1 00:00:03,280 --> 00:00:04,640 Good morning Church of the Resurrection. 2 00:00:08,360 --> 00:00:11,080 If you are new, my name is Solmani Megadi. 3 00:00:11,080 --> 00:00:15,480 I'm one of the pastors here. We have been in the book of 4 00:00:15,520 --> 00:00:21,840 First Samuel these past few weeks and the 1st 7 chapters of 5 00:00:21,840 --> 00:00:26,200 the book are set at a time when there was no king in Israel. 6 00:00:26,760 --> 00:00:30,240 Everybody was doing what was right in their own eyes. 7 00:00:30,560 --> 00:00:34,560 The book actually opens up with the birth of Samuel, who becomes 8 00:00:34,560 --> 00:00:37,200 God's instrument for Israel's renewal. 9 00:00:38,640 --> 00:00:43,120 But while Samuel is growing up in the temple in favor before 10 00:00:43,120 --> 00:00:47,000 God, the priestly House of Eli is rotting with him. 11 00:00:47,680 --> 00:00:51,400 Eli and his sons are sinning, and the people himself are 12 00:00:51,400 --> 00:00:54,640 sinning. So God judges Eli's household 13 00:00:54,640 --> 00:00:57,240 and hands his glorious ark to the Philistines. 14 00:00:57,240 --> 00:01:00,320 He basically sent himself into exile because of his people's 15 00:01:00,320 --> 00:01:02,960 sins. Yet even in the enemy's 16 00:01:02,960 --> 00:01:05,480 territory, he secures victory over Israel's enemy. 17 00:01:05,480 --> 00:01:10,240 He humiliates Dagon and all the Philistine gods, and he topples 18 00:01:10,240 --> 00:01:13,040 their gods, and he brings the ark back to Israel without a 19 00:01:13,040 --> 00:01:15,680 single Israelite soldier lifting a finger. 20 00:01:15,680 --> 00:01:18,960 And then when Samuel gets older, the people begin to seek the 21 00:01:18,960 --> 00:01:23,280 Lord, and Samuel gathers them in Mizpah for a worship of 22 00:01:23,280 --> 00:01:27,080 repentance, sort of service of national repentance. 23 00:01:27,080 --> 00:01:30,640 And just as they're turning back to God, the Philistines come and 24 00:01:30,760 --> 00:01:34,480 they attack them, and the people cry out to Samuel, please don't 25 00:01:34,480 --> 00:01:37,680 stop praying for us. Samuel then sacrifices a young 26 00:01:37,840 --> 00:01:40,440 lamb, and then he raises his hand to the Lord God. 27 00:01:40,480 --> 00:01:43,920 Please save us. And God thunders from heaven 28 00:01:44,160 --> 00:01:47,360 roots the Philistine Philistines, and they scatter, 29 00:01:47,360 --> 00:01:50,840 and there's victory that day. Somebody should make a movie 30 00:01:50,840 --> 00:01:52,960 about that because it's awesome storytelling. 31 00:01:53,560 --> 00:01:57,320 Really, really good. In the middle of all this, this 32 00:01:57,320 --> 00:01:59,640 corruption, this exiles repentance, this divine 33 00:01:59,640 --> 00:02:05,680 intervention, stands a righteous judge, Samuel, and the king who 34 00:02:05,680 --> 00:02:08,320 fights for his people with Thunder God. 35 00:02:09,759 --> 00:02:11,680 And this is where our passage begins. 36 00:02:11,680 --> 00:02:15,000 First Samuel, Chapter 7, verse 15 to 822. 37 00:02:15,440 --> 00:02:18,720 It's found on page 216 in the ESV Bible. 38 00:02:20,440 --> 00:02:24,280 For a generation, about 20 years or so, Israel flourishes under 39 00:02:24,280 --> 00:02:29,120 Samuel's leadership. He is their faithful judge. 40 00:02:29,600 --> 00:02:32,960 And the circuit that he takes, that's written in verse 16 and 41 00:02:32,960 --> 00:02:35,720 17, that's described there, it shows us the kind of judge that 42 00:02:35,720 --> 00:02:38,240 he actually was. He goes to Bethel. 43 00:02:38,560 --> 00:02:41,520 This is the place where God made a covenant with Jacob. 44 00:02:42,120 --> 00:02:45,040 He goes to Gilgal. That's the other place where God 45 00:02:45,040 --> 00:02:48,400 renews his covenant with Israel through circumcision after they 46 00:02:48,400 --> 00:02:52,800 had crossed the Jordan, then at Mizpah, this most recent place 47 00:02:52,800 --> 00:02:56,600 where the nation repented together and worshiped the Lord 48 00:02:56,600 --> 00:03:01,280 together and God delivered them. And then it seems that it's 49 00:03:01,280 --> 00:03:04,400 indicating that Samuel meets the people at important covenant 50 00:03:04,600 --> 00:03:07,680 markers, places in their history that God met them. 51 00:03:08,440 --> 00:03:10,920 And each of these places already had an altar. 