We're going to begin our worship this evening, and we're singing firstly in Psalm 48a.
48a, that's on page 63, singing to Choon Paisley, and we're singing verses 1 to 8.
Great is the Lord who rules on high, with praise his temple fill, within the city of
our God and on his holy hill.
Mount Zion, with its graceful height, gives joy to all the earth.
The great king's city far excels, the mountains of the north.
Within her citadels and towers, God's presence is revealed, for he has shown himself to be
her fortress and her shield.
Down as far as verse 8, these verses, great is the Lord.
Mount Zion, with praise his temple fill, within the city of our God and on his holy hill.
Mount Zion, with its graceful height, gives joy to all the earth.
The great king's city far excels, the mountains of the north.
John 9.
FI 29a, this day has beenures by king and on his holy hill.
God's presence is revealed.
For he has shown himself to thee,
had fortress and earth shield.
When kings joined forces to attack,
as one they marched ahead.
They saw hand and they were amazed,
they all in terror play.
Like women giving birth in pain,
they trembled in disdain.
You wrecked them like a merchant tree,
by tempest blown away.
As we have heard, so have we seen,
God's city will endure.
The Lord Almighty evermore
has sent in his Savior.
Let's once more join together now in prayer.
Let's call upon the Lord in prayer.
Lord, our ever-bressed God,
gracious and merciful,
full of kindness,
full of loving kindness toward his people,
God who will by no means clear the guilty,
yet you have provided forgiveness for us.
We bless you, Lord our God,
that we come together tonight to praise you.
And we have already used these words in your praise
that remind us and teach us
of the way in which you are so unchangeably
the king of your people,
and of which they too are your people,
your flock,
that city that you prepare
for your abode forevermore.
We thank you, Lord, tonight,
that we come in acknowledgement of your greatness.
And we thank you that as we sing your praises
and acknowledge your greatness,
so we also take note for our own assurance
of your interest in your people,
of your provision for them,
of your care and attention to them
each and every moment of their lives.
Lord, we pray that these great truths
may be impressed upon us tonight
as well as we come to worship you here together.
We pray that they may be a reality for us
throughout each and every day of our lives.
Lord, we need your truth each day
to occupy our hearts and our minds
and guide our thoughts.
We need the power of your truth
working within us
by your Holy Spirit's energy
in such a way that will daily lead us
in the ways of righteousness.
Lord, we come before you
not only to bring you our praises
and our thanksgivings,
but also our confessions.
A confession of our sin,
confession of our own failures
in so many ways
to be what we should be.
A confession, Lord,
how far short we come
in every way,
in every aspect of our lives,
short of glorifying your great name
as we ought to.
Forgive us, we pray,
and cleanse us
from our iniquities this night.
We thank you
that your word reveals to us
the extent of our sinfulness
and the various ways
in which our sin itself
is active in our lives,
from the root of sin within us
in our fallenness
to the very acts of transgression
and of sin
that we ourselves
are guilty of each day.
And we thank you
for the freeness
with which pardon
is available to us.
You have opened a fountain
for us
for sin
and for uncleanness
in our Lord Jesus Christ.
We give thanks,
O Lord,
as we come to you
and claim his merits
and place our trust in him
that we are assured
that you will forgive us
our sins
and cleanse us
from all unrighteousness.
and we thank you tonight,
Lord,
for the assurance
that that gives us.
For we know that sometimes,
indeed very often,
Lord,
on a daily basis,
our sin troubles us.
We find ourselves,
Lord,
sometimes perplexed
at how easily
we find ourselves
straying into
the ways of sin,
even in our thoughts of mind.
We pray, O Lord,
that you would grant us
the garrisoning
of your truth
and the guidance
of your spirit
throughout each day.
And once again,
we bring before you
our needs
as a congregation.
Lord,
we thank you
for all
that you continue
to be for us,
for everything
that you have proved
yourself to be
down over the course
of the years.
And as we have begun
another new year
and our experience
as a people,
we ask, O Lord,
that you would
go before us
and that you would
prepare us
to live as your people
in the world
and to hold forth
the word of truth,
that word of righteousness,
which is so necessary
not only for ourselves
but for the circumstances
in which we find ourselves
in our day,
when your word
is so easily set aside,
when your word, Lord,
is all too commonly despised
and ignored.
And in many ways,
Lord,
your word
is trampled
under people's feet
and the way
in which they're treated.
We pray for
our community.
We pray for
each and every home
that we know of
around us.
We pray
for the congregations
of your people,
not only
in this town
and this community
but throughout our land
and indeed
throughout the world.
We pray, O Lord,
that you would prosper
your people.
We pray that today
they may know
of your own work
amongst them,
advancing the understanding
that they have of you
and increasing
their commitment to you.
We pray in all
our own activities,
O Lord,
as a people,
that you would bless us
and bless us
through these activities
to the world
around us too.
We pray for all
that happens
throughout the course
of each week
in addition to
the services
of worship
on weeknights
and weekdays
and also
on the Lord's day.
