1 Samuel chapter 9, if you want
to turn your Bibles there and follow me. If you have a Pew
Bible, you'll find it on page 337. I've been trying, I even
wrote in a little note in my Bible to hold your messages for
30 minutes, and I've never been quite able to do that. So what
I'm starting to do is divide them. I'm going to divide this
one up today like I did last time. Instead of trying to cover
all of this this morning, I'm going to save half of it for
this afternoon's service. Here in verse 1, 1 Samuel chapter
9, And there was a man of Benjamin, whose name was Kish, the son
of Abiel, the son of Zoror, the son of Bechorah, the son of Apiah,
a Benjamite, a mighty man of power. And he had a son whose
name was Saul, a choice young man, a goodly, a handsome man. And there was not among the children
of Israel a goodlier person than he. From his shoulders and upward
he was higher than any of the people. And the asses of Kish, Saul's
father, were lost. And Kish said to his son Saul,
Take now one of the servants with thee, and arise, and go
seek the asses. And he passed through Mount Ephraim,
and he passed through the land of Sheolashiah, but they found
them not. Then they passed through the
land of Shalem, And there they were not. And they passed through
the land of Benjamin, but they found them not. And when they
were come to the land of Sirpe, Saul said to his servant that
was with him, Come and let us return, lest my father leave
caring for the ashes, and take thought of us. I want to look
first of all this morning at verses 1 and 2, and I won't You'd
have entertained this thought this morning. In whom do we glory? Now, you may look at this text
and say, Bruce, how in the world are you going to preach from
this text with a subject like that? Whom do we glory? But you know all of us brag about
something, don't we? It's just the nature of man that
we're going to boast in somebody or we're going to boast in something.
And as you look at this man here by the name of Tish, this man
had a lot to brag about. I bet you he could brag. You
see a lot of bragging on bumper stickers today, don't we? My
son is on the honor roll, or my son is a state champ, or my
daughter is this, or my daughter is that. We find so many things
to brag about. Well, let's first look at some
things this man could brag about. First of all, we are told his
lineage. He was a man of Benjamin. He was a Benjamite. Now, you
remember who Benjamin was. He was the youngest son of Joseph.
He was a very tender young man. He was a man of Jacob's old age. He was Jacob's son. Remember
Jacob, the son of Isaac? He had this young man in his
old age, his twelfth son. And he loved him. Man, did he
ever love that son. It was said of him that if you
lose Benjamin, it is going to bring your poor old head down
to the grave. He loved Benjamin with all his
heart. He gloried in him. When Joseph set out a portion
for all of his brothers, he gave Benjamin a double portion. Remember that? They loved their
brother. And when Jacob pronounced the
blessing on all of his children, here is what he said about Benjamin.
Benjamin shall rend in pieces like a wolf. In the morning he
shall devour the prey, and at night he shall devour the spoils. And Moses pronounced a blessing
on the tribe of Benjamin, and here is what he said. The beloved
of the Lord shall dwell safely by him. and the Lord shall cover
him all the day long." He was a choice tribe. And Kish was
of that tribe. He says, I can trace my lineage
all the way back to the tribe of Benjamin. And you know something,
we bring this over in the New Testament, and you remember who
else gloried in being in this tribe? Remember Paul, the apostle? What did he say? He said, this
is what I trusted in. I was of the tribe of Benjamin. He said that twice, didn't he? Here was Kish, and Kish was telling
everybody, I'm a Benjamite. He gloried in that. The Apostle
Paul gloried in that until the Lord beat him out of it. Mary Bell, bless her heart, she's
dead and gone now, but she loved genealogies. She spent several
years working on genealogy. She traced them all the way back
over to England and Wales and other places. Her husband Donnie
told her one time, said, if you're not careful, you're going to
trace your family tree all the way back to Adam. They tried
to trace my family tree on my dad's side. They got back to
my dad's great-grandmother. And she has like seven children
of seven different men. And they could go back no farther.
They found out that our name wasn't even Crabtree. It just
blowed my family tree up to the roots. I can't glory in that. But boy, this man did. He was
a Benjamite. He was of the tribe of Benjamin.
