when you obey with sincerity, you're offering your mind, that it might be conformed to the way God thinks; you're offering your will, that it might be shaped to do the works of God; you're offering your heart, that your affections might be stirred by the things that God loves. God created you to be his very image, and obedience brings you ever closer to displaying that image in full.

            And why is obedience better than sacrifice? Why is it better than any ritual we might carry out? Well, notice the Lord’s opinion of disobedience as it’s expressed in verse 23 [READ v. 23a]. Divination is the attempt to receive guidance from evil spirits. That could be through witchcraft, sorcery, séances, or even Ouija boards or tarot cards.

            Now we hear that and we think, “Wow! I would never do something like that!” But notice the stark reality that this statement establishes. In one category, we have obedience to God’s commands. In another category, we have – everything else! If I don’t follow God’s commands, then on this level it really makes no difference whether I’m just following my own ideas or whether I’m trying to make contact with demons! The reality is the same – I have turned from God’s commands and thus I have committed rebellion.

            We see the idea of the same categories in the next part of the verse [READ v. 23b]. If I presume to know better than God does, then I have placed something above him in my estimation and thus I’ve committed idolatry. Once again, on this level it doesn’t matter what I exalt above the word of the Lord – whether it’s my own thoughts or thoughts that are coming from some other source.

            This is why it’s so serious to think that we know better than God on any matter. Remember – King Saul’s actions looked so holy and noble, didn’t they? He said he was going to offer sacrifices to the Lord! But his actions came from a heart that brazenly declared that it was a better judge of right and wrong than the word of God. And so, we find this declaration against King Saul at the end of verse 23 [READ v. 23c].

            Saul’s failure opened the door for someone else to become King – someone who was not from Saul’s own bloodline. In the very next chapter, David will be anointed the next king of Israel, though he will still have to wait a number of years before that becomes a reality.

            In the meantime, he would continue to learn what God truly desires from us, and it is a lesson that we must also learn well. What God desires from you is not rituals, but respect; not your wallet, but your will; not your minutes; but your mind.

            Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams! Let us never be so presumptuous as to think that we know better what we should do than God does. May humble obedience mark us at all times as we trust that God’s ways are always right and true.

A People Wandering from God's Own Heart: The Dawn of Royalty in Israel--Life of David Series

            One of the greatest ironies of the Christian life is that while we’re very comfortable trusting the Lord Jesus to take care of our souls for eternity, we struggle to trust him to fill our stomachs tomorrow. Trusting God for our ordinary, everyday needs is one of the most difficult lessons we have to learn. For that reason, it can also be the area of some of our greatest temptations.

            The struggle to trust God for everyday needs set the stage for one of the most important turning points in the history of Old Testament Israel—a turning point that would lead directly to a shepherd boy named David becoming King David. Since he was the king, it can be enlightening to ask, “How did there ever come to be a king in Israel, anyway?” Israel’s earliest leaders—Moses and Joshua—had certainly been powerful and influential, but they were never kings. So how did the dawn of royalty in Israel come about? For that, we must turn to 1 Samuel 8.

A Crisis of Leadership

            When we step into 1 Samuel 8, we are stepping directly into a crisis of leadership in Israel. The people with the most official power at that time were the priests. They had spiritual leadership over the people, and they also had some authority to collect taxes and settle some civil and criminal cases. But at the time of 1 Samuel 8, the most recent high priest’s family had been a miserable failure in their role because they didn’t care about the Lord—they only cared about themselves.

            The other prominent leaders at that time were the judges. Now when you hear that word, don’t think of men in black robes and powdered wigs sitting in a courtroom. The judges were more like the sheriffs in Wild West towns—they fought off the bad guys and maintained some law and order in the community. And just like those sheriffs, the judges had a limited area where they served. None of them were ever the recognized leaders of the whole nation of Israel.

            The prophet Samuel was the last of these judges, though that really wasn’t by his design. He had set up two of sons as judges in southern Israel, but their moral failures would lead directly to the major turning point that we read about in 1 Samuel 8 [READ 8:1-9].

A Transfer of Trust

            As the people looked around at their leadership options here in 1 Samuel 8, nothing looked very good. The most recent high priest’s family had been killed off because of immorality. Samuel’s own sons were taking bribes and perverting justice. But instead of crying out to God to deliver them from this leadership mess, the people decided that trusting human authority was the way to go if they could just put a new form of human authority in place.

            They looked around at the nations surrounding them and said, “You know, these other nations have got it figured out! They have a supreme human leader – a king – who protects them and provides for them. That’s what we need!”

            Now some statements in the Books of Genesis and Deuteronomy suggest that asking for a king could have been an acceptable request from the people. After all, Genesis 49:10 had prophesied that a scepter and a ruler’s staff would one day reside in the tribe of Judah, and Deuteronomy 17 had even given regulations about how any future king of Israel should behave.

            But the Lord makes it clear that the people’s request in 1 Samuel 8 was problematic because in their hearts they were transferring their trust from him to some larger-than-life human figure. In verse eight, God said it was just one more example of the people forsaking him and serving other gods. In this case, the people wouldn’t be bowing down to some idol made of wood or stone, but rather they would be submitting to a human to whom they would give godlike control over their lives.

