Introduction

Good morning, everyone. Today, I will talk about another negative figure, the famous Saul. Recently, I have been discussing more negative characters. For example, Esau, who despised his birthright, which was then obtained by Jacob, who valued it. Another example is old Eli, who was not a faithful priest because he valued his sons more than God when he was a judge in Israel. Then God prepared another faithful priest named Samuel.

Saul and Samuel had a very close relationship, as Saul was anointed king by Samuel. Because we are talking about negative figures, you will find that you learn more from them than from positive ones. We have been promoting learning, but we face many obstacles in the process.

This is because our pastors are rigid and one-sided, and their problems are mainly learning-related. Can we learn better lessons from flawed, negative figures? For example, if I see my boss being deceived and controlled by subordinates, I would study the question: if I were in that position one day, how could I avoid being deceived? How can I avoid being controlled by subordinates? After much research, I would come up with many insights because I learned a lot from the negative situation.

Everyone should not only learn from their own mistakes but also learn ten times more from the mistakes of others. Because you will see all kinds of people around you, and the pitfalls they face are more than ten times what we can experience ourselves. After all, our own experiences are limited, but the experiences of others are numerous. Therefore, we learn ten times more from the pitfalls of others.

For example, in building a church, there are various methods. I also learned about building a church from others. Once, I attended a special conference with many pastors, and one of them was on stage, tearfully recounting his tragic experiences in recent years because he was sued in court. I thought to myself: this mistake must be thoroughly learned!

Later, I found that in building a church, it is better to have quality over quantity. The good should be selected into the vessels, and the bad should be discarded. This is based on the Bible. This lesson was not learned from my own experiences but from others, isn't that good? My management style is also derived from the experiences of others. Therefore, studying history and the events around us are effective ways to learn. For example, we learned a lesson from Esau: value the Christian identity, which is the identity of being a child of God. We learned a lesson from old Eli: learn to be a faithful priest.

Can you learn how to be a faithful priest from an unfaithful priest? The answer is yes. For example, I personally attended two funerals, one last year and another a few days ago. I like to attend funerals because after observing closely, I found that Christians who love the world often do not have good endings. Every time I stand next to a coffin, I tell myself not to love the world.

If you want to be an emperor, you must learn lessons from Emperor Chongzhen and Li Zicheng, the rebel who only ruled for eighteen days. Later, in the process of establishing the new China, when Beijing was about to be captured, our great leader told his colleagues that he would learn from Li Zicheng before entering Beijing. Today, we also learn from a king whom God established but later regretted. So the title of my sermon is I Regret That I Have Set Up Saul As King!.

If one day God sets you up as king and you mess things up, thinking that God will not regret it, you are mistaken. In Christian circles, there are many doctrines such as once saved, always saved and you are already saved, you cannot lose this salvation. So, was Saul saved or lost after being set up as king? No one can say for sure. Did the Israelites who died in the wilderness lose their salvation? Most of them were displeasing to God. Did old Eli lose his salvation? He was the priest anointed by God. Esau despised his birthright; could he still obtain it? No!

Was Achan in the Book of Joshua saved? What about Aaron's two sons, Nadab and Abihu, who were burned to death? Were they saved? They were all priests! Korah was swallowed alive by the earth; was he saved? No! So do not say nonsense. Never be someone chosen by God and then make God regret it.

Who makes God regret it? We do. Today, I am sharing these examples so we can learn many lessons from Saul. Never be someone chosen by God and then make God regret it. I often say to God in my heart: Since you have chosen me to serve you, you have chosen the right person. Although I do not do well, I faithfully hold on to what you have entrusted to me until I see the Lord. Everyone must know: after being chosen by God, if you cause God to regret, the evil spirit that comes to attack you is from God.

The Bible records that an evil spirit from the Lord tormented Saul. How was Saul abandoned by God and caused God to regret after being established as king? Saul loved money indeed. Those who love money and the world cannot serve God. He feared the people and had compassion on God's enemy, the Amalekites. The Amalekites were descendants of Esau, who incurred God's wrath, while Jacob was pleasing to God. The descendants of Esau are the Amalekites, and God wanted to destroy them. If you have compassion on those whom God wants to destroy, it becomes very troublesome.