Something else here I bet you he gloried in was this too. He
was said during the last portion of verse 1, he was a mighty man
of power. He was a mighty man of power. Some people translate this and
say he was a mighty man of authority. He was a ruler in his tribe. People looked to him for instructions
and guidance. He was a man of authority. And
some say it's translated this way, he was a mighty man of war. He was a warrior. Boy, when you
found the heat of the battle, Kish was right there. He knew
how to load an arrow in a bow and shoot it. He knew how to
use a sling. He was a man of valor, a man
of war, a warrior. And he says, some translate this
as a man of valor. He was a brave man. If you wanted
a man to stick with you in the war, in the battle, you stood
by this man. He was brave, boy. You talk about
bravery, this man was brave. Some translate this, he was a
mighty man of riches. He had great possessions. He
had silver and he had gold. Other people say this means that
he was a man of great physical strength. When you talked about
the strongest man in town, you talked about Kish. And you know
how strong people glory in their strength, don't you? They do,
don't they? A young man glories in his strength. But let a man stay healthy, and
when he's old, he'll still glory in it. He gloried in being a
mighty man of power. And I bet you in verse 2, he
gloried in this. He had a son whose name was Saul. And look what was said of this
man's son. He was a choice young man. A choice young man. Have you
ever went to the meat market and you saw on a meat package,
choice. USDA choice. That means it was the choice
cut of the whole animal. This man was choice. He was picked
out of all and above all. A goodly man, that word means
handsome, beautiful, pleasant to look upon. And it was said
here, of all the men of Israel, he was the most handsome man
among them. How would you mothers like to
stick that on your bumper sticker? He's the handsomest man in the
country. That would give you something
to brag about, wouldn't it? And notice how tall he was. He stood
head and shoulders above all others. And you know what this
man was? Just a few days after this, he
was to be anointed king over Israel. Now, I don't know about
you, brothers and sisters, but these things would give me some
bragging rights. I'm sorry, I can't have it. I
can't have it. And you can't either, can you?
We find these things to brag about. Our sons or our daughters
does something spectacular. And we'll get around to telling
people about it. If I've got a lot of money, I may slip it
into conversation in a sly way, but you're going to know about
it. You're just going to know about it. I love to brag, and
you love to brag. We love to boast, don't we? What
do you and I glory in? Well, old Kish, bless his heart,
he had something to glory in. But listen, listen, I'm not impressed,
are you? I'm not impressed. with this
man. I'm not impressed with his genealogies. I'm not impressed with his mighty
power. I'm not impressed with his son,
even though he was the handsomest man in the country. Why aren't
we impressed with him? Because our eyes have seen the
God of heaven. By faith By our understanding
through the Holy Scriptures, you and I have seen the God who
is so immense that He fills the heavens and the earth. The God who has no genealogies. The God whom you cannot trace
His beginning. He has no mother. He has no father. He has no beginning of days nor
end of life. We glory in the one true and
living God who is from everlasting to everlasting. This man gloried
in his genealogy. God has no genealogy. If you
find His, it is back in eternity. For He has no beginning or no
ending. There is no power but of God. All power, listen to Romans chapter
13 and verse 1, there is no power but of God. All power, all strength, whether
it's physical or spiritual, comes from God. All ability, it may
be physical ability or mental ability, it comes from God. All authority, all rights, all
riches, all gifts are invested in this one eternal God. There is no power. This man was
a mighty man of power. I wonder where he got his power.
I wonder where he got his power. He got it from one source. He
got it from that fountainhead, God Himself. Listen to what Gil
said on this subject about there being no power but of God. He
said, God is the fountain of all power and authority. The streams of power among creatures
flow from Him. The power that man has over the
creatures, the fowls of the earth, the beasts of the field, the
fishes of the sea, is from God. And by a grant from Him, the
lesser powers and the exercise of them in the various relations
men stand in one to another are of God, as the power of a husband
over his wife, or parents over their children, or masters over
their servants, and so the higher power that princes have over
their subjects. For it is the God of heaven that
sets up kings, as well as pulls them down. He is King of kings,
from whom they derive their power and authority, from whom they
have the right of government and all the qualifications for
it. It is by Him that kings reign
and princes decree justice. The universe, this entire universe
and its origin and its continuance is from God. He created it all
by His power, and He upholds it all by His power. Why don't the starry heavens
crash in? What keeps the universe in order? What keeps the planets in their
courses? One power, and that is God. Listen
to Isaiah chapter 40 and verse 26. Here is what He invites us
to do. Lift up your eyes on high, and
behold, Who has created these things? He brings out their hosts
by number. He calls them all by their names,
by the greatness of His might, that He is strong in power and
not one fault. You ever been outside and you
saw a shooting star? You know why that star fell?
