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How to NOT Hear God's Voice: Sermon · Beyond the Sermon

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  You're listening to Beyond the Sermon, the podcast of First
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  Methodist Church in Collingswood, NJ.
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  On our podcast, the goal is not just to share the sermons we've
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  preached, but to go beyond the sermon and talk about what we're
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  learning and what God is doing in US and in our community.
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  You can find more information about our church at
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  fumccollingswood. Dot org.
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  Thanks for listening. Today's Scripture comes from
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  Book of First Samuel chapter 28 verses 3 through 20.
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  Now Samuel was dead and all Israel had mourn for him and
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  buried him in his own town of Rama.
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  Saul had expelled the mediums and spiritists from the land.
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  The Philistines assembled and came and set up camp at Shunam,
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  while Saul gathered all the Israelites and set up camp out
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  at set up camp at Gilboa. When Saul saw this Phil.
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  When Saul saw the Philistine army, he was afraid terror
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  filled his heart. He inquired of the Lord, but the
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  Lord did not answer him by dreams or orum, or prophets.
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  Saul then said to his attendants, Find me a woman who
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  is a medium, so I may go and inquire of her.
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  There is one in Endor, they said.
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  So Saul disguised himself, putting on other clothes, and at
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  night he and two men went to the woman.
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  Consult a spirit for me, he said, and bring up for me the
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  one I name. But the woman said to him,
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  Surely you know what Saul has done?
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  He has cut off the mediums and spiritists from the land.
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  Why have you set a trap for my life to bring about my death?
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  Saul swore to her by the Lord, as surely as the Lord lives, you
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  will not be punished for this. When the woman asked, Whom shall
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  I bring up for you? Bring up Samuel, he said.
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  When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out at the at the top of
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  her voice and said to Saul, Why have you deceived me?
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  You are Saul, the king said to her, Don't be afraid.
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  What do you see? The woman said, I see a spirit
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  coming up out of the ground. What does he look like?
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  He asked. An old man wearing a robe is
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  coming up, she said. Then Saul knew it was Samuel,
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  and he bowed and prostrated himself with his face to the
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  ground. Samuel said to Saul, Why have
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  you disturbed me by bringing me up?
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  I am in great distress. Saul said.
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  The Philistines are fighting against me and God has turned
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  away from me. He no longer answers me either
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  by prophets or by dreams. So I have called on you to tell
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  me what to do. Samuel said, Why do you consult
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  me now that the Lord has turned away from you and become your
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  enemy? The Lord has done what he
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  predicted through me. The Lord has torn the Kingdom
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  out of your hands and given it to one of your neighbors, to
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  David, because you did not obey the Lord or carry out his fierce
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  wrath against the Amalekites. The Lord has done this to you.
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  Today the Lord will hand over Israel and you to the
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  Philistines, and tomorrow you and your sons will be with me.
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  The Lord will also hand over the army of Israel to the
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  Philistines. Immediately Saul fell full
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  length on the ground, filled with fear because of Samuel's
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  words. His strength was gone, for he
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  had eaten nothing all that day and night.
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  This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
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  Ever hear a sermon on this passage before?
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  Maybe, maybe not, but we'll we'll see what God has to say
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  for us. I think when it comes to hearing
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  God, as we've been talking about throughout this series there,
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  there have been different times in my life where I've had
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  questions about what that looks like and what it means.
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  And it's just a guess, but I'd imagine that it's fair to assume
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  that maybe you have too had some of those same questions, right?
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  Maybe even during this sermon series, or maybe because of this
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  sermon series questions like, why do other people seem to hear
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  God but I don't? Or if God is speaking, why don't
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  I hear him all the time? How can I know for certain that
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  that what I'm hearing is from God or that I'm hearing
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  correctly? Or maybe why didn't God speak
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  into that really important situation in my life?
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  I think it's normal for questions like these two arise
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  as we learn to hear and recognize God's voice.
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  And this is especially true, I think if we come from
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  backgrounds that say that God doesn't speak that way anymore
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  or backgrounds where we just don't talk about those kind of
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  things. But I think besides just the
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  learning process, which can often feel like we're taking 2
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  steps forward and one step back, there are some other things that
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  keep us from hearing God. And that's what I want to talk
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  about today, where we're going to invert things a little bit
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  this morning. And rather than speaking more
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  about how we hear God's voice today, I want to talk to you
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  this morning about how to not hear God's voice and how to not
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  hear God's voice because I think things often become more clear
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  when we identify what they are not, right?
