The Final Straw

Sermon Transcript:

(transcribed with AI)

Well, good morning, everyone. My name is Jonathan. For those of you who might not know me, privilege of being one of the pastors here. If you have a Bible, let me invite you to open that. We're going to open to the book of First Samuel chapter 28 is where we are this morning.

As you find your way there, let me ask you, what would you do today? If tomorrow the world was going to end. There's an asteroid, something is going to hit the Earth. Life as we know it is going to be finished tomorrow. So what are you going to do today? Are you going out and you're like, I've always wanted to travel, this is the time, right? You're going to go see the Grand Canyon, Eiffel Tower, wherever you can get to in 24 hours. Are you going to go and you're going to say, you know what, I've always wanted that motorcycle. Today's the day. I don't need a helmet, it's great, we're going. Or every penny you have in your bank account, let's drain it all big party, we're going for it.

What are you going to do if today is the last day? It's an interesting question to actually consider, lots of fun possibilities, but probably if that was real, you'd say actually there are things that are more important. Probably want to see family. I actually want to be with people that I love on my final day. Maybe it's time, there's a phone call I've been putting off. I got to mend some fences here, whatever it might be.

See, it's actually a helpful thing to consider every once in a while simply because it refocuses us and says what is really important. We can get so caught up in all kinds of mundane details, and we need to ask every once in a while, am I actually focusing on what is most important? If today was my last day, what would I spend it doing?

This morning as we're opening our Bibles, we're coming to a story of a man who is told he has one day left. And actually the way that he responds tells us quite a lot about what he really values.

If you've been with us for the past number of weeks, we've been walking through the life of David before he becomes the king. God had already told David you're going to be the king, but the biggest obstacle in his way was the current king, a man by the name of Saul, and Saul hates David. He's tried to kill him multiple times, over and over, tried to kill David. David has refused to even try and hurt Saul. Despite the fact that he could have at multiple points, his response has always been, I'm going to trust that God will deal with Saul at the right time. And now that time has come.

This is what we're going to read is one of the most bizarre stories in the Old Testament, but amidst all the bizarre circumstances we're about to see is a very real reminder. That actually we can trust God's promises every day of our lives.

So if you have a Bible open, please follow along with me. We're going to start in 1 Samuel chapter 28, starting in verse 3. It's our tradition here to stand as we read God's word. If you're able to, would you stand with me?

Starting in verse 3 It says now Samuel had died and all Israel had mourned for him and buried him in Rama, his own city. And Saul had put the mediums and the necromancers out of the land. The Philistines assembled and came and encamped at Shunnam, and Saul gathered all Israel, and they encamped at Gilboa. When Saul saw the army of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart trembled greatly. And when Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord did not answer him either by dreams or by Urim or by prophets.

And Saul said to his servants, Seek out for me a woman who is a medium that I may go to her and inquire of her. And a servant said to him, Behold, there is a medium at Endor. So Saul disguised himself and put on other garments and went, he and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night, and he said, Divine for me by a spirit and bring up for me whomever I shall name to you.

The woman said to him, Surely you know what Saul has done, how he has cut off the mediums and the necromancers from the land. Why then are you laying a trap for my life to bring about my death? But Saul swore to her by the Lord, as the Lord lives, no punishment shall come upon you for this thing. And the woman said, Whom shall I bring? He said, Bring up Samuel for me.

When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice, and the woman said to Saul, Why have you deceived me? You are Saul. The king said to her, Do not be afraid. What do you see? The woman said to Saul, I see a God coming up out of the earth. He said to her, What is his appearance? She said, an old man is coming up and wrapped in a robe. And Saul knew that it was Samuel, and he bowed with his face to the ground and paid homage.

Then Samuel said to Saul, why have you disturbed me by bringing me up? Saul answered, I'm in great distress, for the Philistines are warring against me, and God has turned away from me and answers me no more either by prophets or by dreams. Therefore, I've summoned you to tell me what I shall do.

