Yeah. People don't wake up in the morning. I think I'm gonna find out what demons would like me to think. What they do is they just start stepping away from God into the world. Until finally they bump into the wrong group.
And Paul is saying, I'm telling you this. God is telling me this. This is going to happen and it's happening. The church is more apostate now, I think, than any time in history. And the internet is the one driving.
You know, I'm not saying the internet is all bad. I mean, you get some good deals on the internet. It can't be bad. There's also that evil side. You're listening to Cross-Reference Radio with our pastor and teacher, Rick Gaston.
Rick is the pastor of Calvary Chapel, Mechanicsville. Pastor Rick is currently teaching through the book of 1 Samuel. Please stay with us after today's message to hear more information about Cross-Reference Radio, specifically how you can get a free copy of this teaching.
Now, here's Pastor Rick as he continues teaching in 1 Samuel 28 on this edition of Cross-Reference Radio. 1 Samuel, it is on purpose by the Holy Spirit. He feared people. You know, he told Samuel, well, you know, I feared the people, so I've sacrificed. And Samuel was livid.
He said it's clearly we're told that they feared David, he feared the Philistines. Dreadfully afraid. He feared men. But he didn't fear God. Why not?
God was not real enough to him. People were real to him. He could see them, he could touch them. God just really was not into, he was not into God. Like Esau.
Esau just, you know, uh. Religion, okay. But I'd rather go out and get things done.
Well, do them both, Esau. I mean, Jacob was no lazy man, he was a hard worker. Your brother was a very hard worker. But he was still mindful of God. His ethology couldn't be bothered.
And so God addresses that attitude. He says, Esau, Jacob, I've loved, Esau, I've hated. He's talking about the attitude in the two men. And as stark contrast, 1 Samuel 12, verse 24. This is what Samuel told Saul when he's making him king.
Only fear Yahweh. and serve him in truth with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you. You couldn't even find your father's donkeys. God found them for you.
And still made you the king. And when it was time to point you out to the people there, you were hiding because you were afraid of everybody. And so Samuel says, fear God. He never locked onto that. Sermons of Samuel did not register with this man.
I mean, all heroes know fear, but the type of fear that paralyzes. That kind of fear. It evolves. From a disinterested heart in God. I think that's one of the great lessons of this 28th chapter.
Samuel's going to say to him, to his face, you are now God's enemy. How dumb do you have to be to do that? God is not looking to make enemies.
Well Where David would have said, Trust God, as Jesus told his disciples, have faith in God, trust him. When you see things that are just beyond, trust God. Psalm 42. Why are you cast down over my soul? He's saying, Why am I depressed?
That's what he's saying. I don't know why I feel so. Awful. Like I don't want to live. And then he so he writes about it.
In a in a prayer in prayer format. Why are you cast down, O my soul? Why are you disquieted within me? Then he says, This: hope in God. For I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.
You know the countenance of when you see a good friend and they see you and you both light up. And the friend hails friend. Hey, it's good to see you As opposed to what I do when my kids know it's you again. No, I don't. But that's the contrast, of course.
The fact is, David felt very personal with God. And that the Psalms had just rolled off of his heart. Saul had none of that. And it was there. He couldn't blame anybody.
He had all the advantages and used them against God. Verse 6: And when Saul inquired of Yahweh, Yahweh did not answer him either by dreams or by Urim or by the prophets. He was cut off. Again, First Samuel 16, this is when Samuel is going to anoint David. A man after God's heart.
But the spirit of Yahweh departed from Saul, and a distressing spirit from Yahweh troubled him. Satan filled the void. God said, I'm out of here finding you fine. And he withdraws. And Satan takes an opportunity to become the influencing force in his life.
And we better get that lesson. At whatever age you are, you better get that lesson. Satan is out to influence you against God. And he's not going to stop for the rest of your life.
So, you better start as soon as possible learning how to fight and fend them off. Heaven had Yeah. It blocks Saul's calls.
So What does he do? He calls hell. That's what he does. Fine God won't answer me, I'll call hell. Selective obedience.
In Saul made it impossible for God to bless him, to use the re everybody's got resources.
Well, every, you know, overall, I mean, there's certainly folks that are born with great handicaps, but just. Typically, we all have some resource. Whether we develop it or not is another thing. And most of the time, it's some mood that gets in there and sours us. And bitterness is hard to get out.
