{"id":9701,"date":"2021-06-13T22:07:00","date_gmt":"2021-06-14T02:07:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/?post_type=message&p=9701"},"modified":"2021-07-05T22:09:03","modified_gmt":"2021-07-06T02:09:03","slug":"how-the-mighty-have-fallen","status":"publish","type":"message","link":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/message\/how-the-mighty-have-fallen","title":{"rendered":"How the Mighty Have Fallen"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Below is an automated transcript of this message<\/h3>\n\n\n\nToday <\/i><\/span> is the conclusion of our series through the book of 1Samuel. We began this series last Spring; we went through the first fifteen chapters of 1 Samuel last Spring. And then this Spring, we picked up chapter sixteen. Today, we are at the last chapter; we are at chapter 31 of 1 Samuel.

\nWe’ve entitled this series, \u201cThe Original Game of Thrones, an Exposition of 1 Samuel.\u201d We’re happy to be at the final chapter now. I say \u201chappy,\u201d but with \u201cfear and trembling,\u201d as we enter into this chapter because this is the chapter where King Saul and his sons fall in battle. This is the chapter when David hears of their deaths.

\nIn 2 Samuel chapter one, he wrote a poem, a lament about them. He writes this, 2 Samuel 1:23-25 (ESV) \u201cSaul and Jonathan, beloved and lovely! In life and in death they were not divided; they were swifter than eagles; they were stronger than lions… How the mighty have fallen\u2026!\u201d And <\/i><\/span> so, we will take that as the title of our message today, \u201cHow the Mighty have Fallen.\u201d No matter how mighty you may feel you are, we have all fallen short of the grace of God. We’ve all fallen short.

\nSaul is a picture of humanity. He’s a worldly man. We have all sinned. Saul has rebelled against God and refused to surrender his crown to King Jehovah. That’s why we have entitled the series, \u201cThe Original Game of Thrones.\u201d It’s because this really began with the beginning of humanity. We’ve taken, as our theme for this entire series, from 1 Samuel 8:7 (ESV) \u201cAnd the Lord said to Samuel, \u201cObey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.\u201d You see, it’s been true since Adam and Eve, since all humanity began. That’s how it all started. We have rejected God’s word and we have decided, I <\/i><\/span> want to be king. I want to be lord of my own life. As a result, humanity has fallen.

\nSaul is a man who would not surrender his throne to God. He has fallen. \u201cOh, how the mighty have fallen.\u201d Who sits on the throne of your life today? Who’s in control? Who’s driving the car? Who has the car keys? Who’s in charge of your life today? Is it you? If so, how is that working out for you? How’s that working out? Have you understood yet that you can’t control anything? Have you figured that out yet?

\nControl is an illusion. As humans, we think we can take control. Those of us that struggle with control issues, we stay in an almost constant state of anxiety because we can’t control anything. There is one Who is in control and you can give the throne of your life to Him. You can give Him the crown and you can be prepared for tomorrow, because no matter how hard you <\/i><\/span> try to control things, nobody knows what tomorrow holds except for one person and that’s the Lord.

\nNow, as we look at this last chapter, there’s no \u201csugar coating\u201d it. There is not one mention of God or of the Lord in this chapter. This is a story about the demise of the world, of the worldly man, Saul. Saul is the man who has rejected God as king. That’s what this chapter is about, but yet, we can learn from it. It’s in the word of God for a reason and we can learn from it.

\nIn the final chapter of 1 Samuel, the Lord brought Saul’s life and kingdom to an end, preparing the way for His anointed, King David. We can learn several important spiritual lessons from this chapter. What can we learn? I see at least three spiritual lessons that we can learn from this final chapter concerning the fall of Saul. Let’s look at Chapter 31, can you believe it? We only have one chapter to cover together today and there are only 13 verses . <\/i><\/span> If you’ve been with us for a season, you know there are weeks that we’ve taken on three chapters in one sermon. Today, we even put the text in your bulletin. There was room. I’m just so happy to read just 13 verses today. I’m thankful for those three chapter weeks, but these 13 verses are much easier to read, even though it’s a hard part of the story to hear.

