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everyone you can turn with me in your Bibles to numb Psalm number 121 for our call to worship Psalm 121 I'll begin reading in verse 1 a song of a sense I will lift up my eyes to the hills from whence comes my help my help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth he will not allow your foot to be moved he who keeps you will not slumber behold he who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep the Lord is your keeper the Lord is your shade at your right hand the Sun shall not strike you by day nor the moon by night the Lord shall preserve you from all evil he shall preserve your soul the Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in from this time forth and even forevermore amen will please turn to hymn number 213 hymn number 213 will stand as we sing together [Music] well let us pray our blessed God and father it is a joy and a delight to gather in the house of God again on the Sabbath day we come to you and acknowledge that you are from everlasting to everlasting that you are God Most High Father Son and Holy Spirit the God who is worthy to be glorified honored and praised by his creatures the God who has redeemed his people out of the world father we ask tonight that you would be enthroned upon the praises of your people here and that wherever your people gather together tonight you would be there in the midst of them encouraging and strengthening and building each one of us up and cause us Lord God to respond with that gratitude and that heartfelt praise unto you for so great a salvation when we consider the work of the Lord Jesus Christ on our behalf it truly does amaze us that the second person of the Blessed Trinity came into this world assumed our humanity with all of the essential properties and the common infirmities thereof and yet without sin and he did this so he could obey the law in our place he did this so he could take and bear the wrath and fury and the judgment of God most high in our place and as Paul says he was delivered up because of our offenses and he was raised for our justification and how we rejoice in these good gifts that you have given freely to us and how we praise you for the work of the Lord Jesus Christ the application of that work by the Holy Spirit and we pray that all of this would redound to the glory of God Almighty help us to consider these things as we sing these songs help us to consider these things as we look to the Holy Scriptures help us to take every thought captive to the obedience of Jesus Christ in the public worship of God so that we would conduct ourselves with reverence with fear in the presence of such a great God and as well with rejoicing with Thanksgiving with gratitude expressed to you for your your many gifts given to us we thank you Father that there is forgiveness with you that you maybe feared we thank you for that blessedness of the gospel that speaks to the very issues that concern us we thank you not only for that forgiveness but that righteousness of Christ that you have imputed to us that is received by faith alone you have fit us and enabled us to one day stand before you clothed in the righteousness of another and we look forward to that day when we shall see him as he is and Lord God as we have this hope may we purify ourselves and may we seek by your grace to conduct ourselves in this world according to our consistent with that glorious gospel of our salvation we ask now that you would forgive us for our sins and our transgressions whenever we are confronted with the thought of your holiness and your righteousness we ought to see and appreciate what scripture says concerning our state and even as redeemed sinners we confess that we are prone to wander and prone to leave the god that we love we do not always conduct ourselves as we aren't and so God forgive us now of our transgression of your holy law forgive us that we have lacked conformity to that law and cleanse us in that precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ how we thank you for the promise of first John that if we confess our sins you are faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness we plead the merit and the mercy and the blessing of Jesus Christ our advocate and Lord God we praise you that there is that that mercy to be had in the Savior we ask that others would know this as well we pray father that your word would come in power or with power by the spirit to sinner's that they would hear of Christ and him crucified they would see their own sin before a holy God and they by grace would would run would find refuge in that one in whom alone there is protection we pray for the preaching of the gospel throughout the earth that your blessed word would go forth that it would not return unto you void but it would accomplish the the purpose for which you sent it and we are refreshed and encouraged when we look at the book of Revelation and we see that it's a multitude a great multitude that no man can number so god bless this preaching of your word and send it forth powerfully conquering and to conquer and may more and more people be called out of darkness into marvelous light we ask our Father that you would bless the persecuted Church we pray for our brothers and sisters that are suffering for the cause of God and truth and we would commit them to you into the word of your grace we pray again for China for our our dear brothers and sisters there and we would ask Lord that you would undertake on their behalf that you would protect them that you would provide security to them and that father they would be able to minister the truth of God's Holy Word in that nation and certainly the increase of the gospel in that country is evident the way that they are trying to crack down upon it god this is discouraging in that people suffer it's encouraging in that we see the extension of Christ's Kingdom going forth in that nation we pray that it would continue to do so we also pray father for our nation God we know and we need see the the specific needs it's gospel preaching it's belief on the Lord Jesus Christ it is repentance that is desperately needed in this land so we pray that you would revive the churches cause your churches to think your thoughts after you to be committed to the word of truth to be prayerful and to intercede on behalf of this nation we do pray for civil authority government leaders that you would excuse me grant them repentance and cause them to kiss the Sun cause them to bow to the Lord Jesus Christ and may you be merciful and gracious and and cause there to be an overturning of some of the wickedness in this land we think of the situation of abortion God we know this is a great evil your Word says that