1 Samuel 15:10-23 (NAS)
10. Then the word of the Lord came to Samuel saying,
11. I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following me and has not followed out my commands. And Samuel was distressed and cried out to the Lord all night.
12. Samuel rose early in the morning to meet Saul; and it was told Samuel, saying, Saul came to Carmel, and behold he set up a monument for himself, then turned and proceeded on down to Gilgal.
13. Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, blessed are you of the Lord! I have carried out the command of the Lord.
14. But Samuel said, What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of oxen which I hear?
15. Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites, for the people spared the best of the sheep and oxen to sacrifice to the Lord your God; but the rest we have utterly destroyed.
16. Then Samuel said to Saul, wait, and let me tell you what the Lord said to me last night. And he said to him speak!
17. Samuel said it is not true, though you were little in your own eyes; you were made the head of the tribes of Israel? And the Lord anointed you king over the tribes of Israel,
18. And the Lord sent you on a mission, and said, Go and utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are exterminated.
19. Why did you not obey the voice of the Lord, but rushed upon the spoil and did what was evil in the sight of the Lord?
20. Then Saul said to Samuel, I did obey the voice of the Lord, and went on the mission on which the Lord sent me, and have brought back Agag, the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.
21. But the people took some of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the choicest of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the
Lord your God at Gilgal.
22. Samuel said, Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams.
23. For rebellion is as the sin of divination, And insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He has also rejected you from being king.
We live in a world where it’s alright to do what you want to do.
We live in a world where it’s alright to say what you want to say.
We live in a world that it’s alright to act any way you want to.
We have the mentality, it will be O.K.
If we’re professing Christians this morning,
If we’re blood bought,
And if we’re redeemed of the Lord, I’ve a message for you, NO ITS NOT!
We cannot expect God to bless us when we act like the world.
As a born-again believer, I’m supposed to be Christ-like, not world-like.
Witchcraft, who me???
Could witchcraft be coming from me?
1 Samuel 15:1-9 (NAS)
1. Then Samuel said to Saul, “The Lord sent me to anoint you as king over His people, over Israel; now therefore, listen to the words of the Lord.
2. Thus says the Lord of hosts, “I will punish Amelek for what he did to Israel, how he set himself against him on the way while he was coming up from Egypt.
3. Now go and strike Amelek and utterly destroy all that he has, and do not spare him; but put to death both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.
4. Then Saul summoned the people and and numbered them in Telaim , 200,000foot soldiers and 10,000 men of Judah.
5. Saul came to the city of Amalek and set an ambush in the valley.
6. Saul said to the Kenites, “Go, depart, go down from among the Amelekites, so that I do not destroy you with them; for you showed kindness to all the sons of Israel when they came from Egypt.” So the Kenites departed from among the Amelekites.
7. So Saul defeated the Amelekites, from Havilah as you go to Shur, which is east of Egypt.
8. He captured Agag the king of the Amelekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.
9. But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were not willing to destroy them utterly; but everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed.
Saul was told exactly what to do.
Destroy everything!
Keep nothing back.
Doesn’t God tell us exactly what to do?
Doesn’t God want us to destroy every idle in our lives?
God doesn’t want us to keep anything back from our past.
He wants us to give everything to Him.
Saul was told exactly what to do, but he didn’t do it all.
1 Samuel 15:10-19 (NAS)
10. Then the word of the Lord came to Samuel saying,
11. I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following me and has not followed out my commands. And Samuel was distressed and cried out to the Lord all night.
12. Samuel rose early in the morning to meet Saul; and it was told Samuel, saying, Saul came to Carmel, and behold he set up a monument for himself, then turned and proceeded on down to Gilgal.
13. Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, blessed are you of the Lord! I have carried out the command of the Lord.
14. But Samuel said, What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of oxen which I hear?
15. Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites, for the people spared the best of the sheep and oxen to sacrifice to the Lord your God; but the rest we have utterly destroyed.
16. Then Samuel said to Saul, wait, and let me tell you what the Lord said to me last night. And he said to him speak!
17. Samuel said it is not true, though you were little in your own eyes; you were made the head of the tribes of Israel? And the Lord anointed you king over the tribes of Israel,
18. And the Lord sent you on a mission, and said, Go and utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are exterminated.
19. Why did you not obey the voice of the Lord, but rushed upon the spoil and did what was evil in the sight of the Lord?
Remember- we talked about doors to the spirit world through disobedience?
Genesis 4:5-8 (NAS)
5. but for Cain and for his offering He had no regard. So Cain became very angry and his countenance fell.
6. Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen?
7. :If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it. ‘
8. Cain told Abel his brother, And it came about when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him.
There are doors we can open, but we ought not.
It comes from disobedience to God.
Is there witchcraft in my life?
Am I obedient to God?