\n1 Samuel 31:1-13 (ESV) 1 \u201cNow the Philistines were fighting against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before the Philistines and fell slain on Mount Gilboa. 2 And the Philistines overtook Saul and his sons, and the Philistines struck down Jonathan and Abinadab and Malchi-shua, the sons of Saul. 3 The battle pressed hard against Saul, and the archers found him, and he was badly wounded by the archers. 4 Then Saul said to his armor-bearer, \u201cDraw your sword, and thrust me through with it, lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and mistreat me.\u201d But his armor-bearer would not, for he <\/i><\/span> \nhe feared greatly. Therefore Saul took his own sword and fell upon it. 5 And when his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell upon his sword and died with him. 6 Thus Saul died, and his three sons, and his armor-bearer, and all his men, on the same day together. 7 And when the men of Israel who were on the other side of the valley and those beyond the Jordan saw that the men of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned their cities and fled. And the Philistines came and lived in them. 8 The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. 9 So they cut off his head and stripped off his armor and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines, to carry the good news to the house of their idols and to the people. 10 They put his armor in the temple of Ashtaroth, and they fastened his body to the wall of Beth-shan. 11 But when the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead \nheard <\/i><\/span> \nheard what the Philistines had done to Saul, 12 all the valiant men arose and went all night and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan, and they came to Jabesh and burned them there. 13 And they took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh and fasted seven days.\u201d This is God’s word. Amen.

\nThree spiritual lessons that Saul\u2019s fall reveals:\n1. The tragedy of life apart from God\u2019s love.

\nSaul and his sons and all the men of Israel have tragically fallen slain on Mount Gilboa. This is the tragic story, not only of Saul, but of the entire human race. Saul is a picture of the worldly man apart from God’s love. He is a type of Adam. He is showing us what life looks like apart from God’s love. It says, \u201che fell slain with his sons on Mount Gilboa.\u201d It says that the Philistines had encamped at the place called Shunem and <\/i><\/span> Saul at \u201cGilboa\u201d (1 Sam. 28:4).

\nWe have place names, therefore, we must look at a map, right ? The Bible describes real people and real places. Here’s the map. Up here would be the Sea of Galilee in the north, the Jordan river going south. If we could see a bigger map, we would have the Dead Sea to the far south. We have here, Shunem, which is the encampment of the Philistines and then the valley of Jezreel passes between them and Mount Gilboa right here. If you’ll remember in the previous chapter, Saul had gone at night and went past the Philistine camp to meet with a medium, a necromancer, one who claimed to be able to speak to the dead. He had traveled and met with her to try to get an answer about this battle that he was about to have with the Philistines. This is a shot of the exact area today; this is what it looks like today. This is <\/i><\/span> the Jezreel Valley, Shunem would have been over here somewhere. This is Mount Gilboa; it is kind of shaped like a boomerang. Today, you can actually drive up here to this overlook. This little area right here is called \u201cSaul’s Shoulder.\u201d This is the place at Mount Gilboa where he and his sons died together. It would have been expected that they would have camped on this hill and then the Philistines would have camped on the other hill over it at Shunem. The battle would have taken place in the Jezreel Valley. But when they fled, they fell back to Saul’s camp and it was overrun, which was surprising to everyone. I’m not sure if Saul actually saw his sons killed. I would imagine that they would have fallen back to try to be like a rear guard to protect their father, but they all died on that hill.

\nThen, finally, the archers found King Saul. The only person up there protecting him was his armor bearer. King Saul was badly wounded by the archers. You see <\/i><\/span> God had told Saul that this was going to happen if he didn’t obey Him and repent. And so what does Saul do? What does the worldly man do when he faces death? Does he call out to God? Do you see any mention of God in this chapter? I don’t. The fact that He is not mentioned makes me look for Him all the more.

\nHow can we understand this chapter? What we see here is a man who represents us apart from God’s love. That’s what it looks like. Left to himself and his own power, his own wisdom and his own strength, he looks around, he thinks, It would be better for me to just die. So, he turns to his armor bear, the man who was commissioned to protect him, and says, Kill me; I’ve been wounded mortally by this arrow. Kill me because, if you don’t, these uncircumcised Philistines are going to come and they’re going to mistreat me . <\/i><\/span> They’re going to torture me, make sport of me and kill me.

