God's faithfulness even in our unfaithfulness

Good morning, One Hope. How are you? How are y'all doing? Hope you're doing well. Uh my name is Ronnie, as Stephen said. I'm one of the elders here at the church along with Derek in the back who preached a couple of weeks ago and Stephen, our pastor. You'll see up him up here the most, but I'll fill in every once in a while. But uh again, I if you don't know me, uh I work with a missionary sending agency here in Charlotte. So we have about 430 missionaries in about 50 countries that we support. And our family, Heather and I, we spent uh many years in Thailand as missionaries, but moved back about 10 years ago to the Charlotte area to work out of the home office. Uh and I say that because the organization that we work with is called Mesa Global. And so we've been around since 1946, so a little while. Uh but over the last several years, we've been going through this major transition. Uh and so we have merged with a couple of other smaller missionary sending agencies. Latin America mission which primarily worked in lat Latin America and overseas council who worked with theological education institutes, seminaries and bible colleges all over the world. So we were these three loosely connected organizations uh that have been trying to assimilate uh together. And so we decided a couple of years ago in June to uh have a new name and to come up under a new name. And so we were known for many years as United World Mission, but now Mesa Global. And these three entities now are under one name uh with one central governance. Most of our executive leadership team is here in Charlotte now with a few remote uh but also with one central focus. And so it's not exactly the same this morning in our text, but it's similar. We have this major transition that Israel is going through. They're coming out of the period of uh what we call the judges, which is Samuel. As we look in our text today, 1st Samuel 12, you'll see Samuel is the last of the judges. And then we'll see a guy named Saul who is the first of the kings. So this major transition in Israel's history from the period of the judges to the period of the monarchy, the kings. So uh let's read 1st Samuel 12 1 and 2. And you might not even pick up on this in these verses. That's what's happening. This major transition says, "As Samuel said to all Israel, behold, I have obeyed your voice and all that you have said to me and have made a king over you." So you see this transition, this new king coming in. And now, behold, the king walks before you, and I am old and gray. Samuel's on his way out as a judge, as the last judge. And behold, my sons are with you. I have walked before you from my youth until this day. So again, we uh see this transition happening. And it's helpful because in this book, you'll see the first 12 chapters talks a lot about these judges named Eli and Samuel. But after this chapter, and so we'll see it in real real time today in chapter 12 again. This this is called Samuel's farewell address to the nation of Israel. And then after this chapter, we'll see the monarch of the kings spoken more of Saul and David. Uh but the period of the judges was this period. So this is Samuel. The last of the judges was this period of time that Israel had just entered the land Canaan, the the promised land, and they were trying to figure what life looked out uh looked like when they settled there, when God led them there. And so he would often raise up when there was uh periods of chaos and they needed to be defended from their enemies, God would raise up these leaders leaders called judges and they would help defend and protect and lead the uh 12 tribes of Israel. So these loosely connected tribes of Israel in the land. And now we uh see that we're entering out of that period of time of the judges. Samuel being the last. It lasted about 325 years in Israel's history from 1375 to 1050 BC. And now we have the kings coming in this new period of time from this loosely connected 12 tribes of Israel where there's no centralized government, no centralized place of worship, no standing army. And now we're entering into this period of the monarchy where there would be a centralized government uh a centralized uh focus of Israel, a centralized place of worship and a standing army that they could trust in. And again, this is helpful as for a couple of reasons. Uh it just helps us to see uh the book of Samuel and where we are in Israel's history. So it kind of places us in on the timeline in history of Israel's history. It also helps us to see this is uh Samuel the last judge his farewell address to the nation of Israel. This is what he wants to say as he as he goes out. And then also we'll see in the following verses that Samuel wants to encourage Israel in this transition. He wants to remind them of something and we'll see that in the verses coming up. Uh so let me pray for us as we before we jump in and ask God to be with us. Father, we do commit this time to you that you your spirit would lead us to open our eyes and our hearts to your word and what you would have to say to us. God, we uh give you I give you my words today and I pray God that you would again help us to see what we see see what we need to see and hear what we need to hear today. And so we pray these things in Jesus name. Amen. Uh so as we jump in, we see in these first few verses, I'll read uh 1st Samuel 12 2-5. And this is a summary of Samuel's life in leadership. And he and he summarizes this in a few questions. So, it's going to be brief, but Samuel