Act Like Men, Part 4

We are looking at a little small phrase in Acts, 1 Corinthians 16, 13. A small phrase with significant implications. It's the phrase, act like men. It's a phrase given to the church at Corinth to help everybody in the church to understand they need to grow up, be mature, be strong, be confident that they might live to the honor and glory of the King. It's a phrase used one time in the New Testament, many times in the Old Testament. But the phrase, act like men, is what we're using to help the fathers, the men of our church, to understand their responsibility to lead the way in maturity when it comes to their family, their church, and their community.

My father, who died almost three years ago, was a man who was little in his stature, but large in God's statutes. Little in his stature, he was a small man, about five foot seven, but he was large in God's statutes. He loved the law of God. He memorized the law of God. For over 40 years, he taught the word of God. As an elder, as a leader, as a Sunday school teacher, as a disciple maker, he faithfully taught the word of God week in and week out for over 40 years in the same church. He loved the word of God.

He believed what David said in Psalm 71. When David said, O God, you have taught me from my youth, and I still declare your wondrous deeds. And even when I am old and gray, O God, do not forsake me until I declare your strength to this generation, your power to all who are to come. My father realized, as King David realized, that there was a legacy that he was leaving. And that legacy had nothing to do, from King David's perspective, with his crown, with his credentials, or with his capabilities as the King of Israel.

It had everything to do with his communicating and cultivating the true King, the Christ, the King of Israel. His whole purpose was to communicate to the next generation the strength and the power and the wonders of God. It made no difference that he was the King of Israel. That was insignificant. It was not important that he had all these credentials, capabilities as a warrior King, as a popular King, as a prominent King. All that paled in comparison to the opportunity he had to communicate the true King of Israel, the Lord Jesus Christ, to the next generation.

That's all that matters. Can you do that? Will you do that? My father's church has a motto, Philippians 2.16, holding fast the word of truth, holding forth the word of truth. My father adopted that, made that a part of his life, to hold forth the word of truth. So important. King David was the man who realized the importance of the next generation. That if he was going to leave a lasting impact, it really had nothing to do with his kingship, but the true King and his rulership in the next generation.

I wonder if you understand what that means. To do that, you must act like men. You must live, as we have stated, purposefully. That is, there's a purpose to honor God, to glorify his name. That's your purpose for living. 1 Samuel 2, verse number 30. You live purposefully. You live proactively. Daniel 11, verse number 32. Those who know God will display strength and take action. Not only do you live proactively, but you live prayerfully. Men are always to pray and not to faint. If you live prayerfully, you will live powerfully, because God has given us a spirit, not of timidity, but of power.

2 Timothy 1, verse number 7. And then if you live powerfully, you will live productively, because John 15, 8. And this is my father glorified, and this is my father honored, and this is my father lifted up, that you bear much fruit. You live productively. But all that is negated, like we said last week, if you don't live purely, virtuously, chastely, living for the purity and honor of your King, being holy and pure as he is holy and pure. Now, we come to point number six in our outline. To act like men, what does it mean to live a mature and holy life?

You live prophetically. You live prophetically. You are the prophet of your home. We know that as you lead in your home, you are the priest. You live priestly. Why? Because you live prayerfully. You are the one who intercedes on behalf of your family to God, on behalf of your church to God. You live prayerfully. You live as the priest. You are provider and protector. As you live proactively, as you live productively, you provide and protect your family, because as a man, that's what we do. But you also are the prophet in your home.

So you live prophetically. This is of utmost importance. This is crucial if you're going to leave a legacy of truth to the next generation. You must live prophetically. Way back in the book of Deuteronomy, the sixth chapter, the Lord God says in chapter five, verse one, then Moses summoned all Israel and said to them, hear, O Israel, the statutes and the ordinances, which I am speaking today in your hearing, that you may learn them and observe them carefully.