God moved His hands. There is no power in this universe
but that that be of God. And you add this, come right
down to where you and I live, the little worm that wiggles
out of his hole. And he goes severing across the
sand. There you see the power of God.
That little worm wiggles because God gave it the power. You see
a bird flying through the open air. What do you see? The power
of God. When he moves his hand, what
happens? The little bird falls. You see a man or a woman living
and moving and having their being. What do you see? The power of
God. None of us can do anything, can
we? We can't leave our seats and go through that back door
except God gives us power to do it. Who could glory and kish
and talk about His mighty power when we've seen God, the eternal
deity, in all of His power? in all of His glory. You see
a little daisy growing in the field or a smelly rose in the
garden? There is the power of God. With
your children laughing and at play, there is the power of God. All the movement and all the
life and all the breathing we have, it comes from Him. All power is of God. There sits Pilate on his throne
with a crown on his head and officers at his side. And he
tells the Lord Jesus Christ, I have power to release you or
I have power to crucify you. And what did Christ tell him?
You have no power at all. You can't give me one command. You can't make anybody do anything. except God give you the power. Christ said to His disciples,
without Me you can do nothing. Brothers and sisters, have you
seen Him? Have you seen Him through the eye of faith? The Almighty
God in whom is invested all power? Or if we've seen Him, I tell
you, we can't glory in man, can we? No matter how much power
he boasts of having. There's three things that men
are apt to brag about. The first one is wisdom. Wisdom. Intellect. He loves to boast
of his ability, doesn't he? He's able to think. He's able
to put thoughts together, determine and reach conclusions. They wrote
a book about smart men. They glory in their wisdom. Men
glory in their mind, their power, their strength. We see it all
the time on TV, don't we? Sports figures, glory in how
strong they are, wrestling and boxing and playing their games. And men glory in riches. They
glory in riches. We've seen the TV show years
ago that used to be called The Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.
Remember that? The Lifestyles of the Rich and
famous, meaning glory in the riches. Listen to what the Bible
says about this in Jeremiah 9, verse 23. Thus saith the Lord,
Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, let not the mighty
man glory in his might, and let not the rich man glory in his
wisdom, but he that glories, let him glory in this. that he
understands and knows me, that I am the Lord. I am the one that
exercises love and kindness and judgment and in righteousness
in the earth, for in these things do I delight, saith the Lord. Old flesh has ceased to impress
us, has it not? We have seen the eternal God
and His almightiness, and we have seen His Son. We've seen
Christ the Lord, who's eternal with the Father. He's of the
same essence and possessed with the same eternal and perfect
attributes as the Father, for they are one. I'm not impressed
with my sons. I'm not impressed with Saul the
king. I'm impressed with the Son of
God, aren't you? He's the true King. And look
at Him sitting there on the right hand of God. Exalted to that
throne by God Himself, who said, I have set my King upon my holy
hill of Zion. Thou art my Son. This day have
I begotten Thee. Oh, who do you glory in this
morning? To whom will you liken me, saith the Lord, and shall
I be equal? What's your answer to such a
question? To whom will you liken me? Lord, there's none like You.
You are glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, and doing
wonders. How can you and I be impressed
with the wisdom of man when we have known the wisdom of God
in a crucified Christ? Oh, do you see wisdom in that?
How can God be just and justify the ungodly? Look to Calvary. That is the wisdom of God. How
can we glory in the power of man when we've seen the power
of God at the cross burying our sins away? How can we glory in
the riches of man when we've felt the riches of God's mercy
and His love in coming to us and delivering our souls from
the lowest hell? Oh, we can't glory in man. We
can't glory in anything but our Triune God. This is the most
wonderful thing about the Gospel, isn't it? You and I come here
this morning and we sit as equals. All we are is what He has made
us. All we have is what He has given us. All we can do is what
His grace enables us to do. We are nothing, are we? We are
nothing and we look to Him for everything. We glory in our triune
God. Here is what the Scripture says.
Cease from man. whose breath is in his nostrils. Cease from man. Cease to be afraid
of him. With this old slavish fear, the
Lord is my helper. I will not fear what man can
do unto me. Cease to trust him. Cease to
be impressed with him. You know why so many people go
astray? You know why so many people are led astray by false
prophets and false teachers? They are impressed with man.
They are impressed with Him when they see Him, the way He dresses,
the way He speaks, His intellect. Man impresses them so they follow
man and get themselves in trouble. Cease to be impressed with man. There is one man we need to be
impressed with, and that is the man, Christ Jesus. Turn from
every other man and follow Him. Cease from man, and look at this,
whose breath is in His nostrils. Every breath a man breathes,
God has to give him another one. His last breath is in his nostrils. And when God refuses him another
breath, what does he do? He can't have another breath.
