And Samuel said unto all Israel, Behold, I have hearkened unto your voice in all that ye said unto me, and have made a king over you.
And now, behold, the king walketh before you, and I am old and gray-headed. And behold, my sons are with you, and I have walked before you from my childhood unto this day.
Behold, here I am, witness against me before the Lord and before his anointed, whose ox have I taken, or whose ass have I taken, or to whom have I defrauded, whom have I oppressed, or of whose hand have I received any bribe to blind mine eyes therewith, and I will restore it to you.
And they said, Thou hast not defrauded us, nor oppressed us, neither hast thou taken aught of any man's hand.
And he said unto them, The Lord is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that ye have not found aught in my hand.
And they answered, He is witness.
And Samuel said unto the people, It is the Lord that advanced Moses and Aaron, and that brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt.
Now therefore stand still, that I may reason with you before the Lord of all the righteous acts of the Lord, which he did to you and to your fathers.
When Jacob was come into Egypt, and your fathers cried unto the Lord, then the Lord sent Moses and Aaron, which brought forth your fathers out of Egypt, and made them dwell in this place.
And when they forgot the Lord their God, he sold them into the land of Sisera, captain of the host of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab, and they fought against them.
And they cried unto the Lord, and said, We have sinned, because we have forsaken the Lord, and have served Balaam and Ashtaroth, but now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, and we will serve thee.
And the Lord sent Jerobal, and Badan, and Jephthah, and Samuel, and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side, and ye dwelled safe.
And when ye saw that Nahash, the king of the children of Ammon, came against you, ye said unto me, Nay, but a king shall reign over us, when the Lord your God was your king.
Now therefore behold the king whom ye have chosen, and whom ye have desired.
And behold, the Lord has set a king over you.
If ye will fear the Lord, and serve him, and obey his voice, and not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then shall both ye and also the king that reigneth over you continue following the Lord your God.
But if ye will not obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then shall the hand of the Lord be against you, as it was against your fathers.
Now therefore stand and see this great thing, which the Lord will do before your eyes.
Is it not wheat harvest today?
I will call unto the Lord, and he shall send thunder and rain, that ye may perceive and see that your wickedness is great, which ye have done in the sight of the Lord, in asking you a king.
So Samuel called unto the Lord, and the Lord sent thunder and rain that day, and all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel.
And all the people said unto Samuel, Pray for thy servants unto the Lord thy God, that we die not, for we have added unto all our sins this evil to ask us a king.
And Samuel said unto the Lord, Fear not, ye have done all this wickedness, yet turn not aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart.
And turn ye not aside, for then should ye go after vain things, which cannot profit nor deliver, for they are vain.
For the Lord will not forsake his people for his great name's sake, because it hath pleased the Lord to make you his people.
Moreover, as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you.
But I will teach you the good and the right way.
Only fear the Lord and serve him in truth with all your heart.
For consider how great things he hath done for you.
But if ye shall still do wickedly, ye shall be consumed, both ye and your king.
Isaiah 40 tells us that the grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of the Lord stands forever.
In Luke 1, we're told that no word from God shall be void of power.
Would you pray with me?
Lord, we ask that your Holy Spirit will illuminate and apply your truth from your word to your people for your glory.
We thank you how you began a good work in each individual soul.
And you began a good work here with this congregation.
We trust, as we have the promise in Philippians 1, that you will also see it through to completion.
Lord, we ask for your power, for your strength, your energy to fulfill this ministry among us.
Amen.
Well, beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, my message for you and for me today is simply that we can see the blessing of repentance.
Repentance is a blessing.
To repent is to turn from one thing to another.
We're just saying, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty.
And repentance is when a sinner like you and me, born under Adam's curse with remaining sins in our own flesh, is brought into the presence of a holy God.
And our sin is exposed so that we hate it.
And we hate it because we behold the holy God.
We're in his presence by his grace.
And we hate it because we're in his presence.
Psalm 51 is one of the best illustrations and words for those of us in whom the Lord is working such repentance.
And there's a hard verse in this psalm.
David asks, Lord, would you cause the bones that you have broken to rejoice?