Samuel said, Why then do you ask me, since the Lord has turned from you and become your enemy. The Lord has done to you as he spoke by me, for the Lord has torn the kingdom out of your hand and given it to your neighbor David. Because you did not obey the voice of the Lord and did not carry out his fierce wrath against Amalek. Therefore, the Lord has done this thing to you this day. Moreover, the Lord will give Israel also with you into the hand of the Philistines, and tomorrow you and your sons shall be with me. The Lord will give the army of Israel also into the hand of the Philistines.

Then Saul fell at once full length on the ground, filled with fear because of the words of Samuel, and there was no strength in him, for he had eaten nothing all day and all night. The woman came to Saul, and when she saw that he was terrified, she said to him, Behold, your servant has obeyed you. I've taken my life in my hand and I've listened to what you have said to me. Now therefore, you also obey your servant. Let me set a morsel of bread before you and eat that you may have strength when you go on your way.

He refused and said, I will not eat, but his servants, together with the woman, urged him, and he listened to their words. So he arose from the earth and sat on the bed. Now the woman had a fattened calf in the house and she quickly killed it. She took flour, kneaded it, and baked unleavened bread of it, and she put it before Saul and his servants and they ate. Then they rose and went away that night.

Thus far the reading of God's word, you may be seated.

Whew, that is quite the story, isn't it? We've had some crazy stories throughout this series, but I think this 1 may take the cake as the most out there. We have Saul dressing up in disguise, going to see a medium, Samuel, who is dead, comes and speaks to Saul, and then tells him, you're going to die.

Now there are just so many questions in a text like this, and this is a good moment for us to remind ourselves that not everything that's written in the Bible means we should copy it. This is one of those moments where we shouldn't copy anything that we are seeing. In fact, the very purpose of this story is to show us what not to do. Saul has been an example over and over again of what not to do and all of the consequences of his actions throughout his life.

If you remember when we first meet Saul, he is anointed to be the king. Why? He's tall, he's handsome. And he looks like a king. That's it. That's their criteria for anointing him as their king. And as we follow him, what we realize over and over again is that's not a good criteria. This is a horrible way to choose a king.

The king of Israel was supposed to lead the people to follow God, and over and over again, Saul has proved he's not doing that. We're supposed to look at this story and realize just how far he has fallen. Look at his life and say, don't follow that.

In fact, what we are meant to see is unlike Saul, we are called to place our trust in God and remember his promises. Even in times of spiritual silence, we can remember his salvation that has brought us from being enemies into his family.

So we're going to walk through this chapter and we're just going to see Saul's downfall at this moment. And it really starts with this spiritual silence.

Now in verse 3, if you look back at your text, we're told two very important details. Number 1, Samuel has died. Now, actually, we already knew that, that happened all the way back in chapter 25. We know Samuel has died, but number 2, we're told that Saul has gotten rid of the mediums and necromancers in the land. This is one of the few things Saul has done that is actually what God told him to do.

Leviticus 20 says, if a person turns to mediums and necromancers whoring after them, I'll set my face against that person, cut him off from among his people.

While this would have been a common practice to go and seek out the occult, God had very clearly said, that's not what you are to do. That's not how you are to seek guidance. If you want wisdom, where should you go? God, that's where you are to go. And so Saul had originally sent everyone out.

But as we already saw last week, Saul is now in a really tough spot. If you look back even just into the first couple of verses, we find the Philistines are coming against him. Verse 4 says, the Philistines assembled and came and encamped at Shuna, and Saul gathered all Israel and encamped at Gilboa. And when Saul saw the army of the Philistines, he was afraid and his heart trembled greatly.

Saul right now is facing a full invasion. The Philistines have been a problem for Israel for a long time. There have been fights back and forth, little skirmishes. Now what we find is they have actually gathered their full strength and are coming to attack. The last time this happened was the whole story with David and Goliath, you can remember that. And actually Saul is doing almost the exact same thing he did before. Holding a line and cowering behind his army.

