Now if you would, let's open
our Bibles to 1 Samuel 28. 1 Samuel 28. It's a very interesting
chapter. It's one that's sort of perplexed
a lot of people. Chapter, you know, we're studying
the life of David as a type of Christ and as an example of a
sinner saved by grace. He is both. Officially, he's
a type of Christ. Personally, he's a sinner saved
by grace. And I know it's been uplifting
for you who know the Lord to see these types and pictures
and to see even the failings of men of God, because it's by
God's mercy and grace that we're not consumed. And you know as
well as I do that any of the failings of these men and women
of God, they're not examples to be followed. We certainly
can identify with them. I know in chapter 27, when you
think about David's fall in unbelief for a time, it certainly tells
our story, doesn't it? Lord, I believe, help thou mine
unbelief. And this chapter begins in the
first two verses with that again, talking about David and how he's
continuing on. You know, the scripture tells
us he was in that state of unbelief for a year and four months. And
somebody asked me one time in the South, they asked me, said,
well, how long do you give a person? And I said, well, I don't give
a person any length of time at all. Only God can do that. Say,
well, how long does it last? I don't know. I don't know. Here
it lasts a year and four months. Could it last longer? I suppose
there's no set limitation here. But I just know this, that if
you're one of God's children, he will not utterly forsake you
and let you go. He'll never leave you nor forsake
you. That's what Christ told his disciples. That's what he
tells us. As long as we're washed in his
blood and clothed in his righteousness, we're safe in the arms of Christ.
We're justified before God. And that never changes. That
never changes, and I'll say it boldly, it never changes no matter
what. I believe that. Now, that doesn't
give a believer license to sin. And the reason it doesn't is
because grace is not just something we believe and say it's something
that operates in power within each and every sinner saved by
grace. It's a dynamic. It's not just
something you write on a wall or on a bumper sticker. It's
a dynamic. So even though David was caught up in this as a weak
vessel, as the Bible says, the spirit is willing, but the flesh
is weak. And we see the weakness of this flesh in so many ways. God kept it. Now, most of this
chapter is taken up with Saul, and not David, but Saul himself.
And that's what we want to look at tonight. I've entitled the
message, When God Refuses to Answer. When God refuses to answer,
I heard a man say one time that God always answers prayer. Let me tell you something. No,
he does not always answer prayer. Now, he always answers the prayers
of his children. Sometimes the answer is no. And
sometimes he makes us wait on his answer, but he will answer
his children. But he doesn't always answer
prayer. Here's a time when God refused
to answer. And there's three lessons, basically,
in this chapter. First of all, it's this, that
all who willingly, knowingly, and rebelliously persist in open
sin and rebellion against God, against the revealed will of
God, they will descend further and further into sin. Now, we're
all sinners. But even believers can get caught
up and controlled by the flesh for a time, as David was doing
in chapter 27. And David is an example of a believer in this,
but what we are going to see in his life and in the life of
every believer, God will at some point intervene and stop that
process where Sin cannot make an end of us, and the reason
is, is because Christ made an end of it on the cross. But God
will intervene. In fact, the next message in
1 Samuel 29, we're going to see that. I've entitled it, God's
Sovereign Intervention. He intervenes. In Saul, we see
an example of an unbeliever who went headlong, willingly, with
no constraints and no remorse and no repentance into sin, openly
rebelling against God's revealed will, and rather than intervening
in this man's life, God brings him to justice. And that's what's
happening here with Saul. So that's the first lesson. Be
sure your sins will find you out. Now, that's not meant to
scare believers as if, well, somebody says, well, if you don't
stop this and start that and do that, you know, God, you'll
be in hell. No, that's not what that's about.
