Bible Teaching

Calvary Temple Teaching Library

Turned Into Another Man Pt.2

Let's turn to the book of 1 Samuel. We want to continue the study that we started Wednesday night. I believe that it's going to be very beneficial to us in the preparation for the hour that we are in. We're talking about the spirit of humility that Father is causing us to walk in, the very spirit that Jesus lived so victoriously in as He came in the flesh and dwelt among us. The Scripture says that we are to take that yoke upon us and learn of Him, for He is meek and He is lowly. Everything in our society is saying, "Vaunt yourself. Take all you can get. Nobody else cares about you. You need to care about yourself," all of this that is the "I Generation" that has been so prominent in these last decades. The body of Christ, the kingdom of God, is the exact opposite. If you are going to get, you have to give; if you are going to live, you have to die. The real question that every one of us has to answer is this: "Do I believe that?" Not intellectually, but what am I experientially practicing? Am I walking in faith? Am I walking in the Spirit? As we've been dealing with that as the overriding issue of these last months, are we walking in the Spirit? Are we walking in the supernatural? Are we putting ourselves in a place to where when everything around us goes nuts, we have weapons that are mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds?

I'm so conscious of the hour that we're living in and the need that I sense in my heart to prepare you as a people, the remnant that will hear, for this hour that is coming on us. Probably more than ever in my life there is this urgency. I don't know whether it's been facilitated by the trial that we've been through and these different areas, the awareness even more than ever in our lives of the shortness of life and the opportunities that we have to touch others, or whether it has to do with the renewed awareness of the eternal realm as held up against the temporal realm, or whether it's just the Holy Spirit making us aware of the hour that we are in. Whatever it is, I know I sense and urgency in my spirit as I look around and I see the day. I see the conditions. I see the fulfillment of the prophecies not only taking place in our local fellowship, but around the world as you look at the church.

Today when you say "church," beloved, whether it's the news media or the majority of professed Christendom, when they talk about "the church," they are really talking about the great whore. They recognize the whore as the bride of Christ. This woman is going about prostituting herself with all of the nations, living a life of lasciviousness and self-pleasing and self-exaltation, the Laodicean mentality of having great riches and having need of nothing while being unaware of the desperate state of their wickedness and their nakedness and their poverty, boasting in riches and not having any of the great wealth of God: the anointing, the presence, the promises, the faith by which God told us we're supposed to live.

We want to talk about that. We want to answer that. Where am I in relationship to what's going on in the world today? What am I hearing when the Word of God is being spoken? As you read Revelation, you see that he says, "Let those that have ears hear what the Spirit is saying to the church." There is one other very interesting thing about those churches in Revelation. You notice that the letters were written to whom? The angels of the churches, the messengers, the servants, the men of God. You'd better listen to what the Spirit is saying in this hour, and oh, for the grace to be able to speak it and to be faithful to the calling that God has put upon us.

Let's turn to 1 Samuel and see what we can do about allowing the Holy Spirit to speak to us individually. We want to contrast the life of King Saul with the life of King David: Saul, a man whose kingdom was rent from his hands, and David, a man after God's own heart. If you hold these two men up and you begin to look at their lives, if you're going to judge by natural standards, who would you say was the worst of the two? David. Yet God says that David is a man after His own heart. Saul did not overtly commit adultery, murder. Saul was not an individual that was the "bloody man" that David was proclaimed to be, whom the Lord would not allow to even build a house for Him because of the blood that was upon his hands. Yet He said, "He is a man after My own heart."

What is it that makes David "the man after God's own heart"? We need to discover that. For years, you've probably heard people say, "Well, David was a man who knew how to repent." Hey, obedience is better than sacrifice. David was a man who, regardless of all of his failures, his frailties, was a man who had tasted the goodness of God and was jealous for the glory of God. When it came down to crunch time of choosing his own life or the glory of God, David chose the glory of God. Saul, when it came to crunch time, chose the glory of self and the glory of man. That's the difference between the two in a nutshell. What are you going to do when it's your choice? The fact of the matter is, most of us don't know. The fact of the matter is, most of us would judge ourselves capable and worthy, but the Bible speaks very clearly to us and says, "Take heed when you think you stand, lest you fall." To every one of us has been given the measure of faith, yet the apostle told us to make sure that measure of faith is recognized as the grace of God, the gift of God, and it's to be used for the glory of God. Don't think of yourself more highly than you ought to think.