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  So today's message is how to not hear God's voice.
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  Sounds like good advice, right? But we're, we're going to look
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  at this, this story from the life of Saul, not the Saul we
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  spoke about last week, right? Who's better known to us as the
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  Apostle Paul. This is a different Saul from a
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  different period in the story that God has written in history.
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  This is King Saul, Israel's first king.
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  OK. So this story, it comes from
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  late in Saul's life. Samuel the prophet has had
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  anointed Saul as king. He'd conveyed various messages
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  to Saul on God's behalf. Specifically, he'd God had
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  spoken to Saul through Samuel, telling him that his
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  disobedience had resulted in God removing his presence from
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  saul's life. Samuel had anointed David king
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  to be had anointed David to be king in Saul's place.
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  And now Samuel the great prophet has died and Saul finds himself
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  needing guidance about how to deal with Israel's enemies.
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  And Saul isn't quite sure where to turn.
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  He tries asking God about what he should do, but Saul doesn't
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  receive a vision or a dream with an answer of how he should
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  approach this conflict with the Philistines.
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  God doesn't send a prophet with a message to Saul this time, and
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  God gave no answer through the Urim.
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  Ever heard about the Urim before the Urim and the Thummim?
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  They're in the Bible. I promise.
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  These were stones that God had given to Israel's high priest to
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  be able to figure out what God's will was in different
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  situations. We we would think of it a little
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  bit like rolling dice to get God's will, which I wouldn't
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  recommend in this day and age, but it's what God actually
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  commanded the high priest to do. They'd do something with these
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  two stones and they would know what God's will was.
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  But not this time. Not for Saul.
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  There was no answer. Either God wasn't speaking or
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  there was no way for Saul to hear.
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  So Saul gets this brilliant idea that he is going to consult a
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  medium right? Even though he knew better and
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  as king he had expelled the mediums and the spiritists from
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  the nation of Israel, so he knew what he was doing.
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  If you don't know, a medium is someone who communicates with
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  the dead or sometimes even channelling that dead spirits
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  voice and presence through their own body.
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  So Saul asked, where can I find a woman like that?
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  In ancient times, mediums were primarily women.
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  And so he's given a location, the village of Endor, and Saul
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  goes at night wearing a disguise to participate in a forbidden
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  seance. After convincing the woman that
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  she wouldn't be punished for this activity, which they both
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  knew had been outlawed in the nation of Israel, Saul tells her
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  to bring up the ghost of Samuel. And she does.
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  This is a weird story, right? We, we don't quite know what to
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  make of this, I think a lot of times, but, but we're getting
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  there. OK, I, I, I just had to
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  acknowledge that this is, we're not used to reading stories like
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  this, even in the Bible, but here we are.
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  So after the medium brings up Samuel's ghost, I think Saul
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  immediately regretted it. Samuel was none too happy, and
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  when he asked Saul what he was doing, Saul's answer was, well,
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  God has left me, he's not speaking to me.
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  So I thought you might be able to guide me again.
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  That's the Scott Rambo version. Anyway, Saul recognized that the
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  reason he wasn't hearing from God was because God's presence
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  had left him. Samuel had already told Saul
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  that that was going to happen and that it had happened, right?
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  So again, Samuel gives Saul a little reminder, history lesson
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  about why that was the case, why that had happened the way it
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  had, right. Saul had disobeyed God by not
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  following his instructions completely because of his own
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  greed, his fear of the people around him.
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  He didn't do all that God had told him to do.
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  So God had torn the Kingdom from Saul's hands and given it
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  instead to David. But Saul was still acting as
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  king, and David was running around hiding among probably the
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  same Philistines who were attacking Saul right now.
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  But now God was going to give Saul and his sons and the
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  Israelites over to their enemies.
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  And I don't think I could be wrong, but I don't think this
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  was the guidance that Saul was hoping to receive when he called
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  Samuel up from the grave. I think they're they're at least
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  a few reasons here, a few lessons we can learn from this
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  story in Saul's life about how to not hear God's voice.