\nThe scripture says that his armor bearer was greatly afraid. Why? Because this is the king. If he killed the king and he was supposed to be the one who would give his life to protect him? He wouldn’t do it. And so Saul falls on his own sword attempting suicide. And then his armor bearer sees that he’s apparently dead and he does the same and kills himself. Saul is a man left to his own devices and cornered, but unwilling, even in this moment, to look up to God.

\nWe are like Saul. Saul is more concerned about facing those Philistines. He’s more concerned about how they’ll treat his body than he is about facing God and the destiny of his soul. He cares more about facing them than he does facing God. This is a tragedy. This is the tragedy of life for that person, a picture of that person who was given it <\/i><\/span> all, given all the grace of God and yet rebelled against God.

\nAnd so, the mighty have fallen. Saul was a king, but now he’s dead. Paul describes this tragedy of those who live apart from God in the book of Ephesians. Ephesians 4:18 (NLT) \u201cTheir minds are full of darkness; they wander far from the life God gives because they have closed their minds and hardened their hearts against him.\u201d

\nAre you mad at God about something? Have you become embittered towards God and you care more about what other people think of you or of the problems you’re facing then you do facing the Father someday? Saul took it into his own hands and attempted to take his own life. The real tragedy here is not the death of Saul, the real tragedy is it didn’t have to be that way. It didn’t have to be that way.

\nHere’s what God says in Ezekiel 18:32 (NIV) \u201cFor I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign <\/i><\/span> Lord. Repent and live!\u201d That’s a tragedy, my friend. It doesn’t have to be that way. You can repent and turn to God. You don’t have to keep living with yourself on the throne because this is what the end of that kind of life looks like. That’s how it looks. If you stay on the throne, you’ll be dying apart from God’s love.

\nIn the book by Drs. Minirth and Meier, \u201cHappiness is a Choice,\u201d they talk about the four major causes of clinical depression. The first three they name have something to do with a failure to experience the love of God, the love of others and the love of self. This sounds familiar, doesn’t it? It sounds like the great commandment. \u201cLove God and love your neighbor as yourself.\u201d Those are three major causes of clinical depression. The fourth one is unresolved anger, bitterness and lack of forgiveness that just builds up over time. I would say <\/i><\/span> that Saul is an example of one who had all four of these markers. Drs. Minirth and Meier say that clinical depression is a major cause of suicidal ideation. According to the CDC, \u201cSuicide rates increased 33% in the last 20 years. Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the United States. It was responsible for more than 47,500 deaths in 2019, which is about one death every 11 minutes.\u201d The CDC also reports that \u201cthere is evidence suggesting that significantly more people have thought about ending their lives during the pandemic than in recent years.

\nMakes sense, doesn’t it? Social isolation, lack of love of being able to express your love for God, love for others, even love for yourself. And then all the anger that kind of gets pinned up because you’re out of control. Even if you are under the illusion that you are under control, 2020 blew that away. Every time we would try to make <\/i><\/span> a plan as a church staff, that weekend the governor would go on tv again and our plans would have to change. We were not in control. This often leads to depression and discouragement, which if apart from God and apart from the love of God and the love of others and the lack of forgiveness, it can come to a point where we go, It’s just not worth living. Just kill me.

\nSaul falls on his own sword; it didn’t have to be that way; that’s the real tragedy. He paid a terrible price for wearing the crown himself. He was more concerned about how he would face his enemies than how he would face his God.

\nSadly, we see the same thing happening all around us today. People are trying to wear the crown and sit on the throne of their own life. YGod desires to save and forgive, but people continue to refuse. What about you? Will you surrender the throne of your <\/i><\/span> life to God and avoid the tragedy of life apart from God’s love? This is the first lesson that we can learn from chapter 31 of 1 Samuel.

\nThree spiritual lessons that Saul\u2019s fall reveals:\n2. The truth of death according to God\u2019s Word.