It's the Lord who breaks the bone that we will rejoice as he heals us.
Thomas Watson, pastor in the 1600s in England, made that same observation.
How welcome is a surgeon to a man who is bleeding from his wounds.
So first the Lord exposes it, then he comes and heals.
You're likely here because you or someone you love has experienced this.
What we have in our passage for today, 1 Samuel 12, is such repentance that you know you've experienced.
The Lord willing, you will soon because the Lord has brought you here.
What's special about this chapter is it happens on a national scale.
It's a corporate repentance.
And my goal today is simply to walk through this passage, reading it together,
and make four observations about the blessing of repentance.
A blessing is a gift from God.
It's a good thing.
It's a spiritual treasure from heaven given to us right now in this life to enjoy.
And that's what repentance is.
So the first observation from our passage is this.
The Lord raises up servants.
Whom he has taught the blessing of repentance.
The Lord raises up a servant like Samuel.
Why is Samuel qualified?
Because Samuel has experienced the blessing of repentance himself.
The Lord causes repentance as his people hear his word.
But who's going to stand up and deliver the word to God's people?
We've seen how Samuel has been criticized as a minister of God's word.
That's the last interaction between the nation of Israel and Samuel.
But now verse 12, Samuel stands up.
Now remember, there in Gilgal, they had this great deliverance from Nahash, that serpent.
The Lord's spirit rushed upon Saul, the most unlikely of men.
And now the beginning of chapter 12, Samuel says to all Israel, would you look at verse 1 with me?
Indeed, I have heeded or listened to your voice and all that you said to me, and I've made a king over you.
Verse 2.
And now there is the king, Saul, right here, walking before you.
Remember how the people rejected Samuel.
And they were begging for a king to be like all the other nations.
Their charges against Samuel were two things.
Samuel, you're old.
And your sons are corrupt.
Remember those two charges?
One of those charges is accurate.
His sons were corrupt.
And he was allowing that to happen.
The other charge of being old is not a sin.
It should not disqualify him.
So they were wrong on the other.
But before Samuel can minister God's word to the people, he needs to address those two charges.
Look at verse 2.
I am old and gray-headed.
There's the first one.
And here's the second charge.
He says, look, my sons are with you or among you.
My sons are not above you as judges any longer.
My sons are not in a position where they can continue stealing from you.
They're among you.
I've removed them from their office.
I agree with the commentators that conclude this shows now, at least at this point in history,
that Samuel has applied discipline to God's people as he should have long ago.
It's like Samuel saying, if I'm not qualified to minister to you any longer,
you must show me my sin so that I can make it right,
so that I can continue fulfilling the charge that the Lord has given me to minister to you.
Look at what Samuel says next.
I have walked before you from my childhood to this day.
My whole life is in a fishbowl in front of you to observe.
Verse 3, he says, here I am.
Witness against me before the Lord and before his anointed.
Samuel is a humble minister, establishing credibility to deliver this message he needs to give,
that the people need to hear.
And he's beating them to any objections that would disqualify him from doing the thing God has charged him with doing.
What's the courtroom that he's just set up?
He begins by putting himself as the defendant.
Isn't the minister saying, charge me with anything else that I need to make right?
Show me my sin so that I can confess and not be disqualified.
Well, who's the prosecutor?
It's the congregation of God's people.
And who's the judge?
This is so rich.
Don't miss this in verse 3.
Witness against me.
Here's the judge.
Before the Lord and his anointed.
Saw now as a type of Christ.
Among the people.
A man.
But he's the anointed of the Lord.
Set up as the judge.
Between Samuel and the people.
In verse 5.
He said, the Lord is my witness against you.
And his anointed is witness this day that you have not found anything in my hand.
There's nothing I need to confess and make right.
They answered, he is witness.
And then Samuel now has this freedom to enjoy.
Publicly.
Before God's people.
To fulfill the calling God's given him to do.
Satan does not want that to happen.
In God's people then or now.
And the Lord comes to declare.
Your sins are pardoned.
By my grace.