wants us to know uh the summary of his life and leadership as he's the last of the judges going out before the first of the kings. This is what it says. And now, behold, the king walks before you. And I am old and gray. And behold, my sons are with you. I have walked before you from my youth until this day. Here I am. testify against me before the Lord and before his anointed. And these are the series of questions kind of summarizes his leadership. Whose ox have I taken? Or whose donkey have I taken? Or whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed? Or from who whose hand have I taken a bribe to blind my eyes with it? Testify against me and our will restore it to you. They said, "You have not defrauded us or oppressed us or taken anything from any man's hand." And he said to them, "The Lord is witness against you and his anointed is witness this day that you have not found anything in my hand." And they said, "He is witness." So again, the summary of Samuel's life and leadership, he's asking the question, uh, what leader have I been to you? What type of leader have I taken from you? Have I taken your property, ox and donkey? Have I taken from your reputation? Have I defrauded you? Have I taken from your freedoms? Have I oppressed you? Have I taken money from you? Have I been corrupt in my dealings with you? And Samuel uh wants to know sincerely because he says, "If I have uh tell me and I will restore it to you." But we see the people's response. We see that they responded that no, you you have been faithful. That Samuel has been faithful in his leadership to Israel in this last period of the judges and that he hasn't taken from him but but he's given to them. And so the the people are witnesses to this. And you see that in these verses that his anointed is witness to this day. that not only the people of Israel are witnesses to Samuel's faithfulness, we see the Lord is witness as well. That the Lord has seen Samuel's life and leadership in this last period of the judges and found him faithful as well. So Samuel spends a few verses briefly in this introduction about his faithfulness and God being a witness to him. But I think he's just setting up the heart of the text and the heart of the passage where in these next few verses uh Samuel was uh wanting he's switching the narrative from his faithfulness and the Lord being witness to the Lord's faithfulness and Samuel being a witness to his faithful faithfulness throughout Israel's history. So he's switching the narrative. He's setting it up, talking about his faithfulness to get to the heart of the text, God's faithfulness. And Samuel wants to be a witness to that. So, we read the Lord's faithfulness. Read uh verses 7 through13. So, this is a long passage, but just listen to this passage. It's talking about God's faithfulness to Israel throughout their past through the different eras and periods of Israel's history. Samuel wants to testify to the Lord's faithfulness. Now therefore, stand still that I may plead with you before the Lord concerning all the righteous deeds of the Lord that he performed for you and for your father. So he's going to talk about all the way back to the forefathers to the patriarchs, but also to the present, to you as well. When Jacob went into Egypt and the Egyptians oppressed them, then your fathers cried out to the Lord. And the Lord said, "Moses and Aaron, who brought your fathers out of Egypt and made them dwell in this place," uh, and we'll skip nine and 10, jump down to 11. We'll come back to 9 and 10 in a little bit. 11. And the Lord sent Jerob and Barack and Jeepa and Samuel and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side, and you lived in safety. And when you saw that Nahash the king of the Ammonites came against you, which we talked about last week when Stephen preached, so we're talking about the present now. You said to me, "No, but a king shall reign over us. When the Lord your God has your king uh was your king, and now behold the king whom you have chosen for whom you have asked. Behold, the Lord has set a king over you." So we see Samuel testifying to the Lord's faithfulness throughout the history of Israel. And so all the way back to he invokes the name he he recites the name Jacob. So this in Israel's memory would uh brought back the the Abrahamic covenant. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the patriarchs of the nation of Israel. And so when he mentions Jacob and E uh in Egypt here, the Jewish pe people would have remembered the stories they've heard about the Abrahamic covenant, the promise that God had given to the nation of Israel that he would make them into a great nation and and he would bless that nation and bless those who bless it and curse those who cursed it. They would have remembered how God multiplied the the the nation of Israel under the Joseph in Egypt. He was second in command to the Pharaoh. And they would have remembered that they multiplied. God blessed them under Joseph to where I think when they came out of Egypt they had a million people including children and all. So he multiplied them. He they would have remembered the stories. And then when he he talks about Moses and Aaron when they brought them out of Egypt, the miracles that God did, if you remember the plague, the 10 plagues that he did to Pharaoh, the miracles that released the the Israelite people from Egypt and on their way in the Red Sea, the miracle of the Red Sea, God's great power of parting the Red Sea and allow allowing the Israelite people to escape from Egypt. and