You can get it out. You get yourself a spiritual goat to eat that poison ivy out of your system because it is bad when you, because you feel wrong, you feel justified, you hurt, all of these together. And that is just the perfect storm for Satan. against born again Christians in the church. And so someone that was once a bright lamp in the house of God is now opposed to that same house with no grounds.
Satan is very busy with us. To him, we are worth it. To Satan, we are worth meddling with, destroying. And so Even when Saul obeyed God, it was self-serving and therefore it was not authentic obedience. It was false.
The genuineness of your faith, Peter said. Peter was that kind of man. He could spot saying, Yeah, this guy's fake. Although, one time, you know, he gets to be fake too, and Paul calls him out on it. And he couldn't say anything against Paul.
You know, yeah, I know, I act like a Gentile until these Jews from Jerusalem come up from James. Then I act like I don't want to be a Gentile. And Paul tells him, you know, you being a Jew don't want to be a Jew, but yet you want to lay it on the Gentiles to be a Jew that you don't want to be. How does that work? And you took Barnabas with you.
Okay, I was in my devotion time this morning. I was into it.
Well, this year was. Yeah. Verse 7. Then Saul said to his servants, Find me a woman who is a medium, that I may go to her and inquire of her. And his servant said to him, In fact, there is a woman who is a medium at Endore.
Oh, we got a big mess here. First off, yes, I mean, you know, the women tend to gravitate toward this particular sin at a faster rate than men. Don't worry, men gravitate to other sins at a faster rate than women, such as violence. It balances out, but it is true. It's part of what Paul was talking about when he wrote to Timothy.
This is who was really trafficking in the spiritualist form this way. Don't forget. The nearly a thousand prophets slayed at Mount Carmel by Elijah were men. If you're into keeping, you know, if you're one of those who are keeping score of man versus woman, I hope you're not. Anyway, again, this continues the story of selective obedience.
He selected which things he would obey, and he selected which things he would not obey. He retained control. God was not Lord. The Lord did not select Saul did. And so he said, fine.
If God will not talk to me, I know which who will. He wants to get to Samuel. And yeah I mean God wants a servant. that will serve. According to obedience.
That's the one he did. Look, all the trees here, you can eat anything except this one. Is that too much to ask? Evidently. And we accept that.
Okay, now what do we do? Because if we were put in Eden, we probably would have done the same thing. In fact, we might have beaten Eve to the tree.
So we don't judge Adam and Eve. It's too easy to judge your parents. Pick on your parents. This is kind of cowardly thing. Just leave it alone.
Pick on other people. No. Not your pastor. Yeah. Anyway.
Uh selective obedience uh Not is not obedience. It says here in verse 7: And his servant said to him, In fact, there is a woman who is a medium at Endora. How do you guys know that? How come you didn't tell me? Yeah, I outlawed this.
Why did you not blow the whistle? He's not, he doesn't care. He's how accommodating! He's got men close to him. Who knows about This stuff And they are eager and they are prepared to find him a witch.
And This is the kind of people that He surrounded himself with people who ignored God along with him.
So he empties the land, Saul does, of the spiritists. Again, without filling in the void with spiritual people, and he killed them. And it's just so obnoxious. To uh Just refuse the answer. No.
And if it's not your place to do anything about that, then that's it. Anything other makes you a criminal. If you go to Walmart and you decide towels shouldn't be on aisle four, you're going to put them on aisle two, you're going to have a problem. When they finally bailed me out for that Yeah. Verse 8.
Slack. It'd be funny, right, if you go to Walmart and the aisles are on aisle, and the towels are on aisle four. And they really would do better on Isle 2. It would make me a prophet.
So, Saul, verse 8: So, Saul disguised himself and put on other clothes. Oh, this is just getting messy now. He's playing dress up. And he went, and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night. And he said, Please conduct a seance for me, and bring up for me the one.
I shall name to you The spiritualist sanity, this guy is out of his mind, the wicked irony. of using a witch to summon Yahweh's prophet. It is insanity. If God will not answer him, then he'll sidestep God to get to God's man. You know, people that Christians do similar things in the church.
They can't get to the pastor. They'll try to get to one of the other pastors so they can get it to him, or get to his wife so they can get to him. There'll be a little insult, maybe something that they'll try to traffic it through. Uh he's just not going to say. All right, I'm just going to have to face the Philistines.
No, he's going to try to still talk to Samuel. He is. the premier fool of the Old Testament. Surpassed in the New Testament by Judas Iscariot. But based on the information we have, I mean, there are other people worse than Saul, believe it or not, we just don't have this much information.
