We're going to read God's Word together this afternoon from 1 Samuel 12, which is commonly referred to as Samuel's final sermon, or Samuel's final speech, or his farewell address to the people of Israel. But it's a point worth making that this is not exactly Samuel's farewell address. He's not going anywhere. This is Samuel's, what shall we say, emeritation address. Samuel is retiring, not as Israel's prophet, but he's retiring as Israel's judge. Because Saul is now on the scene, because Saul is now going to be Israel's king, and is taking over the role and responsibility of leading Israel in battle. Samuel is moving to the side, so he will no longer be Israel's judge, but he will continue to be their prophet. And they will have reason to thank God for that. So 1 Samuel chapter 12. We're going to start reading. Actually, I'm going to start reading at 1 Samuel 11 verse 12. Because that's the context for this speech of Samuel's. 1 Samuel 11, verse 12, and then we'll read all the way to the end of chapter 12. Then the people said to Samuel, who is it that said, shall Saul reign over us? Bring the men that we may put them to death. But Saul said, not a man shall be put to death this day, for today the Lord has worked salvation in Israel. Then Samuel said to the people, come, let us go to Gilgal, and there renew the kingdom. So all the people went to Gilgal, and there they made Saul king before the Lord in Gilgal. There they sacrificed peace offerings before the Lord, and there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly. And then it's in the middle of Israel's great joy that Samuel stands up. And Samuel said to all Israel, behold, I have obeyed your voice and all that you have said to me, and I have made a king over you. 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. Whose ox have I taken? Or whose donkey have I taken? Or whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed? Or from whose hand have I taken a bribe to blind my eyes with it? Testify against me, and I 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. And Samuel said to the people, the Lord is witness who appointed Moses and Aaron and brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt. 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 fathers. When Jacob went into Egypt and the Egyptians oppressed them, Then your fathers cried out to the Lord, and the Lord sent Moses and Aaron, who brought your fathers out of Egypt and made them dwell in this place. But they forgot the Lord their God, and He sold them into the hand of Sisera, commander of the army of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and 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 the Baals and the Ashtoreth. But now, now deliver us out of the hands of our enemies, that we may serve you. And the Lord sent Jerob Baal, that's Gideon, and Barak, and Jephthah, 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, you said to me, no, but a king shall reign over us. And the Lord your God 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. If you will fear the Lord and serve him, and obey his voice and not rebel against the commandment of the Lord. And if both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the Lord your God, it will be well. But if you do not obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then the hand of the Lord will be against you and your king. Now, therefore, stand still and see this great thing that the Lord will do before your eyes. Is it not wheat harvest today? 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 Samuel called upon the Lord, and the Lord sent thunder and rain that day, and all the people feared greatly, greatly feared the Lord and Samuel. 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, to ask for ourselves a king. And Samuel said to the people, do not be afraid. Oh, you have done all this evil, 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 which 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. Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you, and I will instruct you In the good and the right way, only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart, for consider what great things he has done for you. But if you still do wickedly, you shall be swept away, both you and your king. Thanks be to God for his word. The last Lord's Day, we look together at 1 Samuel 10, verse 17, all the way to the end of 1 Samuel 11. In 1 Samuel 10, Saul was proclaimed king of Israel. He was crowned. And Israel was told, this is who your king will be. Saul is going to be your king after Saul was found hiding among the baggage. Let's just forget about that for the moment. Saul was told the duties and the rights of the kingship, so were the people. These rights and duties, a sort of national charter was placed before the throne of God in the house of Abinadab on the hill, where the Ark of God was. And Samuel sent all the people back home. But then something happened. An invader from outside, Nahash, the king of the Ammonites, came and besieged one of the Israelite cities. The snake, if you will, the serpent rose up against God's people. And Saul was told about this, and so