52 00:03:10,920 --> 00:03:16,720 But then Samuel builds an altar at another place, Rama, his own 53 00:03:16,800 --> 00:03:21,160 hometown. The judge of Israel raised and 54 00:03:21,160 --> 00:03:26,800 renewed altars that basically declared Yahweh is our king. 55 00:03:26,960 --> 00:03:31,280 We are in covenant with Yahweh. And therein lies a very 56 00:03:31,280 --> 00:03:36,720 important principle. The altars we raise are the ones 57 00:03:36,720 --> 00:03:43,360 that we pay homage to silently, quietly, in our hearts reveal 58 00:03:43,360 --> 00:03:48,280 the King that we serve. Every altar has a throne behind 59 00:03:48,280 --> 00:03:50,160 it. We are either serving the true 60 00:03:50,160 --> 00:03:55,640 King Jesus seated on his throne forever, or we are bowing down 61 00:03:55,640 --> 00:03:58,240 to smaller kings who do not deserve our loyalty. 62 00:03:59,480 --> 00:04:03,280 So today I want to talk about the altars that Israel built in 63 00:04:03,280 --> 00:04:08,520 this chapter and the altars that we ourselves build and ask the 64 00:04:08,520 --> 00:04:12,200 question, which king will you serve? 65 00:04:14,440 --> 00:04:22,760 That's great. Pierce our hearts with your 66 00:04:22,760 --> 00:04:27,080 Word, Heavenly Father, that we might be captivated by the glory 67 00:04:27,080 --> 00:04:32,000 of Jesus Christ and surrender everything that we are to Him, 68 00:04:33,240 --> 00:04:36,760 that we might be more like him in Christ's name. 69 00:04:37,920 --> 00:04:40,160 Amen. Amen. 70 00:04:40,160 --> 00:04:42,320 All right, so let's talk about false altars. 71 00:04:42,320 --> 00:04:46,920 First. Chapter 8 happens about 20 years 72 00:04:46,920 --> 00:04:50,800 after Chapter 7, and then in verse 4 you see that the elders 73 00:04:50,800 --> 00:04:55,480 come to Samuel at Rama with a very reasonable request. 74 00:04:56,120 --> 00:04:59,160 It seems they're concerned about succession. 75 00:05:00,040 --> 00:05:05,800 Samuel is old, though in hindsight we know that he lives 76 00:05:05,800 --> 00:05:10,840 for another 20-30 years. Later, 30 years more, he anoints 77 00:05:10,840 --> 00:05:12,760 Saul. He tells Saul you've been 78 00:05:12,760 --> 00:05:15,800 rejected when God tells him that his Kingdom has been taken from 79 00:05:15,800 --> 00:05:17,600 him. He anoints David in the middle 80 00:05:17,600 --> 00:05:20,680 of Saul's reign, and he still goes around on the circuit. 81 00:05:21,280 --> 00:05:23,120 The elders, of course, don't know that. 82 00:05:23,160 --> 00:05:24,960 That's understandable. But he is old. 83 00:05:27,440 --> 00:05:32,960 But he's also appointed his two sons, Joel and Abijah, as judges 84 00:05:32,960 --> 00:05:35,560 over the land. His sons were corrupt. 85 00:05:36,400 --> 00:05:41,000 Joel, whose name it means Yahweh is God and Abijah, Yahweh is my 86 00:05:41,000 --> 00:05:44,720 father, did not live as if Yahweh was their God and their 87 00:05:44,720 --> 00:05:47,400 father. No, instead of reflecting God's 88 00:05:47,400 --> 00:05:50,920 justice, these two acted as though they themselves were 89 00:05:50,920 --> 00:05:55,440 gods, and they horrendously fathered the nation through 90 00:05:55,880 --> 00:05:58,920 dishonest gain and perverted justice. 91 00:06:00,080 --> 00:06:02,480 And so the elders say to Samuel, because you're old and because 92 00:06:02,480 --> 00:06:08,560 your sons are evil. Now a point for us, the king, to 93 00:06:08,560 --> 00:06:12,960 judge us like all the nations. And if you look at verse 20, 94 00:06:12,960 --> 00:06:15,720 verse 20 actually fleshes out that request even more. 95 00:06:15,720 --> 00:06:21,120 It says that we also may be like all the nations and that our 96 00:06:21,120 --> 00:06:25,600 king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles. 97 00:06:26,760 --> 00:06:31,440 Now objectively speaking, asking for a king wasn't a bad thing. 98 00:06:32,280 --> 00:06:38,280 In fact, if you read the the the law, God anticipates the king 99 00:06:38,280 --> 00:06:41,360 for his people. He tells Abraham kings shall 100 00:06:41,360 --> 00:06:45,600 come from you, and of Sarah he says kings of people will come 101 00:06:45,600 --> 00:06:47,720 from her. Then you've got the Deuteronomy 102 00:06:47,720 --> 00:06:53,400 chapter 17 passage where God gives this Moses give this 103 00:06:53,400 --> 00:06:55,480 stipulation to the people. He says when you come to the 104 00:06:55,480 --> 00:06:59,280 land that the Lord your God has given you, you indeed may set a 105 00:06:59,280 --> 00:07:02,120 king over you whom the Lord your God will choose. 