And so he finds heaven's door closed, but hell is open. Her doors are open with willing arms. There she is. If God will not answer me, I know someone who will, and I'll go to them and I'll pay for it. Verse 9.
Then the woman said to him, Look, You know that Saul, you know what Saul has done, how he has cut off the mediums. And the spirit is From the land Why, then, do you lay a snare for my life to cause me to die?
Well, she knew that what she was doing was forbidden and it was a capital crime. Leviticus 20, verse 27: a man or a woman who is a medium, and there men are doing it too. who has a familiar spirit. Shall surely be put to death, they shall stone them with stones, their blood shall be upon them. Of course, in Galatians 5, for example, Paul lists this as one of the sins of the flesh that we are to just as right there with murder and any other sin.
It is still prohibited. Christians are not to check their horoscope. That's looking for information from alternate spiritual sources. is forbidden. Verse 10, and Saul swore to her by Yahweh, saying, As Yahweh lives, no punishment shall come upon you for this thing.
Again, he's out of his mind. No medicine can cure this guy. He is irretrievable. He dares to swear. by the very God who forbids the thing he's doing.
It's like saying grace over, you know, drugs, illegal drugs. I mean, it's just madness, you know, the cannibal that blesses his food. That's insane. Mm-hmm.
So warped theology is no joke. Because theology, what you believe about God, influences one's behavior. That's why Paul said: if any man is in Christ, he's a new creation. Old things pass away, old things become new. There's a new influence.
Yes, the sins are forgiven, the canvas is wiped clean, the blood of Jesus Christ continues to wash it clean, but still there's an influencing factor that can impact one's life negatively or positively. And so, in his warp theology, he uses Yahweh to validate the sin.
So, here's what the chronicler writes: 1 Chronicles 10.
So, Saul died for his unfaithfulness. which he had committed against Yahweh because he did not keep the word of Yahweh. and also because he consulted a medium for guidance. But he did not inquire Of Yahweh. Therefore, he, Yahweh, killed him and turned the kingdom over to David, the son of Jesse.
He is blunt to the point with that. And there's more. We're going to get to them in verses 16 through 18. Samuel's going to also tell us why Saul is going to die. This death that he, this shameful death.
Verse 11. Then the woman said, Whom shall I bring up for you? And he said, Bring up Samuel for me. Place your order. I'm gonna fake it anyway.
She's faking it. I mean, there is spiritual activity, but well, I'll bring that out in a moment. But he says, bring up Samuel. No need to specialize which one. Samuel Jones or Smith.
No need. We know who this Samuel is and What a testimony to Samuel of all the people that you want to speak to. This man of God Of course he knew him personally in life. But Saul couldn't be helped by anyone. Isaiah writes this.
Oh, I don't know. doing the math A hundred years later. And when they say to you, seek those who are mediums and wizards. Who whisper and mutter Should not a people seek their God? Should they seek the dead on behalf of the living?
I said, this doesn't make any sense. God is speaking to, God is saying this through the prophet. Seek, you know, tell those who are dipping and dabbing in seances and trying to contact the. Dead world. Tell them.
This is useless and wrong. And he says, Seek Samuel, bring up Samuel for me. It's always about him. Verse 12. When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice.
And the woman spoke to Saul, saying, Why have you deceived me? For you are Saul.
Well, I don't know exactly what triggered that, but I do know this: her shock and her fear at the sight of Samuel, who she doesn't really know it's Samuel yet. Indicates That she never experienced an appearance from somebody she was supposed to be calling up for the dead, or else, why be shocked? I mean, if she was used to this, oh here's Samuel or somebody. God not the witch. Granted.
this request of Saul And God did what the witch could never do. God has every right, and He exercises that right from time to time to overrule where He is not permitted to rule. And aren't we glad? That's called sovereignty. God has the prerogative to interfere with anything he wants.
Joshua 24 tells a story about Balaam. Balaam tried to curse the Jews, but God kept interfering. But I would not listen to Balaam, God said. Therefore, He continued to bless you, so I delivered you out of his hands. Pharaoh's magicians, they brought up the frogs.
to the land They had this power because God allowed it. Exodus 8, verse 7. And the magicians did so with their enchantments and brought up frogs. On the land of Egypt. Why?
Why God let them do this? To dramatize the superiority of Moses God in the next few moves. Satan has power. That's what God is saying. But he does not have almighty power.
Your subject. There are real forces. In the unseen world, they are, I mean, the evil that takes place on earth. Satan is behind it. Exodus 8, verse 18, the duel continues to show down between Moses and the magicians.