Saul relied on people instead of God. He treated God as someone else's God, telling Samuel: Your God, I will serve your God. This is second-hand reliance on God. Most importantly, he did not realize that he had disobeyed God's commands and still felt good about himself! Even today, I often encounter Christians who say they love God. I ask them how they love God, and they say they make time to attend meetings despite being so busy.

Does God really need you to attend meetings? Isn't attending meetings what you should be doing? Is that called loving God? Attending meetings is not called loving God, and loving God is not just attending meetings. So many confused people among us are self-righteous. Saul also thought he loved God very much, doing exactly as God said, truly obeying the Lord's commands.

Do our brothers and sisters reflect on this even today? Because King Saul had compassion on God's enemy, the Amalekites, and loved their wealth, this was the last straw that broke the camel's back, causing God to completely regret it. Before this, he had made many mistakes. So today we know that with Lot, there was Abraham ; not because Lot gave birth to Abraham, but because of the contrast. Esau and Jacob, Lot and Abraham, old Eli and Samuel, King Saul and the later King David, all formed a stark contrast.

Today, I say that there were certain people for me to become who I am today. So God is looking for treasures. You will find that in this world, some people are like King Saul, some are like King David; some are like Esau, some are like Jacob; some are like old Eli, some are like Samuel. This is your choice and mine. Do you want to be a treasure in God's kingdom or garbage?

In fact, when God chose Saul, He gave him all the resources. He had the best priest, Samuel; the best son, Jonathan, who was very brave and skilled in battle and very tall and strong among the Israelites. He was the first person chosen by God to be the king of Israel, and the Spirit of God came upon him… But his own choices ultimately made God regret it. I think this is a very valuable lesson to learn.

Scripture

The word of the Lord came to Samuel: “I regret that I have made Saul king, because he has turned away from me and has not carried out my instructions.” Samuel was troubled, and all night long he cried out to the Lord. (1 Samuel 15:10-11)

Prayer

God, today you speak to us again through Saul, giving us new revelations, allowing us to deeply learn a lesson from Saul. God, you have chosen us, choosing us from among all nations to be your people. Today we say before you, God, may You have mercy on us and let us learn this lesson from Saul, to become someone who acts according to Your will.

We want to imitate Samuel, to be Your faithful priests. We want to imitate David, to be kings after Your own heart. We want to imitate Jacob, pursuing heavenly blessings. God, lead us today, let us walk in Your will every day of our lives on this earth. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen!

Scripture Background

Saul's story is very interesting. The Bible uses a great deal of space in 1 and 2 Samuel to record Saul's life. In fact, the Bible also uses a great deal of space to record Esau's life. Do not assume that everything recorded in the Bible is positive; there is a considerable amount of negative material.

This is true of the Old Testament, and it is true of the New Testament. If you read the Old Testament or New Testament carefully, you will find that there are two kinds of people in this world. One is pleasing to God, and the other is incurring God's wrath. One is chosen by God and then abandoned by God, or he abandons God. The other is chosen by God and is faithful to the end.

Today, let us look at Saul's story. Saul's story is very interesting. He was originally an ordinary Israelite. Because Samuel was old, his sons took over Samuel's role as judge, but his sons did not follow God's ways, were greedy for money, took bribes, and perverted justice. The elders of Israel came to Samuel and said: You are old, and your sons do not follow your ways. Please appoint a king for us.

Because the Israelites saw that the surrounding countries had kings, they also wanted to have a king, thinking that having a king would solve their problems. In fact, even after a king is established, it still depends on circumstances, because if a good king is established, they will be blessed, and if a bad king is established, they will not be blessed. If a good judge is established, Israel will be blessed, and if a bad judge is established, Israel will not be blessed.

As a result, the Israelites fell into a fallacy. They thought that the system could solve the problem, but in fact, no system can prevent having a terrible president or a terrible top leader. Because a general with no ability will exhaust his troops, so the wisdom of a company cannot exceed the wisdom of the company owner, no matter how many people are under him.

The Israelites wanted to establish a king, so they established Saul as king. How was Saul established? The Israelites drew lots before God, drawing a lot from each tribe. Saul was drawn, and Saul was established as king. On the day the king was established, something very interesting happened. Everyone drew Saul's name but could not find Saul, because Saul was hiding in a piece of equipment, perhaps in a basket or a large jar.

Everyone was very strange, how did he hide? But he was still made king. This was the first time the Israelites had established a king, and the Holy Spirit came upon Saul, and Saul also prophesied. Later, Saul took the Israelites to recruit soldiers and fight with the people around them.

