Would you pray with me?
Lord, I pray that you would bless your word and teach us tonight that every bit of it has truth for our edification.
And that you are speaking to it, through it, to us even now.
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord.
Amen.
Long live Dagon, the God of the Philistines and conquerors of our enemies.
Long live Dagon, God of the Philistines.
For Yahweh, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, our enemy, is defeated.
And the body of his servant Saul, stripped of its armor, its dignity, and its very head adorns our walls.
Long live Dagon, God of the Philistines.
These, perhaps, were some of the chants of the Philistine warriors in their hall of rejoicing,
returned from the fresh destruction of Israel, the people who claim to be the beloved children of the one true God.
But where was their God yesterday when they fled as cowards before Philistine swords?
The ones who remained behind were the dead, whose souls the Philistines stole from their bodies yesterday,
and whose jewels, armor, weapons, and clothing the Philistines stole today.
And among them, Saul.
The people of God are bloodied, horrified, defeated.
Their God made them promises.
And what a mockery those promises are.
How did we get here, to this hall, where Philistine wine is poured out today in celebration as freely as Israelite blood was spilled out yesterday in their defeat?
That story is found in our passage for tonight.
Turn with me, if you will, to 1 Samuel chapter 31.
Let's read it together.
Now, the Philistines were fighting against Israel.
And the men of Israel fled before the Philistines and fell slain on Mount Gilboa.
And the Philistines overtook Saul and his sons.
And the Philistines struck down Jonathan and Abinadab and Malkishua, the sons of Saul.
The battle pressed hard against Saul.
And the archers found him, and he was badly wounded by the archers.
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.
And when his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead,
he also fell upon his sword and died with him.
Thus, Saul died.
And his three sons.
And his armor-bearer.
And all his men.
On the same day.
Together.
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.
The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the slain,
they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa.
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.
They put his armor in the temple of Ashtaroth,
and they fastened his body to the wall of Beth-shan.
But when the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul,
all the valiant men arose,
and went all night,
and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan,
and they came to Jabesh,
and burned them there.
And they took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh,
and fasted seven days.
This is a weighty passage.
And I hope as we look together at it tonight,
we can learn from it three things.
Number one,
the word of God,
even when it speaks terrible things,
does not speak in vain.
Number two,
the people of God have enemies
who hate him and who rejoice in the destruction of God's people.
Number three,
through every defeat of the people of God,
God is working a greater salvation.
First,
the word of God,
even when it speaks terrible things,
does not speak in vain.
We saw this chapter coming.
For the last several months here at Trinity,
we have been looking at the book of 1 Samuel.
Because we believe here that the Bible has one coherent,
unifying narrative,
every bit of which is useful for building up the church,
we have looked chapter by chapter at this book.
And as we have looked at it,
we have seen that Saul
grows more and more desperate.
He began this chapter as the Lord's anointed one.
Everyone in Israel rejoiced to see him leading their nation,
going in and out to war and winning great victories for the people of God.
But no political leader,
then or now,
can live up to expectations so messianic.
And Saul was no exception.
He disobeyed God
by offering sacrifices unlawfully
in an attempt to force God to support him.
And Samuel informed him that God had taken the kingdom from him
and given it to another.
Saul was, from that point forward,
a man accursed.
But was he really?
After all, that message from Samuel
came all the way back in chapter 13.
And here we are now in chapter 31.
And up until this chapter,
Saul still reigns.
Saul still spent his days
sitting in the royal palace
on the throne over all Israel.
Hundreds, if not thousands,
of armed men at his beck and call.
He spent his nights
in a palace bed
while David, the one he hated,
his arch enemy,
slept in caves,
fearful for his life.
By all accounts,
it seemed that the word from the Lord
against Saul
was in vain
for 17 chapters.
Saul, the wicked one,
prospered
while the man after God's own heart
was forced into a meager existence
of exile,
laying his head night by night
on rocks in caves,
far from the palace,
far from what we might expect
of the Lord's anointed one.
And Saul here even had the confidence
to go out into battle
against this Philistine army.
Because he had defeated this army
over and over,
and why should this battle
be any different?
Well, this battle was different
this time,
not because of the number of troops
that Saul commanded,
but because of the word of the Lord.
A few chapters earlier,
in a mad attempt to receive some guidance,
Saul invoked a witch
to summon Samuel from the dead.