then the times in the desert where God would provide it for them with food and water. So they would have remembered his faithfulness in these times. So Samuel is reminding them God is faithful in the times of the patriarchs. And even when we go to verse 11, we see uh and it's back. Sorry. Sorry. And the Lord sent Jerubel and Barack and Jeepa and Samuel and delivered you out of the out of the hand of your enemies on every side. And this is the period. So the periods of the patriarch patriarchs, God was faithful to the periods of the judges. We just spoke about that. But God raised up these judges, these leaders in Israel's history. This was after they had entered. God let them out of Egypt and into the promised land. And now in the promised land, God was being faithful by raising up these leaders called judges. And he, you can read through the book of Judges if you want to in this week. And it talks about these uh major and minor judges that God raised up to lead Israel to protect Israel to watch after them to exercise judicial authority when they needed it and spiritual and moral authority o over their enemies too. Phil the Philistines, the Medidianites, the Moabites, the Ammonites. But they would have remembered as these as Samuel spoke these names, they would have remembered the stories of how God delivered them and was faithful to them through the period of the judges. And even to this day, it talks about in verse 12 and 13. And when you saw the Na uh that Nahash the king of the Ammonites, this was in the last chapter of that the king of the Ammonites came, if you were here last week, Stephen talked about this uh and tried to conquer Israel. They were about to conquer Israel. Said we're going to we'll spare your lives and but we're going to gouge out your right eyes. Uh and what did God do even to the present day in this transition to the monarch monarchy? God's spirit came upon Saul, came upon the people of Israel and led them to victory. And that's the last verse of the last chapter that they were led out in victory to the present day. So Samuel is reminding the people of Israel in his farewell address that God is faithful. The Lord is faithful and he has been throughout your history. From the history to the patriarchs to the era of the judges to present day monarchy era, God is faithful. And I often, you know, you know, when I think about God's faithfulness, he he he not only highlights the Lord's faithfulness in these verses, but he also highlights something else. He he highlights Israel's unfaithfulness. So this contrast in this chapter, you see God's faithfulness throughout Israel's history, but you'll see Israel's consistently constant unfaithfulness to the Lord in response to that. Uh verses 10 and uh 9 and 10, but they forgot the Lord. So you verses 8, we saw God's great deeds of faithfulness, and this is their response. But they forgot the Lord their God, and he sold them into the hand of Cicora, commander of the army of Hazar, into the hand of the Philistines, into the hand of the king of Moab, and they fought against them. And they cried out to the Lord and said, "We have sinned because we have forsaken the Lord and have served Baal's and Astrath. But now deliver us out of the hands of our enemies that we may serve you." So you see not only God's faithfulness, you see Israel's unfaithful faithfulness that they time and time again throughout their history forgot the Lord. Over time, they begin to forget the miraculous deeds of God, the uh mighty power that he delivered them out of the hands of their enemies in different cir uh circumstances. He forgot his laws and his promises and they turned to their own ways. And when they forgot, what does it say? Forgetting lead leads to uh forsaking. They began to forsake God. forgetting what he had done for them and now forsaking and turning and serving other gods, idols, bales, it says, and the asteroth. So they turned away from God, forgotten, forsaken, and then began to worship other idols and serve them. And this was through the patriarchs and the judges as well throughout their history and even to this day. verse 17. It's not on here, but I'll read it to you. It says, "Even to the present day in this transition to the monarchy." Uh, it is not wheat harvest today. And this is Samuel's address. He's talking to the people of Israel. I will call upon the Lord that he may send thunder and rain and you shall know and see that your wickedness is great which you have done in the sight of the Lord in asking for yourselves a king. So even to the present day they have forgot God and forsook him and rejected him as king. They had God. God was protecting them, but they, as Stephen has taught us over the past couple of weeks and Derek as well, is that they wanted a human king. They wanted to be like the other nations around them. So they rejected God as their king and asked for a human king. So we see and this rejection re leads to rebellion as well. So you see in Israel uh in Israel's history their unfaithfulness as a response to God's faithfulness, their rejection, their rebellion, their forgetting, their forsaking. And you see this contrast that Samuel wants us to see between God's faithfulness to Israel and Israel's unfaithfulness to God. And I do often when I read these stories in the Old Testament, I I often get frustrated because I see God's faithfulness. to read God's faithfulness and how he's delivered time and time again Israel from their enemies and provided for them and done these great miracles and then their rebellion over and over