The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1908-07-21

S4:Z4-OOlnlHlt tSfsc AA--Keaf
Chapters 10, 14-Commentary.
TINlE.-A. D. 1921 B. G. PLACE
--Gilgal.
EXPOSITTON.-I. Samuel Rebukes
King Saul. 1910. God had revealed Il
His purpose to make Saul king first II
to Samuel, and to Samuel God first q
revealed His purpose to depose Saul
because of his disobedienee. There Il
was no other man in all Israel whom N
God could so trust and of whom He
could make such a confldant Samuel
grieved greatly o-~. Jehoyahs re-
lection of Saul, he spent the whole
night in tears and prayer ". 111, N
but he rose early to perform the duty
that God had put upon him, unwel
come as it was. He will deliver Gods
message and deliver it at once. Saul
greets Samuel with great parade Of
piety A guilty conscience often leads
men to louder hallelujahs. Saul ut.
tered a bare-faced lie, but 1t is not
likely that he admitted even to him
self that it was lie. Many a man
fancies that he is sincere when he
says. II have performed the com
mandment of the LORD" though in
his inmost heart he knows that he has
done nothing of the kind. Samuel
was not in the least deceived by Saul's
! loud professions. 1t is impossible to
deceive the man who is in Gods con-
fidence. Furthermore, the bleating
of the sheep and the lowing OF the
oxen betrayed Saul's falsehood- There
is no use trying to hide our sins
prov 2S:13; M. 32:23). The only
way to get our sins covered out oil
the sight of man is to open them to
the gaze of God. FPS. 32:1 s; l Jno.
1877. In all that had to do with
obedience Saul says 81" and I'VE,
in all that had to do with disobedi-
ence Saul says s'they" and the peo-
pie" It is always the other fellow
that is to blame, but if it is question
of credit, that belongs to US. The
basest sinner can always invent
good construction of his vilest deeds
Saul would make an act of grossest
disobedience to be an act of devotion
1t is not uncommon for rebels against
the holy will of God to decorate the
qualification of their lust with the
pretense of religion. Why Saul ana
the people really spared the catties1S
evident Tvs. 8 and 19). To give
part of ones ill-gOtten wealth to the
service of God will not set ones DISC
bedience right with God Tvs. ~, 2o).
Samuel did not venture to tell saul
what he thought of his actions. He
did something infinitely better, ne
told him what God Himself had SAID.
Saul listened Samuel always com
manded respectful attention, because
men had learned that he spoke not
his own mind but tho mind OF God.
T1r -, iTld >.
wonderful grace of God towards him.
The Bible constantly enforces our
duty towards God and our guilt in
disobeying God by bringing to our at
tention Gods goodness towards us.
1t was when Saul was humble, when
he was little in his own eyes, that
God exalted him (Lu. 14:11). Je-
hovah had appointed him to the very
first place, and he had repaid God by
gross disobedience. What ingrati-
tude! But not so great as ours when
we disobey the God who has made us
Ills own heirs. Saul's commission
was to destroy the Amalekites tut
terly" The Amalekites were a type
of the flesh, and God will have no
mercy on the flesh. 1t must be put to
death, the death of the cross (Gal.
1924; CT. 3:13) Many professed
Christians deal with the flesh just as
Saul dealt with Amalek. God sets
them aside just as He set Saul aside,
samuel sweeps away all Saul's soph-
istries with a single question, why
didst thou not obey the voice of the
LORD?" No possible reasoning can
excuse disobedience to God.
III. Saul's Worthless Excuse, 20
IS. Saul put on very bold face and
stoutly asserted that he had "obeyed
the voice of the LORD" He hoped
to lie himself out of his difficulty, but
he failed lamentably. He has many
lmitators, but none ever succeed. Be-
fore God got through with Saul he
was forced to say II have sinned" ".
800. Every sinner has to come to
this point sooner or later. The sooner
he comes to it the better. One should
never disobey God; but if one does
disobey, the thing to do is to make
clean breast of it at once Saul adj
mits that the sheep and the oxen
should have been utterly destroyed,
but again says that it was the peopl
that had spared 1.-The chief Of them,
and that too with good purpose,
to sacrifice unto the LORD. Then
he adds, with the vain hope of con-
eiliating Samuel, thy God If Saul
had been as cunning as some of our
modern scholars who find something
inconvenient in the word of God, he
would have told Samuel, II do not
believe in a deadly liberalism in inter-
preting the word of God. have kept
the spirit of Gods command, even if
not the very letter." Many in our
own day are seeking to substitute
sacrifices and services OF their own
invention for simple obedience to the
plain commands of God. God does
not ask us to invent, but to hearken
and obey. Witchcraft Tin all its
forms) and ''idolatry and Teraphim"
are exceedingly hateful to God, but
rebellion" and sstubbornness" are
Just as hateful. All disobedience tes
what God has said is rebellion" and
"stubbornness There was just one
cause Of Saul's ruin, he had rejected
the word of the Lord"
Brand Stays on Oleo.
The controversy between the dairy