you abominate you hate hands that shed innocent blood and certainly this nation is guilty with the blood of of many many babies we pray that you would turn the hearts of men from this madness and this rebellion against the Living God and cause there to be just an outcry against this sin against this crime we pray father for all the nations of the earth where these things are practiced that you would indeed send forth your glorious gospel free men from the bondage that they find themselves in to send and free them from that hatred of Christ that that results in a love for death we just pray that in your wrath you would remember mercy and we pray these things in the name and for the glory of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ amen well please turn with me again in your hymn books to number 275 hymn number 275 will stand as we sing together [Music] [Music] you could turn in your Bibles to the Prophet Malachi or in Malachi chapter 4 Malachi chapter 4 beginning in verse 1 for behold the day is coming burning like an oven and all the proud yes all who do wickedly will be stubble and the day which is coming shall burn them up says the Lord of Hosts that will leave them neither root nor branch but to you who fear my name the Sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in his wings and you shall go out and and grow fat like Stoll fed calves you shall trample the wicked for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day that I do this says the Lord of hosts remember the law of Moses my servant which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel with the statutes and judgments behold I will send you Elijah the Prophet before the coming of the Great and dreadful day of the Lord and he will turn the hearts of the father's to the children and the hearts of the children to their fathers lest I come and strike the earth with a curse amen well the conclusion of this prophecy of Malachi is an indictment further reproach upon those who reject the Lord for behold verse 1 the day is coming burning like an oven and all the proud yes all who do wickedly will be stubble and the day which is coming shall burn them up says the Lord of Hosts he's already stated that already highlighted the reality that there is judgment and there is condemnation for those who reject God but there's blessing for those who are faithful faithful to the Lord and verse 2 but to you who fear my name the Sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in his wings and you shall go out and grow fat like Stoll fed calves and then no you shall trample the wicked for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day that I do this says the Lord of hosts I think this is connected to that prophecy in chapter 3 and verse 15 the the seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent the people of that seed the people of God Almighty would have victory and would have triumph over their enemies and then the final statement is a is a call to remember the law of Moses as we know this is the last book of the Old Testament in terms of prophetic discourse in terms of the the revealed will or Word of God and so this is going to tie them over in that period of God's silence where he's not sending prophets where he's not revealing himself they are to call are called upon to remember the law of Moses might serve it to remember the statutes and the judgments and then look for this coming prophet this Elijah the prophet that's ultimately John the Baptist as we learn in the New Testament documents he is that forerunner to announce the coming of the Lord of Hosts even Jesus Christ our Savior well let us close here with the word of Prayer our Father we thank you for this your written word and we thank you for these prophetic books that have such authority from the living and true God for the people of Israel in the Old Testament and for your people here in the New Testament give us ears to hear you give us hearts to receive your truth and give us grace Lord God to remember that law to love that law by the power of the Holy Spirit may you enable us to comply with it jesus said if you love me you will keep my Commandments and God we do rejoice in the gospel record where we see John the Baptist as that forerunner as that Elijah a man and that one who announced the coming of the Lord of Hosts even Jesus Christ the Lord how we praise you for that ministry how we thank you for what Christ has wrought out on our behalf and we pray in his most blessed name amen well you can turn with me for our final him before the preaching to Psalm 99 a that Psalm 99 alpha when you find that you can stand and we'll sing together [Music] [Music] well please turn with me in your Bibles to First Samuel chapter 28 First Samuel chapter 28 I'll pick up reading in verse 3 we'll read to the end of the chapter first samuel chapter 28 beginning in verse 3 now samuel had died and all Israel had lamented for him and buried him in Ramah in his own City and Saul had put the mediums in the spiritists out of the land then the Philistines gathered together and came and encamped at shounan so saul gathered all israel together and they encamped at Gilboa when saul saw the army of the Philistines he was afraid and his heart trembled greatly and when saul inquired of the Lord the Lord did not answer him either by dreams or by Urim or by the prophets then saul said to his servants find me a woman who is a medium that I may go to her and inquire of her and his servant said to him in fact there is a woman who is a medium at Endor so saul disguised himself and put on other clothes and he went and two men with him and they came to the woman by night and he said please conduct a seance for me and bring up for me the one i shall name to you then the woman said to him look you know what saul has done how he has cut off the mediums in the Spiritist from the land why then do you lay a snare for my life to cause me to die and saul swore to her by the lord saying as the lord lives no punishment shall come upon you for this thing then the woman said whom shall I bring up for you and he said bring up Samuel for me when the woman saw Samuel she cried out with a loud voice and the woman spoke to Saul saying why have you deceived me for you are saul and the king said to her do not be afraid what did you see and the woman said to Saul I saw a spirit ascending out of the earth so he said to her what is his form and she said an old man is coming up and he is covered with a mantle and Saul perceived that it Samuel and he stooped with his face to the ground and bowed down the Samuel said to Saul why have you disturbed me by bringing me up and Saul answered I am deeply distressed for the Philistines make war against me and God is