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Sunday, October 11 · Christ the King Presbyterian Church

CtK Raleigh - Sunday 10/11/2026

Saul is empowered by God's Spirit to rescue Jabesh Gilead, but he fights the serpent in a serpent-like way, threatening and mutilating as the enemy does. The sermon asks what story we think we are living in, and whether we will become the thing we are fighting.

The passages

Then Nahash the Ammonite came up and encamped against Jabesh Gilead; and all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, “Make a covenant with us, and we will serve you.” Nahash the Ammonite said to them, “On this condition I will make it with you, that all your right eyes be gouged out. I will make this dishonor all Israel.” The elders of Jabesh said to him, “Give us seven days, that we may send messengers to all the borders of Israel; and then, if there is no one to save us, we will come out to you.” Then the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul, and spoke these words in the ears of the people, then all the people lifted up their voice and wept. Behold, Saul came following the oxen out of the field; and Saul said, “What ails the people that they weep?” They told him the words of the men of Jabesh. God’s Spirit came mightily on Saul when he heard those words, and his anger burned hot. He took a yoke of oxen and cut them in pieces, then sent them throughout all the borders of Israel by the hand of messengers, saying, “Whoever doesn’t come out after Saul and after Samuel, so shall it be done to his oxen.” The dread of Yahweh fell on the people, and they came out as one man. He counted them in Bezek; and the children of Israel were three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah thirty thousand. They said to the messengers who came, “Tell the men of Jabesh Gilead, ‘Tomorrow, by the time the sun is hot, you will be rescued.’” The messengers came and told the men of Jabesh; and they were glad. Therefore the men of Jabesh said, “Tomorrow we will come out to you, and you shall do with us all that seems good to you.” On the next day, Saul put the people in three companies; and they came into the middle of the camp in the morning watch, and struck the Ammonites until the heat of the day. Those who remained were scattered, so that no two of them were left together. The people said to Samuel, “Who is he who said, ‘Shall Saul reign over us?’ Bring those men, that we may put them to death!” Saul said, “No man shall be put to death today; for today Yahweh has rescued Israel.” Then Samuel said to the people, “Come! Let’s go to Gilgal, and renew the kingdom there.” All the people went to Gilgal; and there they made Saul king before Yahweh in Gilgal. There they offered sacrifices of peace offerings before Yahweh; and there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly.

1 Samuel 11:1–15

He had a son whose name was Saul, an impressive young man; and there was not among the children of Israel a more handsome person than he. From his shoulders and upward he was taller than any of the people.

1 Samuel 9:2

I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will bruise your head, and you will bruise his heel.”

Genesis 3:15

Having stripped the principalities and the powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it.

Colossians 2:15

Go deeper

What story am I actually living in, and does it change how I face what is happening to me?

The sermon opens with a stranger in a grocery store saying something that makes no sense unless you know the story behind it. Saul's rise only makes sense inside the larger story of a God who keeps looking for a partner, and Joseph tells his brothers their betrayal fits a story they could not see yet.

When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “It may be that Joseph will hate us, and will fully pay us back for all the evil which we did to him.” They sent a message to Joseph, saying, “Your father commanded before he died, saying, ‘You shall tell Joseph, “Now please forgive the disobedience of your brothers, and their sin, because they did evil to you.”’ Now, please forgive the disobedience of the servants of the God of your father.” Joseph wept when they spoke to him. His brothers also went and fell down before his face; and they said, “Behold, we are your servants.” Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to save many people alive, as is happening today. Now therefore don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your little ones.” He comforted them, and spoke kindly to them.

Genesis 50:15–21

Now there was a man of Benjamin, whose name was Kish the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Becorath, the son of Aphiah, the son of a Benjamite, a mighty man of valor. He had a son whose name was Saul, an impressive young man; and there was not among the children of Israel a more handsome person than he. From his shoulders and upward he was taller than any of the people.

1 Samuel 9:1–2

We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Romans 8:28

He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in their hearts, yet so that man can’t find out the work that God has done from the beginning even to the end.

Ecclesiastes 3:11

If God's Spirit empowers me, why does what comes out of me still look so much like what I am fighting against?

Saul gets the Spirit and wins the battle, but he wins by cutting up oxen and using terror, the same tools the snake used on him. The power was real; the character underneath it was not changed. Peter had the same moment at a charcoal fire, where what came out of him under pressure was not what he wanted to see.

God’s Spirit came mightily on Saul when he heard those words, and his anger burned hot. He took a yoke of oxen and cut them in pieces, then sent them throughout all the borders of Israel by the hand of messengers, saying, “Whoever doesn’t come out after Saul and after Samuel, so shall it be done to his oxen.” The dread of Yahweh fell on the people, and they came out as one man.

1 Samuel 11:6–7

Nahash the Ammonite said to them, “On this condition I will make it with you, that all your right eyes be gouged out. I will make this dishonor all Israel.”

