1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:03,520 Hello and welcome to the Middletown Baptist Church Podcast, 2 00:00:03,600 --> 00:00:06,480 where we are proclaiming the truth to the world. 3 00:00:06,640 --> 00:00:09,720 My name is Pastor Josh, and I want to thank you for listening to 4 00:00:09,720 --> 00:00:10,480 this podcast. 5 00:00:10,960 --> 00:00:14,680 I hope that this podcast can be a blessing to you and strengthen 6 00:00:14,680 --> 00:00:16,080 you in the word of God. 7 00:00:16,800 --> 00:00:17,560 Now, come along. 8 00:00:17,560 --> 00:00:21,440 Let's look into the Bible and see what God has for us here today. 9 00:00:23,520 --> 00:00:26,240 All right, well, we're going to go ahead and continue our study 10 00:00:26,240 --> 00:00:30,210 here in First Samuel, and I hope that this study has been a blessing 11 00:00:30,210 --> 00:00:30,530 for you. 12 00:00:30,530 --> 00:00:33,810 And if this is your first time with us or you've missed a little 13 00:00:33,810 --> 00:00:37,570 while, certainly you probably know somewhat of the story. 14 00:00:37,810 --> 00:00:42,570 Israel desired that king that they wanted, not that the king that 15 00:00:42,570 --> 00:00:43,730 God wanted at the time. 16 00:00:43,730 --> 00:00:47,650 God obviously was ruling and reigning in the lives of the people 17 00:00:47,650 --> 00:00:48,250 of Israel. 18 00:00:48,250 --> 00:00:51,650 But Israel looks out into the world and they see the. 19 00:00:51,730 --> 00:00:55,170 The different kings that the pagans had, and they wanted that. 20 00:00:55,980 --> 00:00:56,700 They wanted the. 21 00:00:56,700 --> 00:00:58,140 The king like everybody else. 22 00:00:58,140 --> 00:01:02,220 And obviously that rationale, that motivation can get us in a lot 23 00:01:02,220 --> 00:01:04,980 of trouble in our life if we want what everyone else wants, if 24 00:01:04,980 --> 00:01:07,020 we desire the things of the world. 25 00:01:07,020 --> 00:01:08,020 But that's what they desired. 26 00:01:08,020 --> 00:01:12,020 And so out of a bad choice from the people of Israel, God still 27 00:01:12,020 --> 00:01:14,700 blesses them with an opportunity to have a king. 28 00:01:14,700 --> 00:01:16,980 And, and God allows for Saul to become king. 29 00:01:16,980 --> 00:01:19,580 And actually God selects Saul in this case. 30 00:01:20,220 --> 00:01:23,700 And I think that's a testament to the fact that we can have the 31 00:01:23,700 --> 00:01:27,110 freedom to make decisions in our life, but ultimately God is in 32 00:01:27,110 --> 00:01:27,390 control. 33 00:01:27,390 --> 00:01:28,710 We can't take him off guard. 34 00:01:28,710 --> 00:01:33,390 And God gives the opportunity, even in this bad decision, to see 35 00:01:33,390 --> 00:01:34,230 some type of blessing. 36 00:01:34,230 --> 00:01:36,310 And Saul could have obeyed the Lord. 37 00:01:36,310 --> 00:01:39,390 And we know that in certain cases, in the early part of Saul's 38 00:01:39,390 --> 00:01:40,030 life, he does. 39 00:01:40,590 --> 00:01:43,430 But then obviously we see later on that Saul's bad decisions 40 00:01:43,430 --> 00:01:46,510 lead him to a place of separation and punishment and destruction. 41 00:01:46,990 --> 00:01:47,350 And. 42 00:01:47,350 --> 00:01:50,230 And we'll get into that as we study the life of Saul here. 43 00:01:50,230 --> 00:01:53,530 So we're in chapter 10, if you have your Bibles, you can look there 44 00:01:53,530 --> 00:01:53,970 with me. 45 00:01:54,370 --> 00:01:56,450 Samuel, first Samuel, chapter 10. 46 00:01:57,170 --> 00:02:00,290 We saw last week on the. 47 00:02:00,770 --> 00:02:04,090 At the end of the last chapter, chapter nine, that Saul 48 00:02:04,090 --> 00:02:05,250 has chosen to be king. 49 00:02:05,570 --> 00:02:08,570 And Samuel tells Saul, hey, you're going to be king. 50 00:02:08,570 --> 00:02:11,650 And obviously, Saul is a little bit confused because he came 51 00:02:11,970 --> 00:02:14,050 to Samuel looking to find his donkeys. 52 00:02:14,050 --> 00:02:15,610 He just was looking for his donkeys. 53 00:02:15,610 --> 00:02:17,410 And then he finds out that he's going to be king. 54 00:02:18,050 --> 00:02:21,250 And so that's sometimes what happens with us in our life. 55 00:02:21,250 --> 00:02:21,650 We're. 56 00:02:21,830 --> 00:02:24,670 We're so focused on the material on our own personal lives 57 00:02:24,670 --> 00:02:27,430 that we miss out on the call that God has for us. 58 00:02:27,430 --> 00:02:29,750 But nonetheless, Saul is anointed. 59 00:02:29,750 --> 00:02:32,030 In this chapter, we're going to study what that means, and we're 60 00:02:32,030 --> 00:02:36,350 going to see how we as Christians to some degree, can identify 61 00:02:36,350 --> 00:02:39,550 with Saul and the fact that we can have the guidance of the Holy 62 00:02:39,550 --> 00:02:40,230 Spirit in our lives. 63 00:02:40,230 --> 00:02:42,550 And that's what we're going to be seeing here in chapter 10. 64 00:02:42,550 --> 00:02:46,870 So says in verse one, Then Samuel took a vial of oil and poured 65 00:02:46,870 --> 00:02:47,950 it upon his head. 66 00:02:47,950 --> 00:02:50,440 And so this speaks to his anointing. 67 00:02:50,440 --> 00:02:55,320 Now, God had already selected Saul to be king, but this is the 68 00:02:55,320 --> 00:02:59,240 picture of what is happening not only physically for Saul, but 69 00:02:59,240 --> 00:03:00,440 spiritually for him. 70 00:03:00,760 --> 00:03:04,200 And so this is a literal anointing of Saul with oil. 71 00:03:04,520 --> 00:03:04,840 And. 72 00:03:04,840 --> 00:03:07,240 And the word anoint itself means to. 73 00:03:07,240 --> 00:03:09,720 To rub over or to sprinkle on. 74 00:03:10,520 --> 00:03:14,560 And so literally, yes, Samuel is pouring oil out upon Saul. 75 00:03:14,560 --> 00:03:15,560 But what does this mean? 76 00:03:16,180 --> 00:03:19,660 Well, this speaks of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, or 77 00:03:19,660 --> 00:03:22,940 at least the Holy Spirit coming in his presence to the life 78 00:03:22,940 --> 00:03:26,260 of Saul for this particular cause for him to be king. 79 00:03:26,260 --> 00:03:27,100 So the. 80 00:03:27,100 --> 00:03:30,620 The Holy Spirit shows God's guidance in the life of Saul if he 81 00:03:30,620 --> 00:03:31,220 obeys. 