departed from me and does not answer me anymore neither by prophets nor by dreams therefore I have called you that you may reveal to me what I should do then Samuel said so why do you ask me seeing the Lord has departed from you and has become your enemy and the Lord has done for himself as he spoke by me for the Lord has torn the kingdom out of your hand and given it to your neighbor David because you did not obey the voice of the Lord nor execute his fierce wrath upon Amalek therefore the Lord has done this thing to you this day moreover the Lord will also deliver Israel with you into the hand of the Philistines and tomorrow you and your sons will be with me the Lord will also deliver the army of Israel into the hand of the Philistines immediately fall Assaf fell full length on the ground and was dreadfully afraid because of the words of Samuel and there was no strength in him for you to eaten no food all day or all night and the woman came to Saul and saw that he was severely troubled and said to him look your maidservant is obeyed your voice and I have put my life in my hands and heeded the words which you spoke to me now therefore please heed also the voice of your maidservant and let me set a piece of bread before you and eat that you may have strength when you go on your way but he refused and said I will not eat so his servants together with the woman urged him and he heated their voice then he arose from the ground and sat on the bed now the woman had a fatted calf in the house and she hastened to kill it and she took flour and needed it and baked unleavened bread from it so she brought it before Saul and his servants and they ate then they arose and went away that night amen let us pray father we thank you for the written word we thank you for this account and first samuel 28 and in many ways it's a difficult passage of scripture we pray for the ministry of your spirit that he would help us that he would guide us that he would lead us and instruct us in the things concerning God we ask again for the forgiveness of all sin and justice and we thank you that you've not left us as orphans in the world you have given the spirit and you have given us the written word and certainly the lesson the grand lesson in 1st Samuel 28 is that the Lord God Almighty refused to answer Saul we ask God that you would help us to never make peace with a closed Bible or neglected worship help us Lord God to seek communion with you and help us Lord God to be faithful and obedient unto you and we ask these things through Jesus Christ our Lord amen well this morning we looked at Acts chapter 8 and we saw that account of Simon the sorcerer Simon the magician now the Bible doesn't condemn magic sorcery or witchcraft because they don't work the Bible condemns magic sorcery and witchcraft because they're wicked and in this particular instance you see that this woman brought someone up whether it was the real Samuel or not we will survey the passage and try to answer that question but suffice to say for us it ought never to be the case that the people of God seek elsewhere for divine revelation were not to seek out witches were not to seek out magicians or not to seek out sorcerers were to seek the true and the Living God we are to be content with the written written record of his revelation given to us in the old in the New Testaments we are to be a people that are subject to the authoritative infallible and inerrant Word of the Living God this is indeed a sad end for Saul the king of Israel now chapter 28 actually goes with chapter 31 if you look at the flow of the narrative we see that there's this bit inserted about David and then it returns again to Saul so just imagine that chapter 28 verses 3 to 25 go with chapter 31 it's on the night before this battle with the Philistines that Saul seeks this advice or he has this consultation and excuse me with this medium or this which at Endor so that's how the passage is structurally formatted let's specifically at the teaching of the passage in the first place we have the occasion of Saul's decision in verses 3 to 6 secondly we have the nature of Saul's request in verses 7 to 14 and then finally the consultation with the conjured spirit in verses 15 to 25 but note with reference to the occasion Samuel is dead that's bad news because Samuel was in fact the prophet of God Samuel was the Revelator he was the speaker for God - in verse 3 we are reminded Samuel had died and all Israel had lamented for him and buried him in Ramah in his own City this already had occurred it was already referenced in chapter 25 it serves to remind us in this instance and then sets the stage for what Saul engages in in terms of pursuing this which at Endor now note what Saul does at the end of verse 3b and Saul had put the mediums and the spiritists out of the land so he was compliant to the law of God at least partially as we move through the narrative we will see that he wasn't fully because he sought out a particular medium he sought out a particular witch but this is consistent with God's law in fact look at a few passages to see God's will with reference to Israel in the land that they were going to settle notice in Leviticus chapter 19 Leviticus chapter 19 at verse 31 give no regard to mediums and familiar spirits do not seek after them to be defiled by them I am the Lord your God and then again in chapter 20 at verse 6 and the person who turns to mediums and familiar spirits to prostitute himself with them I will set my face against that person and cut him off from his people and then in verse 27 in the same chapter a man who a man or a woman who is a medium or who has familiar spirits shall surely be put to death they shall stone them with stones their blood shall be upon them and then turn over to Deuteronomy chapter 18 Deuteronomy chapter 18 specifically verses 9 to 14 when you come into the land which the Lord your God is giving you you shall not learn to follow the abominations of those nations there shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire or one who practices witchcraft or a soothsayer or one who interprets omens or a sorcerer or one who conjures spells or a medium or a Spiritist or one who calls up the dead for all who do these things are an abomination to the Lord and because of these abominations the Lord your God drives them out from before you you shall be blameless before the Lord your God for these nations which you will dispossessed listen to soothsayers and diviners but as for you the Lord your God has not appointed such for you so saul is acting consistently and that he puts these mediums in these spiritists out of the land it's obviously inconsistent that he then seeks one out to get some information on how to deal