1 Samuel 11:2

They seized him and led him away, and brought him into the high priest’s house. But Peter followed from a distance. When they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had sat down together, Peter sat among them. A certain servant girl saw him as he sat in the light, and looking intently at him, said, “This man also was with him.” He denied Jesus, saying, “Woman, I don’t know him.” After a little while someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them!” But Peter answered, “Man, I am not!” After about one hour passed, another confidently affirmed, saying, “Truly this man also was with him, for he is a Galilean!” But Peter said, “Man, I don’t know what you are talking about!” Immediately, while he was still speaking, a rooster crowed. The Lord turned and looked at Peter. Then Peter remembered the Lord’s word, how he said to him, “Before the rooster crows you will deny me three times.” He went out, and wept bitterly.

Luke 22:54–62

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Galatians 5:22–23

Is it possible to fight for something good and become the kind of person I am fighting against?

Saul defeats Nahash and then stands over the victory offering to execute his own detractors before Samuel has to step in. The sermon's warning is that the battle can be won while the winner quietly turns into the enemy. David, told he could kill Saul in a cave, refused the same shortcut.

The people said to Samuel, “Who is he who said, ‘Shall Saul reign over us?’ Bring those men, that we may put them to death!” Saul said, “No man shall be put to death today; for today Yahweh has rescued Israel.”

1 Samuel 11:12–13

David’s men said to him, “Behold, the day of which Yahweh said to you, ‘Behold, I will deliver your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it shall seem good to you.’” Then David arose and cut off the skirt of Saul’s robe secretly. Afterward, David’s heart struck him because he had cut off Saul’s skirt. He said to his men, “Yahweh forbid that I should do this thing to my lord, Yahweh’s anointed, to stretch out my hand against him, since he is Yahweh’s anointed.” So David checked his men with these words, and didn’t allow them to rise against Saul. Saul rose up out of the cave, and went on his way.

1 Samuel 24:4–7

Don’t seek revenge yourselves, beloved, but give place to God’s wrath. For it is written, “Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay, says the Lord.” Therefore “If your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in doing so, you will heap coals of fire on his head.” Don’t be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Romans 12:19–21

Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place, for all those who take the sword will die by the sword.

Matthew 26:52

How do I keep believing Jesus is really king when everything I see says otherwise?

The sermon names the daily battle to believe that Jesus is on the throne when the phone and the news say the world is chaos. Habakkuk stood on a watchtower asking how long, and Jesus told his disciples a story about a widow who kept coming back because she trusted the judge would finally act.

Yahweh, how long will I cry, and you will not hear? I cry out to you “Violence!” and will you not save? Why do you show me iniquity, and look at perversity? For destruction and violence are before me. There is strife, and contention rises up. Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails; for the wicked surround the righteous; therefore justice comes out perverted.

Habakkuk 1:2–4

Yahweh answered me, “Write the vision, and make it plain on tablets, that he who runs may read it. For the vision is yet for the appointed time, and it hurries toward the end, and won’t prove false. Though it takes time, wait for it, because it will surely come. It won’t delay. Behold, his soul is puffed up. It is not upright in him, but the righteous will live by his faith.

Habakkuk 2:2–4

He also spoke a parable to them that they must always pray and not give up, saying, “There was a judge in a certain city who didn’t fear God and didn’t respect man. A widow was in that city, and she often came to him, saying, ‘Defend me from my adversary!’ He wouldn’t for a while; but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow bothers me, I will defend her, or else she will wear me out by her continual coming.’” The Lord said, “Listen to what the unrighteous judge says. Won’t God avenge his chosen ones who are crying out to him day and night, and yet he exercises patience with them? I tell you that he will avenge them quickly. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”

Luke 18:1–8

Having stripped the principalities and the powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it.

Colossians 2:15

What is actually mine to do, and what is Jesus already doing without me?

The sermon insists it is not our job to make Jesus win, so the pressure to fix everything is off. Moses learned this at the Red Sea when God told him to stop crying out and watch, and Jesus told his disciples they could not add a single hour to their lives no matter how hard they tried.

Moses said to the people, “Don’t be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of Yahweh, which he will work for you today; for you will never again see the Egyptians whom you have seen today. Yahweh will fight for you, and you shall be still.”

Exodus 14:13–14

Unless Yahweh builds the house, they who build it labor in vain. Unless Yahweh watches over the city, the watchman guards it in vain. It is vain for you to rise up early, to stay up late, eating the bread of toil, for he gives sleep to his loved ones.

Psalms 127:1–2

Therefore I tell you, don’t be anxious for your life: what you will eat, or what you will drink; nor yet for your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food, and the body more than clothing? See the birds of the sky, that they don’t sow, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns. Your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you of much more value than they? “Which of you by being anxious, can add one moment to his lifespan? Why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They don’t toil, neither do they spin, yet I tell you that even Solomon in all his glory was not dressed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today exists and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, won’t he much more clothe you, you of little faith? “Therefore don’t be anxious, saying, ‘What will we eat?’, ‘What will we drink?’ or, ‘With what will we be clothed?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first God’s Kingdom and his righteousness; and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore don’t be anxious for tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Each day’s own evil is sufficient.

Matthew 6:25–34

I planted. Apollos watered. But God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.

1 Corinthians 3:6–7