Turn back to 1 Samuel chapter
12. Samuel was a prophet in Israel. He was a judge in Israel. Up to this time, there was no
king, no visible king. has always been their king, the
king of Israel, true Israel of God. But they had judges, and
Samuel and his two sons were judges in Israel. The two sons of Samuel did not
walk in the steps of their father. They perverted judgment They
took bribes and the people knew that Samuel was old. And I'm
sure they looked at those two sons and they thought, we don't
want to get stuck with them. But they also wanted a king for
another reason. They wanted a king so that they
could be like everyone else. Turn over to chapter 8 in 1 Samuel
here. It says in verse 19 of 1 Samuel
8, Nevertheless, the people refused
to obey the voice of Samuel. This is God's prophet. They refused
the prophet. And they said, Nay, but we will
have a king over us that we also may be like all the nations,
and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight
our battles. You see, the invisible king that
they had, God, was not enough. They wanted to have a king that
they could show to the other nations. Like, remember, they
were in Egypt. They came out of Egypt. There
was Pharaoh, and he'd be dressed in all his royal garb. And they
wanted to have a king, a visible king. The invisible one was not
enough. And they said, we want to be
like the other nations. Give us a king. Well, they got
one. They got one. You read that. You go back and read that sometime.
You'll see what kind of king God gave them. And the thing
displeased Samuel. But God told him to do what they
wanted. He said to Samuel, they have
not rejected thee, Samuel. They have rejected me. To reject God's man is to reject
God. Christ said, he that receiveth
me receives him that sent me. Can't be separated. So Samuel
appointed Saul. But Samuel says to them here
in chapter 12, he says, fear not, fear not. You have done all this wickedness.
You've asked for a king. You've rejected God as your king.
But fear not. You've done wickedly, but God
hasn't, and God will not do wickedly. He will not do it. Yet turn not
aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your
heart. Continue to follow after Him. And turn ye not aside, for
then should ye go after vain things which cannot profit nor
deliver for their vain. For the Lord will not forsake
his people for his great name's sake. That's comforting. That's real comforting. He'll
not do it for His great name's sake. Because if it depended
on us, He would have left us a long time ago. But He'll not
do it for His great name's sake. Because it has pleased the Lord
to make you His people. It has pleased God to make those
here who believe the gospel It has pleased God. Now, think about
this. It has pleased God to make you
His people, to make you His children. It is His pleasure. Our Lord
said, It is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. It has pleased God to make you
His people and to give you the kingdom. But Samuel says, That
he does not want to sin against the Lord by not praying for God's
people. He said, God forbid that I should
sin against the Lord and not praying for you. And that he
would continue to teach them the good and the right way. Now,
we are going to see here in these next few verses, starting at
verse 23, the twofold work of a pastor. First, it is to always
pray for God's people. It's always pray for you, the
Lord's sheep, to always hold you up before the throne of grace. I do. I do daily pray the Lord
bless you and the Lord be with you in these trials and troubles
that you go through. I do. I do pray for you. And
that's part of the ministry, a large part of the ministry.
In fact, I think the ministry would absolutely fail if that
failed. If we continued not to pray for one another, the whole
thing would fail. As Paul said to the Colossians
there, we give thanks to God for you always, brethren, beloved
of the Lord. It is sin against the Lord not
to pray for His people. Our Lord Jesus Christ intercedes
for us. But we are to also intercede
and pray for one another. In James 5, verse 16, pray. Pray for one another. Pray for
one another. Pray for the well-being, the
spiritual well-being of one another. We need to make much use of the
throne of grace. You make much use of it for me,
and I make much use of it for you. And I tell you what, things
will go well. Even in the midst of trouble,
things will go well. James said in James 5.16, the
fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Was it Joshua
who prayed and the sun stopped? A man? A man praying? A sinful man? Joshua? A man of
like passion? A man like you and I? A man! prayed, and the sun stood still. Another man prayed, Elijah, and
it rained not for three years. And he prayed again, and it rained. It rained. Oh, the fervent prayer
of a righteous man and all those who are in Christ are righteous. They're righteous. And then he
says here, I will teach you the good and the right way. I will continue to instruct you. This is what I'm doing this morning. This is my responsibility. It is my privilege to stand here
this morning and to instruct you out of the word of God. God
said in Isaiah, I will give you pastors that will feed you with
knowledge. Knowledge, knowledge out of the
Word of God. I'll give you pastors that will
feed you with knowledge. And he says, I will teach you
the good in the right way. And the first thing he begins
with is a problem that they had. It's evident they had this problem.
He says, here's the first thing, only fear the Lord. What was
it that kept them from wanting to go over into the land of Canaan?