with the Philistine threat but in terms of obedience to the law you see that he's on the right path or the right course at least for a brief time one commentator said the very need for such prohibitions is an indication that the problem of necromancy that means to communicate with the dead the problem of necromancy and of religious practices related to the dead was widespread in ancient Canaan Lords they were told not to do this if you go in the land or when you go into the land you will see that the Canaanites engage in these practices you're not supposed to do it Dale Ralph Davis says we must remember that scripture describes such practices not as futile but as pagan god forbids Israel to use these means not because they do not work but because they are wicked remember there were magicians at the time of Moses who ate the very work of God in the miracles conducted by Moses and Aaron this stuff is real but it's prohibited this stuff is dangerous and the people of God need to guard against it the people of God need to value and prize the written word above all other things when it comes to connection with the supernatural now notice the threat posed by the Philistines in verses 4 & 5 they were the enemy of Israel at this particular time so it says in verse 4 the Philistines gathered together and came and encamped at Shem so saul gathered all israel together and they encamped at Gilboa when saul saw the army of the Philistines he was afraid and his heart trembled greatly sort of reminiscent to that time on a in the Valley of Elah when Goliath that Philistine giant comes out to challenge the armies of Israel what do we find we find Saul terrified we find Saul and his men trembling greatly because of the threat posed by these Philistines he has no living connection with God so therefore he trembles at the threat of the Philistines he has no vital communion with God so everything causes him to freak out the righteous or the the wicked flee when when no one pursues but the righteous are as bold as a lion he has forfeited that by his own disobedience by his own lawlessness and recklessness and now looking at this Philistine threat he is terrified now what is most terrifying his verse sets and then again in verse 16 notice in verse 6 and when saul inquired of the Lord the Lord did not answer him either by dreams or by Urim or by the prophets that's more terrifying than facing a Philistine threat when God Most High doesn't answer when the Lord is silent to our cries when he's absent from our life that's what's most grievous in this chapter it's not the threat posed by the Philistines but it's the threat posed by the living and true God notice what the spirit says the conjured spirit in verse 16 then samuel said so why do you ask me seeing the Lord has departed from you and has become your enemy so there's a threat greater than the Philistines that Saul is facing in 1st Samuel 28 and it is the ref you are the refusal by God to speak to saw via these particular means that he had sanctioned and that he had utilized in the past now notice his desire or rather notices his inquiry there in verse 7 then saul said to his servants find me a woman who is a medium that i may go to her and inquire of her and his servant said to him in fact there is a woman who is a medium at Endor now this is a very Grievous passage whatever we make of this conjured spirit whatever we do in terms of identifying that spirit please don't lose the the forest for the trees here we need to understand the issue facing Saul is a silent God the issue facing Saul is that God is now as enemy the issue facing Saul is no more speech from the living and true God there's no more prophetic word there's no more you're a man to me there's no more dream there's no more revelation there is no more access that Saul has where any can gain the wisdom necessary to face these sorts of things as the sitting King in Israel and so these men know where this woman is to be found and that brings us to the nature of his request notice he then disguises himself that's a bit of wisdom on his part because she's not going to open the door and say come on in Saul because it's him that was responsible for having put her out of the land so I should also say that in terms of his journey he would have had to skirt the Philistines because we're Gilboa is and we're Endor is the Philistines were camped at Shuna so he disguises himself he skirts around them he's got two other other men with him and then he goes to visit this particular which at Endor again the circumstances are grave and he is willing to take whatever step necessary to try to get some guidance to face his earthly enemies namely the Philistines he comes to her verse 8 and he said to her please conduct a seance for me and bring up for me the one I shall name with you now it is intriguing look at what it says there at the end of her or in the middle of verse a so Saul disguised himself put on other clothes and he went and two men with him and they came to the woman by night at the end of verse 25 it says then they arose and went away that night it's interesting how oftentimes not always the case but oftentimes great acts of wake as a current knight in the Bible and the prophet Isaiah speaks in a in a way that is reminiscent of what's happening in this particular instance he says and when they say to you seek those who are mediums and wizards who whisper and mutter should not a people seek their God should they seek the dead on behalf of the living to the law and to the testimony if they do not speak according to this word it is because there is no light in them they will pass through it hard-pressed and hungry and it shall happen when they are hungry that they will be enraged and curse their king and their God and look upward then they will look to the earth and see trouble and darkness bloom and a gloom of anguish and they will be driven into darkness van wey says this is the same sort of gloom and darkness found in 1st Samuel 28 it is the darkness of the absence of God brethren you and I know experientially what it is like to feel as if our prayers aren't leaving past the ceiling you and I know what it's like to perhaps engage in public worship and you know have the the spiritual vitality of a cold fish you and I know what it's like to go and pour over the scripture and feel as if we're not getting anything out of it praise God Almighty that's not the the constancy in our lives and in our experience but in this particular instance that is exactly what Saul is steeped in and as we move through the narrative and as we summarized at the end I want to try and show there's a fundamental difference between Saul and a struggling believer we cannot assume for the moment that whatever