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I would be, for by his hand he leadeth me. Lord, I would clasp thy hand in mine, Nor ever murmur nor refine, Content whatever thought I see. This is my God that leadeth me. He leadeth me, he leadeth me, By his own hand he leadeth me, His grateful Father I would be, For by his hand he leadeth me. And when my task on earth is done, When by thy grace the victory's won, Eating death's whole way, I will not flee, Since God through Jordan leadeth me. He leadeth me, he leadeth me, By his own hand he leadeth me, His grateful Father I would be, For by his hand he leadeth me. I would be, for by his own hand he leadeth me, But I will not flee, His grateful Father I would be, For by his own hand he leadeth me, So I'm really excited to have a great rally. We're going to some really receptive areas. So do make it out for this Saturday if you can. Nursing home ministry schedule's listed there. One thing to note, they contacted me and said that the service for December 1st is cancelled. So make note of that if you were scheduled for that time. Our stats year to date are listed there. Make sure to report your salvation totals as usual. On the right, please be in prayer for Ms. Whitney Reed for her pregnancy. Also upcoming events, really excited about this weekend. Having some family in town, Pastor Shelley, Pastor Thompson. It's going to be a great weekend transitioning from Steadfast Baptist Church to Anchor Baptist Church. We've got our invites at the front here, so we're ready to turn the key. We're excited. It's going to be good to have Pastor Shelley preaching here and Pastor Thompson of course. And like I said, there's going to be people from out of town, so it's going to be really good soul winning as well. And of course, Texas BBQ is a plus as well. So, looking forward to that. So yeah, this is the last Wednesday service of Steadfast Baptist Church, so enjoy it while you got it. But we are definitely excited for the future. And really, you know, not that much is going to change because we're still going to be great friends with Pastor Shelley. We're nice and close to them, so when they have events, we can go their way, they can come our way. So not too much is changing, but we are excited nonetheless. December 9th is Christmas caroling. We're going to meet here at 6.30pm and go out Christmas caroling. This is when we go out to the rich neighborhoods to do something for the year. So I don't know, Nichols Hills, parts of Yukon, we'll find a place with lots of lights and we'll have fun there. It's funny, the one time that I did Christmas caroling here, not only was the lights cool, but I actually saw Starlink for the first time. We looked at it and saw it looked like we were being invaded or something. Ten of those dots in the sky. That was pretty interesting. December 20th, ladies Christmas party coming up. December 21st is our Christmas soul winning push. That's a basically regular Saturday soul winning rally, but in addition, we're going to cater food and coffee for that one. Also, December 31st is our New Year's Eve party. We're going to have a men's preaching night first at 7 o'clock. After that, we're going to cater some food and have board games and fellowship for as long as you want. If you want to stay until midnight or later, you can do that on this night. So bring the caffeine and the fun. Should be good. On the back is our prayer list. Please keep everyone in prayer on that list. And as usual, if you have a request, please let me know. Email the church. I'd be glad to add that for you. And let's go ahead and go to the Lord in prayer as a church this evening. Lord, thank you for this day and thank you for this church plant here and for the faithful people that have been content just being a satellite ministry for all these years. And I just thank you for these people that have come together, that want to serve you, that want to honor you, that want to preach the gospel to the lost. I just pray that you bless this upcoming weekend, bless our transition to an independent fundamental Baptist church. And just help us, Lord, to have a vision in line with your vision, God. Help us to be sensitive to your will. And I just pray that you bless us in the future to strengthen us and enable us to do your work. We pray also for the people here this evening for all the requests that they have, that you answer these according to your will. We pray for brother James for his back to be healed, for him not to be in so much pain, and that his physical therapy would continue to work for him, Lord. We also pray for Cameron's mother, that she recovers well from her surgery still and that, Lord willing, she'd be healed from her cancer and her heart be softened to the gospel. We also pray for brother Alex Lee in Texas who has a job interview coming up. We just pray that you would help him to find favor in the eyes of the interviewers and that if it's your will that he would get this job and that you would just bless his family financially, Lord. We also pray for Ms. Shawn Furze, coworker Terry, that she'd be healed of her cancer and also for healing for Ms. Remi as well. And we pray for Ms. Whitney whose brother needs to be saved. We pray that his heart would be softened and that he would get lots of opportunities to hear the gospel, Lord. We also pray the same thing for brother Zach's family members, that their hearts would be softened and that they would get lots of opportunities. And help us all to remember that someone else's brother and mother is out there in this community, that we would not just love our own family but also be willing to preach the gospel to the lost here. We love you, Lord, and Jesus, we pray. Amen. That's going to be it for announcements. We'll go ahead and go to our third song. All right, for our third song, if you would, actually grab a white handout and turn to Psalm chapter 67. Psalm 67. Psalm 67. We'll go ahead and start there right on the first. Let all the people praise thee, O let the nations be glad and sing for joy, For thou shalt judge the people righteously and governed, The nations upon earth, the nations upon earth say, Let the people praise thee, O God, let all the people praise thee, O let the nations be glad and sing for joy, Then shall the earth yield her in praise, and God, even our own, God shall bless us, God shall bless us and all the ends of the earth shall fear him, Let the people praise thee, O God, let all the people praise thee, O let the nations be glad and sing for joy. Good singing. As the offering plates are being passed around, turn, if you would, to 1 Samuel chapter number 14. In your Bibles, 1 Samuel chapter number 14. In your Bibles, 1 Samuel chapter number 14. Good evening, 1 Samuel chapter number 14. The Bible reads, Now it came to pass upon a day that Jonathan, the son of Saul, said unto the young man that bare his armor, Come, and let us go over to the Philistines' garrison that is on the other side, but he told not his father. And Saul tarried in the uttermost part of Gibeah under a pomegranate tree which is in Megron, and the people that were with him were about six hundred men. And Ahia the son of Ahitub, Ichabod's brother, the son of Phinehas the son of Eli, the Lord's priests, and Shiloh wearing an ephod. And the people knew not that Jonathan was gone, and between the passages by which Jonathan sought to go over unto the Philistines' garrison, there was a sharp rock on the one side, and a sharp rock on the other side, and the name of the one was Bozaz, and the name of the other, Cinna. The forefront of the one was Sichwe northward, over against Michmash, and the other southward, over against Gibeah. And Jonathan said to the young man that bare his armor, Come, and let us go over unto the garrison of these uncircumcised. It may be that the Lord will work for us, for there is no restraint to the Lord to save by many or by few. And his armor-bearer said unto him, Do all that is in thine heart, turn thee, behold, I am with thee according to thy heart. Then said Jonathan, Behold, we will pass over unto these men, and we will discover ourselves unto them. If they say thus unto us, Tarry until we come to you, then we will stand still in our place, and we will not go up unto them. But if they say thus, Come up unto us, then we will go up, for the Lord hath delivered them into our hand, and this shall be a sign unto us. And both of them discovered themselves unto the garrison of the Philistines. And the Philistines said, Behold, the Hebrews come forth out of the holes where they had hid themselves. And the men of the garrison answered Jonathan and his armor-bearer, and said, Come