And he goes back and he reiterates the commandments that God has given. In Deuteronomy six, verse number four, he says, hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God. The Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your might. These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be in your heart and you shall teach them diligently to your sons. The word diligent is a word that in the Hebrew that means to sharpen. Why? Because your children, as Psalm 127 says, are arrows in the hand of the warrior.

They are to be sharpened diligently. How do you sharpen your children? You teach them diligently the truth of the word of God. So important. He says, teach them diligently to your sons and you should talk to them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up, you teach them creatively. You teach them conspicuously. You teach them continually. You teach them constantly. You teach them compellingly because everything about your life centers around the legacy that you will leave and the legacy is based on the truth of God communicated to the next generation.

Everything about Israel was based on how the fathers would communicate to their children the truth of God's word so that the next generation would know the truth of God's word because that's the only way they would survive in the land in which they were about to live. So Moses gives them the truth of God's word. He tells them you shall teach and command and serve only your God. That is your commitment. Over in Psalm 78, Psalm 78, Psalm says, listen to all my people, to my instruction, incline your ears to the words of my mouth.

In other words, turn your ear toward my mouth. Listen carefully to what I'm going to say. You see, when God speaks, you need to listen.

God speaks to us through his word. And so when his word is preached, when his word is spoken, when his word is taught, you incline your ear, you move your ear in that direction that you might be able to grasp all that God is going to say. I will open my mouth in a parable. I will utter dark sayings of old, which we have heard and known in our fathers have told us we will not conceal them from their children, but tell to the generation to come the praise of the Lord and his strength and his wondrous works that he has done.

In other words, submission to God's word is essential. You must listen, incline your ear and hear what he has to say. Submission to God's word is essential. And speaking God's word is never optional. Never. You are to declare to your children, the praises, the power, the plans, and the purposes of God. Then he says, for he established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should teach them to their children, first generation fathers, second generation children, that the generation to come might know even the children yet to be born.

That's the third generation. And then he says that they may arise and tell them to their children, that's the fourth generation. Wow, what a legacy. That's the way it's supposed to go. When we FaceTime our son in Kentucky and Drew and Teresa are there with their children and their children are, are sharing with us the verses they're memorizing. We are, we are, we are seeing Psalm 78 being played out in our family as our children's children are memorizing scripture and understanding the statutes and the ordinances of God and learning the truth of God's holy word.

And if I live long enough, I'm not sure I'm going to make it, but if I live long enough and they grow up and they get married and they have their children to be able to one day, I mean, maybe there'll be something better than FaceTiming your, your great, great grandchildren. When, when that generation comes around, I don't know, but to hear them memorize the word of God and learn the law of God. See, that's what God wants us to do. That's how it's supposed to happen. As we pass along from generation to generation, he says that they should put their confidence in God.

What are you teaching them? To have faith in God, to have trust in God, to be obedient to God, to put their confidence in God. Do your children have confidence in God? Do your children's children have confidence in God? Do your children's children's children have confidence in God? That's mottled down from the fathers. We teach them to our children and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments and not be like their fathers. A stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that did not prepare its heart and whose spirit was not faithful to God.

Wow. What a testimony. Listen, if you teach them to have faith in God, they will follow God. If they follow God, they will flourish for God. But if you do not teach them to have faith in God, they will forget. If they forget, they will fail. If they fail, they will flounder tremendously. You must instill the word of God in the lives of your children. That's what God's called us to do. This is living prophetically. You are the prophet in your home. You speak forth the truth of God's holy word. He goes on to say, the sons of Ephraim were archers equipped with bows.

Remember Ephraim, second son of Joseph. Manasseh, firstborn. God has caused me to forget. That's what Manasseh means. Ephraim, fruitful. And Ephraim would be the firstborn, the prototokos. Although he was the second born son, the blessing would go through Ephraim.

Ephraim was the fruitful tribe. They were doubly blessed. And they were the archers. They were the leaders of the northern kingdom. They were the powerful tribe, the most influential tribe. The sons of Ephraim were archers equipped with bows, yet they turned back in the day of battle. When the battle came, they turned. Why did they turn? Why did they not stop, stay, and fight? They did not keep the covenant of God and refused to walk in his law. They forgot his deeds and his miracles that he had shown to them.