82 00:03:31,460 --> 00:03:34,780 And so he says here that he pours it upon his head and kissed 83 00:03:34,780 --> 00:03:38,420 him and said, it is not because the Lord hath anointed thee 84 00:03:38,420 --> 00:03:40,100 to be captain over his inheritance. 85 00:03:40,740 --> 00:03:41,940 And so this is interesting. 86 00:03:42,020 --> 00:03:45,190 What he does here is he anoints Saul. 87 00:03:45,190 --> 00:03:50,150 And the picture of the oil going on Saul's head and his body 88 00:03:50,150 --> 00:03:53,190 was a picture of what God was already doing with him spiritually. 89 00:03:53,430 --> 00:03:56,390 And that was that the Holy Spirit was being poured out upon 90 00:03:56,390 --> 00:04:00,310 him to equip him for the job that God was calling him to do. 91 00:04:00,950 --> 00:04:03,790 And I think that this is important to note that from the very 92 00:04:03,790 --> 00:04:08,910 beginning, God was very clear to Saul that the only way that he 93 00:04:08,910 --> 00:04:12,380 could be the king that God wanted him to be was through having 94 00:04:12,380 --> 00:04:16,540 God's presence in his life, having God's power in his life, having 95 00:04:16,540 --> 00:04:18,420 God's provision in his life. 96 00:04:18,420 --> 00:04:21,060 And I think that's a lesson for all of us to understand that 97 00:04:21,140 --> 00:04:25,700 if we want to do something for the Lord, if we want to have success, 98 00:04:26,260 --> 00:04:29,740 if we want to follow him, if we want to impact others, if we want 99 00:04:29,740 --> 00:04:33,220 to obey him, it has to be through his strength, it has to be 100 00:04:33,300 --> 00:04:36,860 through his guidance, it has to be ultimately through a submission 101 00:04:36,860 --> 00:04:37,840 to him and through. 102 00:04:37,990 --> 00:04:41,310 That's what really God is telling Saul here, is that you need 103 00:04:41,310 --> 00:04:43,030 this for your. 104 00:04:43,350 --> 00:04:44,390 Your kingdom, for. 105 00:04:44,390 --> 00:04:45,110 For your. 106 00:04:45,270 --> 00:04:47,390 Your Opportunity for your authority. 107 00:04:47,390 --> 00:04:51,030 And so we, that Christians in the New Testament are under the new 108 00:04:51,030 --> 00:04:51,590 covenant. 109 00:04:51,830 --> 00:04:54,390 And so we have something more than an anointing. 110 00:04:54,710 --> 00:04:56,830 We have something called the indwelling of the Spirit. 111 00:04:56,830 --> 00:05:00,350 So for, for this time frame, there was the pouring out of the 112 00:05:00,350 --> 00:05:03,270 Spirit upon certain individuals for certain times, and 113 00:05:03,470 --> 00:05:06,190 there was that challenge to be obedient in all cases. 114 00:05:06,190 --> 00:05:08,830 But we as Christians today, even though we're challenged to be 115 00:05:08,830 --> 00:05:12,270 obedient, we get a blessing in the fact that we have the indwelling 116 00:05:12,270 --> 00:05:12,910 of the Spirit. 117 00:05:13,310 --> 00:05:16,310 And the Bible tells us that we, we have it. 118 00:05:16,310 --> 00:05:19,389 In First John, chapter 2, verse 20, it says, but ye have an 119 00:05:19,389 --> 00:05:20,910 unction from the Holy One. 120 00:05:21,150 --> 00:05:24,030 And you know, all things, meaning we get a chance to have the 121 00:05:24,030 --> 00:05:25,510 indwelling of the Spirit on us. 122 00:05:25,510 --> 00:05:27,110 And it's not like it comes and goes. 123 00:05:27,110 --> 00:05:30,550 We have that opportunity at all points in our life. 124 00:05:30,550 --> 00:05:33,270 But that's a little bit unique for Saul in this case, because Saul 125 00:05:33,350 --> 00:05:37,190 is getting this specific anointing as being the king of Israel. 126 00:05:37,350 --> 00:05:39,990 But then it says that not only did he annoy him, but it says that 127 00:05:39,990 --> 00:05:40,710 he kissed him. 128 00:05:41,430 --> 00:05:44,510 Now, that's a weird thing for some cultures. 129 00:05:44,510 --> 00:05:48,710 I mean, for, for me in my culture, if another person in general, 130 00:05:49,030 --> 00:05:51,310 other than my wife or my children comes up to try to kiss 131 00:05:51,310 --> 00:05:53,550 me, I'm going to be a little bit uncomfortable, okay? 132 00:05:53,550 --> 00:05:55,790 But in this case, you have to understand that culture, and we even 133 00:05:55,790 --> 00:05:57,900 know that in the New Testament, it says for people to 134 00:05:57,900 --> 00:05:59,300 greet each other with a holy kiss. 135 00:05:59,540 --> 00:06:02,060 Now, I don't know if that means we should literally do that 136 00:06:02,060 --> 00:06:03,420 every single time we come into church. 137 00:06:03,420 --> 00:06:04,780 I, I would have a struggle with that. 138 00:06:04,780 --> 00:06:07,700 But I do believe that means to have the greeting, that, to have 139 00:06:07,860 --> 00:06:10,260 that type of cordiality, that type of compassion. 140 00:06:10,260 --> 00:06:12,860 Now, certain other cultures, that's a completely normal thing 141 00:06:12,860 --> 00:06:13,140 to do. 142 00:06:13,140 --> 00:06:14,820 And I, I completely understand that. 143 00:06:15,300 --> 00:06:17,380 But what we see here is that this is not only. 144 00:06:17,860 --> 00:06:20,700 This is not only a sign of greeting, as we would understand 145 00:06:20,700 --> 00:06:24,020 in that culture, but it was also, I believe, a. 146 00:06:24,020 --> 00:06:28,590 A sign or a stamp upon Saul's life that, hey, Samuel is agreeing 147 00:06:28,590 --> 00:06:28,950 with this. 148 00:06:28,950 --> 00:06:31,030 Samuel is basically endorsing Saul. 149 00:06:31,350 --> 00:06:31,710 Now. 150 00:06:31,710 --> 00:06:33,510 Now, why would Samuel endorse Saul? 151 00:06:33,510 --> 00:06:34,790 Because God told him to. 152 00:06:35,110 --> 00:06:37,790 And so Samuel is being obedient by saying, lord, okay, if 153 00:06:37,790 --> 00:06:41,430 this is your man, if this is who you are allowing to be the king, 154 00:06:41,590 --> 00:06:42,550 I support that. 155 00:06:42,550 --> 00:06:46,950 And so by kissing him as he was anointing him, it was identifying 156 00:06:46,950 --> 00:06:49,830 personal support of the leader that God had selected. 157 00:06:50,310 --> 00:06:53,120 And so it was important that the king of Israel would understand 158 00:06:53,360 --> 00:06:58,360 that not only did God support him, but also who would be considered 159 00:06:58,360 --> 00:07:00,280 the man of God, and Israel supported him. 160 00:07:00,280 --> 00:07:03,560 So, so Samuel was the prophet, Samuel was the judge, Samuel was 161 00:07:03,560 --> 00:07:04,480 the spiritual leader. 