up unto us, and we will show you a thing. And Jonathan said unto his armor-bearer, Come up after me, for the Lord hath delivered them into the hand of Israel. And Jonathan climbed up upon his hands and upon his feet and his armor-bearer after him, and they fell before Jonathan, and his armor-bearer slew after him. And that first slaughter which Jonathan and his armor-bearer made was about twenty men within, as it were, in half-acre of land which a yoke of oxen might plow. And there was trembling in the host in the field, and among all the people, the garrison and the spoilers, they also trembled, and the earth quaked, so that it was a very great trembling. And the watchmen of Saul and Gibeah of Benjamin looked, and behold, the multitude melted away, and they went on, beating down one another. Then said Saul unto the people that were with him, Number now, and see who is gone from us. And when they had number, behold, Jonathan and his armor-bearer were not there. And Saul said unto Ahiah, Bring hither the ark of God, for the ark of God was at that time with the children of Israel. And it came to pass, while Saul talked unto the priest, that the noise was in the host of the Philistines, and it came to pass, while Saul talked unto the priest, that the noise that was in the host of the Philistines went on and increased, and Saul said unto the priest, Withdraw thine hand. And Saul and all the people that were with him assembled themselves, and they came to the battle, and behold, every man's sword was against his fellow, and there was a very great discomfiture. Moreover, the Hebrews that were with the Philistines before that time, which went up with them into the camp from the country round about, even they also turned to be with the Israelites that were with Saul and Jonathan. Likewise, all the men of Israel, which had hid themselves in Mount Ephraim, when they heard that the Philistines fled, even they also followed hard after them in the battle. So the Lord saved Israel that day, and the battle passed over unto Beth-aven. And the men of Israel were distressed that day, for Saul had adjured the people, saying, Cursed be the man that eateth any food until evening, that I may be avenged on mine enemies, so none of the people tasted any food, and all they of the land came to a wood, and there was honey upon the ground. And when the people were come into the wood, behold, the honey dropped, but no man put his hand to his mouth, for the people feared the oath. But Jonathan heard not when his father charged the people with the oath, wherefore he put forth the end of the rod that was in his hand, and dipped it in a honeycomb, and put his hand to his mouth, and his eyes were enlightened. Then answered one of the people, and said, Thy father straightly charged the people with an oath, saying, Cursed be the man that eateth any food this day, and the people were faint. Then said Jonathan, My father hath troubled the land. See, I pray you, how mine eyes have been enlightened, because I tasted a little of this honey. How much more, if happily the people had eaten freely, to dare the spoil of their enemies which they found. For they had not been now a much greater slaughter among the Philistines. And they smote the Philistines that day from Michmash to Ahizalom, and the people were very faint. And the people flew upon the spoil, and took sheep, and oxen, and calves, and slew them on the ground, and the people did eat them with the blood. Then they told Saul, saying, Behold, the people sinned against the Lord, and that they eat with the blood. And he said, Ye have transgressed, roll a great stone unto me this day. And Saul said, Disperse yourselves among the people, and say unto them, Bring me hither every man his ox, and every man his sheep, and slay them here, and eat, and sin not against the Lord, and eating with the blood. And the people brought every man his ox with him that night, and slew them there. And Saul built an altar unto the Lord, the same was the first altar that he built unto the Lord. And Saul said, Let us go down after the Philistines by night, and spoil them until the morning light, and let us not leave a man of them. And they said, Do whatsoever seemeth good unto thee. Then said the priest, Let us draw near hither unto God. And Saul asked counsel of God, Shall I go down after the Philistines? Wilt thou deliver them into the hand of Israel? But he answered him not that day. And Saul said, Draw ye near hither in the chief of the people, and know and see wherein this sin hath been this day. For as the Lord liveth, which saveth Israel, though it be in Jonathan my son, he shall surely die. But there was not a man among all the people that answered him. Then said he unto all Israel, Be ye on one side, and I and Jonathan my son will be on the other side. And the people said unto Saul, Do what seemeth good unto thee. Therefore Saul said unto the Lord, God of Israel, Give a perfect lot. And Saul and Jonathan were taken, but the people escaped. And Saul said, Cast lots between me and Jonathan my son, and Jonathan was taken. Then Saul said to Jonathan, Tell me what thou hast done. And Jonathan told him, and said, I did but taste a little honey with the end of the rod that was in mine hand, and lo, I must die. And Saul answered, God do so, and more also, but thou shalt surely die Jonathan. And the people said unto Saul, Shall Jonathan die, who hath wrought this great salvation in Israel? God forbid, as the Lord liveth, there shall not one hair of his head fall to the ground, for he hath wrought with God this day. So the people rescued Jonathan that he died not. And Saul went up from following the Philistines, and the Philistines went to their own place. So Saul took the kingdom over Israel, and fought against all his enemies on every side, against Moab, and against the children of Ammon, and against Edom, and against the kings of Zobah, and against the Philistines. And whithersoever he turned himself, he vexed them. And he gathered, and host, and smote the Amalekites, and delivered Israel out of the hands of them that spoiled them. Now the sons of Saul were Jonathan, and Ishuai, and Melchizedua. And the names of his two daughters were these, the name of the firstborn, Merab, and the name of the younger, Michal. And the name of Saul's wife was Ahinoam, the daughter of Ahimeaz. And the name of the captain of the host was Abner, the son of Ner, Saul's uncle. And Kish was the father of Saul, and Ner, the father of Abner, was the son of Abil. And there was sore war against the Philistines all the days of Saul. And when Saul saw any strong man, or any valiant man, he took him unto him. Let's bow our heads for a prayer. Father in Heaven, we thank you for this church, and what a blessing that this church has been to all of us here. And we just ask that you fill all of us in here. And just help us to give you a word and do some prayer. Amen. Amen. Alright, well, last week we got through a good chunk of this chapter. We got to verse 23, and this evening we'll be finishing it out. And if you remember, last week we talked about how God gave Israel a really miraculous victory in battle, to the point where they were literally disarmed. Yet God caused the Philistines to basically smite each other as a curse, and God gave Israel the victory. And now, the latter part of this chapter is going to refocus in on Saul. Because we were first talking about Jonathan, now it's going to kind of go back into Saul. And it's going to stay like that throughout this chapter and the next. Where the Bible is kind of highlighting the downfall of King Saul. But let's start reading in verse number 23 to remind ourselves. It says, so the Lord saved Israel that day, and the battle passed over unto Beth Avon. Now that verse is really important in light of what we're going to read next. Because what we're going to read next seems like a weird thing to do in light of a victory. Look what it says in verse 24. It says, and the men of Israel were distressed that day. For Saul had adjured the people saying, cursed be the man that eateth any food until evening, that I may be avenged on mine enemies, so none of the people tasted any food. Now I'll just be completely upfront that the second half of this chapter is a little bit confusing at times. Because when we go through this story, the Bible doesn't necessarily tell us exactly who's right, and exactly who's wrong. So we kind of have to use other scripture to interpret this passage and learn some lessons from it. And go ahead and go to 1 Corinthians chapter number 6. 