Worcester. — Will you please explain 1 Samuel 12:19-22; and how would that meet the Christian, and what Scripture in the New Testament for the present day?
IT can be seen, from this chapter, what a deplorable condition Saul and those with him were in. He was rejected because he had not done what the Lord had commanded him. A number compared to the sand of the seashore are gathered against them and none in Israel had a sword or a spear to defend themselves, except Saul and Jonathan. The natural state of these people suggests a picture of the state of Christendom. Thousands of real Christians have not the full assurance of faith (Heb. 10:22); not one in fifty are taught the true meaning of the full assurance of hope (Heb. 6:11); and not one in a thousand understands the truth that Paul connects with the full assurance of understanding (Col. 2:2; Rom. 16:25; 1 Cor. 2:6, 7; Eph. 3:3, 9; Col. 1:26, 27). Israel were without the carnal sword (2 Cor. 10:4), and Christians in general are so little acquainted with the teaching of the Sword of the Spirit, that they cannot “contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints” (Jude 3).
W. H. B.