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  So if you don't want to hear God speak to you, pay attention this
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  morning. OK, First Saul tried to get an
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  answer to an important question when he wasn't walking with God,
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  right? So if you don't want to hear
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  God's voice, only go to God with your really big, urgent,
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  important decisions that you need an answer to, right?
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  Try to force God to speak into a situation when you haven't been
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  cultivating A conversational relationship with God where
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  where you haven't been talking to him and he hasn't been
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  talking to you. I mean, how does it feel when
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  your phone rings and and you pick it up and you look and you
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  see the name of that certain family member or or friend come
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  up on your phone? You know the one I mean, right?
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  The the one who only ever calls when things are really, really
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  bad. The one who only calls when they
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  need you to do something to help them get out of a jam.
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  You know that friend or family member.
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  You haven't heard from them in over a year, but you know that
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  if you answer the call, it's going to be the same old story.
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  And that story is going to end with an ask, whether explicit or
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  just implied. We don't like it any more than
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  God does, right? So if you only, if you don't
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  want to hear God speak, only go to him when you need something
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  from him, when you need an answer to that really big
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  question and you need that answer right now.
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  That's the first lesson. Second thing I see in Saul's
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  story with this medium was that before Saul went to the medium,
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  the psychic, the fortune teller, kind of get the idea there.
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  He tried to treat God like a fortune teller, right?
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  Saul treated like treated God like someone who only existed to
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  guide his own decision making when the way forward wasn't
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  abundantly clear. God was someone to be consulted
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  at Saul's convenience when it was helpful to him, when he
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  needed something right. Saul traded the the personal
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  relationship with God for a purely functional relationship
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  with God. God or Saul didn't really care
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  what God wanted in the situation.
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  Saul wanted God's power to work in the situation for Saul's
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  benefit. That's what Saul really wanted.
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  So if you don't want to hear God's voice, try relating to God
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  like you're involved in an exchange of goods.
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  All right, Good old capitalism at work.
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  Saul needed what God had. But unfortunately, by this
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  point, Saul didn't have anything that God wanted, right?
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  But God isn't after this kind of exchange of goods.
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  He's, he's looking for an exchange of life, all that we
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  are for, all that He is, his life flowing into and
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  transforming ours. So if you want to not hear God's
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  voice, treat him like a fortune teller or a vending machine
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  that's there when you need him #3 in addition to asking.
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  Asking without walking with God and treating like God, like an
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  object of convenience. Saul, we say he was impatient.
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  He didn't give God time to speak in God's own time or or space to
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  speak about the things that God wanted to speak to Saul about.
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  This is related to the previous two.
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  They're they're all pretty closely related here in this
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  story. But but, but in this story, Saul
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  presumed to know when and what God should want to speak to him
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  about. Saul was asking a very specific
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  question on a very specific timeline about which he only
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  wanted to hear a very specific answer.
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  And when Saul asked God about how to deal with the
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  Philistines, he wasn't looking for an answer about his failures
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  or his character or the judgement he was experiencing.
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  Saul wanted to know how to win the battle, and he wanted to
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  know right now. So if you don't want to hear
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  from God, only go to Him when you don't have time to wait, and
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  only when you already know what you want to hear Him say.
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  It's a good formula to not hear God.
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  The fourth thing you can do if you want to not hear from God is
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  like Saul. Do what you know to be against
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  God's will. Live the thing.
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  Live like the things that God has already told you to do or
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  not do. Don't matter, right?
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  In short, sin knowingly, willfully, joyfully, right?
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  Because sin separates us from God.
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  It breaks our relationship with Him, and it hardens our heart
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  toward Him. And if you don't want to hear
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  God's voice, live however you want.
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  Live like there's no one to whom you owe your allegiance, like
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  you have no one to answer to but yourself.
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  Last thing I want to share with you that I see in Saul's during
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  the story of Saul not hearing from God, which drove him to
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  take matters into his own hands and and go way outside the
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  bounds of what God had said was permissible.
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  What I see is that Saul in his pride presumed that God would
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  answer him, either because of his role as the king of God's
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  people or because Saul had such an urgent need, or because
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  Saul's previous relationship with God, he presumed that God
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  would still answer him. Now we often hold hold Saul up
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  in contrast to David, right that the man after God's own heart.
