Amen. Amen. Good evening, Central Park Baptist Church. Good evening to y'all. How we doing this evening? We're doing okay? Amen and amen. If you're able to rise, and only if you're able to rise, we would invite you to join us on hymn 444, hymn 444. I've got a mansion. Hymn 444, hymn 444, I've got a mansion. Amen, and then we'll have an opening word of prayer. I'm satisfied with just a cottage below But in that city where the ransom wheels shine, I want the gold mine, that silver line. I've got a mansion. just over the hilltop. And that bright land where we'll never grow old. As sun fades under, we'll never more wander. Second and third verse, second and third verse, back to back, here we go. Don't make me poor. I've got a mansion just over the hilltop in that bright land where we'll never grow old. And someday younger, we will never more wander. Heavenly Father, Lord, we're so excited, Father, that you are a God who keeps his promises, and Father, we are excited to know, Lord, that according to your word, that you've gone to prepare a place for us, Father, a place, Lord, that quite frankly, Lord, none of us deserve, Father, but because of your love, your mercy, and your grace upon us, Father, you have a place for those who have believed and trusted in you and we're so thankful for that. Lord, we just are thankful for tonight, Lord. Pray, Lord, that you be with the rest of the song and praise, and especially be with Pastor White as he brings forth the message for tonight. It is in the name of Jesus we pray. Amen and amen. Now on this next one, hymn 574. It's going to be hard to sit on this one, so I'm going to ask that you stand. I've got to look for a word, because I didn't bring my Bible to the front. Here we go. Got to get my word ready here. 574, hold the fort. Hold the fort till 574. Sing along. Hold my comrades. See the signal waving in the sky. Reinforcements now appearing. Victory is mine. Hold the fort. ♪ For I am coming, Jesus, sickness away the answer ♪ ♪ Away the answer, back to heaven, by thy grace we will ♪ ♪ See the mighty host advancing, saintly leading on ♪ ♪ Mighty men of round us far and wide ♪ The courage almost gone. Hold the fort, for I am coming. Jesus, it knows still. Awake, the answer, back to heaven. By thy grace, we will see the glorious day. Banner waving, hear the trumpet blow. With our leaders, may we triumph over every foe. Hold the fort, for I am coming. Jesus, it no sin. ♪ Awake the answer back to heaven ♪ ♪ By thy grace we will ♪ ♪ A fierce and long the battle rages ♪ ♪ But our help is near ♪ ♪ Onward put the great commander ♪ ♪ Cheer my comrades to rock, rock, rock ♪ ♪ For I am coming, Jesus, not soon ♪ Wait the answer back to heaven ♪ By thy grace we will Amen. At this time, you may be seated. Amen. Glad you're here to say amen. Amen. Amen. Well, if you have your, everybody got your bulletin? If you have your bulletin, let's look at those real quick. Please remember everything that's going on. Just Saturday this week is our soul wedding and we're gonna go back out and put some, we'll knock on some doors. I think the weather's supposed to be pretty decent Saturday morning, so we'll knock on some doors this week and hand out some more of the Easter door hangers. There's not many left. Probably a couple hundred out there. If you haven't handed all of the ones out that you have, you've got a couple of weeks. But I want us to try to get those out. And then next Sunday, the Sunday before Easter, if you have any left, if you'll bring them back, we'll come. And that following Saturday, when we go out knocking doors, we will put those out on the doors as we go knocking doors. So don't forget about that, all right? Also, a week from tomorrow, let me encourage you, the Metro Area Independent Baptist Fellowship, Preachers Fellowship will be here. I would encourage you to come. You'll enjoy it. If you like preaching, you'll like it. Even if you can just come for a little while, I'd encourage you to do that. If you come toward the end, you can stay for lunch. Amen? I mean, we all sit around, we'll eat lunch, fellowship a little bit after, it's usually around 12, around 1230 or so by the time we eat lunch, but we're gonna have some singing that morning and three preachers, my brother Luther White, he'll preach first, and then brother Griffin from Homeless No More Baptist Church is gonna preach second, and then brother Claude Sutton, pastor in Countryside Baptist Church in Mansfield will be here. He'll preach last, and if you've never heard him, you know, I've heard Brother Griffin preach. Well, I've heard all of them preach. It's been a long time since I've heard my brother preach, and I'm looking forward to that, so write that down. It starts at 9.30, and breakfast, continental breakfast at 8.30. If you'd like to come get some coffee and donuts or something, let me encourage you. Please just come, and you know, if you want to help with the food, see Miss White about that. She has a sign-up sheet, I think, for that as well, all right? One other announcement, and that's for our VBS. The VBS is gonna be the last full week of June. I think that is the, somebody has their clock, that's gonna be the 21st of June. Is that a Monday? 21st through the, 21st, 21st, I think that's like the 21st through the 24th, so write that down. And that's a Monday through, and we'll be back on that Friday. But if you'd like to go, first of all, this is a working week. Okay? We're not going to go and stay in the room. There'll be plenty of time to rest, but it's not a vacation. Amen? There'll be plenty of opportunity to work and do. And so, but I want to try to encourage our young people, first and foremost, to go. And the church, the 52 Club will take care of their way. But I'd like for them to go. It'd be a good opportunity for them not only to go and help on the mission trip with the Navajo Indian folks, but it'll just be a chance for them to come and be a part of VBS and help in those children's lives. So the teenagers, we've got a sign-up sheet out here for that. If you'd like to go, it's $300 a piece if there's two to a room. That's $300 for each person, double occupancy in a room. If you want to stay by yourself, it's $600. And then you have to take care of your own food because I've