And we give thanks
for this day
and we give thanks
that you have sanctified it
and given to us,
Lord,
that conviction
that it is our privilege
to know
and to acknowledge
your day
and to come to seek
to keep it holy
as you have commanded.
And we ask, Lord,
when we depart
from that too
that you would redirect
our steps
and that you would
especially grant to us
as a community
and as a people
that we may once again
turn to value your day.
Turn to prize
all that it means
and all that it has
to offer us,
especially in the ways
of the gospel.
And we ask,
O gracious one,
that you would
return to us
and return us
to that way
in which your day
should be honored
and upheld by us
and exalted.
Help us,
we pray,
to commend your day
and all its values
to our people,
to the community
around us.
Remember,
we pray those
who rule over us
at this time,
be near to them,
Lord,
we pray to give them
the help
and the insight
that they need
and perhaps
that they themselves
do not look
for in yourself.
We ask that you would
bless our first minister,
bless his ministers,
bless the prime minister,
bless his cabinet,
bless the government,
bless each and every assembly.
Lord,
bless us,
we pray,
with light from on high.
Turn us away
from the ways
of man
and of sin
and of secular thinking.
Give us,
we pray,
to have our confidence
reset in the Lord.
Enable them,
Lord,
who rule over us
to meaningfully reflect
upon what you have been
to this nation
over the course
of the centuries
and how much,
Lord,
we lack
of those values
that have now
been set aside.
Gracious one,
we pray
that you would return us
into your ways
and help us to repent
over the many ways
in which we
have fallen short
of your glory
and your praise
and which you have
despised your ways.
We ask tonight
that you bless those
who belong to us
as a congregation
who are ill.
We know that there are
many, Lord,
during this past week
or two
who have picked up
illnesses
of various kinds.
And we ask
that you would
grant blessing
to them
to restore them
to health
and to strength.
We pray
bless those especially
who have gone
to hospital
in these recent days.
We pray for
little Matthew McLeod
and ask that you
bless him
and bless his parents
as he once again
has gone into hospital
here.
We pray for Donny Graham
as he's been taken
to hospital
in the mainland.
We ask for him
that your blessing,
Lord,
will be with him
with all who care
for him.
Grant that your good
hand may be upon him
and that you'd be
pleased, Lord,
to grant your own
recovery to him
if it please you
and your protective
care of him.
Remember all
who in these days
mourn the passing
of loved ones.
Remember those families
in the past week
or two
who have lost
loved ones
who belong to us
as a people.
Grant them
your comfort,
we pray.
Give to them
that they may know
of you as their God
and as their guide
and as their stay
in this time.
We ask that you
would graciously,
Lord,
bless all others
who have begun
this new year
thinking of times
gone by
and have loved ones
no longer with them.
We pray that you
would continue
to bless them
and continue
to uphold them
and strengthen them.
Continue to give them,
we pray,
to look to yourself.
and we ask
that you would
grant blessing now
to all whom
we commit to you
in the wider church.
We pray for,
Lord,
all our students
in the seminary,
for all who teach there,
for all the activities
related to that training.
We pray for Scott
with ourselves
and ask that you
would continue
to bless him
in his preparations.
Bless Fiona
and the family
and give them,
Lord,
as they wait upon you
that they will know
of your further direction
of their lives.
Bless all others,
we pray,
who in different institutions
throughout the world
seek to prepare
for gospel ministry.
We pray for all
of these institutions,
especially for
Reformed seminaries
and colleges
throughout the world.
Lord,
grant that they may
be kept
from straying
from your truth
and that they may know
that your blessing,
Lord,
is assured
to those who trust in you
and seek to put
your word above
the thinking
and the wisdom
of men.
Graciously bless us
now,
we pray.
Hear us in our prayers
and cleanse us
from all our sin.
For Jesus' sake,
Amen.
We'll sing again
to God's praise.
We're singing this time
Psalm 106.
That's on page 382.
And from verse 43,
the tune this time
is Argyle.
He many times
delivered them,
but with their counsel
so they him provoked
that for their sin
they were brought
very low.
Yet their affliction
he beheld
when he did hear
their cry,
and he for them
his covenant
did call to memory.
And Psalms like
Psalm 106,
as you know,
reflect upon
some of the history
of God's people,
covenant people
in the Old Testament times,
and how frequently
they provoked the Lord
by their idolatry,
by their turning
to idols,
and so on.
And yet also
the psalmist
reflects us here
on God's
great patience
with them,
his mercy
and redirection
of them.
And we need
these things
for ourselves,
that we sing them
meaningfully
as we remember
the Lord's patience
with ourselves.
Psalm 106,
then from verse 43,
he many times
delivered them.
He many times
delivered them,
but with their counsel's soul,
they did promote
that for their sin
they were
from their
very low.
Yet their affliction
be held
when he did hear
their cry,
and before them
his covenant
go of the Zhou
malting
heart of
may
cả
thing
else in death
Amen.
Let's turn now to read God's Word, and you'll find that this evening in the first book of
Samuel, first book of Samuel in chapter 8.