1 Corinthians chapter number 6. So I just want you to understand what's happening in the story first. So they get the victory, but then it says that all of the people were really stressed out. They were distressed. Why? Not because they had lost, they had a great victory. But because Saul the king adjured them, meaning commanded them, that they were not allowed to eat anything. And the reason why, Saul says, is so that he may be avenged on his enemies. Now I don't understand fully his motive in that because he already just had a huge victory. So it kind of seems like God already just did avenge you of your enemies a little bit. Why are you now punishing your men by not allowing them to eat? But maybe he's just trying to go all in saying, hey, I just want to completely wipe these people out. And maybe if I just tell my soldiers, hey, you can't have any food, you know, maybe it'll motivate them to want to work really hard and win so that they can eat some food. I'm not really sure what's going through Saul's mind in this. But I do know this, Saul is in charge. Saul is the leader and Saul makes the rules for his armies. And, you know, there's nothing in the Bible that says that this is a sin. So technically it is permitted, it is lawful for what Saul commanded the people. But look at First Corinthians, chapter number six, verse 12. The Bible says this, all things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any. The Bible is explaining to us that there's plenty of things in this life that are technically not sinful, that are technically not breaking God's commandments. It's not a sin, it's not a line in the sand, yet it's not expedient. Now, let me define that word expedient. I found this, the dictionary says, tending to promote some proposed or desired object, fit or suitable for the purpose, proper under the circumstances. So Paul is saying, hey, there are some things that are lawful, that are not sinful, but are not necessarily proper for my goals or the goals of whatever. And so here, what is expedient in this situation? Is it really to make your soldiers weak physically, not allowed to get the sustenance that they need to go out and fight a battle? That doesn't really seem to be expedient. Yet, Saul did make this decision. Go to Ephesians, chapter number five, Ephesians chapter number five. And here's the thing, and this is just my opinion. My opinion is that, okay, Saul, you're the boss, you're in charge, you can make this decision where it's going to be hurting your men making this decision, but technically they have to obey, you're in charge, and maybe for a while your people will obey you and follow you just because you're in charge, but eventually when a leader continues to make decisions that are harmful for his own people, the followers lose respect for that person, and that leader loses credibility. And just because, because there's some leaders in this room, we've got husbands, we've got fathers, we've got men that lead in ministry, but here's what you've got to understand is that just because you have the authority to do something does not necessarily mean that it's the expedient choice to make. Sometimes as a leader you could say, all right, I want all of you to stop eating, we're going to go to battle, no food allowed, okay, technically you're not sinning, but you know what, if you continue making decisions like that, you're not really going to have a lot of followers, okay? Look at Ephesians, chapter number five, verse 21. The Bible says, submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. Now, the old IFB likes to take this verse and say, see, you know, sometimes the husband obeys the wife, and sometimes the wife obeys the husband, and we just submit to each other. That's not what this verse is saying. The Bible is teaching that God has put authority in this world, and you as a man, you go to work, you're submitting to a boss. Us, we're submitting to the government. Church is submitting to the pastor. Wife is submitting to her husband. Children are submitting to their parents. We are submitting to each other, because God has different spheres of authority in this world. But now he's going to get specific. Verse 22, the Bible says, wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands as unto the Lord. So, okay, we know that the husband's in charge. Verse 23, for the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church, he is the savior of the body. Therefore, as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. So, see, husbands, they are the boss. They have all authority in the home. But, verse 25 says, husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh, but nourisheth it and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church. So, the Bible explains husbands are in charge. Husbands have authority. Wives are to submit to their husbands. Then the Bible gives an admonition to husbands to love your wife. And the Bible gives us an example of how we're to love our wives. We're to love our wives in the same way as Christ loved the church. Now, does Christ have all authority over the church? Yes, he does. Does he get to make the rules? Does he get to tell us what to do? Yes, he does. But here's the thing about the leadership of the Lord Jesus Christ. Though he has all authority, all power, every decision he makes and everything that he did in his life was to benefit his followers. And that is what a godly leader does. A godly leader uses their influence, uses their authority to help those around them. Not to just, I have a title for the sake of having a title and so I'm just going to make some stupid rule that benefits nothing. And you've got to be careful as a leader that you're not just, hey, just I'm putting on my leader hat, my authority hat, I'm in charge, so I'm just going to do whatever I want. You have to actually consider the consequences of the decisions that you're making on the people that follow you. Why would you take your loyal soldiers that are literally willing to die for you and tell them, no, you're not even allowed to eat food because I want to be avenged of mine adversaries? Again, Saul's just always making these really quick decisions. He's constantly making selfish decisions and he's not thinking about leading for the betterment of other people. God has already given him a big victory, right? They already defeated the Philistines. God miraculously is working for them, causing the Philistines to destroy themselves. You know, this would have been a good time to celebrate a little bit, to let your soldiers rest and relax a little bit, to let them enjoy a good meal instead of just pedal to the metal at all times and just dragging these people through hell, if you will. You know, it's not a good idea. Go to 2 Corinthians 13, 2 Corinthians 13. But, you know, this is how it should be at the workplace. If you're a boss, you know, every decision you make should be for the betterment of the customer, the company, your employees, not necessarily what is most expedient for you or that just tickles your fancy in some way. You ought to actually be thinking about your followers. 2 Corinthians 13, 10 says this. So Paul's saying, look, I don't want to have to come here and use sharpness. God's given me the power to use it. And really the power that God has given me, the authority that God has given the apostle Paul, the influence that God gave the apostle Paul, he said was for what? For edification and not for destruction. So your default as a leader in any capacity, your default should be thinking, how can I edify the people that I'm influencing? How can I help? How can I raise up? How can I build people's lives, not just try to make things as hard as possible on them, just for the sake of being hard on them? And, you know, let's talk about marriage again for a second. You know, husbands, technically, you have all authority to absolutely micromanage every single thing your wife does. You could make her a checklist of this is what you're doing at 901 a.m., this is what you're doing at 903 a.m. Look, but I'm just telling you, that's probably not a good idea. In fact, I would say 99 percent of cases, your wife probably doesn't need that and it's just probably a terrible idea. OK. Yes, you could absolutely tell her, OK, no, this is where the knives are going to go on the counter. Or you just be like, hey, just cook the meals and figure it out. I don't care how you set up the kitchen. I don't care how you set up the furniture. I don't care what color you have for our bedspread. I don't care about the curtains. Have at it. You be the queen and you build this house and you decorate this house ever the heck you want. I don't care, you know, and I'm not just going to be like, we are going to have military green drapes and