We want to start contrasting these two men's lives, and then identify where we are in this walk in the supernatural, the walk in the Spirit. As I've been talking with Pastor Jeff, we're dealing again with some of our young men in their adolescence and with the basketball team--not just basketball, but other things that are warring with this very principle that we've been teaching on: humility, being able to recognize true spiritual worth versus temporal pleasures, and all of these different aspects. That's part of what we have the program for, is to give us a look at the age of adolescence to the things that we're going to be dealing with the rest of our lives.

We live here, for our young people, in a very intimate community. We've talked before about how easy it is to think of ourselves in a way that isn't always totally accurate because we, like all flesh, have a tendency to compare ourselves by ourselves. It's a big world. There are a lot of people out there better than you. There are a lot of people that are more capable, whether it comes to the business realm or in the physical realm as far as athleticism, or the realm of finance, all of these different things. There's a whole lot of other people out there sharper than you are, and sharper than the people in here that you might even admire. I would suggest to you young people that there's one person in here that you ought to set your eyes on. There's nobody out there that's in His league. His name is Jesus. If you'll take His yoke upon you and learn of Him, when you humble yourself, what will happen? He'll exalt you.

Not long ago we were out here; my grandmother and Aunt Maxine were visiting. We were driving around and showed them the property that the Lord blessed us with out in Front Royal. We were in some different areas that gave opportunity. My aunt's husband was very successful in business. We were sitting at the house, and she said, "I was talking with your dad just before he died and we were discussing some things." She said, "Where did you learn all of this?" "What?" "Where did you learn the aspect of investing and all of these different principles?" She said, "It's amazing, the diversification and the stability and strength that there appears to be. [This is an unsaved person talking. I'm just kind of listening.] Where did you learn this?" I said, "I didn't. I don't understand any of the principles. I don't understand how the world works their system, and I don't understand why they work it. All I do is listen to whatever the Holy Ghost says, and I do it when He tells me to do it." Is that oversimplified? "Surely you can't succeed that way." But you know, it's amazing! Some of you may hear a rumor that I have another little red car. It's not a rumor. I asked the Lord when we sold the Grand Sport, "Lord, what do You want to do with this money?" I didn't know what He was wanting to do, whether we were going to invest it into the building here, or it came to my mind that it would be the amount of money that we might need to buy the chairs here in the auditorium. It came to my mind that maybe that was money that was supposed to go into Africa and help with the property over there. I didn't know why the Lord had us sell that particular car. It was my favorite car.

I came to the conclusion that the reason I sold it is because I was depressed. With Janet's death, as she was dying, I sold it while she was dying. I sold it standing on the phone with her lying on the bed. I was looking at her right there, and they asked the question. I said, "Yes, sell the thing." Nothing meant anything. There was no value on material things as I looked at her. There was only one thing that had any value: that was the eternal realm. I thought that's probably why it happened, but I do believe the steps of the good man are ordered by the Lord. Don't you? I don't know exactly why you do all the things you do, but I believe that God orders our steps. To make a long story short, as we were sitting there just the other day, I sat there and said, "This bugs me. There's a big chunk of money in there making one-and-a-half percent interest. That's ridiculous. All of a sudden, an opportunity arises. To make a long story short, some of you like to dabble. You search the newspapers and you do this and that. I know a number of you in here, and please don't think I'm trying to put you down. I'm just trying to make a point. You're buying this car and you're selling that one. You're wheeling and dealing and making all of these moves. In a year, you make how much if you really look at bottom line profit? I was minding my own business, and God spoke. He said, "I want you to go down there. I want you to look at that. I want you to buy that." I bought it, and in one day made thirty thousand dollars yesterday. I didn't even do it as an investment. The guy said, "Do you understand what you have here? "I said, "Yeah." "And you're not excited?" I thought, "I didn't do anything." He said, "You're going to flip this and make the profit, right? You're going to put this thing up tomorrow?" I said, "No." He said, "You crazy?" I said, "No." He said, "What are you going to do?" I said, "I'm going to play with it." He looked and he said, "What?" I said, "I'm just going to play with it until God says to get rid of it." I'm trying to make a point. You're not looking for these things. It's not something that you have confidence in your ability to wheel, deal, to know the right thing at the right time. It's being sensitive--I'm talking to you young people--to what the Holy Spirit is doing in your life at any given moment, and even when you're not aware, having confidence that your steps are being ordered by God.