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  Let's not forget that Saul had also been anointed king of
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  Israel. He was the one that God
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  identified to Samuel, the one on whom God bestowed his spirit,
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  the one who one day prophesied after encountering a group of
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  prophets. He was so full of the Spirit, he
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  he joined in their prophesying. Friends, I don't think God
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  anointed Saul to be king just to show the Israelites how bad
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  having a human king would be. And then he gave David as the
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  good example, right? I believe God would have blessed
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  Saul and established his Kingdom if only he would have humbled
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  himself and walked with God. So if you don't want to hear
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  from God, if you don't want to hear him speak to you, adopt an
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  attitude of pride and entitlement.
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  Approach God like he owes it to you to answer you, to speak to
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  you. Live in that kind of pride.
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  Now, my preaching today, these points have been more than a bit
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  tongue in cheek, right? I hope you can hear that.
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  But I think you're all quick enough to hear between the
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  lines, what I've been saying, what I've not been saying.
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  I hope it hasn't come across as disrespectful or unserious, that
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  that's not my intention. My hope is that in this message,
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  hearing it in the this different flipped around kind of way has
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  caused you to hear the message from a different perspective.
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  Maybe in a way that's made some things click into place in your
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  mind. But but before I end, let me let
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  me shift these points from the negative to the positive just to
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  make sure there's no confusion this morning, right?
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  I'm not actually telling you to go and live like you're not
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  accountable to anyone. I'm not telling you to go out
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  and joyfully sin right? Don't don't hear that, but if
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  you want to hear God's voice this morning, you need to be
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  walking with him, right? Not just in in the big things of
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  life, but in the small day-to-day, all the time kind of
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  things as well. You need to pursue God for the
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  sake of knowing Him, not just for the things He can do for you
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  or on your behalf. You need to make time to wait on
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  him, to wait for him to speak to, to make time for Him to
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  speak to you, and space for Him to speak about whatever it is He
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  might want to speak to you about that day.
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  Maybe even asking Him that. I don't know what I should be
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  asking. What are the questions you want
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  to answer? You need to live if you want to
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  hear from God, You want to walk in this kind of relationship.
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  You need to live in obedience to Him, right in the way He's
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  designed life to work best, surrendering to His will and His
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  intention for our lives, and doing the things He's already
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  told you to do, right. The things you already know to
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  do. And you need to humble yourself
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  before God, asking him to, to transform and correct even your
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  motives in asking for what you ask for.
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  Because as as James says, God opposes the proud, but he gives
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  favor. He shows favor to the humble
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  friends. God wants to speak to you.
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  He wants you to hear and recognize His voice because He
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  wants to live in a life giving self or life exchanging self
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  giving relationship with you. He doesn't hide himself from us.
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  He doesn't come to us at night in disguise like Saul went to
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  the medium. And or even though God does
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  sometimes come to us in ways we aren't expecting, He has
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  revealed himself to us. He's given himself to us.
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  Now, I'm not saying that God is going to answer every question
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  you ever have. Some things are going to remain
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  a mystery. But I do believe that if you're
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  asking questions about how and why and to whom God speaks, God
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  wants to answer those questions, maybe even this morning.
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  So if you want to not hear God's voice, follow Saul's example.
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  But if you don't want to not hear God's voice, right, that is
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  if you, if you want to hear God speak, turn to him, make room
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  for him, not just in the big I need an answer right now kind of
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  moments, but today and every day.
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  Would you pray with me, God? We are grateful that you are a
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  God who knows us and wants to be known.
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  We thank you, God, that that you want to walk in relationship
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  with us and that there are things you want to do in our
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  lives to change us and transform us, to make us into people who
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  reflect your character and your nature to those around us.
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  We thank you, God, for the invitation to not just suck up
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  our our our strength and our willpower and to try to be like
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  you, but we thank you God, that you want to pour your very life
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  into us and hearing you speaks an important part of that.
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  It's an important part of how you work in our lives.
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  So Jesus, as we close move towards the close of our
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  service, as we worship and thing, would you speak to us?
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  We pray in that.