"Saul at the Psychic Fair"

This has been automatically generated, and therefore may contain some unintended inaccuracies.

The reading this morning is one Samuel 28, page 300. And we'll be starting to read from verse three. One Samuel 28, verse three. Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had mourned for him and buried him in his own town of Rama. Saul had expelled the mediums and spiritists from the land.

The Philistines assembled and came and set up camp at Shumneim, while Saul gathered all Israel and set up a camp at Gilboa. When Saul saw the Philistine army, he was afraid. Terror filled his heart. He inquired of the Lord, but the Lord did not answer him by dreams or Urim or prophets. Saul then said to his attendants: Find me a woman who is a medium so I may go and inquire of her.

There is one in Endor, they said. So Saul disguised himself, putting on other clothes, and at night he and two men went to the woman. Consult a spirit for me, he said, and bring up for me the one I name. But the woman said to him, surely you know what Saul has done. He has cut off the mediums and spiritists from the land.

Why have you set a trap for my life to bring about my death? Saul swore to her by the Lord. As surely as the Lord lives, you will not be punished for this. Then the woman asked, whom shall I bring up for you? Bring up Samuel, he said.

When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out at the top of her voice and said to Saul, why have you deceived me? You are Saul. The king said to her, don't be afraid. What do you see? The woman said, I see a ghostly figure coming up out of the earth.

What does he look like? He asked. An old man wearing a robe is coming up, she said. Then Saul knew it was Samuel, and he bowed down and prostrated himself with his face to the ground. Samuel said to Saul, why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?

I am in great distress, Saul said. The Philistines are fighting against me and God has departed from me. He no longer answers me either by prophets or by dreams. So I've called on you to tell me what to do. Samuel said, Why do you consult me, now that the Lord has departed from you and become your enemy?

The Lord has done what he predicted through me. The Lord has torn the kingdom out of your hands and given it to one of your neighbors, to David. Because you did not obey me or carry out the fierce wrath against the Amalekites, The Lord has done this to you today. The Lord will deliver both Israel and you into the hands of the Philistines and tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. The Lord will also give the army of Israel into the hand of the Philistines.

Immediately, Saul fell full length on the ground, filled with fear because of Samuel's words. His strength was gone he he for he'd eaten nothing at all that day and all that night. When the woman saw Saul and saw that he was greatly shaken, she said, look, your servant has obeyed you. I took my life into my hands and did what you told me to do. Now please listen to your servants and let me give you some food so that you may eat and have your strength to go on your way.

He refused and said, I will not eat. But as men joined the woman in urging him and he listened to them, he got up from the ground and sat on the couch. The woman had a fattened calf at her house which she butchered at once. She took some flour, kneaded it and baked bread without yeast. Then she set it before Saul and his men and they ate.

The same night, got up and left. Please keep that passage open, page 300, easy to remember. Thanks John for reading it. Thanks Geraint for leading, and thank you, the music group, for leading us, in our songs. Let's pray together.

Father, we know what it is to not see, and we've been reminded this morning that you see. Father, give us eyes that we don't naturally have to see your word clearly. Help us act on it. Help us learn what you are revealing to us and not be the same as we leave here as we came here. And would that bring you glory?

We pray. Amen. Have you ever fallen asleep at the wheel? Maybe you wouldn't be here if you had. There's a major warning today in this passage, think, and it can be summed up by do not fall asleep at the wheel.

We were traveling to France. It had been a long time since we had a holiday. I just finished a week of holiday kids club, and I had the bright idea, taking full responsibility here, folks, to book the tunnel on a Friday night. So we finished the holiday club, we packed the car, we headed to the Euro Tunnel. Because in my bright thinking, if we got through to France, we were on holiday, and then we could probably get beyond Paris before I needed to sleep.

Smart. As long as I could stay awake and drive through the night to get beyond Paris, which I couldn't. We were saved by the cat's eyes and the bumps on the side of the road, Joanna pleading with me to take a break, have a sleep, share the driving, and think of the journey as part of the holiday, Gareth. Smart lady. We got there eventually, and it was blisteringly hot, and we met some friends that way.

But that's another story. Are you ready for a list of major disasters linked to people falling asleep on duty? These all happened during the nineteen eighties, but apparently, people have fallen asleep in other decades as well. So here we go. Exxon Valdez oil spill.

Don't fall asleep in charge of a super tanker. A super tanker struck a reef in Alaska, spilling 11,000,000 gallons of crude oil. The National Safety sorry, the National Transportation Safety Board, sorry if that's your job, investigation concluded that the third mate, who was left alone at the helm, was severely sleep deprived and likely fell asleep after a twenty two hour shift. You think you work hard. Aeroflot, flight three three five two crashed in 1984.

