God's Unlikely Choice

Spurgeon (1) wrote, " I think I may say to every person whom I am addressing,

-If you are yourself saved, the work is but half done until you are employed to bring others to Christ. You are as yet but half formed in the image of your Lord. You have not attained to the full development of what we are expected to do. Make disciples of Christ.

NOW HEAR THE READING OF GOD’S WORD:

1 Samuel 16:1-13 NLT

16 Now the Lord said to Samuel, “You have mourned long enough for Saul. I have rejected him as king of Israel, so fill your flask with olive oil and go to Bethlehem. Find a man named Jesse who lives there, for I have selected one of his sons to be my king.”

2 But Samuel asked, “How can I do that? If Saul hears about it, he will kill me.”

“Take a heifer with you,” the Lord replied, “and say that you have come to make a sacrifice to the Lord. 3 Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you which of his sons to anoint for me.”

*Some people have concerns over what they think this says. They think the LORD is telling Samuel to, well, kinda cheat and go around his problem.

-The people that put this together, the original was written in Hebrew. Hebrew was read right to left and had no space between the words. The words didn’t have vowels either.

-The fact is the LORD just ignored what Samuel said and his problem with doing what the LORD told him to do.

-If the LORD said it - just go and do it. Arguing with God is useless.

-I know that the Bible says God changed his mind but DID He really.

4 So Samuel did as the Lord instructed. When he arrived at Bethlehem, the elders of the town came trembling to meet him. “What’s wrong?” they asked. “Do you come in peace?”

5 “Yes,” Samuel replied. “I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Purify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.” Then Samuel performed the purification rite for Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice, too.

6 When they arrived, Samuel took one look at Eliab and thought, “Surely this is the Lord’s anointed!”

7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

8 Then Jesse told his son Abinadab to step forward and walk in front of Samuel. But Samuel said, “This is not the one the Lord has chosen.” 9 Next Jesse summoned Shimea, but Samuel said, “Neither is this the one the Lord has chosen.” 10 In the same way all seven of Jesse’s sons were presented to Samuel. But Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen any of these.” 11 Then Samuel asked, “Are these all the sons you have?”

“There is still the youngest,” Jesse replied. “But he’s out in the fields watching the sheep and goats.”

“Send for him at once,” Samuel said. “We will not sit down to eat until he arrives.”

*Abinadab seem seemingly was rejected because: The ark sat for 20 years during time of King Saul at Abinadab home. It should have been in Jerusalem but no one tried to move it. They become complacent with the way things are. For 20 years nothing seems to happen.

*Shimea and the other brothers were rejected but not told why.

12 So Jesse sent for him. He was dark and handsome, with beautiful eyes.

And the Lord said, “This is the one; anoint him.”

13 So as David stood there among his brothers, Samuel took the flask of olive oil he had brought and anointed David with the oil. And the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David from that day on. Then Samuel returned to Ramah.

SERMON:

Today you may be saying I’ve heard about David’s story many times. I agree with you. I have preached on it many times.

But today is going to be different.

I’m going to be speaking on the one that the LORD rejected. Yes rejected.

-*- His name is Abinadab, the oldest of Jesse’s Son’s.

1. When Goliath challenged the Israelites in the Valley of Elah and Goliath was killed by David; Abinadab, Eliab, and Shamma were in Saul’s army (1 Sam 17:13ff.).

2. Abinadab, died with his father and his two brothers on Mt. Gilboa in battle with the Philistines (1 Sam 31:2; 1 Chron 8:33; 9:39; 10:2).

3. He and his sons were caretakers of the Ark for 20 years.

-For 20 years they just kept it, cared for it and did nothing.

For 20 years, while it should have been in Jerusalem, it was setting around at Abinadab’s home.

-They become complacent with the way things were.

One of the greatest dangers in the Christian life is complacency. Contentment in Christ is to be sought after and celebrated. Complacency in Christ, however, is very different. “Complacency” is: “a feeling of being satisfied with how things are and not wanting to try to make them better. This sound like a very dangerous place to be if you are a Christian.