Sermon Tone Analysis

! Introduction:

One of the most serious behaviors in the entire world is an act of disobedience.

The word /disobedeince /is mainly used in the New Testament although it is used in the Old Testament.

!!! 1.                   Definition of disobedience: /unwillingness to comply with the guidance of authority, especially refusal to follow God’s will/.

The stronger meaning of actual stubbornness or violence is perhaps conveyed in the Old Testament 

!!!! a)                   The first and most crucial act of disobedience occurred when Adam and Eve ate of the “tree of knowledge of good and evil” (Genesis 3).

*After Adam disobeyed God, the Lord said* "Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: “Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life.

" (Genesis 3:17, NKJV)

!!!!  

!!!! b)                  Disobedience involves setting the desire of the flesh above the will of God.

As a result of this, all people became “sons of disobedience” (Eph.

2:2).

*Paul wrting to the church in Ephesus says* "And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others."

(Ephesians 2:1-3, NKJV)

 

!!!! c)                   As Christians we have no choice but to engage in a kind of spiritual warfare against our own natural tendency to disobey God: 

*Paul says in 2 Corinthians* "We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, and we are ready to punish all disobedience, whenever your obedience is complete.

" (2 Corinthians 10:5-6, NASB95)

*Jesus Himself said to* "Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation.

The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”"

(Matthew 26:41, NKJV)

 

!!!! d)                  We should aim to be as obedient to God’s will as Christ was (Matt.26:39,

42, 52-52; Heb.5:8-9).

*The Scriptures say,* "He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross."

(Philippians 2:8, NKJV)

 

!!! 2.                   When A Person Disobeys Those In Authority, Trouble Follows.

!!!! a)                   The trouble may be minor or it may be major; nevertheless, trouble & problems take place.

!!!!! (1)                 If a child disobeys a parent and touches a hot stove, a minor problem arises: the child's finger is burned.

But if the child disobeys a parent and plays with matches around some flammable object, a major consequence occurs: the child is severely burned or causes some major destruction to property.

!!!! b)                  Disobedience To God Is The Practical Subject Of This Present Passage Of Scripture.

!!!!! (1)                 The Lord gave Saul a very special privilege, a unique opportunity to fulfill a prophecy that God had given to Moses generations before.

This prophecy was the prediction that the Amalekites would face the judgment of God and be erased from the face of the earth (Exodus 17:14).

!!!!! (2)                 It was now time for the prophecy to be executed, time for the hand of God's judgment to fall upon the Amalekites.

And the instrument of God's judgment was to be King Saul.

Therefore, the command of God was given to Saul: he was to carry out the execution of God's judgment.

But Saul disobeyed and failed God miserably.

And in his disobedience, his decline reached its climax: God finally rejected Saul.

The final straw of God's patience was broken, and the hand of God's judgment fell upon Saul himself—all because of his disobedience/./

!! A.                 The Clear Command of God to Totally Destroy the Amalekites (v.1-9).

Here we see a picture of the need to obey God in conquering spiritual enemies (v.1-9)

!!! 1.

The source of the command (v.1-2).

!!!! a)                  Heed the voice of the Words of the Lord (v.2).

!!!!! (1)                 This is, in a sense, is a second opportunity for Saul to follow the commands of the LORD.

Saul had failed in the 13th chapter when he had gathered with the people at Gilgal and did not show up at the appointed time.

Also, he intruded into the office of the priesthood and offered up a sacrifice, which was not for kings to do - it was only for the priests to do.

Samuel rebuked him and told him that he had not obeyed the voice of the LORD: /“He had done foolishly.”/

!!!!! (2)                 Now Samuel comes with a command from God & exhorts him to listen again!

*Peter, towards the end of his life said,* "For this reason I will not be negligent to remind you always of these things, though you know and are established in the present truth.

Yes, I think it is right, as long as I am in this tent, to stir you up by reminding you, knowing that shortly I must put off my tent, just as our Lord Jesus Christ showed me.

Moreover I will be careful to ensure that you always have a reminder of these things after my decease.”

(2 Peter 1:12-15, NKJV)

!!!!! (3)                 One of the things that we need to be constantly reminded of is to listen to God when He gives us a warning.

God never warns us needlessly.

!!!! b)                  The Lord of Hosts.

!!!!! (1)                 This is the first time God is referred to as the Lord of hosts or armies.