162 00:07:04,960 --> 00:07:09,640 And so for Saul to see that God is supporting him and lifting 163 00:07:09,640 --> 00:07:13,280 him up and providing for him also through the prophet, there was 164 00:07:13,280 --> 00:07:15,160 support in a personal way. 165 00:07:15,160 --> 00:07:16,880 And I think that's important for all of us to understand. 166 00:07:16,960 --> 00:07:22,170 I know that all of us can take great solace and peace and comfort 167 00:07:22,170 --> 00:07:23,530 in the fact that God is with us. 168 00:07:23,610 --> 00:07:26,010 And that's a biblical truth that we should all rest in. 169 00:07:26,410 --> 00:07:30,530 But I think we would all agree that with God being with us, it also 170 00:07:30,530 --> 00:07:33,810 helps us to have other Christians supporting us, other people 171 00:07:33,810 --> 00:07:37,770 praying for other other people, loving on us and encouraging 172 00:07:37,770 --> 00:07:39,010 us and edifying us. 173 00:07:39,010 --> 00:07:42,770 And so I think that's a beautiful picture of, of God's provision 174 00:07:42,770 --> 00:07:44,250 through the life of Samuel. 175 00:07:45,060 --> 00:07:48,780 And so he asked them there, he says, is it not because the Lord 176 00:07:48,780 --> 00:07:49,580 has anointed you? 177 00:07:49,580 --> 00:07:50,940 So, so God anoints Saul. 178 00:07:50,940 --> 00:07:54,260 And there were obviously a lot of aspects to this anointing. 179 00:07:54,820 --> 00:07:55,860 But, but we. 180 00:07:55,860 --> 00:07:57,380 What we see here is that it was. 181 00:07:57,380 --> 00:07:58,180 This is in secret. 182 00:07:58,180 --> 00:08:00,500 Now, eventually God's going to reveal this publicly. 183 00:08:00,659 --> 00:08:04,340 But, but this is a very secret, a very private anointing 184 00:08:04,340 --> 00:08:07,060 only between God, Saul and Samuel. 185 00:08:07,540 --> 00:08:11,100 And, and so essentially what we see here is that God is making 186 00:08:11,100 --> 00:08:14,880 a personal covenant with Samuel, basically saying, hey, I'm 187 00:08:14,880 --> 00:08:15,600 going to be with you. 188 00:08:15,840 --> 00:08:18,240 And he's also saying to Saul, I'm going to be with you. 189 00:08:18,240 --> 00:08:21,920 And so Samuel reminded Saul that Israel belonged to the Lord. 190 00:08:21,920 --> 00:08:22,960 And that's what he says there. 191 00:08:22,960 --> 00:08:26,320 He says, is it not because the Lord hath anointed thee to be captain 192 00:08:26,320 --> 00:08:28,080 over his inheritance? 193 00:08:28,800 --> 00:08:31,440 And so there's a reminder here in a. 194 00:08:31,440 --> 00:08:35,680 In a very personal, private way, but I, I believe a very impactful 195 00:08:35,680 --> 00:08:38,120 way that Saul, it's still the Lord's. 196 00:08:38,120 --> 00:08:40,040 Even though you're the king, you. 197 00:08:40,040 --> 00:08:41,920 You are not above the Lord. 198 00:08:41,920 --> 00:08:43,120 No one's above the Lord. 199 00:08:43,600 --> 00:08:46,160 And I think that that's again, another lesson for us to understand 200 00:08:46,240 --> 00:08:47,040 in our own life. 201 00:08:47,040 --> 00:08:51,360 Because sometimes, whether we articulate it or not by what we say, 202 00:08:51,360 --> 00:08:54,800 but sometimes by what we do, we indicate that we're above God 203 00:08:54,800 --> 00:08:56,440 or that our authority is higher than God. 204 00:08:56,440 --> 00:08:59,680 And we've seen people throughout history that have become 205 00:08:59,760 --> 00:09:03,840 so powerful in the eyes of man that maybe they were even deceived 206 00:09:03,840 --> 00:09:06,120 to believe that they were higher than God or maybe that they 207 00:09:06,120 --> 00:09:07,760 were some sort of God. 208 00:09:07,760 --> 00:09:11,330 And so the reminder here is that, hey, the Lord's anointed you 209 00:09:12,290 --> 00:09:15,970 to be a leader, but he has not called you God. 210 00:09:16,290 --> 00:09:17,410 He is still the Lord. 211 00:09:17,410 --> 00:09:18,370 He is still in control. 212 00:09:19,010 --> 00:09:23,490 And so really, the challenge for Saul was that he should be the 213 00:09:23,490 --> 00:09:26,570 best king that he could be through submitting himself to the 214 00:09:26,570 --> 00:09:28,170 Lord by belonging to the Lord. 215 00:09:28,170 --> 00:09:31,570 And we could say it this way, to be a good steward over what God 216 00:09:31,570 --> 00:09:32,850 has blessed him with, to lead. 217 00:09:33,010 --> 00:09:36,990 And that's really all of leadership when it comes to spiritual 218 00:09:36,990 --> 00:09:37,430 leadership. 219 00:09:37,430 --> 00:09:42,790 And, and by the way, there is even today, an aspect of spiritual 220 00:09:42,790 --> 00:09:44,310 leadership even within the church. 221 00:09:44,390 --> 00:09:47,990 God has ordained certain aspects of authority within the church. 222 00:09:48,550 --> 00:09:52,670 But really what we see in New Testament passages, it's not about 223 00:09:52,670 --> 00:09:55,910 lording over the flock, but it's about shepherding the flock. 224 00:09:55,910 --> 00:10:00,030 It's about being with the flock and understanding that we don't 225 00:10:00,030 --> 00:10:01,830 own the people that were overseeing. 226 00:10:01,830 --> 00:10:04,030 We don't own those that we're leading. 227 00:10:04,350 --> 00:10:08,950 We certainly get a blessing by overseeing what God has entrusted 228 00:10:08,950 --> 00:10:09,310 us with. 229 00:10:09,310 --> 00:10:12,390 And so I believe it's a challenge here, just in verse number 230 00:10:12,390 --> 00:10:15,990 one, that Saul needed to see that he was a steward over the people 231 00:10:15,990 --> 00:10:18,510 of Israel, not a Lord over them. 232 00:10:18,750 --> 00:10:21,870 There's only one Lord, and that's the Lord our Savior. 233 00:10:21,870 --> 00:10:24,710 And that's ultimately what the reminder here was. 234 00:10:24,710 --> 00:10:29,960 And so we know that later on in Saul's life, he doesn't heed this 235 00:10:30,200 --> 00:10:30,840 challenge. 236 00:10:31,080 --> 00:10:35,720 He doesn't remember this, this teaching from Samuel that, hey, you 237 00:10:35,720 --> 00:10:39,240 are over the people of Israel, but you're not over God. 238 00:10:39,880 --> 00:10:42,680 And I think that's something that all of us, to some capacity, 239 00:10:42,680 --> 00:10:45,960 need to understand within our homes, within our marriages, within 240 00:10:45,960 --> 00:10:49,200 our ministry, within our workplace, within our country, that 241 00:10:49,200 --> 00:10:50,480 there's nobody above the Lord. 242 00:10:50,480 --> 00:10:54,840 And if we live that way, we certainly would, I believe, be a 243 00:10:54,840 --> 00:10:55,360 lot more Christ. 