Truth And Consequences:
1st Samuel 16: 6-12
Intro: Now we begin here with Samuel who was the earliest of the Hebrew prophets after Moses, and the last of the Judges. And we have Saul, the first King of Israel, and Eliab, Jesse’s oldest son, David’s older brother. Now Samuel was a devout man of God. He wanted the best for Israel. He would be willing to wait on God . . . But Israel refused to wait on God and determined to have a King, just because everyone else had their King and they wanted to “Keep up with the Jones’s.”
So Samuel says: “Ok . . . I will see that you have a King; now it won’t be the best for you, but I can see you’re NOT going to wait on God. Now his name is Saul. So, here comes King Saul who, after being in office two years, got up 3,000 men to fight against the Philistines. And as time went King Saul was caught in a lie among other things . . . And God’s Spirit left Saul, and as a result, he fell away from serving God. Yet, he continued to be the King of Israel until his death.
Now . . . I want us to see the “TRUTH” of the matter . . . There are different classes of people . . . Some are rich, some poor, some smart, some not so smart . . . But then we have shrewd people . . . that can con you into anything. And we have folks that appear to be good Christian people. I had a cousin that I thought was a Christian man. Throughout my knowing him, I NEVER heard him say a curse word, never heard him say anything bad about anybody . . . He was just a good, moral, man. But, as it turned out, he accepted the Lord within a few months of his death. He was in his 7o’s.
Now, Eliab had a look about him, and actions, that Samuel took note of. Samuel thought for sure he had found a king. He just knew this was the man. Then, Jesse called his other sons to come up to the line-up . . . and poor Samuel, he was so confused . . . Then as the last one present, passed before Samuel, Samuel asked Jesse, “Is these all your children?”....Jesse: “No, there’s one more. He’s my youngest son. He is a Shepherd boy . . . He’s out in the pasture now tending sheep.”
Well, Samuel said: Send somebody after him. I’m so wound up I can’t set down until he comes to me. Well, Jesse sent somebody to get him, and boy what a handsome young man he was! His name was David. And now you know the rest of the story!
Now I want us to turn our attention to verse seven . . . It speaks of the difference between how we look at a person and how God looks at a person. Eliab surely was impressive. But how was his heart toward God? All the Bible says about him is that he was the elder son of Jesse. Was he a Christian man? ...He may have been but looks are deceiving. And the TRUTH is, watch your back. The very one you think you can trust might be the one who leads you astray.
But then, we are quick to judge . . . Yes, God gave us the ok to be fruit inspectors, and believe me, before I let anybody preach in this pulpit, they will be checked out. But, let’s not get carried away. Again, the TRUTH is, there are people who would love to get in this pulpit and lead you down the wrong path. They are professional people that can look to be the one right under God . . . And you will think, boy he or she whatever the case, will be the one for this job, this ministry . . .
When I worked for the funeral home, I found out you could hire “Professional Mourners.” You pay the person or group so much an hour to sit close to the family and cry. They have the people fooled. The Bible says: “Lay not your hand on anyone quickly. 1Tm:5:22: Lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partakers of other men’s sins: keep thyself pure.”
The one you think might be the one who can handle it, is the very one who can’t, and therefore ruin a good work of the Lord. As far as Samuel was concerned, Eliab was the man! Samuel, the great prophet of God, I would say, was considered a smart man. He thought things out . . . The Israelites wanted a King before God’s time, I believe Samuel knew that, and he told them, Saul is not the man. And he was right. When you want something badly, do you wait on the Lord? Of course there is a difference between what you want and what you need. And sometimes God gives us what we want just to show us it was NOT what we really needed.
Then, Eliab comes along, and Samuel says: Now, that’s the man for Israel. They need this man. I mean, he’s been anointed by God Himself, and how much better can you get.”
Well, the TRUTH is, as it turned out, the one you would least expect would be a young boy who later sinned with this beautiful young lady . . . But, he was forgiven and David became one of the best well known Kings the world ever knew. But there was consequence. And as a result, we are paying for it today.
And whatever happens to Israel, it has a tremendous affect not only on the United States; but all over the world.
Now, as we leave Saul, and Samuel, Jesse and his boys, let’s go to the United States . . . and while we’re there, lets make a stop in the state of AZ. And while we’re there, let’s go by Tucson and check out things there . . . In fact, let’s go by the First Free Will Baptist church and spend some time.
Now that we’re here, ask yourself: "Am I the one God wants to do His work in this area?” "I can really put on a good act . . . I can be very impressive . . . I mean people can be around me less than ten min’s and I have them thinking I’m the one they want in this church." Boy, how we can fool people. But, God don’t look at us that way . . . Be who you REALLY are . . . By living a life of make belief, you will suffer the consequences. Have you ever done something and/or said something you wish you could take back?
He looks at the heart. It doesn’t matter what others say, it doesn’t matter what others believe about you, It don’t matter how others may evaluate you . . . Do people evaluate you? YES THEY DO! Some really think they are called of God to evaluate everything you do and/or say . . . But how wrong they are. And yes, we need to keep a good name. And yes people are watching us . . . Proverb: 22:1 has this to say: A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold.
Ec:7:1 says: A good name is better than precious ointment; and the day of death than the day of one’s birth. What does matter is how your heart is with God? At the end of your life here on this earth, the only evaluation that will matter is when God either says, Well done my good and faithful servant or, Depart from me I never knew you. And what you think of me and what I think of you won’t matter then.
It will not matter what church you belonged to, how long you have attended church, how many times you have prayed, or how many folks you may have led to the Lord. But when He calls your name, when tomorrow starts without you, what will God have to say about you? Time on this earth is short but eternity is forever!
In 1922, Virgil Stamps and James Rowe put together these words: “Is it well with your soul, are you free, glad and whole . . . are you living right; should you die tonight; Is it well, with your soul?
I believe we will find out, the things we thought were important, will not seem all that important. It is so sad to say but, the church has become more like the world. We want to see the crowd. But what is worth more, a body or a soul?
Do you put on a false face when you come to church; only to take it off when you get all along and reveal the real you?
Let us pray.