106 00:07:02,720 --> 00:07:05,160 And then at the beginning of this book for Samuel chapter 2, 107 00:07:05,160 --> 00:07:09,720 verse 10, Samuel's mother Hannah prophesized in Saug before talk 108 00:07:09,720 --> 00:07:12,880 of a king even started. He will give strength to his 109 00:07:12,880 --> 00:07:15,480 king and exalt the horn of his anointed. 110 00:07:15,480 --> 00:07:19,680 So it had always been in God's economy, God's plan for Israel 111 00:07:19,680 --> 00:07:23,040 to have a visible king. That, of course, makes sense. 112 00:07:23,560 --> 00:07:27,240 They had been ruled by judges all this while, local leaders 113 00:07:27,240 --> 00:07:30,880 who held authority in certain sectors of the nation. 114 00:07:30,880 --> 00:07:35,240 But the nation itself wasn't yet united under a single ruler. 115 00:07:35,240 --> 00:07:38,840 So a desire for unity, for stability and leadership, it was 116 00:07:38,880 --> 00:07:43,600 a good thing. Why then did their request 117 00:07:43,720 --> 00:07:46,280 displease Samuel? What's going on here? 118 00:07:48,040 --> 00:07:53,200 So verse 6 says Samuel prayed. I highly recommend prayer when 119 00:07:53,200 --> 00:07:56,560 something displeases you. I know you guys do that anyway. 120 00:07:57,920 --> 00:08:01,520 And it's in God's response that we find out something was off 121 00:08:01,640 --> 00:08:04,640 with the elder's request, something was off. 122 00:08:05,720 --> 00:08:08,920 This is where the false altars come in. 123 00:08:09,680 --> 00:08:13,920 Israel had already built altars within themselves that revealed 124 00:08:13,920 --> 00:08:17,160 the kind of king and the kind of judge that they were looking 125 00:08:17,160 --> 00:08:20,040 for. And the first one was the altar 126 00:08:20,040 --> 00:08:24,240 of idolatry. God says that Israel's request 127 00:08:24,240 --> 00:08:27,200 for a king was actually a rejection of himself. 128 00:08:28,760 --> 00:08:33,200 Look at verses 7 and 8. Obey the voice of the people in 129 00:08:33,200 --> 00:08:37,559 all that they say to you, For they have not rejected you, but 130 00:08:37,559 --> 00:08:42,640 they have rejected me from being king over them, according to all 131 00:08:42,640 --> 00:08:45,280 the deeds that they have done from the day I brought them up 132 00:08:45,280 --> 00:08:51,120 out of Egypt, even to this day, forsaking me and serving other 133 00:08:51,120 --> 00:08:53,600 gods. So they are doing to you also. 134 00:08:53,600 --> 00:08:57,960 Did you catch that? The desire for a king sprang up 135 00:08:57,960 --> 00:09:01,880 from idolatry. Whatever revival they had 136 00:09:01,880 --> 00:09:05,360 experienced 20 years ago at Mizpah had already eroded. 137 00:09:05,360 --> 00:09:09,600 They'd forgotten, and Israel had drifted back to serving the gods 138 00:09:09,640 --> 00:09:12,440 of the Philistines. And it's from that idolatry that 139 00:09:12,440 --> 00:09:15,400 they asked for a king. So even though they were asking 140 00:09:15,400 --> 00:09:17,960 for something that God himself had planned to give them one 141 00:09:17,960 --> 00:09:20,840 day, they were serving at the altar of idolatry and not at the 142 00:09:20,840 --> 00:09:23,480 altar of the Lord. The right question should have 143 00:09:23,480 --> 00:09:26,280 been, Samuel, you are old, your sons are corrupt. 144 00:09:26,480 --> 00:09:31,200 What does God want us to do? That's the right question. 145 00:09:32,280 --> 00:09:35,240 Second altar, the altar of conformity. 146 00:09:35,640 --> 00:09:38,120 They wanted to be like the nations. 147 00:09:38,120 --> 00:09:41,000 Give us a king to judge us like all the nations. 148 00:09:41,920 --> 00:09:46,280 And this wasn't just a rejection of Samuel as the judge because 149 00:09:46,280 --> 00:09:49,280 he was currently their judge. Throwing some shade there on 150 00:09:49,280 --> 00:09:54,040 Samuel or as God as their king was more than that. 151 00:09:54,360 --> 00:09:59,560 It rejected Israel's unique calling as the covenant people 152 00:10:00,160 --> 00:10:03,560 of God. They weren't supposed to be like 153 00:10:03,560 --> 00:10:06,600 the other nations. That's what Leviticus tells us. 154 00:10:06,960 --> 00:10:10,360 You shall be holy to me, for I the Lord am holy and have 155 00:10:10,360 --> 00:10:14,560 separated you from the peoples that you should be mine. 156 00:10:15,560 --> 00:10:21,040 But Israel wanted to trade. That set apartness for 157 00:10:21,200 --> 00:10:24,040 conformity. They wanted a king who would 158 00:10:24,040 --> 00:10:29,560 rule them with Chariots and horses, in other words, to 159 00:10:29,560 --> 00:10:35,000 return to the system of power in Egypt from which God has set 160 00:10:35,000 --> 00:10:39,000 them free. And God warned them that this 161 00:10:39,000 --> 00:10:42,880 particular type of imitation would lead to slavery. 162 00:10:46,080 --> 00:10:49,280 The third altar, the altar of safety, or if you like, the 163 00:10:49,280 --> 00:10:54,320 altar of fear and insecurity. We want a king who will go out 164 00:10:54,320 --> 00:10:57,560 before us and fight our battles for us. 165 00:10:59,000 --> 00:11:03,880 Fear was driving the request. A couple of chapters later, 166 00:11:03,880 --> 00:11:08,000 chapter 12, verse 12, Samuel is giving his final address to the 167 00:11:08,000 --> 00:11:12,240 people, and he says this. And when you saw that Nahash, 168 00:11:13,120 --> 00:11:18,640 the king of the Ammonites came against you, you said to me, no, 169 00:11:19,000 --> 00:11:22,760 but a king shall reign over us when the Lord your God was your 170 00:11:22,760 --> 00:11:25,600 king. The looming threat of foreign 171 00:11:25,600 --> 00:11:29,640 elements made them desperate for a permanent battle. 172 00:11:29,760 --> 00:11:33,480 Ready king. And that's kind of ironic since 173 00:11:33,640 --> 00:11:39,640 in the previous chapter, Chapter 7, God had displayed his power 174 00:11:39,920 --> 00:11:44,320 at Mizpah and had gone before them and fought their enemy with 175 00:11:44,320 --> 00:11:50,080 Thunder, scattered their enemy. But you see an invisible God who 176 00:11:50,080 --> 00:11:55,360 fights on his own timetable, who wants their allegiance, who 177 00:11:55,360 --> 00:12:02,880 wants their obedience, Someone they cannot control or see did 178 00:12:02,880 --> 00:12:07,160 not appeal to their fearful, insecure hearts. 179 00:12:07,440 --> 00:12:10,160 They preferred a king they could see. 180 00:12:10,320 --> 00:12:16,520 They wanted visible assurance to combat their fears and 181 00:12:16,520 --> 00:12:20,920 insecurity. These were the altars where the 182 00:12:20,920 --> 00:12:25,440 Israelites worship the altar of idolatry, of conformity, of 183 00:12:25,440 --> 00:12:27,760 safety, or if you like, fear and insecurity. 184 00:12:28,880 --> 00:12:33,200 And that is why their request was evil in the sights of the 185 00:12:33,200 --> 00:12:38,080 Lord. And so God says to Samuel, Now 186 00:12:38,080 --> 00:12:42,480 then, obey their voice, only you shall solemnly warn them and 187 00:12:42,480 --> 00:12:46,640 show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them. 188 00:12:46,640 --> 00:12:49,360 In other words, go ahead, Samuel, give them what they're 189 00:12:49,400 --> 00:12:54,520 asking for, but first show them what kind of king grows out of 190 00:12:54,520 --> 00:13:01,400 those false altars. Samuel delivers the warning. 191 00:13:01,960 --> 00:13:06,480 It's painfully clear the kind of king they're asking for will be 192 00:13:06,480 --> 00:13:11,600 a taker. He will take their sons for his 193 00:13:11,600 --> 00:13:17,040 armies, take their daughters for his kitchens, take their fields, 194 00:13:17,040 --> 00:13:19,760 vineyards, olive Groves, take a tithe. 195 00:13:19,960 --> 00:13:22,240 Now a tithe is the language you use for something you give to 196 00:13:22,240 --> 00:13:25,160 God. A tenth of their grain and 197 00:13:25,160 --> 00:13:30,880 vineyards take a tithe of their flocks, and even take the people 198 00:13:30,880 --> 00:13:33,320 themselves as servants for his officers. 199 00:13:33,600 --> 00:13:37,680 And the king will also make them slaves, just like they were 200 00:13:37,680 --> 00:13:43,480 slaves in Egypt. There are 7 warnings, 6 takes in 201 00:13:43,480 --> 00:13:47,800 Samuel's response to the people. The king that they're asking for 202 00:13:47,800 --> 00:13:52,200 will do exactly what Joel and Abijah were doing, perverting 203 00:13:52,200 --> 00:13:54,440 justice and using power for gain. 204 00:13:54,640 --> 00:13:57,320 Even more so, he would demand things that belong to God. 205 00:13:57,320 --> 00:14:00,480 First the king would become their God. 206 00:14:01,920 --> 00:14:07,880 And then in verse 18, in that day you will cry out because of 207 00:14:07,880 --> 00:14:11,880 your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the Lord 208 00:14:11,880 --> 00:14:18,000 will not answer you. In that day, the king you want 209 00:14:18,280 --> 00:14:22,040 will consume you. You will cry out to me, and I 210 00:14:22,040 --> 00:14:30,000 will not answer you. And the people say that's fine, 211 00:14:31,520 --> 00:14:35,480 give us a king anyway. Salma returns to the Lord in 212 00:14:35,480 --> 00:14:37,960 grief reports. All of the people said. 213 00:14:39,120 --> 00:14:42,360 And the Lord replies, Give the people what they want. 214 00:14:45,720 --> 00:14:50,600 It's a sobering reality that God sometimes permits us to rebel, 215 00:14:52,040 --> 00:14:58,200 that after he has warned us, he will give us what we demand even 216 00:14:58,200 --> 00:15:04,560 when it isn't good for us. It's a sobering reality that we 217 00:15:04,560 --> 00:15:09,040 often get the leaders we deserve, leaders who mirror the 218 00:15:09,120 --> 00:15:15,880 altars of our own hearts. It's a sobering reality that 219 00:15:15,880 --> 00:15:22,800 when we insist on a particular gift, we insist on the King that 220 00:15:22,800 --> 00:15:28,080 we want. When it begins to consume us and 221 00:15:29,080 --> 00:15:34,800 we cry out for help, that God might not answer, He might let 222 00:15:34,800 --> 00:15:38,160 us feel the full weight of what we chose. 223 00:15:40,760 --> 00:15:43,680 I know what it's like to serve a false king who takes. 224 00:15:45,240 --> 00:15:50,680 I'm not talking about Dan. Those of you who know me, you 225 00:15:50,680 --> 00:15:54,480 know that I love acting and directing and film. 226 00:15:54,480 --> 00:15:56,240 I just, I love those things. I love storytelling. 227 00:15:56,800 --> 00:15:59,080 And I think it's a good gift from the Lord. 228 00:15:59,080 --> 00:16:03,680 But when I was in my late teens and well into my college years, 229 00:16:04,160 --> 00:16:08,000 in my efforts to honor that gift, to fan it into flame, I 230 00:16:08,200 --> 00:16:12,120 began to feed it without any discernment. 231 00:16:12,680 --> 00:16:16,520 I exposed myself to everything related to acting in film. 232 00:16:16,520 --> 00:16:18,320 And before long, I wasn't pursuing a calling. 233 00:16:18,480 --> 00:16:23,240 I was pursuing A craving. I became addicted to the craft, 234 00:16:23,960 --> 00:16:27,120 to the movies, to the stories, to the celebrities. 235 00:16:28,000 --> 00:16:32,040 I would spend hours upon hours watching film after film, show 236 00:16:32,160 --> 00:16:35,640 after show, trying to learn, to absorb, to grow in this thing 237 00:16:35,640 --> 00:16:38,120 that I love to do. I exposed myself the things I 238 00:16:38,120 --> 00:16:41,200 shouldn't have. There was inexorable pool to 239 00:16:41,200 --> 00:16:44,520 entertainment itself. I became addicted to all sorts 240 00:16:44,520 --> 00:16:47,160 of things, to video games and eventually to even darker 241 00:16:47,160 --> 00:16:50,000 things, more unsavory forms of entertainment. 242 00:16:50,800 --> 00:16:54,360 It stopped being about beauty, about the beauty of performance, 243 00:16:54,360 --> 00:16:58,440 and became about finding meaning and purpose and escape and 244 00:16:58,440 --> 00:17:01,440 valuing what I watch. Things that could never 245 00:17:01,480 --> 00:17:04,960 satisfied me, the false king of entertainment and performance 246 00:17:05,119 --> 00:17:08,720 took, took and took from me. It took my time, it took my 247 00:17:08,720 --> 00:17:11,560 sleep, my joy, my mental stability, my health. 248 00:17:12,040 --> 00:17:16,839 As an example, I kid you not, I watched the first five seasons 249 00:17:16,880 --> 00:17:22,200 of 24 in eight Days. Yeah, that's not right. 250 00:17:22,760 --> 00:17:25,280 That's just not right. It was that bad. 251 00:17:25,720 --> 00:17:27,880 And of course it affected my relationships with people. 252 00:17:27,880 --> 00:17:30,800 I couldn't love people the way I was supposed to because I wasn't 253 00:17:30,800 --> 00:17:33,840 wow mentally and I put God in the back burner. 254 00:17:34,840 --> 00:17:39,160 NEPA, the utility company in Nigeria, we call it NEPA. 255 00:17:39,560 --> 00:17:42,480 They often take away the power. So we have bits of time when 256 00:17:42,480 --> 00:17:44,320 there's absolutely no light at all. 257 00:17:44,680 --> 00:17:47,720 I would be praying to the Lord God Almighty in the middle at at 258 00:17:47,720 --> 00:17:50,360 eight, 8:00 PM when there's no light with kind of faithfully 259 00:17:50,360 --> 00:17:52,800 praying because I just had my devotions and the the power 260 00:17:52,800 --> 00:17:55,160 would come back and in the middle of a sentence, I'd rush 261 00:17:55,160 --> 00:17:59,040 out and continue watching 24 and I'd forget that I was praying. 262 00:18:00,200 --> 00:18:05,480 I was enslaved by His mercy. God confronted that false king 263 00:18:05,480 --> 00:18:07,800 and He redeemed the passion that He gave me. 264 00:18:08,640 --> 00:18:12,440 But every so often I still hear it crouching nearby, wanting to 265 00:18:12,720 --> 00:18:15,680 consume me and to devour me. So if you ever wonder why I'm 266 00:18:15,680 --> 00:18:19,640 hesitant to binge watch something, or to game with you, 267 00:18:20,040 --> 00:18:22,640 or to just watch one more episode, it's because I know 268 00:18:22,640 --> 00:18:26,600 what God saved me from. I'm aware now. 269 00:18:26,600 --> 00:18:29,560 It's not wrong to desire good things from God, but make sure 270 00:18:29,560 --> 00:18:34,840 you haven't built altars around that desire, altars of idolatry 271 00:18:34,960 --> 00:18:38,680 and conformity and fear or safety or control or whatever 272 00:18:38,680 --> 00:18:42,400 other altars there are. Because if your heart worships 273 00:18:42,400 --> 00:18:47,040 at those altars, your request, no matter how good it sounds, 274 00:18:47,080 --> 00:18:50,680 even if God wants to give it to you, will be evil in God's 275 00:18:50,680 --> 00:18:53,480 sight. And the very gift you ask for 276 00:18:53,560 --> 00:18:57,120 will consume you. Whether it's your job that 277 00:18:57,120 --> 00:18:59,880 you're asking for, whether it's marriage, you're asking for a 278 00:18:59,880 --> 00:19:02,880 sense of justice in our society, the safety you want. 279 00:19:02,880 --> 00:19:06,960 All those things will consume you if you're worshipping at the 280 00:19:06,960 --> 00:19:11,520 wrong altars. But there's another danger that 281 00:19:11,520 --> 00:19:14,320 we need to watch out for from this passage. 282 00:19:15,800 --> 00:19:23,640 Each of us has a potential to be a ruler who takes, and 283 00:19:23,640 --> 00:19:26,280 unfortunately, I know what it's like to be a false king who 284 00:19:26,280 --> 00:19:30,160 takes. I went to boarding school in 285 00:19:30,160 --> 00:19:34,040 Nigeria for high school, and we had a system there where 286 00:19:34,040 --> 00:19:38,520 students who were in 12th grade were elected as prefects and 287 00:19:38,520 --> 00:19:41,960 given real authority to help organize and run the school with 288 00:19:41,960 --> 00:19:45,120 the teachers and to enforce discipline. 289 00:19:45,880 --> 00:19:48,400 That was a level of power that I don't think we're ready for. 290 00:19:48,400 --> 00:19:51,200 I think we're too mature to handle that power. 291 00:19:51,200 --> 00:19:56,000 I was the study prefect, which along with the other prefects, 292 00:19:56,000 --> 00:19:59,520 gave me authority to, like I said, discipline, if you want to 293 00:19:59,520 --> 00:20:04,680 be honest, to punish other students from the 7th grade to 294 00:20:04,680 --> 00:20:07,040 my own peers, as long as they weren't prefects. 295 00:20:07,040 --> 00:20:09,600 I couldn't punish another prefect, but I could punish my 296 00:20:09,600 --> 00:20:13,080 own classmates. Yeah, it was weird. 297 00:20:15,120 --> 00:20:17,280 By the time I was in 12th grade, though, there was a saving 298 00:20:17,280 --> 00:20:19,680 grace. The school no longer allowed 299 00:20:19,680 --> 00:20:22,520 prefects to flog and to beat other students. 300 00:20:22,800 --> 00:20:27,320 There was a time that was permitted, but the forms of 301 00:20:27,320 --> 00:20:30,600 punishment that remained were only limited by your creativity 302 00:20:30,600 --> 00:20:34,640 and imagination. And if you were creative, they 303 00:20:34,640 --> 00:20:36,280 could be brutal. One of my one of the ones that I 304 00:20:36,280 --> 00:20:39,080 would never forget, one of my colleagues, one of my prefect 305 00:20:39,080 --> 00:20:42,760 classmates, he made a whole class, kneeled down on the 306 00:20:42,760 --> 00:20:46,520 concrete floor, each of them carrying one cinder block in 307 00:20:46,520 --> 00:20:50,000 each hand, raised up like this until their hands were tired. 