This probe message concerns two basic problems: presumption and drawing back from absolute obedience. Using the life of Saul in the Old Testament as an example, we see that certain things befell him which could easily overtake us in the same way. What was it that caused Saul to be exposed to his greatest defeats, that made his position as king temporary instead of permanent? What insecurities and uncertainties need to be taken from your life in order that your ministry and walk with God will be secure and set? We want to be able to walk with God without fearing that the ministry will disappear or that we will stumble and fail.
I Samuel 13:1–2 relates that Saul was about forty years old when he began to reign, and during the first two years of his reign over Israel he chose three thousand men to fight against the Philistines. He was at war with the Philistines during his entire reign, and it was during a battle with them that he finally died. His concern about the Philistines and their constant raids upon Israel gave him a certain insecurity.
And the Philistines assembled themselves together to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots, and six thousand horsemen, and people as the sand which is on the sea-shore in multitude. Verse 5a. The overwhelming strength of the enemy distressed the people and they hid themselves in caves and thickets.
And he (Saul) tarried seven days, according to the set time that Samuel had appointed: but Samuel came not to Gilgal; and the people were scattered from him. And Saul said, Bring hither the burnt-offering to me, and the peace-offerings.And he offered the burnt-offering. And it came to pass that, as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt-offering, behold, Samuel came: and Saul went out to meet him, that he might salute him. And Samuel said, What hast thou done? And Saul said, Because I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that thou camest not within the days appointed, and that the Philistines assembled themselves together at Michmash; therefore said I, Now will the Philistines come down upon me to Gilgal, and I have not entreated the favor of the Lord: I forced myself therefore, and offered the burnt-offering. And Samuel said to Saul, Thou hast done foolishly; thou hast not kept the commandment of the Lord thy God, which He commanded thee: for now would the Lord have established thy kingdom upon Israel forever.
I think Saul could have easily established his kingdom, and Jonathan, who was a wonderful man of God, could have been king after him. But now thy kingdom shall not continue: the Lord hath sought him a man after his own heart (which was David), and the Lord hath appointed him to be prince over his people, because thou hast not kept that which the Lord commanded thee. And Samuel arose, and got him up from Gilgal unto Gibeah of Benjamin. And Saul numbered the people that were present with him, about six hundred men. I Samuel 13:8–15.
With so few people, naturally Saul was terrified. Psychologically, assuming the role of a priest looked like the right move, for he was afraid the people would flee from him. Although Saul seemed justified in his actions, it was this very act of disobedience that meant his kingdom was temporary. By usurping the priest’s office, he lost his own divine kingship. And so Saul died and David became king—a man after God’s own heart.
In looking back at the record of David, we see that he was never forced into a presumptuous act. Although he had been anointed to be king, he waited before the Lord, living for years as a fugitive and hiding out in caves, until God finally removed Saul. Not once did he lift his hand against Saul because the Word commanded, “Touch not mine anointed ones, and do my prophets no harm” (Psalms 105:15). When a preacher makes even a slight misstep, there always seem to be those who are ready to criticize and turn from him, thinking they are doing God a favor. God turns from them too.
We are not to touch His anointed ones nor harm His prophets. When a man is set aside as the Lord’s servant, he is in the hands of God. He is never to be a victim of the people’s whims or cruel actions. This applies to an elder also, because he too is in a position of rule. Paul instructed Timothy, “Against an elder receive not an accusation, save in the presence of two or three witnesses” (I Timothy 5:19). A congregation is absolutely forbidden to speak uncharitably about any elder, to spread stories or rumors about him. We are either to bring such matters to the authority, so the situation may be weighed with two or three witnesses, or keep our mouths shut. God makes this provision because it is very easy for rumors and stories to destroy a man. Sowing discord among the brethren and acting as a talebearer among the people are two things in a list of seven given in Proverbs that God hates (Proverbs 6:19), and of which He will have no part. God is in heaven, so let your words be few (Ecclesiastes 5:2).
Saul had been anointed to be the king, not the priest. These were two distinct offices. In a moment of presumption, the king forced himself and became the priest, offering the sacrifice. That was not to be. In our adherence to divine order we have great leeway as believers in the Body of Christ, but when God sets someone in a certain place, we should honor it. There must be no presumption on our part to force ourselves into a position where we take over, just because the pressure is great or because it looks as if it will be too late if someone does not take over. Do not become presumptuous and say, “I wanted to get a word and God told me to seek it, but since I did not get it, I will go and do my own thing; I will make up my own mind.” When God leads you to seek counsel and to be submissive within the divine order, it does not make any difference how long you have to wait; you must not be presumptuous and move out of the scope of divine order in any basic problem until the word is confirmed to you in the Lord. This is the way God has of teaching us.