We'll read through from the beginning to the end of the chapter.
So that's 1 Samuel, and chapter 8 is around page 278 or so.
When Samuel became old, he made his sons judges over Israel.
The name of his firstborn son was Joel, and the name of his second Abijah.
They were judges in Beersheba.
Yet his sons did not walk in his ways, but turned aside after gain.
They took bribes and perverted justice.
Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah, 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.
But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, Give us a king to judge us.
And Samuel prayed to the Lord.
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.
According to all the deeds that they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt
even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you.
Now then, obey their voice.
Only you shall solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.
So Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking for a king from him.
He said, These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you.
He will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen and to run before his chariots.
And he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties,
and some to plough his ground and to reap his harvest,
and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots.
And he will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers.
He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his servants.
He will take the tenth of your grain and of your vineyards
and give it to his officers and to his servants.
He will take your male servants and female servants
and the best of your young men and your donkeys and put them to his work.
He will take the tenth of your flocks and you shall be his slaves.
And in that day you will cry out because of your king,
whom you have chosen for yourselves.
But the Lord will not answer you in that day.
But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel.
And they said, No, but there shall be a king over us,
that we may also be like all the nations,
and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.
And when Samuel had heard all the words of the people,
he repeated them in the ears of the Lord.
And the Lord said to Samuel, Obey their voice and make them a king.
Samuel then said to the men of Israel,
Go, every man, to his city.
And may God again bless to us that portion of his word.
Before we turn to this chapter, let's sing again, this time in Psalm 47.
47 in Sing Psalms, that's page 62.
And soon as Duke Street will sing these five verses.
All nations, clap your hands and shout.
Let joyful cries to God ring out.
How awesome is the Lord Most High,
great King who rules the earth throughout.
He has subdued beneath our feet
the nations who had been our foes
in blessing Jacob whom he loved,
a heritage for us he chose.
So the whole of Psalm 47,
all nations, clap your hands and shout.
All nations, clap your hands and shout.
Let joyful cry to God ring out.
How awesome is the Lord Most High,
great King to the rules the earth through us.
God bless you.
He has subdued beneath our feet
the nations who have been our foes
in blessing Jacob whom he loved,
and blessed in blessing Jacob whom he loved,
a heritage for us he chose.
God has got a wish of God,
grace of joy that false e ingly tries,
God has got a place
and jösden.
And blessed are Michigan for you.
His ifiов.
And so strong who have been the fairest,
God has got a place to God,
in the hält Casa on r einen like God,
in the industrial world where he loved,
God gives us the »c labouratio 6ºC2–
To God our King let praise God.
For God is King of all the earth.
Sing sounds of praise to Him alone.
God who's the nations come on high,
He sits upon this holy throne.
The leaders of the nations come,
To heal themselves, to reign as God.
To Him belong, the kings of all earth.
And the kings of the King, the kings of all earth.
Let's turn for a short time now as we wait on the Lord to 1 Samuel chapter 8.
And we're looking at most of what's in this chapter.
I'd like just to read verse 7 first of all and then on to verse 19 as well.
So at verse 7 we actually read these words.
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.
And then in verse 19,
The people refused to obey the voice of Samuel and they said,
No, but there shall be 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.
Well, this is another crucial, critical time in the history and the development of God's people
in the Old Testament times, God's covenant people of Israel.
As they come to this juncture, they've come to this point where they're demanding really a king of Samuel.
And you can see the context in which it happened.
It was a very difficult situation for them to manage,
and sadly they got it wrong, as they all too often did.
They came in these circumstances.
At the beginning of the chapter we read that Samuel had become old,
and he had made his sons judges over Israel.
But his sons did not walk in his ways,
but turned aside after gain, they took bribes and perverted justice.
In other words, the sons of Samuel turned out to be very different to their father.
At least in this respect, they didn't judge in a way that was righteous,
though he had appointed them to these positions.
And it does remind us, of course, that we cannot have a guarantee
that a generation that knows the Lord and serves the Lord
and is true to the Lord will be followed by one of the same caliber.
It's the same as true of individuals, of course.
But why did they not manage it so well?
What was it about the situation that they got wrong?
Well, why was it that they got it wrong?
Because, as we'll see, they actually put their own preferences
ahead of God's direction of them, ahead of God's provision.
They put their own wisdom ahead of God's wisdom.
They put their own way of looking at things ahead of the way
that God himself had arranged things for them up to that point.
I want to look at two things from the passage.
We'll focus on the verses we've mentioned, but we'll see how they fit into the context.
First of all, we'll look at the people's demand for a king.
And in looking at the demand for a king,
we'll see that they turned against Samuel,
but more importantly, they rejected God.
That's what God himself said to Samuel.
And they have not rejected you, they have rejected me from being king over them.
And not only did they turn against Samuel and reject God,
but they also rejected the solemn warning that Samuel gave them,
having been instructed by God to warn them of what would happen
if they got their own desire and got this king that they were looking for,
a king to be like the kings of the nations around about them.
All that is built into the demand they had for a king.
