But if you persist in doing evil, both you and your king will be swept away." Sermons
1 Samuel 12:24. (GILGAL.) Only fear the Lord, etc. Samuel assured the people that (as a priest) he would continue to pray for them, and (as a prophet) to show them the way of happiness and righteousness (Acts 7:4). Of this way the text may be taken as a further explanation, and gives - I. ITS DESCRIPTION. 1. Filial reverence. Fear not (be not terrified - vers. 17, 18, 20); but fear (with a lowly, affectionate, trustful reverence.), implying a knowledge of his character and saving purposes, in so far as he has revealed them to men; in our case, of him who is "the Way, the Truth, and the Life." 2. Practical obedience. "And serve him." Recognise yourselves as servants, his servants, and act accordingly. "Fear God, and keep his commandments" (the practical expression of the principle): "for this is the whole of man" (Ecclesiastes 12:13). The two may not be disjoined (Joshua 24:14; Psalm 2:11). "The life of service is work; the work of a Christian is obedience to the law of God" (Hall). 3. Thorough sincerity and whole heartedness. "In truth, with all your heart." Do not suppose that it is sufficient to render an outward and formal service; or a partial service, in which the love of idols may be united with the love of God. "Serve him only" (1 Samuel 7:3). "God will put up with many things in the human heart; but there is one thing he will not put up with in it - a second place. He who offers God a second place offers him no place; and he who makes religion his first object makes it his whole object" (Ruskin). II. ITS NECESSITY. "Only." You must walk in it, whatever else you do; for it is only by doing so that you can - 1. Avoid walking in the evil and wrong way. The "vision of life" which the great Teacher saw and described contained only two ways, the broad and the narrow, and there is no other. 2. Escape the destructive consequences of that way. You have already entered on a perilous course, only (in order that you may escape the end to which it naturally conducts), "fear the Lord," etc. "If ye still do wickedly, ye shall be consumed, both you and your king" (ver. 25). "The way of transgressors is hard." "it leadeth to destruction." 3. Receive, and continue to receive, the blessings that have been promised. "The Lord will not forsake his people," only (in order that you may enjoy his favour), "fear," etc. "I will pray for you, and teach you," only (in order that you may be really benefited thereby), "fear," etc. (Jeremiah 6:16; Isaiah 1:19). III. ITS INCENTIVE. "For consider how great things he hath done for you." The motive here is not fear of punishment, nor hope of reward, nor even the sense of right, but gratitude and love. 1. What benefits; so great, so numerous, so long continued - temporal and spiritual (vers. 6-11). 2. Toward you, in comparison with others (ver. 22). 3. He hath wrought. He, and no other; freely and graciously. "Free love is that which has never been deserved, which has never been desired, and which never can be requited." "We have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love" (1 John 4:17). But in order that his love may be perceived and its influence felt, in awakening love, we must consider, fix attention upon it, especially as manifested in "his unspeakable gift" (1 John 4:10). Our responsibility in regard to "salvation" depends directly on the power we possess of directing attention to Divine truth, and considering it with a real and earnest desire to know it, and live according to it; and by this means, as ice is melted by the sunbeams, so the heart is softened, renewed, and sanctified by the Spirit of truth. "O that they would consider!" - D.