When he wonders before their fathers in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan, when he divided the Red Sea, and he goes on to list all the problems, they forgot. They rebelled when they went to war as archers. And the unique thing about this is there's nowhere recorded in scripture this incident. All we know about it is what is said right here in Psalm 78. But the unique thing about it is, is that when they went to war, they turned around and ran. Why? Because not that they weren't fruitful, because they were, or doubly blessed because God did that.

Not because they weren't equipped for war, because they were. They were unique in the arching ability, the archers, because they were unique with bows and strong, had nothing to do with their competency or their capability. It had everything to do with the fact that they turned their back on the covenant of God, and it allowed them to no longer be strong. See, your strength is not in your education. Your strength is not in your credentials. Your strength is not in your intuition, your wisdom, your physical prowess.

It's not there. Your strength is in your knowledge of the Lord and the ability to accomplish the things that he's called you to do. That's the power that you have. Without that power, you are powerless, no matter how great your education, no matter how great your physical abilities, no matter how great your intellect. They turned back. They turned back because they were an idolatrous people. We know that from the book of Hosea. Hosea chapter 13, when Ephraim spoke, there was trembling. He exalted himself in Israel, but through Baal, he did wrong and died.

And now they sin more and more and make for themselves molten images, idols skillfully made from their silver, all of them the work of craftsmen. They say of them, let the men who sacrifice kiss the calves. Therefore, they will be like the morning cloud and like dew, which soon disappears like chaff, which is blown away from the threshing floor and like smoke from a chimney. In other words, they can't do anything. There's smoke from a chimney. It rises up and it's gone. They're like dew in the morning or the fog in the morning.

It's there for a while and then gone, disappears. They're there for a while and gone. They have no substance to stay and stand and be strong because they turned their back on God. And in doing so, they led the Northern kingdom, the 10 tribes of the Northern part of Israel away from the Lord. Why? Tells us, yet I had been the Lord, your God, since the land of Egypt. Verse four of Hosea 13, and you were not to know any God except me for there's no savior besides me. I cared for you in the wilderness, in the land of drought, as they had their pasture, they became satisfied and being satisfied, their heart became proud.

Therefore they forgot me. There it is. They forgot me. Why? Because of their idolatry and because of their ingratitude. God says, I blessed you.

I prospered you. I did all this for you. And yet you turned away from me. You forgot me. It's all on you. Not me. God says you turned away and because you turned away and turned the nation away from me, God says, you will be disciplined.

And they were severely, severely. If you go back to Psalm 78, back to Psalm 78, the Lord God talks about the blessings given to Ephraim. He says in verse 17, yet they still continue to sin against him. God to rebel against the most high in the desert. And in their heart, they put God to the test by asking food, according to their desire. Then they spoke against God. They said, can God prepare a table in the wilderness? Behold, he struck the rocks that waters gushed out and streams were overflowing.

Can he give bread also? Will he provide meat for his people? They tested their God. We're done with the water. We're done with the manna. We want meat. Give us meat. And therefore the Lord heard and was full of wrath. Can you imagine God being full of wrath against you? And a fire was kindled against Jacob and anger also mounted against Israel because they did not believe in God and did not trust in his salvation. Wow. That's just powerful stuff. That should cause every one of us to tremble. And shake and be concerned about how I personally and dispensing the truth to the next generation and living prophetically.

It is so absolutely crucial. Everything that you do is centered around one element. How is my life proclaiming and portraying the truth of the living God? That's it. Everything else pales in comparison to that. If that's not your priority, that's not number one on your list.

You can't act like a man. You can't be mature. You can't be confident and strong. You can't live prophetically. You need to do that. You need to live prophetically. It's all about the truth. Everything is about the truth. That's why John says, I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. There is no greater joy than that. That's why when Paul wrote to Timothy, he said in chapter one, be shameless about the truth. In chapter two, he said, be strong in the truth. In chapter three, he said, be steadfast in the truth.