244 00:10:55,360 --> 00:10:58,820 Like, as we see even in Philippians chapter two, the challenge 245 00:10:58,820 --> 00:11:01,900 is for us to humble ourselves even as Christ humbled himself. 246 00:11:02,780 --> 00:11:06,420 And so I think one of the things that a Christian should be 247 00:11:06,420 --> 00:11:11,100 characterized by is a steward, a faithful steward, and a humbled 248 00:11:11,100 --> 00:11:11,500 steward. 249 00:11:11,980 --> 00:11:14,220 So we see all that happening there in verse one. 250 00:11:14,220 --> 00:11:19,180 So Samuel's going to tell Saul of a sign, basically a confirmation, 251 00:11:19,180 --> 00:11:19,700 if you will. 252 00:11:19,700 --> 00:11:22,260 And this is oftentimes what happens even with our. 253 00:11:22,260 --> 00:11:22,940 In our own life. 254 00:11:22,940 --> 00:11:23,260 We. 255 00:11:24,100 --> 00:11:27,500 We will receive a promise of God from His Word, but then there 256 00:11:27,500 --> 00:11:30,500 will be confirmation in our life, which I would say this way, 257 00:11:30,580 --> 00:11:33,580 basically, God proves himself in his promises. 258 00:11:33,580 --> 00:11:37,140 And so verse two, he says, when thou art departed from me today, 259 00:11:37,620 --> 00:11:39,460 then thou shalt find two men. 260 00:11:39,700 --> 00:11:44,140 By Rachel Sepulcher in the border of Benjamin at Zelza and they 261 00:11:44,140 --> 00:11:48,100 will say unto thee, the asses which thou wentest to seek are found. 262 00:11:48,100 --> 00:11:52,140 And lo, thy father hath left the care of the asses and, and sorrow 263 00:11:52,140 --> 00:11:55,580 with for you saying, what shall I do for my son? 264 00:11:55,580 --> 00:11:56,940 So what is Samuel doing here? 265 00:11:56,940 --> 00:12:01,540 Samuel's essentially prophesying to Saul, Go to this place, 266 00:12:02,180 --> 00:12:05,420 you'll find these men and they will tell you where your donkeys 267 00:12:05,420 --> 00:12:05,700 are. 268 00:12:06,340 --> 00:12:08,100 They will tell you what you were looking for. 269 00:12:08,180 --> 00:12:09,940 Now why is this so important? 270 00:12:09,940 --> 00:12:13,540 Because if Samuel would have told Saul this and Saul went to this 271 00:12:13,540 --> 00:12:16,780 place and it didn't come to pass, essentially Samuel would be 272 00:12:16,780 --> 00:12:17,500 a false prophet. 273 00:12:17,500 --> 00:12:20,360 And by the way, that's the test to every prophet. 274 00:12:20,440 --> 00:12:22,800 You know, there's people today that say they're prophets and they 275 00:12:22,800 --> 00:12:25,520 can predict the future and they can tell what's happening. 276 00:12:25,520 --> 00:12:27,720 The Bible very clearly gives us a test on that. 277 00:12:27,880 --> 00:12:30,920 If they're wrong at any point, that means they're a false prophet. 278 00:12:31,240 --> 00:12:33,680 So, so what we have to see is that there's like if someone like, 279 00:12:33,680 --> 00:12:36,920 if I told you, hey, tomorrow you're going to come across somebody 280 00:12:37,400 --> 00:12:41,480 at 9 o' clock and they're going to ask you this question, and 281 00:12:42,360 --> 00:12:47,610 maybe I could be right, but if I am a true prophet of God, I have 282 00:12:47,610 --> 00:12:49,050 to be right every single time. 283 00:12:49,690 --> 00:12:50,730 And that's what we see today. 284 00:12:50,730 --> 00:12:52,730 We see a lot of people, they're like, well, the Lord's gonna 285 00:12:52,730 --> 00:12:55,770 come back at this time, you know, the moment they do that and 286 00:12:55,770 --> 00:12:58,010 it doesn't happen, they have discredited everything that they 287 00:12:58,010 --> 00:12:58,330 say. 288 00:12:58,970 --> 00:13:02,770 So here in this case, if Samuel would have said, hey, Saul, 289 00:13:02,770 --> 00:13:05,850 go to this place and you'll find these people and they weren't 290 00:13:05,850 --> 00:13:06,170 there. 291 00:13:06,810 --> 00:13:08,290 Samuel will be a false prophet. 292 00:13:08,290 --> 00:13:12,420 And what just got told to of Saul and what just got demonstrated 293 00:13:12,420 --> 00:13:14,180 through the anointing would just be discredited. 294 00:13:14,500 --> 00:13:16,460 And so here we see this confirmation. 295 00:13:16,460 --> 00:13:18,540 He makes a prediction, he makes a prophecy. 296 00:13:18,540 --> 00:13:24,180 And so Samuel gave Saul a specific word by which Saul could 297 00:13:24,180 --> 00:13:27,540 see, by proof that he could have confidence not only in what 298 00:13:27,700 --> 00:13:30,420 Samuel said, but also on what God has said. 299 00:13:30,820 --> 00:13:32,380 And so that's why we believe today. 300 00:13:32,380 --> 00:13:33,540 That's why I believe today. 301 00:13:33,540 --> 00:13:36,940 When we hear about prophets, prophets are those who speak forth 302 00:13:36,940 --> 00:13:38,740 the word of God from the Bible. 303 00:13:39,520 --> 00:13:41,800 So I can get up a hundred times out of a hundred and tell you 304 00:13:41,800 --> 00:13:44,400 what the word of God says is true and it will be true. 305 00:13:44,640 --> 00:13:47,480 And so for me, when I'm going to give a prophetic word, it's speaking 306 00:13:47,480 --> 00:13:48,800 forth the truth of God. 307 00:13:49,200 --> 00:13:52,440 But if I got up and told you my opinion about something I might 308 00:13:52,440 --> 00:13:52,960 not be right. 309 00:13:52,960 --> 00:13:55,200 Actually, I'm probably wrong more often than not. 310 00:13:55,360 --> 00:14:01,280 And so the reality is here is that this is God showing Saul through 311 00:14:01,360 --> 00:14:03,280 Samuel that his word is true. 312 00:14:03,760 --> 00:14:07,560 So he says, God, and find these people, and he gives them a 313 00:14:07,560 --> 00:14:11,160 specific place, a specific time, and a specific way. 314 00:14:11,320 --> 00:14:12,840 He says, go to Rachel's tomb. 315 00:14:13,480 --> 00:14:13,800 And. 316 00:14:13,800 --> 00:14:18,600 And so there is this important proclamation, and we'll see what 317 00:14:18,600 --> 00:14:19,080 happens. 