How does that correlate to Saul? I want you to see this. I'm not going to spend the whole time talking to some of these young people. I'm still talking to you young men right now, and you know who you are, about the spirit in you that's driving you and consuming you and overtaking you because you think too much of yourself. You're thinking of yourself way, way more highly than you ought to think. It's because you're comparing yourself by such a few people. I want to tell you something. You're not what you think you are, and without the grace of God, you're not going to make it. The focus needs to change. I shared with Jeff. I said, "Why don't we do this? There seems to be a big compulsion in some of these young people, 'Am I going to start the game? Am I going to be first string?' If that's the pressure, let's solve the problem. Let's cancel all the games, and just let them practice the rest of the year." Then you don't have to worry about being a hero and starting and winning and losing. You just work your tail off. That's what we're playing for: to teach you discipline, to try to teach you some teamwork, to try to get you to understand that you're one of many. You're serving others. You're not out there for yourself.

I understand that we're talking to adolescents. I know that the biggest thing in your world is the Friday night game and the pimple on your nose, but life's bigger than that. I understand that's real; I understand that's where you live, but I want to tell you something. In an environment right now where God's shaking us and people are leaving our midst, and some people are on their way to eternal damnation, there are things more important than your next basketball game that you ought to be considering: what's taking place in your heart right now and what's happening in this fellowship right now. If you don't have the ability to grasp that, then I would encourage you to count everything else dung that you might win the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ, because your value system is the value system of Saul and not the value system of David.

It doesn't have anything to do with these great glimpses that we have of God. We'll review just a couple of minutes, and then go on for this morning. Watch what the Scripture tells us. We see that the real issue at this particular time was that the people wanted a king over them like the rest of the nations. Samuel is grieved and he said, "What's wrong with you? How can you forsake God at a moment like this? How can you add to your sins the desire to be judged by the world's standards and to partake of their methodology?"

We saw that Samuel took it personally. God had to speak to him and say, "Look, Samuel, they're not rejecting you. They're rejecting Me." Samuel was grieved. Samuel was a young man who was raised in the perversion of the house of Eli. Samuel was a miracle worker who had known the anointing of God and the supernatural visitation, a man who spoke and his words never fell to the ground, a man who knew the perversions of religion and the futility of the world, and he brought an uncompromised message to a nation who had gone whoring after other gods and now wanted to protect themselves in their worldly idolatry. God said, "I'll give you what you want. I'll give you a king." Basically, what He was saying was this. I'm trying to capsulize many principles here. "Whether you're moving under an exact theocracy--whether it was through the representation of Moses or whether it was the administration of the Judges to where a man of God would speak, we knew the anointing and we knew the voice of God when we heard it--or a theocracy that's established with a permanent head, such as the king, the bottom line is this. Samuel said, "As long as you obey the commandments, I'll prosper you and your king,"

So it really doesn't come down to the leaders, does it? It comes down to your own personal decisions. We're influenced, but God raises up and brings down leaders. He redeems individuals. You're to work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. It has nothing to do with our environment as to what your character is today. It has to do with the internal condition, your heart as an individual, who you're going to seat upon the throne: self, or the lordship of Jesus Christ.

We saw the story. We saw how Saul was chosen from among the people and he was raised up. He started humbly. As they're getting ready to anoint him, we saw that he was hidden in the stuff and they couldn't even find him for the anointing ceremony. They finally get him, they bring him out, and they anoint him. The people rejoice that they now have a king. Samuel is offended because of the reproach on the glory of God and says, "I'm going to tell you what's going to happen. You're going to be a new man. You're going to have another heart that's put in you." First Samuel, chapter 12, verse 15: "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." Grab hold of that this morning. He had just finished rehearsing to them the history of the nation: how God had delivered them by the hand of Moses and how God had preserved them through the supernatural ministry of the judges. You'll read in the preceding verses to this how they were delivered from the Moabites and from the Egyptians. He says, "Now in this time of persecution from Ammon you cry out that you want to have a king over you 'when the Lord your God was your king' (verse 12)". "We need a king!" Do you understand that you have a king? He is the King of kings and the Lord of lords. Then why would we look to the world to solve our problems? Why would we look to the world to tell us what success is? Which kingdom are we living in? You'll know by where your treasures are and whose praise you're looking for. Is it praise of the Master who says, "Well done, good and faithful servant," the Master who's looking for a man who will prove himself faithful in small things so that He can make him a ruler in over the great ones, or the man who's wheeling and dealing so that he can start great? The requirement of a steward is that he be found.great? Is that what the Bible says? What is the requirement of a steward? That he be found faithful. What are you doing with the small things you have? How faithful are you on workday here? How faithful are you in the nursery? How faithful are you on the bench? How faithful are you in lifting up the hands of others? How faithful are you in a role that's supporting, or do you want to be the star? To my knowledge, there are only two "stars" among us [referring to himself and his son, both named Star]. What's in your heart? What is it that's driving you? I just told you about the situation there at home with Janet. I'll tell you what. In this fellowship, there are some people for whom the reversal would have caused more problems. They would have had more grief over losing the car than their wife. I'm talking about this room, this morning. Maybe not the car, just the job, the business, the house, the temporal, the secular. Where are our treasures?