Shaw experiences is potentially there for all of the people of God it's not he's not the people of God the spirit had already departed from him the Lord Most High had already condemned him the Lord had already absented himself from him but as we survey the passage we ought to appreciate that what van Way says there is true there is no darkness and the heart of believer like the absence of God Almighty now notice the request put to the medium in verses 9 to 14 the woman is fearful the woman Thanks perhaps that is entrapment the woman doesn't want this to be the case and then in verse 10 Saul swore to her by the Lord saying as the Lord lives no punishment shall come upon you for this thing don't miss the irony here he is swearing by Yahweh protection to her about something that Yahweh has forbidden this is absolutely indicative of a confusion that sets in when men resist reject and refused the Living God and when that God has rejected and refused them again Vanier says Saul blasphemously used the name of the Lord to guarantee the woman that she could violate the law of the Lord with impunity I swear by God that it's okay for you to disobey God is essentially what he's saying Davis says the reader must not miss the irony Saul swears the oath by Yahweh by Yahweh's life as he seeks help from a source that Yahweh has condemned so he assures her that no punishment no harm will come to her just give me what I want again as we survey through this particular passage that's the emphasis this all want God no he wants good results on the battlefield if Saul was serious he'd repent before the living and true God if Saul was serious he believed the truth concerning the true in the Living God Saul is a pragmatist Saul wants some help as he faces the Philistines Saul is akin to so many in Canada and in America that want enough religion to sort of smooth out the rough places in their lives they don't want God they want what God can do they don't want communion they want benefit they don't want sort of Union they would rather just have the the blessings and that is precisely Saul's tactic in all of this he wants help to face the Philistines he doesn't want God in fact he'll use or invoke the name of God to assure this woman our safety in something that God has prescribed the death penalty for it is truly an amazing situation that the king of Israel finds himself in at the particular point now in verses 11 and 12 the woman said whom shall I bring up for you and he said bring up Samuel for me when the woman saw Samuel she cried out with a loud voice again I'm gonna tell you flat out I don't think it was the real Samuel and I'll give you the reasons for that as we close the message tonight but she did see something and the fact that she cried out may indicate that everything up to this point was a sham everything up to this point was a fake everything up to this point she was working the crowd the fact that she cries out the fact that she actually sees something now shocked and surprised even her at this particular juncture or at this particular point now notice her response in verses 13 and 14 the King said to her do not be afraid what did you see and the woman said to Saul I saw a spirit ascending out of the earth so he said to her what is his form and she said an old man is coming up and he is covered with a mantle and Saul perceived that it was Samuel and he stooped with his face to the ground and bowed down again he's going to speak with this particular conjured spirit in a few moments there was something there remember it's not that the Bible forbids it because it doesn't work the Bible forbids it because it's an abomination we need to see that and appreciate that there are things out there that are bizarre there are things out there that are strange there are things out there that we as God's people cannot sufficiently in comprehensively explain there's some places where we come up lacking and where we come up short we are not creator we are not infinite we are not all knowledgeable we are certainly not omniscient we don't have the resources that God has so as we move and and and shuck and jive and have our being with sinners around us yeah there's things we can't explain there is magic we see it with those magicians at the time of Moses the people that were astonished there in Samaria by Simon this was before motors this was before the way that people deceive others today that's not to say that they couldn't have deceived them without motors and other sorts of things but it does seem as if Simon had some ability in terms of those magic arts those things exist but they're forbidden they are prohibited they are ungodly they are on holy now let's look finally at this consultation with the conjured spirit in verse 15 now Samuel said to Saul why have you disturbed me by bringing me up and Saul answered I am deeply distressed for the Philistines make war against me and God has departed from me and does not answer me any more neither by prophets nor by dreams therefore I have called you that you may reveal to me what I should do you see is that God that he wants is our communion restored it's really not even the Revel a revelation of God it's help for his problem with the Philistines yet I think this is very symptomatic again the the trappings are different the the circumstances are different I'm not suggesting persons in Canada and America go to spiritists or go to mediums or go to witches to try and get this sort of thing but there is this pragmatism about man he wants the supernatural insofar as the supernatural can help him with his daily life and when we reduce God to that sort of a of a manager that sort of an engineer that's sort of a worker of things so that will have nice and happy lives we've missed a point of communion with the living and true God now that doesn't mean we can't pray to God doesn't mean we can't ask for direction from God it doesn't mean we don't trust and in His Providence he'll guide us and direct us and steer us and all that sort of thing but when we try and manipulate circumstances so that the supernatural or so that God Himself will just work things out in our benefit so that we'll be able to conquer the Philistines you have to see how fundamentally wrong that is and we ought never to present the gospel that way which is the unfortunate reality with reference to many that preach the gospel come to Jesus have a happy life come to Jesus and be be whole come to Jesus and just be complete no come to G's for forgiveness of sin come to Jesus for the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ Ray Comfort says in America at least probably in Canada preachers preach Jesus for happiness no we preach Jesus for righteousness it isn't happiness