Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/Sermons/zz19951105.htm

THRU THE BIBLE SYNTHESIS
"Part IX: 1 & 2 Samuel - God's Solution To Problems In Religious And Civil Oversight"

Introduction: (To show the need . . . )

(1) Last week, Israel's Prime Minister, Yitzak Rabin was assassinated following a peace rally in Jerusalem. We would have expected the assassin to be a disgruntled Palestinian, and NOT a rightwing extremist in Israel! But, that is what happened--Isr ael's Prime Minister was gunned down by a fellow Israeli!

On the national and international levels, leadership is a hazardous profession with lots of disgruntled subordinates!

(2) I talked with a Christian on October 25th who didn't know who to vote for in her city mayoral elections on November 7th. The mayor who represented the party she believes is more upright than the other has sanctioned city workers getting r etirement pensions that pay $4,000 per month when retirees of that city's largest corporation get $500 per month after working the same length of time as the city employees! The candidate of the opposite party is calling the incumbent mayor to task on this alleged misuse of city tax dollars and the incumbent mayor defended the pension plan, saying, "Well, I feel they earned it!" What should this Christian woman have done in the voting booth when she was having problems trusting one candidate above the other?!

(3) The theme of elder versus congregational polity seems to be always just under the surface since we had our Sunday evening polity issue meeting in May! One of the questions that has been put to me in a very thoughtful, respectful way goes like thi s: "Pastor, I hear one side saying one thing and you saying quite another as though we are dealing almost with two completely different issues, and I don't know where the reality of truth lies to be honest with you!"

Well, (a) when we do not have all the facts at our disposal, and we aren't sure if even a given religious overseer is on the up-and-up, what would God have us DO about it--SERIOUSLY?! After all, it affects our WELFARE in many ways! (b) On the other hand, if we are in leadership and face errant distrust an d animosity, how are we supposed to deal with THAT?!

(We turn to the "Need" section of the message . . . )

Need: "At times, whether I turn to the secular or even religious realms, I see major problems in leadership AND in subordinates! Is there a comprehensive approach to take to solve such issues?!"
  1. 1 and 2 Samuel address God's judging an errant priesthood and establishing a monarchy to check apostasy in His people to advance His earthly rule, but all with UNSATISFACTORY results!
    1. Though God created the world and set man up as His earthly deputy, sin deposed him so Satan became ruler on earth, Gn. 1-5; 2 Cor. 4:4.
    2. The Lord renewed history through the Noahic flood, Gen. 6:1-9:7.
    3. Yet, Noah's descendant, Nimrod, began an apostasy to oppose God's rule that we know as witchcraft, Gn. 10:8-10; 11:1-9; Rev. 17:5-6.
    4. God thus chose Abraham to start a nation to stop this evil, Gn. 12:1-3.
    5. After many challenges, that nation, Israel arrived in Palestine but adopted the very Nimrodian error in Canaan that she was supposed to counter due to the sin of the people-at-large not being checked by a strong, godly, centralized ruler, Gn. 12:4 - Judges & Ruth!
    6. 1 and 2 Samuel thus present God's responding depletion of the impotent, apostate, priesthood for the forming of a godly monarchy:
      1. To check apostasy under the priests, God raised up Samuel via a distressed and resulting purified, spiritual mother, 1 Sam. 1:1-2:10!
      2. God then called Samuel as a child to fill the spiritual vacuum left by the apostate priesthood under Eli's godless descendants, 2:11-7:17.
      3. When Israel prematurely asked for a king, God gave them one as He planned to use a monarchy, anyway, 1 S. 8:1-22; Dt. 17:14-20.
    7. However, though the monarchy at first SEEMED to work, SIN in the MONARCHS made for the demise of Israel's welfare!
      1. The first king, Saul started out with spiritual vitality for Israel:
        1. Saul was chosen by God and accepted by Israel because of his good looks, 1 Samuel 9:1-10:27!
        2. He even led Israel into a notable military conquest of the Ammonites who threatened the nation, 1 Sam. 11:1-15!
      2. But he disobeyed God, taking matters into his own hands, and continued in a spiritual decline during his administration, ch. 12-15!
      3. Accordingly, God had Samuel anoint a man after His own heart as a replacement for Saul, a man named David, 1 Sam. 16:1-13.
      4. David was mightily used of God in his early days, 1 S. 17:1-30:31.
        1. When Saul died a tragic death, David unanimously gained approval from the nation as its king, 1 Sam. 31:1-2 Sam. 5:6.
        2. David's kingdom solidified and broadened under God's blessing during his early days of rule, 2 Sam. 5:7-10:19.
      5. However, when blessed of God, a spiritually complacent David committed adultery and tried to cover it up with murder, bringing on God's judgment of persistent bloodshed in his reign, 11:1-24:25!
  2. In spite of these problems, God's "thread of redemption" in 1 & 2 Samuel forecasts their solution via the UNION of Priest & King roles in the SINLESS Savior of all men, Jesus Christ!
    1. When God announced the demise of the house of the high priest, Eli due to sin, He also foretold the coming of a faithful priest who would perfectly do God's will, 1 Sam. 2:35 (B.K.C., O.T., p. 435).
    2. When God declared that He would establish David's throne, He predicted a kingdom that would be eternal, 2 Sam. 7:12-13, 16.
    3. According to Psalm 110:1-4 and Hebrews 5:6, we know that the offices of Israel's high priest and king would MERGE into ONE ETERNAL OFFICE as the sinless Christ would be both the Messiah via David's seed and eternal Priest after the order of Melchizedek!
    4. Now, through Christ, ALL believers in the Church age are spiritually BOTH kings AND priests who may righteously function to solve leadership AND subordinate issues if they but fellowship with God and do His will in the power of the Holy Spirit, Rev. 1:5-6; Rev. 3:21!
Application: To face leadership-subordinate problems, (1) become a king-priest by believing in Christ as Savior, Jn. 3:16; Rev. 1:5-6! (2) Then (a) confess sins (1 J. 1:9) and (b) rely on the Holy Spirit for our own behavior control (Gal. 5:16 -23) to (c) obey the Word (1 Jn. 2:3-6). (3) Thus equipped, solve leader-follower issues around us through prayer & obedience to Scripture, Jn. 14:12-14; Rev. 3:18-21! Namely, (a) discern a good from a bad leader or follower using 1 T. 5:24-25 & 2 T. 3:8-9 and wait for his actions to expose his heart! (b) If DIRECT, BIBLICAL action toward an overseer OR a subordinate fails to yield a solution, resort to INDIRECT influence by prayer (1 Pet. 5:1-6,7) and personal godliness (Pr. 21:1; 14:19).

