WHAT ARE WE TO THINK OF THE EMPTY SEAT?

INTRODUCTION-- 1 Samuel 20:18, 24-29

1. David had good reason to be absent from the New Moon feast of Saul, because of the king's threats. 1 Samuel 19:8-12
   
2. But this incident tells us something about the way we perceive the empty chair at the feast.

LESSON--

1. When we observe it, we are often generous in what we surmise about the cause.
   
   1. Saul thought, "Something has befallen him, he is not clean; surely he is not clean." (Warriors like David were many times defiled by the dead.)
      
   2. We might also say to ourselves about absentees....
      
      1. "They may be out of town." (They didn't tell us so; we surmise it.)
         
      2. "Perhaps they are sick" (We failed to learn of it; we just surmise it.)
         
   3. We are willing to pass off the occasional absence in this way.
      
2. When the absences continue, and we inquire of their loved ones, we may hear an excuse that is not true, as Saul heard from Jonathan. Vs. 27-29
   
   1. We can be put off guard by this, and fail to confirm the excuse with the absentee (I am guilty of this bad habit).
      
   2. We may still desire to give the absentee the "benefit of the doubt."
      
   3. What is covered up among men, though, is known to God.
      
   4. The false excuse is an attempt to prevent further investigation, but the real reason for the absence sends messages.
      
3. What do the absentees say by being absent, if they have no valid scriptural excuse?
   
   1. To their brethren.
      
      1. "I had other things more important than worship of God."
         
      2. "The authority of passages like Hebrews 10:24-25 carry small weight with me."
         
      3. "I believe in minimum service to the cause of Christ."
         
   2. To their family and children.
      
      1. "Follow my careless example. I am not concerned about the way you treat the service of the Lord."
         
      2. "You do not have to be at every service, if other more important things come up."
         
      3. But one day, when the children fall away, because they have not been taught the value of worship and service to the God who saves them, you will sadly say, "I led you in the way of neglect, and you followed."
         
   3. To God.
      
      1. "The command of Jesus your Son to remember His death in the Lord's Supper is without merit or authority." (But see Luke 10:16; John 12:48.) NOTE: Another generation of the Lord's people once told God that His table was contemptible. See Malachi 1:6-14, and compare Hebrews 13:10.
         
      2. "The command and approved examples of the inspired writers of the New Testament to meet with the saints consistently are empty of force." (But see 1 Corinthians 14:37; 1 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Thessalonians 3:14.)
         
      3. "I refuse to 'grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ' by attending the Bible classes on the Lord's day and on Wednesday evening, even though an inspired Apostle commanded it." (See 2 Peter 3:18.)

APPLICATION-- When we despise the authority of the Word of God, we are in spiritual jeopardy, and have no recourse but to repent and serve God more devotedly in the future.