But there's a really big difference now, if you're with us last week, you remember David, because he was so scared of Saul coming and killing him, David has fled to the Philistines. The champion hero of all of Israel has now gone over to the other side. Now, we know he's not really going to fight against Israel, but Saul doesn't know that. All he knows is that the greatest warrior in our country has left and gone to the other side, take about 600 men with him, and now the whole army is coming after him. Saul is terrified.

He's got nothing left to lean back on, and so he does something he hasn't done in years. He prays. Verse 6. When Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord did not answer him, either by dreams or by Urim or by prophets.

And this is probably the part of the story that almost confuses us most, because doesn't God answer prayer? Isn't that his whole thing? God answers our prayer. Certainly we have promises all throughout the Bible that God will answer our prayer. He's near to those who call on him. What is happening here?

And actually it's true. God does answer our prayers. But we should probably remember what the whole verse actually says.

Psalm 145. The Lord is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth. He fulfills the desire of those who fear Him. He also hears their cry and saves them. The Lord preserves all who love Him, but all the wicked He will destroy.

The Lord preserves those who love Him, who call on him in truth. So how genuine is Saul's faith? I mean if you've been with us, you know it is not genuine. It was only a few chapters ago that Saul went into a city of priests and murdered every single one of them, all because he thought they were supporting David. Actually Saul has very much shown again and again and again, he doesn't trust God at all. He has often said the right thing and then done the very opposite.

Saul's faith, it's about as genuine as a dulce and banana handbag. The question is, is God then required to answer him? Actually, the answer is no. God's not required to answer Saul's prayer. And actually lest we miss the point, let me show this again, even New Testament, 1 Peter 3, talking about husbands and wives here, says

likewise husbands live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that. Your prayers may not be hindered.

It says, husbands, the way you treat your wives will impact whether or not I even listen to you.

See, very often we have this idea that God is just our cosmic vending machine. As long as we punch in the right things, say the right words, God's going to answer, that's what he has to do. Whereas actually that's not the way the Bible speaks. Bible, God does absolutely answer our prayers, but he is not some sort of machine that we can just demand things of. Saul approaches God as if he is just some sort of backup plan for when things get messy. God, you got to answer me now. But he doesn't actually trust him.

And so perhaps the question if we are feeling distant from God, if we feel like, just doesn't feel like God is very close in my life. The first thing we are to do is even take an honest look and say, is there sin that is separating you? Is there a pattern of sin that's dwelling in your life, keeping you separated from God? Hear me, that's a painful question to ask, but a necessary one as we look at a text like this. It's like going to the doctor with some gross, embarrassing injury. You don't want to show it to him, but guess what, unless you do, you don't get healed. You've got sin in your life, bring it before God because I've got good news for you. When we do that, God is merciful to us. He forgives our sin. He hears us. There is nothing like sin to stop us from experiencing closeness with God, and there is nothing like forgiveness to bring us into it.

But here's where we need to say, hear me, that's not the only reason. In fact, Christians at all times may experience feeling distant from God, and it's not necessarily because of sin, we cannot be so trite. In fact, listen to David in Psalm 13. He prays,

how long, O Lord, will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?

I mean, in one sense, you could hear Saul almost praying that exact same prayer. And here we have to understand there actually isn't sin in between David and God at that moment, that's not the reason for it. In fact, if you read the Psalm, you realize God is teaching him how to cry out to him, how to lean on him over and over and over again, so at the end of the psalm he can say,

but I have trusted in your steadfast love. My heart shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord because he has dealt bountifully with me.

David reminds himself, God is not fickle. Though our emotions, our experiences may change, God's love is steadfast, we do not need to worry. His promises are true, no matter what our feelings are at the time.

So if you're feeling that God is far from you, what do we do? Start with confession. Start with confession. Maybe God's already bringing something to mind, some sin that has been lurking in your life. Confess it, repent before God and experience that forgiveness once again, and then remind yourself, God's promises don't change. God is always true. His salvation, his forgiveness is without fail, so lean on that again and again. There may be times where God uses that spiritual silence to teach us how to repent and how to rely on Him.