But, you know, the Bible teaches, it's a very, very settled principle,
is that what you sow, you reap. And that's so. The second lesson
of this chapter is this, and this is the main issue, God will
not hear and bless any sinner who approaches him, seeks him,
or asks of him apart from Christ and his word. You can mark it
down. He will not hear. You know, as
far as hearing in the way of being able to understand and
know what's being said, he knows that, but he will not hear in
grace and mercy and acceptance any sinner. He will not even
answer any sinner in this way, by way of blessing, who asks
of him apart from Christ in his word. And then thirdly, the third
lesson is this, that we who know God, We must stay with God's
word and not follow men or women or others. We must stay with
God's word no matter what. No matter if the whole bunch
leaves. We must stay with God's word. And that's the three lessons
of this chapter. So let's look at it. Now, as I said, the first
two verses are dealing still with David in his state of unbelief,
a believer. You remember last message, when
a believer fails to believe. And here David's in a dilemma.
Look at it. It says in verse 1, it came to
pass in those days that the Philistines gathered their armies together
for warfare. And look who they're fighting,
to fight with Israel. Now, this is Israel. This is
the people of God under the old covenant. This is God's chosen
people under that covenant for that time. This is the people
whom David has been promised to rule over as king in Israel. These are David's brothers and
sisters. Jonathan was in this camp, the
one that David made a covenant with, a covenant of brotherly
fellowship and love. And here, Achish is going to
fight with them, and it says, And Achish said unto David, Know
thou assuredly that thou shalt go out with me to battle thou
and thy men. Now, what a dilemma. David's
placed himself, because of his fear of men and because of his
unbelief, in a tough position. And that's what fear and unbelief
will always do for us. It'll put us in tough positions.
And but God, listen, and as I said, now, God wouldn't let him go
completely. God is faithful to save us and to keep us by his
grace in the Lord Jesus Christ. And God's going to deliver him.
David didn't get himself out of this dilemma. In fact, verse
2, he tried to lie his way out of it. Look at verse 2. It says,
And David said to Achish, Surely thou shalt know what thy servant
can do. You know what I'm capable of.
And Achish said to David, therefore will I make thee keeper of mine
head forever. You'll be my bodyguard. He's
making David his bodyguard. Just like Abner was supposed
to be Saul's keeper. You remember when David was over
there and his cohort there wanted to kill Saul and David went after
Abner and he told him, he said, you deserve death. You didn't
keep your masters. your master say, and Achish says,
I'm going to make you keeper of mine head. So what's happening
here? Well, David, did you notice the
answer he got? Here's what Achish says. He says, I'm going out
against Israel and you're going to fight for me, aren't you?
And David said, he gave him an ambiguous answer. This is a great
politician here. He didn't say yes, he didn't
say no, he didn't say maybe. He said, well, you know what
I'm capable of. Yeah, we do. You know what you're
capable of, don't you? But by the grace of God, what
are we capable of? We're capable of any sin that
could ever be imagined. And the person who doesn't think
that he or she is, they don't know themselves. You know what
I'm capable of. So he gives him an ambiguous
answer. He's still deceiving Achish. And what it does, it
leads Achish to think, well, David's going to fight for me.
How else could it be if he says, I'm going to make you my bodyguard
now, keeper of my hand? David's living in deception right
now. And he gives this answer to give himself an out. You see,
that's the way politicians do. That's the way it is in politics.
You frame the question and the answer in order to give yourself
an out. And that's what David's done. So you can see how David
is slipping farther and farther away from the truth. and from
honesty, and from honoring God. Now, thank God, we're going to
see in chapter 29 how God puts a halt to it. He puts a halt
to it. David didn't do it, but God intervenes,
and we'll see that in chapter 29. Now, the rest of this chapter,
from verse 3 all the way to the end, has to do with Saul's unbelief
and terror. Saul's utter unbelief, his disobedience,
his rebellion, his terror. And you know what happens? We
see Saul getting worse and worse and worse. He's descending farther
and farther into the abyss of his own disobedience and rebellion,
hatred, envy, and unbelief. And it consumes him. I mean,
it totally consumes him. And that's what happens to any
unbeliever if God does not providentially either slow that process down,
or that digress down, we might say, or stop it. But look what
happens here. Here, Philistines are invading
Israel, and Saul's afraid. He's in terror. Look at verse
3. It says, in verse 20, it says,
Now Samuel was dead, and that's significant. You'll see why later
on. And all Israel had lamented him and buried him in Ramah,
even in his own city. And Saul had put away those that
had familiar spirits and the wizards out of the land." Now,
these are the diviners. These are the people today that
claim to be able to predict the future, read the crystal ball,
read the tarot cards, read the horoscopes, all that. This familiar
spirit is a lying spirit. They were just ungodly and a
wizard is the word wizard literally means knowing knowing one knowers. They claim to know things that
you don't know. And how they know what they don't
really know. They just know it. And if you ever see it and believe
it and find it out, you'll know it, too. However, that happens.