he slaughtered his ox, sent pieces to all the cities of Israel, gathered the people together at Bezek, and they went from Bezek to Jabesh Gilead and defeated Nahash, king of the Ammonites. It was a great victory. It was a great victory. One moment, one day, the Israelites, the whole nation had been weeping at the prospect of being defeated and humiliated in the presence of the Ammonites. And the next day, Saul is victorious. Israel is victorious. Man, the nation is riding a high. And so Samuel says, well, let's get together. Let's get together as a nation in Gilgal, this place where the covenant was renewed once. Let's get together in Gilgal and let's renew the kingship once again. And so the whole nation of Israel comes together at this place just beside the Jordan there in Gilgal. And there they once again publicly make Saul king before the Lord in Gilgal. They sacrifice peace offerings before the Lord. And Saul and all the men of Israel, they rejoice greatly. It's a victory party. It's a victory party. You can just hear the cheers resounding from the men of Israel. Saul has killed his thousands and Samuel has also killed a couple thousand. They're happy. The nation of Israel is rejoicing. They've been spared. They've been saved. And so Samuel gets up. for what's gonna seem like a victory speech. And you can see the men of Israel, they see Samuel walking toward the podium. They're like, yes, Samuel's gonna speak. We love it when Samuel speaks. He always tells us such encouraging things. Samuel is the one who gave us a king. Samuel is the one who gave us King Saul. Without Samuel, we'd be up a creek. Without Samuel, Nahash should be plucking out eyes left, right, and center. And so Israel sees Samuel walking up, and I'm sure, I'm sure they must have had a great deal of joy in their hearts watching, oh man, we're gonna hear something great from Samuel. And Samuel gets up, and he preaches a sermon. Like all good sermons, it's got three parts. It's got an introduction, verses one through six, where he reviews his ministry up to this point. It's got three points in the main section, Verses seven through 17. And then it's got a conclusion with an application at the very end, verses 18 through 25. The introduction, of course, is Samuel's review of his judgeship. Samuel said to all Israel, behold, I have obeyed your voice in all that you have said to me, and I have made a king over you. Samuel says two things here in this first section. Behold your king, behold your judge. He says, take a look at Saul. Take a look at Saul. He's the king you wanted. Remember, Samuel had warned Israel. They refused to listen to Samuel's warning because Israel had said, no, we want a king. We want a king. In the next chapter, Samuel had said to Saul, you're the exact one that the nation of Israel desperately wants. And now the exact kind of king all of you want is before you. Check him out. Let's forget about God's standards for a moment, shall we? Take a look at your king. And hasn't he acted exactly like you want your king to act? Hasn't he acted exactly like you'd expect a king like the nations to act? So behold your king. And now also behold your judge. But me? Now your king's up there. He's young, he's strong, he's tall. Man, he's tall and he's handsome. But me, I'm old. I am old. My hair's gone gray. And my sons, well, My sons are with you. You all know about my sons. But I've been with you, Samuel says, from the days of my youth, from the time I was a boy serving under Eli until this day. I have preached, I have prophesied, but I've also been your judge. I've been your nation's leader. But now that we're moving on from this whole judge's thing, how about you sit back and you tell me, Israel, how Israel's final judge has done? And then he goes through some sorts of exit interview questions that he pulls out of Deuteronomy 16. And he asks, haven't I been the exact kind of judge that you as a people needed? No, not the kind you wanted, but the kind you needed. Where have I stood in the way of justice? Where have I failed in my task, he asks. Did I accept bribes? Did I defraud any of you? Did I cheat you? Did I use my position of leadership to exert undue influence on any of you? Did I take your ox? Did I take your donkey? Tell me, tell me, where have I failed you? What have I done wrong? What fault did you find in me? And implicitly, what fault did you find in me that you needed to replace me with a king? And Israel responds to Samuel, nothing. Oh, Samuel, you've done a great job. You've done a great job, a grand job. You've done nothing wrong. You've been an exemplary judge. We've heard stories of judges in the book of Judges who were sometimes super and sometimes shady, but you were super, Samuel. You did a great job. According to God's standard even, you've done great. You've never oppressed us. You've never taken anything. You've never defrauded anyone. Good job, Samuel. And then kind of strangely, he goes back. You sure about that? You sure about that? Yeah, yeah, we're sure. Israel, both the Lord and your king are watching you. They're your witnesses today. Are you sure that you have found no fault in my ministry as a judge