He dies. I watched dear Mary Bell die
the other day. Donny sat on one side of her
and I was on the other side of her. For three days, every breath,
she gasped for it. And I said, Donna, she's almost
gone. And she took that last breath.
I've never seen a woman fight for another breath in all my
life. You could see it on her face. Her whole body struggled
to reach down and pull another breath out of those lungs. But
it wasn't there. It wasn't there. Man's breath
is in his nostrils. Therefore, why do we give so
big account of him? Why does he impress us? God gives
him every breath. And when God takes the breath,
he can't live. Don't be impressed with man.
Surely men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree
are a lie. Listen to this. And to be laid
in the balance, they are altogether lighter than vanity. Therefore, put not your trust
in princesses, nor in the Son of Man, in whom there is no help. Who do you glory in this morning?
Who do you boast of? Who do you brag about? There's One in whom we glory. There's One in whom we put our
trust. And there's One in whom we hope. And that's God our Savior. God our Savior. Oh, where is Kish? Where is he? Where is this mighty man of power
who gloried in his lineage? He's gone, isn't he? You know,
if it wasn't for the Word of God, we'd not even know this
man and his son existed. There's no trace of this man.
I wonder how he fared when death came. Did he have any weapons
to fight against death? No. I am of the tribe of Benjamin."
Did that convince you to God? And where is Saul, his son, the
king? Saul, did your crown save you? Did your throne lift you up to
heaven? No. Where are these men? They're
gone, aren't they? They're gone. But where's God?
Where's the Son of God? Right where they were before.
upon the throne of this universe. And Jesus Christ is right where
He was before, sitting on the right hand of His Father, the
Mediator between God and man, having accomplished the redeeming
purpose of His Father. And there He will sit until He
has fulfilled His purpose in saving His people. And throughout
the eternal ages, you know something? He will be the object of their
worship, the worship of elect angels, the worship of a church
that shall never die throughout eternity. There will be the triune
God and He will never change. What do you glory in this morning?
What do you boast in? Does man still impress you? Does
riches, does the wisdom of man still impress you? What impresses
you this morning? Are you impressed with the eternal
God and with His Son, Jesus Christ the Lord? Oh, brothers and sisters,
glory in nothing but the cross of Jesus Christ. Put your trust
in no one but the Lord Himself. Esteem nothing above the salvation
of your precious soul. And honor no one or anything
above God Himself. A few more rolling signs at most. And all traces that you and I
lived during this world will be gone. Just a few more days
and all the property we had, all our money, all our family
ties will be gone. And there won't be any trace
left. We'll be forgotten. What's your hope in? Who is your
hope in? Who do you glory in? All flesh
is grass. In all the goodness thereof is
as the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower
fades, because the Spirit of the Lord blows upon it. Surely
the people are grass. The grass withers and the flower
fades. But the Word of our God shall
stand forever." Put your hope in something that will stand
forever in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Let me close by reading
1 Corinthians. Turn over there with me. Look
at 1 Corinthians chapter 1. Look in verse 20. 1 Corinthians chapter 1 and look
in verse 20. Where is the wise? Where is the
scribe? Where is the disputers of this
world? Hath not God made foolish the
wisdom of this world? For after that, in the wisdom
of God, the world by wisdom knew not God. It pleased God by the
foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. For the Jews
require sign and the Greeks seek after wisdom, but we preach Christ
crucified. unto the Jews a stumbling block,
and unto the Greeks foolishness. But unto you which are called,
whom God is effectually called, whether you are a Jew or a Greek,
Christ is the power of God, and Christ is the wisdom of God.
Because the foolishness of God, if there is such a thing, He
is wiser than men. And the weakness of God is stronger
than men. For you see your calling, brethren,
How that not many mighty men act of the flesh, not many mighty,
not many noble are called. But God has chosen the foolish
things of this world to confound the wise. God has chosen the
weak things of this world to confound the things which are
mighty. And base things of the world and things which are despised
hath God chosen. Yea, and things which are not
to bring to naught Things that are. Why? That no flesh should
glory in His presence. But of God are you in Christ
Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness,
and sanctification, and redemption, that according as it is written,
He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. Where is your glory? Where is your glory? Every man
is going to glory in something, isn't he? I pray to God this
morning that our hearts of glory is in the Lord. Let's pray.