And here's the thing, if Saul had learned that lesson. This would have been a totally different chapter. But Saul facing that silence immediately jumps and goes somewhere else. In fact, what he does ends up making himself an enemy of God. See, what Saul jumps to next really tells us where his heart is.

Verse 7, it says then Saul said to his servants, seek out for me a woman who is a medium, that I may go to her and inquire of her. And his servants said to him, Behold, there's a medium at Endor.

Now, if you are like me and you grew up watching Star Wars, you know Endor is a planet. It's where they built the second Death Star. In real life, it's a city in northern Israel. And apparently Saul's servants already knew exactly where this woman was.

And so Saul, determined, this is what I have to do, gets himself all disguised. He actually has to go behind enemy lines in order to get there, so he throws on this disguise so that no one can know him. Comes to this woman in the middle of the night. And when he gets to her, he says, look, I need you to talk to somebody who has died for me.

And she kind of looks and she goes, I don't know who you are. So this is the point where I have to say, you have to tell me if you're a cop. I'm not getting in trouble, but verse 10 says, but Saul swore to her by the Lord. As the Lord lives, no punishment shall come upon you for this thing.

I mean Saul apparently does not recognize irony, swearing by God as as God is real, you won't get it. What are you doing, Saul? This is backwards, left and right. But she's convinced and she goes, all right. Who do you want to talk to?

And here we do have to ask a question. Can she actually do this? Are mediums real? We have fortune tellers, mediums, witch doctors today. Do they actually have power? And we need to say right off the bat, no. The vast majority of what they do is relying on parlor tricks, Google searches, psychological tips, tricks, and charlatan guise to sell the experience.

But we are shown here and actually throughout the Bible, there is a real spiritual realm, and we're not to simply mess around with this stuff. In fact, God tells us simply avoid it. Now we don't need to be worried as Christians, we have the Holy Spirit who dwells in our hearts. We do not have to worry because God is far more powerful than every other spiritual force. You don't have to worry about that.

And in fact, I'm going to argue this woman was not expecting anything to actually happen. In fact, verse 12. Says when the woman saw Samuel, she cried out in a loud voice. She wasn't actually expecting to see anything. She was shocked when he actually showed up. She panics, she says, he's like a god, I don't know what this is. She is just as scared in one sense as Saul ends up being.

And we need to recognize that God can speak however he wants. He uses Balaam's donkey to speak, he can use this woman, it doesn't mean we're to bring a donkey up on stage. God sends Samuel to speak with Saul. This is not her power, this is God now speaking directly to Saul.

Now we're not told exactly how this conversation happened, but we are told what Samuel said, verse 15. And Samuel said to Saul, why have you disturbed me by bringing me up? Saul answered, I'm in great distress, for the Philistines are warring against me, and God has turned away from me and answers me no more, either by prophets or by dreams. Therefore, I've summoned you to tell me what I should do.

I mean, Saul is so hopeless on his own, isn't he? He just has no idea where to turn. And I mean, just the foolishness of his action at this moment is so obvious. Imagine you got fired from your company by the CEO. Top in the company, he fires you, and then you go and you talk to your shift manager, hey, can I get a job? No, of course not. If the CEO fired you, I have no power to give you a job. So what is he doing? God won't speak to him, so he goes to Samuel. Samuel works for God. That's who he listens to.

And as it turns out, Samuel actually has nothing encouraging to say. Verse 16, Samuel said, Why then do you ask me? Since the Lord has turned from you and become your enemy, the Lord has done to you as he spoke by me, for the Lord has torn the kingdom out of your hand and given it to your neighbor, David.

Samuel doesn't actually have any words of comfort for him. In fact, all he really does is repeat back to Saul what he had already told him. If you can remember all the way back to the beginning of our series, we looked at chapter 15. And in that, Saul had been instructed by God, you are to go, you're to wipe out the King Amalek, and don't keep any of his stuff, destroy it all, you don't want it. But Saul looked and he thought, well, that's a lot of money just sitting there. I'm going to grab that for myself. And God kind of shakes his head and goes, fine, we're done. I will take the kingdom from you.