An airliner crashed into a maintenance vehicle on a runway in Omsk, Russia, killing a 170 eight people. The ground air traffic controller had fallen asleep on duty due to severe exhaustion and failed to warn the incoming traffic about the workers on the strip, a 172 people. Chernobyl 1986, the catastrophic explosion at the Ukrainian nuclear facility occurred at 01:23AM. Multiple plant engineers and shift workers were operating under severe sleep deprivation having logged continuous shifts of thirteen hours or more, which drastically impaired their critical decision making abilities. It kept going.

Space shuttle Challenger explosion in 1986. Although a mechanical failure caused the physical breakup, the presidential commission explicitly noted that severe sleep deprivation clouded executive judgment, and that was a major human catalyst to the disaster. Key NASA managers and engineers had obtained only two hours of sleep the night before due to a launch delay and had been on duty since one in the morning. Bofal gas tragedy nineteen eighty four, a deadly pesticide plant leak in India occurred during a late night shift. Investigators highlighted that severe operator fatigue common among night shift personnel, led to slow response to early warning signs of the chemical reaction.

You've come to church today to hear, don't fall asleep at work. Don't fall asleep at the wheel, but what about us? And what has this got to do with Saul? You see, Saul operates as an anti type in the story. So the the major learning today is don't be like Saul.

That's what we're meant to learn. However, as I thought about that more, unless we identify with ways that we can be like Saul, we're unlikely to learn from him. So if we dismiss Saul as the baddie in the character, in the story, we won't learn from him and we are in danger of falling asleep at the wheel. So think back to last week. David was making some weird decisions based on fear.

Flick back to one Samuel 27. Because of fear, he was impatient and didn't trust God's promises were going to be fulfilled in God's perfect timing. And it seems out of place for David. If we just go for that simple reading of the text that David's a goodie and Saul's a baddie, be like David, don't be like Saul, then it's just all too neat. David's a baddie at times, like last week.

Saul is complicated. We're gonna get into that, but let's start by recognizing that we're gonna look at Saul as a warning, but don't reject him as if there's nothing to learn from him. Look at the complexities. Look at the kaleidoscope of colors that the Bible gives us. That's like a preacher saying, please bear with me because the first point is very long.

Guess what, folks? The first point is very long. The danger of Saul. Don't fall asleep. Danger of Saul verses three to 15.

Look at verse three. There's a definite narrative shift. If we read verse two, David said, then you will see for yourself what your servant can do. Achish replied, very well, I'll make you my bodyguard for life. That concludes the section about David, and we've got a definite new start in verse three.

Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had mourned for him and buried him in his own town of Ramah. Saul had expelled the mediums and spiritists from the land. The focus shifts back onto Saul. He's in battle mode again, facing the same old enemy. Look at verse four, the Philistines assembled and came up and set up camp at Shuman, while Saul gathered all Israel and set up camp at Gilboa.

We've been here before. Come on. Verse five, when Saul saw the Philistine army, he was afraid. Terror filled his heart. He's in a very similar place to David last week.

He's experiencing fear as an emotion, and that fear is driving him, and it's driving him to make decisions. In fact, I'd go so far as to say fear is making decisions on his behalf. That doesn't mean he's not morally responsible for them, but fear is what's driving him. That's not an excuse. It's a description of where his heart and mind is, and we can be there as well.

Right? That's where it leads him. And and look look what he does, verse six. He inquired of the Lord, but the Lord did not answer him by dreams or Urim or prophets. I think that's terrifying.

He reaches out to God, but God is silent. Now, we need to slow down at this point, this is why the first point is quite long. We need to slow down at this point and notice because there's a great warning here. And we need to hear the warning, and it's not always a warning in the way that we might think. God is silent, but why?

Why is God silent? Have you ever experienced silence from God? You see, if we paint our experience of God's silence straight into the story here, we fail to understand the warning for us in Saul and fail to make sense of our own experiences. So let's backtrack and and see from Saul's point of view why is God silent here. Look again what the text says.

Saul prayed to God but God didn't answer. Saul had a normal means of grace. He could pray to God and God would normally answer. Look at how he'd normally answer, by dream or by sign or by prophet. They're the normal means of communication.

God speaks, Saul hears, or or take it into our context. God speaks, we hear, we should obey, and then. But for Saul, something's gone wrong. Saul now needs God. He's afraid, but God is silent.