in Israel? Yeah, yeah, we call as witness. And Samuel cuts them off. Most of your Bibles have a paragraph break here between verse five and verse six, but verse six really should be part of the same paragraph as verse five. Israel says, our witness is, and then Samuel cuts them off, the Lord. Israel, the Lord is your witness. And might I add, he's seen all the nonsense you've been up to. The Lord who is solely responsible for the fact that you even exist as a nation, the Lord is your witness. And he's been your witness since the day your ancestors went down into Egypt. The Lord has been there all along. So before you claim the Lord as your witness, consider your nation's history with the Lord. So we move on to the next point, from the paradigmatic prophet to the problematic pattern. And like I said, there are three points to Samuel's sermon. It's Israel's history, Israel's present, and Israel's God. Israel's history, first of all, Samuel launches into a history lesson, and if the speech seems very familiar to you, it's probably because the preachers in the book of Acts do pretty much this exact same thing. When Paul or Peter or Stephen the deacon are preaching to the Jews, they do exactly what Samuel does here. They say, this is your history. You've got a long history of doing the exact same thing, and look, you've done it again. And the prophets, they pull this exact same thing. Pretty much all the prophets do, and they do it for the exact same reason as well. Samuel is pleading with Israel here. But the words really have a more judicial flavor to them. Samuel is bringing Israel, and he's bringing the Lord into the courtroom together. He's bringing them into the courtroom together. And he's going to examine their relationship to this point in minute detail. So he starts with Moses and Aaron, Israel's first leaders and saviors. What was the pattern there, the pattern that later got repeated again and again and again? Well, Egypt oppressed Israel. Israel was made to be slaves in Egypt. They had to make bricks without straw. They had to make all these building projects, these grand building projects as slaves. Israel cried out to the Lord. The Lord heard them. And he sent Moses and Aaron to lead the nation to Canaan. But then the pattern starts to emerge. Because Israel is a forgetful nation. Always getting themselves into trouble again and again and again. And it's their forgetfulness, really, that's the issue, isn't it? And you know what it's like. I know what it's like. I'm sure you know what it's like, too. Gospel on Sunday, yeah. But by Monday, you're right back in it. And by the time Sunday rolls around again, you're covered in filth. But then you hear the gospel, all the glorious gospel, and Christ is preached, and you remember, and you wonder why you ever wandered. But then Monday comes along again. And then Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, and Friday, and Saturday, and the sirens are singing their song. And if we're not constantly reminding ourselves of the goodness of God, we'll just get into it again and again and again. And the cycle plays itself out over and over and over again. like it does for Israel. They forget the Lord their God, so God leaves them to themselves. You want what the other nations have? Fine. Fine. I will leave you to the fate of the other nations. And so they want to live without him, and so he removes his hedge of protection from around them and allows the nations to come in until Israel once again learns their lesson. And so the nations come in, and they oppress Israel, and Israel remembers, and Israel cries out. He gives them into the hands of Moab, and they're oppressed by Eglon. And they cry out, and God sends Ehud, and they're saved, but they forget. And so he gives them into the hands of Midian, and they're oppressed by Midianite raiders for years and years until they cry out, and God sends Gideon, Jerobal here, and they are saved, but they forget. And so he gives them into the hand of Sisera, and they're oppressed by Sisera and the Canaanites for 20 years, and then they cry out, and God sends Barak and Deborah, and they're saved, but they forget. So he gives them into the hands of Ammon. and they're oppressed by the Ammonites until God raises up Jephthah and they're saved. In this cycle, it repeats itself again and again and again, the same pattern, generation after generation after generation. And with some historical awareness, Samuel puts himself in the same category as Gideon, Barak, Jephthah, Samson, as a judge raised up by the sovereign hand of God when his people were in need, raised up to be God's hand of salvation for a people who had quite happily rejected him. And so it is that God saves them again, and again, and again, and again. The Lord takes up arms on their behalf. He goes out like a hero, like a warrior, and he smashes their enemies and sets them free until they clap the irons back on their wrists, and he asks to set them free once more. And God displays his patience, doesn't he? Even as his people's sins become more and more entrenched. It's like they're addicted to their idols. But he shows himself to be patient and to be