It is difficult to stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. As long as you are in motion, it seems as if you can make it. But when you are between Migdol and the Red Sea and the Egyptians are advancing in a cloud of dust and God says, “Just stand still and see the salvation of the Lord,” you may stand there, but you become very nervous, until the word finally comes, “Speak to My people that they go forward.” God held the Israelites there to entice the Egyptians up to that very spot, so that at the right moment they would dash into the depths of the Red Sea and be drowned. God had something specific in mind for the Egyptians, but He also had something in mind for the Israelites to teach them implicit, absolute obedience. So many people get ahead of God. They go along for years without seeking counsel; then in a moment of pressure, they panic and take the situation into their own hands. Presumption is involved in both actions.
At the beginning of the Exodus, when the children of Israel reached the end of their first wanderings, they were prepared to go into the new land. At Kadesh-barnea they chose twelve spies to spy out the land, which they should not have done. Two of them, Caleb and Joshua, returned with a good report, but the other ten spies made the hearts of the people melt. The people rebelled and were ready to stone Moses, as well as Joshua and Caleb. Then God pronounced judgment: the forty days that the spies had been gone meant they would spend forty years wandering in the wilderness, a day for a year. The Israelites thought it over that night and decided they should have believed God and gone into the promised land. So they arose the next morning, armed themselves, and went in. But they were roundly defeated and fled to the wilderness where that generation was to die. If they had gone in the day before, they would have been in the will of the Lord. But now was the wrong time; God had spoken something else. They were slow and fearful when they should have moved; then when the consequences came upon them, they moved out of fear of them instead of moving in faith. This is being presumptuous and it is contrary to the divine order. How many times have you panicked and done the same thing? God in His mercy probably was good to you, but in the days before us we have to do the will of the Lord. Look to the Lord and wait upon Him every day, and claim and believe what God has said, but do not be presumptuous about it. Do not act either too quickly or too slowly.
It is easy to panic under stress. God knows more about your “Philistines” and is more concerned about their being defeated than you are. You can easily panic because things do not happen according to your schedule, and say, “Lord, this promise is way past due and if You do not do something by a certain day, then I am going to do such and such and such.” But by the time that day comes, God has dealt with your soul so much that you are down repenting for ever having said it in the first place. You cannot draw a fine line for God. He is the One who places you in the position where He can deal with your panic level. There is no other way to learn faith except under the pressures where you must trust God with all your heart. This includes the leaders and any ministry that God raises up. He has given us a divine order, and we must abide by it.
Saul was not ready to be king over Israel because he was still living in the period of judges, when every man did that which was right in his own sight. He was a law unto himself. It is surprising how much confusion there is among the people who see the New Testament order but run ahead of God or panic in an emergency. They will find everything falling apart because they are not following God’s pattern. There is a divine order by which God brings forth a ministry through His dealings upon an individual.
When the Kingdom comes you are not to be a law unto yourself; you are to be a part of a great divine order that is coming forth. The battle will be great either way—whether you are standing still or in motion. The enemy will be battling you with everything he can, so just open your heart to the Lord and say, “Lord, I am going to be obedient to You and do what You want me to do.”
In our walk with God, we do not play “King of the Mountain.” Because no ministry has to worry about establishing his place, he does not find it necessary to resort to the very human attitude of chopping everyone else down so that he will appear important. You can all build one another up, because your place was not given by man and it cannot be taken away by man. It is very definitely established by God; and when God gives you a ministry and a place, it is very secure. No man can take it away from you. The only thing you need to fear is that God will take it away from you if you fail to walk softly before Him.
One safeguard that is needed for all of us is to have more directive words from the Lord and the divine appointment of a channel by which we can seek confirmation at any point, so that instead of panicking we can ask, “What is the word of the Lord?” We need something almost like a court of appeals among the elders to determine, “Is this binding? Is this confirmed? Is this the word of the Lord?” If it is the word of the Lord, we bow to it and do it.
Saul’s second problem, that of disobedience, is described in I Samuel 15. Through the word of Samuel, God had sent Saul to destroy the Amalekites. They were treacherous and cruel. God never forgot how they had attacked Israel in the wilderness, coming against the women and children in the rear. Verse 33: And Samuel said, As thy sword hath made women childless, so shall thy mother be childless among women. And Samuel hewed Agag in pieces… He literally took a sword and chopped him up. Saul’s attack against the Amalekites should have been a war of absolute annihilation, but he did not do exactly what God had told him to do.