Saul was made king, not a priest. Samuel told Saul before he left not to offer sacrifices but to wait for him to return before offering sacrifices. Then Saul waited and waited, but Samuel still did not return. Then Saul did something very foolish. He began to offer sacrifices in place of Samuel. In fact, the time had not yet come, there was still one day left, because Saul was afraid that the people would leave, so he began to offer sacrifices.

In fact, this time, God regretted it a little, but He had not completely given up and continued to give Saul opportunities. After Saul became king, he did a lot of work, fought many battles, and took many risks. After a while, God instructed Saul to fight against the Amalekites. The Amalekites were descendants of Esau. Why fight against the Amalekites? Because the Amalekites were very bad and wanted to harm the Israelites in the place where they came out of Egypt.

This time God wanted to destroy the Amalekites through the Israelites. Everyone may feel that God is not so ruthless, right? Do not think that the death of a few people is a big deal in God's eyes. In fact, everyone in this world, whether destroyed by God or not, eventually dies, because dying early or dying late are the same to God.

This tribe of Amalekites was a descendant of Esau, a cursed descendant. God wanted to destroy them because the Amalekites were enemies in God's kingdom. This became the last straw that made God completely regret making him king. The command Saul received said this:

This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘ I will punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel when they waylaid them as they came up from Egypt.Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy all that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.’(1 Samuel 15:2-3)

Would everyone doubt whether this was God's command? Many Christians read this passage and make excuses for God: in fact, our God is not like this. But our God is like this, because God wants to destroy His enemies.

So Saul attacked the Amalekites all the way from Havilah to Shur, near the eastern border of Egypt.He took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and all his people he totally destroyed with the sword.But Saul and the army spared Agag and the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs—everything that was good. These they were unwilling to destroy completely, but everything that was despised and weak they totally destroyed.

Then the word of the Lord came to Samuel: “I regret that I have made Saul king, because he has turned away from me and has not carried out my instructions.” Samuel was angry, and he cried out to the Lord all that night.Early in the morning Samuel got up and went to meet Saul, but he was told, “Saul has gone to Carmel, where he has set up a monument in his own honor and has turned and gone on down to Gilgal.”

When Samuel reached him, Saul said, “The Lord bless you! I have carried out the Lord’s instructions.”But Samuel asked, “What then is this bleating of sheep in my ears? What is this lowing of cattle that I hear?”Saul answered, “The soldiers brought them from the Amalekites; they spared the best of the sheep and cattle to sacrifice to the Lord your God, but we totally destroyed the rest.”

“Enough!” Samuel said to Saul. “Let me tell you what the Lord said to me last night.”“Tell me,” Saul replied.Samuel said, “Although you were once small in your own eyes, did you not become the head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king over Israel. And the Lord sent you on a mission, saying, ‘Go and completely destroy those wicked people, the Amalekites; wage war against them until you have wiped them out.’Why did you not obey the Lord? Why did you pounce on the plunder and do evil in the eyes of the Lord?”

“But I did obey the Lord,” Saul said. “I went on the mission the Lord assigned me. I completely destroyed the Amalekites and brought back Agag their king.The soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to destruction, in order to sacrifice them to the Lord your God at Gilgal.(1 Samuel 15:7-21)

Was this commanded by God? It was not. Does God lack cattle, sheep, or things to sacrifice? God does not lack these things.

But Samuel replied: “Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has rejected you as king.(1 Samuel 15:22-23)

Everyone should know that this was not just Samuel saying to Saul, but it was saying to us. How many people offer sacrifices but do not obey God's word? Then Saul confessed his sin before Samuel, saying that he feared the people and obeyed them, thus disobeying the Lord's command. He was still shifting the blame and had no remorse.

Samuel turned to leave, but he grabbed Samuel's hand and would not let go, tearing Samuel's clothes. Because he wanted Samuel to exalt him before the Israelites and return with him so that he could continue to be king. He valued his kingship far more than he valued God. After Samuel left, he killed King Agag and left Saul. Until the day Samuel left the world, he had not seen Saul. This is Saul's story.

In 1 Samuel chapter 16, God sent Samuel to anoint David as king. Then David became the new king in name. The Bible says that an evil spirit from the Lord troubled Saul. Later, Saul found a musician, who was David. When he played the lyre, the demon would leave Saul. Then there would be a series of entangled stories between Saul and David.