How is it that a saved sinner can stand up and proclaim the holy word of the holy God?
Only by God's grace.
And only by the Holy Spirit showing a people.
This is the humble means.
This is the earthen vessel.
God has designed for our souls on this earth.
We don't really understand it, do we?
But this is what he has set up.
And I believe, if you're like me.
It's very easy to hear the accusations of the enemy.
That I shouldn't take it from anyone.
Because we can sit up there, one preacher after the other.
Popular or unknown.
And tear them to shreds.
Giving ourselves an excuse from hearing the truth of God.
No matter who it's coming from.
And that same accusation is true in the family level.
Or in a relationship.
How can a husband minister God's word to his wife?
She knows his sins and his faults better than anyone else, right?
But yet it's what we're called to do.
To gospel one another through it.
To forgive one another.
Receive God's word.
Through those humble, broken, but forgiven means that he's given us.
How can parents minister to their children?
It's because the Lord and his anointed.
God the creator and Jesus Christ.
They tell you, parents.
Your sins are pardoned.
And your children can look at you and they can say,
I know all your faults.
But I know that there's nothing I need to hold against you.
Because your sins are forgiven in Jesus Christ.
And God gradually teaches us, his church,
to see one another clothed in Christ's righteousness.
Why?
Because that's how the Lord and his anointed see us.
They are the judge.
And that's what they declare over us, his people.
Don't you need this gospel?
That's how you can go out in the streets and preach the gospel as a saved sinner.
In verse 5, the Lord is witness.
And his anointed is witness.
That day and again this day.
Psalm 51 verse 11.
Repentance begins by declaring, I am guilty.
Do not cast me away from your presence, O Lord.
Why should I be cast out?
It's because I am guilty.
And you are holy.
But you confess next.
It depends on God alone.
David prays, do not take your spirit from me.
I have your spirit in me by grace.
He's cut me to the heart.
He's regenerated me.
And that spirit inside the believer puts our loves in order.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation.
And uphold me by your generous spirit.
That's what makes a broken hearted evangelist.
The only type of evangelist God will use.
He says, then I will make transgressors know your ways.
And sinners shall be converted to you.
Why?
Because I am a broken hearted but joyful evangelist.
The Lord raises up servants whom he has taught the blessing of repentance.
The Lord wants to raise you up.
Raise up an army of such ministers.
Here's the second observation.
The Lord causes us to hear his word ministered to us.
It's the Lord who causes us, you and me, the people of Israel, Lydia in the book of Acts, to hear his word.
And it's applied powerfully in the hearing of his word as it's ministered to you by such ministers.
Well, what's the theme of Samuel's sermon to the people of God?
Let's look at verse 6 together.
Then Samuel said to the people, it is the Lord who raised up.
Fill in the blank.
He starts all the way back with Moses and Aaron who brought your forefathers out of slavery in Egypt.
Now remember, Samuel took them all the way to Gilgal.
And that's the first encampment of the people after they crossed the Jordan, the next generation with Joshua.
And what is it that's right there in Gilgal, an illustration for this sermon he's preaching to them that it was the Lord who raises up.
It's those 12 stones from inside the Jordan River that they carried out with them and sat there.
And this is where Samuel now wants the people to stand and see.
Now here's the pattern he sets up in verse 7.
Now therefore stand still that I may reason with you before the Lord concerning all the righteous acts of the Lord which he did to you and your fathers.
His argument is that the raising up of a servant deliverer, it always happens after the people cry out to God.
Then he sets the pattern this way.
In verse 8, when Jacob had gone into Egypt, that's all of Jacob's 12 sons, the 12 tribes, and your fathers cried out to the Lord.
See, there's the crying out.
Then the Lord sent Moses and Aaron who in verse 6 he just said he had raised up for that very purpose.
Who brought your fathers out of Egypt and made them dwell in this place.
But then the pattern begins that brings them up to this point in redemptive history.
The people forget the Lord their God.
Then in verse 9 he says, when they forgot the Lord their God, what happens next is the Lord hands the people over to the enemy.
He tells them in verse 9 that God sold them into the hands of Sisera, commander of the army of Hazor, into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab.