And so it's like witches and wizards, you see. Now, notice
it's not talking about people in pointed hats and carrying
around wands. It's not talking about Harry
Potter or anything like that. It's talking about men and women
who claim to speak by divine inspiration apart from the Word
of God. That's what he's talking about
here. We've got a Word. And then there are people who
claim to be able to contact the dead. Now, you can't contact
the dead. If God ever wanted you or me
to have any communication with the dead, he'd bring it about.
We're going to see something here that he does. But it wasn't
by a witch or a wizard. Some people think it was, but
it wasn't. But what had Saul done here? Under Samuel, with
his friendship with Samuel, now Saul didn't agree with Samuel.
Saul disobeyed Samuel. But there were things that Saul
did right. And one of the things he did right was he got rid of
all these familiar spirits and wizards out of the land. He did
that. But the problem was he failed
to trust and to follow God. You know, there's a lot of times
people can see what's wrong and get rid of what's wrong without
seeing and doing what's right. And that's a plain example of
that. That's what Saul did. He knew that these these familiar
spirits and wizards were not right. They had to be ousted
out of the land. That was according to the word
of God. God commanded that and but he failed. Saul failed to
trust and follow God. So look at verse 4. It says,
And the Philistines gathered themselves together, and came
and pitched in Shunem. And Saul gathered all Israel
together, and they pitched in Gilboa. They're all north of
Jerusalem, northern part of Israel, getting ready to do battle here.
And when Saul saw the host of the Philistines, he was afraid. And his heart greatly trembled.
And the sense of it is he's in abject terror. And it says, and
when Saul inquired of the Lord. See what's happening here. You
see, Saul, most of the time up to this point, didn't care what
the Lord had to say. Like I said, Samuel spoke to
him, told him the reality of the things, and Saul disregarded
it. But Saul, now being in abject terror, like so many that do
this, he inquired of the Lord. He prayed. That's what he's doing.
But it says, the Lord answered him not. Now that's the time
to be in terror. When God refuses to answer. And he says, neither by dreams,
nor by Urim, nor by prophets. Why wouldn't God answer Saul? This silence of God is not the
silence of indifference. You know, sometimes when you
don't care about something, you just remain silent on it. You
don't have an opinion either way or a judgment either way.
This is not the silence of indifference. It is not that God has lost the
ability to hear. God is omniscient. He's omnipotent. He hears all, sees all. It's
not a silence of weakness. And it's not a silence of perplexity. God's not confused here. He's
not turning to the angels and saying, well, I just don't know
what to do about Saul. What do you guys think? He's
not perplexed. He's not confused. Let me tell
you exactly what it is. It's the silence of judgment
against sin. That's what it is. The silence
of judgment against sin. You see, Saul's heart had always
been and was still set on himself and his own desires, not the
will of God, not the way of God. And as I told you, you know,
there are people who who make this statement. I saw it on a
bumper sticker one time. They say God always answer prayers. Well, sometimes his answer again
to his children is no, and sometimes his answer is silence as far
as making his way. But he doesn't always answer
prayer. He didn't answer Saul's prayer. Sometimes this silence
is nothing. You know, they say silence is
golden. Not this one. This is judgment. This is judgment
against sin. So what does Saul do? Now, I
ask that question, why didn't God answer Saul? And I'm going
to get to that, but let's read most of this chapter. What does
Saul do? Well, he seeks advice from a
witch. Seeks advice from a witch. Look
at verse 7. Then said Saul unto his servants,
Seek me a woman that hath a familiar spirit. Now, the sense of this
is that Saul knew that this woman was around. Now, it said he got
rid of them all, but apparently this one either came back or
whatever. But it says, Seek me a woman
that hath a familiar spirit, that I may go to her and inquire
of her. And his servants said to him,
Behold, there is a woman that hath a familiar spirit at Endor. And Saul disguised himself and
put on other raiment." Now, I suppose the reason he disguised himself
is because he was well known for ousting these familiar spirits
and these wizards. So he didn't want her to run
scared, so it says, "...he went, and two men with him, and they
came to the woman by night, and he said, I pray thee, divine
unto me by the familiar spirit, and bring him up, whom I shall
name unto thee." Now, you notice the confusion of Saul there.
