The Character of God

Order of Service

• Hymn — I Sing the Mighty Power of God
• Call to Worship — Psalm 134
• Hymn — I Sing the Mighty Power of God
• Prayer of Invocation
• Corporate Confession of Sin — Isaiah 53
• Assurance of Pardon — 1 John 1:9
• Scripture Reading — Acts 8:1-25
• Hymn — Breathe on Me, Breath of God
• Reception of New Members
• Prayer for New Members
• Pastoral Prayer
• Offering
• Prayer of Dedication
• Hymn — Immortal, Invisible
• Scripture Reading — 1 Samuel 15
• Sermon
• Lord's Supper
• Hymn — When I Survey the Wondrous Cross (stanzas 1–2)
• Institution of the Lord's Supper — 1 Corinthians 11
• Bread
• Cup
• Prayer of Thanksgiving
• Hymn — When I Survey the Wondrous Cross (stanzas 3–4)
• Benediction — Numbers 6:24-26

---

Sermon Title: The Character of God

Scripture: 1 Samuel 15

I. God Is Just

A. God commands the utter destruction (cherem, the ban) of the Amalekites (1 Samuel 15:1-9)

1. The Amalekites attacked helpless Israel in the wilderness — see Exodus 17 and Deuteronomy 25:17-19
2. Their wickedness is catalogued in Leviticus 18 and 20: incest, homosexuality, bestiality, child sacrifice, adultery, murder
3. God is not destroying innocent people but judging entrenched, comprehensive wickedness

B. God's judgment was delayed almost 300 years, demonstrating his long-suffering

1. The Amalekites remained unrepentant sinners (1 Samuel 15:18, 33)
2. Contrast with Nineveh in Jonah: when they repented, God stayed his hand
3. The flood in Genesis 6 was similarly delayed roughly 120 years
4. 2 Peter 3:9-10: God is patient, not wishing any to perish, but the Day of the Lord will come

C. God's justice is exercised on behalf of his covenant people

1. He holds their tears in a bottle and takes account of persecution against them
2. Justice in a fallen world is often horrific in appearance — like a gallows, like the cross — yet it is good and salvific
3. The cross is the supreme display of God's justice: our wickedness placed on Christ, God's wrath poured out on sin (Romans 3)
4. We cannot know salvation apart from God's justice being satisfied

II. God Is Immutable

A. Samuel declares that the Glory of Israel will not lie or have regret, for God is not a man (1 Samuel 15:29)

1. Immutability: God does not change in his being, character, or purposes and plans
2. This is an incommunicable attribute — not shared with creatures (unlike communicable attributes such as holiness, love, righteousness)

B. God's immutability here is specifically covenantal and gracious

1. Samuel ties God's unchangeableness to his promises to Israel — the Glory of Israel
2. Hebrews 6:13-17: God swore by himself to Abraham; his oath confirms the unchangeable character of his purpose
3. Saul is the king after Israel's own heart; God replaces him with a better king (David) for the sake of his promises, not because Israel deserved it

C. The Lord's Supper is a sign of God's immutable purposes

1. The bread and cup confirm that God's promise to be our God is established and concrete
2. Christ at God's right hand is the very Glory of Israel, the best King and best sacrifice, who has secured God's unchangeable redemptive purposes once for all

III. God Is Personal

A. The language of divine regret in 1 Samuel 15:11 and 35 gives a window into God's heart

1. This is an anthropopathism — God condescends (as Calvin says, prattling to us like infants) to express genuine anguish when his image-bearers turn from him
2. Recalls Genesis 6: God grieves that he made man; contrast Genesis 1:26 where he creates humanity to share in the joy of the Godhead
3. Sin grieves the Holy Spirit; it is a personal offense against a personal God, not merely the violation of an abstract rule

B. Saul's sin exposes the nature of impersonal religion

1. Saul erects a monument to himself (1 Samuel 15:12) rather than an altar to the Lord
2. He claims to have saved the best spoil for sacrifice, but Samuel responds: to obey is better than sacrifice (1 Samuel 15:22-23)
3. Rebellion is as the sin of divination; presumption is as iniquity and idolatry — all sin is personal rebellion against the personal God
4. To reject the word of the Lord is to reject the Lord himself — cf. John 1:1

C. Saul's concern is consistently with men, not God

1. 1 Samuel 15:21: the people took the spoil; 15:24: I feared the people; 15:30: honor me before the elders
2. True repentance looks like Psalm 51: Against you, and you only, have I sinned
3. Our sacrifices and service must be motivated by personal love and devotion to God — drawing us closer, not appeasing him from a distance

D. The Lord's Supper is an intimate, personal table

1. God spares not his own Son — the most personal gift imaginable
2. Through the bread and cup, Christ invites us into the joyous fellowship of the Godhead (Genesis 1:26)
3. Come with penitent hearts — Against you only have I sinned — and with assurance that God is personally invested in his people