His message to Saul was bleak.
Moreover, he says,
the Lord will give Israel also with you
into the hand of the Philistines,
and tomorrow you and your sons
shall be with me.
That is, dead.
The Lord will give the army of Israel
also into the hand of the Philistines.
Yet Saul went to battle anyway.
Hadn't this Samuel been threatening
such things for a while now?
And surely Saul had plenty of time
to find some way out of his predicament.
After all, on more than one occasion,
David could have killed him,
but he didn't.
And after these incursions,
Saul would make some weak attempt
at repentance each time.
Oh, David, I'm so sorry.
Please come back.
And then a few weeks later,
he was back on the hunt for David
with no repercussions whatsoever.
Surely this time would be no different.
Samuel must have been exaggerating.
But the word of God to Saul did not fail.
For the word of God never fails.
In this chapter,
all things fall out precisely the way Samuel,
speaking on behalf of God,
predicts they would.
The word of God does not fail.
And so it is also now.
God has spoken to his people.
This is one of the central claims
of the Christian faith.
And he has done it in his word.
And that word contains both warnings
and promises.
Do we, the people of God,
who trust that God's promises are unshakable,
think that his warnings are somehow less unshakable?
That they are witty banter?
Or so much bluster and empty threats,
as Saul perhaps did of the words of the Lord
and Samuel for 17 chapters,
without any repentance whatsoever?
Do we emulate Saul in this way?
Do you put off holiness until tomorrow
and tomorrow and tomorrow?
Or perhaps you are not of the faith yet.
You have flirted with Christianity,
coming to church every so often,
being intrigued by it,
and planning that one day perhaps,
perhaps at the end of your life
when you have little else to do,
less fun to have,
you too shall bow the knee to God,
but not yet,
for there shall always be tomorrow
and tomorrow and tomorrow.
But my brother, my sister,
let the blood of Saul
cry out to you in warning
not to presume upon the mercy of God.
flee to Jesus.
Flee to Jesus.
When you hear the warnings
spoken to you in Scripture,
flee to Jesus.
Take shelter in Him,
the one who bore away God's wrath
for all who would believe in and follow Him.
Psalm 711 says,
God is a righteous judge
and a God who feels indignation every day.
Some translations say,
He's angry every day.
This is not a popular conception of God.
But when you look at Saul's corpse
on that wall of the Philistine fortress
and think that he was put there
because of the judgment of God,
can you think anything other than this verse?
That God feels anger every day against sin?
And it is precisely because he is righteous
that he feels that anger?
If you are not in Christ,
if you have not believed in Christ
and clung to Him in faith,
then God's indignation burns against you
no less than it did against Saul.
This is the warning for us
in this difficult passage.
And the response,
though it would come only thousands,
hundreds of years later,
is this.
Flee to Christ.
Flee to Him.
He is full of mercy,
rich in love for you
if you would come to Him.
As the old hymn says,
let us love and sing in wonder.
Let us praise the Savior's love.
He has hushed the law's loud thunder.
He has quenched Mount Sinai's flame.
Mount Sinai,
that flame that threatened to consume
any who would approach it unworthily,
can be quenched by the blood of Jesus.
Flee to Him.
When you gaze upon the naked,
beheaded body of Saul
on the wall of that Philistine fortress,
rejoice
that such a judgment
is not for you
if you are in Christ.
Therefore,
flee to Christ.
Flee to Him and live.
For the Word of God,
when it issues its warnings
as well as its promises,
are not in vain.
Yet perhaps it seems to you
that God is tarrying.
As it did for Saul
from chapter 13
until chapter 30
of this book.
Perhaps you think
he tarries.
Perhaps he is slow
to keep his promises.
And when we look at the world,
it does seem that God appears to tarry.
But even then,
not without reason.
Every day
that passes
without God
bringing judgment
upon the sin
that He so hates,
He is doing one of two things.
He is either
giving the wicked
opportunity
to repent.
Or He is amassing
greater and greater
evidence
for His final work
of judgment
on the evildoers.
So if you are not in Christ,
flee to Him.
And if you are in Christ,
but find yourself
to be in a condition
of being oppressed,
know that God
will vindicate you.
Either by
converting your oppressor,
as He did with
Saul in the New Testament,
turned Paul,
that persecutor
of God's people
who then became
a famous evangelist
for God's gospel.