Samuel came to Saul and said, Though thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel? And the Lord anointed thee king over Israel; and the Lord sent thee on a journey, and said, Go, and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they be consumed. Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of the Lord, but didst fly upon the spoil, and didst that which was evil in the sight of the Lord? And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the Lord, and have gone the way which the Lord sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the devoted things, to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God in Gilgal. I Samuel 15:17–21.
Again it seemed as if Saul was using wisdom. It is one thing to go down and destroy the Amalekites but when you come back, what do you have to show for it? Not a single Amalekite, no oxen, no spoils of battle for a victory parade down the street to make you look important. Psychologically, Saul acted wisely. He was determined that everyone should see what a great king he was. Saul—head and shoulders above everybody else—leading Agag down the street by a rope around his neck, followed by all the oxen and sheep, made an imposing sight. Later the animals could be used as offerings to the Lord.
And Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt-offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as idolatry and teraphim. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, he hath also rejected thee from being king. Verses 22–23.
Because of his first sin, his reign was not to be permanent. Now it was determined that God had rejected him altogether from being king. This is most significant. Why would God reject a man for this? Because he had not obeyed. Saul was touching the glory. He took of the gold and he took of the glory. True, it would be wonderful to turn it back to the Lord, but when he did, everyone would see him do it and that again would bring the credit to him. God had commanded something else. There is an obedience which commits you to the inconspicuous, unheralded place.
In our walk with God, an obedience is required that almost guarantees you will not be a big wheel; you will merely be one of the brethren. When God puts you in a place and you are absolutely obedient to the word of the Lord, it guarantees that there will be no spotlight on you to make you feel important. You must be dedicated to the kind of obedience that gives all the glory to God and takes none upon yourself. If some individual says, “I was healed when Brother So-and-So laid hands on me,” Brother So-and-So feels a warm glow and thinks, “Wasn’t that fine? Now more people will come to me and there will be more miracles.” It is better when all the elders lay hands on you, and no one can tell whose hand is doing it. Then we see the true picture: God is doing it—and He receives the glory.
Under divine order, men do not bask in the limelight. Posts that are filled with testimonials of miracles and pictures of the minister do not glorify the Lord nearly as much as they exalt, before the world, the man who is the channel that God used. Saul was doing that very thing and it was displeasing to the Lord, and it always will be.
Let God establish the ministry and the word. I do not want any recognition, but I do want God to use me to bring forth the word that He gives me. And I want God to faithfully lay in my hands the means we require in the way of money, to publish the word and send it forth. God forbid that praise of men should ever be given me.
The word of the Lord at the beginning of this revealed to me that I would walk as an anointed vessel for many years without any recognition. In a sense, the ministry is hidden, and there have been only a few to whom God has revealed it. In the meantime, sound principles for the restoration of the Church are being given.
Others may come along whom God will exalt and whose ministry will become electrifying and forceful throughout the whole world. That would not bother me in the least. I much prefer obscurity to the limelight. I love the privacy of the lonely walk with the Lord and the communion with Him. It would be a blessed and happy day for me if, in the future, the Lord saw fit for me to be more or less a recluse, writing and ministering and strengthening the leaders, receiving from the Lord direction as to the strategy that should be used by those who are on the front line doing the fighting.
Some might criticize and say, “Where are the great crowds?” Numbers alone are never an evidence of success. The evidence of success is obeying God. When we have obeyed God and done all that He requires of us, He will reward us accordingly. But if we color that obedience with that which reflects back on ourselves, we have stolen the glory from the Lord.
The Lord God is a jealous God (Exodus 20:5). His glory He will not share with another (Isaiah 42:8). We can be the chosen instruments of the Lord and do fantastic things, provided we do it in such a way that He gets all the glory and it does not reflect back on the instrument.
Even the Lord Jesus Himself did this. Sometimes He would heal a man and when people asked, “Who healed you?” the man would say, “I do not know.” Jesus had quietly slipped away in the crowd. He was not looking for the spectacular place.
When Satan tempted the Lord, “Cast yourself down from the pinnacle of the temple, for then everyone will believe in You because God has given His angels charge over You,” Jesus replied, “You are not to tempt the Lord your God.” He would have been tempting God by putting Him to the test and forcing Him to come through and be God. Be careful that you do not put God in a situation where there is a newspaper reporter at hand to record that the angels did catch you up in their hands.
John the Baptist said concerning the Lord, “He must increase, and I must decrease” (John 3:30). He saw that this was the order. If Saul had been concerned about the Lord increasing in his life and himself decreasing, he would have been preserved as a king; but because he was not concerned about that, the Lord was increased by decreasing Saul in another way. If the decreasing of Saul had been a voluntary action on his own part, he would have been blessed. The Lord said that we must deny self, take up our cross and follow Him (Matthew 16:24).