But if ye shall do wickedly, ye shall be consumed, both ye and your king. Such was the language of Samuel to the Jews. He requires of them nothing superstitious; nothing merely ceremonious; nothing only external and temporary — but the exercise of piety flowing from the feet of God, End accompanied with sincerity and fervour in serving Him. This is all. "Only fear the Lord, and serve Him in truth with all your heart." This He enforces by two motives; the one drawn from gratitude, and the other from interest. Already I hope you have dropped Judea, and fixed your attention on your own country. The words could never have been more applicable to the Jews than they are to us. Has He not done great things for us? It is not foolish partiality, but truth that compels us to say, "The lines are fallen to us in pleasant places; yea, we have a goodly heritage." And to secure all these civil and religious advantages — how often has He made our cause His own! How seasonably and signally has He interposed to save us from the designs of our enemies! When brought low He has helped us. Can we be insensible to all this? If there were any ingenuousness in us, this motive alone would be sufficient. But fear has its use — and it is necessary to tell you not only that you are bound by gratitude, but interest. "If ye shall still do wickedly, ye shall be destroyed, both you and your king." This is dreadful — Think of a king you love, as well as honour, and "whose life is a lesson to the land he sways" — driven from his throne. Think of liberty exchanged for slavery. Think of property rapaciously plundered, or devoured by tyrannical exaction. Think of your private dwellings affording those who are dearer to you than yourselves no security from brutal passions. Think of the temples of God burnt up, or converted to other purposes.1. If there be a moral governor of the universe, sin must provoke Him. For who could adore a Being who professed to govern the world, and suffered the wicked to go on with impunity? 2. If sin provoke God He is able to punish it. All the elements are His. Every creature obeys His nod, from an archangel to a worm. Is anything too hard for the Lord — when He would either show mercy or execute wrath? 3. Bodies of men are punishable in this world only. In eternity there are no families, churches, nations. If, therefore, a country is to be destroyed, it is tried and condemned and executed here. 4. There is a tendency in the very nature of sin to injure and ruin a country. It destroys subordination. It relaxes the ties which bind mankind together, and makes them selfish and mean. Social welfare cannot survive the death of morals and virtue. 5. God's dealings with guilty nations are confirmed by His word, and indeed by all history. Finally, to enable us to draw the conclusion, He often — he always — gives previous intimation of His displeasure — so that, were not men blind and deaf, they must see and bear His coming. When you see the body wasting away by disease, and every complaint growing more inveterate, you suspect that death will be the consequence — it is already begun. "When the fig tree, and all the trees, put forth leaves, you know that summer is nigh." And how is it that we do not perceive that God is angry with us — that He is contending with us? But, you ask — Have we any cause to fear this? I answer, just in proportion to the degree of our sin. Now there are two ways by which we may judge of our national guilt. The first is to enumerate the sins which reign predominant among us. The other method is to lay down Criterions, by which we may estimate the prevalency and the aggravations of sin in a country. And what test has ever been devised that is not alarming when applied to ourselves? There is one thing of which we hear very much, and many seem to consider it as a counterpoise to all our fears, that there are so many good people among us. Blessed be God, this is true, and they certainly afford us encouragement. Ten righteous men would have saved Sodom. Let us remember that it is a hopeful circumstance — but that it does not absolutely insure the salvation of a country. Let us recollect that there was a time when God used the following language to Jeremiah and Ezekiel concerning the Jews: "Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to Me: for I will not hear thee. Then said the Lord unto Me, Pray not for this people for their good. Though Moses and Samuel stood before Me, yet My mind could not be toward this people: Cast them out of My sight, and let them go forth." What learn we from all this? That there are cases in the history of nations when the Divine forbearance is exhausted, and when the cries of the righteous will avail no more than those of the wicked. Let us prize those institutions which are favourable to the morality and sanctification of mankind. Especially let us value the Gospel. And, oh! remember, if your country should be saved, and you as an individual continue impenitent — you — you will be certainly destroyed! And what is any national calamity to "everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and the glory of His power!" (William Jay.) 1. To show that God doth exercise a particular Providence with respect to the state End condition of kingdoms and nations. 