God vs. gods: My Help Comes From the Lord

Pastor Eric Burton

Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026

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1 Samuel 28:3-11, 15-17, 19

Sermon series: God vs. gods.

There is a time to seek God. There is a time when we can look to Him for help. People play around and think God is always going to show mercy. Once we die, it’s too late. “The dead cannot praise you” (Psalm 115:17, Isaiah 38:18).

Key Verse: 1 John 4:1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

Samuel the prophet whose calling and anointing is to hear from God for the nation. He was a spiritual advisor to King Saul.

Saul has had his chance to hear and obey the voice of God but chose to do things his own way time and time again.

1 Samuel 28:3 says Samuel died. When you lose the voice of God in your life, you begin reaching in desperation for answers. Now King Saul is frantic and reaching for anything to give him answers. Interestingly enough, Saul did this at the end of his reign as king. Don’t mess up at the end.

Saul consults with a medium to reach a dead prophet to get answers from a living God.

Mediums have been known to be fraudulent and deceptive. This may be why the witch of Endor was frightened when she actually summoned the spirit of Samuel. She was accustomed to deceiving people with fake encounters and was frightened when she summoned a real spirit.

Just because you can doesn’t mean you should.

Leviticus 19:31 Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the LORD your God.

The witch of Endor, the KJV says, had a familiar spirit. Someone say, “that sounds familiar.” Her spirit was like that of those she summoned.

Hebrew is “ob” pronounced “ove”. Meaning to mumble.

“Ventriloquist”, belly talk, ventri, the belly, and loquist, to talk. Someone else speaking through you. A dead person speaking through a living person.

Leviticus 19:31 Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the LORD your God.

Endor was in the territory of Issachar but was under the rule of Manasseh. The men of Issachar were a tribe of Israel known for discerning the times. Manasseh was a king that allowed necromancy and familiar spirits. Endor is referring to the eye in the context being right in your own eyes.

Psalm 121:2 I look to the hills, where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth.

1 John 4:1 Test or try the spirits and see if they are of God.

Luke 16:19-31 Jesus tells a parable about a man named Lazarus and a rich man. The rich man asks Abraham to send Lazarus to warn his family.

Abraham says it’s too late; you had a whole lifetime to do what was right, but now there is a chasm that separates us. (Notice he’s talking to him and can see him but can’t reach him.)

Abraham goes on to say your family can read the warnings of Moses and the prophets, but even if someone was raised from the dead, they wouldn’t believe.

God has given us enough revelation right now, right here to know the way to eternal life. If you don’t do it in this life, you won’t be able to in the next. Listen to the voice of God in your life today. Hear God’s word and warning today.

Are you using any mediums to try and get a word from God? Oh, it doesn't look like a psychic or medium. Are you allowing other voices and influences to tell you what God wants to tell you directly?

Seers or Mediums (someone in between) would consult the spirits of the dead. The spirits of the dead can’t come back because there is a chasm separating them.

Matthew 22:32 I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.

For, there is one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity—the man Christ Jesus. 1 Timothy 2:5

Today we don't have a medium we have a mediator. Jesus is alive and give help in the time of need.