seen the way some folks eat. Amen. We go to all the finest dining restaurants. If you don't believe that, ask Brother Coy. We go to Taco Villa. Amen. We go to, what's the name of that hamburger place? Yeah, Lotta Burger. Amen. It's not bad. And then, I mean, there's Taco Bell. Amen. I mean, these are all four- and five-star restaurants. Are y'all with me? Say amen. Amen. But anyway, but we'll have to sign up sheet for that. But if you need any more information about that, just let me know. I'll be glad to answer that for you. But the sheet for sign up will be out there. But I want to encourage all of our teachers to go and help. I mean, there's a lot of folks. Everybody that usually goes, goes and works. And they work hard. It's busy during that week. But the fruit of the labor is out of this world, amen? And because the reward in heaven one day will be that you'll see some children that got saved in VBS. It'll be an awesome thing. So if you'd like to come be a part of that, Just sign up out here. If you have any more questions, let me know, all right? Now, anybody need a prayer sheet? Everybody have one? It's one of these. It looks like this. Got lots of names on there, all right? If you need one, raise your hand. All right. If you'll look there, there's a lot of folks on the help list there that need our prayers, but I want to encourage you to pray for Ms. Erica. She starts her treatments here. Did you get a hold of them, Ms. Erica? Okay, then they got everything set up for you? Good, amen. So pray for Ms. Erica as she starts that and that everything goes good. Also, I want to remember to pray for Carly as her due date's coming up in the next couple weeks. Two weeks? Yeah, so pray for her. John will be fine, amen? But pray for her, and of course there's other ladies on here that are also expecting Miss Cora, Miss Mallory's daughter, so keep her in your prayers too. Her due date is next week, isn't it? So keep her in your prayers. And then another special prayer for Brother Bob Martin. He's getting ready to go home. He's about done with his physical therapy. And he's just been extremely sick. So keep them in your prayers as well as the Big Nails have been sick. Pray for them. And then there's Miss John Marie. She's had the flu. So pray for her and her family. And so just others in the church. that we need to pray for. Pray for all of our visitors that were here Sunday. Had a good crowd of visitors, amen? No, we had a good crowd of visitors, amen? Amen, I thought that's what you was thinking, but listen, it's important that we really make our visitors know that we are thankful that they came. Amen, and from everything that I've, everyone that I've spoke to, they enjoyed the service Sunday, so pray this week that they come back And we let them know that we are glad that they came. I pray every day that God will send new folks. Amen. As long as there's people that are lost or unchurched, then our job is to reach them with the gospel. Amen. So come on, y'all. Y'all wake up now. But pray for all of our All of our visitors, pray for our day Sunday that the Lord will help us have another wonderful day and that God's blessing will be upon us when we see some folks get saved. Amen. So remember all of these on our prayer list. There's several, there's church needs, there's special needs as well. And our missionary of the week, continue to pray for them. Just pray for all of our folks this week in asking God's blessing upon them, okay? Well, let's go to Lord in prayer and we'll pray for these and remember again our offering as we go. Lord, I pray, God, that you'd be with us tonight. Thank you, Lord, for your goodness. Thank you, Father, for your grace, for your mercy. I'm thankful, Lord, for God that you gave you son Jesus Lord to come down the cross for our sin, but I'm thankful dear dear Lord that when you went away God you said it's expedient that I go away because Lord you said if I go not away the Comforter cannot come and Lord when you went away you dear Holy Spirit you came and you indwell Lord every believer and God I'm thankful for that but Lord I pray that we as believers today will not just be satisfied with you indwelling us Lord, but God that we will allow you to fill us. Lord, I pray, God, that we will empty ourselves of self and, God, that we will understand the importance of being filled with the Spirit of God, led of you, Lord. God, in every way, in every part of our life, God. And so, Lord, help us to die to self, as Paul said, Lord. And God, every day, and allow you to fill us, Lord, and use us for the cause of Christ here in this place. God, you've placed us here for a reason, Lord, and I pray, God, that we will find that reason, we'll find that plan for our life that you have for us, and we'll walk that path, Lord, and God, we'll do all things that would bring honor and glory to your holy name. Lord, I pray God tonight that you would be with these that we've mentioned, Lord, all of the folks that are on our list that have been sick, Lord. I lift them up in prayer. God, I pray for these ladies that are about to give birth. I pray God for them and their baby, Lord, that you would give them, God, a healthy baby and a healthy delivery, Lord. God, that everybody will be fine. And so, Lord, we just pray, God, that you'd be with them. Lord, I pray, God, for our fellowship next Thursday. God, we need you, Lord. And I pray for those preachers, God, that are coming that, Lord, that you'd give them the message, Lord, that you'd have them to preach. Father, I pray for Luther, Lord, that you'd be with him, give him liberty. Brother Scott Griffin, Father, that you'd be with him as well. And Brother Claude Sutton, God, that these pastors, Lord, preach a message, Lord, that would challenge us, God, and strengthen us, Lord, as well. God, please help us and watch over us. Be with our day Sunday, Lord, and pray, God, that you would again fill this place with people, fill this place with your spirit, and may we see souls saved and folks baptized and added to this church, and we'll give you praise for that. Lord, I pray for this offering that we're about to receive. I pray, God, that you'd bless the gift and the giver, and may everything that's given may be used for the furtherance of the cause of Christ in this place, because it's in the name of Jesus that I ask all these things. Amen. If you have an offering, you please come. Yeah. Yeah. Amen. Hey man, at this time, if you're able to rise, we'd like to sing a verse and a chorus of hymn 323, hymn 323, and then we ask that you please briefly greet each other and then prepare for tonight's Bible study. Hymn 323, hymn 323, Verily, Verily. We'll do a verse and a chorus and then you can greet each other, amen? Oh, what a Savior that He died for me. From condemnation, He has made me free. He that believeth on the Son, said He. Have everlasting life. Verily, verily, I say unto you, a verily, verily, message ever new. He that believeth on the Son is true. Have everlasting life. Amen. Please greet each other at this time. All right. 