Turn with me to first Samuel
chapter 13. Now we've been talking a lot
about Saul from this passage of scripture and how the Lord
was going to reject him. And we find out in this chapter
exactly why he was rejected. And we're going to see from this,
why anyone is rejected by the Lord. And let's read in verse
11. And Samuel said, what hast thou
done? And that's what we're going to
consider, what Saul has done. Let's pray together. Lord, we come into your presence
in Christ's name. And Lord, how grateful, how thankful
we are that salvation is in thy son. How thankful we are that
salvation is by grace. How thankful we are for the righteousness,
the perfect law-keeping of thy son that is our righteousness
before you. Lord, how we thank you that you've
been pleased to make yourself known to us. Lord, accept our
thanksgiving for Christ's sake. Forgive us of our sins for Christ's
sake. And Lord, speak in power from
your word to our hearts. And what we're asking for ourselves,
we ask for all your people, wherever they meet together. In the high
and holy name of thy son, we pray. And we give thanks. Amen. Now, why was Saul rejected? Look in verse 13. And Samuel said to Saul, Thou
hast done foolishly. Thou hast not kept the commandment
of the Lord thy God, which he commanded thee. For now would
the Lord have established thy kingdom upon Israel forever.
But now thy kingdom shall not continue. The Lord hath sought
him a man after his own heart. which you know refers to David,
we're going to consider that thought next week. But what was
it that Saul was guilty of? Let's look at the first part
of chapter 13. Saul reigned one year, and when
he had reigned two years over Israel, Saul chose him 3,000
men of Israel. whereof two thousand were with
Saul in Michmash and in Mount Bethel, and a thousand were with
Jonathan, that was Saul's son, in Gibeah of Benjamin, and the
rest of the people he sent every man to his tent. And Jonathan
smote the garrison of the Philistines that was in Geba, and the Philistines
heard of it. And Saul blew the trumpet throughout
all the land, saying, Let the Hebrews hear, And all Israel
heard say that Saul had smitten a garrison of the Philistines,
and that Israel also was had in abomination with the Philistines,
and the people were called together after Saul to Gilgal. Now, did
you notice anything there? Jonathan smote the garrison of
the Philistines, didn't he? But when Saul advertised this,
he said, Saul smote the garrison of the Philistines. Now, the
first thing that I would notice about Saul is he is someone who
took credit where credit was not due. Let's go on reading. And the
Philistines gathered themselves together to fight with Israel,
30,000 chariots and 6,000 horsemen and people as the sand which
is on the seashore in multitude. And they came up and pitched
in Michmash, eastward from Bethhaven, when the men of Israel saw that
they were in a strait. And they were. I mean, can you
imagine this vast army gathered against you? I mean, there were
30,000 chariots. That's not even men as the sand
of the seashore. They were getting ready to attack
them. And when the men of Israel saw that they were in a strait,
for the people were distressed, and the people did hide themselves
in caves, and thickets, and rocks, and on high places, and in pits,
they were afraid to death. And some of the Hebrews went
over Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. As for Saul, he was
yet in Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling. He was
going there to meet Samuel. Samuel told him, you wait there
seven days, and I'll be there. And he tarried seven days according
to the set time that Samuel had appointed. But Samuel came not
to Gilgal, and the people were scattered from him. And Saul
said, bring hither a burnt offering to me, and peace offerings. And
he offered the burnt offering. Now what's wrong with that? He's
not a priest. He has no right to offer the
burnt offering, but he does anyway. He felt himself fit and able
to bypass the priest. He thought he could come into
God's presence and offer up his own sacrifice. Now that may seem
innocent enough, but when that happened in the scriptures, God
killed people for it. You remember Uzziah, the king,
when he offered up an offering, what did God do? He turned him
into a leper. You remember the sons of Korah.
You can read about that in Numbers chapter 16 when all of them said
to Moses and Aaron, said, you're all taking too much on yourself.
We're just as holy as you. We can offer up an offering just
as well as you. And God sent them to hell. He
opened up the ground and it swallowed them all up. You remember Uzzah
simply putting out his hand to steady the ark when it was on
a cart and it was getting ready to fall off and he tried to steady
it and God killed him instantly because only the priests could
touch the ark. And what this represents, the
priests in the Old Testament were no better than us, but they
represented the Lord Jesus Christ. The only way I can come into
God's presence is through Christ. No other way. Saul demonstrated
a lack of fear and respect of God when he came into his presence
and tried to offer up a sacrifice when he had no business doing
something like that. So he exposed his character.
He thought he could come into God's presence without a priest. Verse 10. And it came to pass
that as soon as he'd made an end of offering the burnt offering,
behold, Samuel came. And Saul went out to meet him,
and he might salute him. And Samuel said, what hast thou
done? Now Samuel saw the enormity of
his guilt. And he says, what hast thou done?
Now look at Saul's response. And Saul said, because I saw
the people were scattered from me, they were leaving. And that
thou camest not within the days appointed. You didn't do what
you were supposed to. You didn't get here in seven
days. And that the Philistines gathered themselves together
at Micmash. We had this great company against us. Therefore
said I, the Philistines will come down now upon me to Gilgal.