Secondly, we're going to look at the people's desire to be like the nations around them.
Because as we'll see, that's really a fundamental part of their thinking at the time.
They wanted a king like the nations, as they put it, that surrounded them.
The pagan nations around them, they wanted to be like those nations
in the sense that they wanted a leader like those leaders in these nations,
kings that went out to battle and proved to be,
as they knew very well, these nations had kings that were very much given to pomp and ceremony
and attracting a lot of attention to themselves
and a lot of resources to themselves, as Samuel indeed warned them.
So the two things, the people's demand for a king and also their desire to be like the nations.
Now the demand for a king meant a turning against Samuel, first of all.
All the elders gathered in verse 4,
they came to Samuel at Ram and said,
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.
The fact that their sons were corrupt, to that extent at least,
that they took bribes and perverted justice,
there's no blame attached to Samuel in that.
And there's no hint of any fault with the way that Samuel presided over the people as a judge,
approved of by God and appointed by God.
And yet what they're doing is really looking for an excuse
so that they'll have a king like the nations around them.
So not only do they point attention or give attention,
point out the difficulty of having these sons of Samuel who are taking bribes and perverting justice,
they're also including Samuel himself and saying,
You are old. You're past it.
We need somebody other than you.
We need something different.
We need a king like the nations around about us.
You've saved your time, but you're getting old.
In other words, they're really saying,
You're no longer fit to be leader, and we want a different type of leader to the leader that you were to us.
And that's a very sad reflection, isn't it,
in our thinking of the people at that time,
because Samuel at this point was probably around 60 or 65 years old,
and yet they're really here saying about him that he's pretty much basically too old to continue as leader,
especially in view of the way his sons are behaving.
And it's a very sad reflection on their thinking as a people,
that they're using the failure of these sons and the relative age of Samuel himself
to be an argument for change.
And the argument for change turned out really to be not so good,
because, of course, as you know, the history,
they were given a king, King Saul,
who turned out not to be the best thing at all for the nation.
Where could they have gotten a better leader than Samuel as a judge?
If you go back just to the previous chapter,
chapter 7 and verses 3 to 10,
you'll find there Samuel judging Israel
and doing things that really he was led by the Lord to do.
But here he is at that time actually leading the people
in terms of the way in which they need to resist their enemies,
the hands of the Philistines.
So the people of Israel, they put away the bales,
and then Samuel said,
Gather to Israel, I will pray to the Lord for you.
So they gathered at Mizpah and so on,
and they confessed we have sinned against the Lord.
And then as you go through the chapter,
the people of Israel said to Samuel,
Do not cease to cry out to the Lord our God for us,
that he may save us from the hand of the Philistines.
And all the way through there,
you find an emphasis on how successfully he led them
then against the Philistines.
How soon they forgot.
How soon they failed to take account of
or just dismissed from their thoughts.
What Samuel had been to them
and the demonstration of God's blessing
that they had come to know through Samuel.
Well, it's very human, isn't it?
Our failures are really reflected in that in many ways.
And here they are saying,
You are old,
and your sons don't walk in your ways.
It's not good enough for us anymore.
Make us a king.
Appoint us a king who will go before us.
And that's sadly how you find it down through the course of history as well.
And you find it on the part of people who even today will say to us,
not necessarily within the church,
but certainly outside the church in our society,
people will say to us,
Look, we don't actually want,
we don't think that people who are really committed Christians,
especially of the type that go to the free church,
we don't think they should be given political power or political office.
They're not really fit to be in office.
It's not a new thing,
but it fits into the same category,
really in principle,
people saying,
Well, you know,
that's no longer something that's relevant or fit for our times,
for our days.
So here's a turning against Samuel.
But more importantly and more seriously,
they're really turning against God.
Samuel took the matter to God.
That's so typical of Samuel.
He actually took the matter to God in prayer.
And God said to him,
Obey the voice of the people,
for they have not rejected you,
but they have rejected me from being king over them.
And he went on to say,
This is just how they had always been.
They showed themselves to have been very fickle people,
people who very soon forgot what the Lord had done for them
and turned to idols or to other ways of living their lives.
And that's what he says,
They have rejected me.
According to all the deeds they have done
from the day I brought them out of Egypt,
even to this day,
forsaking me and serving other gods,
so they are also doing to you.
Now, therefore, obey their voice.
Now, God is not approving,
in principle, of what they're asking for,
not approving of the way they're going about it,
but they're going to find out
that if God gives a people or a person
over to their own desires,
it's not going to be a very good outcome.
And what God is really saying to Samuel is,
Obey them, give them what they're asking for,
but tell them at the same time
what it's going to mean for them.
They have not rejected you.
They have rejected me.
In other words, they were tired.
They had gone tired of God's arrangement of their lives,
of their lives as a people,
of God's provision for them.
And once you start getting tired
or not really seeing the relevance
of what God is providing for us in the gospel,
that's very much a danger signal to yourself
and to myself or to any society or people.