1 Samuel, Chapter 28. 1 Samuel, Chapter 28. I'm just going to read a couple of verses to get us going. In fact, let's just read the first two and then we'll get right into the lesson, all right? 1 Samuel chapter 28, we're going to talk about misery. Anybody know misery? Anybody pretty good friends with misery? Yeah. Anybody, you know, they kind of call it, you can call them your buddy a little bit every once in a while. Amen, good, all right. Well, I think we're all there. We all in the same boat, you know, rowing our boat ashore kind of thing. Matthew, or excuse me, 1 Samuel 28, found you, please say amen. And it came to pass in those days that the Philistines gathered their armies together for warfare to fight with Israel. And Achish said unto David, No doubt assuredly that thou shalt go out with me to battle thou and thy men. And David said to Achish, Surely, Thou shalt know what thy servant can do. And Achish said to David, Therefore will I make thee keeper of mine head forever. Let's go ahead and read a little more. Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had lamented him and buried him in Ramah, even in his own city. And Saul had put away those that had familiar spirits and the wizards out of the land. And the Philistines gathered themselves together and came and pitched in Shunem. And Saul gathered all Israel together, and they pitched in Gilboa. And when Saul saw the host of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart greatly trembled. And when Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets." Lord help us, God, as we... Come again together to study your word as we continue in the life of King David. There's some important things here, Lord, I think we need to see this evening. And so, Lord, I pray that, God, that you'd speak to our hearts, our thoughts. Lord, may we, for a few minutes, God, allow you a free reign in our thoughts. And I pray, God, that you'd rebuke Satan and all of his imps, Lord. And, God, I'll give you praise for it all because it's in Jesus' name, I pray. Amen. You may be seated. How many of you remember Perry Mason? Oh yeah, murder she wrote. Law and order, I like law and order. Well, they all have something in common, alright? Not just that they're mystery shows, but one of the things that they have in common is that if you come in on the show in the middle, You're going to have a hard time following. You follow me, say amen, right? I mean, you have to be there from the beginning because the entire plot has points and counterpoints that that you don't really understand unless you get in on the beginning of the program. Well, shows like this, if you think about it, like we just, we see this right here in the life of David and Saul. Because when you begin reading, if you come in on the middle of, in the middle of the book somewhere, then you're going to miss something. You just really can't understand what's going on. Because kind of like Perry Mason, you know, he goes through all this stuff, and then when you get to the courtroom, it all comes together. And then you finally say, oh, yeah, you know, I mean, you've seen shows on TV like that where you miss something, and then you think, oh, well, I didn't see that part. Well, it's the same way here with David and Saul. You find part of their story in one chapter, and then you find part of their story in another chapter, and then... And then you find some little bits and pieces in other chapters of the Bible. And then when it comes to the end, it all comes together. And then you kind of see the whole picture. Well, when you come here to 1 Samuel, there's two plot lines, and I want you to see this. And they come together to show us the entire story of the life of David and Saul. And when we come here to 1 Samuel, chapter 28, you find, first of all, you notice that David is in despair. And we talked a little bit about this last week. David has given up on Israel, and he has moved down into Philistia with his men. You remember, he got tired and he left and he took off. He turned his back on the truth and he has decided that God has no longer, or that God is no longer able to take care of him. Listen, I see people like this all the time. They turn their back on church. They turn their back on God. And they give up, and they think that God just does not, that it's just not worth it, it's just not working out, and they turn their back, and they go back off into the world. Listen, that's exactly a picture of what David has done here. He has turned his back on God, and he's decided that God cannot take care of him. Can I tell you, listen, God can take care of us everywhere, at any moment, at any time. Amen. Well, the result of David doing this is that he got involved in sin, kind of like today. You know, I mean, people, listen, if you walk out on God, it's not going to be a good thing. If you walk out on serving God, and listen, if you walk out on church, that's why it is so important. And I was thinking about this again today when I'm reading through my chronological Bible again, and I'm reading through, and I read as God used Gideon, you know, to win a great battle, and they tried to make him king, and he said, no, me and my family, we're not gonna do that. But God used him in a great way. But as soon as Gideon died, guess what happened? There goes Israel. They took off. Well, I began to read, and I went through my Bible, and I'll challenge you to do the same thing. How many times do you read in Scripture