Now the simplest way I can put this for Saul is for Saul, the time of grace has ended. Time's up. Look what Saul had. If you flick back to one Samuel 10, the Lord spoke to Saul through the prophet Samuel, and everything Samuel said came true. He's anointed king.

The text says God changed his heart and made him prophesy. We need to go back to the details. So one Samuel ten six to eight. I've put it on the PowerPoint, but you can flick back there as well. The spirit of the Lord will come powerfully upon you, and you will prophesy with them, and you will be changed into a different person.

Once these signs are fulfilled, do whatever your hand finds to do for God is with you. Go ahead of me to Gilgal, this is Samuel speaking. I will surely come down to you to sacrifice burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, but you must wait seven days until I come to you and tell you what you're about to do. Just look at the privilege here. God's power comes on him.

Look to at the call to obedience. So with God's privileges and powers comes the need to obey. With privilege comes responsibility, you could say. The king and the people are warned in Samuel's farewell speech. In one Samuel twelve twenty four to 25, again, I've put it on no.

I haven't. That's the next one. I'll go back. I haven't put this one on. Let me read one Samuel twelve twenty four to 25.

But be sure to fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. Consider what great things he's done for you. Yet if you persist in doing evil, both you and your king will perish. Notice the warning to the king, but also the warning and responsibility of the people. Now back to Saul.

We know that Saul, for little of the need to obey God's instructions, he didn't wait for Samuel. He made the sacrifice himself. Saul then covered it up making excuses when confronted by Samuel. It looked like he'd repented, but there was no real godly sorrow and no change of action. And the same cycle repeats.

In chapter 15, the Lord speaks to Saul through Samuel and tells him to wipe out the Amalekites. Saul says he's done it, and yet Samuel can hear the bleating of sheep behind him. Saul makes excuses, but then Samuel speaks. One Samuel fifteen twenty two to 23, Samuel replied, does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.

For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you've rejected the word of the Lord, he's rejected you as king. And Saul again looks like he's repented, but his actions tell the truth. Now this is something I didn't know until this week. We think there are between ten and fifteen years between one Samuel 15 and the scene that we've read today.

Just think of that. Ten to fifteen years for those words to sink in until today when time's up. One Samuel 28 is the last twenty four hours of Saul's life, but look how long he had. Look what privilege he had. Look what grace God afforded him.

God afforded him time. But one day, that time ran out. And you may well think, well, once God rejected him as king, he would felt like God didn't love him. Do you see how much time he had? Do you see that he was offered a relationship for those ten to fifteen years, even after his reign as king was prophesied to have ended?

Do you see the danger that Saul warns us of? We have the privilege of hearing God speak to us through scripture. We have the light of the glory of God revealed in his son Jesus. The word is the same to us. To obey is better than sacrifice.

But what do we do with that word? As you know, or many of you know, we've just enjoyed a family holiday, and there was something revealed to us on that holiday. When I say revealed, I mean it was blatantly obvious. It was made plain to us, perfectly obvious a number of times on the holiday. The Edwards clan are not good at getting places on time.

We arrived late, we left late, half of us missed sunrise at the Grand Canyon. Apparently, it happens every day. It doesn't matter if you get there or not. We can laugh at each other for it, which we did. We can play the game of who's late this time, which we did.

We can banter, but actually, it would be a different story on a different kind of holiday. Think about that problem on a cruise. We would be left on the dock. We would have barely spent three days on the cruise ship. Apparently, cruise ships don't flex like a family in a camper van.

Keeping 3,000 people waiting is a bit more serious than keeping five people waiting, apparently. There's a limit to the patience of a cruise ship, apparently. There's also a limit to my patience, but apparently, this is not the time for therapy. Romans one, more seriously, has a terrifying warning in it. Come with me to Romans one twenty one as Paul lays out the case for mankind who reject God.

Verse 21, for although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God, nor gave thanks to him. But their thinking became futile, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal human beings, birds, animals, and reptiles. Verse 24 is terrifying. Therefore, God gave them over to the sinful desires of their hearts, to sexual impurity, for the degrading of their bodies with one another.

They exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshiped and served created things rather than the creator who is forever praised. Amen. God gave them over. That's a terrifying thought. And I want to apply it carefully and clearly.

Firstly, to those who don't yet know Jesus, who've not asked for the forgiveness of their sins, and to walk in a relationship with Jesus. Don't presume the free offer of forgiveness in Christ will always be available. Repent today when you have the chance. Secondly though, for those who do follow Jesus and recognize there are aspects of their heart that are cold or aspects of their relationship with Christ that have become casual, Beware of falling asleep at the wheel. Don't let your heart grow cold.