2. That according to the usual method of Providence their condition is better or worse as the people are. 3. That there are some circumstances of sinning which do very much portend and hasten a people's ruin. I. THAT GOD DOTH EXERCISE A PARTICULAR PROVIDENCE WITH A RESPECT TO THE STATE AND CONDITION OF NATIONS, i.e., as they are united into several and distinct bodies, which are capable as such of being happy or miserable. For since mankind's entering into society is both necessary and advantageous to them, and God doth not barely permit and approve, but dispose and incline men to it, and hath given them laws to govern themselves by, with respect to society, it is but reasonable to suppose that God should call men to an account in that capacity. Either, therefore, those societies as such shall go wholly unpunished, or they must suffer according to them in this world, and therefore here the case is very different, from that of particular persons. We say, and with a great deal of reason, that it is no disparagement to the justice of God's Providence for good men to suffer, or for wicked men to escape punishment in this life, because the great day of recompense is to come, wherein there will be a Revelation of the righteous judgment of God. But that will not hold as to nations, who shall not suffer in communities then as they have sinned here; and therefore it is more reasonable to suppose the rewards and punishments of such shall be in this life according to the measure and proportion of their sins. And of this we have sufficient evidence in Scripture upon these accounts. 1. Because it charges guilt upon nations as well as upon particular persons. 2. Because the Scripture tells us of a certain measure to which the sins of a nation do rise before they are ripe for punishment. This was the reason given why Abraham's children must stay to the fourth generation before they come to the possession of the promised land, for the iniquity of the Ammorites is not vet full. 3. Because it attributes the great revolutions of government to a particular Providence of God, God is the Judge, or the supreme Arbitrator of the affairs of the world, He pulleth down one and setteth up another. Which holds with respect to nations as well as particular persons. When a nation is near some dreadful calamity, as a just punishment of its sins, God takes away the wisdom of the wise and the understanding of the prudent, and the resolution of the men of courage, that they all stand amazed and confounded, not knowing how to give or take advice; but they are full of fears, and rather apt to quarrel with one another than to consult the general good. This was just the state of Egypt when God did purpose to execute His justice upon it. (1) (2) 4. Because the Scripture still leaves hopes of mercy to a people where they have a heart to repent. And where repentance hath intervened between the threatening and execution of judgment God hath showed wonderful kindness either in stopping, removing, or deferring the severity of judgments.(1) In stopping His hand when it hath been lifted up, end just ready to strike. We can desire no clearer instance in that case than that of Nineveh.(2) In removing His hand when it hath struck.(3) In putting by the stroke for the present, or deferring the execution of His wrath. II. The second particular is THAT ACCORDING TO THE USUAL METHOD OF PROVIDENCE THE STATE OR CONDITION OF A PEOPLE IS BETTER OR WORSE ACCORDING TO THE GENERAL NATURE OF THEIR ACTIONS. If they be good and virtuous, careful to please God, diligent observers of God's Laws and their own, and dealing with other nations according to the laws of nations, they will live in a much more flourishing and happy condition than a nation can do where atheism, profaneness, and all sorts of wickedness abound, which I shall prove two ways. 1. Absolutely, and that will appear(1) From the tendency of true goodness and piety to promote a nation's honour and interest abroad. And no man is ignorant how much reputation brings of real advantage to a nation; and that a people despised are next to a people enslaved, and that it is impossible to hold up honour and esteem in the world, where the reputation of virtue is lost.(2) From its tendency to maintain peace and tranquillity at home.(3) From the keeping up the spirits, and securing the safety of men. A good conscience makes a man dare to do his duty; but the sinners in Zion are afraid, fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. 2. Comparatively, if we do compare several nations together, we shall find those to flourish most and to be the most happy where men do most fear God and work righteousness. This may seem a paradox at first hearing to those who consider by what ways of fraud and violence, of injustice and cruelty, of rapine and oppression, the great and mighty empires of the world have been raised and maintained. Yet, notwithstanding this plausible objection, the truth of my assertion will appear, if we understand it as we ought to do with these following cautions.(1) That it is not to be understood of the largeness of dominion, or superfluity of riches, but of the true happiness of living in society together, which is by promoting the real good of all. To which the vastness of empire, and immensity of riches is by no means necessary, but a sufficiency both of strength and treasure to defend itself in case of foreign enemies, and to provide for the necessities and conveniences of all the members of it.(2) That this is not to be understood of the private benefit of any particular persons, but of the general good of all sorts and conditions of men.