Or God will vindicate
you by condemning
your oppressor,
as He does
here with Saul
in the Old Testament.
The Word of God,
when it offers
its threats
and its promises,
does not fail.
The second point
I hope we can see tonight.
The people of God
have enemies
who hate Him
and who rejoice
in the destruction
of God's people.
In this chapter,
we see a tragic,
ironic reversal.
Throughout the book
of 1 Samuel,
Israel and the Philistines
have been at war
constantly,
perpetually,
almost boringly.
Perhaps the most
famous battle
in that war
that you can think of
is the battle
between David
and Goliath.
David,
the champion
of the people
of Israel,
Goliath,
the champion
of the people
of the Philistines.
As David
charged the giant
in that battle,
he declared to him
this,
you come to me
with a sword
and a spear
and a javelin,
but I come to you
in the name
of the Lord
of hosts,
the God
of the armies
of Israel,
whom you have
defied.
This day,
the Lord
will deliver you
into my hand
and I will strike
you down
and cut off
your head.
And I will give
the dead bodies
of the host
of the Philistines
this day
to the birds
of the air
and to the wild
beasts of the earth
that all the earth
may know
there is a God
in Israel.
For David,
the battle
between him
and Goliath
had theological
significance.
It was not only
a shepherd boy
against a giant,
it was the God
of Israel
against the God
of the Philistines.
And David's claim
was that his victory
would vindicate
that God.
All the earth
will know
there is a God
in Israel
because I will
defeat you.
And that's precisely
what happened.
David was victorious,
which meant
that the God
of Israel
was victorious
over the God
of the Philistines.
This battle
had theological
significance.
David cut off
the head
of the champion
of the Philistines,
stripped him
of his armor
and sent word
throughout the land
that Yahweh,
the God
of Israel,
reigns.
And he sent
back Goliath's
head to Jerusalem,
the city of God,
as an enduring
reminder that Yahweh
had conquered.
Do you see
the reversal
of that
in this passage?
The Philistines
have done to Saul
precisely what David,
who was then
in that battle
acting as an agent
of Saul,
did to Goliath.
1 Chronicles 10
says that
when they
fastened
the body
of Saul
into the
Philistine fortress,
they took
the head
of Saul
into the
temple
of Dagon.
They took
the champion
of Yahweh
into the house
of the idol,
for Yahweh
was defeated.
Look here,
even in this chapter
at verse 9,
when they
discover the
body of Saul,
they cut
off his head
and strip
off his armor
and send
messengers
throughout the
land of the
Philistines
to carry
the good news
to the house
of their idols
and to the
people.
This word,
good news,
it's the exact
same word
that is often,
in fact,
I think everywhere
else,
translated
gospel.
The Philistines
have a gospel.
The enemies
of God
have a gospel
and it is
the champion
of Yahweh.
Indeed,
Yahweh himself
is defeated.
His people
are defeated.
You see,
we,
reading this book,
realize what's
going on.
God is taking
the throne
away from Saul
and giving it
to David,
but the Philistines
know nothing of this.
All they know
is they have
killed the king,
the royal family,
and the whole army
that came out
to meet them
and their response
is to spread
this gospel around.
If David,
when he cut off
the head of Goliath,
says,
all men will know
that there is a God
in Israel,
now the Philistines
can say,
all men will know
there is a God
of the Philistines.
That's the way
I began this,
that's why I began
the sermon
the way I did.
With the Philistines
praising Dagon
for the destruction
of Israel,
that blasphemy
that they would
have dared to utter.
But with good reason,
it seems.
This battle
had all the theological
significance for them
that David and Goliath
had for Israel.
It was for them
a sign that Yahweh
had failed,
and the enemies
of God
rejoice.
Do the enemies
of God
still rejoice?
I contend
that they do.
And we ourselves
can give the enemies
of God
reason to rejoice.
Consider this.
Satan
said to God
that Job
only loved him
because God
was kind to him
and blessed him.
So God
took away
that kindness
temporarily,
took away
that blessing,
and let Satan
torment him.
Now,
what would have
happened
if Job,
after Satan
afflicted him,
would have
taken his wife's
advice to curse
God and die,
what would have
happened?
Could you imagine
how terrible
it would be
to hear Satan
gloating of his
victory over God?