where when a judge died, the Bible says Israel did that which was right, or did evil in the sight of the Lord? And I began to think, why would they do that? I was talking to Brother Jeff about that today. He and I were talking, and I thought, listen, the Israelites knew who God was. They know what He's able to do. They know what He's capable of, and they see that they go off into captivity. God allowed them to go, one, into the slavery with the Philistines, and they begin to cry to God. Does that sound familiar? You know, when people, they walk out on God, and then what happens? They get in trouble. Well, the first thing that happens, they come back to church. And they start crying out to God. And everything goes good for a while, and things start going smooth, and the first thing they do is, oh man, good, everything's good. Lord, I mean, I'm good now. And they walk out, and God lets them go. And they go right back into bondage, they go right back into captivity, into the things of this world, and things start going bad again, and guess what happens? Next thing you know, you see them back in church. Oh, man, I hadn't seen you in a while. And if they were honest, they would say something like this. Well, while I was in church, God was really good to me, and God got me out of this mess, but I got out of church, and, man, I got away from God, and my life is just a wreck, so I'm back. Sounds like Israel, doesn't it? But then I said, you know, I don't know what it is in people that turns them that way. But now be careful because the Bible says, though by the grace of God, there go I. You know, and listen, but how can the Lord Jesus himself reign from Jerusalem for a thousand years and then the devil be loose for a short season and people still turn their back on him? I don't get that. At least I don't get it here. But you know what? That's exactly what they'll do. And we see David. He's turned his back on God. He gets involved in sin. And now listen, David's not the only one that has flaws. We all have them, right? Now let's go ahead and say amen. We all have flaws. Yeah. And David had his flaws. I mean, he had a tendency toward dishonesty. And when things didn't look good, he resorted to, not only to dishonesty, but to lies and deception. Think about it. You go back and read this. You remember, he had his wife, Michael, lie for him. He persuaded Jonathan to lie for him. David, in fact, he himself lied to the priest Abimelech. He lied to Achish the king. He even lied to Saul. So, as I thought about this, I thought, you know, the Bible says for us to lay aside every besetting sin. Well, it seems like lying was David's besetting sin. And so, it led him into an intolerable situation. into a situation where he's now living with the enemy, apart from Israel, and he's living down here with the Philistines. Now, first thing I want you to see is verse 1 and 2. We're going to start talking about David's misery, all right? Verse 1 and 2 says, And it came to pass in those days that the Philistines gathered their armies together for warfare to fight with Israel. And Achaz said unto David, Know thou assuredly that thou shalt go out with me to battle thou and thy men, And David said to Achish, surely thou shalt know what thy servant can do. And Achish said to David, therefore will I make thee keeper of mine head forever. Now, what's going on here? I want you to see this. David had thought, remember, he thought he had hidden himself down here in the Philistines or with them. And, you know, as I thought about that, I thought, how many Christians today are trying to blend in and hide in the world? I mean, they look like the world, act like the world, talk like the world. They go to the same places the world goes to. They do the same thing. Listen, God's not that way. He wants us to be separate. Remember, we learned about the Israelites when He separated them and put them off down here in Goshen. Remember? And God said, listen, I'm going to put them down here in Goshen, and all the plagues are going to come, and it's not going to bother them. Why? Because God wanted us to know that His people, His children, are separated from the people of the world. And He wanted us to see that through the Israelites when He put them off in Goshen. We need to be separated from the things of this world. So, here's David, he thinks he's hiding down with the Philistines, and now the king, King Achish, he offers him protection, and now he's expecting David to join forces with him. Look what it says. He says, And Achish said unto David, Know thou surely that thou shalt go with me to battle, thou and thy men. I mean, you know, at first you think, man, poor David. No, wait a minute, it's not poor David. He put himself there. He's one that made the circumstances that he's going through because of bad choices that he made. And by the way, if he refused, if he refuses to go fight with Achish, he's going to be in trouble. Right where he's at. In fact, he's going to be in trouble with Achish, but if he accepts Achish's request, then he's going to be in worse trouble with Israel because he's the future king. And you're noticing that the future king of Israel, now he's being asked to attack his own people. So he could either be a liar or he could be a traitor. And pretty much Achish is saying, pick. So, David is involved in deception and dishonesty, and now he's expected to join the enemy. And if you think about this, when we ask the world for help, at some point, you're going to have to pay. You're going to have to pay their price. A lot of people are praying the world's price today, and the world's price is pretty high. You remember, I think it was back in chapter 26, that David asked Achish for help, and now Achish is asking David for help in return. Listen, if you go off down in the world and do things in the world, pretty soon the world's going to want something back. We can see it right here. And notice that David is pretty vague in what he says to Achish. Chapter 28, verse 2, it says, And if you really think about it, David is kind of, to me, he's kind of muttering. Achish says, And it's like David is standing over here, and he's going, You follow me? You know what I'm capable of. But I think Achish hears him. Oh, yeah. Yeah, I