that Americans and Canadians need it is a righteousness that avails with God and so there's two different approaches and Saul is in the wrong lane he is asking for what he can get again Davis says if anything Saul's class should have been to face God not to seek Samuel his need was not for information but communion not so much to prepare for battle but to recover God's presence Saul it seems one of the results of God's favor more than he wanted God's favor he wanted the results of God's favor more than he wanted God's favor I think this happens in worship too what are we more concerned with the glory of God or our feelings with reference to the glory of God how do we judge a good worship service I was moved I was affected I was experiencing the great and glorious things now we can still have biblical faithful God honoring worship without our experiences without our warm affections now certainly those things are nice and they're helpful and we love them and all that sort of thing but do we worship God because he's God or do we worship God for the things that he gives us do we serve God because he's God or do we serve God because he does make our lives quite nice thank you very much you see he's engaged in strictly pragma pragmatic religion seeking to manipulate seeking to gain game the system so that he can win against the Philistines now note the response of this conjured spirit in verses 16 to 19 he highlights in the first place the fact of God's departure from Saul verse 16 then samuel said so why do you ask me seeing the lord has departed from you and has become your enemy everything that he says in verses 16 to 19 has already been said by Samuel when Samuel was alive to saw this wasn't wow I can't believe this sort of a thing with reference to saw he'd heard this from Samuel while Samuel was alive this isn't new information this isn't new data this isn't new things to sort of make Saul go wow I never had any idea that this is the way things were I'm gonna repent and I'm gonna you know sort of revise my life and station before God that's not it at all he comes to him he says why do you ask the Lord has departed from you the Lord has become your enemy notice in verse 17 the fulfillment of God's Word and the Lord has done for himself as he spoke by me for the Lord has torn the kingdom out of your hand and given it to your neighbor David go back for just a moment to chapter 15 chapter 15 is huge in the Saul narratives chapter 15 is the decisive point and that's what is invoked by this conjured spirit in even more detail in just a moment but in 1st Samuel chapter 15 at verse 28 notice so Samuel said to him the Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to a neighbor of yours who is better than you I'm sure that when Saul heard the conjured spirit speak of David as his neighbor it just incensed him it just made him enraged it just made him upset Saul was not a fan of David Saul was not on the David fan club Saul tried to hunt and kill David on numerous occasions he despised David he wanted to rid the earth of David and here this conjured spirit says this is precisely what Yahweh spoke back in 1st Samuel chapter 15 at verse 28 he's torn the kingdom from you and he has given it to your neighbor who is better than you what a what an indictment against Saul in 1st Samuel 28 go back to the chapter first samuel 28 he speaks concerning this is the reason for god's action verse 18 it gives the reason for god's action and verse 18 because you did not obey the voice of the Lord nor execute his fear wrath upon Amalek therefore the Lord has done this thing to you this day go back to chapter 15 go back to chapter 15 I just want to give you a brief sort of summary of what happens in 1st Samuel 15 God through Samuel tells Saul to go and decimate the Amalekites do not spare any of them kill Agag the king of the Amalekites kill every human being in amalek and kill every animal wipe them off the face of the earth obliterate them destroy them devastate them that is the commandment of God to Saul Saul goes to the battle he spares Agag he spares the animals and yet he continues to maintain his own faithfulness his own righteousness and his own obedience he tries to deflect this whole situation upon the people well well the people thought we should spare these things the people thought that we should continue on with these things no Saul was rebellious and Saul had rejected the Word of the Living God now notice specifically at verses 22 and 23 samuel said has the lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the lord behold to obey is better than sacrifice and to heed than the fat of rams for rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry because you have rejected the word of the Lord he also has rejected you from being king so back in 1st Samuel chapter 28 the disobedience of Saul the rebellion of chapter 15 has actually ended in real witchcraft in chapter 28 and then notice finally what this conjured spirit says to Saul this actually is new data this actually is information that is of a prophetic nature and notice in verse 19 he says moreover the Lord will also deliver Israel with you into the hand of the Philistines and tomorrow you and your sons will be with me the Lord will also deliver the army of Israel into the hand of the Philistines so the death of Saul and his sons it occurs in 1st Samuel 31 the defeat of Israel by the Philistines occurs in verse or chapter 31 so what this conjured spirit speaks concerning the future is true it's accurate it's correct Saul and his sons died on the field of battle so again it's not that these things don't work it's that these things are abominable keep that in mind because you don't have this idea in our society that these things actually do work whenever I pass the home of a fortune-teller or somebody with a crystal ball I just think of it as nonsense I don't give it any credence whatsoever but because there are the fakes and the shams and the charlatans it doesn't mean there's actually not real people engaged in real magic or real witchcraft or divination or the sorts of things again that the Bible prohibits from the people of God ever seeking after or ever going after and then in terms of the aftermath obviously Saul is upset notice in verse 20 immediately Saul fell full length on the ground and was dreadfully afraid because of the words of Samuel and there was no strength in him before he had eaten no food all day or all night and the woman came to Saul and saw that he was severely troubled and said to him look your maidservant is obeyed your voice and I have put my life in my hands and heeded the words which you spoke to me now therefore please heed also the voice of your maidservant and let me set a piece of