And they fought against them.
Well, what happens next in this pattern?
Number 3, the people cry out to the Lord again.
You see the cycle?
And in verse 10, then they cried out to the Lord and said, we have sinned because we have forsaken the Lord.
And we have served the Baals and the Asterisks.
Those are images of the pagan nations that we are worshiping now into the place of the true God, the creator.
And so they asked the Lord to deliver us from the hand of our enemies and then we will serve you.
And the last step in this pattern is that the Lord is faithful.
He delivers his people from the enemy.
In verse 11, and the Lord sent and he lists all these different judges, which is the book preceding this one.
And he delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side and you dwelt safely.
That was Samuel's sermon.
That's what he preached up to this point.
Don't forget the Lord who just delivered you.
He raised up Saul, but don't turn Saul into an idol.
Saul is another Samson.
He's another Samuel.
Another servant that the Lord raised up to accomplish his purpose.
But do not become like all the other nations.
The Lord knows your heart.
One generation after the other has to learn this.
Hitherto the Lord has been our help.
Don't forget the Lord causes us to hear his word ministered to us.
But here's the third observation.
Through his word, the Lord addresses our sin directly.
So he set up this pattern.
Now get ready for it.
Look at what Samuel does.
I think Thomas Watson expresses this so well once again.
The eye is both for seeing and for weeping.
Sin must first be seen before it can be wept for.
Watch what happens in verse 12.
When you saw that Nahash, the king of the Amorites, came against you, and you said to me,
No, but a king shall reign over us.
Then the Lord your God, he was already your king.
And you did not cry out to him.
Samuel is giving them a great twist now.
He set up this pattern.
When you get captured and you cry out to God, you turn away from being like all the other nations.
And you cry out for God, then he delivers you.
The twist is that you, people of Israel in this generation, you did not cry out in repentance to God, your king.
Instead, you cried out for a king from among you.
And you rejected God.
This is your sin.
Don't you see it so clearly?
If you had cried out to God, what would have come next in the pattern?
God would have been faithful to raise up a servant deliverer.
But you have still not repented.
That's what he's showing them.
The Lord delivered you before you even repented.
That's not the pattern that the Lord set up.
What's God doing here?
See, God is so merciful.
God is delivering his people using the very man for whom their hearts and their national identity lusted.
In verse 13, look at what Samuel says.
You wanted a king that was a man like all the nations instead of God himself.
Now, therefore, here is the king whom you have chosen and whom you have desired.
And take note, the Lord has set this king over you.
People of God, don't you see what you deserve for your rebellion is curses.
You are covenant breakers.
But the Lord's not cursing you for this.
He's giving you that sinful idol.
You wanted a champion.
You wanted a federal head.
The Lord says to them, I've given you what you wanted.
Now, let's see how well this man Saul represents you as a nation.
Your fate is in the hands of the king you chose.
In verse 14, if you fear the Lord and serve him and obey his voice and do not rebel against the commandment of the Lord.
It's a conditional blessing.
It's all stacked up.
All of this has to happen.
Then both you and the king who reigns over you will continue following the Lord your God.
Can you do it?
Verse 15, however, if you do not obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandments of the Lord,
then the hand of the Lord will be against you as it was against your fathers.
What is God teaching his people here?
What are they to learn from this?
I think you can see hints of the gospel already.
While they are sinners, before they've even repented,
the Lord is binding the fate of his people with the fate of the king, the federal head.
And it's to teach them, and you and me, this principle.
As goes the kingdom, so goes the king.
And vice versa.
As goes the king, so goes the kingdom.
How are you going to do?
You and I need to pause for a moment of application here.
As Americans that value independence and individualism,
we can miss this important principle of a federal head and a kingdom.
But we can't escape the reality.
We are under one federal head or the other.
It's either under the curses of Adam in this world that has been taken over by Satan temporarily,
with God's permission, except for the church.
Or you're under Jesus Christ.
There are only two federal heads.
You're under one or the other.
You can say, I didn't choose to be under Adam's curses.
That's the nature of a kingdom.