divine unto me." That's a term they used, you know. It's like
you've got a connection with the divine, and so you divine
it down, or you bring it down, or you bring it up. And he said,
divine unto me by the familiar spirit, the lying spirit. And somebody said, well, Saul
really doesn't understand what he's saying here himself. He's
talking out of his head. He's so consumed with his own
fear and unbelief that he's out of his mind. But he says, "...one
that I shall name unto thee." And verse 9 says, "...and the
woman said unto him, Behold, thou knowest what Saul hath done."
Remember, she didn't recognize that this man was Saul. He was
in disguise. You know what Saul's done, how he has cut off those
that have familiar spirits and the wizards out of the land.
Wherefore, then, last thou snare for my life to cause me to die?
Are you trying to get me killed? That's what she's saying. Verse
10, And Saul sware to her by the Lord, saying, As the Lord
liveth, there shall no punishment happen to thee for this thing.
Now notice again the depth that Saul had descended. He swears
in the name of the Lord to do something against the Lord's
revealed will. Now that's something, that's
spiritual insanity. What he is, he's a hypocrite
and he's a rebel. Swears to do, swears in the name
of the Lord to do something that is opposed to God's revealed
will and glory and honor. And so what does Saul do? Well,
look at verse 11. Incidentally, the peace and the
safety that Saul promised this woman is a sham religious saying. I mean, if a false prophet tells
you that there's no punishment that will happen to you, don't
believe him. That can only come from God's prophets, God's preacher
who preached God's word. The only one who can truly speak
peace to me, a sinner. And to you, sinners, is God through
Christ. Now, that's the only one who
can speak peace, who can tell me there's no punishment. That's
why we often quote in Romans 8, who shall lay anything to
the charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. Who
can condemn us? It's Christ that died. See, it's
not Saul. It's not the preacher. It's God
who justifies his people through the blood and righteousness of
Christ. Well, verse 11, then said the woman, whom shall I
bring up unto thee? And he said, bring me up Samuel. Now, I don't know what was going
through Saul's mind, and I don't have all the answers there, but
I certainly hope that Saul wouldn't think that Samuel was a familiar
spirit. Maybe he was meaning there, bring
him up by a familiar spirit, but he wanted to see Samuel.
So he asked for Samuel. You know, Samuel meant a lot
to Saul. Samuel wept bitterly over Saul. He was really Saul's
friend, even though Saul rejected Samuel's word from the Lord.
Samuel told Saul the truth. He didn't hold back on that.
But Saul loved him. And then look at verse 12. When
the woman saw Samuel, she cried with a loud voice. Now Samuel
came up. And the woman saw Samuel. She
cried with a loud voice. The literal interpretation is
she shrieked. You know why? Because she's not
doing this. And see, this is what a lot of
people believe. How could that woman bring back Samuel? She didn't.
