1 Samuel 20
³⁰   Then Saul's anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said unto him, Thou son of the perverse rebellious woman, do not I know that thou hast chosen the son of Jesse to thine own confusion, and unto the confusion of thy mother's nakedness?
³¹   For as long as the son of Jesse liveth upon the ground, thou shalt not be established, nor thy kingdom. Wherefore now send and fetch him unto me, for he shall surely die.
³²   And Jonathan answered Saul his father, and said unto him, Wherefore shall he be slain? what hath he done?
³³   And Saul cast a javelin at him to smite him: whereby Jonathan knew that it was determined of his father to slay David.
³⁴   So Jonathan arose from the table in fierce anger, and did eat no meat the second day of the month: for he was grieved for David, because his father had done him shame.

1 Samuel 15
²⁰   And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the LORD, and have gone the way which the LORD sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.
²¹   But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God in Gilgal.

Saul’s response is that he has obeyed the command, with a few exceptions. People treat God’s word the same today, and should beware. Some feel that God couldn’t possibly mean exactly what He says. They neglect parts of God’s word and call it obedience. God calls it rebellion and rejection. When Saul is finally nailed down on the issue, he confesses to having transgressed the command of the LORD. Samuel uses stronger words.

1 Samuel 15
²⁶   And Samuel said unto Saul, I will not return with thee: for thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD hath rejected thee from being king over Israel.
²⁷   And as Samuel turned about to go away, he laid hold upon the skirt of his mantle, and it rent.
²⁸   And Samuel said unto him, The LORD hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to a neighbour of thine, that is better than thou.

Here God makes clear that the kingdom will be taken directly from the hands of Saul and given to another.

The other is David. God chooses David, and Samuel anoints him King of Israel in secret. Providence calls him to Saul’s court to play soothing music, as Saul is vexed in the soul ever since the episode with Amelek. During this period we see David kill the giant Goliath. In fact God begins to bless David whenever he’s in battle, or any other endeavor. This doesn’t go without Saul’s notice. He can see that David is blessed. He discerns that David is God’s choice to be king in his stead. In order to thwart the will of God, Saul begins to seek ways to put an end to David’s life. That brings us to the argument that is in our text. For Jonathan, Saul’s firstborn son, rather than joining his father in his treachery, has hidden David. Saul makes a very true statement when he says "For as long as the son of Jesse liveth upon the ground, thou shalt not be established, nor thy kingdom." If David lives, Jonathan cannot be king. So why doesn’t Jonathan care? I suppose that God’s will was as apparent to Jonathan as Saul. It could be simple submission to God’s irresistible will. After all, if God wants David to be king, David will be king. While fear of God may play a part in Jonathan’s attitude, I believe that there’s something even more powerful at work here. The Scripture says:

1 Samuel 18
¹   And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.

Simply said, Jonathan’s love for David was greater than his desire to rule Israel. Their souls were knit together. This is a principle that we can apply to our Christian lives. Our love for Christ should be greater than our desire to rule our own lives. As a matter of fact, I believe that this is a major reason for Christ coming to earth was to instill in us that love.

Let me first explain that God’s plan of salvation is not a plan that I would have thought of. Peter writes:

1 Peter 1
¹⁸   Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;
¹⁹   But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:
²⁰   Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,
²¹   Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.

God’s plan was never for man to stay in Eden. God planned before the world was made to reconcile man by coming in the form of a man (John 1:1,14), living a perfect life, submitting to death by crucifixion, and raising Himself from the dead to give us hope of eternal life. I have to confess, that if I were God, I don’t think I would put myself through all of that. That’s simply to say that God’s wisdom is far greater than man’s. We sing a song that asks the question "Why did my Savior come to Earth?" It answers, "because He loved me so." Peter gives another reason, that your faith and hope might be in God. Jesus accomplished forgiveness off sins for all faithful followers of God for all time. But for those of us in these last days, He accomplished much more. John records Jesus as saying:

John 14
⁹   Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father?

Jesus showed us the Father in the flesh. He made God easier to understand. Easier to relate to. He made God "more lovable." Not that God couldn’t be loved before, but much obedience was brought about by fear. Moses records:

Exodus 20
¹⁸   And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off.
¹⁹   And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die.
²⁰   And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not.

This was immediately after the voice of God thundered the 10 commandments from Mount Sinai. He was an awesome, powerful God. But not a God that could be touched, not even a God that you would want to touch. O the other hand, John stresses that very touching of Jesus as he begins teaching the church in his first letter.

1 John 1
¹   That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;
²   (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)
³   That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.

As a result of that very touching John twice makes the statement in this letter that "God is love." (1Jn 4: 8&16) This is not to say that God has changed since the Old Testament. Many would have you believe that. God is of the same nature as He has always been. But this loving nature of God is made more manifest in these last days by the appearing of Jesus in the flesh.

Make no mistake, even though this loving nature of God might be more manifest in these times, God is just as awesome, just as powerful, and just as much to be feared as the God that spoke from Mount Sinai. In Romans chapter 11, Paul likens the Gentile Christians to in grafted branches, as of a wild olive into a domesticated olive tree. He noted that some of the natural branches were removed to make room for the grafting. These he explains were Jews that were unable to make the transition to Christianity due to lack of faith. He then says:

Romans 11
²¹   For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.
²²   Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.
 

There is a goodness and severity of God. Perhaps Jesus makes that goodness easier to see, but still we must choose to continue in that goodness, or face that severity. If we don’t chose the goodness then "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." (Heb 10:31) That means that we need to give up the rule or sovereignty of our lives to Christ. That means that our love of Christ must be greater than our desire to rule our own lives. Jesus will not take you by force, you must willingly surrender to his will.

John 3
¹⁶   For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Notice that the text says should not perish, and not will not perish. The translation is correct. Some will believe in him and perish (see Mt 7: 21-23). They should not, but they will. Jesus’ sacrifice puts us in a position to chose whether to operate within the goodness or severity of God. After believing, we must confess that Jesus is Lord.

Romans 10
¹⁰   For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Notice, this confession is unto salvation. It’s a step along the way. You must also repent of your sins.

Luke 13
³   I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.

Then you must be baptized. Jesus said:

Mark 16
¹⁶   He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

If Jesus said it, you have to do it, don’t you? If you love Him, won’t you submit to His authority, obey his word, and surrender to his will? Or will you be like Saul, and leave out parts of the commandment, and say that you’ve obeyed. God called that rejection. If you love Jesus, please don’t reject him, repent and be baptized.

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