(3) That it is not to be understood of sudden and surprising events, but of a lasting and continued state.(4) It is to be understood of persons under equal circumstances, when we compare the condition of people with each other: not the nobles of one nation with the peasants of another, nor the princes with the people, but every rank and order of men with those of the same rank and condition. And upon these terms we need no other proof of the truth of this assertion than the instance in the text of the people of Israel, which will best appear by comparing the state of both kingdoms after the body of the people was broken into the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. The kingdom of Israel by Jeroboam's policy, and for reasons of state, fell off from the worship of the true God, and worshipped the calves of Dan and Bethel. But did they prosper or succeed more than the kingdom of Judah? The ten tribes had a much larger territory, yet the kingdom of Judah was stronger and flourished more, and continued longer by 135 years than the kingdom of Israel did; and when they were carried into captivity the ten tribes were lost as to their name and interest among the people of Assyria; but the two tribes were restored after 70 years' captivity under the princes of the line of David. III. THAT THERE ARE SOME CIRCUMSTANCES IN THE SINS OF A NATION WHICH DO VERY MUCH PORTEND AND HASTEN ITS RUIN. 1. When they are committed after more than ordinary mercies received, such as in reason ought to keep men most from the commission of them, as greater knowledge of the will of God that other people enjoy, more frequent warnings of their danger than others have had, many and great deliverances which God hath vouchsafed. 2. When they are committed with more than ordinary contempt of God and religion. 3. When there is an universal degeneracy of all ranks and conditions of men. Thus I have considered the influence which doing wickedly hath upon the ruin of a nation, it remains now that I make application of this to our own case. We have been a people that have received wonderful mercies and many final deliverances from God's hand. He hath placed us in a rich and fruitful land, and hath furnished us with so great plenty, that even that hath been thought our burden; hath blessed us with such an increase of trade that our merchants far exceed those of Tyre both in riches and number. Our ships of trade are like a valley of cedars when they lie at home, and when they are abroad they compass the earth, and make the fiches of the East and West Indies to meet in our streets. As to our civil constitution, if we consider the admirable temper of our government, the justice and wisdom of our laws, and the greatness of our liberties, we have no reason to envy the condition of any people upon earth. Thus far all things tend still to make us a happy nation if we did know and value our own happiness. But that which above all other things should make us so hath been the great occasion of our trouble, and is still of our fears, and that is religion. And yet in this respect we have advantages above any other nation in the Christian world, having a Church reformed with so much wisdom and moderation as to avoid the dangerous extremes on both sides. But before I conclude the text suggests to us three things, very pertinent to the duty of this day, which I shall briefly recommend to your consideration. 1. Matter of humiliation for our sins, as they have an influence upon the nation's suffering. 2. Matter of advice, only fear the Lord, and serve Him in truth, and with all your heart. 3. Matter of encouragement, for consider what great things He hath done for you. (Edward Stillingfleet.). People Aaron, Ammonites, Barak, Bedan, Egyptians, Jabin, Jacob, Jephthah, Jerubbaal, Nahash, Samuel, SiseraPlaces Egypt, Gilgal, Hazor, MoabTopics Consumed, Destruction, Evil, Overtake, Perish, Persist, Really, Swept, WickedlyOutline 1. Samuel testifies his integrity6. He reproves the people of ingratitude 16. He terrifies them with thunder in harvest time 20. he comforts them in God's mercy Dictionary of Bible Themes 1 Samuel 12:25Library Old Truth for a New Epoch'Now therefore behold the king whom ye have chosen, and whom ye have desired! and, behold, the Lord hath set a king over yon. 14. If ye will fear the Lord, and serve Him, and obey His voice, and not rebel against the commandment of the Lord; then shall both ye, and also the king that reigneth over you, continue following the Lord your God: 15. But if ye will not obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord; then shall the hand of the Lord be against you, as it was against … Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture The Whole Heart The King after Man's Heart The Old Judge and the Young King Exposition of the Doctrines of Grace Restraining Prayer: is it Sin? Twenty-Sixth Day for the Holy Spirit on Young Converts The Sick Person Ought Now to Send for Some Godly and Religious Pastor. The Work of Jesus Christ as an Advocate, A Cloud of Witnesses. The Lamb of God, the Great Atonement Samuel Links 1 Samuel 12:25 NIV1 Samuel 12:25 NLT 1 Samuel 12:25 ESV 1 Samuel 12:25 NASB 1 Samuel 12:25 KJV 1 Samuel 12:25 Bible Apps 1 Samuel 12:25 Parallel 1 Samuel 12:25 Biblia Paralela 1 Samuel 12:25 Chinese Bible 1 Samuel 12:25 French Bible 1 Samuel 12:25 German Bible 1 Samuel 12:25 Commentaries Bible Hub |
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