bread before you and eat that you may have strength when you go on your way you see her concern right don't forget our deal she didn't want to die she didn't want to fall prey to the to the penal sanctions of the Mosaic law she didn't want to get her head chopped off her or be stoned or whatever the appropriate punishment was for her but see at this point she's the least of Saul's worried he's soft doesn't care at this point with reference to who she is and what she's doing the servants encourage him he eats their eyes and they go away that night well in conclusion is this really Samuel it's a good question isn't it again I don't know that I have the definitive answer but I'll give you some things to think about there are three views on the passage isn't that the case passages for the most part in the Bible there's only three views it's it's always you know you gotta go away the evidence you gotta see you can't do your work right gotta be an exegete when you when you study the Bible I mean there's not with you know obvious propositions or declarative statements you shall not murder there's not three positions on that don't murder that that's all there is to it but in some of these passages especially narrative passages where the author doesn't give us theological conclusion I mean wouldn't we like to have some addendum in chapter 28 okay here's some lessons and here's some clarification here's what that the author's don't always do that the authors don't only specify exactly what it is you're supposed to think the authors don't always give us this tidy nifty answer to everything that concerns us with reference to our study of Scripture but the three positions the first is that the medium engaged in deception and told Saul what he already expected to hear the medium engaged in deception and told Saul what he already expected to hear again there is some rehearsal of or review of things that Samuel had already spoken but verse 19 is new information verse 19 in terms of Saul and his sons dying in Gilboa Gilboa at the hands or shoot'em at the hands of the Philistines is new data Perkins says neither could this be a bear illusion for he plainly foretold Saul's destruction which an ignorant woman could not know she couldn't have known this it was in fact the conjured spirit that spoke prophetically concerning Saul's battle with the Philistines in his subsequent loss secondly the medium really made contact with the departed spirit of Samuel that's a second view that's a second position on the passage that the medium really made contact with this departed spirit of Samuel the text certainly reads this way if you look at verse 15 now Samuel said to Saul why have you disturbed me by bringing me and then in verses 16 to 19 we have then Samuel sat rehearsing things that Samuel had in fact said to him at least up to verse 18 in his life with Saul prior to his death so this is a legitimate option with reference to the particular passage but I don't think that that's the case God refused to speak to Saul but on the supposition that this Samuel is in fact the Samuel that that had previously prophesied while he was alive then God is doing something he said he wouldn't do and he's speaking to him through a man of God a righteous man a holy man that has departed and gone to be with the Lord Perkins again says the souls of the Saints departed are far from The Devil's claws and Dominion he would not use or God would not use Samuel in this particular way to speak to Saul when God had refused to speak to Saul and then to do it in a manner that god prohibited not to use witches and not to use departed spirits the third position and the one that I agree with is the activity was produced by a demonic spirit that surprised and manipulated the media it was a demonic spirit that surprised and manipulated the media again the idea that God would speak to Saul in a manner that is forbidden by God is not consistent with what we have in terms of God and then the statement of Samuel concerning saw in his sons in verse 19 Samuel and quotes I don't think it is Samuel but it's this demonic spirit notice what he says in verse 19 moreover the Lord will also deliver Israel with you into the hand of the Philistines and tomorrow you and your sons will be with me Saul was not going to be with Samuel the Spirit of the Lord had departed from Saul God had rejected Saul Saul is reprobate Saul is not going to depart and be with the pro' the spirits of just men made perfect he is not going to be with Samuel and neither is Jonathan going to be with the devil this is a deceiving monic spirit that has used this medium to come to saul and to produce further confusion and further torment in the mind and in the heart of a man that has rejected the living and the true God I think Matthew Henry gets at it well when he says the spectre or apparition persona personating Samuel asks why he is sent for to us this discovers that it was an evil spirit that personated Samuel for it is not in the power of witches to disturb the rest of good men and to bring them back into the world when they please that's encouraging isn't it the last thing you or I want is to be in heaven and then be conjured up by some medium at Endor so we can speak to some fool that never listened to us while we're alive that's not a good thing brethren the souls of the just are made secure in the presence of God Almighty he says nor would the true Samuel have acknowledged such a power and magical arts Samuel was a prophet and preacher the law of God he is not going to validate the magic arts he says but to saw this was a proper device of Satan's to draw veneration from him to possess him with an opinion of the power of divination and so to Rivet him in the devil's interests in his cold comfort which this evil spirit in Samuels mantle gives to Saul and is manifestly intended to drive him to despair and self murder that's precisely what happens Saul is wounded on the field of battle he then asks his armor-bearer to drive his sword into Saul and kill him the armor bearer would not so Saul falls upon his own sword and kills himself he says had it been the truth Samuel when Saul desired to be told what he should do he would have told him to repent and make his peace with God see the real Samuel would not have conducted himself in this enigmatic way simply repeating what he'd already told him while he was alive adding the additional information concerning the death of Saul and his side woulda said repent believe on the Lord Jesus Christ get your life together get an order he says well he would be told he would have told him to repent and make his peace with God and recall David from his banishment and would then have told him that he might hope in this way