In chapter four, he said, be serious about the truth. His last letter to Timothy was all about the truth. You can't be ashamed of the truth. You must be shameless. Don't be ashamed, Timothy, of me, the gospel of God, and me, his prisoner. Guard the truth. Protect the truth. Be shameless concerning the truth. And then he says in chapter two, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. Be strong in the truth. Be like an athlete. Be like a farmer. Be like the soldier. And remember Jesus Christ, the son of David, risen from the dead, 2 Timothy 2.8.

Don't forget Jesus. Be strong in the truth. Chapter three, you be steadfast in the truth, because perilous times are going to come, and men will be lovers of themselves more than lovers of God. And you continue in the things that you've learned, Timothy, that I've shown you by example, that you saw in your mother and your grandmother. You be steadfast in the truth. And then lastly, you be serious about the truth. You preach the word in season, out of season, restore, reprove, rebuke, exhort with all along suffering and with patience.

Timothy, you are the one who is to endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. Timothy, you are the one who are to make sure that you endure and that you preach the gospel, because that's your legacy. That was Paul's legacy. That would be Timothy's legacy. That's our legacy to live prophetically. So why don't we? Why don't we? This is so important. And on the week we're going to begin our Vacation Bible School, it's all about the Bible, the authority of scripture, and the power of the scripture in the lives of people.

The sovereignty of God and His timing is perfect when it comes to understanding the power of the truth of God's word. But why don't we live prophetically? Let me give you an illustration by turning to John 18.

John chapter 18. In John chapter 18, Pilate is on trial before Jesus. Pilate is on trial before Jesus. Yes, I said that right. You're thinking Jesus is on trial before Pilate. Oh, no. Jesus is never on trial. He's the king. He's the judge. Pilate's on trial. The Sanhedrin were on trial. Annas was on trial. Herod was on trial. Jesus was not on trial. They were. And the progression of John 18 is significant. It says in verse 28, then they led Jesus from Caiaphas into the praetorium. And it was early.

And they themselves did not enter into the praetorium so that they would not be defiled, but might eat the Passover. Therefore, Pilate went out to them and said, What accusation do you bring against this man? The first truth that you need to understand about Jesus is that he's a man.

And Pilate knew that. The essential element of the humanity of Christ is crucial. What accusation do you bring against this man? And the answer said to him, If this man were not an evildoer, we would not have delivered him to you. So Pilate said to them, Take him yourselves and judge him according to your law. The Jews said to him, We are not permitted to put anyone to death. The whole element of this says around the fact that Pilate's wife told him have nothing to do with this righteous man. That's the one time he should have listened to his wife.

But he did not have nothing to do with this righteous man. This was no ordinary man. So it says in verse 32, To fulfill the word of Jesus, which he spoke, signifying by what kind of death he was about to die. Wow. There was a death that he was going to die. There was a time he was going to die, and it was all subject to the sovereign control of the living God. And this speaks to the fact that only God holds the keys to death and Hades. He had prophesied when he would die. He had prophesied how he would die.

The precision of the cross, the precision of the week leading up to the cross were all a series of events that happened in the perfect timing of the living God, because he was in charge. It speaks to his deity. It speaks to the deity of Christ, the sovereignty of the living God, by which manner he was going to die. Therefore, Pilate entered again into the Praetorium and summoned Jesus and said to him, Are you the king of the Jews? Are you a king? Now, Pilate needs to understand something about the Christ.

He needs to understand his humanity, which he does, but he also needs to understand his deity, which he doesn't. To understand his deity, he must understand his royalty. So he asks, Are you a king? You don't look like a king. You don't act like a king. You don't dress like a king. You don't smell like a king. Are you a king? Jesus answered, Are you seeing this on your own initiative? What did somebody tell you about me? Pilate answered, I'm not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests delivered you to me.