How is it going for you?
With Adam as your federal head, by your own strength, your own power,
trying to secure blessings from God by doing it well enough.
How's it going?
Under Adam, what we got were curses.
We got thorns, death, and fear.
We got banishment away from the presence of the holy God, the creator.
And maybe some today, you still live under those curses, and that's all you know.
The light of the gospel and the kingdom of heaven on earth through Jesus.
It just sounds like empty words.
You don't know anything other than belonging to the curses of Satan,
with Adam as your federal head.
My prayer has been this week that you and I will see more powerfully today,
maybe some for the first time in your life,
this wonderful gift.
That Jesus Christ came to be your king,
to adopt you into his family,
that you belong secure in the borders of his kingdom,
safe, secure in him forever,
never to be taken hostage or drug back out.
You're his.
You're only his until he breaks the bone.
He first has to cause you and me to see our great need for him as our king
and enjoy the blessing of true repentance.
He does this through his word.
He addresses your sin and mine directly.
Through his word, as Psalm 51 says,
he searches and knows me,
and he shows which ways are unclean within me.
And he leads us on the path of righteousness
with Jesus Christ, the good shepherd,
our king and our savior, out in front.
My fourth observation from this passage,
the last one for today is this.
What leads God's people to repentance?
How does God do it?
What is it in this passage that shows us?
This is how God leads a rebellious, unrepentant people to repent.
Two things I see here.
First, God's greatness.
God's greatness is the first step toward repentance.
And the second one is God's grace.
First, you see his greatness.
You see your need for his grace.
And when you see those two,
he turns you around.
You repent.
First, God's greatness.
And my prayer is that we'll see it
just as God caused them to see it.
Look at verse 16.
Now, therefore, Samuel tells them,
stand and see.
Stand and see this great thing
which the Lord will do before your eyes.
Verse 17.
Is today not the wheat harvest?
I will call to the Lord
and he will send thunder and rain
that you may perceive and see
that your wickedness is great.
What makes our wickedness so great
is how great God is
against whom we have sinned.
And that you will see
what you have done in the sight of the Lord
in asking for a king for yourselves.
Rejecting the Lord as your king.
In verse 18.
So Samuel called to the Lord.
Can you picture that?
Gilgal.
This Ebenezer set up by Joshua.
This old gray-headed man.
A Nazarite.
Beard and hair never cut.
Crying out to the Lord
in front of the people.
That they will see
how great God is.
And how great their sin
before this holy God.
And the Lord sent thunder
and rain that day.
And all the people
greatly feared
the Lord and Samuel.
The Jewish historian Jerome
wrote that I have never
seen rain in June or July.
The time of the wheat harvest in Judea.
Someone said it would be like
getting six inches of snow
in Miami
on the 4th of July.
Never seen it.
What makes it even more remarkable
is that this was
the Lord ordering it
through his prophet
that very day.
Just as he said he would.
Now why is this
so fear striking on these people?
Well these were farmers.
Their wheat had been
growing slowly.
And now if you can picture
those barley and wheat fields
the heads of grain are dry.
Some are beginning
to harvest them already.
And the Lord sends rain
and thunder.
If it's raining
during the harvest
farmers can't collect the crop.
Mold starts to grow
on these heads of grain.
You'll lose the entire
year's wages.
The nation will now be
crippled by poverty
and famine.
And it's just a one day
just a display
of the great arsenal
available to the Lord
the creator of all.
The message is clear.
There's a creator
the Lord
Yahweh
commander of the Lord's army.
And he can control
the rain and the thunder
with his word.
These are the weapons
of destruction
at his disposal.
That's how quickly
you can become weak
poor
hungry
and get captured.
Do you remember
the great threat
of the wicked king
of the Ammonites
Nahash?
He besieged
Jabeth.
He cut off
their supply lines.
He was making them
feel hunger
and not have access
to supplies
and food.
Do you remember
Saul's threat?
It was that he would
kill their oxen.
Those very beasts
of burden
that pull the plow
to plant the field.
The crops represent
the security
of the people.
And those threats
by Nahash
and even Saul
they got the attention
of the people.