Ask a friend to prod you into waking up. Heed the warning of Saul, and not enjoy an extended period of time to repent as if it will last forever. We know the Lord is gracious and compassionate. The warning here is that there's a limit to that grace and compassion. Back to the story, as we've got a lot to get through.

Back to one Samuel 28. What does God do in light of God's silence? Does he repent and ask for mercy? No. He finds a medium.

Now there's every warning here for Saul, and that's the point. I mean, she sounds like a character out of Lord of the Rings, doesn't she? The witch of Endor. That should have been enough of a warning. I prefer the other NIV translation, the witch of Endor.

You gotta say it in a West Country accent. It kinda just makes it better. The witch of Endor. The witch of Endor should have been warning enough, and and the passage is full of contrasts. There's light, there's darkness, there's life, there's death, there's evil, there's good.

He wants to hear from God, so he goes to the dead to try and hear. It's ludicrous, isn't it, to the point of comedy? And yet, such is sin when it gets its teeth into you. You don't know up from down, you don't know light from dark, you don't know life from death, and death is where Saul is heading. Now verse three has warned us that Saul has banished the mediums from the land.

In his better days of obedience, he he made wise and godly decisions, which he's now going against. Beware the warning of hypocrisy. I'm not saying don't be a hypocrite, you will be. But be warned by your hypocrisy, and use it to lead you to repentance. Someone calling you a hypocrite should get a thank you from you.

I'm trying to remember that as a father. They're trying to help me. They're trying to help me. They're trying to help me. Say thank you.

Don't steal. But dad, you just stole. Oh, thank you. Your hypocrisy should lead you to repentance. Don't ignore your hypocrisy.

But verse eight is another red light, isn't it? Saul runs straight through it. Look at it. So Saul disguised himself, putting on other clothes at night. He and two men went to the woman.

Consult a spirit for me, he said, and bring up for me the one I name. He's running to the dead, He's running through the red lights of his own rules, and he's running to this woman. And the woman's conscience is another warning to him in verse nine. Oh, I can't do that, the woman says, because king Saul has banned mediums. So verse 10, Saul runs through another red light, takes the Lord's name as a guarantee that he won't punish this woman, flies through another red light.

So somehow, the medium brings up Samuel. We'll skip the complicated questions that raises, but ask me about them at the end. Saul finally gets to hear the words from Samuel that are the words from the Lord that are the ones that were no different to the ones he heard earlier. But look where he is in verse 14. Then Saul knew it was Samuel, and he bowed down and prostrated himself with his face to the ground.

The one who was a head taller and chosen as he's impressive as a king is flat on his face before a woman who claims to speak to the dead, but is being used by God as the Lord's servant. The one who was meant to lead God's people is on the ground, and the one who sides with evil is being used as God's mouthpiece. It's a big moment. It it really is. And yet, everything that Samuel proclaims has already been said.

So I hope you see the tension here. God is gracious and merciful, but he's just. He doesn't obey rules like three strikes and you're out, but it's also not endless grace without limit. And there are two dangers that we need to be aware of in Saul. Here they are.

One is thinking there's no hope. If God was patient with Saul, he'll be patient with us. See how patient he is. If there was a limit with Saul, there's gonna be a limit to the grace God shows us. Where's that limit?

Well, look at the righteousness of God. That's our second point. The righteousness of God. What are we to make of this moment? Saul on the ground and Samuel speaking to him from beyond the grave.

We'll get there, but notice really importantly, there's no new information. You see, this isn't a moment of revelation. This is a courtroom scene. This is not the prosecution or the defense. It's not even the summing up at the end.

This is the judge offering his judgment. This is the judgment of a righteous God. It's time for judgment. What does Samuel say? Samuel said this, why do you consult me now that the Lord has departed from you and become your enemy?

The Lord has done what he predicted through me. The Lord has torn the kingdom out of your hands and given it to one of your neighbors, to David, because you did not obey the Lord or carry out his fierce wrath against the Amalekites. The Lord has done this to you today. The Lord will deliver both Israel and you into the hands of the Philistines, and tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. The Lord will also give the army of Israel into the hands of the Philistines.

By the way, when I say there's no new information, obviously, what's gonna happen to Saul is new information, but the reasons that it's going to happen are not new information. Saul isn't called back to the Lord. He's had time to come back to the Lord. This time, the judgment is made. There's two things to focus on.

