"House of David/House of Saul"
The kind of war I dread is when you have to fight against your brethren.
Download or email this sermon (~310k) Self-Preservation
The house of Saul is always bent on one thing, self-preservation.
And he captured Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. 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. Then the word of the Lord came to Samuel, saying, "I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following Me, and has not carried out My commands." And Samuel was distressed and cried out to the Lord all night.
And 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 (1 Sam.15:8-12).
Saul set up a monument for himself. The Sauls of the modern church are also busily engaged in setting up monuments for themselves.
And Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, "Blessed are you of the Lord! I have carried out the command of the Lord." But Samuel said: What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?" (1 Sam.15:13-14).
The house of Saul thinks it is in God's grace, God's favor, God's blessing, until the real prophetic voice comes and tells them the truth.
And Saul said, "They have brought them from the Amalekites, for the people spared the best of the sheep and oxen, to sacrifice unto the Lord your God; but the rest we have utterly destroyed"
"There are good things in the Roman Catholic Church that we can draw from," say some people. But if you knew something was part rotten, would you eat it?
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!" And Samuel said, "Is it not true, though you were little in your own eyes, you were made the head of the tribes of Israel? And the Lord anointed thee king over Israel.
The people asked for a King. They always want a flesh leader instead of looking to God. "Give us a leader, or give us a king." When people ask for a leader or king, there is always something wrong with their relationship with Jesus.
People refuse to understand that they can only follow a human leader as far as that person has a relationship with God, not one bit further. If that leader has no relationship with God, then you will be in the same confusion and doubt as the leader. What did Paul say? Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ (1 Cor. 11:1). Follow me, agree with me, trust me to the exact extent that I am following Jesus. No more.
We have a King; we should not try to make other people into our king.
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." Why then 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? (1 Sam.15:18-19).
We are showing our treasures to the king of Babylon. When you send converts back to the Roman Catholic Church, as Billy Graham is doing, you are showing your treasures to the king of Babylon (2 Kings 20:12-18). When you do this, it is only a matter of time before the king of Babylon will come and take the treasure.
And Saul said to Samuel, "I did obey the voice of the Lord, and went on the mission on which the Lord sent me." (1 Sam.15:20).
They always defend their actions. They insist they are obeying the Lord, they insist they are following him. But the Word of God says differently!
They say, "Do not talk to us about doctrine, doctrine divides." The New Testament contains twice as much exhortation to right doctrine as it does right conduct. Why? If we do not know right doctrine, we will not know right conduct. Jesus said it would divide. That is exactly the purpose of doctrine!
Bad Leaders Blame the People
"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"
The bad leaders always blame the people. "The people took the spoil. We cannot control the people." Those in leadership were given a job to do and they are responsible. They are supposed to be God's authority in that relationship.
And 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. 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." (1 Sam,15:22 23).
They will bring a sacrifice of praise, but they will not obey the Bible.
Return with Me
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. Now therefore, please pardon my sin and return with me, that I may worship the Lord."
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" (1 Sam. 15:24-26).
The basics of fellowship.
Can two walk together, except they be agreed? (Amos 3:3).
We are talking about basics – salvation, the authority of scripture, the person of Christ.
The Bible says if people predict things that do not happen, get away from them. When people prefer the teachings of Toronto/ Brownsville, despite knowing the contradiction between what the Bible says and what their leaders do, we should get away from them. People who will not listen to truth are in rebellion, and rebellion is as witchcraft. These movements openly defy the clear Word of God.
Rejecting the Word of Truth
There have been a number of predictions made by people like John Wimber, Paul Cain and Gerald Coates, predictions that did not happen. Their false predictions were published in newspapers and on secular television, resulting in brutal mocking of Christians when they failed to happen.
When Gerald Coates was challenged over his false prophecy, he refused to take any responsibility for his actions. Both Rick Joyner and John Kilpatrick have made major predictions that failed to happen and people still follow them. This is rebellion, the same sin as witchcraft. The people who follow Coates, Joyner and Kilpatrick cannot dispute that their leaders have predicted things that did not come to pass. They cannot dispute that the Word of God says we should not follow them. But they do not want to obey the Word of God. They prefer rebellion, witchcraft. Once they reject the Word of the Lord, there is no basis for Truth, no fellowship to be had with them.
Bible teaching in the Charismatic Movement has been so shallow that most of these people are doing it out of ignorance rather than willful rebellion. But it is different with the leaders. They should all be called to repentance. They should not be allowed any form of ministry. They have deceived and mislead so many people.
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Scripture taken from the New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation.