February 12, 2023 - Man-Centered Living
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Thanks to Chris Chumita for bringing the Word to us last week.
If you were with us 2 weeks ago, you may remember that what we focused on in our passage - was FEAR.
Our passage was SATURATED with - FEAR - and it was fear that led Saul to the choices that he made.
We saw that BECAUSE Saul’s fear was ROOTED in EVERYTHING OTHER than God...
....his fear
Fear Fueled him Toward Disobedience:
If you remember - Saul was afraid to DIE at the hands of the Philistines, and so he TRIES to get some answers from - GOD...
God DOES NOT answer him - so he decides - “I’m gonna reach out to a medium…who can contact a dead spirit for me...”
WHO was he wanting to talk to?
Samuel - Samuel had DIED - but why did Saul want to talk to Samuel...
Because he REALLY wanted to hear from - GOD!
Which showed us!....
Saul’s FEAR - rooted in DEATH...
Fear Fueled him To Embrace God as Savior But Not As Lord
Saul was constantly DISOBEYING God...
So Saul wasn’t INTERESTED in God - as LORD of his life...
Saul just wanted God to - SAVE HIM…!
And so without FEAR in GOD…Saul’s...
Fear Fueled him To Use God For his own Purposes
And OUR FEAR - can do the same for us...
Our fear - can either GROUND us in a PURSUIT of God...
OR - it can KEEP US FROM - pursuing God!
And so TODAY - we’ll come to our last sermon - that will COVER ANY NEW ground in this book of 1 Samuel...
Next week - we’ll spend some time - LOOKING BACK...
But as far as GAINING ground in this book…today we close it out!
SO let’s get to our text...
1 Now the Philistines were fighting against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before the Philistines and fell slain on Mount Gilboa.
2 And the Philistines overtook Saul and his sons, and the Philistines struck down Jonathan and Abinadab and Malchi-shua, the sons of Saul.
3 The battle pressed hard against Saul, and the archers found him, and he was badly wounded by the archers.
4 Then Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword, and thrust me through with it, lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and mistreat me.” But his armor-bearer would not, for he feared greatly. Therefore Saul took his own sword and fell upon it.
5 And when his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell upon his sword and died with him.
6 Thus Saul died, and his three sons, and his armor-bearer, and all his men, on the same day together.
7 And when the men of Israel who were on the other side of the valley and those beyond the Jordan saw that the men of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned their cities and fled. And the Philistines came and lived in them.
8 The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa.
9 So they cut off his head and stripped off his armor and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines, to carry the good news to the house of their idols and to the people.
10 They put his armor in the temple of Ashtaroth, and they fastened his body to the wall of Beth-shan.
NOW - If we just circle back to v1 - we’ll see our first point in action...
1 Now the Philistines were fighting against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before the Philistines and fell slain on Mount Gilboa.
NOW - given ALL that we’ve seen so far in this book...
AND the decisions that Israel made over that period of time...
We see this...
SLIDE: Man-Centered Living: Anchors Our Fear in Man
Man-Centered Living
Man-Centered Living
Do you guys remember how this whole thing PLAYED out?
4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah
5 and said to him, “Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.”
6 But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the Lord.
7 And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.
The people of Israel KNEW that Samuel was a - prophet...
SO THEY KNEW that by rejecting Samuel - they were rejecting the WORD of God...
The people WANTED a KING - a NEW RULER over them.
See - BEFORE they requested a new KING...
THIS had happened...
2 The Philistines drew up in line against Israel, and when the battle spread, Israel was defeated before the Philistines, who killed about four thousand men on the field of battle.
3 And when the people came to the camp, the elders of Israel said, “Why has the Lord defeated us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord here from Shiloh, that it may come among us and save us from the power of our enemies.”
So they LOST - but COULDN’T FIGURE out why God wouldn’t have BLESSED them with victory!
What could be the reason?
3 And Samuel said to all the house of Israel, “If you are returning to the Lord with all your heart, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you and direct your heart to the Lord and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.”
Israel wanted to get OUT FROM UNDER God’s rule...
And in DOING so - they began to TRUST in Mankind...
They began to TRUST in their NEW KING - Saul.
Their WORLD became man-centered.
And when THAT happened… their FEAR - became ANCHORED in man.
See - when our TRUST - becomes ROOTED in man...
our FEAR will ALSO become rooted in man!
HERE’S the CONNECTION:
If I decide the PLACE my HOPE and TRUST in a President...
Where will that lead?
WELL - when that President FAILS - OR - LOSES...
Makes a BAD mistake...
LOSES that war...
My FEAR will what?
RISE!!
Israel pushed ALL their chips IN ON - Saul…a man.
Saul - FAILED...
He ended up getting JEALOUS of David - and begins SEARCHING the land to FIND David...
IN THE MEAN TIME - the Philistines attack Israel!
Saul - FAILED the people who TRUSTED HIM!!
And he CONTINUED to do so!!
What did that LEAD to?
1 Now the Philistines were fighting against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before the Philistines and fell slain on Mount Gilboa.
Man-Centered Living...
When the MAN (Saul) FAILED the people - they FLED and were destroyed!
CHURCH!! - your call is to...
TRUST the LORD…not man!
FEAR the LORD - NOT MAN!
And so if we LOOK around in our country...
It can be VERY EASY for us to begin to - FEAR man!
To fear what LIFE will LOOK like 2 years from now...
because of who is LEADING our country...
To fear what OBSTACLES might be in our way...
to meet freely
to pray openly
to worship corporately
to function independently
LISTEN - we have to really FIGHT AGAINST - fearing man.
HOW do we DO THAT?
We fight hard to - TRUST GOD!
Live a GOD-CENTERED life…!
So that AS we LIVE - as an example...
WHEN more and more of our freedoms are attacked...
We don’t FEAR MAN…!
We TRUST GOD - not to PROTECT our freedoms...
But we TRUST HIM to SUSTAIN US - even WITHOUT our freedoms!
ONLY THEN - will we TRULY be free...
Israel TRUSTED man - and THEREFORE FEARED man!
That’s a MISERABLE life in this world...
AND...
That’s an INEFFECTIVE life as a Christian…!
May we BE different!!
But that’s not all that we see!
back to our text...
1 Now the Philistines were fighting against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before the Philistines and fell slain on Mount Gilboa.
2 And the Philistines overtook Saul and his sons, and the Philistines struck down Jonathan and Abinadab and Malchi-shua, the sons of Saul.
3 The battle pressed hard against Saul, and the archers found him, and he was badly wounded by the archers.
And so the MEN of ISRAEL - living their Lives - TRUSTING man...
putting their HOPE in Saul…their chosen king...
End up - what?
FLEEING from the Philistines!
And demonstrating this...
SLIDE: Man-Centered Living: Weakens the Church and its Impact
Man-Centered Living
Man-Centered Living
The men of Israel FLED...
LEAVING behind only a FEW!
SLIDE: House of Cards
What happens when we REMOVE one of these cards?
It all comes crashing down!
WHY?
Because EACH card - is DEPENDENT on the others...
Same with US!
4 For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function,
5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.
21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.”
22 On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable,
25 that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another.
26 If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.
We’ve talked about it before - What happens when we SPRAIN our left ankle...
Our RIGHT ankle picks up the slack - and can be - INJURED!
*My right arm (hurt)
Went to chiropractor (Dr. Nick) - and little did I know - my LEFT shoulder (left side of my back) was all OUT OF WHACK!
Could it be that my LEFT side was picking up the SLACK?
YES!
*My dad - way back in the day - tore ligaments in his right ankle.
Well - some time AFTER THAT - he fell off a roof - and as he was falling - he thought - I DON’T WANT TO LAND on my RIGHT ANKLE and hurt it again...
What happened - He landed with all his force on his left foot....and shattered his heal!
The ISRAELITES - in their MAN-CENTERED living - trusting in SAUL...
didn’t LIKE THEIR ODDS - and what?
FLED!!
And in FLEEING - what happened?
It LEFT the BURDEN of the FIGHT - to ONLY a few!
And those few were destroyed in the fight!
CHURCH - I’ve been at this long enough to know - WE NEED to STRENGTHEN our TRUST in the LORD...
We need to NOT FEAR MAN so much!
We need to LIVE as JESUS CALLED US to...
28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
We need a more God-Centered life...
OTHERWISE -
We will live out our days in this church - with one foot in - and one foot out.
We will be ONE OFFENSE away...
ONE disappointment away...
ONE HURT away...
FROM - JUST LIKE the ISRAELITES - fleeing...
And leaving the battle - to only a few!
We’re called to much more than that!
we’re called to be FEARLESS in this world! - fearing the Lord!
And it will take a God-Centered Life to make that happen!
But what else?
Back to our text...
3 The battle pressed hard against Saul, and the archers found him, and he was badly wounded by the archers.
4 Then Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword, and thrust me through with it, lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and mistreat me.” But his armor-bearer would not, for he feared greatly. Therefore Saul took his own sword and fell upon it.
So Saul is wounded - and decides that it’s BEST if he have one of his men KILL HIM - than to have one of the Philistines find him…and basically make a MOCKERY of him...
AND so - here’s what we see...
SLIDE: Man-Centered Living: Puts Man on the Throne of Our Hearts
Man-Centered Living
Man-Centered Living
Here’s how we get there...
Back to our text…v4
4 Then Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword, and thrust me through with it, lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and mistreat me.” But his armor-bearer would not, for he feared greatly. Therefore Saul took his own sword and fell upon it.
NOW - What’s Saul HOPING will happen here?
He wants to - - DIE!
NOW - do we remember just 2 weeks ago - how we REALIZED that Saul’s FEAR was ROOTED - in - - DEATH?
What we’re going to dive into right now - is this...
Saul went from -
Being AFRAID to die - to now REQUESTING to die!
And we want to see what that reveals!
Let’s start by looking back at this verse to see WHY Saul was wanting to die!
There it is - “LEST these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and mistreat me”
THIS HERE - is the reason that Saul is now REQUESTING to die...
If you were to DESCRIBE this WORRY of Saul here - how would you describe it?
I would describe it this way...
He was afraid of being - DISHONORED...
Saul didn’t want to be - HUMILIATED - in death.
He wanted to die with some - HONOR!
NOW - let’s think through THAT!
Let’s jump into the mind of the - “I DON’T WANT to die - Saul”
In chapter 28 - Saul’s FEAR of DEATH - fueled him into SIN...
Now - what is SIN?
Sin - DISHONORS - God.
SO - back in chapter 28 - when Saul was SAFE…NOT in harms way… NOT on the BRINK of death...
He was WILLING to DISHONOR God - in order to stay alive…right?
He wanted to make a GOOD decision (should he go fight the Philistines)...
And in ORDER to find out the ANSWER - he was willing to DISHONOR God.
So in THAT case - the chance of LIFE - made Saul willing to DISHONOR God.
God’s HONOR was dispensable...
BUT - NOW - today - in our text -
He KNEW he was going to die…(NO CHANCE for life)
And IN HIS DYING - He didn’t want the Philistines to DISHONOR… God?
No - he didn’t want the Philistines to DISHONOR - HIM!
And so - IN a NUTSHELL...
For SAUL -
In his living - he was WILLING to DISHONOR God.
And in his DYING...
He GUARDED his OWN HONOR!
He fought for HIS OWN HONOR!
In THIS Scenario - who is on the THRONE in Saul’s heart?
SAUL was on the throne of his own heart!
Man-Centered Living - Puts Man on the Throne of our Hearts!
This was certainly the case for Saul!
Saul was more interested in guarding his OWN honor - than Honoring God!
Now let’s FILTER this through what the apostle Paul had said about this...
21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
That’s PAUL...
But Saul lived this way...
SLIDE:
To live is Saul, and to die is one last chance to honor Saul.
When we ANCHOR our TRUST and Hope - in a Man or a Woman...
…we are PLACING them - ON the Throne of our Heart!
Athletes...
Parents...
Teachers...
Spouses...
Pastors - ALL can be placed on the THRONES of people’s hearts...
And this has always been so...
11 For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers.
12 What I mean is that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.”
13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?
Paul experienced this very thing - People placing their trust in MAN...
And it’s THIS SORT of MAN-CENTERED living that has lead to many DOWNFALLS...
How many times have we heard of a pastor stumbling...
and the entire church collapses?
I remember back in the day - after Francis Chan had become very popular...
that he decided he needed to leave his church for a time period..
BECAUSE - he realized that CHURCH - for his congregation - had become about HIM (about Francis Chan)
He felt he needed to step away so that people could get back to being GOD-CENTERED - and not Francis-centered.
And NO DOUBT there were people that would have LEFT his church when he did...
WHY?
Because they were Francis-Centered.
But it doesn’t have to be a pastor....it could be anyone - for us.
a parent
a friend
a leader
a financial advisor
We can place ANYONE on the throne of our heart!
And in doing so - reveal the MAN-CENTERED life we’re living!
It’s a DANGER for us!
And so it should CAUSE us to ask ourselves some questions and to look at our lives...
Does my church attendance depend MAINLY on my relationships in the church?
Does my SERVICE in ministry depend mainly on my relationships in the church? my relationship with my spouse?
I would even say this....Does my attendance or service in the church depend MAINLY on my SIN-life....
Meaning - When I sin - do I RUN FROM GOD and stop coming to church…STOP serving - because I don’t feel WORTHY enough...
IF SO - then I’ve placed MYSELF on the throne of my own heart!
Things we need to consider!
If your TRUST/Hope (UNDER GOD) - is rooted in me, the elders, Mark, Sean, Chris, Doug, Bob, Nick, Nick, Jim, Jim, Jim, Jim....
then your FEAR will follow...
If your TRUST/Hope - is rooted in Joni, Sandy, Jackie, Ilona, Rachel, Rachel, Rachel...
Then your fear will follow!
And you will be MORE LIKELY to BOLT out those doors when the going gets tough....than to STAY and WEATHER the storm...
…trusting God - ROOTED in God!
Listen - IT MATTERS!
And the Bible says MUCH about this:
8 It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man.
5 Put no trust in a neighbor; have no confidence in a friend; guard the doors of your mouth from her who lies in your arms;
6 for the son treats the father with contempt, the daughter rises up against her mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; a man’s enemies are the men of his own house.
7 But as for me, I will look to the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me.
5 Thus says the Lord: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the Lord.
25 The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.
Hear the connection between FEAR and TRUST??
It’s clear - TRUST in GOD…FEAR the LORD....not man
But that’s not all!!
We continue in our text...
4 Then Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword, and thrust me through with it, lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and mistreat me.” But his armor-bearer would not, for he feared greatly. Therefore Saul took his own sword and fell upon it.
5 And when his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell upon his sword and died with him.
6 Thus Saul died, and his three sons, and his armor-bearer, and all his men, on the same day together.
7 And when the men of Israel who were on the other side of the valley and those beyond the Jordan saw that the men of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned their cities and fled. And the Philistines came and lived in them.
What does this SPEAK to?
What do we see here?
SLIDE: Man-Centered Living: Wars Against the Unity of the Church
Man-Centered Living
Man-Centered Living
back to our text...
what happened here?
7 And when the men of Israel who were on the other side of the valley and those beyond the Jordan saw that the men of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned their cities and fled. And the Philistines came and lived in them.
We started this chapter (31) - with Israel FLEEING from the Philistines...
Their FEAR was man-centered - ROOTED in man...
And that DECISION lead to CONSEQUENCES!
The men of Israel on the other side of the valley AND THOSE BEYOND the Jordan - HEARD of them FLEEING...
And they decide to ABANDON their cities!
Know this:
SLIDE:
The fear of man can be contagious
Idol worship - can be contagious!
it’s not IRRELEVANT - when the Bible says...
13 But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.
We are - REALLY CONNECTED!
We are MEMBERS - ONE OF ANOTHER!
From some of you in here - I am your EYE, your EAR
And SOME of you in here - ARE MY eye…my foot!
We NEED each other - AND - we are CONNECTED!
The Israelites who HEARD of those that FLED -
DECIDED to FLEE and do the SAME!!
And so all of these people CARRIED OUT THIS VERSE - partly...
27 Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel,
They no doubt were of ONE MIND and strove SIDE BY SIDE...
But they DID SO - heading in the wrong direction!
They were of ONE MIND - striving SIDE-BY-SIDE for the sake of their Man-Centered living!
Our actions - as members of this BODY of BELIEVERS - IMPACT the rest of the Body...
Our WORDS - IMPACT the rest of this Body...
Our ATTITUDES - impact the rest of this Body
Our Decisions...
Our Actions...
Our poor choices...
Our bad theology...
ALL of it - IMPACTS those around us - HERE...
And it IMPACTS our CALL…
Call to what?
1 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called,
2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,
3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Our CALL to UNITY...
And Paul HERE NOW speaking to a church on the brink of DIVISION...
1 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy,
2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.
We CANNOT do this - living a MAN-CENTERED life...
Man-Centered living - WARS against THIS!!
Man-Centered Living - fractures the fabric of the church
It’s POISON to the Body of Christ
We must FIGHT against the NATURAL - FLESHLY - type of living that flows from the FEAR of MAN...
WHY?
BECAUSE - there is a SPIRITUAL CONNECTION among us that we can’t fully comprehend…yet! - and so we - FIGHT
And so - MAY we contemplate these things...
Man-Centered Living - listen - NEVER pays off.
Did it pay off for Saul?
Remember - what was Saul afraid of?
In his Man-Centered LIVING - he was afraid of being DISHONORED in his dying...
Did it pay off?
Back to our text:
8 The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa.
9 So they cut off his head and stripped off his armor and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines, to carry the good news to the house of their idols and to the people.
10 They put his armor in the temple of Ashtaroth, and they fastened his body to the wall of Beth-shan.
The very thing that Saul was so fearful of - BEING DISHONORED in his dying...
Is the very thing that happened to him.
They cut off his head - and hung his body on a city wall.
A Spectacle of Spectacles.
SUMMARY
Man-Centered Living
Anchors Our Fear in Man
Weakens the Church and its Impact
Puts Man on the Throne of our Hearts
Wars Against Unity of the Church
Anchors Our Fear in Man:
Where our fear is ROOTED - is where we bow down.
Think of it this way -
Fear is a FORM of worship
Which means - the Fear of Man is closely related to - worshiping man!
We’re called to something different!
Weakens the Church and its Impact:
Any church that is POWERED by the might of men - regardless of size, efficiency, purpose OR popularity - IS a weak church
Puts Man on the Throne of Our Hearts
We BOW to those we obey
We WORSHIP those whom we FOLLOW
May it be Jesus and Jesus alone
Wars Against Unity of the Church:
WE ALL are CONNECTED in ways we cannot fully comprehend...
There’s a SPIRITUAL BOND and exists here among us - that we must know our LIVING will IMPACT the whole...
AND SO -
May our LIVING - be Christ-Centered Living - as we strive TOGETHER - with ONE MIND - for the faith of the Gospel!!
Let’s Pray