know what you can do. You can go fight for me. In fact, David, he says, since I know what you can do, he said, I'm going to make you my personal bodyguard. That's what it says in verse 2. Therefore, will I make thee keeper of my head forever. David, man, yeah, I know what you're capable of, you know, man, you got my back and, you know, you got my back, I've got your back, it's going to be good. Well, it's hard at this point when you think what David is, what he has just said, it's hard to imagine what's going through his mind. He is digging a hole. He's digging a hole deeper than what he is able to get out of on his own. He is being expected to attack his own people. In fact, not only that, but he is going to be marching right out in front of the Philistine army where everybody in Israel can see him. You understand that that's what the world does to a Christian? Listen, when a child of God gets out of the will of God, do you understand that the world will put them right out in front just like a trophy? Man, look at this guy. The old devil will make sure that the world sees a Christian that has succumbed to the things of this world, and he'll parade them right out in front, just like he's doing David. And I can imagine that, oh, David, he is having a hard time. But now, but watch, if he refuses, Achish is probably going to have his soldiers come after David, and I think that's exactly what he's done. So David is in trouble. But now the scene changes here, and we notice not just David's misery, but Saul's misery. Now look in verses 3 through 5. It says, Now Samuel's dead, and all Israel had lamented him and buried him in Ramah, even in his own city. And Saul had put away those that had familiar spirits and the wizards out of the land. And the Philistines gathered themselves together and came and pitched in Shunem. And Saul gathered all Israel together, and they pitched in Gilboa. And when Saul saw the host of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart greatly trembled. Now, I want you to think about it, so he is scared to death. The Philistines have realized and are recognized that Israel's godly leader, Samuel, is dead. And so, with Samuel, the prophet, being dead, the Philistines are thinking, this is a great time to attack. Listen, when leadership is no longer there, or leadership goes awry, I'm telling you, the devil will always take that time to attack you. That's why it's so important, men, for you to be right with God at all times. Why? Because if you're not, the devil will take that as an opportunity to attack your home. And if you're not spiritually able to handle it, listen, your whole family will succumb to the attacks of Satan himself. Amen. Just like we're seeing here. Samuel's gone. The godly leader, he's gone. So the Philistines get ready to attack. And think about this. Saul didn't have the false prophets to turn to. He put away the mediums out of the land of Israel. If you remember, he killed all the priests at Nob. And so Saul, here in verse 4 and 5, he has set up camp at Shunem. He's on one mountain. And the Philistine force is over on the other, and he comes up and he begins to look out at the forces and the army of the Philistines. Listen, and he is afraid. In fact, the Bible says that he is greatly afraid. Listen, I'm telling you, this is a sad place to be in spiritually. He has nowhere to go. Samuel's not there. Listen, God is not there. You say, how do you know? Well, look in verse 6. He says, and when Saul inquired of the Lord, look at the next word, what happened? The Lord what? You know, that's probably to me the saddest words in the Bible. I mean, the doors of heaven seem to be closed. And it's all because of his sin and lack of repentance before God. And if you remember, the prophet Isaiah warned, and he said, seek the Lord while he may be found and call upon him while he is near. And Saul waited too long, and his sin had created a wall between him and God. And there's a lot of people like that today. They walk too long in the path that they choose. They fail to seek God. And then when they want to talk to God, God no longer hears him. Listen, I want you to understand, Saul had lived a life of rebellion. The Lord wasn't going to be, you know, we use, you remember, I Dream of Jeannie? You get in trouble, man, people think that God is like that. Oh God, I'm in trouble. Man, we want to rub the Jeannie bottle and we want God to pop out and solve all our problems. Kind of like a spare tire. We never ever think about our spare tire until we have a flat. We hadn't looked at that thing in years. I mean, I did that. I went to a tire place, had my tires rotated and everything like that. They checked all the valves, stints. Sherry and I, we were going home in my pickup and we just got out on 121 and we're going down. And all of a sudden, you know, I feel something in the back kind of getting loose. And I said, I think I'm getting a flat. And I just got my truck out of the tire place. I pull off, I go off the exit, and, man, car, they're going past, and all this kind of stuff, and I tell her, I say, well, it's okay, I got a spare. I got under there, and I got to beating on the spare, and guess what? Flat. Yeah. You know, that's the way we do God sometimes. We get into trouble. And then, you know, kind of like despair, you got to get down on the ground, and you got to crawl up under there and check and see. Listen, that's the way we do, God. We'll get down on the ground, and we'll grovel around, and we'll cry. And listen, why? Because we're in trouble. But Saul, he's in trouble, and he's waited too long. Look in Psalm chapter 66. Let me give you a verse. Psalm chapter 66. And look in verse 20. I mean, a lot of people today, they think they can ignore God all their life and that they can call on Him at the last minute and expect an answer, expect God to bail them out. But look in verse 18. Notice what it says first. If I regard iniquity in my heart, what happens? The Lord will not hear me. But verily God hath heard me, he hath attended to the voice of my prayer. Listen, Saul's heart was filled with iniquity. Saul had unconfessed sin. He had no desire to change, and he was running from God, and at the last minute, when he's looking out over the Philistine army, he