Tuesday, February 5, 2008

By Faith... Samuel, Part 10 of 10

TEXT: "What more shall I say?  For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets" (Hebrews 11:32).

IDEA: Leaders of God’s people can minister with God’s blessing if they give themselves to God.

PURPOSE: to help listeners aspire to the kind of leadership that benefits those who are led.

Do you think it’s a good thing to aspire to be a leader?  Paul says in 1 Tim 3:1, “If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer, he desires a noble task.”

A friend of mine, when he was in his 20s, took that very seriously.  It’s a good thing to lead God’s people.

If  you do become a leader and you want a motto to put up on your wall, it comes from 2 Sam 23:3: “When one rules over

I. What does the Spirit of God say is the benefit of being a good leader?

He is like the light of the morning when the sun rises, a morning without clouds. What does that picture say?

He is like the brightness after rain that brings grass from the earth. What does that picture say?

II. What does the motto say you must do in order to be that kind of leader?

You rule over people in righteousness.

You rule in the fear of God.

III. Samuel in the Old Testament demonstrates what such a leader looks like.

During a time of national disgrace and apostasy, he carried out the rule of God. There is nothing in the biblical text that denigrates him personally in any way.

He brought people into right relationship with God and with one another.

He ruled in the fear of God.

He trusted God to restrain the aggression of the country’s enemies.

He gave God his proper place in the midst of an idolatrous situation.

CONCLUSION: If we as leaders took our motto from 2 Samuel 23:3 and our model from Samuel in the Old Testament, we would have a good knowledge of how to bring blessing to those whom we lead.