Part of what we're experiencing here as a fellowship is the purging process to reveal that. Father is doing something in our midst. Where you find yourself this morning is not by chance; God has put you here. "I just thought it was somebody's decision. I thought it was because this guy didn't like me. I thought it was because favoritism was being shown. I thought it was just because you all are stupid and don't see how great I am." Who's in charge, really? To not be able to understand that in the big picture, God is orchestrating where you are today, is to admit you have no confidence in God. You don't believe that He's in charge of your life. Therefore, you're having to war for your own position. You're having to watch out for yourself, because you think nobody else really cares. "If we're going to make it, we're going to have to have a king like everybody else." They rejected the Lord who was their king. Don't do that. There can be some temporal fixes. You can feel better for a while. There is a way that seems right to men, but the end of this thing is destruction. It's death.

"Behold your king," Samuel goes on to say in verse 13. "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 [Listen to this. Not only will God not bless you if you continue in the realm of self-involvement, self-obsession, self-exaltation, not only will God not bless you, but look what the Scripture goes on to say.] against the commandment of the Lord, then shall the hand of the Lord [Say it with me.] be against you, as it was against your fathers" (verses 14-15). You don't want to be there. Most of us just think God won't bless us. The Bible said "God resists the [Say it.] proud, but gives grace to the humble." God will resist you. He'll drive you into the ground. He will grind you to powder because He loves you and wants to raise you back up. What is it going to take? What is it going to take for the light to come on? Do you think this is unique to you? You're not being tempted in any way but such as is common to man. You see this over-occupation with self. Do you think you're the only person that's ever been there? Welcome to the club! Every person in here battles the same battle--many different ways, but we fight the same fight daily. It's not going to go away. You're not going to grow out of it when your pimples are gone. The stakes are just going to become higher. The bad decisions you make right now that affect things that are trivial can begin to send your own children and your children's children to hell if they are made at a later time in your life. The requirements never change. The necessity of dying daily, of taking up the cross that we spoke of last Sunday and following Him, it never changes. It's a daily continuation until we experience the glorification of God in our lives.

So, welcome to the club. You finally have become an adult. That's what you've been wanting. It's a lot better being a kid, isn't it? You've come into this time right now when God's saying, "Enough coddling. Mom and Dad have wiped your nose long enough. You've lived off of them, now what kind of man are you? What's in your heart really? Who are you?" The problem some of you are having is this: you finally realize how ugly you are, how vile you are, how wicked you are, how full of self you are, and you're on the road to being free. Rejoice in it! Don't cower back from it. Just say, "Yeah, that's who I am." The grace of God that's able to deliver you, that measure of faith will begin to infuse you with hope and with righteousness. The capacity to walk free from it, to humble yourself, will be afforded you in direct proportion to your pursuit, because when you draw nigh to God, what will happen? He'll draw nigh to you.

Don't forsake Him. Look for the ways to keep His commandments. Look for the ways to administrate His methods. Look for the ways to humble yourself. Look for the ways to become the servant. Rejoice in the privilege of being a doorkeeper in the house of God and stop hanging your head because you're not king. Then you become a person who's able to be used, because the judgment of Samuel against Saul was this. We'll read it in just a moment. "When you were small in your own eyes, I could use you." If you're not being used right now, if you're the high-maintenance case, if you're the one that's causing turmoil and problems, then guess what? The perspective of yourself, your evaluation of your self-worth, has changed. Humble people are not high-maintenance. They don't need to draw all this attention and energy on themselves. They are the servants. They are out looking to lift up other hands.