The report came back and said, they're giants in the land. Those
men are big. Those men are tall. They're giants. We can't whip those men. Well,
who is God? Who is your God? Can God do it? What was it the king said to
Daniel? Is thy God able to deliver thee? Is he? They had a problem here. Their
problem is they did not fear the Lord. They feared man. If we fear the Lord truly, if
we truly fear the Lord in a proper way, we will not fear anything
else or anyone else. But if we fear man, we will fear
everything else. We will be trembling and afraid
all the time. Be afraid to even go to sleep
at night. But if we have a true fear of God, we will not fear
anything else. Because it shows this. It shows
we have a real, proper understanding of who God is. If you have a
real, true fear of God, listen, it's because you know Him. He's
revealed Himself to you. And you know Him. Listen to this
scripture in Matthew 10, 28. Fear not them. This is our Lord
speaking. Fear not them which can kill the body, but fear Him who can destroy
both body and soul in hell. God may allow someone to touch
my body. He may allow Satan to do it.
He may allow him to touch me. He can't touch my life. Our life
is hid with Christ in God. He cannot touch my life. And
you haven't lost anything until you've lost your life. But my life is hid. He can't
find it. He can't touch it. It's hid with
Christ in God. Now, is that safe or not? I've
got a big safe at the house. I bought it to put my shotguns
in so my grandkids wouldn't get a hold of them. You'd have a difficult time getting
in that safe. I bet you somebody can get in
it. I know there's crooks out there sharp enough to get in
it. Somebody out there can get in
it. But my life that's hid with Christ in God is so safe, it
cannot be touched in any way, shape, or form. It can't be touched. Job said in Job 28, 28, the fear
of the Lord, that's wisdom. That's wisdom. The person who
fears God is wise. Don't you think that's wise?
That's wise. That's wisdom. God is to be feared
because of His name and nature. Holy, it says, holy and reverend
is His name. That's who He is. That's who
He is. It says in Deuteronomy 28, 58,
that thou mayest fear this fearful and glorious name, the Lord thy
God. Samuel said to Israel, only fear
the Lord. You've got a problem here. You're
fearing the wrong thing and the wrong ones. Only fear the Lord. The fear of the Lord is that
which God requires of us. Listen. Now, O Israel, what doth
the Lord thy God require of thee? But to fear, here's what he requires
of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to respect, to have
reverence for the Lord thy God. You cannot worship God without
a proper fear of God. It can't be done. There's got
to be a proper awe and respect and reverence of God. before worship ever begins. I read Psalm 89 there in verse
7. God is greatly to be feared. Where? Where is God greatly to
be feared? Out there on the streets? Out
there where all the wickedness is going on? He says God is greatly
to be feared in the assembly of the saints. God is to be greatly
feared in this assembly this morning. Greatly to be feared. Greatly
to be worshipped. Greatly to be had in awe and
reverence. Greatly. And to be had in reverence
of all them that are about him. The fear of the Lord is one of
the characteristics that separates a believer from an unbeliever. David said this in a psalm. I
believe it was David. He said, Unite my heart. He's asking God to do this. Unite
my heart to fear thy name. Lord, unite my heart to fear
thy name. Turn over to Malachi 3. Malachi 3, last one in the Old
Testament. In verse 16, Then they that feared the Lord
spake often one to another. And the Lord hearkened and heard
it. And a book of remembrance was
written before him for them that feared the Lord and that thought
upon His name. He says, And they shall be mine,
saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels. And I will spare them as a man
spareth his own son that serveth him. Then shall you return and
discern between the righteous and the wicked. And what's that
discerning factor? Fear of the Lord. Fear of the
Lord. That's what it is. Between him
that serves God and him that serves him not. That fear of
the Lord. What is the characteristic of
the wicked? What's that shirt they wear around?
It says on it, no fear. No fear. I thought they got that
right. No fear. Not even this thing flying above
my head. No fear before their eyes. Romans 3, 18. No fear of God
before their eyes. David said, Unite my heart to
fear thy name. And it's written concerning the
wicked, there's no fear. No fear of God. No reverence.
no respect, and I'm telling you, it comes out in their conduct.
It comes out in their life. A man who does not fear the Lord
is a man absolutely void of spiritual life. He's dead in trespasses
and sins. A man who does not fear God does
not know God. When the Lord appeared, like
to John on the Isle of Patmos, In the Old Testament, Daniel
and all these men, when he appeared, what did they do? They fell down
before him as dead men. And then he had to touch them
and give them strength to lift them up. But they had a right
fear of God. God is to be feared because He's
holy, He's just, and listen, and also because He's merciful.
Look over in Psalm 130. Psalm 130. Look in verse 4. But there is forgiveness with
thee. There is forgiveness with God.
that thou mayest be feared." You know, we have forgiveness,
but my soul, we stand in awe of God who forgives. We know
this. We know He's sovereign. He may
show mercy and He may not. There's forgiveness with Him.
