After God’s Own Heart

         Remember Jerusalem  June, 1967 

 As Samuel mourned Saul’s plight, God spoke to the prophet, “. . . How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel?  Fill your horn with oil, and go; I am sending you to Jesse the Bethlehemite.  For I have provided Myself a king among his sons” (I Samuel 16:1).  It is interesting that Saul lost the kingdom and continued to hold the position of king for a time afterward; and, David was anointed king and remained a commoner for that same period of time.  How sad it is when a leader attempts to lead without the anointing and the driving current of the Holy Spirit.

            Peter speaks before the Jerusalem council, “So God who knows the heart, acknowledged them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us. . .”(Acts 15:8).  Says Matthew Henry of this chapter, “May we have the faith which the great Searcher of hearts approves, and attests by the seal of the Holy Spirit.  Then our hearts and consciences will be purified from the guilt of sin, and we shall be freed. . .” (Henry, MHCCOTWB, Page 1043).  What King Saul lacked in integrity Paul valued as his only hope.  Paul declares in II Corinthians 3:3, “Clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tables of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart.”

Henry, Matthew. Concise Commentary On The Whole Bible. Nashville: Thomas Nelson       

         Publishers, 1997.

Stand Up For What Is Right

In Antioch Paul exhibits his integrity as a true minister of God’s Word.  Peter had been fellowshipping and eating with the Gentile believers before other Jews arrived.  In Paul’s own words, “Now when Peter had come to Antioch, I withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed; for before certain men came from James, he would eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision” (Galatians 2:11, 12).  What veracity, to stand up to one who had walked with Jesus and saw the fire of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost!  Paul stood up for what was right, not what was popular, comfortable or lucrative.  A lesson King Saul would have done well to learn.

Disobedience and Integrity



            Through the prophet Samuel, God directed King Saul to “utterly destroy” the Amalekites (I Sam. 15:3).  In disobedience, Saul, “. . .and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs and all that was good, and were unwilling to utterly destroy them . . .” (I Sam. 15:9).  Subsequently, Saul goes to Carmel and erects a monument to himself.  At his proclamation of “performing” the commandment of the Lord (I Sam. 15:13) Samuel’s sardonic reply is, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?”  King Saul answered with self justification and passing the buck, in I Samuel 15:21, “But the people took of the plunder, sheep and oxen, the best of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.”  So, the king of the nation of Israel is led by the people’s desire, and will not take responsibility for his own direct disobedience.  Any action a leader willingly and with knowledge allows in his/her realm of authority is counted to their discredit.  This rings of Adam’s excuse, “. . . The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate” (Gen. 3:12).  I wonder how different the world would be now if Adam had turned to Eve at her offering of the fruit and said, “No thanks, I will obey God.”  Again, the people are unable and unequipped to lead themselves.  Leaders must hearken only to God and forge straight ahead in His command.

Where are we going?

More now than ever, the strength and integrity of leadership in Christianity has come under an onslaught of attack both from within and without the Church.  Secularization of ideals and motives; as well as, the methods by which Christianity is driven and implemented has caused large segments of the Church to become rife with carnality.  Attempting to fight a spiritual battle with carnality is a recipe for failure.  Ephesians 6:10-19 reminds us who are enemy is.  The weight of responsibility for this observable fact falls squarely on the shoulders of leadership.  The Maxwell Leadership Bible concisely summarizes this truth, “Leadership ability is the lid on the success of a nation or organization . . . The heart and skill of a leader will always tremendously affect the life of the people under his direction” (Maxwell, TMLB, Page 428).  While Christian leadership can only model and suggest proper behavior, total laissez faire government in the Church is neither desirable nor productive.  From time immemorial, God has had to deal with His stubborn people who would not be obedient.  Leaders must follow God and in turn lead the people.  If leaders are chasing fame, fortune or anything other than God; consequently, the people will be led in the wrong direction. 

Maxwell, John.  The Maxwell Leadership Bible.  Nashville:  Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2002.