If we find the ways of God becoming somewhat boring,
if we're saying, well, we need a change
because this has just been going on,
the same emphases in the gospel for years,
the same type of thing being emphasized
in the teaching of the Bible,
the same kind of things that the Bible
is bringing out for us.
It was okay for Paul's day.
It's okay in the Old Testament days.
But really, we need to change that for our day.
You know, if you and I get tired ourselves
or begin to just become a bit weary
of reading the same things in the Bible
that are so central and so important
to a Christian life
and to a life of pleasing God,
well, we have to really beware of that
because that means we're on the path
that really leads to decline
and to maybe even falling away from God altogether.
So that's what they had become tired of.
And you know, all the way through history,
not least with these people of Israel
during the Old Testament days,
you really have to admire the patience of God.
We sang in some of the Psalms tonight
that of God's patience with the people of Israel,
despite the fact that He had done so much for them,
they turned against Him,
they rebelled against Him,
and yet for His mercy's sake,
He again forgave them.
When they cried out to Him,
He heard them.
You know, tonight,
we just cannot possibly measure
the patience of God,
the forbearance of God,
the long-suffering of God.
Look at your own life
as I need to look at mine.
How many times have you and I provoked the Lord?
How many times have we failed
to do what He requires us to do?
How many times has our thinking gone astray
in our thoughts about God
and about His wisdom
and about His arrangement of our lives as well?
And yet He's not gone away
and He's not kicked us into touch,
as it were,
and just left us there.
Tonight,
we are worshiping the patient God.
That's no excuse for us
to continue to resist Him
or to reject Him
or to choose some other way
rather than His,
but it does demonstrate
the caliber of our God,
the glorious nature of our God
as a God of patience
and of mercy
and of long-suffering.
And here He is with Israel
as well so many times
proving that.
So, there's a turning against Samuel,
but there's also a rejection of God
and along with that,
there's a rejection of very solemn warnings
because God said to Samuel,
now then,
obey their voice,
verse 9,
only you shall solemnly warn them
and show them the ways of the king
who shall reign over them.
In other words,
Samuel was to tell the people,
if you get a king
like the nations that are around you,
you'll suffer for it.
It's not going to be an easy journey for you.
He's going to take lots of the things
that you presently prize
and hold precious
and he's going to use them for himself
and he's going to be greedy
of his own personal gain
and his own personal prestige
and you're going to have to give him
as much,
at least as you're now giving,
to the service of God
in the tithes that you're giving
in the offerings of the temple
and the offerings of the sanctuary.
That's what He's saying to them.
This is the kind of king He will be
if He's going to emulate,
as you want,
the kings of these nations.
If you're going to be led
by that sort of king,
this is what it's going to mean for you.
So Samuel came back
and told them this.
In that day,
he says in verse 18,
you will cry out because of your king
whom you have chosen,
but the Lord will not answer you
in that day.
If you go down this route,
he's saying,
this is really going to be
the situation you'll be in.
What did they do?
They said,
no, but we will have a king.
Whatever God says,
whatever you say,
whatever your advice is,
whatever your counsel is,
this is how we want it.
We insist on this.
We want to be like
the nations around us.
So you can tell us what you like,
really,
pretty much is what they're saying
to Samuel.
You can say what you like,
but we will have a king
to rule over us.
You see,
God is letting them have their way
for the moment.
And that's always very ominous.
And it's something that you and I
have to be always careful to avoid
that we don't provoke the Lord
by a long-term departure
or sinning against Him
and Him saying to us,
well, have it your way.
See how you get on.
See what it means for you.
You know,
He did that more than once
with the people of Israel.
Remember back in Numbers
chapter 11,
how they complained
so much about the food
and that they had left Egypt
and left the delicious food
they'd left in Egypt
and hankered back
for these delicacies in Egypt.
And here they were
rising up against Moses
and complaining against God
and His provision.
And God said to Moses
pretty much in these words,
give them food.
Or He's saying,
I'll give them food.
I'll give them so much
that they'll loathe it
by the time I'm finished with them.
So the wind came
and drove hundreds and hundreds
of quails
into the camp of Israel.
And they began to eat the quails
and I'm sure they tasted
delicious to begin with.
And yet,
that chapter goes on to say,
while the food
was still in their teeth,
it's not just saying
literally still in their teeth,
but it really means
as they were eating
and as they were enjoying
the quails that they had,
or the food that they had demanded,
the Lord plagued them greatly.
It doesn't say how many died.
It doesn't say anything further than that.
But the Lord plagued them greatly.
Sent a great plague amongst them.
God was teaching them
or seeking to draw their mind
to the fact,
you have it your way
and it's going to hurt you.
You have it in a way
that departs from my ways.
It's not going to be good for you.
It's going to be very painful.
Might even mean
something like it was
for the Israelites.
A life of much suffering.
Well, here is the demand for a king.
A turning against Samuel,
despite all that he had been to them
over the course of his life.
And a turning against God,
a rejection of God as king.
And a rejection of the solemn warnings
that God had sent through Samuel.
Now we're going to look in a minute
at how important the Word of God is
in all of this.