She shrieked. She was amazed and surprised
and scared out of her boots. That's Samuel. Now who's doing
it? God is. Not this witch. She's just a sham artist, just
like they are today, you know. And so it says she shrieked with
a loud voice and the woman spake to Saul, saying, Why hast thou
deceived me? For thou art Saul. She recognized
him now. And the king said unto her, Be
not afraid, for what for what sawest thou? And the woman said
to Saul, I saw God's ascending out of the earth. I believe she's
just lying there. But what she's saying there,
she, these gods, little G God is a name that's used for heavenly
beings. And so she said, I saw heavenly
beings ascending out of the earth, verse 14. And he said unto her,
what form is he of? And she said, an old man cometh
up and he's covered with a mantle. Now that's the prophet's mantle.
That's the robe that was worn over his tunic. That mantle represented
his office as prophet, just like when Elijah when he laid down
his mantle and Elisha took it up. And then it says, And Saul
perceived that it was Samuel, and he stooped with his face
to the ground and bowed himself. So when Samuel appeared, this
woman shrieked. She knew she had no power to
do this, but it happened. God was in control here. God's
operating, you see. Now, what really happened here?
Some have said it was a conscious deception by the witch. Others
say it's an illusion appearing by the power of demons. The truth
is we don't really know the ins and outs of what all happened
here, but let's just take the text as it lays, as it's given
here. How about that? And the text
doesn't say anything about an apparition or a ghost or an illusion. It simply said Samuel appeared. And again, this wet witch was
shocked. It wasn't her doing. And then
Saul knew it was Samuel. And these next two verses indicate
that this was Samuel in a form that he could be recognized and
with the prophet's mantle on. And all we can say is this, God
calls Samuel to appear before Saul. Now, maybe it was the same
thing as when God calls Moses and Elijah to appear before Peter
and John in the Mount of Transfiguration when they spoke to the Lord of
his decease, his death, which he should accomplish. Maybe it
was the same thing. The Bible doesn't really explain
all that to us and how it happened. It's none of our business. It's
God's Word and God's doing. And I just believe what the text
says. Samuel appeared, not by the power of any supposed witch
of Endor, but by the power of God who was operating sovereignly
to bring about his purpose. Look at verse 15. Now here's
Samuel's word to Saul. And Samuel said to Saul, Why
hast thou disquieted me, to bring me up? And Saul answered, I am
sore distressed, for the Philistines make war against me, and God
is departed from me, and answereth me no more, neither by prophets,
nor by dreams. Therefore I have called thee,
that thou mayest make known unto me what I shall do." Called you
to tell me what to do. Then said Samuel, verse 16, Wherefore
then dost thou ask of me, seeing the Lord is departed from thee,
and is become thine enemy? And the Lord hath done to him,
or for himself, as he spoke by me. For the Lord hath rent, torn
the kingdom out of thine hand, and given it to thy neighbor,
even to David. And because thou obeist not the
voice of the Lord, nor executes his fierce wrath upon Amalek."
That was Saul's first act of disobedience. I think it's recorded
back in 1 Samuel. Well, I'm not sure what chapter,
but I have to look it up. But that was Saul's first act
of disobedience. Therefore hath the Lord done
this thing unto thee this day. Moreover, the Lord will also
deliver Israel with thee into the hand of the Philistines.
And tomorrow shalt thou and thy sons be with thee. The Lord also
shall deliver the host of Israel into the hand of the Philistines.
Now, that's Samuel's message to Saul. You know what Samuel
told Saul? The same thing that he told Saul
when he was alive. The same message that he'd been
given all along from God. Samuel didn't change his message.
God has not changed. His word has not changed. He
says the same thing he's always said, and we'll do the same.
And I know people today, they think that they can get God to
change his mind with their persistent prayers. But it is not so. God
never changes. And you want to know something?
That's good for us. That's our salvation. Malachi
3, 6, I am the Lord. I change not. Therefore, you
sons of Jacob are not consumed. Jesus Christ, the same yesterday,
today and forever. Thank God. that we are saved
by the precious, unchangeable blood of the Lamb of God slain
from the foundation of the world. So Samuel didn't say anything
different. And I believe, listen, if this was an illusion conjured
up by this witch of Endor, I believe that the illusion would have
spoken and told Saul just exactly what he wanted to hear. But he
didn't. He told him what God had always
said. what God revealed. And then look
at Saul's miserable breakdown here. Verse 20. Then Saul fell
straightway all along on the earth and was sore afraid because
of the words of Samuel. And there was no strength in
him. Somebody said he comes apart at the seams. That's what happened.