The term stresses God's sovereignty, rule, and supremacy—His ultimate leadership of Israel's armies and His supreme control over all the armies and hosts of the universe, both in heaven and earth.

God is…

!!!!!! (a)                 the Lord of heavenly hosts such as angels (Joshua 5:14; 1 Kings 22:19; Psalms 148:2)

!!!!!! (b)                the Lord of human hosts such as human armies (Exodus 7:4; Psalms 44:9)

!!!!!! (c)                 the Lord of celestial hosts such as the sun, moon, and stars (Genesis 2:1; Deuteronomy 4:19; Isaiah 40:26)

!!!!!! (d)                the Lord who will ultimately subject all who oppose Him and His dear people (Isaiah 24:21-23; 34:1-10; Philippians 2:9-11)

!!!!! (2)                 /Lord of hosts /is a military term used over 260 times in the Old Testament, primarily by the prophets.

When they prayed and cried out to God, they did not often address Him simply as Lord nor use the term that we often use, "Father.”

But they cried to Him, "O Lord of hosts"—you who are Lord Almighty, the Supreme Ruler of the universe, the Lord in control of all the armies of earth and heaven….”

For example, it is used by Isaiah (62 times), Jeremiah (79 times), Zechariah (53 times), and Malachi (24 times).

!!!!! (3)                 As the Lord Almighty, the ruler over all nations, He has the right to execute judgment against any nation when the people deserve to be judged.

!!!!!  

!!! 2.                  The reason for God's judgment (v.2).

!!!! a)                  The behavior of the Amalekites-were beyond repentance, change.

This is what is known as the *"cup of iniquity being full"*—filled to the point that it overflows and continues to overflow with sin.

History has shown that this type of behavior can be true of both individuals and nations.

A person's or a nation's "cup of iniquity" can become full—beyond repair or repentance, beyond hope or correction.

God declares this fact time and again in the Scriptures:

*God says in Genesis that *"In the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.“

(Genesis 15:16, NKJV)

*The Lord says in Leviticus* "Do not defile yourselves with any of these things; for by all these the nations are defiled, which I am casting out before you.

For the land is defiled; therefore I visit the punishment of its iniquity upon it, and the land vomits out its inhabitants.”

(Leviticus 18:24-25, NKJV)

*Listen to what the Lord said in Leviticus* "I will set My face against that man, and will cut him off from his people, because he has given some of his descendants to Molech, to defile My sanctuary and profane My holy name.”

(Leviticus 20:3, NKJV)

 

!!!! b)                  God is a just God as well as a God of love.

!!!!! (1)                 God loves all people, but he is also a just God who executes justice upon the earth.

!!!!! (2)                 When the "cup of iniquity becomes full"—beyond repair or repentance or correction—that person or people are to be judged.

Justice is to be executed upon them.

This is the reason He has appointed a day in which He Himself will judge the world (Acts 17:30-31).

!!!! c)                  Israel was God’s instrument of justice & judgment against the nations of Canaan (Deut.9:5-6).

!!!!! (1)                 The Israelites did not receive the promised land of Canaan because of some merit or value within themselves.

In justice and judgment, God Himself destroyed the Canaanites, and it was because of their wickedness that He destroyed them.

!!!!! (2)                 The Canaanites were destroyed because they were evil and their "cup of iniquity" had been filled to the brim.

They reached the point of no repentance; they were beyond correction.

Moses himself declared to the Israelites:

*We should never think that it is because of our goodness that God drives out our enemies, He says* "Do not think in your heart, after the Lord your God has cast them out before you, saying, ‘Because of my righteousness the Lord has brought me in to possess this land’; but it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is driving them out from before you.

It is not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart that you go in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord your God drives them out from before you, and that He may fulfill the word which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Therefore understand that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stiff-necked people."

(Deuteronomy 9:4-6, NKJV)

!!!!! (3)                 And here we see that it was time for the Amalelites to be wiped out completely.

The Amalekites were engaged in extremely vile practices of the worship of their god.

!!!!!! (a)                 They offered up their children as sacrifices to their god.

In the course of time they would have destroyed themselves.

!!!!!! (b)                They were infected, you might say, with a deadly contagious disease that could corrupt mankind.

!!!!!! (c)                 Therefore, God is ordering their extermination & God is using Saul and the children of Israel as His instrument in bringing judgment.

!!! 3.                  The History of Amalek.

!!!! a)                  Where did the Amalakites come from?

!!!!! (1)                 In (Gen.36:12)