Later, Saul died in battle, and David succeeded Saul as king of Israel. There was also a period of Saul constantly pursuing and killing David. This is 1 and 2 Samuel. It is a very good book and very worthy of our careful reading.

Heeding the word of God without Keeping and Obeying It

But Samuel replied: “Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has rejected you as king.(1 Samuel 15:22-23)

Some of us especially want to hear God speak to them, but this is a high-risk thing. Of course, I hope that the brothers and sisters like to obey God's word and like to obey the word from God. But after hearing God's word, what do you do if God really speaks to you personally? If God really speaks to you and gives you a command, can you really keep it?

If God really gives you a command, and after hearing it, you do not keep it carefully, nor do you obey it, God will reject you. Many people are fortunate not to have heard God's word. If you hear God's word, what can you do? If God says to you, offer your most beloved son to Him, will you offer Isaac to God like Abraham? Or will you respect your son more than God like old Eli?

Everyone should know that many people want to hear the word from God and hear God's voice, but after hearing it, can you keep it? Sometimes I tell the brothers and sisters that it is fortunate that God has not spoken to you. If He speaks, and you do not listen, God will reject you. Today, how many Christians are only staying at the level of tithing, which is useless. God does not lack money, burnt offerings, or peace offerings. What God lacks is people who like to obey His word.

Chinese Mingding Destiny speaks of one thing, which is blessing and curse. This is the most important axis that runs through a person's life. Blessing and curse are the main axis! What is the principle behind it? It is keeping and obeying and not keeping and obeying. In this world, the difference between people is not man and woman, but the difference between keeping and obeying God's word and not keeping and obeying God's word.

I have encountered many people who do not want to do healing and deliverance because their wives disagree! Can you do it if your wife disagrees? You cannot! But is that God's word? That is the wife's word! If you listen to your wife and listen to your son, and your wife and son want to threaten you, do you obey God? Or do you obey your wife and your son? This sounds very harsh.

Among the people I know, especially pastors, they value their sons, wives, and families far more than they value God. Then how can God's revelation come upon you? How can you be a faithful king who walks in God's will? God entrusts you with work, but you do not even listen to God's word. How can you be with God? You must begin to know that if we ask for anything, it is best to ask for keeping and obeying.

Rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has rejected you as king.” (1 Samuel 15:23)

Some brothers and sisters have told me when buying houses that the surroundings are full of idol worship. I said, It's fortunate they aren't Christians. The word Christian is similar to the name King Saul. Everyone must understand that rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. If your neighbor is a Christian, but he is rebellious and stubborn against God, the result is the same as practicing divination and worshiping idols.

In my own interactions, I've found that many idol worshipers are quite good people. I'm not saying idol worship is a good thing, but many Christians are not even as good as idol worshipers. If God had not chosen Saul to be king of Israel, he could have lived a good life. But after becoming king of Israel, an evil spirit from the Lord came upon him, causing him much suffering throughout his life.

Because he committed the sin of stubborn rebellion, which is equivalent to practicing divination and idolatry. Even if there are no idols displayed in the house, the idols in the heart are even bigger than the idols outside. Today, I encourage everyone to carefully read this passage.

The First Lesson from Saul: Rushing to Plunder Spoils

“Why did you not obey the Lord? Why did you pounce on the plunder and do evil in the eyes of the Lord?” (1 Samuel 15:19)

Saul was a man who had never seen the world. He had never seen so much money or such fine cattle and sheep. How did Saul meet Samuel? Saul lost his donkeys and went to look for them, then he met Samuel, and later Saul was anointed as king.

It is a very sad thing if a person has not seen the world. If you suddenly see so much wealth without having seen the world, the temptation you face is similar to what Saul faced. The people of the Jerusalem church initially dedicated everything, and then suddenly saw so much money, because they were all disciples from humble families, and they were immediately dazed.

I often tell everyone that after winning a spiritual battle, you will be blessed in wealth. But does being blessed in wealth mean you are very capable? Just like Saul winning the battle against the Amalekites, was Saul capable? Not at all. God had already predestined that the Amalekites would be defeated by Saul's army. It was not Saul's victory, but God who made Saul victorious.

But after the victory, God told them to destroy all the spoils and livestock, because these things were all devoted to destruction in God's eyes. But they only heard about winning the spiritual battle and being blessed in wealth, so they desperately grabbed money, which is the same sin that Saul committed.