God did not raise you up to be personally successful, but to be a disciple who denies himself and takes up his cross. You do not take up your cross for a little while and then suddenly have the Lord turn it into a blazing crown of glory as you walk away exalted. There is only one purpose in taking up a cross: you have the full expectancy and intention of dying on it. The cross of discipleship means that you are giving your life. If you are willing to lose your life for His sake, you will find it. But if you try to save your life, to retain your own individual identity, you will lose it completely.
As we are set in the Body and swallowed up in the great mystical Body of Christ, we have eternal recognition by the Lord Himself. Let no one say, “I am unimportant”; and let no one say, “I am important.” Our Lord showed us the key when He assumed the role of a bondservant, laying aside His garment and girding Himself with a towel and washing His disciples’ feet. There is a joy in being a servant of all.
More and more ministries are coming forth in the church who receive no recognition or word of appreciation at all. They spend hour after hour working and no one says, “Thank you,” or “Hurrah for you; you are a fine person.” In fact, every effort to give recognition seems to be restrained, coming within the will of God, but not in His perfect will. We should honor the fact that fabulous amounts of work are being done for the glory of God, but never resort to the carnal recognition-and-praise system. We will not be among those, like the vain Pharisees, who look for honor and recognition from one another. We prefer the honor that comes from the Lord only. We will not be recognized, but out of our ministry will come the flow of the power of God upon our lives. As God gives us directions we obey them, striving in every way to obey every new word He gives us in such a way that He receives all the glory.
Outstanding miracles will be taking place with little, if any, publicity. The Lord is doing them in such a way that He is being glorified, and we are not being built up as a group of “miracle workers.” Let the miracles and signs follow us.
Occasionally we will take a little backward peek and ask, “Are you still coming, signs?” We will keep our eyes on the Lord and let the signs follow us. When the greater works are done, they will not be publicized in a post. When we do the exploits, they will be completely unheralded. We want to avoid any kind of publicity, because I would rather no one even knew about us. The longer we can be this glorious end-time army incognito, the better off we are. If our flesh allows Satan to put us in the limelight, we are in trouble. Let us go on, quietly and unassumingly doing the will of the Lord. Then we can move the whole world for God.
And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned; for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord, and thy words, because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice. I Samuel 15:24. That is what did it—though not completely. “Saul, you would have never done it if it had not been in your heart.” We could say of Saul that he had a big point to prove. He had such a sense of inferiority within him that he wanted to build himself up. A great deal of the so-called arrogance and pride comes from people who have a big point to prove, who feel so inadequate and unworthy that they have to build themselves up some way. I think that was the real motive behind Saul’s action.
Be very careful about these defeats that make you feel as if you are nothing. In our walk the Lord has a way of keeping down the pride, but who is going to deliver us from the self-consciousness and the sense of unworthiness that becomes unbelief? We say, “Oh, I’m nothing, I’m nothing,” thereby despising the fact that God has set us in the Body as it pleases Him and He has worked the miracle in our lives. We are what we are by His grace. We sin against the Lord when we despise His handiwork.
Glorify God for what He has wrought within you. Never underestimate it. It is not arrogance or pride for me to say, “I know the deposit God has made in me.” I am not being boastful when I confess that I am a walking Fort Knox, filled with the treasures of the kingdom. That is the grace of God. That is what He did. Nor am I taking a wrong attitude when I say that in me, in my flesh, dwells no good thing. We bring the flesh down where it belongs, but we do not despise what God has done in our lives. Discouragement comes when you trespass over into the realm of unbelief and literally question and challenge what God has made you. That is when you get into trouble. This sense of inadequacy, born of unbelief, is not true humility.
The next time you begin to feel defeated, stop and analyze, “Is it just seeing the failures of the flesh that is prompting me to get down and repent before the Lord, reckoning the flesh dead and crucified in Christ—or am I moving in unbelief by not accepting what God has done in my life?” Every time, you will be able to evaluate what you are doing to yourself. If you are being humbled in the sight of God and truly repentant, then repent. But, if you are belittling your ministry and what God has done in you, then you had better stop and look at it again, because you will not be held guiltless for that. Of that you will have to repent.