As we look at the life of Saul, we're going to see where this thing will drive you and what it will cause in your life that will bring death. It will cause you to forsake the Lord and it will cause the Lord to be against you. He says, "Just to give you an indicator that I'm speaking for God, here's the judgment of the Lord." It was in the time of harvest Samuel speaks, and God brought thunder and rain and it smote the hearts of the people. The people were fearful because they realized that they had truly forsaken their King. Samuel tells them, "The fact that you've forsaken God doesn't mean that I've ceased to pray for you." Verse 22: "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." While we were sinners, He loved us and died for us. He said to go tell the disciples "and Peter [after he had denied Him] that I have risen." "Satan desires to sift you, Peter, but I've prayed for you." Can you say, "Thank God" for that? The Lord ever lives to make intercession for us.

He says, "Moreover as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you" (verse 23). "You guys have ticked me off, but I'm not going to be provoked like Moses was. God forbid that I would sin by not praying for you." Samuel wasn't perfect, but not a word that he spoke fell to the ground. There's no indication that Samuel was responsible for the spiritual condition of his boys. His kids were messed up. Samuel was raised in the house of Eli--the house of perversion, the house of hypocrisy--and became an uncompromised man of God. These men were raised in the house of an uncompromised man of God and became sons of hypocrisy. You're going to answer for what you are as a grown up. You can't point back at Mom and Dad. What are you doing with the gift and the grace that's been provided for you?

Moms, dads, those of you that are taking all this upon yourselves and feeling so guilty, you've sinned, you've failed, you're carnal, and you're weak, but Jesus isn't. Whom have you been pointing to as the head of your home? Whom have we instructed our children to follow, us or the Lord? When the prophet has stood before us and said, "Thou art the man," have you justified yourself, made excuses for your flesh and your children's? Will you eventually, as so many have, just wrap up and run off down the street somewhere else and think it's somebody else's fault, or have you been able to pray Psalm 51 and say, "Yes, I am the man. Create in me a clean heart. Renew a right spirit within me. Take not Your Holy Spirit from me." It depends on what kind of man you are. Are you a man like Saul that says, "The people made me do this. My intentions were to save these things that You told me to destroy so that we could use them for Your glory"? Like David, do you just say, "Yep, I'm the man. I'm an ugly dude. What you're saying is one hundred percent right. I deserve to die and go to a devil's hell, but Jesus died for me. I'm not living off my own righteousness. I'm living based upon the righteousness of Jesus Christ. I'm not my own; I'm bought with a price. It's no longer I that live, but Christ that liveth in me. Anything good that happens in my life is the consequence of His presence. I give Him all the glory"?

As we contrast these lives over the next few sessions, let's watch what happens here with Saul as we read on. It's very interesting. The mandate is given by Samuel. He says, "All you've got to do is follow the commandments." Check this out now. The circumstances are second best. The best thing would have been to continue like it was, but God can bless you in your current circumstances. Some of you have messed up in relationships. Some of you have messed up in your vocations, but I want to tell you something. God can bless you in the second best. It's not over yet. God can still receive glory in whatever condition you find yourself in this morning. Can you say, "Thank God" for that? He's not looking for perfection; He's looking for humility, weakness that will humble itself so that He can be made strong in their midst, that the glory and the excellency would be of God and not of us.

The story goes on, and he says, "Just follow the commandments. If you don't, God is going to be against you. Here's what I want you to do. I want you to go, tarry seven days, I'm going to come down, and we'll offer sacrifice. We'll offer sacrifice and we'll recognize [for the sake of something we can identify with in the new covenant] that in this condition that we're in, Jesus is still Lord. We're still recognizing Him as King. We have a natural king, but we're going to recognize the King through your subordination, King Saul. When you will humble yourself, when you will be obedient to keep the commandments, when you will not seek your own wisdom, when you'll not lean to the right arm of the flesh, when you'll not number your armies, when you'll not compare yourselves and your wealth and your newest technology with the world, when you recognize that in this system Jesus is still Lord, then I will bless you. Go now and wait seven days. We'll come and recognize that Jesus is still the Lord of our lives and of our households and our business and of our fellowship." He goes away, and we know the story. Conflict breaks out. The Philistines show up--chapter 13, verse 5--thirty thousand strong. I won't get into whether or not this is an accurate rendering of how many chariots there really were. There's debate about that. It doesn't make any difference. What we know is this. The enemy was overwhelming to Saul and his band: thirty thousand chariots, six thousand horsemen, and people as the sand of the seas. When Israel saw the condition they were in, verse 6, they were distressed. "Then the people did hide themselves in caves, and in thickets, and in rocks, and in high places, and in pits. And some of the Hebrews went over Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. As for Saul, he was yet in Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling" (verses 6-7).