But let's just stop at that juncture
and ask ourselves tonight,
have we been neglectful
of God's Word to us?
Have we been dismissing
the promises or the warnings
or both in God's Word
that He brings to us?
Has God's Word struck our hearts
at any time or more than once
in such a way
as has convicted of our need
to turn from sin
and to come to trust in the Lord,
to repent of our sin,
to confess our sin,
to follow Christ,
and yet we're still not
complying with that demand of God?
Well, be careful.
Don't actually treat God
as if it's just some
piece of human advice.
Here is what Samuel said to the people.
And here is the response.
No, but there shall be a king over us.
That's the second point we want to look at.
The people's desire to be like the nations.
Now, if you go back to verses 4 and 5
where they gathered together
and said,
You are old
and your sons do not walk in your way.
That, in a sense, is a pretext.
It's not that it wasn't true,
but they were presenting that
as a pretext for the real reason
that they wanted a change
in their circumstances
was because they wanted to be like
the nations round about them.
That's really what they were
concerned to be,
even though they could say
Samuel was old
and his sons were corrupt
and took bribes.
This is really what was moving them.
This is really the real reason
behind their request.
They wanted to be like
the nations around them.
They wanted to be similar to them
or identical to them
in this sense,
that they would have
a king set over them
just like the nations.
Well, it's always
a really serious matter
when God's people
don't want to be different
to the world.
When God's people
are not really careful
to make that distinction
between themselves
and the world around them.
Here are God's covenant people.
Here are God's people
instructed over the years
that God is their king,
that they have their life
regulated and governed by him
and not only by him
in a general sense
but in a very specific sense
at many times.
The God who led them
out of Egypt,
who delivered them
out of Egypt
as he reminds them
in this chapter
through Samuel.
The God who actually
brought them
the redemption from Egypt
that they enjoyed
and are enjoying.
Who brought them into
the land that he had promised them.
Who fulfilled all of these things.
And what is he saying now
through Samuel?
They have not rejected you
but they have rejected me.
They don't want me
to be a king
invisibly over them
and yet certainly
their leader,
their guide,
their protector,
their carer.
They want someone
they can see.
They want someone
like the nations.
They want a figurehead
that they can actually
point to and say
look at our king,
look at how glorious he is.
And when we find ourselves
tempted to fall in
with the ways of the world,
that again is a really
serious issue for us.
There are many places tonight,
many worshiping groups tonight,
many churches,
many denominations,
many congregations,
many individuals
who preach the gospel,
who preach,
at least to preach
from the Bible,
who have come to embrace
the ideologies of the world,
who have come to embrace
the ideology
that's so concerned
to adjust our thoughts
about marriage,
about gender,
about education,
about religious freedom,
so many things you could add to that
in our own society right now.
I'm not talking about the world,
I'm talking about
confessing Christians
that want to be
as like the world
as to import
that ideology
into their own thinking.
They're just like Israel
in those days.
We want a king
to be like the nations
that are around us.
You know,
when you come
to actually find
any people
who confess
the Lord
as their God
to say,
well,
we need to really adjust
our lifestyle
to suit the thinking
of the age.
We need an ideology
that takes away
from this ancient
Reformed view
of the Bible
and of a Christian life
and of what
a people
and a society
should look like
and how they should behave.
And what have you left with
if you lose
the gospel
in its throughness
and its fullness?
Well,
let me just
take you back
to 1 Kings
or forward
to 1 Kings
because Solomon
was followed
by his son
Rehoboam
and Rehoboam
consulted
with the old men,
the senior men
who were there
at the time
after Solomon's death
and King Rehoboam
took counsel
with the old men
who had stood
before Solomon
his father
while he was yet alive
saying,
how do you advise me
to answer this people?
And they said to him,
if you will be a servant
to this people today
and serve them
and speak good words
to them
and when you answer them
then they will be
your servants forever.
But he abandoned
the counsel
that the old men
gave him
and took counsel
of the young men
who had grown up
with him
and stood before him.
And so that's
where he turned,
that's where he turned to.
And then as you go on
you can see
the kingdom
was divided
and then you go forward
to chapter 14
and what you find
in chapter 14
from verse 25
is that Shishak
the king of Egypt
he came
against Jerusalem
and he took away
the treasures
of the house
of the Lord
and the treasures
of the king's house.
He took away everything.
He also took away
all the shields
of gold
that Solomon
had made
and King Rehoboam
made in their place
shields
of bronze.
How pathetic
is that?
He gave away
the shields
of gold.
He probably
had not much
option
because Shishak
had come to him
and he had not
followed the ways
of the Lord
anyway
so he was weakened
in many ways.
He couldn't stand
against King Shishak
of Egypt
at that moment.
Shishak took away
all the shields
of gold
that Solomon
had made
and he fashioned
in their stead
replicas.
Replicas
made of bronze.
Now from a distance
you might think
bronze is actually
gold
if the sun
is shining
and you polished
it hard enough
but it's not gold.
And unless you look
very hard
at versions
of the gospel
that want to make
it fit into
the ideologies
of the moment
you might think
well you've still
got the gospel.