military green bedspread and military green cups because this is a man's house. We're to make this place look masculine. And by the way, no food until I'm avenged of my adversaries. Star. Like, this is ridiculous, right? But why is Saul doing this? It doesn't make any sense to me. That's why I said this chapter is just kind of a little bit hard to understand, because while the Bible doesn't specifically say that what he's doing is wrong and don't hear me wrong. What he's doing is not sinful, but it's not expedient. I don't think I don't believe it's a wise leadership style at all. Go to Matthew Chapter number 10, Matthew Chapter number 10. Now, our philosophy is the exact opposite of Saul's philosophy. If we're going out to war, we're going to eat some food. Hey, we're going out to have a soul winning marathon. We will eat food. There's none of this. Oh, you know, I'm so spiritual. I'm just going to go soul winning for six hours and not take a break. You know what? Why don't you just have some fellowship? Take an hour break at least and hang out with God's people and eat some good food. It'll be good for you. The souls will still be there to save when we get done with lunch. You don't have to prove to everyone how tough and spiritual you are. No, it's good to enjoy life, enjoy serving God, enjoy God's people, enjoy good food. You know, it's not just a grind. It's not just war with no food. OK, look at what Jesus said. Matthew Matthew 10, verse seven. He says, And as you go preach, saying the kingdom of heaven is at hand, heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils freely. You have received freely give. So he's saying, I'm going to put you guys to work. Verse nine, provide neither gold nor silver nor brass in your purses, nor script for your journey. Neither two coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves. Notice what Jesus said for the workman is worthy of his meat. What does Jesus say? And he's saying, look, I want you to be provided for when you go out and work for me. And whether that means coats, whether that means shoes, whatever type of carnal needs you have. He's saying that God's going to provide that stuff for you. God wants you to have that stuff. The workman is worthy of his meat. And here in Oklahoma, we take that word meat literally. We enjoy steak and beef and good meat. And for me personally, as long as we're not living in some hyperinflation communist hellhole, I personally have a rule that every dinner has to have meat. OK, I'm not saying that I would never eat a vegetarian meal, but until we're living in that communist state, I want meat every meal. Why? Because the workman is worthy of his meat and I'm going to eat that meat. And I'm not going to just live this life where it's like just suffering and pain and no one's allowed to eat any food. All you have to do is work all day, no food. That's just ridiculous. It's not how God wants us to live. Go back to First Samuel Chapter 14, First Samuel Chapter 14. And look, when we go on mission trips, we eat, don't we, Brother Perry? We go to the Bahamas. Oh, good food. And I hope you guys will join us on a mission trip someday, because not only is it just a great spiritual experience, not only will you see tons of people save and your life will be changed by going to a mission trip, let me tell you, but you also will have a ton of fun, carnally speaking. And guess what? There's nothing wrong with that. People want to act like this hyper spiritual life. You can't have any fun as a Christian. No, God wants us to have some fun. He just wants us to work hard, too. Verse twenty five, it says, And they and all they of the land came to a wood and there was honey upon the ground. And when the people were come into the wood, behold, the honey dropped. But no man put his hand to his mouth for the people feared the oath. Now, my first admonition was kind of to leaders saying, look, you don't need to make these decisions that aren't expedient for your followers. You should be considerate of them. You should be leading for their benefit. But now let me address those of you who are a follower and likely everyone in here is a follower of someone. Here's the thing. The people here actually did the right thing. Whether you agree with Saul's decision or not, he is the one in charge. He's the one with the authority. And these people made the godly decision to fear the oath that Saul gave them. And I just think that people need to learn this truth is that in life, you just need to get used to dealing with difficult people and not allow dealing with a difficult person to cause you to just lose your mind, to cause you to start to complain, to cause you to start to be rebellious, to allow someone just because they're difficult now cause you to sin on top of that. You know, rather, you should just say, hey, whatever this person's in charge, this person has to account to God or this person has to account to their boss or whatever. And I'm just going to obey what the authority says because it's the right thing to do. And we live in a nation that glorifies rebellion, partly because of our past when we rebelled against the British. But here's the thing. Look, rebellion is not a good thing. Rebellion is a sin. And even if you disagree with the leader's decision, with the rule, even if it's a weird rule, even if it's over the top, it is still your duty to obey. Go to First Peter chapter number two, First Peter chapter number two. You see, obedience is not doing what your leader wants when you also want to do it. That is called being friends. That is called being a companion. That is called having the same idea. Obedience is when you disagree, when you dislike your leader's decision, when you say, hey, I don't see it that way. Hey, I think this is kind of a little bit over the top. And you still obey with a good attitude. Obedience is not, well, I'll do what you say, but I'll give you dirty looks for the rest of the month or whatever. I'll do what you say, but I'll murmur and complain and backstab and rail and gossip, but I'll obey. That's not obedience. No, obedience is these people just said, hey, they feared the oath. I'm sure they didn't like it. I'm sure that honey looks really good. There's nothing wrong with honey. Honey is not sinful. Why can't they just eat the honey? But their leader said no and they feared the oath. They did the right thing. 1 Peter 2, verse 13 says, Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake, whether it be to the king as supreme or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of them that do well. You know, the Bible teaches that when the government is not telling us to sin, we must obey them. And look, that could be kind of hard to do sometimes, because couldn't I give you a list that could fill this room with things that we disagree with the government on? Doesn't the government do things all the time that are unwise, not expedient decisions, things that we would look at and say, I disagree. This is not a good idea. Yet does the Bible tell us to obey or not? Look at what it lists there. It says the king as supreme in our land. We could look at that as being kind of like the president. Then it says or unto governors. Right. We've got state governors. Then it says as unto them that are sent by him. Right. This could be like cops today. And it says, what are they for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of them that do well. Verse 15. For so is the will of God that with well-doing you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men. Why does the Bible say that by obeying the government, we're putting to silence the ignorance of foolish men? Well, because during Jesus's day, you had a bunch of foolish people accusing Jesus falsely of trying to overthrow the government, not paying taxes, being a troublemaker. And so there's a lot of people that want to throw that accusation against Christians. And by obeying the government and the things that we can, we're putting to silence the ignorance of those foolish people. Verse number 16 says as free and not using your liberty for a cloak of maliciousness. But as the servants of God, honor all men, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king. Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward. So notice the Bible doesn't say, hey, just obey your leader when he's nice, when he deals kindly with you, when he makes good decisions, when he's really smart, when he makes lots of money, when he's succeeding. No, the Bible just says obey no matter what, even if they're froward, even if they are just antagonistic, even if they yell and scream at you, even if they don't like you at times in regards to your boss or something like that, even if they're making bad decisions, even if they tell you you're not allowed to eat food until we've destroyed all the enemy, even then the Bible says to submit, to obey. Why? Verse 19, for this is thank worthy if a man for conscience toward God endured grief, suffering wrongfully. For what glory is it if when you be buffeted for your faults, you shall take it patiently. But if when you do well and suffer for it, you take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. And here's the thing. If you actually are in the right in a situation where your leader is wrong, but you obey anyways, you know what you're doing is you're getting favor with God. God is looking down from heaven and he's saying, look at this guy at work who is being yelled at by his boss for something he didn't do, who is just being treated poorly. His boss is making bad decisions. You know what? And look at him taking it patiently, looking at him still calling his boss, sir. Look at him still obey the commands that his boss says. Then God's favor will actually be on your life. Conversely, you could be in the right, but you start being rebellious against your boss. You start back talking to him. You start disrespecting him. Whereas God could have looked down from heaven and seen, hey, this person's in the right. I'm going to bless them. Now you're both wrong. Now you went from God's potential to bless you to now God looking down from heaven saying, well, you know what? You're just going to get buffeted for your faults now because now you're the one in sin by being disobedient to authority. And so, look, just get this idea in your head. You're going to deal with difficult people all your life. I hope it's not the person you're married to. But listen, ladies, if it is, deal with that difficult guy till the day you die. Obey him until the day you die. Look, you're going to deal with people at work that are just difficult and unreasonable and froward. Just deal with it and have the mentality that you're obeying because of God. You're thinking of Jesus Christ. You're thinking of the Bible. And you're going to be a good testimony and a good worker for God's sake. Not necessarily for this froward man. Same thing for the government. It's not that we just love the government. We just love these politicians. But when it's something that we could obey biblically, they're not telling us to sin. You know, we need to do that and be a good citizen, be a model citizen for the testimony of God. Go back to 1 Samuel 14. 1 Samuel chapter 14. So the people, they saw the honey. They didn't eat it. They obeyed their leader. Verse 27. But Jonathan heard not when his father charged the people with the oath. Wherefore, he put forth the end of the rod that was in his hand and dipped it in honeycomb and put his hand to his mouth. And his eyes were enlightened. So, of course, Jonathan didn't hear his dad come up with this rule. So he does what all these people would have normally done without this rule. He sees the honey. He goes to it and he starts eating it. And the Bible says that when he did this, his eyes were enlightened. Now, I don't know if anyone else experiences this, but do you ever work out super hard or run super, super hard? And you start to literally get a little bit blurry vision. Can you raise your hand to be. Am I not crazy? All right. I was about to say, do I need to see a doctor or something? OK. Few other people have experienced that. If you work out really, really hard, especially if you have not had the right nutrition. Sometimes when you're done with a workout, you can literally have a little bit blurry vision and it could take a while to get back to normal. And in high school, I dealt with this big time when I was a teenager. For some reason, I would get super dizzy after like every workout has gotten better as an adult. But here, Jonathan, I mean, he probably just got done with a serious workout. He's climbing up the rocks. Right. He's slaying all these people and he's faint. He's tired. He sees the honey. He wants to eat it. He eats it. And his eyes were enlightened. OK. And to me, this made me immediately think about reading the Bible. Go to Psalm Chapter 19, Psalm Chapter 19. Think about it. He's out working hard. He's fighting the battles of the Lord. He's destroying the enemy. He's doing what's right. And then what does he do? He goes to the honey to get rejuvenated and to have his eyes enlightened. Look at Psalm 19, verse seven. The Bible says the law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Lord is pure. Notice enlightening the eyes. What is one of the effects of reading the Bible is that your eyes would be enlightened. And of course, this isn't saying physically like when you have blurry vision and you could see. But spiritually, when we go through this world, even those of us that are saved, we have the flesh in our flesh comes with fleshly ideas, fleshly thoughts, sinful thoughts. And what we need is to go to the perfect law of the Lord that could convert the soul, that could enlighten the eyes. And sometimes, I mean, doesn't this happen to you guys? You're reading the Bible and there's all of a sudden something clicks for you. The light bulb comes on. God illuminates something for you. You could see clearly, right? That's what the word of God does for you. Beyond that, notice what it says in verse nine. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold. Yea, then much fine gold sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Isn't that an interesting story? How Jonathan, his visions blurry, he's tired. But what does he get? He gets the honey from the honeycomb and his eyes are enlightened. You know, we need to remind ourselves that when we're going through life, we're living the Christian life. We're fighting the good fight of faith. Look, there's going to be times where you're going to be weary or you're going to be tired. And the harder you work, the more you do for God. You know, the more likely that you're going to feel like that from time to time. The apostle Paul talked about how he labored more abundantly than they all. You know, there had to have been times in the apostle Paul's life where he probably could have just fallen asleep standing up. Right. I mean, sometimes you feel like that, but you know what you need is you need to go to the honey. You need to take your rod and dip that honey and put it to your mouth and your eyes will be enlightened. You'll be rejuvenated. It'll give you strength and sustenance to go forward in life. And that's why it's so weird that Saul prevented his people from doing this, because look at the effect it had on Jonathan. It had a positive effect on him. Right. You know, why would Saul have wanted to keep that from his people? It makes no sense whatsoever. Go to, if you would, First Samuel 14, verse number 28. Then it says, Then answered one of the people and said, Thy father straightly charged the people with an oath, saying, Cursed be the man that eateth any food this day. And the people were faint. By the way, this proves that cursing is not saying four letter words. Right. Saul is promising some sort of evil to be done unto them if they eat. You know, Saul's not saying, Don't you bleep and eat any bleep and honey, you bleep and bleepers. That's not what what Saul is doing. OK, but you hear this in a lot of Baptist churches that every time the Bible says curse, that means you're cussing. You know, when Peter denied Christ, he started cussing up a storm. No, he didn't. He was saying things like, I swear to God, I don't know him. Let me be accursed if I actually know Jesus Christ. He's saying stuff like that when he's swearing and cursing. OK, so Saul's not up here dropping an F bomb fest over here. He's just saying like, hey, bad stuff is coming your way if you're going to eat any food. That's what it means to be cursed. Verse 29 says, Then said Jonathan, My father hath troubled the land. See, I pray you, how mine eyes have been enlightened because I tasted a little of this honey. How much more if happily the people had eaten freely today of the spoil of their enemies, which they found. For had there not been now a much greater slaughter among the Philistines. Now, here's the thing. Logically speaking, I agree with Jonathan here. He makes sense. But we know that this is not an appropriate way to talk about your leader, to talk about someone that is your authority that's in charge. So even though maybe Jonathan was right in his facts, he's still wrong for how he handled it and how you treat your authority matters to God. It does. Go to Ephesians, chapter number six, Ephesians chapter number six. You know, hey, I get it. I get it, Jonathan. Makes sense. Yeah, your eyes are enlightened. Yeah, the people are tired. They've been fighting. They deserve this. But what right do you have to start blowing your mouth off against not only your king, but your father? It's like doubly disrespectful. Jonathan being his son to go around saying, oh, my father's troubled the land. Hey, that's not an appropriate thing to say about your dad. Look at what the Bible says. Ephesians six, verse one. Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Then it says, honor thy father and mother, which is the first commandment with promise that it may be well with thee and thou mayest live long on the earth. And in one context, we know that the word honor in the Bible often denotes taking care of someone financially. That is absolutely valid. But it also can apply meaning respect. The Bible teaches that children are to respect their fathers and their mothers. You know, children should not be mocking their parents. Children should not be back talking their parents. And by the way, if your parents are wrong about something, children, that doesn't give you an excuse to rub it in their face, to blast it to other people. Even if your parents sin, even if your parents make a bad decision, you know, it's not OK for you to get up and just start blasting them. Start crap talking them. That is wrong because the Bible says to honor your father and mother. So Jonathan here, not only should he honor the king like we saw in another scripture of this sermon, the Bible also says to honor your father and mother. So he's messing up in two areas here. Look, you can be right in your facts, but still be wrong in the eyes of God. And, you know, I would just rather I would just rather suffer wrong, be done wrong in my eyes. But God looked down from heaven and say, hey, I'm still pleased with him, though. I'm still on Dylan's side rather than, well, my authority was wrong and I made sure that they knew it. And I made sure that I told everyone about it and I made sure I made a big deal about it in front of everyone. God's not going to be on my side if I do that. You know, that is not humility. That is not being obedient. Go back to First Samuel 14, First Samuel Chapter 14. And, you know, this this is a skill in life as well, is learning how to respectfully disagree with authority without blasting them, without talking crap about them, without saying my boss has troubled the company this day. Don't go to your co-workers and never say that. That's a bad idea. You know, my husband has troubled our household this day. Don't say that. Oh, my parents, they've really troubled us. Don't say that. It's disrespectful. Verse 31. And they smote the Philistines that day from Michmash to Eijalon, and the people were very faint. Hey, they obeyed. They did what he said. They didn't eat. But notice the negative effect that it had on his people. And again, we've got to be thinking about as leaders, hey, what is going to be the ramifications on the people that I'm leading with the decisions that I make? That's something we all have to think about. Verse 32 says, and the people flew upon the spoil and took sheep and oxen and calves and slew them on the ground. And the people did eat them with the blood. So think about this. Saul withheld from them something good, honey. Saul did not allow them just to eat normal food. So they're going out and they're fighting a second battle, basically completely starved. And they get kind of barbaric here. And now they start eating with the blood, which is a sin. And so Saul's over the top standards, over the top leadership style. He actually drove his people from they would have just eaten normal food and probably been good to now. They're kind of like losing their minds from hunger. And they go from nothing all the way to eating the blood. This is kind of like children that grow up in the household of false prophets where the Mormons will just have these insane rules that are not in the Bible. You know, like thou shalt not drink caffeine. I knew a lot of Mormons growing up. They were not allowed to drink caffeine. And I would make fun of them for it all the time. And we one time had two Mormon missionaries come to our church at Sure Foundation Baptist Church in their uniform and pass it on. I said, like, yeah, you can come as long as you just sit down, be quiet and don't try to teach anyone anything. And I said, hey, can I get you guys some coffee? You know, I knew I knew. But here's the thing. A lot of times these kids, they grow up in just like this over the top strict environment, not rules from the Bible. Look, I'm for strict rules according to God's rules. Right. But they just go over, over the top. And, you know, you often see those Mormon teenagers do the second they get out of their parents' house. Like, I'm not talking it's an anomaly. I'm talking like ninety nine out of one hundred Mormon kids. They just completely go off the deep end into fornication, into getting tattoos, into drinking alcohol, into doing drugs. I mean, they all, it seems like, go down this dark road. And it makes me wonder, is it because they were just living under these weird oppressive rules their whole life? And they just like have to, you know, go try stuff, which kids don't go try stuff. It's not worth it. You know, and I hope parents do have rules according to the Bible. And it's OK to have rules beyond that, too. But I would just caution you, though, I would caution you not to go too extreme with that kind of stuff, because you see what happened here. All of a sudden they went from nothing all the way to eating with the blood. Stay there. Leviticus 727 says, Whatsoever soul it be that eateth any manner of blood, even that soul shall be cut off from his people. That's a big deal. You know, God's saying you're off, you're out of the congregation, you're out of the nation. You're gonna be cut off from the people of God if you eat the blood. Saul's entire army just did that, you know. Verse 33 says, Then they told Saul, saying, Behold, the people sin against the Lord in that they eat with the blood. And he said, Ye have transgressed. Roll a great stone unto me this day. And Saul said, Disperse yourselves among the people and say unto them, Bring me hither every man his ox and every man his sheep, and slay them here and eat, and sin not against the Lord in eating with the blood. And all the people brought every man his ox with him that night and slew them there. So now he kind of sees like, OK, look, look what happened here. Hey, stop. You don't need to sin and eating with the blood. Bring your ox into me. We'll kill them. You could eat it. We'll do this the right way. But, you know, he should have thought about this before he made his rash decision of his weird rule. It says, verse 35, And Saul built an altar unto the Lord. The same was the first altar that he built unto the Lord. And Saul said, Let us go down after the Philistines by night and spoil them until the morning light. And let us not leave a man of them. And they said, Do whatsoever seemeth good unto thee. So, look, they still have a good attitude, still following their leader, even though he had a weird rule. He had a weird rule. Then said the priest, Let us draw near hither to God. Which, of course, that's always a good idea to involve God before you go to battle, before you do anything major in your life. It's good to draw near to the Lord. Make sure before you make some big decision in your life that you're right with God, that you're walking with him, that you're close with him so that you can make a good decision. Verse 37 says, And Saul asked counsel of God, Shall I go down after the Philistines? Wilt thou deliver them into the hand of Israel? But he answered him not that day. Go to Psalm 66. So we see Saul. He wants to go in. He wants to finish these people off. He wants to leave not a man of them, the Bible says. But he says, Hey, let's go to God. They go to God. But when Saul asks the Lord, Should he do this? Should he pursue them? The Bible says God is quiet. God did not answer him. And I think there's a specific reason for this. Psalm 66, verse 18. The Bible says this. If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. Remember a few chapters ago, Saul was confronted by Samuel for doing the sacrifices when it wasn't his authority to do so. Right. He was presumptuous. He took authority that wasn't his. That was the priest job only, not the king. And when he was corrected on it, you never see him take ownership. You never see him just simply apologize. You never see him praying to God, asking for forgiveness. It just kind of like the Bible just says, like he got confronted on it. And then the story just keeps moving. And I would assume that Saul just never dealt with this issue with God. He never got right with the Lord. He never apologized to God. It just seems like this happened and he kind of left it undealt with. Here's the problem with leaving sin in your life undealt with is that when you regard iniquity in your heart, the Bible says the Lord will not hear you. And so here's Saul wanting to go to a big battle, even maybe having his heart in the right place, wanting to do the Lord's work to destroy the enemies of God. Yet God is not listening to him. God is not hearing his prayer, is not answering his prayer because he has regarded iniquity in his heart. And, you know, that's a serious reminder. We just talked about prayer on Sunday. And, you know, I hope you realize what a blessing prayer is and how powerful it is in our life. And how would you like God to just never hear your prayers for God to just not be listening to you, to not have his ear hearken unto you? Well, just continue to regard iniquity in your heart. And that's exactly what's going to happen. Go to verse 38 of 1 Samuel 14. 