Why do you consult me now, Saul? You've had ten to fifteen years to come and say sorry, and yet you come now. And you're not even sure if you're sorry enough. Dear Mr. Edwards, thank you for your feedback on the cruise.

I'm so glad you enjoyed your first week with us. In answer to your question about why we left you on the quayside in Bergen, Norway, it was because you and your family were half an hour late. Mister Edwards, we make every effort to repeat the warning to passengers of the need to return to the ship in good time. You could have returned in any one of the five hours we were moored in the harbor, but you chose to return to the ship too late. This is your responsibility, mister Edwidge, not ours.

We hope you can buy a watch and use it next time. You are with us. Many thanks. Yours, Timely Limited Cruises. More seriously, Exodus 34 verse six.

And he passed in front of Moses proclaiming the Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands and forgiving wickedness, rebellion, and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished. He punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to third and fourth generation. Deuteronomy ten twelve to 13, and now Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God and walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul, and to observe the Lord's commands and decrees that I'm giving you today for your own good. Deuteronomy seventeen eighteen to 20.

When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law taken from that of the Levitical priest. It is to be with him and he is to read it all the days of his life, so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God, and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees, and not consider himself better than his fellow Israelites and turn from the Lord to the right or to the left, then he and his descendants will reign a long time over his kingdom in Israel. The Lord is gracious and compassionate. He is slow to anger. He is abounding in love.

Why now? Why not sooner in the ten to fifteen years? Was it ever genuine repentance, or is Saul just backed into a corner? And what should we do in response to the warning of Saul? Lord, I believe, Help my unbelief.

Lord, I repent. Help me to be fully repentant, to be genuine, and not leave any part of my heart unchecked. That's the first thing. Here's the second. God is just.

You see, king Saul had fallen short. He didn't obey. He didn't love like he was commanded. He didn't repent when his failings were shown. His time ran out.

And that's sobering, isn't it? What are we to make of it? How do we apply that to us? Well, first of all, if you know Jesus and claim to follow him, hear the warning from Saul. He thought he was okay.

He ignored the warnings and time ran out. Back to the tension. God is gracious and compassionate. But what's our attitude to that compassion? Look at Ephesians two, but because of his great love for us, God who is rich in mercy made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in our transgressions.

It's by grace you've been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus in order that the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you've been saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves. It's a gift from God, not by works so no one can boast. We're not too cold and dead to God's word and grace to us in Christ.

Then realize we could be rejected and dead like Saul, but because of God's mercy in Christ, we live. Because of his mercy in Christ, we cry, save me from my heart of stone, and give me a heart that hears your word and is thankful. Don't turn away from me as your right to do and your justice, and instead show me grace in Christ that I may show this grace and kindness to others. You see, Christians aren't better than other people, but they should be becoming better people as they reflect on grace. Christians are not better than other people, but they should be becoming better people as they reflect on his grace.

If you don't yet claim to follow Jesus. I hope that the spirit that was a gift to Saul at one time has entered you and is challenging you to consider God's justice and grace. You're in a church, a place of light, not of darkness. We have Christ, the word of God. You can hear God speak to you directly.

Please don't turn away from him. Turn to him in his grace. Come and speak to myself or Geraint after the service. We'd love to answer some questions you may have. But before the end, let's just briefly look at the grace of Christ.

So if Saul's a warning to not be complacent in the face of grace offered to us in Christ, what are we to do with the grace of Christ? On the one hand, we have the warning that God's patience can run out and the judgment in which God no longer hears or answers our call. On the other hand, there's the danger of a wrong fear of God, where we fear that every sin means we're beyond hope and treated like Saul. Are we just to hold those two intention and tip to our way through life with doubt? Well, no.

Look at the bit at the end of one Samuel 28. I think there are a couple of really great clues in here. Let's pick it up in verse 20. Immediately, Saul fell full length on the ground, filled with fear because of Samuel's words. His strength was gone, for he had eaten nothing all that day and night.

So Saul's face down on the ground, and the reversals keep coming. Look at verse 21. When the woman came to Saul and saw that he was greatly shaken, she said, look, your servant has obeyed you. I took my life in your hands and did what you told me to do. Now please listen to your servant, and let me give you some food so that you may eat and have strength to go on your way.

The tall king is prostrate on the floor, previously before God and his servant Samuel. But now Samuel's gone, and he's prostrate before a woman in weakness due not to eating. This true tall king has truly fallen from his lofty place to a very humble estate. And see how the woman refers to herself as a servant. She's before the king, but more than that, the writer's emphasizing Saul's low place, and the woman stooping to show him kindness.