gets in trouble, and the Bible says he's greatly afraid, and now, all of a sudden, He wants to call on God and expect God to bail him out. Listen, I've known people who were living in sin, they were living in disobedience to God, but then they say things like, well, you know what, it'll be okay, I'll ask for forgiveness later. No, you won't. You know, my dad always said, people say, well, they've said, well, you got to leave them alone, let them sow their wild oats. And he said, listen, if they sow them, they're going to reap them. Yeah. Here's Saul. He asked God for, he calls on God and God doesn't answer. I mean, look in Proverbs chapter 29. Let me show you another verse. Proverbs chapter 29 and look in verse 1. He that being often reproved hardeneth his neck shall suddenly be destroyed and that without remedy. You know, God's only going to, you know, God said His Spirit shall not always strive with man. God's going to always, He's going to call on, or He's going to keep coming after us, try to get us to do the right thing and repent. But if we continue to turn our heart and our life away from God, eventually, God said, He that being often reproved and hardeneth his neck shall suddenly be destroyed and that without remedy. It's going to be like, man, where'd that come from? Well, it came from way back. when the Spirit of God tried to get us to do the right thing and we refused. And 1st Chronicles, if you go read it, it reveals to us that Saul never really inquired of God, he asked for help, but he didn't really pray. Because if he had prayed, think about this, Saul is away from God, living in disobedience. If Saul would have really prayed, he would have fell on his knees and repented of his sin. He would have got right with God. And by the way, if he would have asked God to forgive him, God would have forgiven him. Are y'all still here? Say amen. But listen, but he wouldn't do it. He wouldn't repent. And you know, and I thought about this. Do you understand that repent is an important word? Repent is something that you don't hear much of anymore. And by the way, repentance is not just turning away from something, but it's turning back to God. It's turning away from the things of this world, away from our disobedience, away from self, and it's turning back to God and saying, Lord, here am I. Send me. Use me. I want to walk the path that you choose. That's repentance. In fact, I looked this up in the NIV and in the New King James Bible, the word repent has been removed 46 times. I guess it's really not that important. Well, it is to God. Yeah? Psalm 66, 18, I just read it. It says, if I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. That's pretty simple. I mean, if we want God to hear us, we've got to ask for forgiveness for everything. We can't just section off a little bit over here and say, Lord, you know, I'll ask for forgiveness for that later. No, wait a minute. If we regard iniquity in our heart, God will not hear. In fact, notice something else, what happens. You've seen the failure of Saul. You've seen his fear. Now, look in verse 7, 1 Samuel 28. Boy, he gets deeper and deeper. Verse 7, it says, "...then said Saul unto his servants, Seek me a woman that hath a familiar spirit, that I may go to her, and inquire of her. And his servants said unto him, Behold, there is a woman that hath a familiar spirit at Endor." Now, you remember just a few verses earlier that Saul had put the mediums and the spirits out of the land? And now he wants a seance. You see, since he can't talk to God through prayer, because he doesn't want to repent, he's going to try to talk to God through a witch. That's smart. You know, I mean, think about it. God, I really don't want to get right. I need to talk to you. I mean, I tried to talk to you and you wouldn't answer me, so I really need to talk to you, but I don't want to repent. You know, I don't want to do that. And, you know, and I've thought about doing this other thing, but, you know, that's not going to work. And so I think I'm going to go over here to this witch, and I'm going to try to get her to, you know, talk to you for me. He's trying any way he can. He has literally. used up every scheme that he can think of to try to talk to God. Isn't that the way we do? Isn't that the way human nature is? We will go around the world to try to get to God except taking a direct path of repentance to the cross and asking Him to forgive us and saying, God, I need some help with this. No, I don't want to do it that way. So we will circumvent His way to try to get to Him our way. And you know what? It goes right back to that verse in Psalm. If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear. Now, there's only one way to have audience with God. That's to be right with God. And the Bible says that's through repentance. So, Saul dresses up. Look what it says. He dresses in a disguise. And you go keep reading through there. And he goes to this witch of Endor, and he asks her to bring up a spirit. Now, look in verse 11 through 14. Says, so he goes to this witch of Endor and, you know, by the way, she's worried in verse 10, thinks she's going to be getting in trouble because Saul done away with them and he's already threatened them. And so Saul here, in disguise, he says that, you know, he says, as the Lord liveth, there shall no punishment happen to thee for this thing. Then said the woman, whom shall I bring up unto thee? And he said, bring me up Samuel. You know, I can't get to God through repentance. I can't call on God myself. So maybe I can, you know, I'm taking this witch and I'm going to try to get to him through Samuel. I mean, think about it. Now, we do the same stuff, maybe in a different way, a different path, but we still try to get to God sometime on our own terms instead of getting to Him on His terms. And that's exactly what Saul's doing. And when the woman, watch this, he said, bring me up Samuel. And when the woman, what's that say? Saul, Samuel. She cried with a loud voice. Well, I would too. And the woman spake to Saul, saying, Why hast thou deceived me? For thou art Saul. Now she recognized Saul. It's a double whammy for her. It says, And the king said to her, Be not afraid, for what sawest thou? And that's what gets me is Saul