Are there things in my life I know I should be doing?
Maybe there are things I know I shouldn’t be doing, but I am.
It’s disobedience, which is the same as witchcraft.
1 Samuel 15:20 (NAS)
20. Then Saul said to Samuel, I did obey the voice of the Lord, and went on the mission on which the Lord sent me, and have brought back Agag, the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.
I personally believe Saul played dumb.
He said, “I did obey the voice of the Lord.”
He made excuses why he kept doing what he did.
Are we making excuses for what we do?
Excuses aren’t going to make it with God.
Saul lost his kingdom because of disobedience.
Do we listen to things we know is wrong?
Do we watch shows that have witchcraft or sorcery in them?
We need to think about what we are doing.
Deuteronomy 18:10-14 (NAS)
10. There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, one who uses divination, one who practices witchcraft, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer,
11. or one who casts a spell, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead.
12. For whoever does these things is detestable to the Lord; and because of these detestable things the Lord your God will drive them out before you.
13. You shall be blameless before the Lord your God.
14. For those nations, which you shall dispossess, listen to those who practice witchcraft and the diviners, but as for you, the Lord your God has not allowed you to do so.
Leviticus 20:27
27. “Now a man or a woman who is a medium or a spiritist shall surely be put to death. They shall be stoned with stones, their bloodguiltiness is upon them.”
DREAM PASTOR JOE ROWLAND (4-10-2004)
I dreamed I was playing a game. It was almost like a life-size video game. The character I was using had two horns. It resembled the devil; I didn’t seem to have a problem with that. I seemed to have control of what he did, but I didn’t.
I watched this character do all kinds of crazy stunts; I seemed to be captivated to him. He done some kind of flip, rolled up into a ball with his two horns right in front of me. He was upside down.
I looked, and his horns lit up with a real bright light. It scared me. I stepped back and I felt a strange power go over me. I made the character levitate; I knew it was witchcraft. I woke up.
INTREPTATION
1. In life, we as a church world, play games.
2. We give the devil power thru the things we do.
3. We let things go on in our lives that we at one time, might not have.
4. We get captivated by the things of the world, thinking everything will be all right.
5. We let things in our house thinking they’re harmless.
6. Harry Potter, isn’t he a wizard?
7. The last I heard, wizards practiced witchcraft.
8. We give the enemy power thru the things we do.
9. We’re the one who gives him liberty to move in our lives.
Have we got our eyes on another love?
Another love would be the world.
I would never do anything to hurt my wife.
We ought to fill the same way about God.
If we have rebellion in our heart we’re cheating on God.
At one time I had rebellion in my heart. About 5 years ago, a woman evangelist came to the church I used to attend.
She called me up front; she said, “Joe, the Lord showed me you have rebellion in your heart.” She said, “You do, don’t you?” I said no. She said she’s never wrong when this happens. She prayed over me, and the power of God went over me. It felt like someone had literally wrapped their hands around my head. She asked me if I felt the power, I said yes. She said if I wouldn’t have received it, it would have knocked her down. That night God gave me a dream. He showed me the evangelist was right. There was rebellion in my heart. I told her the next day she was right.
God didn’t change His mind because it was me involved. Rebellion is the same as witchcraft.
Sometimes because it’s us involved, we think it isn’t that bad, but it is.
I was bringing the power of witchcraft alive thru rebellion.
1 Samuel 15:29 (NAS)
29. Also the Glory of Israel will not lie or change His mind; for He is not a man that He should change His mind.
Saul lost everything he had because of not listening to God.
He didn’t do everything God wanted him to do.
Saul made excuses, God’s not going to accept excuses.
Witchcraft, who me?
Is it possible today you’re in rebellion to something?
Rebellion opens other doors.
These doors lead to the enemy, SATAN!
CLOSING
Rebellion is not giving to God what’s His.
Rebellion is looking at another love. (WORLD), and desiring it.
Rebellion is partial obedience to God.
I don’t want to open any door to the enemy.
I want Jesus to open His door and say well done.
Saul was willing to repent if he got what he wanted, his kingdom.
He had already lost it.
He just wanted to look good in front of the people.
1 Samuel 15:24-31
24. Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned; I have indeed transgressed the command of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and listened to their voice.
25. “Now therefore, “please pardon my sin and return with me, that I may worship the Lord.”
26. But Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you; for you have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.
27. As Samuel turned to go, “Saul seized the edge of his robe, and it tore.
28. So Samuel said to him, “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to your neighbor, who is better than you.
29. 29. Also the Glory of Israel will not lie or change His mind; for He is not a man that He should change His mind.
30. Then He said, “I have sinned; but please honor me now before the elders of people and before Israel, and go back with me, that I may worship the Lord your God.”
31. So Samuel went back following Saul, and Saul worshiped the Lord.
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