\nWe’ve already covered the first five verses so far. Let’s look closely now at verse six. Verse six is unusual. It begins with the word, \u201cthus.\u201d It’s as if the writer here wants to make a point. It’s kind of like the word, \u201ctherefore;\u201d it’s like an equal sign in a mathematical equation, whatever proceeds equals. 6 \u201cThus Saul died, and his three sons, and his armor-bearer, and all his men, on the same day together.\u201d

\nWhat’s he referring to? He’s referring to the fact that that’s exactly what God had told him through the prophet Samuel. It was a strange story back there in chapter 28, when Saul, instead of going to God, goes to a witch at Endor. She is a <\/i><\/span> medium, a necromancer. He asked her to raise the prophet Samuel from the grave. We can ask a question, Can you believe this?

\nHere’s the other strange thing about the story. It appears that God allowed it to happen and it might have been the first time this medium was ever successful. I think maybe before that she might have been someone who \u201cfaked it.\u201d Maybe she rattled some chains in the background and shook some tables, but on this day, Samuel gets up and speaks. She lets out a scream; it scares her.

\nSamuel tells Saul this in chapter 28:19, he says, 1 Samuel 28:19 (ESV) \u201cMoreover, the Lord will give Israel also with you into the hand of the Philistines, and tomorrow you and your sons shall be with me. The Lord will give the army of Israel also into the hand of the Philistines.\u201d\nIn other words, he says, You, your sons and your army will join me in the grave tomorrow. The author here <\/i><\/span> wants us to not forget this. It happened just like God said. \u201cThus, Saul died and his three sons and his armor bearer and all his men on the same day together,\u201d which was the next day, just as God had said.

\nSo here’s the thing; we try to avoid thinking about death. But God’s word says it’s real, it’s going to happen and we will have to face it someday. Why does this happen to Saul the way it does? There’s another book of the bible that helps us reflect on 1 Samuel, it’s called 1 Chronicles. If you’re reading through the bible, you’ll notice, as you get to 1 Chronicles, that you have already heard these stories. Well, the chronicler is telling them again, but he adds extra information. Let’s look there and see what he says about this story. 1 Chronicles 10:13-14 (ESV) 13 \u201cSo Saul died for his breach of faith. He broke faith with <\/i><\/span>with the Lord in that he did not keep the command of the Lord, and also consulted a medium, seeking guidance. 14 He did not seek guidance from the Lord. Therefore the Lord put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David the son of Jesse.\u201d

\nIt looks like the Philistines have won the battle. But the truth is, God removed Saul from the scene. This is tragic, but it’s the truth. God had warned him, yet, Saul would not repent. Instead of turning to God for advice and counsel, he went to a medium. He went and asked the wrong person, so God turned him over to the death he deserved.

\nGod had warned Adam just as he warned Saul. It says in Romans 5:12 (NLT) \u201cWhen Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam\u2019s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned.\u201d Sometimes I hear people say, Well, you know, I can’t help it because I was born with this tendency. There is <\/i><\/span> a certain amount of truth there. We’re all born with a certain gene. It’s called the sin gene. Ever since Adam, we’ve been born with \u201cthe bends.\u201d We are bent towards anything contrary to God’s word and anything that’s with God’s word. We tend to bend away from it because we prefer to wear the crown ourselves. I don’t need anybody to tell me what to do. I can do it myself. I think that’s the first thing my children said in a complete sentence. My son, Stephen, who’s our worship pastor now, said in one of his first sentences, I do it myself. We’ve been saying this ever since. As a result, sin has spread to everyone because we have all sinned.

\nAs a result, the bible says our sin has earned us death. It says in Romans 6:23 (ESV) \n\u201cFor the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.\u201d This is the truth that God’s word teaches. You know <\/i><\/span>, we try to \u201csanitize\u201d death, we send people off to hospitals and homes, so we don’t have to watch them die. Let the professionals care for that. We don’t want to see that. And then, when they die, we send them off to another professional to make sure we don’t have to handle the aftermath. We’ve \u201csanitized\u201d death. We can medicate ourselves with drugs and alcohol. We can distract ourselves with our tv programs and our games and hobbies. We can all \u201crearrange the furniture on the Titanic\u201d and pretend it’s not sinking. We don’t like to think about death.

\nThe bible says that sin entered when Adam and Eve sinned and it still lingers on. It’s not just humanity, but all creation has been affected by man’s sin in God’s good world. It’s like a rose with a thorn on it. It’s beautiful, but it’s bent.