And I've not made supplication to the Lord. I forced myself
therefore and offered a burnt offering. Now there are two things
I see about Saul here. Number one, he refused to take
personal responsibility for his sin. He said, this is really
not my fault. This is your fault. You didn't
get here on time. You were supposed to be here
in seven days, and you didn't make it. And I saw the people
were leaving me and I had to get them back. I had to do something. I had to do something. This is
really not my fault. Here's the third thing that you
see about Saul is he refused to take personal responsibility
for his own sin. Now there's three big issues. Big issues. Number one, he took
credit where credit was not due. Number two, he bypassed the priest.
Number three, he refused to take personal responsibility for his
own transgressions. And number four, he vindicated
himself. He justified himself. He said
in verse 12, Therefore said I, the Philistines will come down
upon me to Gilgal, and I have not made supplication of the
Lord. I forced myself, therefore, and offered a burnt offering."
I did the right thing. He vindicated himself. Now, we see this stuff
going on every day in this world, don't we? People taking credit
where credit's not due. You've seen that in your places
of employment where people have done that, taking credit where
credit's not due. And how horrible it is to take shortcuts, to take
bypasses, to bypass what's right. And that's what he did when he
bypassed the priest. And then people who fail to take responsibility
for their sin. It's really not my fault. You
come across people like that all the time. Maybe you're one
of them. It's not my fault. And actually, people vindicating
and justifying themselves in what they're doing. Now, we see
that every day, don't we? but on a religious level. Let's
consider that because God rejected this man because of these four
things. Now, the first thing that I would notice about Saul
is he didn't have any problem with taking credit where credit
was not due to him. You saw that. I mean, Jonathan
smote the garrison of the Philistines and Saul said, let all Israel
know I did it. Taking credit where credit is
not due. Now, in the gospel, who gets
the glory? Who gets the credit in the salvation
of the sinner? Who gets the credit? Now, I dare
say that just about everyone would say, well, God does. God
does. I would say any church or religious
organization you went into this morning where people were meeting
together in the name of God and religion and opening up the Bible,
they'd say, well, God gets the credit in salvation. Yet, their
doctrine is a complete denial of that. Now this is so important
because it's so important to God. He said, my glory I will
not share with another. God said that. I will not share
my glory with anybody else. He gets the glory in salvation. Now, in most pulpits in Lexington,
Kentucky, It's taught God loves everybody. Christ died for everybody. God wants to save everybody.
God, the Holy Spirit is calling everybody. That's the desire
of God's heart for everybody to be saved. And I suppose on
some levels to men, that sounds good. That's the way God ought
to be, isn't it? Now, if God loves all men, if
Christ died for all men, If God wills the salvation of all men
and some men are saved and some men are lost, who gets the glory? Who gets the credit? Now, if
that's the case, what the man did who was saved gets the credit. Man gets the credit. If man has
a free will, and that's what is taught in most places, who
ultimately gets the credit for salvation? God's will or man's
will? All you gotta do is believe in
free will and you believe that will is sovereign over God's
will. And you give man's will the credit in salvation. Now,
in this thing of the credit, You take salvation, God saving
a sinner, God saves. If you give man the credit in
the beginning, that's man's will. His will makes the difference.
That's giving man the credit. If you give man the credit in
the middle, somehow through my acts of personal obedience and
devotion and Bible reading and praying and self-denial, I make
myself more holy than I was. If you give man the credit in
the end, Well, at least I get a higher reward in heaven. True
salvation is by grace, but I was more obedient than so-and-so.
Therefore, I'll get a higher reward in heaven." That's taking
credit where credit's not due, isn't it? That's all it is. And this is what Saul manifested
about himself. He took credit where credit was
not due. He told all Israel, I did this. That's robbing God of His glory. And that God will not tolerate. And you know, if you're a believer,
you won't tolerate it either. You want Christ to get all the
glory. That is so important to you. You love His glory. Now, the
second thing that I would notice about Saul, why he was rejected,
is he sought to bypass the priest and offer up the sacrifice himself. Now, what that means is he bypassed
Christ, or he sought to bypass Christ. In John chapter 14, verse
6, Christ, our Lord, said, I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life. No man comes to the Father but
by me. Now understand this, when the
Lord says this, that doesn't mean that when we come into God's
presence, we come pleading only Christ, although we do. When
I come into God's presence in prayer, Lord, hear this prayer
for Christ's sake. I know in and of myself I don't
deserve anything. Hear this for Christ's sake.
Now, that's very real with us, but that's not what John 14.6
means. What John 14.6 means, the Lord
says, when I come into the Father's presence, everybody in me comes
with me. Christ comes into the presence.
Those who are united to Him, those who are found in Him, they
come too. That's the only way I want to
come into God's presence, in the Lord Jesus Christ. When He
comes, I come. When He's accepted, I'm accepted
because I'm in Him. And that's exactly what Paul
meant when he said, Oh, that I may win Christ and be found
in Him. Don't you greatly desire to simply
be found in the Lord Jesus Christ so that when God sees you, all
He sees is His blessed Son? That's the gospel. That's the
way we come into God's presence through the Lord Jesus Christ.