1 Samuel 14, verse 38. And Saul said, Draw ye near hither all the chief of the people, and know and see wherein this sin hath been this day. For as the Lord liveth, which saith Israel, though it be in Jonathan my son, he shall surely die. But there was not a man among all the people that answered him. Now, here I think that Saul is being a giant hypocrite because here he is in his life. He had a serious big sin by being presumptuous and doing the sacrifice. And he never dealt with it. He never dealt with it. He never apologized. He never thanked Samuel for correcting him. Nothing. We see no response from him. But now someone else has sinned. Someone else has eaten when they were told not to. And he's ready to literally kill them. He's not thinking about the fact that he has a beam in his eye. Someone ate honey. And he's saying, even if it's my son, Jonathan, you know what? He needs to die. He's ready to kill someone for a rule that's not even in the Bible, for his own standard. This makes me think of the Pharisees that Jesus dealt with. Go to Matthew chapter number 23, Matthew chapter number 23. And again, we're reading this story with hindsight. We're seeing the big picture. Obviously, we're, you know, looking at Saul's mistakes. And I'm not saying, you know, when you're under a leader that you should be, you know, criticizing them like this. But we're just talking about this because God even shows us bad leadership so that we can learn from in the future. Matthew, 23, verse one says this, then spake Jesus to the multitude and to his disciples, saying the scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses's seat. All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe that observe and do. But do not ye after their works for they say and do not. For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be born and lay them on men's shoulders. But they themselves will not move them with one of their little fingers. You know what hypocrites like to do is they like to lay heavy burdens on other people. They like to lay heavy burdens on their followers that they themselves do not follow. This is every false religion in the world. OK. This is your Catholic Church that tells the clergy that they have to be celibate, that they can get married and enjoy that relationship. Meanwhile, all the higher ups in the Catholic Church are constantly getting busted for what? These type of sexual sins all the time. What are they doing? They're laying heavy burdens on people, but they are not touching them with one of their little fingers. You've got a bunch of Catholic priests today that are literal pedophiles, right? But they're telling their parishioners, make sure you fast at this time and at this time and for this holiday. Make sure you put the cross ash on your forehead. You know, make sure that you're abstaining from something that you like on whatever stupid Catholic holiday. I can't remember what it's called right now. Does anyone know? Yeah, exactly. You know, when I went to school, there's all these Catholics and when they had to fast, it's not even that they fasted from food. They like just fasted from something they liked, like video games, you know. But it's just ridiculous because the Catholic Church is just laying all these burdens on people. But the people running the Catholic Church aren't living godly lives. The people running the Catholic Church are way more wicked than all of their followers. A lot of Catholics are just genuine, sincere people that are just lost, that just need the honey to enlighten their eyes a little bit. But the people running the Catholic Church are all Satan-filled reprobates. Some of the worst people on this earth are Catholic priests, popes, cardinals. These people are wicked as hell. And just like the Pharisees, they want to lay all these heavy burdens on people, but they won't touch them with one of their little finger. I mean, not the Torah, the Talmud is so long. Most people who have even studied the Talmud have never read the whole thing. It's just nothing but the Jews laying grievous burdens on people that they themselves don't follow. I've told this story. You know how I know this? Because one time I was on an airplane with a rabbi and it was near Christmas. And so I was already a little perturbed that a Jew was near me on Christmas when he hates Jesus Christ. OK, just saying this is just how I felt. OK, and I'm just thinking, like, what does a Jewish rabbi do on an airplane? So I'm just kind of watching him. He's like right in front of me. I could see his phone. And you know what the Jewish rabbi is doing on the airplane? He's on an adult Web site watching adult content in public with other people around him. Why? Because he's a hypocrite. That's why. Because he wants to walk around acting like he's some godly person. Oh, I'm a rabbi. I you know, I follow the Bible. I follow these standards. You don't lift them with one little finger, because let me tell you something. Someone that would do that in public, someone that has so little shame that they would do that in public. Can you even imagine what they do in private? I wouldn't want to imagine it. But what I'm telling you is that these people that go over the top, laying heavy burdens on people. Oh, you can't turn on a light switch on the Sabbath. Yeah. Is the same guy doing that on the airplane? And I confronted him after the flight. I said, hey, Rabbi, are you a man of God? He's like, yeah. I was like, well, why are you doing this? And he's just like. He just darted into the bathroom at the airport because I busted him. False prophet who's going to split hell wide open. Go to 1 Samuel 14, verse 39. While you're turning there, Matthew 15, 8 says, This people draw nigh unto me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. And, you know, Saul, he is saved, but he's kind of got a Pharisee spirit going on here where he's got this giant beam in his eye. He's sinned greatly against God. He never dealt with it. He never apologized. But he's ready to literally kill someone else that sinned, someone else that made a mistake. Don't you think the right response for Saul would be to look at himself and say, you know what? I messed up pretty greatly recently. Maybe we could just let this go and eat some dang honey. Just eat, army. Enjoy. But no, he wants to be a Pharisee about it. Verse 39, For as the Lord liveth, which saith Israel, though it be in Jonathan my son, he shall surely die. But there was not a man among all the people that answered him. Everyone's quiet when he says this, and they know. Then said unto all Israel, Be ye on one side, and I and Jonathan my son will be on the other side. And the people said unto Saul, Do what seemeth good unto thee. Therefore, Saul said unto the Lord God of Israel, Give a perfect lot. And Saul and Jonathan were taken, but the people escaped. And Saul said, Cast lots between me and Jonathan my son. And Jonathan was taken. So now Saul's put himself in a really bad situation here, because Saul has made an oath to God that he is going to kill whoever it is that ate some food, even if it was Jonathan, his son. Well, guess what, Saul? It is your son. So now Saul has put himself in a no win situation. You say, what should Saul do in this situation? Because we know it's a sin to break your oath, but you know what also is a sin? Murder. Go to Ecclesiastes chapter five, Ecclesiastes chapter five. Saul can do nothing that would not be a sin in this situation. Whatever decision he