I told you,
Yahweh,
I told you.
God
yet,
how do we know
that heaven
is not paying
attention to our
affairs as well?
How do we know
that we,
when we choose
the pleasures of sin
over the pleasures
of Christ,
do not give
equal opportunity
for the enemies
of God
to rejoice
and gloat over him?
Would we do that?
would we caress
our favorite sin
and give the enemies
of the Lord
opportunity this week
to gloat over our
King who loves us?
Brothers and sisters,
let us encourage
one another
that we ought to
fight
to allow our
enemies,
the enemies of God,
no reason
to gloat of their
victory over our
King.
Amen.
Let us cling
to Christ,
love him,
and love like him
so that the
opponents of God
can be put to shame
because Saul
gave them
opportunity
to rejoice.
Do you notice
in this story
also that the
Bible
is not at all
rosy-eyed
about the evils
of this world?
This is not
some farcical
fantasy book
out of touch
with the
difficulties,
the evils
of life.
Think of the
gruesomeness
of this scene.
But we need
a book like this
because the
world around us
is just as
gruesome.
You can watch
it on YouTube
tonight.
The Bible
must contain
these harsh
messages if it's
going to speak
to us in a
harsh world.
The Bible
would have us
be sober,
serious,
and well aware
of the fact
that God
has enemies
and those
who would
ally themselves
with the
one true
God
make for
themselves
powerful,
powerful enemies.
We have
seen those
enemies at work
this week.
Most especially
and vividly
and proximally
in Charleston,
South Carolina
where a white
supremacist gunman
walked into the
house of God
and murdered
the people
of God.
We know
this because
he had a deep
hatred for blacks,
a racism
pervasive and
deep, a racism
that has no
place among
the people of
God.
This story
rightly breaks
our hearts.
We wonder
rightly where
God was,
especially
because this
racial hatred
has taken
center stage in
our country
this year,
time and
again,
even though
it was prevalent
in this country
for centuries
and it seems
tragically still
is.
This time
the target
was a church,
a church
with a long
history of
preaching the
implication of
the gospel,
that in Christ
there is no
longer Jew
or Greek,
that Christ
has broken
down the
dividing wall
between all
races and
ethnicities,
and therefore
hatred between
whites and
blacks cannot
stand.
This was the
message this
church preached
and that man
hated that
message,
so he killed
them.
These are our
brothers who
were murdered.
These are our
sisters whose
blood splattered
the ground where
they once knelt
to pray only
minutes before.
has the Bible
anything to say
to this?
I think the
gruesomeness of
this passage
shows us that
it does.
The enemies of
God have
another gospel
that they
proclaim,
that they try
to advance,
that is advanced
by the people
of God being
destroyed.
The hour is
coming,
Jesus says,
that whoever
kills you will
think he is
offering service
to God.
So mourn for
Charleston and
have conversations
and pray and
fast among
your friends
about how we
individually and
as a church
might continue to
show God's
love, his
message of
reconciliation
instead of
violence and
hatred.
And all the
while, remember
that it was not
only Charleston
that saw the
blood of
Christians shed
this week.
We have been
killed this very
week in Nigeria
by Boko Haram.
We have been
killed this very
week in the
Middle East
by ISIS.
We have been
killed this very
week in dozens
of other places
around the world
that we do not
know about and
will not know
about until we
see the martyrs
in heaven.
Pray that the
faith of the
people of God
persecuted
throughout the
world would
stand.
Pray that the
false gospel of
the enemy of the
people of God
would be exposed
as false gospel.
And pray that the
Lord would come.
for God has
enemies, bitter
enemies, with an
evil gospel.
Third and
finally tonight, I
hope we can see
that through every
victory of the
people of God, God
is working a
greater salvation.
Through every
defeat of the
people of God, God
is working a
greater salvation.
How foolish was
it for these
Philistines to
rejoice, to bring
their praise and
worship before their
gods, for where
are the worshippers
of Dagon now?
Indeed, all
rejoicing by the
enemies of God is a
false rejoicing.
It is a sham
rejoicing.
For all rejoicing
outside of Christ
is merely an
illusion that one
day will be
exposed tragically,
cataclysmically.
And this Philistine
gospel is no
exception.
For when they
think they have
slain the
anointed one of
God, David is
far away.
Somewhere else,
you see.