He falls to pieces. For he had eaten no bread all
the day nor all the night. Saul's distress It was the distress
of unbelief and disobedience. And it says, well, what Samuel
told Saul brought him to despair here, not repentance. Instead
of repenting, he fell down in utter hopelessness. He didn't
hear what he wanted to hear. Which proves that when he inquired
of the Lord at the beginning, he wasn't really seeking the
Lord or the truth. He wasn't running to Christ for
help. He wasn't seeking the truth. He was seeking somebody to speak
peace to him and tell him what he wanted to hear. And that's
what unregenerate religious men want. That's what people in false
churches want. They want somebody to tell me
what I want to hear, speak peace to me, make me feel good about
myself. That's what Saul wanted, but
he didn't get there. You see, if God cannot be found, men,
what do they do? They seek out a substitute who
will tell them what they want to hear, and Saul's substitute
doesn't help him. Isaiah, the prophet, when he
was speaking of familiar spirits and wizards that peep and these
kinds of things that go against the Word of God, he said in Isaiah
chapter 8 and verse 20, if to the Word, to the law and to the
testimony, if they speak not according to this Word, there's
no light in them. Don't listen to. That's why Paul
was so was so seriously firm with the Galatian professing
believers who had been drawn away into a false gospel. He
said, if we or an angel from heaven come preaching any of
the gospel and that which we preach, let him be anathema.
He told the church at Corinth, he said, don't listen to these
men who draw you off from the simplicity of Christ into these
complicated issues that they only can explain to you because
they cannot back it up with scripture. And he said, what they're doing
is preaching another Jesus by another gospel, by another spirit.
Don't listen to them. He said they'll disguise themselves
as angels of light, but don't be amazed at that. Don't be shocked.
Satan himself disguises himself as a minister of light and righteousness,
but he can't stay there. He's a transformer. It won't
be long that they go back to their own ways. That's why John
told his hearers, his readers, to test the spirit. Test the
spirits. You test those who claim to be
preaching by the Spirit of God, test them by the word of God.
Be like the noble Bereans and understand that anyone who adds
to or takes away from the words of this book, they're not of
God. Revelation 22. You see, we need
to understand some things about how God operates and he shows
us in his word. And here we need to understand
some things about seeking and praying to God, and how and why
and when He answers those who do. Look at verse 21. It says,
"...the woman came unto Saul, and saw that he was sore troubled,
and said unto him, Behold, thine handmaid hath obeyed thy voice,
and I have put my life in my hand." and have hearkened unto
thy words which thou spakest unto me. Now therefore, I pray
thee, hearken thou also unto the voice of thine handmaid,
and let me set a morsel of bread before thee." She was compassionate
to Saul. She wanted to feed him and eat,
she says, that thou mayest have strength when thou goest on thy
way. But he refused and said, I will not eat. But his servants,
together with the woman, compelled him, and he hearkened unto their
voice. So he rose from the earth. and sat upon the bed, and the
woman had a fat calf in the house. And she hasted and killed it,
and took flour and kneaded it, and did bake unleavened bread
thereof. And she brought it before Saul and before his servants,
and they did eat. Then they rose up and went away
that night." Now, the issue here seems to be that Saul would have
died at this point, but God wasn't ready for it. It wasn't his time
yet. You read it. There's a time, time to die,
time to be born, time to die. It wasn't his time. Well, go
back to this question. Now, let me conclude it all this
way. Why did God refuse to answer Saul? What is it about seeking God,
praying to God, and how and why and when he answers those who
do? I know this. God answers prayer. Now, you
can mark it down. God answers prayer. And he hears
the prayers of his children. He's never silent to his children. Now again, as I emphasize, sometimes
the answer is no. And sometimes he makes us to
wait for his answer. But he does hear and he does
answer his children. Listen to the words of our Lord
in Matthew 7, Sermon on the Mount, verse 7. Here's what he says. Ask and it shall be given you.