to this point doesn't even know that Samuel's there. So he says, what seest thou? And the woman said unto Saul, I saw God's ascending out of the earth. And he said unto her, what form is he of? And she said, an old man cometh up. He's covered with a mantle. And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he stooped with his face to the ground and bowed himself." Listen, I'm telling you, he's, Saul is, he's still trying, but he's still not doing it the right way. Some people, I was doing a little reading, some people believe that this witch of Endor just simply played a trick on David, or excuse me, on Saul. that this really didn't happen. And this woman, it's just here that she just said that all this was taking place. And then I thought, well, I asked myself the question, what do you believe? Well, I believe the Bible. Amen. I believe God made Samuel to appear. That's what it says. It says, and bring me up Samuel. And when the woman did what? When she saw Samuel, well, I just take God at His word and believe that God allowed Samuel to come up. Yeah. Now watch this, turn to Ezekiel, let me show you something else. Ezekiel chapter 14. I want you to see, and I've got some other verses, I want you to see this. But in Ezekiel chapter 14, verse 7 and 8, it says, For every one of the house of Israel, or of the stranger that sojourneth in Israel, which separateth himself from me, and watch, and setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to a prophet to inquire of him concerning me, then I the Lord will answer him by myself. And I will set my face against that man and will make him a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from the midst of my people, and ye shall know that I am the Lord." Just exactly what we're seeing here in 1 Samuel. You know, what's happening here is God's responding in anger to His people who seek out a familiar spirit. God's serious when it comes to... Things of divination and palm readers and horoscopes. God said to leave that stuff alone. Amen. Look in Isaiah. You say, well, how do you know? Well, I believe the Bible. So let's turn to the book of Isaiah and look at chapter 8 and look in verse 19. It says, and when they shall say unto you, seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep and that mutter, Should not a people seek unto their God for the living to the dead, to the law and to the testimony? If they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." Listen, God is serious about people when it comes to familiar spirits. He says, to gird up the loins of your mind. Listen, demons and demonism and spiritism, that stuff is real. Absolutely. Let me show you one more. Look in, I believe, Leviticus chapter 19. Leviticus chapter 19 and look in verse 31. And I've got some others. I'll be glad to give them to you. Chapter 19 and verse 31. It says, regard not them that have familiar spirits. Neither seek after wizards to be defiled by them. I am the Lord your God." Listen, if that'll work then, then it'll work now. If it stood then, then it stands now. God didn't, listen, God did not abolish the Old Testament. It still stands today, just like it stood then. And God says to leave that alone. And so, but here's Saul. He goes out seeking out this witch of Endor and says, bring me up Samuel. And listen, God allows Samuel to come up. And as a result, Samuel promised a harsh judgment on Saul and also to anybody who thinks they can find a shortcut to God by consorting with wizards. Listen, they also will face the same judgment. So God says, leave that stuff alone, and all God's people can say, Amen. So Saul is in misery. He's steeped in sin, and he resorted to evil, and he tries to find his way out, but the prophet Samuel only hands out more misery for him. But now we see an intervention here, and by God. God does not intervene in Saul's life, but we will see that God helps David. He does intervene in David's life. Now, David has never raised his hand in a bad way to Saul. He's never tried to raise his hand to do away with him and any of those things, but now David is being numbered as a leader in the Philistine army. And now he's going to have to go to war with his own country. And I began to think at this part, well, now what's David going to do? He's down here with the Philistines. He's already been called up to go to war. What's he going to do? How's he going to get out of this? You know, listen, when we get in a mess and when we mess up our lives, there's only one way to get out of it, and that's to get on God's side and get back right with God and follow God's plan for our life. And we can all say, amen. So watch this. I want you to see this. This is important. Look in 1 Samuel chapter 29. David is going to have to go to war against his own country. But God changed things in Philistia, and He saved David from having to go to battle. Now, in chapter 29, verse 1, it says, Now the Philistines gathered together all their armies to Aphek, and the Israelites pitched by a fountain, which is in Jezreel. And the lords of the Philistines passed on by hundreds and by thousands. But David and his men passed on in the reward with Achish. Remember, he's Achish's bodyguard. He's his personal bodyguard. And watch this, it says, Then said the princes of the Philistines. What do these Hebrews hear? And Achish said unto the princes of the Philistines, Is not this David, the servant of Saul, the king of Israel, which hath been with me these days, or these years? And I found no fault in him, since he fell unto me unto this day. And the princes of the Philistines were wroth with him. And the princes of the Philistines said unto him, Make this fellow return, that he may go again to his place, which thou hast appointed him, and let him not go down with us to battle. Can you kind of see God's hand moving here? He's keeping David out of a bigger mess than he's already put himself in. Listen, sometimes we put ourselves in a mess, and God's the only one that can get out of it, and we're seeing it right here. So these princes say, listen, let him not go down with us to battle, lest the battle be in an adversary to us, for wherewith should he reconcile himself unto his master? Should it not be with the heads of these men? Is not this David, of whom they