What have you done? Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, then my servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not of this realm. In other words, I'm a king, but I'm a king like unlike any other king. I'm not elected to office by man. I am a king inherently because of who I am. I am not just any king. I am the king of all kings. I am the Lord of all lords. And my kingdom certainly is not of this realm.

It's of a completely different realm, a higher realm, a more important realm than your little kingdom here in Israel. Therefore, Pilate said to him, So you are a king? And Jesus answered, You say correctly that I am a king. For this, I have been born, his humanity. And for this, I have come into the world, his eternality. To testify to the truth, and everyone who is of the truth hears my voice. He gets to the point. It's all about the truth. It's all about his veracity. And the veracity of Christ centers on his humanity, his deity, his royalty, his eternality.

That's who he is, the eternal God of the universe. Right out of Isaiah 9, verse number six. For unto us, a son is given. For unto us, a child is born. The child being born, his humanity. The son being given, his deity. You shall call his name, Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God. Right? The everlasting Father, the Father of eternity, his eternality. The mighty God, his deity. The prince of peace. And the government shall be upon his shoulders, all speaking of his royalty. And that's why when the wise men came, they gave gifts signifying his humanity, his deity, and his royalty, because that is the veracity of the king.

That is the truth of the king. And so Jesus says, I have come into this world to testify to the truth.

I am the truth. I am the way. I am the life. And the truth is, I am king of all kings and Lord of all lords. And Revelation 19 says, when he comes back, he is faithful and true. True to what? True to everything he said he would do. True to who he is. That's when he comes again, everyone will know that he is king of kings and Lord of lords. So the reason why we don't live prophetically is simply because we do not tremble at that truth. Pilate did not. He says, verse 38, what is truth? That is a 21st century statement spoken in the first century because nothing ever changes.

What is truth? What do you know about truth? Truth is not absolute. Truth is relative. Truth is what I believe it to be on this day. You want to talk to me about truth? What is truth? Who knows anything about truth? But see, Jesus is true and truth is absolute. And everything that Jesus says is true because he is true.

He is absolute. Christ says, I've come to testify about the truth. The truth about what? The truth about life, truth about death, truth about sin, truth about judgment, truth about God, truth about eternity, truth about everything. I came to testify to everything there is about the truth because I am the truth. And Pilate had the goal to say, what is truth? He would not tremble under the authority of the truth of God and submit humbly before the throne of God. That's why Pilate is on trial before Jesus.

And he stands condemned before Jesus because he will not tremble under the truth of God's holy word. That's why Isaiah 66 verse number two says to this man, will I look to him who is broken and of a contrite heart and who trembles at my word?

That is the only man God looks to. God does not look at those who do not tremble at his word because God resists the proud.

He only gives grace to the humble. And if you don't tremble under the authority of God's holy word, he does not look to you because he resists the proud. Only the arrogant man won't tremble under the authority of God's holy word. Pilate didn't. And there are many in scripture who didn't, whether it be the Sanhedrin, whether it be the Pharisees, whether it be Caiaphas, no matter who it was, they would not tremble under his authority. But you see, in order to live prophetically, you must tremble at the truth.

It's imperative. Listen to what God says. God says this. Now this is the commandment, the statutes and the judgments, which the Lord, your God has commanded me to teach you that you might do them in the land where you are going over to possess that you and your sons and your grandsons might fear the Lord, your God. I'm giving you these statutes, these commandments. So you will live in the fear of your God, that you will tremble under the authority of your God to keep all the statutes and his commandments, which I command you all the days of your life and that your days may be prolonged.

Listen, here's the key element trembling at God's word involves submission to what he says, shaking uncontrollably by what he says so that ultimately you'll be satisfied by all that he does. But that's the essence of trembling under the truth. He goes on to say, you shall fear only the Lord, your God, verse 13 of Deuteronomy six, you shall worship him and swear by his name. You shall not follow other gods, any of the gods of the people who surround you for the Lord, your God in the midst of you is a jealous God.