\nEven animal life has to die. The word, \u201centropy,\u201d if you learned science, <\/i><\/span>is the second law of thermodynamics that everything runs down unless new energy is introduced. That law is true and it started with Adam and Eve. Everything dies; everything runs down. It’s true. To pretend otherwise is to lie to ourselves.

\nYesterday my wife and I had a difficult day, didn’t we, honey? We got up and we knew our dog was not doing so well. This was our 14 year old collie, our sweet Sophie. We used to breed collies and this was one of our pups that we’ve known since birth 14 years old. She was getting to where she wasn’t walking due to arthritis and so forth. I know how she feels. This last week, she declined quickly. We got up yesterday morning and she couldn’t walk. She was on her blanket and she couldn’t get up. She just started whining. We knew it was time, so we called the <\/i><\/span> vet. We had delayed and delayed it, but yesterday she couldn’t take care of herself even to move. And so, it was a hard morning to say goodbye to our sweet Sophie. The vet cried with us as the light went out of her eyes. It was not fun.

\n Why do we have to come to church to hear you tell us this pastor? This is not good to hear. Quit running, quit lying to yourself, quit trying to sanitize the reality of life. We cannot control our lives. We need the Lord. I’m glad we have the One who has overcome sin, death and the grave. His name is Jesus. But be sure of this, as Hebrews says, Hebrews 9:27 (KJV) \u201cAnd as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.\u201d There will be a payday someday, for sure. Be sure your sins will find you out, the scripture says. Are you ready to face the father?

\nThree spiritual lessons that Saul\u2019s fall reveals:\n3. The testimony of grace by God\u2019s Son.

\nHere’s the third lesson. We’ve seen the tragedy of life apart from God’s love and the truth of death <\/i><\/span> according to God’s word. Thirdly, we have the testimony of grace by God’s Son.

\nIt\u2019s going to surprise you to hear this comparison. I’ve been telling you that Saul is a type; he represents Adam. He represents the worldly man. Now, I’m going to tell you that he foreshadows the death of Christ because of what Jesus has done. Jesus, who knew no sin became sin for us. He took on Saul’s sin and died Saul’s death. He took on my sin and your sin and He died in our place. And so, we see in Saul, a surprising testimony that points to the death of Jesus. Trust me in this, as I lay it out for you.

\nFirst of all, Saul died a prophetic death, as we just mentioned. It was prophesied by Samuel that he would die the next day, and so, he did. Jesus died a prophetic death. It was prophesied in Isaiah 53 and in psalm 22. Jesus Himself told his disciples <\/i><\/span> over and over again, \u201cI must go and be turned away by these men and be killed and crucified. By the third day I’m getting up.\u201d His death was prophetic.

\nSecond, whenever Saul died, Israel fled. When Jesus was in the garden of Gethsemane and the soldiers came and took Him, the disciples did what? They fled, they ran. One of them, John the Beloved, was in such a hurry that he ran out of his clothes. The bible says they fled.

\nThird, both of them died a violent death. Saul, unwilling to face his torturers, \u201cattempted\u201d to take his own life. I keep saying \u201cattempted,\u201d because if you keep reading in second Samuel, you’ll find that there’s a man who comes to David and he claims that he killed Saul. There’s some sense here that maybe he fell on his own sword and, ironically, was not successful. He did not want to face death, and so, he attempted to take his life. Jesus didn’t want to face death. <\/i><\/span>He said, \u201cFather, if there was any way this cup could pass from me, but not my will, but Yours be done.\u201d \nBut then, He kept his eyes wide open and He faced a violent death on the cross. Unlike Saul, Jesus kept His eyes wide open and He accepted the beating and the torturing of those roman soldiers. He died a violent death. \nFourth, Saul was stripped of his armor, his armor was paraded around. They hung it in the temple of Ashtaroth, that false goddess. Jesus was stripped of His robe and the roman guards bet over it and tried to win a portion of that robe.

\nFifth, Saul’s body was fastened to the wall at Beth-shan. Jesus\u2019 body was fastened to a cruel cross.