He can show mercy to the vilest of men and women. And He may
just do like Pharaoh and harden the heart and leave him. He may
do that. There is forgiveness with Him
that He may be feared. Now this fear is not a superstitious
fear like those, like the Athenians who built that altar to the unknown
God just in case one showed up that they didn't know. That's
not at all. It's not a hypocritical fear taught by men. Look over
in Isaiah 29. Yeah, Isaiah 29. Here is the way most people have
a fear of God. Look in verse 13. Wherefore, the Lord said, Forasmuch
as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips
do honor me, but have removed their heart far from me. And
their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men. Their fear of me. They get in
a pulpit and they'll talk about the terrors of hell. Hellfire
and brimstone. Just like I was talking about
that young kid the other day. Watched that movie, Burning Hell
or something. That's fear taught by the precept
of men. It's like God is a monster. You know what the Scripture says?
The Scripture says it's the goodness of God that leads to repentance.
It's the goodness of God that leads to repentance. It's not
scaring someone into it. See, that is a wrong type of
fear. That is a fight or flight type
of fear. That's what that is. The fear that he's speaking of
here is the fear that a son has toward his father of respect
and love. That's what it is. One writer said, a true fear
of God is a reverential affection for God and a recognition of
who He is. And it's real. It's real. He's
God overall. The Scripture says in Psalm 19,
9, the fear of the Lord is clean. It's clean, enduring forever.
It's clean. There's no sin in the proper
fear of the Lord. And then secondly, the second
thing that he teaches is this. Serve him in truth with all your
heart. God's not only to be feared,
but he's to be served. He didn't make us to serve ourselves.
We were not made so we could get a great job, make great money,
spend it on ourselves. We were made to serve him. If
you made something, if you had the power, if you had the power
to create out of clay a human being, let's just say a human
being, of a robot, if you could create a robot, I bet you everything
I got, you'd create that robot to serve you, wouldn't you? But
how much more God who is to be served, who is perfect, who is
glorious. God made all of this to serve
Him. All things are made by Him and
for Him. We are made to serve Him. That's
why He said, serve the Lord with all your heart, all your heart. Scripture says you're bought
with a price. You are not your own. You're not yours. And he's
to be served in truth, in the heart. There's no other way to
serve him but in truth. No other way. But to serve him
in truth, in the heart. David said in Psalm 51, thou
desires truth in the inward parts. God doesn't care for pretense.
He sees the heart. He sees worship going on this
morning. He sees it. He knows the heart that in this
room and in other congregations this morning, he knows the heart
that's engaged in worship. And he knows the ones that are
not. God looks at why we do what we
do more than what we do. He looks at the heart, the motive.
And again, here's the motive for service, and I'll wind this
up. He says here, consider what great things He has done for
you. He doesn't quote any kind of law or any kind of command.
He says, now Israel, sit down and consider what great things
He has done for you. God's grace and goodness is the
great promoter of service, isn't it? It's a great promoter of service. The law can make a man bow, but
grace enables him to bow. Make him willing to bow. The
fear of the law may make a person depart from evil devices, but
the love of Christ constrains us from doing those things. The love of Christ. Consider what great things He
said He hath done for you. He chose Israel from among all
the nations to make them His people. He said it pleased God
to make you His people. He delivered them from the cruel
hand of the Egyptians. He delivered them through the
sea, parted that sea and delivered them. He kept them in the wilderness. He preserved them. Their shoes,
their clothes did not wax old for forty years. He gave them all the types that
pointed to Christ. He did for them what He did not
do for any other nation. Oh, Israel, consider what great
things He's done for you. Let us this morning, before we
leave here and throughout the rest of this day and the rest
of our lives, let us consider what great things He has done
for us. He chose us in Christ. He set His love upon us. If you
believe the gospel, He chose you. He called you. He set His love upon you. He preserved you in Christ. He did that. It was not a cooperation
of Him and me. He drew me. You're mine. I'm going to have you. You're
mine. Please God to make you His people. And He gave us the true bread
from heaven. He said Moses gave you not that bread from heaven,
but My Father giveth you the true bread. He gave us His Son. Are you able to feast this morning
upon Christ? Are you able to do that really?
God's given you the true bread from heaven. He has delivered
us from the curse of the law. It says in Galatians 3.13, Christ
has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse
from us. He didn't do that for everyone. That's what the Word of God teaches.
He did it for us. He has purged us from our sins.
As I read to you this morning, Colossians, in whom we have redemption
through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins. He hath made us accepted
in the Beloved. We who are vile by nature, enemies
in our mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled us,
washed us, and accepted in the Beloved. Now serve the Lord,
as he says back over here in Samuel, only through the Lord Only fear the Lord. Serve Him
in truth with all your heart. For consider what great things
He hath done for you." Go home and meditate on that. Consider
it.