Dead Giveaway

Dead Giveaway.  Charles Ramsey has been all over the news and internet for his role in saving the three women who were abducted in Cleveland.  People have various views of Charles Ramsey.  The family of the women see him as a hero.  Songify and talk show hosts see him as a way to make money.  What about how Amanda Berry saw him?  Imagine yourself in Amanda Berry’s position.  You have been imprisoned by an evil man who kidnapped you for ten years, raped you and you bore his child.  You have been bound by ropes and chains, and been living this horror for a decade, and the only people you saw was your tormentor and your fellow prisoners.  The chance comes and you call for help, and for the first time in a decade someone hears your cries.  He helps you escape and what do you do?  You run into his arms.  Why?  Because he is your savior.  Charles Ramsey is viewed in many ways, but to Amanda Berry it is a dead giveaway how she views him, he is her savior.  It is a dead giveaway because she ran into his arms.

Have you ever been in a prison?  Maybe not like Amanda Berry’s prison.  Ropes and chains are not the only things that bind us.  Has your mind been imprisoned?  Has your heart been imprisoned?  Have you been in a prison of alcoholism?  Have you been in a prison of internet pornography?  Have you been in a prison of anger and hate and unforgiveness?  Think about your prison and give it a name.  Are you still in that prison or have you been delivered from it?  Is it a dead giveaway that you have been delivered, that someone, to one whose arms you ran to, has saved you?

The Israelites were in prisons.  People during the period of the judges and into Saul’s life were oppressed by other people.  From the Egyptian slavery to being oppressed by the Ammonites, Amalekites, and the Philistines, they knew what it meant to be in a prison.  God gave them King Saul, his anointed king, to save them.  He was sent to be their savior.  At the end of Saul’s life he does not look like a savior.  As we read about his death will will see how five people or groups of people view him.  Do they see him as their savior?  Some do, some don’t, but with one it is a dead giveaway.  As we read, look for how these five people or groups of people see Saul.  His armor bearer, the Philistines, the people of Jabesh Gilead, an Amalekite, and David.  (Read 1 Samuel 31 and 2 Samuel 1).

1.       His armor bearer.  His armor bearer saw him as someone not to kill, because he was afraid, of killing Yahweh’s anointed, and yet his fear leads to him killing himself.

2.       The Philistines.  They see Saul and Yahweh’s anointed against them, and so they celebrate his death and mock him.

3.       The people of Jabesh Gilead.  They run a marathon in which the middle they steal 4 dead bodies from an enemy city and run the second half uphill while carrying four dead bodies in order to give honor to Saul.

4.       An Amalekite.  He brings David the crown and armlet,  seeing Saul as disposable, not as one to fear.  Saul may bring him profit.

5.       David.  Though Saul was trying to kill him, he wept for Saul, whom he loved and saw as Yahweh’s anointed.

Which one of those five is it a dead giveaway that they saw Saul as their savior? 

From the Jabesh Gilead point of view:  Read 1 Samuel 11.    Imagine yourselves in the position of the people of Jabesh Gilead.  Your city is surrounded by Nahash (the Snake in Hebrew) and the Ammonites.  It has come to the point where you are willing to make a treaty with Nahash and serve him.  He says, only if you all gouge out your right eyes, and bring disgrace on Israel.  The enemy wants to keep us in bondage, and so the treaties that Satan, the snake offers us, are treaties of bondage, the freedoms he offers us are anti-freedoms.

The people of Jabesh Gilead did not like this treaty so they called for help.  People heard them, yes, and cried, yes, but were not prepared to help save them. 

Then Saul heard it, and the Spirit of God came on him, and he delivered them from Nahash.

Did Saul save the people of Jabesh Gilead?  It is a dead giveaway, for they risked their lives for his corpse that the Philistines hung up for all to see in mockery.

Has Jesus Christ saved you from anything?  Is it a dead giveaway?  How?  Are you running into the arms of Jesus Christ?  How can I run into his arms, they are not real. . . “not real”. . .

Jesus arms were really hung on the cross, hung up to be mocked like Saul.  Jesus did not stay dead, but his body, including his arms, were raised really from the dead. 

If Saul’s death did not stop the people of Jabesh Gilead from running to his arms, even though his head was decapitated and he was a half marathon away in an enemy city, does the fact that Jesus arms are not within sight stop us from running into his arms.  His arms are real.  Are we running into them?

How do we run into the arms of Jesus Christ?

Intimate prayer.  We spend time talking and listening.

Ask Jesus to tell you what he has delievered you from.  If you can’t think of anything, here is a partial list of things he delivers us from: Jesus saves us from. . .

Our sins (Matt. 1:21).

The Evil One (Matt. 6:13).

This crooked generation (Acts 2:40).

The wrath of God (Rom. 5:9).

This body of death (Rom. 7:24).

The Law of Sin and Death (Rom. 8:2).

The present evil age (Gal. 1:4).

The domain of darkness (Col. 1:13).

The wrath to come (1 Thess. 1:10).

Every evil deed (2 Tim. 4:18).

Ask Jesus to tell us what you need to be delivered from.  Confess that to Jesus.  Ask him for deliverance and run away from it into his arms.

His arms are the body of Christ.  As we meet together in worship of Jesus together we make it a dead giveaway that Jesus Christ is our Savior.

IDEA:  Run into the arms of Jesus by thanking him for what he has delivered you from and confessing what you need delivered from, and by running into the arms of the Church and worshipping him together.  That makes it a dead giveaway to the world that He truly is our Savior.