318 00:14:19,080 --> 00:14:20,840 We'll see if this comes to pass. 319 00:14:21,160 --> 00:14:24,520 And so if the men by Rachel's tomb didn't tell Saul about finding 320 00:14:24,520 --> 00:14:28,280 the donkeys, Saul would see that Samuel's not a true prophet. 321 00:14:28,280 --> 00:14:29,360 So let's see what happens. 322 00:14:29,360 --> 00:14:31,880 We'll see if God's word is confirmed here. 323 00:14:31,880 --> 00:14:33,800 By the way, God's word is always confirmed. 324 00:14:34,080 --> 00:14:34,560 Verse 3. 325 00:14:34,640 --> 00:14:38,720 Then shalt thou go on forward from thence, and thou shalt come 326 00:14:38,720 --> 00:14:39,320 to the plain. 327 00:14:39,320 --> 00:14:40,600 So he's giving more details. 328 00:14:40,600 --> 00:14:44,240 Come to the plane of Tabor, and there shall meet the three men 329 00:14:44,640 --> 00:14:49,240 going up to God to Bethel, one carrying three kids and another carrying 330 00:14:49,240 --> 00:14:52,200 three loaves of bread and another carrying a bottle of wine, 331 00:14:52,200 --> 00:14:55,280 and they will salute thee and give thee two loaves of bread which 332 00:14:55,440 --> 00:14:57,520 thou shalt receive of their hands. 333 00:14:57,520 --> 00:15:00,800 And so again, we see that there are more signs. 334 00:15:01,500 --> 00:15:03,580 He gives specific predictions. 335 00:15:03,580 --> 00:15:07,100 And by the way, I believe that the word of God is always specific. 336 00:15:07,100 --> 00:15:10,620 I mean, I could give you a vague prophecy, you know, like, I 337 00:15:10,620 --> 00:15:15,420 believe that God is going to give you an opportunity tomorrow 338 00:15:15,500 --> 00:15:20,540 to, you know, see someone that you know. 339 00:15:20,860 --> 00:15:23,380 Well, that's not like a real good prophecy. 340 00:15:23,380 --> 00:15:24,660 That's not a specific prophecy. 341 00:15:24,660 --> 00:15:26,300 Most of us will see someone that we know. 342 00:15:27,670 --> 00:15:30,190 So when we're dealing with the word of God, a lot of times people 343 00:15:30,190 --> 00:15:34,590 speak vague things over our lives or make vague predictions or 344 00:15:34,590 --> 00:15:36,470 even speak vaguely about the Bible. 345 00:15:37,270 --> 00:15:41,350 The word of God and the Spirit of God move in very specific manners. 346 00:15:41,670 --> 00:15:45,870 And actually, sometimes we can get confused with Holy Spirit conviction 347 00:15:45,870 --> 00:15:48,390 and what we would consider false guilt from the enemy. 348 00:15:49,030 --> 00:15:52,190 So, for example, I know this is not exactly the same, but I think 349 00:15:52,190 --> 00:15:55,230 we need to see how God speaks and how the enemy speaks. 350 00:15:55,230 --> 00:16:00,150 God speaks specifically and clearly and directs us to a specific 351 00:16:00,150 --> 00:16:04,270 place of either confirmation, conviction or comfort. 352 00:16:04,510 --> 00:16:06,150 I want you guys to think about that here. 353 00:16:06,150 --> 00:16:09,790 God's always going to lead us to a place of certainty, whether 354 00:16:09,790 --> 00:16:13,710 it be certainty of my conviction or certainty of my comfort 355 00:16:13,790 --> 00:16:17,510 or certainty to my confidence in God or. 356 00:16:17,510 --> 00:16:18,950 Or whatever it might be. 357 00:16:18,950 --> 00:16:23,680 God's going to lead clearly to a place of specificity and clarity 358 00:16:24,320 --> 00:16:28,600 where the enemy always leads us to a place of vagueness or to 359 00:16:28,600 --> 00:16:31,880 a place where we can't understand the truth. 360 00:16:31,880 --> 00:16:34,360 And we know that Satan is the father of lies. 361 00:16:34,360 --> 00:16:35,920 He's the accuser of the brethren. 362 00:16:36,480 --> 00:16:40,160 And so oftentimes in our life, if we begin to come to a place where 363 00:16:40,240 --> 00:16:43,280 there isn't clarity, or we come to a place where there's just 364 00:16:43,280 --> 00:16:47,600 this false guilt over my head, that's not conviction, his conviction. 365 00:16:47,600 --> 00:16:50,320 And the word of God is always going to cut right to the bone. 366 00:16:50,510 --> 00:16:51,870 It's going to cut right to the heart. 367 00:16:52,110 --> 00:16:54,910 And it's going to tell us how I get this right, what I need to 368 00:16:54,910 --> 00:16:56,830 do, how I need to clarify. 369 00:16:56,830 --> 00:17:00,270 And, and that's actually second Timothy three, 16 for the, 370 00:17:00,270 --> 00:17:01,390 for the Word of God. 371 00:17:01,390 --> 00:17:04,310 It's, it's, it's profitable for doctrine, for proof, for correction, 372 00:17:04,310 --> 00:17:05,550 for instruction, righteousness. 373 00:17:06,910 --> 00:17:10,270 Now, what happens sometimes within our own walk, and we're going 374 00:17:10,270 --> 00:17:14,190 to see Saul even fall into this to some degree, Saul falls into 375 00:17:14,350 --> 00:17:18,940 great times of darkness and depression and doubt and uncertainty. 376 00:17:19,500 --> 00:17:23,940 And the reality is, is that sometimes as, as Christians, Satan 377 00:17:23,940 --> 00:17:27,700 will come in and want to make us think that it's God telling us 378 00:17:27,700 --> 00:17:29,820 something, but really it's him telling us something. 379 00:17:30,540 --> 00:17:35,340 Vague cloudiness, basically, like, it comes like this. 380 00:17:35,340 --> 00:17:37,580 Maybe you're, you know, you're a terrible person. 381 00:17:37,820 --> 00:17:39,260 You've done too much wrong. 382 00:17:39,420 --> 00:17:40,780 You can't be used here. 383 00:17:40,860 --> 00:17:44,020 You're not smart enough, you're not, you're not skilled enough. 384 00:17:44,660 --> 00:17:46,460 And really, that's not the way that God talks. 385 00:17:46,460 --> 00:17:48,900 God, God's always going to speak to a place in which we can 386 00:17:48,900 --> 00:17:50,020 fix or that we can. 387 00:17:50,100 --> 00:17:52,260 That we can change or that we can adjust. 388 00:17:52,420 --> 00:17:54,940 And so here, in this case, the, the point I'm trying to make 389 00:17:54,940 --> 00:17:58,820 is that God is speaking through Samuel in a very specific, 390 00:17:59,060 --> 00:18:01,380 clear way about what is going to happen. 391 00:18:02,340 --> 00:18:04,340 And so I want us to see this a little bit further. 