long-suffering. And I know that's been the experience that a lot of you have had. It's certainly been mine. I would have very quickly lost patience with myself. But the Lord is not like men. that he should change his mind. No, the Lord is, he's patient. He's patient. When he sets out to love someone, nothing can deter him. The people of Israel, they're not so patient. No, they're not patient at all. Because a new crisis pops up. And you know, new crises always seem bigger than all the ones that came before them, don't they? because we don't have the same historical awareness that Samuel has here. We think, oh, the crises that we're facing, they're bigger, they're more intractable, they are harder to destroy than any of the crises that our parents or grandparents or great-grandparents or the generations before us faced. No, no, no, the new crisis, it's always the biggest one. This one is the one that demands that we somehow reject God and God's way. So a new crisis pops up, and Israel thinks, well, you know, this time a judge just won't do it. We need an upgrade. God's way of saving in the past, well, it's not doing it. The nations keep popping up. We need someone who's going to be a permanent savior. We need a king. And here's the most blatant forgetting of all. Samuel says, you said to me, no, but a king shall reign over us. Forget your warning, Samuel. Forget that. A king shall reign over us when the Lord your God was your king. At least during the period of the judges, you had the sense to turn from idols when your enemies came against you. Here you lack even that modicum of common sense. You think, oh, oh, you don't think, oh, we need God. You think, oh, we need a man. And God had said it before in the book. But here Samuel says it again. This is idolatry. Asking for a king to replace God is idolatry. Asking for anything to replace God is idolatry. Idolatry is not just bowing down to a statue or a false deity, a block of wood or stone. No, no. Idolatry is putting absolutely anything in the place of God. Looking for some kind of satisfaction, looking for some kind of thrill outside of God is, by definition, idolatry. Because you are unseating God from His throne and you're putting something else up there. Israel doesn't want Saul as a representative of God. That would have been fine, to have a king reigning as God's vice-regent in Israel, but they didn't want Saul as a representative of God. Samuel had been filling that role quite nicely. They themselves had just testified to it. He'd been doing a bang-up job. They didn't want Saul as a representative of God. They wanted Saul as a replacement for God. Nahash, they thought. Nahash is now too big a problem for God to handle. They were sick, anyway, of all this spirituality. They wanted something a little more practical. And now, look, Samuel says. Here's your king. Here's your king whom you have chosen. Here's the king for whom you have asked. And not to put too fine a point on it, but remember, God had put Israel under the hand of Midian. He had put Israel under the hand of Moab, under the hand of Sisera, under the hand of Philistia. And now, in response to their latest flirtation with idolatry, Samuel says, the Lord has set a king over you. But at the same time, The same time, his people are rejecting him. They have run out of patience with their God. But God continues to show his absolutely unbelievable patience. Yet Samuel says, if you will fear the Lord and serve him and obey his voice and not rebel against the commitment of the Lord, and if both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the Lord your God, it will be well. You see how eager God is to show mercy. It's not over for you, Samuel says. Yes, you have rejected, and this one's been worse, and it's been bigger than all the ones that came before it, but it is not over for you. God still loves you, he says. His grace is still reaching out to you. All day long, I hold out my hands to a disobedient people, God says through the prophet. And Samuel is saying, don't ignore him. Don't turn him down. And remember I said this appeal has the same sort of flavor as the sermons in the book of Acts. It's really an appeal. Samuel is speaking to their hearts. Don't you remember what God has done for you? Don't you remember? Have you forgotten? And if you have forgotten, come on, remember. Shake out of it. Snap out of it. Wake up. God is still reaching out to you. Why are you turning him away? Why are you holding him at arm's length? And I know there are some of you here this afternoon who are in a sort of spiritual wasteland. You have rebelled against God, and honestly, it is not going well for you. It's not. You know it. And yet God is holding out his hands. Christ has died and Christ has risen. That makes today the day of salvation. All day long, God says, I hold out my hands to a disobedient people, and yet he holds them out still. Don't close your ears. Don't close your heart. Do not leave this place this afternoon until you have searched your heart, until you have reckoned with Samuel's words here, until you have reckoned with the Spirit's warning here, You will believe in the Lord Jesus for your salvation. You will do well. But if you do not, you are condemning yourself. If you refuse Jesus, if you say, no thanks, I'm fine without him. If you say, well, I think I know better what I need in my life than God does. Let me tell you, things will not go well for you. We saw the sign of baptism here this afternoon given to two of our covenant children. And that sign is rich with symbolism. It is rich with symbolism. But there's some symbolism there that we don't often think about. Baptism is a symbol not only of mercy, but also of judgment. In the New Testament, when the apostles talk about baptism, they recall two events. They recall the flood on the world, and they recall the Red Sea on Pharaoh. That's why we read from form one instead of form two, because there we've got what's often called the flood prayer. Don't destroy us like you destroyed the unbelieving and unrepentant world with a flood. Do not put your waters of judgment over us like you put them over the obstinate Pharaoh and all his hosts in the Red Sea. There's symbolism here of judgment. If you reject God's covenant, if you reject God's gospel, you will be judged. And if you are baptized and you reject God, that baptism will be a testimony against you. And so baptism itself pleads with you. Do not be found outside of the ark. Don't be someone who's rebelling against God, chasing after Israel like Pharaoh and his host, because you will be destroyed. The Lord Jesus is your ark. He is your salvation. And if he is not, you are condemning yourself. You are condemning yourself. The gospel has been preached. The gospel has been signed and sealed. We are without excuse. So Samuel, for the third part of his sermon, he's recalled Israel's history. He said, this is where you are now. Before Israel's got a chance to respond, he says, and this is God's amen to what I have been saying. I will call upon the Lord and you shall know and you shall see that your wickedness is great, which you have done in the sight of the Lord in asking for yourselves a king. A sign is given, lest Israel think it's just old Samuel being cranky again. And Samuel uses some interesting language here. You called God as your witness? How about you witness what God is about to do? Is it not wheat harvest today? Dry season, okay? And when it's dry season in Israel, rain doesn't fall, it just doesn't. Is it not wheat harvest today? I will call upon the Lord that he may send thunder and rain and you shall know and you shall see that your wickedness is great which you have done in the sight of the Lord in asking for yourselves a king." God sends this rain as a testimony against Israel, this thunder, this lightning, this rain, a sign of His power and His ability to rise up for His name's sake in judgment, even against His people. He sends rain as a testimony against Israel. If they don't follow Him and believe in Him, they will be washed off the land and sent off into the misery of exile. So Samuel called upon the Lord, and the Lord sent thunder and rain that day. And all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel. They've run the full gamut of emotions. They came here undoubtedly cheering Samuel on, saying, yeah, Samuel, yes, oh, we've defeated the Ammonites. We've defeated Nahash. The snake has been trampled on. We are victorious. And Samuel preaches. The Lord sends thunder and rain. And the people are terrified. They are terrified because they have come face to face God. It's one thing to hold God at arm's length, not allow Him to come into your life and show Himself to you, but Israel here doesn't have the opportunity to do that. Because God is persistent in showing grace, He is persistent in running after people who are running away from Him. And so He sends His thunder and His lightning and His rain not to destroy them, but to show them what will happen if they persist in their rebellion. And Israel recognizes their mortal danger. They say, pray for your servants to the Lord, your God, that we may not die. We're in danger of dying. For we have added to all our sins this evil to ask for ourselves a king. They understand that they have reached the high watermark of their rebellion. Israel has been an unfaithful nation, and now they are bearing witness even against themselves. We have added to all our sins this evil, to ask for ourselves a king." And so Samuel responds. And Samuel said to the people, do not be afraid. Do not be afraid. Because you know, things aren't quite as bad as you think. You're not as evil as you think. God isn't really a God of wrath. No, he doesn't say that. He doesn't say that. He's not therapeutic here. He's not sort of massaging their guilty consciences so they'll stop feeling so bad about themselves. No, he says, do not be afraid. You have done all this evil. Oh, you're a bigger sinner than you even think you are. You've got no idea what you've done against God. Samuel's like a good oncologist. He tells them when they've got an issue. You don't want a cancer doctor who's not going to tell you that you've got cancer. That's useless. And the same is true of prophets and preachers. You want someone who will tell you when you have done what is wrong so that