Beware Of Inconsistency Series

BEWARE OF INCONSISTENCY

INTRODUCTION:

We will continue our series on the Book of 1 Samuel.

We are now in the second half of chapter 14.

We will be focusing our lessons on the inconsistencies displayed by the decisions of King Saul.

His inconsistencies as the King brought about harmful consequences to Israel from the hands of the Philistines.

The word "Inconsistency" means a person who is living a life of contradiction.

I was speaking one time to a friend whom I have not seen for a long time.

I asked him, "Are you a Christian?"

He said, "Yes, I am"

I asked, "Have you received Christ as your Lord and Savior!

"Yes, I am"

"Do you smoke?"

"Yes. I do."

"Do you still think liquor?"

"Yes. I still do!"

A person is inconsistent if what he believes is not compatible to his action.

To Christians, inconsistency in life is very detrimental or harmful to our testimony for the cause of Christ.

According to the Barna research, 86% of teens claim that they are Christians but they act differently.

Out of those who claim they are Christians, only 34% are born again.

And only 3 out of 5 say that they believe the Bible is totally accurate in all it teaches.

At the same time, many Christians embrace the views that are inconsistent with what the Bible says.

For instance, two out of three stated that Satan is not a living being.

They believe that Satan is merely a symbol of evil.

That is being inconsistent with what the Bible says.

Also, about 60% argued that a good person could earn eternal salvation through good deeds.

That is incorrect.

We are saved by faith alone not of works lest anyone should boast.

Brothers and sisters, beware of inconsistencies from what the Bible teaches.

People close to us are hearing what we are saying and watching what we are doing.

When they see a fault line to our words or actions, they will have a negative outlook on Christianity altogether.

When this happens, our Christian witness will be weakened and become ineffective.

That is why we must beware of any inconsistency in our profession of faith with what the Bible says.

We must be watchful between the discrepancy of our words and actions.

Hebrews 13:8 (NIV) "Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever."

Christ is consistent.

Christ does not change.

He is the same yesterday, today and forever.

We must do the same.

We must be consistent in living holy lives for the rest of our lives.

We must be consistent in abhorring evil.

We must be consistent in doing our utmost service for God.

We must be consistent in believing the foundational truths from the Bible.

When we are consistent with our Christian testimony, our outlook for the rest of the New year will always be great.

Regardless of the many trials and difficulties we will go through this New year, we can face them all with courage.

Regardless of the many temptations we face, we can overcome them all because we are consistent.

I cam upon a cartoon regarding the inconsistency of a company executive.

The man said, "The shipment will be delayed. We were supposed to order the trucks to get loaded at 9:00 a.m., but we accidentally ordered the truckers to get loaded at 9:00 a.m."

They were so used to a delayed shipment.

And so, when finally, they were on time in loading the truck, they considered this as an accident.

Inconsistency is a habit we need to break if we want a properous New Year.

Somebody said, "It is hard to trust honesty of inconsistent person."

Indeed, when a person is inconsistent, it is very hard to trust him really.

And so, we need to look for people who are honest, consistent and trustworthy.

People who can be trusted from the beginning until the end.

And that is why we must learn from the life of King Saul and his fall from grace.

What made him inconsistent in life and how can we avoid such inconsistencies of life?

We have been following his life for many months now.

We all know that he was the first King of Israel chosen by God and anointed by priest Samuel to lead the people of Israel.

The entire legacy of his kingship lies in his hands.

And yet, he mishandled it.

In fact, he started well as a good king, but after some time, he wavered in his personal integrity and his spirituality.

He started to deviate from the original plan of God and made many foolish decisions that affected his judgment, his decision making and ultimately his kingdom.

Today, we will look closely at the latter portion of chapter 14 where we find him binding the people under oath so that they could not fight back the enemy.