And Saul doesn't wanna eat, but eventually he's convinced. Look what he's provided with. Verse 24, the woman had a fattened calf at the house, which she slaughtered at once. She took some flour, kneaded it, and baked bread without yeast. Then she set it before Saul and his men, and they ate.

And that same night, they got up and left. The woman had a fatted calf. She gives her very best to this man who gave her nothing but trouble. It's a remarkable reversal. She bakes unleavened bread and kills a fattened calf.

Now, we can read too much into these things, but then we can also read not enough into them. Can I tentatively suggest two places that this reminds me of? Firstly, the fattened calf in Luke 15. The lost son deserves nothing. He returns home from wandering far from his father.

Just when you think he might have exceeded his father's patience, the grace has run out. The son comes to his senses and returns to the father. The father girds up his loins and runs to greet the son. He throws a party and kills the fattened calf. It's a picture of God's grace to us in Christ.

It's an invitation for us, the lost son, to repent of our sin, return to the father, and receive his grace in Christ. And it seems to fit with the warning of this passage. Warning, don't be like Saul, but at the end, you can receive grace and a fattened calf. The baking of the unleavened bread reminds me of Exodus chapter 12. This is Exodus chapter 12 verses seven to eight.

For they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the door frames of the houses where they eat the lambs. That same night, they're to eat the meat roasted over the fire along with bitter herbs and bread made without yeast. What are we to make of that? Well, hear the warning of Saul. Don't be casual about God speaking to you.

Hear and obey. Be fast to repent and return. Keep your heart in check. But consider the righteous justice of God. You and I deserve what Saul received.

We're no better than Saul. See the grace of God in the provision of Christ. We are the lost son who gets the chance to return. Saul ate, went on his way, and was dead within twenty four hours. Sorry to spoil the story.

The night before his death, Jesus ate the Passover. He had unleavened bread, and twenty four hours later, Christ died in our place. We now eat the transformed Passover supper by gracious provision. It's not the meal of death for us, but it's the meal of celebration. We call it the Lord's Supper.

We remember that Jesus' death on the cross provides us with the righteous life we don't deserve. We have a king on the floor at the end of this chapter. It's a symbol of the death that he's about to die, but our king Jesus took the death that we deserve so that we can live to his praise and glory. What are we to do then if we experience silence from God? Well, we cry out to him.

And what if he still seems silent? Well, Saul experienced that as judgment, but we may think that judgment, but know this, if you're a child of God, it will never be judgment. He will never be silent because of judgment on you if you turn to him because that judgment has been poured on Christ. He's just, but the anger that we deserve has been turned on Christ. There can be times when we think he's silent because of his wrath, but for the Christian, there's no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

If you're unsure, come and speak to me about that. If you're unsure where you are in relation to Christ, come and speak to me about that. The time for grace for Saul has ended, but the time of grace for you and me has not ended. If you do not know Christ, you still have time, But heed the warning of Saul, you don't know how much time you have. If you're already a Christian, live under his grace.

Be warned not to presume on that grace. Don't use it as a liberty to sin, but instead know that due to the death of Christ, you can live free from the punishment for sin. And that should motivate you to live thankfully. Grace should motivate holiness. We're about to sing these words, I think.

Rock of ages cleft for me. Let me hide myself in thee. Let the water and the blood from thy riven side which flowed. Be of sin the double cure. Save me from its guilt and power.

Nothing in my hands I bring, simply to thy cross I cling. Naked, come to thee for dress. Helpless, look for thee for grace. Foul eye to the fountain fly. Wash me savior or I die.

Let's let Ephesians two have the last words and then we'll pray. But because of his great love for us, God who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions. It's by grace you've been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus. In order that in the coming ages, he might show the incomparable riches of his grace expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

For it is by grace you've been saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it's the gift of God, not by works, so no one can boast. Let's pray. Father God, thank you that you speak even today. Give us ears to hear, we pray. Where we've been ignoring your word, please, in your grace, give us ears to hear it again.

Where we've been slow to obey, Lord, quicken us by your spirit and make us more willing to obey. Thank you that your justice and mercy meet in the person of the Lord Jesus. Thank you that your wrath is satisfied by his righteous death on the cross. Thank you that we can know freedom from the effects of our sin by his substitution in our place. Please rest us in your grace, but help us not drift into sleeping at the wheel.

That all glory may go to you, Lord Jesus. Amen.