again and rejection and then but then I'm reminded in my own life that God's been so faith in my history God's been faithful to me over and over and over again in so many ways in our family's life But my response often times is like Israel's forget and forsake and reject and rebel. But thank goodness that Samuel doesn't leave us in the text there in Israel's unfaithfulness. He goes on to say, and this is the the key idea, I believe, of the text, and if you don't hear anything else from me today, this is what I want you to hear and take away, that the Lord's faithfulness is greater than Israel's unfaithfulness. So, that's what Samuel wants to encourage in his farewell address to the Israelites, that look at your history. God's faithfulness has always been greater than your unfaithfulness. uh verses 19- 22. And all the people said to Samuel, "Pray for your servants to the Lord your God that we may not die. For we have added to all our sins this evil." So they they they're confessing their sins. They address their sin. For we have added to our sins this evil to ask for ourselves a king. And Samuel said to the people, "Do not be afraid. You have done all this evil." Yes. Yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart, and do not turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty. For the Lord will not forsake his people for his great name's sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you a people for himself. Even though God's people may for forsake him, God will not forsake them, his faithfulness is greater than their unfaithfulness. You see this time and time again throughout Israel's history. And Israel is only to the place they are right now because of God's faithfulness. through their rejection, despite their rejection and rebellion, in spite of their forgetting and forsaking, God continues to be faithful to them and lead them. You just think about it. If it was left up to our faithfulness to God, where would we be? Where would the hope be? But but if it does depend on God's faithfulness, we have all the hope we need. Because in these verses we see it's for his name's sake, not ours. It's for his pleasure and our good. And so God remains faithful to his covenant promises to his people. Despite their unfaithfulness, God's invit in invitation remains the same to the people of Israel time and time again. It says in verse 20, "And Samuel said to the people,"Do not be afraid. Even though you have sinned against the Lord in your unfaithfulness, don't be afraid. You have done all this evil." Yes, he acknowledges and is aware of the evil and sin sinfulness and unfaithfulness. Yet do not turn aside from following the Lord and serve him with all your heart. So his invitation is always the same in in our unfaithful unfaithfulness is to turn from self from idols from self leadership self-sufficiency self-focus to turn away from our unfaithfulness to confess it and to turn towards him and his faithfulness to focus on his faithfulness to trust trust his faithfulness to believe that he will take care of us. And in the verses 14 and 24 as I wrap up, we see, you know, this is what he encourages Israel to do. If you will fear the Lord and serve him and obey his voice and not rebel against the commander of the Lord and if both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the Lord your God, it will be well. So again, God's invitation is to turn towards him to turn away from our sin and our unfaithfulness to his faithfulness. And in verse 24, only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. And I find it interesting in these verses, it says, "Fear the Lord." But in verse 20, it says, "Do not fear." So, it's this fear that I'll mention briefly is that the fear of the Lord, it depends on the context of what that means. But when it's coupled with fear the Lord, it's not a fear that drives you away from God, that scares you away. It's a fear that draws you in to God because of his awesome beauty, his awesome glory, his awesome majesty, because of who he is. It draws you to God, not away from him. So when he says, "Fear the Lord," just turn to him, receive him. I've heard this before. The only safe place from God is in God. And so we run to him and turn to him. And if they do this, God's faithfulness will follow them, help them, lead them, and bless them in this new period of the monarchy, the these kings. But ultimately we know that God's faithfulness is culminated in Jesus and his faithfulness to us when God sent his son ultimate sacrifice sinless life and his faithfulness conquered our unfaithfulness because Jesus was the fulfillment of the Abrahamic promise that he would bless all the nations. He was the fulfillment of the judge who would judge all the nations. He would be the ful fulfillment of the king and his kingdom will never end. Uh so as we close just bow a few moments to bow your head, close your eyes. I'm g lead us through a a time of reflection, a couple of minutes just to think of God's faithfulness in your own life through all the transitions, major and minor transitions of your life. Where are you now in transition in your season? And Samuel wants to remind you that God is faithful. Where have you been unfaithful recently to God? Rejected him, rebelled, forgot, forsook, and confess that. and to turn away from that unfaithfulness and to turn towards his faithfulness. Consider his faithfulness today, his grace and mercy and love and care and to fear him, to love him. And as verse 24 says, for consider what great things he has done for you in Jesus name. Amen.