No you don't.
If you give away
the essentials
of the gospel
you don't have
a gospel left.
You have nothing
left here
that will really
reform the lives
of people
through the blessing
of God of course
but the Lord
will have us
always to retain
the essential matters
of the gospel.
That's why we have
to value
our reformed heritage
and I'm going to mention
two things in that
in closing.
Our reformed heritage
for the day
in which we live
there's so much
within that
that we need to
maintain and prize
and promote
but especially
I want to emphasize
the Bible itself
and the ethics
of the Bible.
The Bible itself
and the ethics
of the Bible
because the Bible
is to be
our ethical base
our basis for
morality
what a life
should be like
what a life
should be like
as we live it.
A conviction
about the Bible.
Why am I
saying a conviction
about the Bible?
Why is that central?
Why is that
of first importance?
Surely you might say
well surely you should
be emphasizing
Christ first.
Shouldn't you be
emphasizing keeping
to the person
of Christ
that we have
in our reformed
theology and thinking
that's been passed
on to us
through the years?
Yes of course
but where does
that come from?
What is the source
of our information
about Jesus
and about his atonement
and about his person
about the fact
that he's God
and man fully
in both senses?
You come to that
from the Bible
and once you adjust
the Bible
then there's no telling
where you're going
to end up
adjusting all other
sorts of doctrines
that follow on
from the doctrine
of scripture itself.
You give away
the shields of gold
and you're going
to be left
with at best
bronze
maybe even copper
maybe even lead.
What I'm saying
is give away
the essential
core issues
of the gospel.
What have you got left?
At best you've got
a very faded replica
which is not
the real thing.
Friends,
prize your Bibles.
I know you're doing that
but I know also
for me and for you
there's always a voice
not far away
from the dark one.
That will say
as he said
long ago
to our first parents
to Adam
has God really said
don't you need
to adjust this
to fit the thinking
of the day?
Don't you need
to just give away
some of those
more robust
reformed teachings
because people
don't want that
nowadays
and you don't want
a gospel
that people don't want?
That's the argument.
That's the ideology
of the age
and that's the kind
of temptation
that we face.
But what is
the Bible?
That's where you
have to begin.
You don't have to
you don't begin
with what does
the Bible say?
That comes next.
First thing you do
is what is
the Bible?
And the Bible
is the Word of God
and we just
briefly mention
from the confession
of faith.
This paragraph
in chapter 1
paragraph 5
We may be moved
and induced
by the testimony
of the church
to a high
and reverent esteem
of the Holy Scripture.
Then listen to this.
The heavenliness
of the matter
the efficacy
of the doctrine
the majesty
of the style
the consent
of all the parts
the scope
of the whole
which is to give
all glory to God
the full discovery
it makes
of the only way
of man's salvation
the many other
incomparable excellencies
and the entire
perfection thereof
are arguments
whereby it
doth abundantly
evidence itself
to be the Word
of God.
Nevertheless
notwithstanding
our full persuasion
and assurance
of the infallible truth
and divine authority
thereof
is from the inward
work of the Holy Spirit
bearing witness
by and with the Word
in our hearts.
Now where people
reject the Bible
as authoritative
as God's Word
that has certainly
not come
from the inward
work of the Holy Spirit
bearing witness
by and with the Word
in our hearts.
That's why we pray
for God to keep us
not just the likes
of myself
and others
who preach the Gospel
but yourselves
as well
as people
in this world
who live for Christ
make sure
that you have
the Bible
centrally
foundationally
daily
constantly
in your life.
It's from it
you receive
everything you know
and understand
of every other topic
that's vital to you
including God
himself
and the Lord
Jesus Christ
and salvation.
But secondly
not just a conviction
about the Bible
but conformity
to the Bible's
ethic.
Our conformity
to the Bible's
ethic
I'm talking here
about the teaching
of the Bible
as a whole
with regard to
what our moral
Christian life
should be
and should be like.
conformity
to the ethic
of the Bible
not the other
way about.
Not the Bible
conforming
to what I think
my ethic
should be
or what I
insist on it
to be.
Romans chapter 12
verse 2
Do not be
conformed
to this world
but be
transformed
by the renewing
of your mind
that you may prove
what is that good
and acceptable
and perfect
will of God.
See what it's saying?
Don't be
conformed
to this world
but be
transformed.
And here we are
in a society
where from
the government
downwards
we're now being
led down
the path
of insisting
that people
should not
be asked
or demanded
to have their lives
changed in any way.
Be what you want
to be.
Be what's good
for you
as you see it.
Let your gender,
let your behavior,
let whatever is
pleasing to yourself
let that be
what you follow out
and don't
let anyone else
seek to change
that for you.
And that's why
we're facing
and friends
I'm saying this
because
the Bible
has to be applied
to our present
circumstances
and our present
circumstances are
that our own
government in Scotland
Westminster I think
is involved too
to an extent
but our own
government has
made it known
that they do
have thoughts
and plans
in what they
call
a law
that would
actually ban
gender conversion.