Seek, and you shall find. Knock, and it shall be opened
unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth, and he that
seeketh findeth, and to him that knocketh it shall be opened."
He said that. You know, this is right before
he speaks of the straight and narrow way as opposed to the
broad way. He says, What man is there of you whom, if his
son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish,
will he give him a serpent? If you, then, being evil, know
how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall
your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that
ask him? Now, here's Saul crying out in pain, sorrow, dejection,
fear, desperation. But God doesn't answer him, he
says. He will not hear. Saul, why? One writer said this,
he said, Divine mercy flows freely and fully, but it is righteous
in its flow. It flows not in the water of
men's tears and fears, which will soon evaporate, but it flows
in the precious blood of Christ. Here it is. First of all, it
is only through Christ crucified and risen that we have any access
unto God in worship, in praise, and in prayer. That's right. It's only through Christ that
God hears and answers prayer. Christ said, I am the way, the
truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. He said, seeing them we have
a great high priest who has passed through into the heavens, let
us come boldly to the throne of grace to find mercy and help
in time of need. We have free, unhindered, unlimited
access into the holiest of all, always, at all times, how? By
the blood of Jesus. Those Psalms we read, it says,
God hears the righteous. Who are the righteous there?
Those who have been made so by the grace of God in Christ. Those
whom Christ took our sins and died on the cross for our sins,
and those whom he gave his righteousness. That's who God hears. And then
God hears his children. Back, I think it was in the 80s,
The then president of the Southern Baptist Convention made a public
statement that upset just about everybody. And as I'm telling
you this, turn to Isaiah chapter 1. I want to show you something.
Isaiah chapter 1. And here's what the man said.
He said, God does not hear the prayers of the Jews. He said, God does not hear the
prayers of the Jews. And boy, you talk about a media
frenzy. And he detracted his statement. So I didn't really mean that.
Now, let me tell you something right now, don't pick out any
one group or any one religion or any one sect or any one nation.
But I'll tell you, Bolick, God doesn't hear the prayers of any
sinner, Jew or Gentile, apart from Christ. Any sinner who comes
before God, Jew or Gentile, without Christ, without his grace, without
his blood, without his righteousness, well, they're approaching God
just like Cain did, based on their works. And listen to what
Isaiah says here in verse 10 of chapter 1. He says, Hear the
word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom. Give ear unto the law,
our God, ye people of Gomorrah. This is not literally Sodom and
Gomorrah. They're already gone. This is talking about Israel,
Jerusalem. He's comparing them to Sodom
and Gomorrah, wicked people. He says, to what purpose is the
multitude of your sacrifices unto me, saith the Lord? I'm
full, I've had enough of the burnt offerings of rams and the
fat of fed beasts, and I delight not in the blood of bullocks
or of lambs or of he-goats. And when you come to appear before
me, who hath required this at your hand to tread my courts?
Bring no more vain oblations, empty offerings. Incense is an
abomination unto me. The new moons and Sabbaths, the
callings of assemblies, I cannot away with. He said it's iniquity. Even the solemn meeting, even
your worship services, your new moons, your appointed feasts,
my so hated. There are trouble unto me. I'm
weary to bear them. And when you spread forth your
hands, that means in prayer, I will hide mine eyes from you.
Yea, when you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are
full of blood. What's the problem? My friend,
religion without Christ, religion without grace and mercy, religion
without truth, without heart is an abomination under God.
And it's not just one nation, one group. It's any sinner who
comes to God without Christ. That's right. That's Saul's problem. Saul rejected God. Saul rejected
Christ. He did. The promise of the Messiah. The Bible says, The righteous
cry, and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of all their
troubles. Who are the righteous? Those who have Christ. The Lord
is far from the wicked, but he heareth the prayer of the righteous.
