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SUNDAY SERVICES – 8:30am & 10:30am

A Heart for God

The Lord Saves

Scripture: 1 Samuel 11

I. God saves you when there is no one else who can save you.

A.  Back in 1 Samuel 8:20 the people of Israel told Samuel they wanted a king who would go out before them and fight their battles. Now Saul is going to fight his first battle as king. Nahash the Ammonite puts the Israelite city of Jabesh-Gilead under siege. Nahash wanted to humiliate Israel for losing in battle to him so he threated to remove the right eye of every Israelite (vs. 2). The people of Jabesh-Gilead were humiliated, desperate, hopeless. They needed to be saved from their plight, but it looked like there was no one who could save them.

B.  But there was one slim piece of hope that the people of Jabesh-Gilead could cling to. We see that hope in vs. 4. Some of the messengers from Jabesh-Gilead went to Saul for help. And that’s when we remember, “Oh, yeah. Israel now has a king, a king that God himself has chosen to lead Israel. Maybe this God-chosen king could do something to save the people. It sure looks like the people have no hope. But maybe God can save them through their king.” God wanted to give Jabesh-Gilead a story to tell others about how He had saved them when no one else could.

II. God saves you when the Holy Spirit empowers you.

A.  After King Saul hears the news about the desperate situation of the people vs. 6 says: “And the Spirit of God rushed upon Saul when he heard these words, and his anger was greatly kindled.” The Holy Spirit fills and empowers Saul, and Saul completely changes. He is no longer the shy and hesitant farmer. He is the decisive and powerful king of Israel. Verse 11 says, “they struck down the Ammonites until the heat of the day. And those who survived were scattered, so that no two of them were left together.” This was a complete victory for King Saul and Israel.

B.  Does this victory and this salvation happen without the Holy Spirit empowering Saul? Absolutely not! The writer of 1 Samuel is saying, “Salvation for Israel did not come because Israel had a king. Salvation for Israel came because the king had God’s Holy Spirit.” John 15:5: “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” We can do nothing without Jesus. And Jesus has given us His Holy Spirit to empower us to live for Him. The Spirit saves us.

III. God saves you for a loving relationship with Him.

A.  After this great victory, Samuel says that Israel should come together and renew the kingdom (vs. 14). What did he mean by that? If you’re talking about renewing something, often that implies that something has deteriorated. I think the focus of vs. 15 is not so much on Saul. The focus is on the phrase “before the LORD.” Samuel wanted the people to renew their allegiance to the rule of the LORD as their king. Israel’s relationship to the LORD had deteriorated over a period of several years in the days of the Judges. Samuel wanted to call the people back to having a true heart for God with God as their king. We need to regularly renew our vows with Jesus. And this is what Jesus called us to do in Matthew 6:33: “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

Application:
Don’t leave church this morning without renewing your vows with God.

Sources:
The book of 1 Samuel
Commentaries on 1 Samuel by Dale Davis and Robert Bergen

Sermon Discussion Questions

1) When and why do you feel like you are in a hopeless situation as a Christian? How does Jesus’ life, death, resurrection and ascension to the throne encourage you? 

2) Can you live the Christian life without the power of the Holy Spirit? Do you regularly ask for the Holy Spirit’s filling in your life?

3) If I need to repent today in order to renew my vows to God, is there any reason for me not to do so right now?