Lesson: Human overseers are themselves unable to rule well since they are all sinners! Yet, (1) in Christ, all the world's leadership problems will be met as HE will unite all civil and religious oversight roles in Himself in His Kingdom! (2) Those who believe in Christ now become spiritual king-priests in Him, thus becoming equipped (a) to solve leader-follower problems NOW by heeding Scripture (b) besides ruling in the Kingdom!

Conclusion: (To illustrate the lesson . . . )

 (1) If we are in a difficult position as a subordinate, and we wonder just what to do, here is a checklist for solving the problems that exist in being a vulnerable subordinate to questionable or bad oversight:

(a) Check to see if we know the Lord as Savior ourselves so that we can qualify for God's program of solving the problem as a royal priest in Him, Rev. 1:5-6; Rev. 3:21!

(b) Check to see if we are obeying Scripture, that we are in fellowship with the Holy Spirit to enjoy His blessing in the calling to which we are assigned by God, Ps. 66:18-19; Acts 1:8 with Ro. 12:1-8.

(c) If we are not SURE if the overseer in question is right or wrong, ((1)) WAIT for his motives or character to become evident by claiming 1 Timothy 5:24-25 and ((2)) RESPECT the office in accord with Scripture's many commands accordingly, cf. 1 Pet . 2:17; 1 T. 5:19. ((3)) Commit our welfare in the meantime to God who cares for what happens to us IN our subordinate position, cf. 1 Peter 5:7 with 5:1-6!

(d) If the overseer is seen to be in error or is evil, try a respectful appeal, using the example of Esther in Esther 4:16.

(e) If that fails, follow Scripture on resolving the issue, getting help from godly counselors, cf. Prov. 11:14. We may need to withdraw geographically to shield ourselves from abuse, cf. 2 T. 3:1-5.

(f) Commit our lot to God and wait for His Biblical solutions within the framework of lawfulness, 1 Pet. 5:1-6 with 7.

appear either to rebel against us or seem to question our credibility errantly, then . . .

(a) As a start, apply "1,a,b,&c" above with the subordinates to be positioned for spiritual effectiveness as an overseer and to get our facts straight (sometimes subordinates have GOOD motives that are at first HIDDEN due to communication difficulties or hardships!)

(b) Next, claim Rev. 3:14 which shows Christ is sovereign over godly believers under our oversight (the "Amen"), over carnal believers under our care (the "True and Faithful Witness") and over even unbelievers under us ("Head of the Creation of God") and resist the temptation to force subordinates on an issue, Rev. 3:17 with Zech. 11:5! Then just do our leadership task as unto the Lord, leaving the results of our efforts with God as His purposes in our oversight will be fulfilled no matter what subordinates do or think, Rev. 3:14; 1 P. 5:1-4!