Does God really need this money? Their reason was that the tithe can be offered to God with the spoils. In fact, the focus is not on the tithe, but on the nine-tenths that plunders your heart. Today, learn this lesson from Saul, and never rush to plunder spoils after winning a spiritual battle. Because it is deadly. People who have not seen the world do not know the abundance of glory in our God's kingdom. Those who have not seen the world, those who come from very poor families, often make this mistake.

Without virtue, you cannot receive blessings from God. If you receive a little blessing, you immediately rush to grab wealth, but that thing cannot be grabbed. We must not love money in our hearts. If people think money is particularly good and love money, the final result will be very miserable, because what are those things?

Although they are real gold and silver, that thing can cause God to reject you. Having not seen the world, not knowing how noble the sonship of God is, not knowing how noble our position is, yet rushing to seize things that God wants to destroy, what a sad thing this is. Not everything seized is devoted to destruction, but what God says should be destroyed must be destroyed. Do we value money more than God's commands?

The Second Lesson from Saul: Pitying Agag, the Enemy of God's Kingdom

God originally said to kill them all, but Saul kept him alive.

But Saul and the army spared Agag and the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs—everything that was good. These they were unwilling to destroy completely, but everything that was despised and weak they totally destroyed. (1 Samuel 15:9)

We do not know what talents Agag had that were worth Saul's pity, but God had already issued a command to completely destroy them. I think King Agag must have been a very talented person, very good at raising calves and lambs, and raising them very well, he must have been a talent. But Saul pitied Agag. Is our God not much stronger than King Agag? Do we value Agag more than God's commands?

But Saul pitied Agag, wanting to keep him, thinking he was a talent, keeping him to help him make money in the future. Did your wealth not come from God making you victorious? You can defeat King Agag, can't you defeat the enemies who plunder around you? You can surely do both. Why do you think Agag is good? Because of human foolishness.

He thought it was okay to keep Agag, thinking Agag was just his slave. In Chinese history, there are also some regulations that do not allow eunuchs to interfere in politics. But some emperors said it was okay, thinking eunuchs were at most their slaves. As a result, the eunuchs turned the entire court upside down.

So we must learn a lesson, this is the enemy of God's kingdom. Although God will not give you a command to kill people now, you must not pity these enemies. Today, how can those of us who build churches put the enemies of God's kingdom into the church? God's church must be holy and united. Why put the enemies of God's kingdom into the body of Jesus Christ?

Today, let us learn a lesson from Saul. Build a holy and united church. A few days ago, a sister said that their pastor insisted on inviting people who had left the church back. The person who was invited said: It's okay for me to come back, but I want to make a condition. I will do corrupt work in the church, and you must not stop me. The pastor nodded repeatedly and agreed: As long as you come back. Can this pastor do this?

Now many pastors in churches care more about the number of people than about God's commands, more about people's offerings, and love money more than strictly observing and following God's commands. Some brothers and sisters, I think you should carefully study with such pastors. The lessons are very profound!

The Third Lesson from Saul: Fearing the People

Saul replied, “I have sinned. I violated the Lord’s command and your instructions because I was afraid of the people and did what they wanted. Now I beg you, forgive my sin and come back with me, so that I may worship the Lord.” (1 Samuel 15:24-25)

In the churches I have seen, the phenomenon of fearing the people is quite common. Why do they fear the people? Saul's fear of the people has a long history. When he was first anointed as king, Samuel gave him a lesson, asking him to wait here, and he would definitely come back to offer sacrifices here and then go to war.

As a result, Saul led the Israelites and saw the enemy's army encamped on the opposite side, in a mighty formation. The Israelites gathered around Saul, waiting for Samuel, waiting day after day. Later, the people left one by one, and fewer and fewer people remained. Saul began to fear, and then he began to offer sacrifices.

Saul did not offer sacrifices for God's sake, but because he feared the people. So later, when the people said that King Agag, the people and the property were all very good. As a result, Saul kept them all. Today, among us, if you are not in a management position or not in the position of boss, you may not understand it very well. If you are in a boss's position or a pastor's position, fearing the people is a huge temptation.

Are you afraid of God, or are you afraid of the people? If our victory in battle depends on God, then we don't need to fear the people. Victory does not depend on the people, victory depends on God. I once attended a training session, and the people who attended were all church leaders. When discussing together in groups, I found that the group leader was afraid of the group members, the district leader was afraid of the group leaders, and the pastor was afraid of the district leaders. This phenomenon was quite common.