\nAnd then, we have a turn of events. There’s a little glimmer at the end of the chapter of something good happening. It’s not great, but it’s something good at least. That’s when these men from<\/i><\/span> Jabesh-Gilead march overnight for about fifteen miles. Pop up a map. Earlier, we looked at Jabez Gilead down here to the southeast, about fifteen miles from there to Beth-shan, which is now under Philistine control. They heard that the bodies of Saul and his three sons were nailed to the wall at Beth-shan. When they heard it, they marched overnight for fifteen miles, collected their bodies and marched back fifteen miles at risk of life and limb.

\n(Photo) this is Beth-shan today in modern Israel. It became a very prominent city during Roman times. One of the greatest displays of roman ruins is right here in Beth-shan. Up on this mound, which is what archaeologists call a \u201ctell,\u201d is the <\/i><\/span> ancient city of Beth-shan. It hasn’t been unearthed yet. It’s just waiting to have more archaeologists work on it. This tree here, according to our tour guide, is the place where the walls of Beth-shan would have been. That’s where Saul and his sons would have been nailed. Our tour guide said to the group, \u201cWe’ve got about thirty minutes of free time now; go look on your own. You won’t have time to go up on that mound because the bus is leaving in thirty minutes.\u201d I took off running. This was seven years ago. The first time I went there, my knees were still working. I’m getting knee replacements now, but I had good knees seven years ago. I ran up these steps here, all the way up and <\/i><\/span> I got to that tree. That broken tree looks like a cross up there. I thought about Saul and his sons dying that tragic death and having their bodies nailed. Why do I show us photos? Why do I show you these maps? Because the bible is about real places and real people. This really happened.

\nWhy did these valiant men from Jabesh-gilead go to Beth-shan? It was because, back in 1 Samuel 11, the first battle that Saul ever fought was when he went and rescued the people of Jabesh-gilead who were surrounded by the Ammonites. They had tried to make a truce with the Ammonites; 1 Samuel 11:3, \u201cThe elders of Jabesh said to him, \u201cGive us seven days so we can send messengers throughout Israel; if no one comes to rescue us, we will surrender to you.\u201d When Saul heard about this, he set out to go. The Lord gave him zeal and he fought his first battle there and rescued Jabesh-gilead. Perhaps, they remembered what Saul had done and they couldn\u2019t let his <\/i><\/span> body be mistreated that way. And so, they risked their lives to go rescue King Saul.

\nThis story reminds me of two men at great risk of life and limb named Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus who said, You know what? We can’t let them mistreat the body of Jesus. At risk of life and limb, they took His body and made sure it was cared for.

\nI’m not finished. Do you see what I’m talking about? Do you see how Saul’s life and his death is a picture of what Jesus has done for us? When Saul died, he made room for a kingdom, a new kingdom under King David. A more righteous kingdom; a better kingdom. And then, when Jesus died and was raised again, it made room and established a better kingdom. A new kingdom, the kingdom of Heaven, the Kingdom of God.

\nSaul didn’t have to go through what he went through. He chose to. It would have been better if <\/i><\/span> he had let Jesus pay for it. It would be better to let Jesus wear the crown because He has done it for you.

\nThese men of Jabesh-gilead took the bones of Saul and of his sons and burned their bodies because they had been disfigured. They buried the bones under a tamarisk tree in Gibeah and they had a seven-day fast to commemorate their king’s death.

\nBurying the bones under a tamarisk tree is ironic because if you go back to 1 Samuel 22, you’ll see that that was where Saul liked to hold court. He often would sit under the tamarisk tree there at Gibeah and take counsel with his advisers. And so, they buried him under a tamarisk tree there at Gibeah.

\nThere’s one other little detail and this is for us. Whenever the Philistines cut off his head, it reminds us of how David had cut off the head of Goliath. Except now, the champion Saul has his head cut off and God’s people are apparently defeated. It says the Philistines started spreading the good news all over <\/i><\/span> the Philistine territory and carrying around the head of Saul and his armor and spreading the good news.

\nAfter Jesus got up from the grave, the disciples began to spread the good news, which is the gospel. This is the good news of his death, burial and resurrection for our sins. And so today we can spread the good news. Do you see it?