What are we looking for in a time like this as a people? Just like the prophet's servant when they looked and they were surrounded by the armies, the prophet speaks to this young man. He says, "Don't worry, son. There are more for us than there are for them." This young man begins to count, "[Counting the enemy:] One, two, three.ten thousand.a hundred thousand. [Counting he and the prophet:] One, two. One, two." Even in the school of Jethro Bodine this doesn't add up. Yet the man of God says, "There are more for us than there are for them." The kid says, "I don't see it." The prophet says, "I know you don't, but you see, there are a people that live in a realm that you don't live in that follow an invisible God, who aren't moved by the things that are seen. They are moved by the things that are not seen, for the things that are seen are temporal. The things that are not seen are eternal. We don't add the way the world adds. One plus God is sufficient. That's the only equation you need to know as it pertains to your life. Open his eyes." As this young man's eyes are opened and he begins to look onto the hilltops, he sees messengers of God, fiery chariots. Thank God for the angels that are given charge over us to protect us daily.

Some of us are going to become more familiar with these ministering spirits as times go on, as genuine persecution breaks out. We're going to know the supernatural deliverances. Many of us in here are going to know the deliverance that Daniel knew and that Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego knew. We're going to know, some of us, the supernatural hand of God that will cause the prison doors to open, the chains to fall off. For that to happen, you're going to have to be in the lion's den, you're going to have to be in the fiery furnace, and you're going to have to be in shackles in prison, but His grace is sufficient. What are you doing now to prepare for that walk? Where is your treasure? Who is your God? That's the issue at hand.

Watch what goes on. It's an interesting story. They're surrounded, the people are trembling, and he's waiting. He said, "Here we are with this imminent attack that is upon us." You have to remember that he's thinking in the natural. He's sitting there saying, "If I don't do something quick, all the people will have left. The troops will be gone. Even if we wanted to, pretty soon the way of escape is going to be cut off. We're going to have to protect ourselves and make sure that the way of retreat is still available to us. We're out of time."

You know what's sad? To watch like I believe we've seen here just recently, as people to even last through the seventh day but not make it through the last hour of the seventh day. He's hanging on for seven days. Why can't you make it a couple more hours? He couldn't way any longer. You want to know why? Look at verse 8. "[Because] the people were scattered from him." Your children begin to leave you, your spouse begins to leave you, your associates begin to leave you, and everything around you scatters. I've got some good news for you. He said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." Are you content with everybody leaving except Him? That's what has to be answered.

The people were scattered, "And Saul said, [I can't take it anymore] Bring hither a burnt offering" (verse 10). As soon as he had made an end of taking things into his own hands, Samuel showed up. I paraphrased that verse a little bit, but that's what it says. "And Saul went out to meet him And Samuel said, [What have you done? What have you done?] And Saul said, Because I saw that the people were scattered from me, [that God's inheritance, the people of God were going to be destroyed. We had to preserve ourselves to fight another day to bring glory to God. Since God had failed, I had to do something. That's paraphrased.] and that thou camest not within the days appointed.I forced myself." "This isn't my nature. I went against my nature." No, that is your nature because as a man thinketh, so is he. As a man doeth, so is he. Out of the abundance of the heart we speak. It's he that doeth righteousness that's righteous. By their fruits you shall know them. What do you do under pressure? Which way do you squirt when the squeeze is on?

"And Samuel said to Saul, Thou hast done foolishly: [by not keeping] the commandment of the Lord" (verse 13). It's simple, beloved. What does the book say? The book tells you what to do. It tells us that our enemies are going to be those of our own household, so why are you surprised? One of the things we're going to talk about is this. We've had a number of people leave recently. Have any of you stopped to even think, "What is the common denominator?" Have any of you looked at the people that have left our numbers and looked at what the common denominator is? What is the common denominator of every one of these families that you've seen leave? What is it?

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