392 00:18:04,340 --> 00:18:05,140 He says that. 393 00:18:05,140 --> 00:18:08,260 That not only are you going to see certain people, but they are 394 00:18:08,260 --> 00:18:11,540 going to be carrying three kids and another carrying three loaves 395 00:18:11,540 --> 00:18:13,980 of bread and another carrying a bottle of wine and verse four, 396 00:18:13,980 --> 00:18:16,900 and they will salute thee and give thee two loaves of bread which 397 00:18:16,900 --> 00:18:18,740 thou shalt receive of their hands. 398 00:18:19,940 --> 00:18:20,940 And so this would have been. 399 00:18:20,940 --> 00:18:23,220 This is not only specific, but it would be unusual. 400 00:18:23,620 --> 00:18:27,380 It would be unusual for random men to just give a stranger food. 401 00:18:28,340 --> 00:18:31,580 Even though there, there would have been a lot of generosity at 402 00:18:31,580 --> 00:18:34,980 that time, specifically on the road, there wouldn't have been this 403 00:18:34,980 --> 00:18:36,260 type of transaction. 404 00:18:36,260 --> 00:18:39,710 So obviously, Saul is going to get used to receiving a lot of things 405 00:18:39,710 --> 00:18:41,150 throughout his life as the king. 406 00:18:41,470 --> 00:18:43,230 But at this time they don't know he's king. 407 00:18:43,470 --> 00:18:46,750 And so these strangers were going to give him some type of food. 408 00:18:46,830 --> 00:18:50,990 So verse five, Samuel's going to tell Saul of another sign to confirm 409 00:18:50,990 --> 00:18:55,590 this and that thou shalt come to the hill of God where is the garrison 410 00:18:55,590 --> 00:18:56,390 of the Philistines. 411 00:18:56,390 --> 00:18:59,350 And it shall come to pass when thou art come thither to the city, 412 00:18:59,350 --> 00:19:02,600 that thou shalt meet a company of prophets coming down from the 413 00:19:02,600 --> 00:19:06,040 high place with a sal tree, with a tabor and from the pipe and 414 00:19:06,040 --> 00:19:06,920 a heart before them. 415 00:19:06,920 --> 00:19:08,280 And they shall prophesy. 416 00:19:08,520 --> 00:19:11,360 And the Spirit of the Lord will come upon thee, and thou shalt 417 00:19:11,360 --> 00:19:14,760 prophesy with them and shall be turned into another man. 418 00:19:16,040 --> 00:19:17,800 Find that really, really interesting. 419 00:19:17,800 --> 00:19:20,200 He says that you will be turned into another man. 420 00:19:21,000 --> 00:19:22,240 Now does. 421 00:19:22,240 --> 00:19:23,080 What does that mean? 422 00:19:23,480 --> 00:19:27,480 Is that mean that Saul will look different? 423 00:19:28,120 --> 00:19:30,920 I don't think he's talking about being a shape shifter at this 424 00:19:30,920 --> 00:19:31,200 moment. 425 00:19:31,200 --> 00:19:34,120 I think what this is talking about obviously is. 426 00:19:34,200 --> 00:19:36,760 And I think it's important to understand the context here. 427 00:19:37,240 --> 00:19:37,800 It says. 428 00:19:37,800 --> 00:19:39,160 It says verse six. 429 00:19:39,160 --> 00:19:43,000 And the Spirit of the Lord will come upon thee. 430 00:19:43,320 --> 00:19:46,600 So this speaks of the Holy Spirit directing Saul. 431 00:19:47,240 --> 00:19:47,880 And so for. 432 00:19:47,880 --> 00:19:48,880 For Paul, for. 433 00:19:48,880 --> 00:19:49,040 For. 434 00:19:49,040 --> 00:19:51,000 Excuse me, for Saul to. 435 00:19:51,320 --> 00:19:53,500 To be a certain person that. 436 00:19:53,570 --> 00:19:56,370 That God wants him to be, he has to change, and he has to adjust 437 00:19:56,370 --> 00:19:57,970 himself to what God's plan is for him. 438 00:19:57,970 --> 00:19:58,890 So a man. 439 00:19:58,890 --> 00:20:01,210 Saul was not a spiritual guy leading up to this. 440 00:20:01,210 --> 00:20:05,130 And so for him to prophesy, for him to be spiritually focused, 441 00:20:05,130 --> 00:20:07,010 it would be that he's a completely different man. 442 00:20:07,010 --> 00:20:09,570 I think all of us could be honest in the fact that, you know, 443 00:20:09,570 --> 00:20:12,290 we are different people than we were prior to knowing Christ, 444 00:20:12,290 --> 00:20:14,690 prior to having the Holy Spirit in our life. 445 00:20:15,490 --> 00:20:18,730 And so in this case, what we're seeing is that Saul would need 446 00:20:18,730 --> 00:20:19,170 to change. 447 00:20:19,170 --> 00:20:22,050 He would need to be a new man in the spirit of the Lord. 448 00:20:22,620 --> 00:20:26,140 And so for God to use Saul in the ministry that he intends him 449 00:20:26,140 --> 00:20:30,380 to have as the king, he had to be turned into a different man. 450 00:20:30,380 --> 00:20:31,820 He had to have a different heart. 451 00:20:32,140 --> 00:20:34,700 And the way that we can have a different heart is not by just becoming 452 00:20:34,700 --> 00:20:38,460 a better person or by being stronger or being smarter. 453 00:20:38,620 --> 00:20:42,940 The way that we can become a different person is through the transformation 454 00:20:42,940 --> 00:20:43,900 of the Holy Spirit. 455 00:20:44,780 --> 00:20:48,340 And so I think that it's a good thing that God changes us because 456 00:20:48,340 --> 00:20:51,890 who we are before we're saved and who we are after we're saved 457 00:20:51,890 --> 00:20:53,210 should be completely different. 458 00:20:53,610 --> 00:20:54,690 And that's what he's saying here. 459 00:20:54,690 --> 00:20:56,210 He says, this is what's going to happen. 460 00:20:56,210 --> 00:20:58,570 The Spirit of God is going to come upon you, you're going to start 461 00:20:58,570 --> 00:20:59,290 prophesying. 462 00:20:59,290 --> 00:21:01,530 You're going to be a completely different person. 463 00:21:02,570 --> 00:21:02,890 And. 464 00:21:02,890 --> 00:21:03,850 And so that's the. 465 00:21:04,410 --> 00:21:08,650 Really, we see the initiation of God coming upon Saul and guiding 466 00:21:08,650 --> 00:21:10,010 him in these decisions. 467 00:21:10,010 --> 00:21:10,650 Verse 7. 468 00:21:10,650 --> 00:21:15,130 And let it be when these signs are come unto thee, that thou do 469 00:21:15,130 --> 00:21:18,940 as occasion serve thee, for God is with thee. 470 00:21:19,820 --> 00:21:24,300 So again, what we see here is he says basically these are all happening 471 00:21:24,380 --> 00:21:25,180 from God. 472 00:21:25,900 --> 00:21:29,260 And, and so God arranged for each one of these events to happen. 