Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
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Emotion Tone
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Analytical
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Openness
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Conscientiousness
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Extraversion
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Tone of specific sentences
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God Commands His People to Obey
He commanded His Old testament people to obey ()
Notice the connection between obedience and safety...
Disobedience Has Consequences
Why attack the Amelekites?
15:2-3 Why did God command such utter destruction?
The Amalekites were a band of guerrilla terrorists.
They lived by attacking other nations and carrying off their wealth and their families.
They were the first to attack the Israelites as they entered the Promised Land, and they continued to raid Israelite camps at every opportunity.
God knew that the Israelites could never live peacefully in the Promised Land as long as the Amalekites existed.
He also knew that their corrupt, idolatrous religious practices threatened Israel’s relationship with him.
The only way to protect the Israelites’ bodies and souls was to utterly destroy the people of this warlike nation and all their possessions, including their idols.
Tyndale.
Life Application Study Bible NIV (Kindle Locations 165513-165518).
Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
15:9 Saul and his men did not destroy all the plunder from the battle as God commanded (15:3).
The law of devoting something—setting it aside—entirely for destruction was well known to the Israelites.
Anything under God’s ban was to be completely destroyed ().
Deut 20
This was set up in order to prevent idolatry from taking hold in Israel because many of the valuables were idols.
To break this law was punishable by death ().
It showed disrespect and disregard for God because it directly violated his command.
When we gloss over sin in order to protect what we have or for material gain, we aren’t being shrewd; we are disobeying God’s law.
Selective obedience is just another form of disobedience.
Tyndale.
Life Application Study Bible NIV (Kindle Locations 165520-165526).
Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
15:11 When God said he was grieved that he had made Saul king, was he saying he had made a mistake?
God’s comment was an expression of sorrow, not an admission of error ().
An omniscient God cannot make a mistake (15:29); therefore, God did not change his mind.
He did, however, change his attitude toward Saul when Saul changed.
Saul’s heart no longer belonged to God, but to his own interests.
Tyndale.
Life Application Study Bible NIV (Kindle Locations 165527-165530).
Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
15:12 Saul built a monument in honor of himself.
What a contrast to Moses and Joshua, who gave all the credit to God.
Tyndale.
Life Application Study Bible NIV (Kindle Locations 165532-165533).
Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
15:13-14 Saul thought he had won a great victory over the Amalekites, but God saw it as a great failure because Saul had disobeyed him and then lied to Samuel about the results of the battle.
Saul may have thought his lie wouldn’t be detected, or that what he did was not wrong.
Saul was deceiving himself.
Dishonest people soon begin to believe the lies they construct around themselves.
Then they lose the ability to tell the difference between truth and lies.
By believing your own lies, you deceive yourself, you will alienate yourself from God, and you will lose credibility in all your relationships.
In the long run, honesty wins out.
Tyndale.
Life Application Study Bible NIV (Kindle Locations 165534-165539).
Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
15:22-23 This is the first of numerous places in the Bible where the theme “to obey is better than sacrifice” is stated (; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ).
Was Samuel saying that sacrifice is unimportant?
No, he was urging Saul to look at his reasons for making the sacrifice rather than at the sacrifice itself.
A sacrifice was a ritual transaction between a person and God that physically demonstrated a relationship between them.
But if the person’s heart was not truly repentant or if he did not truly love God, the sacrifice was a hollow ritual.
Religious ceremonies or rituals are empty unless they are performed with an attitude of love and obedience.
“Being religious” (going to church, serving on a committee, giving to charity) is not enough if we do not act out of devotion and obedience to God.
Tyndale.
Life Application Study Bible NIV (Kindle Locations 165541-165549).
Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
15:22-23 This is the first of numerous places in the Bible where the theme “to obey is better than sacrifice” is stated (; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ).
Was Samuel saying that sacrifice is unimportant?
No, he was urging Saul to look at his reasons for making the sacrifice rather than at the sacrifice itself.
A sacrifice was a ritual transaction between a person and God that physically demonstrated a relationship between them.
But if the person’s heart was not truly repentant or if he did not truly love God, the sacrifice was a hollow ritual.
Religious ceremonies or rituals are empty unless they are performed with an attitude of love and obedience.
“Being religious” (going to church, serving on a committee, giving to charity) is not enough if we do not act out of devotion and obedience to God.
Tyndale.
Life Application Study Bible NIV (Kindle Locations 165541-165549).
Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
15:26 Saul’s excuses had come to an end.
It was the time of reckoning.
God wasn’t rejecting Saul as a person; the king could still seek forgiveness and restore his relationship with God, but it was too late to get his kingdom back.
If you do not act responsibly with what God has entrusted to you, eventually you will run out of excuses.
All of us must one day give an account for our actions (; ).
Tyndale.
Life Application Study Bible NIV (Kindle Locations 165557-165560).
Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
15:30 Saul was more concerned about what others would think of him than he was about the status of his relationship with God (15:24).
He begged Samuel to go with him to worship as a public demonstration that Samuel still supported him.
If Samuel had refused, the people probably would have lost all confidence in Saul.
Tyndale.
Life Application Study Bible NIV (Kindle Locations 165562-165564).
Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
Tyndale.
Life Application Study Bible NIV (Kindle Location 165562).
Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
Obedience Demonstrates Faith
God Rewards Those Who Obey Him
Ex 19
John
John
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