to find mercy with God but instead of that he represents his case as helpless and hopeless serving him as he did Judas to whom he was first attempter and then a tormentor persuading him first to sell his master and then to hang himself I think that's what's happening in 1st Samuel 28 perkins adds it remaineth then that this samuel was a mere illusion of satan it wasn't the truth samuel but it wasn't a fake it was a demonic spirit presenting himself to salt rehearsing what samuel had told him in his life and ministry toward him adding the additional information concerning the death he was his first is his tempter and then his tormentors matthew henry says it's a terrible and a wretched and a horrible condition that this man ends in and it ought to lead us finally to consider the absence of God with reference to Saul and with reference to us in terms of Saul he was a ranch I think whenever sermons are preached on things like examine yourself or or you know check your heart or you know make sure you're the real deal or you know are you struggling with what appears to be the absence of God in your heart it's the sensitive souls among us that really get play and the preachers at times may have in their minds and I don't right now I you the preachers at times having their minds persons that need you know good a good spiritual smacking and they don't always receive it it's the sensitive souls that fall apart if you're a sensitive soul tonight that's having some some coldness and the devotional life or some coldness and the public worship life that's not good repent seek God's favor seek his help see because it says thence seek to you know read something that'll fire up your heart and all that sort of vague but do not put yourself in the category of Saul again first Samuel 13 Samuel tells Saul to stay here and wait you need to wait for me you need to wait for my return well Samuel is late but I think a day so Saul undertakes to offer up sacrifices to the to God on his own Samuel doesn't come back and award him Samuel doesn't come back and praise him Samuel doesn't come back and say good on you saw that you undertook to do that Samuel approves him you were supposed to listen to me you were supposed to obey me it's there the announcement is given that the kingdom is going to go from Saul Jonathan is not going to be the heir recipient of the throne and then again in 1st Samuel chapter 50 we've already seen it God tells him God says I'm going to tear the kingdom away I'm going to give it to your neighbor the one that is better than you first Samuel 16 we have that account where the sons of Jesse are being surveyed in terms of kingship with reference to Israel and remember that bit where God does not look on look upon the man the way man does man only looks at the outward but God looks at the n-word that's when David is selected that's when the Spirit of God comes upon David in 1st Samuel 16 but you know what else happens in 1st Samuel 16 the spirit departs from Saul so when we get to 1st samuel 28 this is the fruit of this is the consequence of his having already been rejected by the living in the true god so if you are a struggling saint that is a different category than being a hardened reprobate now having said that we need by the grace of God to realize that if we persistently refused reject or distance ourself from the voice of God we are putting ourselves in harm's way do not neglect your Bibles do not neglect public worship do not neglect the means that God has ordained for your good the Lord can come to you in a powerful way when you shimmy up mount sham but he hasn't promised to come to you in a powerful way when you climb mount sham he has promised his special presence in the new covenant community in the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ according to Ephesians chapter 2 as well you can have fond thoughts of God when you're engaged in your daily work to be sure but it ought to be centered upon the word of the Living God it is the word the means by which we come into contact with that God and Saul had rejected Saul had refused again verse 16 is terrifying in this passage the Lord has departed from you and has become your enemy that makes the Philistine threat look like chump change that makes the Philistine threat look like no threat whatsoever remember what Paul asks and in Romans chapter II if God is for us who can be against us well there's an alternative or a contrast to that if God is against us who can be for us if the Lord most high is our enemy there is no friend that will ever deliver us from that turmoil as well the professor professing Christian must not ever turn to the adult must not ever turn to magic must not ever turn to sorcery and must not ever turn to these alternate means to seek guidance it's not that it doesn't work it's that it's abominable to God and finally the believer who senses silence from God should continue to plead with God you see that pattern in the Psalms you see it for instance in Psalm 13 you definitely see it in Psalms 42 and 43 you hear it from our Lord Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount what does he say ask seek not do not give up brethren if you have sensed a coldness if you have sensed a distance make no peace with that but by God's grace renew repentance by God's grace broached the the gap and by God's grace have communion and fellowship and union with him do not like Saul reject the voice of God because it may turn out that God rejects you and shows that you were never a believer to begin with you were never one truly saved well let us close in a word of Prayer Father in Heaven this is a sober chapter of Holy Scripture a scary chapter with reference to the absence of God in the in the life of King Saul I pray that we would learn these lessons that we would learn them well and that we would be those who maintain communion by your grace with you through prayer through the Scriptures through the worship of God help us Lord not to be at peace with any distance or with any coldness that help us by your grace to humble ourselves under your mighty hand knowing that in due time you will lift us off we thank you for the word of God we thank you that it speaks to all matters of faith and practice even those things that are forbidden and prohibited you give us information you show us what you are talking about and I pray that we would all take heed and that we would never seek guidance and these alternate means that are condemned by your word we pray that you would go with us now help us to glorify you in this coming week and may you keep and preserve and watch over your people here and we pray these things through Jesus Christ our Lord amen we'll close with a brief time of meditation you