308 00:20:50,000 --> 00:20:51,320 Why? Because they were whispering 309 00:20:51,320 --> 00:20:56,200 during study prep. And you know, I kidded myself 310 00:20:56,200 --> 00:20:57,600 that I was not as bad as the others. 311 00:20:57,600 --> 00:20:59,160 I was a pastor's kid with the conscience. 312 00:20:59,160 --> 00:21:01,520 Yes, I wielded power, but no, I had mercy. 313 00:21:01,520 --> 00:21:06,040 I was merciful and just. But I know beyond the shadow of 314 00:21:06,040 --> 00:21:10,560 a doubt that I misused my power. I treated fellow human beings as 315 00:21:10,560 --> 00:21:13,280 less than myself. I enjoyed it. 316 00:21:14,040 --> 00:21:18,920 I corrupted it because in the moment it felt so good to take. 317 00:21:21,800 --> 00:21:27,720 So I ask you, you who are a ruler in your own right, you 318 00:21:27,720 --> 00:21:30,720 have influence over others in some way or another. 319 00:21:32,440 --> 00:21:38,400 How do you rule at work, at home, in your relationships? 320 00:21:39,280 --> 00:21:43,840 Do you spend your days taking and taking and taking from those 321 00:21:43,840 --> 00:21:46,080 you have power or influence over? 322 00:21:46,360 --> 00:21:48,880 When your church family, your friends, your spouse, your 323 00:21:48,880 --> 00:21:52,120 children, your parents look at you, do they feel refreshed by 324 00:21:52,120 --> 00:21:56,120 your presence or drained by it? Do they sigh inwardly because 325 00:21:56,120 --> 00:21:59,560 you're a taker, someone who steals their time, their peace, 326 00:21:59,680 --> 00:22:02,880 their joy, their sense of safety, their patience? 327 00:22:03,920 --> 00:22:07,280 Marriages suffer because spouses, one or both of them are 328 00:22:07,280 --> 00:22:09,720 takers. Workplaces suffer because 329 00:22:09,840 --> 00:22:12,720 leaders are takers. And some of you lead teams. 330 00:22:12,960 --> 00:22:15,360 You supervise staff. You manage classrooms. 331 00:22:15,360 --> 00:22:18,080 You manage households and projects and ministries. 332 00:22:18,200 --> 00:22:22,480 Some of you serve on the Hill, in agencies, in advocacy, or in 333 00:22:22,480 --> 00:22:24,400 uniform. Whatever your sphere of 334 00:22:24,440 --> 00:22:26,560 influence, the question is the same. 335 00:22:27,160 --> 00:22:32,760 Am I using my God-given authority to give or to take, to 336 00:22:32,760 --> 00:22:35,960 advance integrity, truth and the common good, or to perpetuate 337 00:22:35,960 --> 00:22:40,640 corruption and self-interest? Am I oppressing the very people 338 00:22:40,640 --> 00:22:46,520 I am meant to serve such that they cry out to God as sons and 339 00:22:46,520 --> 00:22:50,600 daughters with the Most High God call to reign with Christ? 340 00:22:50,600 --> 00:22:54,520 We are all rulers. Do we take? 341 00:22:55,560 --> 00:22:58,800 What do we give? It's a very important question 342 00:22:58,800 --> 00:23:01,840 to answer because there is judgement for takers. 343 00:23:05,000 --> 00:23:06,400 The Israelites got what they asked for. 344 00:23:08,280 --> 00:23:12,760 The King who takes. Here's my favorite part. 345 00:23:15,600 --> 00:23:18,800 The good news of the gospel is that God gives us a different 346 00:23:18,800 --> 00:23:21,760 kind of king, the king who gives. 347 00:23:24,480 --> 00:23:26,440 If you know me, I love the gospel. 348 00:23:27,320 --> 00:23:29,480 I love the gospel and I see it in the story. 349 00:23:30,520 --> 00:23:35,720 The Altars at Bethel, a Gilgal as Misbah and Rama, they all 350 00:23:35,720 --> 00:23:43,000 point forward to another altar, the cross at Calvary, where the 351 00:23:43,000 --> 00:23:50,440 true King gave and gave and gave and continues to give and give 352 00:23:50,800 --> 00:23:54,200 and give. Jesus gave His life as a ransom 353 00:23:54,320 --> 00:23:57,320 for many. His body was broken for us. 354 00:23:57,320 --> 00:24:01,120 His blood was poured out for us. He gives His Spirit to dwell 355 00:24:01,120 --> 00:24:04,120 within us and strengthen us. He gives His word and His 356 00:24:04,120 --> 00:24:08,160 promises for our assurance. He gives His Kingdom for our 357 00:24:08,200 --> 00:24:12,560 everlasting inheritance. At the cross of Calvary. 