No man comes to the Father but by... Would you dare offer anything
that came from you apart from Christ? Well, here's my gift,
here's my prayer, here's my Bible reading, here's my efforts, my
good intentions. No, we don't come into God's
presence like that. We come only through the Lord
Jesus Christ. And I don't want to come any other
way. Paul said, oh, that I may win Christ and be found in Him,
not having my own righteousness. I don't want to have anything
to do with coming into God's presence in my own righteousness,
but that which is through the faithfulness of Christ, the righteousness
which is of God by faith. That's the only way we come. And Saul, this wasn't an issue
with him. You know, when you're blind,
you just can't see, can you? It was not an issue with him.
He was blind to who God really is and who he really was. Just blind. Now, the third thing
that I would notice about Saul, and this is what keeps a man
from bowing the knee to Christ, is a failure to take personal
responsibility for my sin. I can even blame it on God's
sovereignty. You know, I sinned, God allowed it, it's his fault.
Well, that's a scary place, isn't it? To blame God for your sin. It's a failure to take personal
responsibility for your sin. That's exactly what Saul did.
He said, you didn't get here on time. If you would have got
here, In seven days, like you said, this would have never happened.
I wouldn't have offered this sacrifice. And look at the pressure
of the circumstances that were placed upon me. I saw everybody
leaving. I had to do something. He failed to confess his sin
and take personal responsibility for his sin. He did the same
thing Adam did. The woman that you gave me, she
gave me of the fruit, and I did eat. If you hadn't have done
this, it would have never taken place. It's a failure to take
responsibility for my sin. I have an excuse for acting as
I do. It's really not all my fault.
There were mitigating circumstances. I was overcome in a moment of
weakness. Now, understand this. It's only
when my sin is all my fault that I justify God, like David
did. He said, against thee and thee
only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight, that thou
mightest be justified when you speak and clear when you judge. Now, if my sin's not all my fault,
I don't justify God. Let me tell you something else,
I never do. If my sin is not all my fault, if my sin is not
all my fault, I never really cry for mercy. I never really
ask for mercy. It's only when your sin is all
your fault that you say, God, be merciful to me, the sinner. Now, when is the last time I
really stood before God guilty, guilty, guilty? My sin is all
my fault. That's the only way. He refused
to do that, didn't he? And not only did he refuse to
take personal responsibility for his sin, he actually justified
and vindicated himself. He said, I had to do this. I
forced myself. It was the only option. I had to do this. It's not like I had other options.
It's only the person who condemns himself, not justifies himself
like Saul did, but it's only the person who condemns himself
that God saves. Now, this is what causes a man
to miss Christ. These four things, this is in
every unbeliever. This is the way I would be. You
know, when I talk about Saul, don't you see so much of yourself
in Saul? Really? Do you see so much of yourself
in Saul? How this could so easily be you,
apart from the grace of God, that this is you? And if it's
not you, if you're enabled to not do what Saul did, it's only
because his grace made you differ. You realize that Saul is such
a, he's such a powerful picture of human nature, fallen human
nature. This is what causes somebody
to miss Christ. First of all, they fail to give
Christ the glory and they take credit where credit is not due. Can't you see that in all the
religion around you? Secondly, men bypass Christ. Like Cain, they present their
works apart from the sacrifice, apart from the great high priest.
They presume to come into God's presence without Christ. Number three, they fail to really
take responsibility for their sin. Oh, I don't want to do this
to you. I want to come into God's presence
guilty as charged. I don't want to come trying to
fail to take responsibility. You know, we believe in the sovereignty
of God. We believe that He's in control
even of the sinful actions of men. You know, I do believe that.
I believe He's in control of my sinful actions, and that does
not in any way excuse my sinful actions. And if I look at the
sovereignty of God as an excuse for my sinful actions, oh, how
evil that is. Know we take full, by the grace
of God, guilty as charged. And may we be delivered from
justifying ourselves and vindicating ourselves in our bad behavior,
like Saul did. Now, here's what a believer is.
He's the opposite of these things. Listen real carefully. This is
so simple. A believer is someone who does not take credit where
credit's not due. He gives Christ, Jesus the Lord,
all the glory in salvation. Do you do that? Do you believe
in your heart that the only righteousness you have is the righteousness
of Jesus Christ the Lord? A believer is someone who would
not dare come into God's presence apart from simply being found
in the Lord Jesus Christ. And this is the greatest... I
can say this, honestly. I hope. Anytime I say that, I
think, well, you better be. But this is the greatest desire
I have, simply to be found in Christ, so that all God sees
is His Son, me being in Him. A believer is someone who, my sin's all my fault. It's all
my fault. And a believer is someone who
doesn't vindicate and justify himself. He justifies God. Whatever God does is right. And Saul demonstrates man's religion,
doesn't he? false religion, human nature.
May the Lord deliver us from the error of Saul. And next week we're going to
consider the man after God's own heart. That's such a beautiful
description of David, the Lord Jesus, and really every believer.