This is an
amazing progression
of events.
You see what
happens?
David is forced
into exile a few
chapters earlier
by Saul and his
hatred.
And the one
place he knows he
can go to receive
some small amount
of peace is to go
to the Philistines.
And then David
goes out on raids
against the enemies
of Israel.
And the king of
the Philistines asks
David, where have you
gone today?
And he says, I've
gone out against the
enemies of the
Philistines.
He's playing the
Philistines here so
that he can wait in
waiting for the
kingship to be his.
He has proven over
and over that he
himself will not lift
a hand against the
Lord's anointed.
But now there's a
difficulty.
Because the army of
the Philistines to
which he has sworn
allegiance is now
going against the
anointed one of
Israel, Saul and his
army.
He's in stuck between
these two things.
How is he going to
get out of this
situation?
Some of the
Philistine commanders
see him among the
ranks.
They go to the
Philistine king and
say, we don't trust
him here.
Can you tell him
politely to sit this
battle out?
And so he does.
David is off raiding
other enemies of God,
amassing treasure,
amassing more
resources that will be
brought into the
storehouse of the
living God one day,
while the Philistines
are off fighting with
Saul.
God has fought this
battle for David.
And when the
Philistines rejoice over
the death of Saul,
little do they know
what David will bring.
Saul has slain his
thousands, but David
his ten thousands.
So sang the people of
Israel a few chapters
back.
The Philistines ain't
seen nothing yet of the
great victory that God
will work for his people
through David.
David.
So in spite of this
small defeat, God is
working for his people a
greater salvation.
To the Philistine eye, it
seems that Yahweh is dead,
that he has failed.
yet the Christian knows
that after the death of God
comes the resurrection of God.
And this defeat on the way
to the establishment of the
kingdom only serves to advance
the Lord's plan to put on the
throne of Israel David,
from whose house will come
one whose kingdom never
ends, Jesus himself.
The Philistines knew nothing of
this when they rejoiced over
Saul's body, but God did.
God was looking through the
defeat of Israel to Christ on
the other end.
And to have the mind and the
eyes of God is to look
through our defeats, to see on
the other end, Jesus.
The one our hearts yearn for.
The one that every defeat is in
some majestically unknowable way
bringing to bear in this world
and in our hearts.
Is not that message embedded
into the nature of the
Christian gospel?
That our God, in order to save
us, had to die?
Had to endure this defeat on
the road to final victory?
He emptied himself, Philippians 2
said.
He lowered himself and took upon
himself the form of a servant.
Therefore, God highly exalted him.
This is the pattern of the
Christian life.
Through humiliation, through
defeats, exaltation.
Because the cross comes before
the crown.
And there is no way to the crown
except through the cross.
Take it up and bear it, Christ
says.
Which sounds to us a difficult
message.
But he then reminds us that his
burden is easy and his yoke
is light.
Saul did not experience this
rejoicing.
This hope.
Will you?
Will you look to the heir of David?
The one who has come to establish
God's kingdom.
Will you look to him and live?
If you've not done so, I pray that
you would tonight.
I pray that you would confess to the
Lord your sins.
And place your faith in him as the
only savior of the world.
If you're interested more in this, I
urge you to come talk to me or to
Pastor Greg.
We would love to talk to you about
that.
Let the gruesomeness of Saul
and the final eventual rejoicing of
David
be both a stick
and a carrot
to spur you on
to love of God
and citizenship
in the heavenly kingdom
under the great
heir
of the heir of the
great kingdom
of the heir
of David,
Christ himself.
Let's pray.
Lord, I thank you that you have
loved us enough to speak to us
these harsh warnings.
I thank you that you have not
sugar-coated reality for us.
I thank you that you have not
given us mere platitudes
and wishful thinking to resort to,
but you have given us
firm and solid truths.
You have spoken to us
clearly about both the dangers
of sin
and rebellion against you
and of the rock-solid assurance
that your kingdom
will go forth
through every defeat.
We trust that no Philistine
can stand in the way
of your kingdom,
neither then nor now.
We do pray for those
in Charleston,
in the Middle East,
in Nigeria,
in North Korea,
in China,
wherever
the blood of your saints
cries out for justice.
We thank you
that your blood
cries out for mercy.
And so we pray,
come Lord Jesus,
in whose name we pray tonight.
Amen.