Don't you see
how in just one day
using rain
and thunder
the Lord's
mighty greatness
surpasses
all the other threats
these people
could possibly fear.
Here's the one
you need to fear.
It's the Lord God.
You fear man?
Look at verse 19.
All the people
said to Samuel
pray for your servants
to the Lord your God
that we may not die
for we have added
to all of our sins
the evil
of asking a king
for ourselves.
Not only did we have
Baals in the land
and Ashtoreths
we rejected God
as our king.
Please pray for us.
We need God's mercy
now more than ever
before we see
his greatness finally.
The bone has been broken.
Now watch the Lord
heal the bone
that he broke.
See God's grace.
Look at verse 20.
So Samuel said
to the people
when our sin
is exposed
our flesh
wants to
do one of two things
and I think
Samuel addresses both.
Samuel says
in verse 20
do not fear.
You have done
all this wickedness.
So yes
you have sinned
and God has exposed that.
He says
do not turn aside
from following the Lord
but serve the Lord
with all your heart
and do not turn aside
for then you will go
after empty things
which cannot
profit
or deliver
for they are
nothing.
When our sin
is exposed
we want to do
one of two things.
We either want to
try to pay
for our own penance
you know
let me
let me climb up
a hundred stairs
on my knees
until they're bleeding
to make right my sin
and to show
how sorry I am.
I need to pay
my own penance
and I do that
out of fear.
Or the second thing
we want to do
is simply give up
in despair.
And you see how
Samuel preaches
the gospel of God's grace
mitigating against
both of those
temptations of the flesh.
Do not fear.
Don't respond
trying to punish
yourself now
for the sin
God has exposed.
But also don't despair
and give up.
Follow the Lord
he says.
Follow him
with all your heart.
And just remember
don't go after
those empty things.
That's the gospel
call.
When you repent
you follow him.
And he is
a kind
and good
and gracious
king for you.
The motivation
do you see?
It's not fear
of punishment
from God.
That's what their
flesh wants to fear
but Samuel
preaches to them
God's grace.
His long-suffering
self-pledging
covenant
faithfulness
to his people.
Look at
this glorious gospel
in verse 22.
The Lord
will not
forsake
his people.
Why?
Verse 22.
For his
great namesake
because it has
pleased the Lord
to make you
his people.
God's greatness
and his grace
it has to fill
the hearts
of God's people
when he causes
us to see them.
There's simply
no other
response.
The Lord
will not
forsake you
not because
of anything
in you
or in me
but it's
for his
own namesake.
He's attached
who he is
to having
a people
that he
redeemed
by grace.
That's the
grounds of
our security
and our
assurance.
And that's
why we
don't
fear.
And as
one of his
servants
as a
broken-hearted
evangelist
as one
who has
experienced
the blessing
of repentance
himself
Samuel says
next
in verse
23
addressing
their fear
moreover
as for me
remember
there was a
wedge between
Samuel and
the people
far be it
from me
that I
should sin
against the
Lord
in ceasing
to pray
for you.