            This sad story highlights for us the danger of looking to other sources to provide things that God has already promised to give us. If you glance ahead in this chapter to verse 20, you’ll see that what the people wanted was a king to “judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.” God had already promised to do those things for the people himself if they would simply obey his commands! All the people truly needed to do was trust God to keep his word. They would have no need at all for a human to do those things if they would simply obey the word of the Lord.

            The people thought their problems persisted because they weren’t acting enough like all the other nations. But ironically, their problems remained because they were acting far too much like all the other nations. They had adopted the worship of false gods, with all the perverse behaviors that went along with it. They needed to repent and return to the one true God, to become his unique people once again. But sadly, they thought it best to sacrifice their uniqueness on the altar of human wisdom.

In a twist that should frighten all of us, we see how difficult it becomes to hear words of truth once we have decided on a sinful course of action.

A Stubborn Refusal to Repent

            In verses 10-18, Samuel warns the people about what they are truly asking for. He prophesies for them what life would be like under a king. Notice that he’s not merely sharing his own opinion – verse 10 says that he will tell the people “all the words of the Lord.” Let’s see what the Lord wanted them to know [READ vv. 10-18].

            These words should have scared the people to their senses. “You mean we’ll be like slaves again? That’s what our ancestors were in Egypt! That’s what God stretched out his mighty hand to deliver us from! And you say we’ll cry out to the Lord but he will not answer us? How could we ever live if our God would not answer our cries for help?”

            But instead, the people dug in their heels even more [READ vv. 19-20]. No amount of warning – and no matter how dire – would turn people around because they had succumbed to doubts about whether God could truly be trusted to do what he said. Once you seriously entertain a doubt like that, you have poured a casing of concrete around your heart, and if you don’t get rid of it immediately, it will harden and prevent the words of warning from getting through. Only tremendous force can break through a hardened heart – an experience that we usually call “hitting rock bottom.”

            Note the warning that the author of Hebrews gives us in Hebrews 3:12 – “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.” Now he’s not talking about becoming an atheist or an agnostic. In the context, he draws a comparison to the children of Israel in the wilderness. They always believed that God was real, but they struggled to decide whether they could really trust his promises. Will he really meet our needs out here in the wilderness? Will he really give us all that he has promised?

            For you and me, that is our greatest danger as well. For every person in this room today, the greatest danger to your soul is not running off into atheism but slacking off into apathy – losing any passion or liveliness that you once had in your faith because you’re not certain that you can trust all of the promises of God.

            I know he can save my soul for all eternity, but can he really satisfy my soul with peace and joy right now? If I obey him, will I truly find that his yoke is easy and his burden is light? Will he really put food on my plate and clothes on my back if I make obedience my focus?

            The author of Hebrews calls us in 3:13 to help each other as we wrestle with these questions: “But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called today, that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” Sin truly is so deceitful because it always makes us question the promises of God, yet it never delivers on its own promises! Like the Wizard of Oz, sin doesn’t want us to look behind the curtain that hides it, because we will discover that all of its promises are empty and all of its accusations toward God are unfounded.

Declining to Be Different

            Notice one final emphasis behind the people’s desire for a king. In verses 5 and 20, the people stated that part of their motivation was that “we also may be like all the nations.” For nearly 450 years by this point, the Israelites had had repeated strife with their neighbors, and the nations around them gained the upper hand on them sometimes for decades at a time. It seems that the people finally decided that the only way for them to level the playing field was to follow the same supposed “wisdom” as all the other nations.

            It’s hard to be different, isn’t it? And sometimes we get the idea that life could be so much easier for us if we just weren’t so different from everyone else. Whether were talking about our personal lives or the way we do things in our church, we face a constant pressure to just go with the flow of our culture.

            Why do we have to get so concerned about a little sin here and there? Why do we insist that correct ideas about God really do matter? Why do we have to be so insistent that some things really are right and some things really are wrong? Can we just take a deep breath and relax about some of that stuff? After all, it makes us look so intolerant!

            This episode from Israel’s history is a warning to us about the danger we put ourselves in when we decline to be different. God’s whole intention for the children of Israel is that they would be different and unique. We call it “holiness!” That’s what he desired for them, and that’s what he desires for us.

            We can’t afford to do anything in our lives simply because it’s the way that everyone else does it. We are supposed to march to the beat of a different drum, and sometimes the rhythm of obedience will put us out of step with the world around us. That’s okay – and rather than have a desire to be just like all the other people around us, our highest desire must be to be just like Jesus.

            In his great kindness, the Lord would one day use kingship in Israel to be a blessing to the people. He would give them some godly kings, like David, Hezekiah, and Josiah. God may mercifully bring some good things out of our sinful choices, but for our part, we must desire to avoid the sinful choices in the first place.

            So let us determine today that we really can trust God to keep all of his promises. Let us beware of the deceitfulness of sin so that we will not allow it to harden our hearts. And let us be content to be different, because God has called us to such holiness, and one day he will reward us for it.