What is there to be afraid of? You may not be used to coming among us, because we don't have this problem. We don't need people to fill the chairs, and we don't need people to fill the offering box. What we need are people who strictly observe and follow the word of the Lord God, strictly observe and follow God's commands, and build His glorious church.

If God is among us, we will lack nothing. Our victory depends on God, not on the members of the church. Our wealth depends on God, and all our things depend on God. The church is a place to distribute blessings, not a place to amass wealth. How can a church that fears the people serve God?

Some pastors are afraid of their wives at home and afraid of their members, so how can they be pastors? How painful! Once I took my co-workers to visit a church, and the pastor's wife was simply a tiger. She shouted, Pastor XX, the toilet is blocked, the printer is broken, go fix it quickly! The pastor narrowed his eyes and hurried to fix it like a pug. Maybe it was because I was there that the pastor's wife was so fierce. After seeing it, I thought, I would never want to be like this.

Being afraid of your wife and children at home, and afraid of your members in the church. If it were me, I would want to die. We want to be a blessing to people, so let us no longer fear, but only fear God. People are similar to animals. There is a dog training program called Dog Whisperer . If the dog does not fear the owner, it will be neurotic every day. It thinks it is the boss at home. The same is true of people. If people do not fear God, they are afraid of everything; if people fear God, they are afraid of nothing.

A fearful and timid person cannot serve God. In Revelation, all those who are timid will eventually be thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, which is the second death. So what are you afraid of? If people are not even afraid of death, what else is there to be afraid of? Start to completely remove fear. If you have fear, you will not be able to serve God.

I often release a faith to those I serve, which is to no longer be afraid. A sister was very afraid of her husband. Her husband's eyes hurt. At night, I encouraged her on how to do it. When she got up in the morning, she really mustered the courage to do it. As a result, nothing happened. Her husband asked her to pray with him, and after praying for a while, his eyes got better. Fear is a very evil thing. It can make us lose our fighting power.

The Fourth Lesson from Saul: Relying on People, Not Relying on God

Why are people afraid? Because they always feel that God will not do; why are they afraid of the people, and always feel that the church will not work without people? Those who fear people will not fear God.

Saul answered, “I have sinned, but please honor me before the elders of my people and before Israel; come back with me, so that I may worship the Lord your God.” (1 Samuel 15:30)

He is the king of Israel. Does he need Samuel to honor him before the Israelites? No! I find it hard to imagine that God has established a king to be such a coward? What is there to be afraid of? What is there to be honored? The people should have honored you, because you are the king of Israel. As a result, Saul looked like a slave. Why did people become like this? Because people rely on people.

If a person relies on people, he needs people to honor you; if a person relies on God, no one needs to honor him. But some brothers and sisters among us are not used to it, worrying about what to do if I make a mistake? If I make a mistake, God will take care of it.

Relying on God is the best choice in a person's life. With God, what else am I afraid of? With God, do I need to honor me in front of people? No need. God anointed Saul as king, is there any fear that the Israelites will elect him down? How to elect him down? This is what God has appointed. As a result, Saul's mind was full of these things, and his entire logical system was a people's logical system, and he had no God logical system.

The Fifth Lesson from Saul: Second-hand God

Saul answered, “The soldiers brought them from the Amalekites; they spared the best of the sheep and cattle to sacrifice to the Lord your God, but we totally destroyed the rest… The troops took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to destruction, in order to sacrifice them to the Lord your God at Gilgal… Saul answered, “I have sinned, but please honor me before the elders of my people and before Israel; come back with me, so that I may worship the Lord your God.” (1 Samuel 15:15, 21, 30)

In these three passages, Saul regarded God as someone else's God. In fact, your God is my God. In Christian circles, some people say that you should not steal God's glory, but is my glory not God's glory, and is God's glory not my glory? I and my God are one relationship, do not think that is your God, to offer sacrifices to worship the Lord your God, as if they are second-hand.

Although we build churches and are united into one in Jesus Christ, we are united with each other. But you are not a grandson, you are children of God, and there are no grandsons in the kingdom of God.

This kind of language naturally reveals a relationship of separation from God. Wasn't Saul the king anointed by God? Why did God become not his God, but someone else's God? Be sure to turn back from this bad habit and develop a unified relationship. God is my God. We should say: your God is my God, and my God is your God. Where you are, I will be there; where I am, you will be there.