And then here's the next thing. It's only as we seek, ask, and
pray according to his word that he hears and answers in blessing.
and peace. Saul rejected God's revealed
word and sought a word from a witch. Look back up in 1 Samuel 28,
look at verse 6. It says, And when Saul inquired
of the Lord, the Lord answered him not, neither by dreams. You
see, Saul's dreams were out of a troubled mind, troubled by
sin and unbelief. Nor by Urim, you remember the
Urim, that was the stone that was in the paths that the high
priest wore on his breastplate. It means lights. It's where they
went with the Urim and the Thummim for judgment, to find out what
the Lord... You see, what did Saul do to the priest after David
let him kill him? It's useless to seek help from
the priest when you're trying to kill him, or when you've killed
him. And he says, nor by the prophets.
Saul had rejected the word of the prophets. He rejected Samuel's
work, and he was trying to kill one of God's choice prophets,
one named David. If you don't think he's a prophet,
read the Psalms. There are many things we pray
for that we don't know God's sovereign will, and so we're
told to pray, Thy will be done. But in all things, we must pray
according to what God has clearly revealed in his word. And I'll
tell you this, it's useless for anybody to pray for the salvation
of any sinner apart from the gospel. I've heard people say
about people sitting under a false gospel, I said, well, I pray
that they are saved. Well, my friend, you're praying
against God's word because nobody's going to be saved without the
power of God and the salvation. And that what the gospel is in
the hands of the Holy Spirit. Now, here's a good prayer. I
pray that God will bring them to the truth. I pray that God
will bring them out from under that lie and bring them to the
truth of Christ and help God save sinners. Bring them to beg
for mercy. You see, any prayer crying to
God for help that disregards or denies his word is sinful.
Here's something that's certain. All who call upon the name of
the Lord shall be saved. All who call upon the name of
the Lord, he'll hear and answer. He will save you. But how are
they going to call upon him of whom they've not heard? And how
are they going to hear without a preacher? How are they going
to preach except they've been sent? Faith cometh by hearing,
and hearing by what? The word of the Lord, the word
of God. And then lastly, it's only as
we seek and ask and pray, call upon the Lord with the whole
heart, that he hears and answers in blessing. Jeremiah 29, 13,
and you shall seek me and find me when you shall search for
me with your whole heart, with all your heart. You see, that's
why God didn't answer Saul. Saul's heart was. An evil heart
of unbelief. A divided heart, you can't serve
God and mammon and mammon. There wouldn't just be money.
Saul had money. His problem was self. Self. Now let me ask you this, and
this I hope will help us all. You say, well, it says, call
upon him with all your heart. Who calls upon God with the whole
heart? I'll tell you who. Only those
who have been convinced of sin and righteousness and judgment
by the Holy Spirit. It's only those who are truly
of a broken and contrite heart. The Lord is nigh unto them that
are of a broken heart, and save such as be of a contrite spirit."
Broken over sin, broken over this world and its futility. David prayed in Psalm 51, 17,
"...the sacrifices of God are a broken heart, a broken and
a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise." Saul's heart
was broken, but not over sin, not in repentance. But he just
didn't get what he wanted. The Bible says the Lord heareth
the poor and despises not his prisoners. Job said it so that
they caused the cry of the poor to come unto him and he heareth
the cry of the afflicted. Where thus saith the high and
lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy, Isaiah 57,
15, he says, I dwell in the high and holy place with him also
that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit
of the humble and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. Blessed
are the poor in spirit. They'll see God. They'll see
the kingdom. Blessed are they that mourn over
sin. They'll be comforted. Let me
give you an example of one who sought the Lord with the whole
heart. He was a publican, and he knew his sinfulness and his
depravity. He knew he had absolutely no
hope of salvation apart from God's mercy in Christ. And he
stood outside the temple, and he wouldn't even lift up his
eyes towards heaven, but he just bowed
down and beat upon his breast, and he said, God, be merciful
to me, the sinner. Christ said that man went away
justified, justified before God in Christ. When God refuses to answer, what's
the problem? It has nothing to do with his
mercy and his goodness and his love and his promises. It has
to do with the sinner. who refuses to come to Him through
Christ.