Principles of Audacious Faith Part 4

Preached at Norwich 15th August 2004

Principles of audacious faith part 4 section (a)

The fall from Faith and faithful service

The pathway of deception– when you abandon your faith

Destiny and destruction

Intro: (a) It is as interesting to look at the life of a David and see his rise to leadership and audacious faith, as it is to see the pathway of destruction that Saul took. We learn equally powerful principles from a person’s failure as we do in another person’s success.

At the time David was rising in spiritual power, significance and influence – his contemporary the King of Israel was losing it.

It is worthy of note for us to observe the lives of those who live “according to the pattern” and those who are “enemies of the cross.”

(b) Phil 3:17-19

17 Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you. 18 For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things.

They live as enemies of the cross

Their destiny is destruction

Their god is their stomach – their appetites

Their glory is their shame – they glory in the things they should be ashamed of

Their mind is on earthly things

Matt 16:23

23 Jesus turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling-block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men."

23But Jesus didn't swerve. "Peter, get out of my way. Satan, get lost. You have no idea how God works." The Message

Matt 16:23

23 But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men. KJV

A.Why did Saul allow a boy to represent him and his armies?

This was not smart – it was the last ditch efforts of a leader who had no sense of leadership and propriety. How could he allow this course of action – it portrayed a lack of courage on his part – why didn’t he go out and slay the giant?

The reasons for his crazy action is clear from the chapter before.

He had backslidden in spirit – he had been disobedient to God – process and procedure had not been adhered to. The superstructure of faith had been eaten away by disobedience and pride.
He no longer had faith in God – arrogance overtook his need to adhere to godly principles.
The anointing had departed from him – God had moved away from him and taken His anointing from him. This is one scary moment in the life of some one call and chosen to lead.
An evil spirit had come to him – deception overtook his good senses and deception blinded him to the ways of God – deception closed his ears to divine direction and the voice of the Lord – He knew better than the prophet
He could no longer hear the voice of the Lord – rebellion and arrogance had possessed him – he was now operating under another spirit.

B.Saul’s sin: “The pathway of destruction”

He acted in disobedience to God and His command from the prophet Samuel.

1. The command:

1 Samuel 15:1-3

15:1 Samuel said to Saul, "I am the one the LORD sent to anoint you king over his people Israel; so listen now to the message from the LORD. 2 This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'I will punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel when they waylaid them as they came up from Egypt. 3 Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy everything that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.'"

2. What Saul did instead:

1 Samuel 15:7-9

7 Then Saul attacked the Amalekites all the way from Havilah to Shur, to the east of Egypt.

8 He took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and all his people he totally destroyed with the sword.

9 But Saul and the army spared Agag and the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs-- everything that was good. These they were unwilling to destroy completely, but everything that was despised and weak they totally destroyed.

He allowed a place for King Agag in his life - Eph 4:27, “and do not give the devil a foothold.” By his disobedience he gave place to the devil.
Disobeyed the voice of God by bringing in the sheep and cattle.
Saul decided what was good in his eyes – pride – to fulfil his religious designs
He manifested an unwillingness to acknowledge God – His voice – the authority of the Prophet – the man of God – he was insubordinate

3. Divine response:

1 Samuel 15:13-14

13 When Samuel reached him, Saul said, "The LORD bless you! I have carried out the Lord’s instructions."

14 But Samuel said, "What then is this bleating of sheep in my ears? What is this lowing of cattle that I hear?"

4. Saul’s justification:

1 Samuel 15:19-21

19 Why did you not obey the LORD? Why did you pounce on the plunder and do evil in the eyes of the LORD?"

20 "But I did obey the LORD," Saul said. "I went on the mission the LORD assigned me. I completely destroyed the Amalekites and brought back Agag their king.

21 The soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God, in order to sacrifice them to the LORD your God at Gilgal."

But I did do what God said – the power of deception – how could Saul say this? See the power of deception! Sin deceives us. Jeremiah 17:9, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?”
It was the soldiers who took the animals – passing the buck – Adam did it as well – it is a malady of humanity
I wanted to do sacrifices for God – I wanted to hold a big religious festival to honour God! The power of illusion and delusion – taking someone’s attention from this to make them look at that while you get away with some thing else some where else.

C.The prophets teaching about God’s ways:

Psalms 103:7

7 He made known his ways to Moses, his deeds to the people of Israel:

Our prayer should be:

Psalms 25:4-5

4 Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths;

5 guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Saviour, and my hope is in you all day long.