473 00:21:29,420 --> 00:21:32,180 For what he says very clearly here in verse number seven, what 474 00:21:32,180 --> 00:21:37,340 it's for, it's there to be a sign for Saul that God is with him. 475 00:21:37,980 --> 00:21:42,300 It's a reminder that God is directing him, that God is working 476 00:21:42,380 --> 00:21:43,100 in his life. 477 00:21:43,100 --> 00:21:46,260 And so verse seven tells us exactly what these signs are for. 478 00:21:46,260 --> 00:21:50,980 It's not just so that Saul can know that God exists, even though 479 00:21:50,980 --> 00:21:52,340 that would be nice. 480 00:21:52,900 --> 00:21:53,900 But it's more than that. 481 00:21:53,900 --> 00:22:00,700 It's that God would remind him and to serve him, to know that God's 482 00:22:00,700 --> 00:22:01,580 presence is with him. 483 00:22:01,580 --> 00:22:02,260 And I think that's. 484 00:22:02,340 --> 00:22:06,100 Again, it's so vital for me as a believer to go back to the fact 485 00:22:06,100 --> 00:22:09,260 that God is with me, that his presence is with me, because there's 486 00:22:09,260 --> 00:22:10,740 times in my life where I feel alone. 487 00:22:11,060 --> 00:22:12,860 There's times in my life where I feel empty. 488 00:22:12,860 --> 00:22:14,900 There's times in my life where I feel scared. 489 00:22:14,980 --> 00:22:18,060 There's times in my life where I feel dark, where I feel confused. 490 00:22:18,060 --> 00:22:21,300 There's many different feelings that we can have, and we're 491 00:22:21,300 --> 00:22:22,580 going to experience that with Saul. 492 00:22:22,580 --> 00:22:23,700 Saul is a man of. 493 00:22:23,780 --> 00:22:25,700 Of vastly different emotions. 494 00:22:25,700 --> 00:22:27,340 There's a lot of ups in Saul's life. 495 00:22:27,340 --> 00:22:28,900 There's a lot of down in his life. 496 00:22:29,380 --> 00:22:30,940 There's a lot of times of joy. 497 00:22:30,940 --> 00:22:32,500 There's a lot of times of anger. 498 00:22:32,740 --> 00:22:33,060 And. 499 00:22:33,060 --> 00:22:36,380 And again, emotions aren't necessarily wrong in and of themselves. 500 00:22:36,380 --> 00:22:37,620 God gave us emotions. 501 00:22:38,420 --> 00:22:41,740 But if we are the type of people that allow our theology to 502 00:22:41,740 --> 00:22:45,940 be clipped to our emotions, a lot of times our emotions can drive 503 00:22:45,940 --> 00:22:48,260 our theology all over the place about who God is. 504 00:22:48,820 --> 00:22:52,180 So, for example, if I'm feeling the warm and fuzzies today, 505 00:22:52,580 --> 00:22:53,660 everything's going my way. 506 00:22:53,660 --> 00:22:54,580 I can feel, you know what? 507 00:22:54,580 --> 00:22:55,380 God is good. 508 00:22:56,180 --> 00:22:57,780 God is powerful. 509 00:22:58,180 --> 00:22:59,620 God is a provider. 510 00:22:59,860 --> 00:23:04,360 But are we able to say those same theological statements in the 511 00:23:04,360 --> 00:23:05,520 midst of emptiness? 512 00:23:06,320 --> 00:23:08,960 Because there's days where my emotions aren't full of. 513 00:23:09,360 --> 00:23:11,440 Of peace and comfort and happiness. 514 00:23:12,640 --> 00:23:17,280 And so the true test for us as believers is to not tie our theology 515 00:23:17,520 --> 00:23:22,400 to our Feelings, but tie our theology to the presence of God and 516 00:23:22,400 --> 00:23:23,440 the truth of who he is. 517 00:23:23,440 --> 00:23:25,880 And that's what God is reminding Saul of here. 518 00:23:25,880 --> 00:23:29,240 He says, saul, these signs are not to show you that there's just 519 00:23:29,240 --> 00:23:30,960 amazing things that are going to happen in your life. 520 00:23:30,960 --> 00:23:33,790 Even though that's going to happen, what is it there for? 521 00:23:33,790 --> 00:23:36,630 It's there to show you that God is with you. 522 00:23:37,510 --> 00:23:40,670 And God always confirms his calling in our life. 523 00:23:40,670 --> 00:23:44,070 I can tell you, time after time in my life, I. 524 00:23:44,150 --> 00:23:44,550 It's. 525 00:23:44,550 --> 00:23:48,870 It's almost like I believe sometimes. 526 00:23:48,870 --> 00:23:51,270 It's almost like I can't learn my lesson because I'm like. 527 00:23:51,270 --> 00:23:53,110 Every time I'm like, lord, why this time? 528 00:23:53,510 --> 00:23:55,110 Just don't think I can get out of this one. 529 00:23:55,110 --> 00:23:56,590 I don't know if you're here with me. 530 00:23:56,590 --> 00:24:00,170 And every time God shows himself in a different way, in a 531 00:24:00,170 --> 00:24:02,450 clear way, that, no, I'm here with you through this. 532 00:24:03,090 --> 00:24:05,930 I. I've gotten you to this place and I'm going to get you through 533 00:24:05,930 --> 00:24:06,210 this. 534 00:24:06,610 --> 00:24:09,530 And that's the reminder that Saul needed to hear here. 535 00:24:09,530 --> 00:24:13,610 And really, he needs to hear throughout his life, but yet he closes 536 00:24:13,610 --> 00:24:15,330 off to the Lord multiple times. 537 00:24:16,050 --> 00:24:17,970 So I challenge you tonight to think about that. 538 00:24:19,090 --> 00:24:23,290 What is God giving you in your life to remind you that he's there 539 00:24:23,290 --> 00:24:23,730 with you? 540 00:24:24,770 --> 00:24:27,370 You say, well, things are going really well in my life right 541 00:24:27,370 --> 00:24:27,610 now. 542 00:24:27,610 --> 00:24:29,050 Well, praise God for that. 543 00:24:29,930 --> 00:24:32,250 But what if things aren't going so well? 544 00:24:32,250 --> 00:24:35,290 Are you going to be able to see God and His presence and his 545 00:24:35,290 --> 00:24:38,690 power and his provisions, no matter what might be the case around 546 00:24:38,690 --> 00:24:38,970 you? 547 00:24:38,970 --> 00:24:42,209 And that's really the challenge that we see here in this 548 00:24:42,209 --> 00:24:42,610 passage. 549 00:24:42,610 --> 00:24:44,170 And so he says, God is with thee. 550 00:24:44,250 --> 00:24:45,410 Then we get the verse number eight. 551 00:24:45,410 --> 00:24:49,250 So Saul is commanded to wait here. 552 00:24:49,250 --> 00:24:50,370 And sometimes it's hard. 553 00:24:50,370 --> 00:24:52,570 It's the hardest thing to do, but that's what he calls them to 554 00:24:52,570 --> 00:24:52,690 do. 555 00:24:52,690 --> 00:24:55,800 And he says, and thou shalt go down before me to Gilgal, which, 556 00:24:55,800 --> 00:24:58,360 if you've been studying with us in the book of Joshua, Gilgal 557 00:24:58,360 --> 00:24:59,360 is a very important place. 558 00:24:59,440 --> 00:25:02,360 Gilgal is always a symbol of coming back to faith, coming back 559 00:25:02,360 --> 00:25:04,440 to the strength of God, coming back to. 560 00:25:04,440 --> 00:25:06,000 To his rest and to his. 561 00:25:06,240 --> 00:25:07,000 His peace. 