you will be driven to repent. And you want someone who's going to show you how to repent. Samuel says, yes, you have done all this evil. Israel, you know it. You know it. I know it. The Lord certainly knows it. Yet. Yet, you're not done. God's certainly not done with you. Yet do not turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty. Do we think sometimes, I've gone this far in sin, I am past saving? Might as well just give up and give in. Samuel says, yes, you have done all this evil. You know it now. Yet, do not turn aside after empty things. Don't go on in your sin. Turn around. Turn around, 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. Samuel says, you've started turning aside after idols. Don't go on. Don't go on. Turn back. Repent. Believe. For the Lord will not forsake his people. He will not. He cannot. For his great name's sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you a people for himself. There's the doctrine of election at work. The Lord has decided that He is going to save a people for Himself. The Lord is stubborn in running after His people. That's why the saints persevere, not because they're so great, not because they're so strong, but because the Lord is so stubborn, if you will, so steadfast. Because for the sake of His great name, He will go after His people. It's what we're gonna sing about after this sermon, a love that will not let me go. A love that cannot let go what it has once taken hold of. So turn, Samuel says, return to the Lord. Moreover, he says, as for me, remember, he's retiring as a judge, he's staying on as a prophet. Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you. and I will instruct you in the good and the right way. He's doing those two things that a prophet is supposed to do, praying for the people, interceding for them. When they sin, he brings their sin to God, God forgives their sin. And then also instructing them, challenging them, comforting them, bringing them to God, bringing God to them. Only, he says, and now this can be taken as a summation of his prophetic message. Only, fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you. But if you still do wickedly, you shall be swept away, both you and your king. He's saying to Israel, I've given you your history lesson. I've reminded you of what's happened in the centuries leading up to now. You know, you are without excuse. You know how good and how kind the Lord is, how he has saved you as a nation again and again and again. So remember and consider what great things he has done among you and fear him and serve him faithfully with all your heart. Because if you do wickedly, if you do wickedly, he will sweep you away, both you and your king. And in the coming chapters, we're going to see one or the other of these tracks playing out. Either Israel and their king will fear the Lord and serve him, or they will do wickedly and be swept away. So we see in this final point, Israel, an unfaithful nation, the Lord, a faithful God, and Samuel, a faithful intercessor. This pattern, this pattern that's displayed here in verses 18 through 25, it's a pattern that's quite familiar to all of us. Because all of humanity really is in the position of Israel. And all of humanity has an obligation to say, we have sinned against the Lord, and we add to our sins, evil, day after day after day after day. And our sins pile up on top of each other, and we are covered in them. And we cannot rid ourselves of them. We are an unfaithful lot of rebellious image-bearers who could rightly be told what Samuel says to Israel, you have done all this evil. You've done more evil than you're even aware of. You've done more evil than you could possibly know. Be honest, be honest, because that's the only way forward. And yet, yet, the Lord is a faithful God, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger and abounding in loving kindness, a God who does not forsake the people that he has chosen for himself, but brings them to salvation. How? through a faithful intercessor, not Samuel now, not Samuel, but the Lord Jesus, a faithful intercessor. Samuel says, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you. The Lord Jesus prays for you, dear Christian. He prays for you every moment. He cares for you. He prays for you. He intercedes for you. He is before the Father. Pleading for you And I will instruct you in the good and right way samuel says and the lord jesus does this as well by sending his spirit By sending his spirit He's a faithful intercessor who knows our weakness the lord jesus is and yet he eternally loves us and intercedes for us So fear this lord and serve Him faithfully with all your heart. Consider what great things He has done for you. Consider. Consider the cross. Consider His suffering. Considering His abandonment by men and by God. Consider the great things that He has done for you. But if, having considered them, you reject Him, You will be swept away, having condemned yourself. You've heard the word of the Lord. What is your response going to be? Fear Him? Keep faith? Keep covenant? Or to be unfaithful? and to invite on yourself his just condemnation. Whom shall you serve? Let's pray.