358 00:24:13,120 --> 00:24:17,520 Jesus Christ sets us free from the altars of idolatry that once 359 00:24:17,520 --> 00:24:20,920 held our hearts, so that we might see Yahweh as our true 360 00:24:21,120 --> 00:24:26,480 King, reconciled, liberated from the modern modern Pagan gods of 361 00:24:26,480 --> 00:24:31,320 our age at the cross of Calvary, Jesus Christ sets us free from 362 00:24:31,320 --> 00:24:35,280 the altar of conformity. We are now a Kingdom of priest, 363 00:24:35,280 --> 00:24:39,240 a royal nation to our God for His glory. 364 00:24:39,240 --> 00:24:41,880 Therefore, as Paul says, we must no longer be conformed to the 365 00:24:41,880 --> 00:24:45,680 pattern of this world. We must come out from among 366 00:24:45,680 --> 00:24:48,720 them. We can't mirror them any longer 367 00:24:49,360 --> 00:24:52,600 at the cross of Calvary. Jesus Christ sets us free from 368 00:24:52,640 --> 00:24:57,280 fear and insecurity, from our constant desire to trust in the 369 00:24:57,360 --> 00:25:01,320 honor of flesh, to save us from our Philistines. 370 00:25:01,840 --> 00:25:04,240 No, we must not do that. Look, there's nothing wrong with 371 00:25:04,240 --> 00:25:08,360 Chariots and horses and policies and activisms. 372 00:25:08,360 --> 00:25:11,280 Those things are God that use it are things that God uses. 373 00:25:12,000 --> 00:25:15,880 But a Psalm 20 declares some trust in Chariots, some trust in 374 00:25:15,880 --> 00:25:20,440 horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. 375 00:25:20,440 --> 00:25:26,320 For you see, God has exalted Jesus Christ to the highest 376 00:25:26,320 --> 00:25:29,640 place. He has set his King on his 377 00:25:29,640 --> 00:25:34,240 mountain and said this is my anointed, that in the name of 378 00:25:34,360 --> 00:25:38,800 Jesus Christ every knee should bow under heaven and on earth, 379 00:25:38,800 --> 00:25:42,400 and every tongue confessed that Jesus Christ is Lord to the 380 00:25:42,400 --> 00:25:46,440 glory of God the Father. He is the King over everybody, 381 00:25:46,640 --> 00:25:50,800 whether it be Pope Leo the 14th, Donald Trump, Muriel Bowser, 382 00:25:50,880 --> 00:25:54,280 Archbishop Steve Wood, Glenn Youngkin, Wes Moore, Benjamin 383 00:25:54,280 --> 00:25:58,120 Netanyahu, Somani, Megadi Zelensky, every president, Prime 384 00:25:58,120 --> 00:26:01,600 Minister and ruler, all the leaders of the world at whatever 385 00:26:01,600 --> 00:26:05,840 level of authority, and inevitably you and I serve at 386 00:26:05,840 --> 00:26:09,960 the pleasure of King Jesus. He's exalted. 387 00:26:10,680 --> 00:26:15,480 The King is exalted forevermore, and we all will be judged by how 388 00:26:15,600 --> 00:26:22,800 we rule, by the King who gives. So fellow believers in the Lord 389 00:26:22,800 --> 00:26:26,520 Jesus Christ and all who are yet to profess him as Lord, I 390 00:26:26,520 --> 00:26:31,880 implore you to come to the greatest altar in history, 391 00:26:32,680 --> 00:26:37,760 greater than Bethel or Gilgal or Mizpah or Rama, the altar at 392 00:26:37,760 --> 00:26:43,280 Calvary, the cross of Jesus Christ, and surrender. 393 00:26:45,360 --> 00:26:49,040 Surrender so that idolatry and conformity and fear and all the 394 00:26:49,040 --> 00:26:52,360 other altars no longer control you, so that your heart is 395 00:26:52,360 --> 00:26:55,520 aligned to serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling, 396 00:26:55,520 --> 00:27:00,040 to kiss the Son and take refuge in him. 397 00:27:04,280 --> 00:27:09,880 Which king will you serve? Let's pray. 398 00:27:18,080 --> 00:27:23,480 You are exalted, You who are the King are exalted on high. 399 00:27:23,520 --> 00:27:27,040 We will forever praise Your name and give You glory and honor. 400 00:27:29,080 --> 00:27:35,720 Set our hearts, Lord Jesus, to look to King Jesus to turn away 401 00:27:35,720 --> 00:27:38,000 from the altars that we are tempted to pursue. 402 00:27:39,440 --> 00:27:45,520 The Christ might be glorified in US, and we will say with all of 403 00:27:45,520 --> 00:27:50,320 our strength that Yahweh is our God and Father our King. 404 00:27:53,120 --> 00:27:54,880 In your Son's name I pray. Amen.