In fact, 1 Samuel 15, Samuel said to him, to Saul,

the Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you this day and has given it to a neighbor of yours who's better than you.

Almost verbatim what Samuel now responds with. God had already told him, I'm going to take the kingdom out of your hands, and in fact he already knew I'm going to give it to David. The promise God had made all those years ago was now coming true.

In fact, verse 19, the Lord will give Israel also with you into the hand of the Philistines, and tomorrow you and your sons shall be with me.

Now, this is Saul's final day. I know it'll take us actually a couple of chapters to get through. A lot happens on this day. But we're not usually given that kind of a warning. Saul was told this is your final day, but perhaps even more terrifying than that was that God had said actually that he stands against him as his enemy. Far more terrifying than the army that's waiting outside, worse than losing your job as the king, is that the God who created the entire earth should stand against him. The one who's in control and all powerful should stand against him as his enemy was far more terrifying than anything else that Samuel had to say.

I pray none of us would ever experience that. To be told that God stands against us as His enemy is not something I want anyone to feel. And yet the Bible does very clearly tell us that everyone will one day stand before God. 2 Corinthians. Paul writes,

for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each 1 may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

The truth is, we will all have a moment where we will stand before God face to face, and the question we need to ask is, shall we meet him as his friend or as his enemy?

Like I said, this whole story is for us a warning, a warning of what not to do, a warning of what to avoid. do not end up where Saul has gone. But we do need to recognize by our own merits, that is where we would be. We would be God's enemy. In fact, James 4. Says

you adulterous people, do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

Our sin places us into the same position where Saul finds himself enemies of God, and the terrifying part is that we will stand before him. No amount of good works on our own part is going to be able to deal with us. We can't tip the balance ourselves.

But again, this is a story of what not to do. Because this isn't the end of the story. God is raising up David for a very particular reason because through David is going to come Jesus. The end of the story is not that we simply remain as enemies of God, but that God has sent Jesus to rescue his enemies. Yes, we are lost in our sin, alienated from God justly under his wrath, but that is why Jesus came. Jesus came to stand in our place, to deal with the penalty of our sin. While we were still his enemies. He died for those who hadn't deserved it. He died for those who had rejected him, us, so that anyone who would trust in Jesus would be saved.

For everyone who turns from their sin, repents away from it, places their trust in Jesus, we have the blessing that all of the punishment for our sin was taken on Jesus. He has dealt with it all and now in its place, God simply pours out blessing. God is the one who takes his enemies and makes them into his family. In fact, Romans tells us,

for if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his son, much more now that we are reconciled shall we be saved by his life.

God reconciles his enemies through Jesus, and we have this incredible hope that we can stand with God forever. That when we do come to stand before God on judgment day and as the deeds of all of the wrong we have done is listed, Jesus shall stand and say, but I have dealt with them all. That is the good news that we have. In fact, that is the good news that is open to everyone who would trust in him.

This is a passage that is a warning, it's a real warning, but please don't forget, it's not the end of the story. While our sin makes us into enemies of God, it is God's mercy and God's love that turns us into his children. This is meant to show us the forgiveness of God through Jesus, that because of him, the enemies of God are now his family. This is the day of salvation.

And see here, that once again is just what Saul failed to recognize. See, after Samuel had left, we're told in verse 20. Then Saul fell at once full length on the ground, filled with fear because of the words of Samuel, and there was no strength in him, for he hadn't eaten nothing all day and all night.

Eventually, they get him up off the floor, they try and feed him. They have to convince him just to eat anything so that he's able to leave. But he falls on his face in fear.

Now here's the question I want to ask. In one sense, why is Saul so surprised at this? We just said actually everything that Samuel told to Saul, he had already heard before. This was nothing new. The only thing new was that it was now happening. And here's what I think had probably gone on.