Samuel’s teachings:

1 Samuel 15:22-23

22 But Samuel replied: “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.

1. Does the Lord delight in sacrifice or obedience?

“Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings”... Samuel must not be regarded as in any way disparaging the ordinances of the Mosaic law. The sacrifices had been appointed by divine authority, and therefore were to be duly performed. But they were merely expressive of the faith and piety cherished by the worshippers; and whenever the outward observance was considered of greater importance than the inward sentiment or the spiritual feeling, there was a perversion of religion that was displeasing to God. Obedience is the true test of a religious profession.

Isaiah had this same message to the people of his age.

Isaiah 1:11-13

11 "The multitude of your sacrifices-- what are they to me?" says the LORD. "I have more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals; I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats.

12 When you come to appear before me, who has asked this of you, this trampling of my courts? 13 Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations-- I cannot bear your evil assemblies.

The principle of God is clear – it is better to obey than to sacrifice – it is better to heed my word than to offer me the fat of rams! Religion is a killer to relationship – God desires your heart not your sacrifices – he wants your love and obedience not your outward displays of religious sentiment.

2. Rebellion & Arrogance were Saul’s two sins:

1 Samuel 15:23 For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has rejected you as king.”

(a) Rebellion is as witchcraft – it hold the same kind of spirit – some translation speak about divination.

Rebellion & witchcraft, they are both are forms of apostasy,

The one being denial of God's authority,
The other recognition of supernatural powers distinct from God.
Both speak about authority and control – but are both of the spirit of anti-christ – they are anti God in their demonstrations – they are iniquity and sin, so Samuel teaches
The opposites of rebellion and witchcraft is of course

Godly submission and the recognition of Godly authority where we recognise the source of all authority is in the Lord God almighty and our response to obey Him out of a heart of thankful love.

When we speak about the authority of God and the authority of His word, we recognise the power and influence this authority has on our lives – it establishes righteousness and justice, wisdom and knowledge

The authority of God results in our obedience, submission and worshipful respect of the One Who exerts this authority in our lives.

Where there is the exertion of true authority from God it results in freedom, creativity, innovation and building.

The rebellion and witchcraft speaks about control in two ways:

The control the spirit of divination would have over you and

The control you have over other people because of the spirit you operate in

Control: There is a vast difference between exercising godly authority to establish righteousness and exercising control that is a perversion of authority. Control by nature is seditious.

The bible speaks about using godly authority especially in the home to protect our homes and lives from unrighteousness and in the church to see the kingdom of God established in our communities and in our hearts.

The word of God also speaks about those who seek to abuse people with an authority not from God. The scriptures are full of the examples of those who have sought to abuse God’s people by their use of control, sedition and manipulation.

Jezebel – Nimrod – Balaam

There is a considerable difference in authority and control. The difference is that the first is of God, given to Shepherds for tending the flock. The other is of the devil and is actually the demonic counterfeit of authority.

It would serve us well to learn to recognize the difference between authority and control and make sure that we submit to divinely appointed authority and that we don't fall prey to the counterfeit.

Control uses manipulation to see its desires fulfilled. Control is seditious by nature.

(b) Arrogance (stubbornness) is like idolatry – these two sins operate from the same spirit. Stubbornness is resisting God in your life, acknowledging He is not the sole power in your life and worshiping self-centeredness. Idolatry is giving over rightful worship of God and giving it to anything else that seeks to take the place of God in your life.

Hence stubbornness – resisting God’s authority in your life is of the same spirit as idolatry that is giving over of authority to an idol. The opposite spirit is of course humility and obedience that allows God full reign in your life

Saul operated in this spirit as well – arrogance in believing he was the sole authority – it was self centred – it was self aggrandisement as well – look at the scriptures:

1 Samuel 15:12

12 Early in the morning Samuel got up and went to meet Saul, but he was told, "Saul has gone to Carmel. There he has set up a monument in his own honour and has turned and gone on down to Gilgal."

Isn’t this idolatry? Think about it.

Is it any wonder an evil spirit came to torment him?

He had in principle given himself over to divination and idolatry.

Is it any wonder that in the last chapter of his life he consulted the witch of Endor to get insight and instruction because the Lord was no longer speaking to him?

1 Samuel 15:27-29

27 As Samuel turned to leave, Saul caught hold of the hem of his robe, and it tore. 28 Samuel said to him, "The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to one of your neighbours-- to one better than you. 29 He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind; for he is not a man, that he should change his mind."

The Lord has taken his authority – his destiny – his leadership – his kingdom and given it to another.
God is the Glory of Israel – he does not lie or change his mind

Conclusion:

There are a number of principles we need to be aware of if we are to be people of audacious faith. If we seek to be people who shake kingdoms and slay giants then listen very carefully to these principles:

Obedience is vital – knowing, understanding and following the ways of the Lord is pre-eminent!
Submission to God and His authority in your life
Humility before God and establishing the kingdom of God in righteous attitude and spirit.
Our actions hold consequences – be prepared for them.

Micah 6:8

8 He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.