He goes on to say in verse 24. So the Lord commanded us to observe all these statutes, to fear the Lord, our God for our good always and for our survival as it is today. See that he gave us his word so that we would submit to what he says so that when submission, we would shake uncontrollably to what he says so that there will be survival and satisfaction in the land. We are going over to possess because we trembled under the authority of God's holy word. That's how it works. Then over in Deuteronomy chapter eight, God says, thus, you are to know in your heart that the Lord, your God was disciplining you just as a man disciplines his son.

Therefore, you shall keep the commandments of the Lord, your God to walk in his ways and to fear him. Again, you should tremble under his authority. Chapter 13 verse number four says this of Deuteronomy. You shall follow the Lord, your God and fear him. And you shall keep his commandments, listen to his voice, serve him and cling to him. Those who tremble under his authority, serve him, fear him, cling to him. And then Deuteronomy 17, listen to this. Oh, this is so good. Verse 18. Now it shall come about when he, this is the king.

Okay. When the king comes, he sits on the throne of his kingdom. He shall write for himself a copy of this law on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests. It shall be with him and he shall read it all the days of his life that he may learn to fear the Lord, his God, by carefully observing all the words of the law and these statutes. If you are a king of Israel, you are to sit down in front of the Levitical priests and you were to copy the law of God. As you copy the law of God, you are to read the law of God.

And the reason you read it and the reason you copy it is because you need to fear the Lord God of Israel. You need to shake uncontrollably under the authority of the Lord God of Israel. And you do that by keeping his commandments and observing all that he has said. That's the requirement of the king. That's what he must do. And that's why Solomon, king of Israel, said, the sum of man is simply this, fear God and keep his commandments. Ecclesiastes 12, 13, that's it. Shake uncontrollably, tremble under the testimony and the statute to the living God by keeping his commandments.

Tremble at his word. But we don't, do we? To live prophetically, we must. But we always make excuses. We always make excuses. I've got your Bible turned me to the book of 1 Samuel, chapter 15. A man's life that we will study in the new year, the life of King Saul. It says in 1 Samuel 15, then Samuel said to Saul, the Lord sent me to anoint you as king over his people over Israel. Remember the king? What's he supposed to do? Copy the law, read the law every day of his life. Deuteronomy 17, 18 and 19, right?

That's what he's supposed to do. Copy the law, read the law. So he fears God. The Lord sent me to anoint you as king over his people over Israel. Now, therefore, listen to the words of the Lord. Here is what God has to say. Listen, Saul. Thus says the Lord of hosts, I will punish Amalek for what he has done to Israel, how he set himself against him on the way while he was coming up from Egypt. Now go and strike Amalek and utterly destroy all that he has. Do not spare him. Put him to death, both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.

Obliterate Amalek. Destroy him, everything. So Saul gathered the people, numbered them until he had 200,000 foot soldiers, 10,000 men of Judah. Saul came to the city of Amalek and set an ambush in the valley. Saul said to the Canaanites, go down from among the Amalekites so that I do not destroy you with them. For you showed kindness to all the sons of Israel when they came up from Egypt. So the Canaanites departed from among the Amalekites. So Saul defeated the Amalekites from Havilah as you go to Shur, which is east of Egypt.

He captured Agag, the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were not willing to destroy them utterly. There you have it. He was unwilling to do what God said. Samuel said, listen to the voice of the Lord. Destroy the king, all the women, all the children, all the livestock, get rid of all of it. But Saul was unwilling to be completely obedient to God.

But everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed. See that? He was willing to destroy that which wasn't any good, but that which was good, he was going to keep. That which was worthless, get rid of. But that which had possibilities, we're going to keep. Then the word of the Lord came to Samuel saying, I regret that I had made Saul king, for he has turned back from following me and has not carried out my commands. He has not carried out my commands. And Samuel was distressed and cried out to the Lord all night.