sang one to another, and dances, saying, Saul slew his thousands, David his ten thousands? Then Achish called David and said unto him, Surely, as the Lord liveth, thou hast been upright. And Achish is saying, Listen, I don't see any problem with you, you know, and I don't see any reason why you shouldn't go down and fight. He said, I've found no evil in thee since the day of thy coming. Well, David's been deceiving him. I find no fault unto this day, and nevertheless the LORD's favor thee not." These other kings, these other princes that are going into battle with the Philistines, listen, they're saying, listen, we don't want David here. We know who he is, we know what he's about, we don't want him. And so Achish tells David, wherefore now return, go in peace, that thou displease not the lords of the Philistines. And David said unto Achish, but what have I done? And what hast thou found in thy servants so long as I have been with thee unto this day? David's just covering his tracks. He's trying to fix it to where he can stay in good graces with Achish. But listen, God is working things out to where David doesn't have to go. And it says, So Achish says, He says, you go back. So David and his men rose up early to depart in the morning to return into the land of the Philistines. Listen, God, as an old saying says, God saved his bacon. Amen? I mean, God kept him from attacking his own people. God has intervened on his behalf. And he lies to Achish, and he kind of tells him, listen, that he's sorry that he's not going to be able to go. Fine, you know, Achish, I really wanted to go, but that's what they want. But I think in David's heart, he is really a sigh of relief, thinking, man, alive? That was close. But I wonder, did David actually realize that God got him out of that? Listen, sometimes when we're in the depths of sin and in the depths of doing what we want, how we want, you know, sometimes it's hard to hear the voice of God. Now, remember, the voice of the Holy Spirit of God, it wasn't in the wind, it wasn't in the storm, it wasn't in the lightning, it wasn't in the fire. It was that still, small voice. And we have got to stop and be still sometime if we want to hear God's voice in our life. We've just got to be still. We've got to stop on a path of disobedience and on a path like Saul was. Listen, Saul got in trouble, and he couldn't hear the voice of God anymore. David is still... close enough to God. He may be going the wrong path, doing the wrong thing, but I still think that there's a part of him that's trying to get out of this and do the right thing. But I want you to see, let me just give you these three things and I'm done. The lessons about David and Saul is the plurality of sin. It's impossible just to commit one sin. One sin always leads to another one. David made one mistake after another. He made a mistake, tried to cover it up. Then he had to tell a lie to cover that one up. Then he had to tell another lie to cover that one up. Listen, if we'll just walk in the will of God and just do the right thing. Amen. The potential of sin. These two men, think about it, these are two men that are anointed of God. Saul is God's anointed, but so is David. Now watch, they have been put into positions of authority, but now they're involved in lies, they're involved in disobedience, murder, theft, they're consorting with witches. You know what happens? That's what sin does. And we all have the propensity towards sin, all of us. That's why it's important that we have to stay connected with God and His Word. But then we see the power of sin. Listen, do you see how destructive the power of sin has been in Saul's life? And David is headed in that same direction. I honestly believe that had David not been receptive to the Spirit of God, he'd have wound up doing the same things Saul did. But he listened. Listen, why? Because David was a man after God's own heart. Can I tell you, we all have the propensity to walk our own path. And the reason being is because the path that God chooses sometimes, it's too hard for us. Now, I don't know why God allowed Saul and David's lives to turn out the way it did. I don't know. God doesn't tell us. I mean, some of the secret things of God are known only to him. We'll never know. But all I know is the difference between these two men can be traced back to their heart. Listen, we got to be careful not to allow our hearts get so hard that we can no longer hear the voice of God when he talks to us. Saul's heart was hardened. He wouldn't do what God had called him to do. But David's heart was soft, easily broken over sin. I mean, think about it. It broke his heart when he cut off the robe of Saul. I mean, it just tore him up inside. But listen, so the difference is in the heart. Each one of us, I can't examine Malachi's heart or Brother Jeff's heart or any of you. It's not me that examines the heart. It's God that does that. And only you know what's in your heart. You say, well, what do we do? Well, seek the Lord while he can be found. Listen, don't wait. Saul waited too long, and he thought he could live his life and call on God when he got through doing it, but it didn't work, and he wound up in trouble. And we're gonna find out how much in trouble next week. So listen, if God can help you, listen, he can help all of us, but he helps us when our heart is soft and when we still seek him. So seek him while he can be found. Father, I pray you'd help us. Lord, speak to our hearts. Lord, that's the difference between Saul and David is their heart. God, I believe David was a man whose heart was bent toward you. Lord, his heart was soft and pliable, and God, he got right when he got wrong. And so, Lord, I pray that you'd help each of us. May we examine our hearts, Lord. God, may our hearts stay soft towards you and may our relationship with you be right, Lord. And may we be obedient to you, Lord, and not disobedient. God, when we get wrong, help us to get right. So, Lord, speak to our hearts tonight. Use us in a special way, Lord. And God, during this invitation time, I pray, God, that whatever the need might be, I pray that we'll come and talk to you for just a few minutes. In Jesus' name, amen. While heads are bowed and eyes are closed, the Lord speak unto you.