Now, the magicians so worked with their enchantments to bring forth light, but they could not.
So there relies on On man and beast. Those are those biting bugs. And there's the point. God let them. Do a little bit, and then he shut it down, and that enhanced the victory.
It was supposed to, in the minds of the Jews. It worked for Caleb and it worked for Joshua because they knew what God was capable of, and they didn't back down when they saw the giants. Plenty of football teams have now backed down when they've seen the Giants. Yeah, yeah. people who employ the spiritism Imagine that they are talking to the departed ones when they are really talking to demons.
Hell is very serious about this. And 1 Corinthians, Paul says, Rather, the things that the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrificed to demons and not to God.
Now, sacrifice, not limiting it to a blood offering. It means their religion, their practices, it's encompassing. He says, and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons. That means you can. You can make contact with the demon world.
You just can't close it back up. They don't just leave, they're the rude guests. They just take over your house when you're still in it. That's what demon possession is. Demon oppression.
It's the next step, the preliminary step. Paul says, You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the Lord's table and the table of demons. Hell it influences. Very active again, again, amongst church going.
Born-again Christians too, active. 1 Timothy chapter 4. Verse 1.
Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith. They were in the faith and they left the faith. That is what that means. And I don't care what your theology is, you can't undo that statement. The word is apostasy.
It's to fall away from.
Well, you can't fall away from that which you were not at, or with, or there. You have to be there to fall from it. And so I mean, can you get fired from a job you didn't have? No, you cannot. He says, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons.
They teach, they're active, they influence. You don't have to know it's them. People don't wake up in the morning. I think I'm going to, some may, I think I'm going to find out what demons would like me to think. What they do is they just start stepping away from God into the world.
until finally they bump into the wrong group. And Paul is saying, I'm telling you this. God is telling me this. This is going to happen and is happening. The church is more apostate now, I think, than any time in history.
And the internet is the one driving. I'm not saying the internet is all bad. I mean, you get some good deals on the internet. Can't be bad. There's also that evil side.
Verse 13: We got a ways to go. Better speed it up. It's amazing how slowly you can talk with an ear clogged. And the king said to her, Do not be afraid, what did you see? And the woman said to Saul, I saw a spirit ascending out of the earth.
So she doesn't say, Oh, that's Samuel. She doesn't recognize him. and she's not doing very well at her job. But she's going to get paid anyway. She's actually a nice person, she really is.
But she's going to hell. And they're going to be actually nice people in hell because they aren't nice people with God. That's what it comes down to. You know, you can see people nice with pets and mean with humans. And that's just like, man, this is not right.
So I saw one bumper sticker today. My child has four paw paws.
Well, that's kind of creepy, lady. I wanted to say. That child was switched at birth. Would you give birth at the veterinary anyway? I mean, I'm sure she's just loving pets, and here I come with my criticisms.
That's why people don't like me after a while. They won't shut up. Anyway, she's fear-stricken. Yeah. If he is s here here's Fear stricken Saul, telling her not to be afraid.
He supposes that he could just deactivate God's law without consequence. She says, I saw a spirit descending out of the earth. The Hebrew term here, again, to translate this could have given us a little help, but no, it would have been confusing here if they had. Been too literal. The Hebrew word for spirit, I saw a spirit, is Elohim.
Elsewhere translated God. Context is essential. We're now in the age of texting. If someone says, I can't, B, C, and we know they're saying because. We know they're not referring to the birth of Christ because of the context.
Unless they say, Christ has been here since, you know. Uh one B C The context means a lot. We practice it all the time.
So here it is the case, too. The use of the word Elohim. The idea is that she saw a divine to her. The spirit that came up was divine in authority, in appearance. It had that effect, and that's what she says.
I saw a divine come up. That's her testimony. Doesn't mean it's accurate. Like the people, what did you see when you died on the operator? I saw a bright light.
Well, I didn't die and I saw a bright light. You don't have to be so dramatic to see a light. I mean, you could just.
Okay, I don't accept their testimony. Yeah, they saw what they saw. That doesn't mean. that somehow God was speaking to them. We don't see them turning to Christ and preaching the word of God.
We see them going on interviews why they saw what they saw when they. felt they were dead on the operating table. Uh Thanks for joining us for today's edition of Cross-Reference Radio. This is the daily radio ministry of Pastor Rick Gaston of Calvary Chapel, Mechanicsville, in Virginia. Currently, Pastor Rick is in the book of 1 Samuel.
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