I feared the people, and obeyed their voice. What Saul says here has a certain element of truth in it. The fear of man is with us and the Scripture says that the fear of man maketh a snare (Proverbs 29:25). All of us are victims of the pressure of opinions, especially of those we love. When the opinion of the whole Body becomes a pressure on us, we should fear it. Because people have a false image of a ministry, they can make unreasonable demands of the ministry that they should not make and force them into playing a role or fulfilling an image that God did not intend. In their demand for ministry and counsel, it is easy for people to push a leader into a place and say, “Get up on that pedestal, sir. We love you; we worship you. Be a little god to us.” He must have a determination within his heart which rises up and curses such an attitude. This Saul did not have.
A man or woman of God must also avoid becoming a glorified errand boy or girl or a hireling of the people. Jesus Himself followed a certain routine in His compassion and love for the people. After He spent many hours healing them, He told the disciples, “Come apart and rest awhile.”
“But all these people are still demanding to be met.”
“Let them demand it.”
“There is a blind man here. There are some lame people and some who are dying. How can You go off on a vacation in the desert?”
“Come apart and rest a while.” (If you do not, you will come apart—period).
God knows what you need. Jesus was not the least concerned about doing anything but the will of the Father. That did not mean He had no compassion on the people. He healed all their diseases (Matthew 9:35–36). We can find no better example than the Lord Himself and we cannot accuse Him of doing it wrongly. Yet we see Him going apart to rest and to pray.
This constitutes the rhythm of ministry. You cannot keep breathing out without breathing in. The delivery boy drives his truck up and down the street delivering one parcel after another. When he has nothing more to deliver, he must return to the warehouse and pick up the next orders so he can continue to deliver. Woe be unto the person who keeps trying to deliver when he has already delivered all that he has. Although we have service stations at practically every busy intersection, once in a while we see someone parked on the freeway who forgot to fill his gas tank; and when we see him parked there, we are reminded to fill our tank. That is true of us spiritually. Do not forget to wait upon the Lord. Do not make so many demands upon the ministries that they cannot take in and draw from the Lord.
This is basically a walk with God. It is incidental that we will also heal and minister and deliver. We are not raised up for what we can do, but for what we can be unto the Lord. Although you will be very busy working, you will accomplish more work if you realize that basically you were raised up for a walk with God, and it is what you are to the Lord that counts. Incidental to that—though absolutely essential—is the fact that you will be ministering and giving out. That is an effect. The cause is a relationship with God; the effects are the miracles and signs, the wonders, the mighty witness, and everything that comes out of it. Do not place the cart before the horse.
The old-order denominations emphasize soul-winning, soul-winning, soul-winning. They do not teach the people to walk with God because they have nothing with which to lead them into it. Consequently, the river does not rise above its source. The deeper your walk with God, the deeper will be the effects of your ministry and your life. Therefore we do not say, “Lord, I fear the people and obey their voice.”
Now therefore, I pray thee, pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship the Lord. And Samuel said unto Saul, I will not return with thee; for thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord hath rejected thee from being king over Israel. And as Samuel turned about to go away, Saul laid hold upon the skirt of his robe, and it rent. And Samuel said unto him, The Lord hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to a neighbor of thine, that is better than thou. And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent; for he is not a man, that he should repent. Then he said, I have sinned: yet honor me now, I pray thee, before the elders of my people, and before Israel and turn again with me, that I may worship the Lord thy God. (Notice that he does not say, “The Lord my God.”)
So Samuel turned again after Saul; and Saul worshiped the Lord. Then Samuel said, Bring ye hither to me Agag the king of the Amalekites. And Agag came unto him cheerfully. And Agag said, Surely the bitterness of death is past. And Samuel said, As thy sword hath made women childless, so shall thy mother be childless among women. And Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before the Lord in Gilgal… And Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death; for Samuel mourned for Saul: and the Lord repented that he had made Saul king over Israel. And the Lord said unto Samuel, How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from being king over Israel? fill thy horn with oil…, and He sent him over the hill to anoint young David. I Samuel 15:25–16:l.
How difficult is that role of Samuel: to see God reject a person and find yourself mourning for him. If you continue mourning, finally God rebukes you, “How long are you going to mourn over it? I’ve rejected him. Do not keep holding on when I have rejected him.”
Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah. Now the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him. I Samuel 16:13–14. Saul continued as king, but now he was in trouble; his life was filled with tragedy. Every time a man draws back from the full anointing, he creates a vacuum in his life that is filled with oppression. When the Spirit of the Lord departs from a chosen vessel because he has failed God, that vacuum is usually filled with things that we deplore. It is inevitable that the vacuum of your heart will be filled either with the Spirit of the Lord dominating you completely, or with an evil spirit oppressing you.
This message has searched our hearts, showing us the perils and dangers that we who are in established ministries must face in our own spirits.