So you have to remember in between these two prophecies when chapter 15, Samuel told him the first time and now it's probably been at the very least 15 years. 15, probably even 20 years have passed in between these two moments. Saul has been living his life for a long time. There have been probably some good days, there have been some hard days, there's been a lot of just ordinary days that have gone by as, as that memory has started to fade. I'm sure at first it was quite panicking, and then a few days went by and that panic lessened just a little bit. Weeks, months went by and it started to go down, years turned into decades, and now he's not even thinking about it at all. I mean, if God really wanted to do something, if God was really serious, he surely would have done something by now. I don't really need to worry about this. I'm sure God's already forgotten or he doesn't really care, or he's not really going to do anything. Lulled as it were into a false sense of security until now he realized he was out of time.

I think it's so easy to fall into that line of thinking. It's so easy to fall into that line of thinking that says, well, I'll have more time later. When I was younger, this is exactly what I thought. When I was younger, I didn't really want to follow Jesus. I knew it took a lot from me, and so I thought, you know what, I'm just going to do my thing and then on my deathbed. I'm going to repent and be good. And then my uncle was killed in a car accident. He was younger than I am now. He was just on his way to the grocery store. And he never sat on a deathbed.

Almost 2 years ago, my mother passed away. She was in perfect health. Until she got a bit of a cold and had trouble breathing, where they found that she had pancreatic cancer that had spread to her lungs, to her bones, and to her brain. A month later, she had a stroke. And the truth is I don't think she ever really was conscious after that. Even if you have a deathbed, you might not even know it.

Saul was panicking because for the first time he realized he was out of time. He realized that the years he had spent was not God ignoring him, it was not God forgetting about it, it was not permission for him to continue, but it was patience for him to turn back. Hear me, it's the same with us. Why doesn't God immediately strike us down? Why aren't lightning bolts falling all the time? The answer is God is patient. He's giving us this opportunity to repent, to turn back.

Romans 2 says, or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance. But because of your hard and impenitent heart, you're storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed.

Saul had really been leaning on that second part. Realizing now that his time had been spent merely storing up judgment.

But once again, this is a warning to us to turn away. Do not do what Saul has done, and we need to recognize that while the warnings God gives to us are real, so are the promises. God is patient with us and giving us this moment to repent because the promise of grace is real.

Even in this moment as God has told him, this is the last day, even that was an opportunity for Saul, turn back. He would not have even been the or the the only one who's ever done that. Think of Samson spent his life ignoring God. Until the very end. Think of the thief on the cross who almost in his dying breath is placing faith in Jesus and his promised salvation. Even this was the moment Saul turned back. The promises of God's grace are real.

We may not be guaranteed a deathbed, but we are guaranteed that the promise of forgiveness in Jesus Christ is real. Paul writes 2 Corinthians,

therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making His appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

Just a few verses later, for he says,

in a favorable time I listened to you and in a day of salvation I have helped you. Behold, now is the favorable time. Behold, now is the day of salvation.

Just as the warnings are real, so are the promises, so is the forgiveness. We have this promise held out, let us go to it. Don't confuse the patience of God with his permission, but rather let us turn to him once again. Turn away from our sin and walk in fellowship with Jesus Christ. God has promised to forgive our sins. Today is the day of salvation.

So whether you have never trusted in Jesus or maybe grown dull. The story of Saul is meant to draw us back to Jesus, to remind us of the times of spiritual silence where it feels like God is far away, but even then he has not forgotten his promise. We can trust in him. Because when we were his enemies, he sent Jesus to die on the cross to forgive our sins. Let us today trust him. Whether for the first time or reminding ourselves what once again, what an incredible savior, let us trust him every day that he gives us.

Let's pray together.

Our heavenly Father. We are so thankful for the gift of grace in Jesus Christ. Though we like Saul have gone astray, though we have so often trusted in our own ideas, our own strength, Father, remind us, remind us of what Jesus has done. That there is forgiveness in him, that all of our sins are paid for on the cross, that we can trust in Him and be reconciled to you.

Father, thank you for this, thank you for this reminder, thank you for the good news of Jesus that calls us to live for you again and again. We ask all these things in your name. Amen.