makes, it is it's bad. Look at Ecclesiastes five verse four. When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it, for he hath no pleasure in fools. Pay that thou that which thou hast vowed. Better is it that thou shouldest not vow than that thou shouldest vow and not pay. You know, the Bible demands that when you make a vow to God, you must follow through with that vow. It makes me think of the story with Jephthah where he's saying like, hey, whatever comes through the door, I'm going to sacrifice it to God. And then what happens is his daughter comes through that door. Right. And so it teaches us we have to be super very, very careful when it comes to making vows like this because God expects us to fulfill our vows. And it is a serious big deal when we break our vows. You could stay there or you go back to First Samuel 14. I'll read for you Numbers 32. The Bible says, If a man vow a vow unto the Lord or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth. So over and over again in the Bible, the Book of Psalms teaches the same thing. You know, God expects us to keep our vows. But Saul, he keeps doing this. He keeps being a very hasty person, someone that just flippantly makes decisions. You know, he he just does the sacrifice when it's not time. He just makes about whoever this is, even if it's Jonathan, I'm going to kill him. Then it becomes Jonathan. You know, it's a bad trait in a leader when they're just so hasty to make decisions, when they're so indecisive in the decisions that they make or they're constantly just having egg on their face. They're constantly having to backtrack the things that they do. They're constantly just like posting stuff, deleting it, posting stuff and deleting it. It's like, what is wrong with you? There's something seriously wrong with you. It's like, no, it's Jonathan, my son. I'm going to kill this guy. Oh, crap. Delete. It's just like, dude, what is wrong with you? Verse 43. Then Saul said, Jonathan, tell me what thou has done. And Jonathan told him and said, I did. But taste a little honey with the end of the rod that was in my hand and lo, I must die. And Saul answered, God do so and more also for thou shalt surely die, Jonathan. So Saul's trying to save face. He's trying to be like, yeah, I'm a leader. I'm tough. I made a decision. I'm going to stick with it. I'm going to kill my own son. Either way, whatever he does, it's going to be a sin. It's going to be terrible. And no matter what he does, he's going to lose credibility as a leader. Because when you suck as a leader, let me just explain something to you. You lose credibility. When you suck at making decisions, when you suck at following the commandments of God, when you just constantly are backtracking, when you're not decisive, you are going to lose credibility. Because guess what? If he performs his oath, people would be like, you just killed your son. What's wrong with you? You just murdered your son. Or if he doesn't, then it's, well, Saul's not a man of his word. He says things that he doesn't mean. He's a paper tiger. He doesn't actually have any rules. He doesn't actually have any authority. And so this is why we have to be careful with our mouth. This is why we have to be careful with the decisions that we make, because you can get into a situation like Saul where it's a no win situation. But look at verse 45. It says, And the people said unto Saul, Shall Jonathan die, who hath wrought this great salvation in Israel? God forbid, as the Lord liveth, there shall not one hair of his head fall to the ground. For he hath wrought with God this day. So the people rescue Jonathan that he died not. You know, all throughout this story, we've seen the army being super loyal to Saul, being obedient, not eating the food, not talking bad about him. He says, go fight the enemy. They do it. They obey everything that he says. But there comes to a point where they're like, hey, don't kill your own son. And here's the thing. You should follow your pastor, but you shouldn't follow your pastor off a cliff. When your pastor is going off a cliff, you might need to say something when it gets the point. It's like, yeah, yeah. I'm thinking about killing my own son. No, this is a bad idea. You know, there can get to a point where the pastor is sinning so egregiously or just leading in such a terrible direction that you know what? The people can't really stand behind that anymore. And I'm all for people being loyal. I preach this all the time. But you know what? When you're under a king, Saul. There could be a point where that ceases to be the case. What verse were we on here? Verse number forty six. Then Saul went up from following the Philistines and the Philistines went to their own place. So Saul stopped fighting. Verse forty seven. So Saul took the kingdom over Israel. And then this is kind of just summing up his kingdom in general and fought against all his enemies on every side, against Moab and against the children of Ammon, against Edom, against the kings of Zobah and against the Philistines. And whithersoever he turned himself, he vexed them. And he gathered in host and smote the Amalekites and delivered Israel out of the hands of them that spoiled them. Now the sons of Saul were Jonathan and Neshuai and Melchashua. The names of his two daughters were these, the name of the firstborn Merab and the name of the younger Michal. And the name of Saul's wife was Ahinoam, the daughter of Ahimaaz. And the name of the captain of his host was Abner, the son of Nur, Saul's uncle. And Kish was the father of Saul and Nur, the father of Abner, was the son of Abiel. And there was sore war against the Philistines all the days of Saul. And when Saul saw any strong man or any valiant man, he took him unto him. Like I said at the beginning of this chapter, you know, some of this story can be a little bit difficult to understand. But I think that when you come to stories like this, you find clear statements elsewhere in the Bible to help you interpret the story. You know, don't ever just come out with your doctrine based on a story or on a parable. You always want to come away with your doctrine from clear statements in the Bible. But in conclusion tonight, you know, ask ask yourself this question. If you're a leader in this room, ask yourself, you know, am I using my authority? Am I using my influence to actually bless the people around me, to help the people around me, to lift up the people around me? Am I making the decisions that's best for them or am I trying to do what's just expedient for myself? Because that's one of the reasons why we see the downfall of Saul. And, you know, if you're a follower, ask yourself, how well do I obey my authority? How well do I respect my authority, even when I disagree? Obviously, you're not going to go off the cliff with them. But you know what? We should still obey authority. Let's pray. Lord, thank you for this day. Thank you for this chapter. Just pray that you would continue to bless the remainder of this study through 1 Samuel and bless those traveling this weekend. Pastor Shelley and Pastor Thompson, I just pray that we would have a great weekend of serving you and of having fun together, Lord. We love you and thank you for all that you do for us. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. That will go ahead and sing one last song to conclude the service. If you would take a hymnal and turn to hymn number 374. Send the light. Hymn number 374. Hymn 374. We'll start there right on the first. There's a call comes ringing o'er the restless waves Send the light, send the light There are souls to rescue, there are souls to save Send the light, send the light Send the light, the blessed gospel light Let it shine from shore to shore Send the light, the blessed gospel light Let it shine forevermore We have heard the Macedonian call today Send the light, send the light And a golden offering at the cross we lay Send the light, send the light Send the light, the blessed gospel light Let it shine from shore to shore Send the light, the blessed gospel light Let it shine forevermore Let us pray that grace may everywhere be proud Send the light, send the light And the Christ-like spirit everywhere be proud Send the light, send the light Send the light, the blessed gospel light Let it shine from shore to shore Send the light, the blessed gospel light Let it shine forevermore Let us not grow weary in the work of love Send the light, send the light Let us gather jewels for the crown above Send the light, send the light Send the light, the blessed gospel light Let it shine from shore to shore Send the light, the blessed gospel light Let it shine forevermore