The Sixth Lesson from Saul: Saul Did Not Realize That He Was Violating God

I don't know if Saul was shirking responsibility or he really didn't know.

When Samuel reached him, Saul said, “The Lord bless you! I have carried out the Lord’s instructions… Saul said to Samuel, But I did obey the Lord! I went on the mission the Lord assigned me. I completely destroyed the Amalekites; I brought back Agag their king.” (1 Samuel 15:13, 20)

Don't think that doing a part is doing it all. Don't take that part that you have done to prove that you have kept and followed God's words. Look at which part you have not kept and followed God's command to Saul could not be simpler:

Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy all that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.’ (1 Samuel 15:3)

God told him to kill all the the nation and their livestock, but he only followed a part of his command, so did he keep and follow God's word, or not? Did he obey the Lord's command, or did he not obey the Lord's command? Is this not worthy of consideration? Do not follow a part, and then build the church according to a part, and choose to violate the other part, that is not called following God's command, especially pitying the enemies of God's kingdom

I can spend more time explaining to you, because I believe that a large number of people among us have Saul's illusion: I love God, look, I am so busy every time, and I come to participate in the meeting! Is this love of God? Is this not the minimum requirement? and What have you given and sacrifice for God that show that you love Him? Who did you shepherd for Christ? Such things are happening everywhere.

I remind everyone again, do not think that you have kept a few commandments that you have kept and followed the word of God. If you do not realize where you have completely violated the word of God, there is no way to change yourself. Therefore, everyone should examine themselves well and deeply.

God Regretted Establishing Saul as King

Is it that people will not give up until they force God to regret it? Is it that we have to force God to abandon us before we will give up? Everyone must know that I will also be forced to regret it. When I regret it, you will find that the words I say are all very nice words, and I will no longer correct you the problems. At that time, the words I say are all the things you care about, and I say: Lord Jesus loves you, and I love you, may God have mercy, all is well, thank God... All of them are official words.

You say why don't I tell you? Because I have said that you will not listen even if I finish speaking, why do I always say it? From then on, God did not speak to Saul again, nor would he care of his decision. Samuel would not say anything more, and Saul would do whatever he wanted. If you want freedom, I will give you all the freedom. No need to attend meetings, no need to take notes, no need to care about anything, just do your work well and take good care of your children.

Why do we force God to abandon us? Why do we have to abandon God? Why do we have to lose the birthright of the firstborn son before we will give up? Why must we force God to give the position to someone like David? Can we say: God, since you have chosen me, I will never let you regret it, I will keep and follow your word.

We must learn a deep lesson from Saul: never play superficial work. I do not need people to honor me, I only need to keep and follow your word. Some people may not know what to keep and follow, which is written clearly in the Bible. If you still do not know, then you have been a Christian for nothing. I think there must be a very clear revelation about this matter.

Now the Spirit of the Lord had departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him. Saul’s attendants said to him, “See, an evil spirit from God is tormenting you. (1 Samuel 16:14-15)

If you are a Christian, violates or disobeys God, and rejects Gods command is a demon recruiting Christian. On the contrary, if you are a Christian can become a demon expelling Christian, indicating that you are implementing and acting upon and following God's word, this is Gods greatest revelation. Later, an evil spirit from the Lord tormented Saul, and at this time David had been anointed by God, and the Spirit of God greatly moved David, and David became the greatest warrior of his time, who could kill giants more than three meters tall. Saul invited David to drive out demons for him.

Conclusion

Compare yourself, and then imagine Esau and old Eli I mentioned earlier, are we the people who make God regret it? You don't want to be a king, you just want to be a cleaner, or an ordinary person, no in Christian Destiny and Mingding Destiny . Because God wants you to be His son, and the requirements of being a son of God are still a bit high.

Our God is the King of kings, and you and I are kings before God. God has appointed us as kings and will send us to manage many, many things. If you and I originally had a very good destiny and good blessings, would we act according to God's word?

Let the word of God pierce through our marrow, like a two-edged sword, dividing our souls, so that we have nothing hidden before God. We ourselves are also illuminated by God before God, and see ourselves more appropriately. If God has chosen you and me, today I will give everyone an advice and forewarning that to determine not to be a king, such as Saul king, may God bless everyone!