\n2 Corinthians 5:21 (ESV) \u201cFor our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.\u201d Jesus died a death like Saul so we could live a life like Jesus. He took our sin so we could receive His righteousness. He took our separation from the Father so we could be children of God. He took our death so we could receive His eternal life. It’s the great exchange; he offers himself in our place. He took the death we deserved so that we might have the life that we don’t deserve but that we can have freely Just by <\/i><\/span> saying, Here, Jesus, take the crown, take the throne, I don’t want it anymore.

\nHow about you? What are you going to do? Are you going to keep playing \u201cthe game of thrones, pretending like you’re in charge? Are you going to surrender the throne to Jesus? You don’t have to live the tragedy of life apart from God’s love. Listen to this; if you are born once and die twice, this body will die and then you’ll experience eternal death apart from God in a place called Hell, a place designed for the devil and his angels, that is not even designed for us, but is where we’ll go if we are determined to wear the crown. If you are born twice, you only have to die once. If you get born again in Jesus\u2019 name. This old body has got to go, you don’t want it in heaven anyway I don’t, I’m about wore this thing out but you get a new body, a new resurrection body one built like <\/i><\/span> Jesus fit for eternity born twice. You only have to face death once.

\nThe bible says it’s like going to sleep; \u201cabsent from the body, present with the Lord,\u201d Paul told the church at Corinth. I believe that you close your eyes in this world and you open your eyes in the next to the face of Jesus. You don’t have to be afraid. You can put Jesus on the throne.

\nLet\u2019s pray. Lord, oh it’s heartbreaking to read about the worldly man, Saul. We saw him start out so well, but how the mighty have fallen. Lord, I pray for the one that’s here this morning and has never surrendered their life to you. Is that you, my friend? Right in your seat right now, would you talk to the Father? You can do it. Just follow along with me and pray. What matters right now is not so much the words of your mouth, but the attitude of your heart, that you would surrender the throne of your life <\/i><\/span> and your heart to Jesus. You can pray like this, Dear Lord Jesus, I’m a sinner. But I believe You died on the cross for me. You died for my sins and on the third day You got up and You live today, forgive me of my sin, come into my life and make me the person You want me to be. I want You as my Lord and Savior. I want to be a child of God. I want to follow You with all of my life. I want You to be my Lord and King. I surrender the crown to You. If you’re praying that prayer right now, believing, He will save you. He says, \u201cIf you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.\u201d This is a promise because He’s the one who’s keeping it. Many are here and you’re a believer. We all should be reminded. So right now <\/i><\/span> we just say, Lord help us to stay focused and to recognize the urgency of telling the Good News that Jesus saves, that He died for our sins and that He lives today. Help us not to be distracted or to be medicating ourselves or playing fun and games when we should be always thinking, Jesus, what do you want me to do today for You? You’re the King and I’m not. We pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The original game of thrones goes all the way back to the beginning of humanity. For it was Adam and Eve who first \u201crejected God from being king over them.\u201d And as a result humanity has fallen. Since then, humanity has continually struggled against God in a kind of game of thrones. Now Saul, the man who would not surrender his throne to God, has fallen. O how the mighty have fallen!<\/p>\n

Who sits on the throne of your life? Is it you? How\u2019s that working for you? Have you got everything under control? Or are things flying apart? And what about tomorrow? Can you see the future? Are you ready for tomorrow? Even more important, are you ready for eternity? Because there\u2019s no sugar coating this last chapter of 1 Samuel. It\u2019s about Saul\u2019s fall, his death.<\/p>\n

In the final chapter of 1 Samuel, the Lord brought Saul\u2019s life and kingdom to an end, preparing the way for His anointed king, David. We can learn several important spiritual lessons from Saul\u2019s death. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":9506,"template":"","tags":[2019],"series":[2747],"scripture-book":[1276],"scripture-chapter":[1364],"speaker":[2007],"class_list":["post-9701","message","type-message","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-exposition","series-the-original-game-of-thrones","scripture-book-1-samuel","scripture-chapter-1364","speaker-gary-combs"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/message\/9701","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/message"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/message"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/message\/9701\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9506"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9701"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9701"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=9701"},{"taxonomy":"scripture-book","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/scripture-book?post=9701"},{"taxonomy":"scripture-chapter","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/scripture-chapter?post=9701"},{"taxonomy":"speaker","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/speaker?post=9701"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}