Samuel rose early in the morning to meet Saul, and it was told Samuel saying, Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set up a monument for himself, then turned and proceeded on down to Gilgal, and Samuel came to Saul. And Saul said to him, Blessed are you of the Lord. I have carried out the command of the Lord. What was lost in that translation? I have carried out the command of the Lord. The Lord said to Samuel, he has not fully obeyed my commands. So who's right? God or Saul? Saul says, I have carried out the command of the Lord.

And Samuel said, what then is the bleeding of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear? Samuel said, they have brought them from the Amalekites. For the people spared the best of the sheep and oxen to sacrifice to the Lord your God, but the rest we have utterly destroyed. We kept the best because we're going to give it back to God. We're going to do something for God. We're going to disobey God on one hand, and through our disobedience, obey him on the other hand. Then Samuel said to Saul, wait, and let me tell you what the Lord said to me last night.

He said to him, speak. Samuel said, is it not true? Though you were little in your own eyes, you were made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the Lord anointed you king over Israel. And the Lord sent you on a mission and said, go and destroy the sinners and the Amalekites and fight against them until they are exterminated. Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord, but rushed upon the spoil and did what was evil in the sight of the Lord? Then Saul said to Samuel, I did obey the voice of the Lord, and went on the mission on which the Lord sent me, and have brought back Agag, the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.

But the people took some of the spoil, sheep, and oxen, and choices of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the Lord, your God of Gilgal. Samuel said, has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has also rejected you from being king.

And then Saul said to Samuel, I have sinned. I have indeed transgressed the commandment of the Lord in your words, because I feared the people and listened to their voice. There you have it. He feared the people. He trembled before the people and listened to their voice instead of trembling before God and listening to his voice. That will always bring you down. Like it did Saul. But Samuel said to Saul, I will not return with you, for you have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.

Wow. Listen carefully. Partial obedience to God is full out rebellion and rejection of God. Partial obedience to God is full out rebellion and rejection of God. We don't get that today, but that is the truth. Saul did not tremble under the authority of God. How do you know you're trembling under the authority of God's word? You are completely submissive to everything it says without reservation, because you fear God. That's how you know you tremble under its authority. You must tremble at the truth.

And you know you're trembling when you're submission to everything God says. That's why it's always fear God, keep his commandments, fear God, keep his commandments, keep his commandments, fear God, serve him only. Why? Because when you tremble under his authority, you're submitting to his authority. And Saul didn't do that, because he feared the people. He listened to their voice. And Saul was told by Samuel, you have rejected the word of the Lord, and now God has rejected you from being king over Israel.

Whenever you reject the word of the Lord, you lose, you lose. Or you might not lose today, or tomorrow, or next week, but you will lose. What you will lose all depends on God. But you must obey the word of the Lord. To live prophetically, you must tremble at the truth. That's where it begins. And the reason we don't tremble at the truth is simply because we fear and tremble something else or someone else and listen to their voice and not God's voice. And even though we might partially obey, that is full out rejection in God's mind and in God's eyes.

My prayer for you and for me is that we would be the people of God that shake uncontrollably under the authority of his word. This is what he says, To this man will I look. To this man will I show favor. To this man will I uplift. To this man will I honor. He who is broken and of a contrite heart, he trembles at my word. How do you know your heart is broken and contrite? You tremble. You shake. You're not broken and contrite because you tell us you are. You're not even broken and contrite because you look like you are.

You're broken and contrite because you will do everything that God says without reservation and without hesitation.

Without reservation and without hesitation. That's how you know you have a broken and contrite heart. And you do that because you tremble under the authority of God's word. You fear the true and living God. You know who he is in his humanity, in his deity, in his royalty, his eternality, his veracity. He is truth. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for today and the truth of your word. It is so powerful. Our prayer is for all of us that when we read it, we hear it, we'd realize how serious it is. This is not something to toy with.

That's something to trifle with. It's not something to talk about. It's simply something to tremble under. May all of us learn to shake under the authority of the holy word of God. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.