He tells
them
beloved of
God
I've been
praying for
you all
along
the Lord
won't let
me stop
now
and I
do it
out of
love for
the Lord
but I
will teach
you the
good
and the
right way
by God's
grace he's
prepared a
people that
are eager
and ready
to hear
that now
with Christ
as our
king in
the new
covenant
every believer
is part of
this great
nation of
priests
we get to
minister
and to
pray in
such a
way
the Lord
stirs the
hearts of
his people
and we're
told to
pray
continuously
for one
another
that's what
we do
as God's
people
because we
know how
great the
Lord is
and we
see his
grace in
our
lives
and that's
what we
pray for
in the
lives of
those we
love
in the
church
and there's
a special
charge and
a continuity
with Samuel's
ministry do you
see the two
things Samuel
has done
it's a
ministry of
the word
and it's
prayer and
that's the
very charge
given to
local churches
specifically to
the elders that
the churches have
set apart for
the ministry of
the word
and the prayer
see the
continuity the
Lord loves to
work through
these same
simple means
with every
generation
when we
pray we're
joining our
prayers to
the prayers
of Jesus
Christ
Hebrews tells
us he
ascended and
he is seated
at the right
hand of God
and he lives
to intercede
for his
people
when we
pray it's
because he's
already praying
for you
and he
stirs our
hearts to
pray for one
another simply
joining our
prayers to
his
the message
from Samuel
to the people
and to us
is do not
live in fear
God's perfect
love for
you it
casts out
all fleshly
fear
you don't need
to fear man
anymore God
is so much
greater and
you don't need
to fear God's
wrath if you
are in Christ
because the
judge and his
anointed have
declared you are
pardoned
there's no fear
of God's wrath
in Christ
but we do
live remembering
this is the last
thing Samuel says
in verse 24
do not fear the
Lord and serve
him in truth
with all your
heart for
consider what
great things
he has done
for you
remember these
things that he
has done
remember Joshua's
12 stones
Samuel could tell
them remember
my Ebenezer
remember he says
in verse 25
if you still do
wickedly you
shall be swept
away both you
and your king
the king
and the kingdom
will be bound
together from
now on
for the nation
of Israel
this is not
good news
what we see
through the rest
of redemptive
history is that
one king after
another and one
generation of people
after another
pull one another
into sin and
banishment and
exile until that
glorious day in the
fullness of time
when God himself
comes to be the
great king and
Jesus Christ as
God's humble
servant he is the
prophet and the
minister that our
hearts long for
we can look at a
man like Samuel or
Jason or you fill in
the blank and point
out so many faults
in that minister
but we can look at
Jesus Christ and no
guilt could be found
in him you won't
take it from a man
that's great take it
from Christ take it
from him because no
found can be found
in that prophet
Jesus Christ as the
Lord's anointed king
he is lifted up as a
judge with authority
and Jesus Christ looks
over his people that
he purchased with his
precious blood and he
says I do not
condemn you
who can
you're cleared by my
precious blood who
can hold court against
my bride that I
purchased and I've
covered up and the
Holy Spirit blesses the
eyes of every true
believer to both see
our sin and to weep
over our sins but it's
joyful tears we want to
rejoice that the bones
that God has broken have
been healed in Jesus
Christ what a blessing we
have in repentance and
through his word God
addresses our sin
directly still
continuously purifying
us preparing us for
heaven for eternity with
him what we deserve
under Adam and under our
own sin as the ruler of
our own lives we remember
these things but we
remember even more the
greatness of God the fear
of man gets washed away
when we see a minor glimpse
of how mighty God is one
more time from his word
I confess there are
things at work right now
stirring up a fear of
God in me and this story
encourages me in one day
the Lord can flash thunder
and rain and an entire
nation's GDP could go away
that quickly why would we
put our hope in anything
less than him and his
kingdom the Lord gives us
reminders to trust in him
more
he's the creator he's the
sustainer he's the Lord of
all and this very Lord is
our gracious redeemer would
you look one more time at
verse 22 the Lord will not
forsake his people for his
great namesake because it has
pleased the Lord to make you
his people yes you Thomas
Watson again what a vast
difference there is between
the first covenant and the
second in the first covenant
it was if you commit a sin you
die and in the second if you
confess your sin you shall
have mercy we are never more
precious in God's eyes than
when we are lepers in our own
we should be so quick to
confess our sin because what we
get and confessing it is more
of his grace we need to pray
in the words of Psalm 51 have
mercy upon me oh God according
to your loving kindness for
your namesake according to the
multitude of your tender
mercies on those grounds blot
out my transgressions dear
brothers and sisters and
friends hearing this today if you
can enjoy the blessing of
repentance again today and maybe
some for the very first time then
you can trust that it is Christ
who holds you fast his destiny is
secured and you are secured in him
as when our king so goes his
kingdom those he saves are his
delight precious in his holy sight
he'll not let my soul be lost his
promises shall last I'm bought with
him at such a cost that's why we
know and we'll sing in a moment
that's why he will hold me fast amen
let's go to the Lord in prayer and
thank him for this wonderful grace we
enjoy in Jesus
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