Whatever is
meant by that
they don't give you
a plain answer.
But what that
means is
and you know
this is what
the Christian
Institute said
about it
Scottish government
wants to outlaw
practices
that seek
to change
suppress
or inhibit
someone's
sexual orientation
or gender
identity.
Activists
that's people
out with the
government as well
activists
are campaigning
for this
to cover
quote
casual
conversations
quote
gentle
non-coercive
prayer
and even
depending on
your parents
consent
to change
gender.
In other words
if that were
to become law
I could actually
find myself
in a court
of law
accused
of having
prayed
with someone
and asking
God
to either
change
their mind
or to give
them a different
perspective
on life.
I would be
criminalized
for being
faithful
to God.
That's
what's likely
to be the case
and despite
assurances
and we're
thankful
there are
assurances
that say
well
religious
practices
will not
actually
come under
such
a proposed
law.
believe
believe that
if you
will.
That's
not the
pattern
from the
past.
Now if
there is
to be a
consultation
I'm not
politicizing
the pulpit
this is
part of
the
gospel's
presentation
into the
world of
our day.
If there
is a
consultation
please
make sure
you complete
it.
A government
consultation
for your
views
on this.
and if
you want
to consult
the Christian
Institute
they will
give you
the words
that you
need to
put them
into your
own words
but they'll
give you
guidance
as to
how to
fill in
the various
parts of
that
consultation.
Friends
we are in
a war.
We're in
the midst
of a
conflict
not just
for the
soul of
the country
but for
the soul
of the
church
for the
soul of
the gospel.
we're in
a situation
which says
no
let's be
like the
world around
us.
A situation
that says
you Christians
you really
should
take note
of people's
preferences
and not
try to
insist on
such things
as the
Bible says
about being
born again
or being
changed
in such a
way as to
come to
comply
Christ's
commands.
Well there's
the people's
demand for
a king
and there's
the people's
desire to
be like
the nations.
Above all
friends let's
pray.
Let's pray
and appeal
to God
and do
everything else
practical we
can to
protect
what has
come to
us
sometimes at
great cost
from the
past.
Principles
for life
and practices
for life
which in
some cases
people died
for.
We're not
going to let
them slip
through our
hands are
we?
We're not
going to be
like those
of Israel
who say
let's just
be like
the world
let's just
fall into
and fall
in with
the pattern
of the
world.
Let's just
be as like
the world
as we can
and then
we'll win
them over
to the
gospel.
It won't
happen.
Let's be
true to
our King
Jesus
to his
truth.
Let's pray.
Lord our
God our
Father in
heaven we
thank you
for your
truth.
We pray
for grace
and for
your own
equipping
of us
to maintain
that truth
in its
purity
in the
gospel
in our
own way
of living
it as
well.
And we
ask oh
Lord that
for us
as a
nation
too we
be turned
back into
your ways.
Lord deliver
us we
pray from
the counsel
of mere
mortals
especially
when that
counsel is
contrary to
your word
and so
obviously
at odds
with your
will.
Lord we
pray that
in mercy
you'd
remember
and come
to us
in such
a way
that would
even surprise
your people
by coming
with reviving
and quickening
power to
us.
Continue
with us
now and
bless us
and pardon
our sin
for Jesus
sake.
Amen.
Our final
item of
praise this
evening is
Psalm 135
and that's
in the
Sing
Psalms
version
to tune
Stuttgart
that's on
page 176
singing
verses
8 to
14
Here are
the
exploits
of the
Lord
again in
the
psalmist
way of
putting it
in these
verses
He struck
down all
Egypt's
firstborn
man and
beast alike
were slain
mighty signs
he showed
in Egypt
routing
Pharaoh
and his
men
many
nations
he defeated
kings
he slew
with mighty
hand
all
Gophbation
and King
Sihon
all the
kings of
Canaan's
land
all their
lands he
gave to
Jacob
to his
people
Israel
as a
heritage
he gave
them
lands
where they
might
safely
dwell
Lord
your name
endures
forever
your
renown
is ever
great
for the
Lord
sustains
his
servants
and his
folk
will
vindicate
these verses
from verse
8
and the
tune
of
Stuttgart
Amen
He
struck down
all
Egypt's
firstborn
but
not
peace
like
firstborn
mighty
signs
he
showed
in
Egypt
right
in
Jerusalem
and
his
men
when
the
nations
he
defeated
kings
he
slew
with
mighty
hand
all
of
patient
the
king's
child
all
the
kings
of
Canaan's
land
all
their
sons
he
gave
to
Jacob
to
his
people
Israel
as
the
head
it
takes
he
gave
lands
where
they
might
save
me
dwell
Lord
your
name
endures
forever
you
will
be
now
this
ever
made
for
the
Lord
says
Jesus
serve
and
his
hope
will
be
came
after
the
benediction
I'll
go to
the
main
door
and
now
may
grace
and
mercy
and
peace
from
God
the
Father
the
Son
and
the
Holy
Spirit
be
your
portion
now
and
ever
more
Amen
through