562 00:25:07,000 --> 00:25:09,560 And so I think that's an important thing to note here. 563 00:25:09,560 --> 00:25:13,320 He says, go down to Gilgal, and behold, I will come down unto 564 00:25:13,320 --> 00:25:17,200 thee to offer burnt offerings and to sacrifice sacrifices of peace 565 00:25:17,200 --> 00:25:17,760 offerings. 566 00:25:18,000 --> 00:25:21,880 Seven days shalt thou tarry till I come to thee and show thee 567 00:25:21,880 --> 00:25:22,720 what thou shalt do. 568 00:25:22,720 --> 00:25:26,390 So he says, after you receive the sign of God, don't go anywhere. 569 00:25:27,030 --> 00:25:31,190 Go to Gilgal, rest and wait in Gilgal for seven days. 570 00:25:31,910 --> 00:25:35,190 And I will come and we will deal with this and we will go through 571 00:25:35,190 --> 00:25:35,950 those next steps. 572 00:25:35,950 --> 00:25:39,710 And so this was a very important command because oftentimes 573 00:25:39,710 --> 00:25:44,910 we like the fact that God is working in our life, but sometimes 574 00:25:44,910 --> 00:25:46,310 the challenge is obedience. 575 00:25:46,790 --> 00:25:50,350 We love to see God working, but are we willing to work as God 576 00:25:50,350 --> 00:25:51,270 has called us to work? 577 00:25:51,270 --> 00:25:53,690 Are we willing to restore as God has called us to rest? 578 00:25:53,690 --> 00:25:56,490 Are we willing to wait as God has called us to wait? 579 00:25:57,210 --> 00:25:59,010 And, and so Saul is not. 580 00:25:59,010 --> 00:26:03,250 If you look at the life of Saul as his testimony, he's not a 581 00:26:03,250 --> 00:26:03,930 patient man. 582 00:26:04,490 --> 00:26:06,890 He's not a man who wants to wait on the Lord. 583 00:26:07,290 --> 00:26:10,410 And, and so this is a challenge for Saul in his character. 584 00:26:10,890 --> 00:26:14,770 And, and so, but Saul, Saul is commanded by Samuel, ultimately by 585 00:26:14,770 --> 00:26:15,770 the Lord to wait. 586 00:26:16,650 --> 00:26:17,050 Why? 587 00:26:17,770 --> 00:26:21,290 Because I believe this is an opportunity for Saul to see the true 588 00:26:21,290 --> 00:26:23,930 authority of God over him, that God is still dict. 589 00:26:24,390 --> 00:26:24,790 Steps. 590 00:26:25,030 --> 00:26:25,470 He's. 591 00:26:25,470 --> 00:26:27,750 He should not be the one dictating his own steps. 592 00:26:28,070 --> 00:26:32,510 And so God is working to show Saul early on that he is still in 593 00:26:32,510 --> 00:26:32,790 control. 594 00:26:33,830 --> 00:26:38,150 And so Saul had to basically humble himself like, oh, I'm king 595 00:26:38,150 --> 00:26:39,750 now, but now I have to wait on somebody. 596 00:26:39,910 --> 00:26:44,550 No, he, he is going to be reminded that God is still in control. 597 00:26:45,110 --> 00:26:49,390 And so failing to wait for Samuel will ultimately get him in 598 00:26:49,390 --> 00:26:50,710 trouble later on in his life. 599 00:26:51,220 --> 00:26:54,300 You guys know, ahead of the game that he tells, hey, wait on 600 00:26:54,300 --> 00:26:54,740 me here. 601 00:26:55,300 --> 00:26:59,580 But we know that there's another time in the story that Saul 602 00:26:59,580 --> 00:27:02,500 is told to wait on Samuel and he does it. 603 00:27:02,500 --> 00:27:04,140 And there's a great consequences there. 604 00:27:04,140 --> 00:27:06,340 And so we're going to get to that later on in the study. 605 00:27:06,340 --> 00:27:09,500 So let's, let's look at verse number nine because all the prophecies 606 00:27:09,500 --> 00:27:10,260 have been laid out. 607 00:27:11,460 --> 00:27:13,300 So does it come true? 608 00:27:13,460 --> 00:27:14,820 Let's look at verse nine, verse nine. 609 00:27:14,820 --> 00:27:18,940 And it was so that when he had turned back his back to go from Samuel, 610 00:27:18,940 --> 00:27:20,340 God gave him another heart. 611 00:27:21,560 --> 00:27:22,760 So, so it's true. 612 00:27:22,760 --> 00:27:24,040 He becomes a new man. 613 00:27:24,040 --> 00:27:25,400 His heart is changed. 614 00:27:26,120 --> 00:27:28,360 And all those signs came to pass that day. 615 00:27:29,320 --> 00:27:30,440 So that's an amazing thing. 616 00:27:30,440 --> 00:27:32,960 Even verse nine itself is just like, well, everything that Samuel 617 00:27:32,960 --> 00:27:35,640 just told me, everything that God just told me through Samuel came 618 00:27:35,640 --> 00:27:36,120 to pass. 619 00:27:36,440 --> 00:27:39,920 So it's confirmation, it's proof God is proving himself, proving 620 00:27:39,920 --> 00:27:41,240 himself to, to Saul. 621 00:27:41,480 --> 00:27:45,440 And when they came thither to the hill, behold, a company of prophets 622 00:27:45,440 --> 00:27:45,760 met him. 623 00:27:45,760 --> 00:27:48,760 And the Spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied among 624 00:27:48,760 --> 00:27:49,080 them. 625 00:27:49,240 --> 00:27:51,720 So Again, that's exactly what, what Samuel said. 626 00:27:51,800 --> 00:27:56,120 And it came to pass when all that knew him before time saw that, 627 00:27:56,920 --> 00:27:59,880 behold, he prophesied among the prophets. 628 00:28:00,120 --> 00:28:04,160 Then the people said, one to another, what is this that came upon 629 00:28:04,160 --> 00:28:05,000 the son of Kish? 630 00:28:05,560 --> 00:28:08,120 Is Saul also among the prophets? 631 00:28:09,000 --> 00:28:11,480 I don't know if you caught what verse 11 is basically saying, 632 00:28:11,480 --> 00:28:15,330 but the people that knew Saul see him doing something that's not 633 00:28:15,650 --> 00:28:16,290 like him. 634 00:28:16,690 --> 00:28:17,570 Like, he's different. 635 00:28:17,970 --> 00:28:21,170 And that's, again, that's how it should be when, when God is working 636 00:28:21,170 --> 00:28:23,730 in our life, people should see a complete difference. 637 00:28:25,170 --> 00:28:29,010 You know, I think a lot of times people think of faith in God 638 00:28:29,010 --> 00:28:32,170 as a religious thing that, like, well, I'm just going to go 639 00:28:32,170 --> 00:28:33,170 clean myself up. 640 00:28:33,810 --> 00:28:36,010 I'm going to try to like, become more disciplined. 641 00:28:36,010 --> 00:28:38,530 I'm going to, I'm going to try to become more religious. 642 00:28:38,530 --> 00:28:40,210 That word you'll hear religious, religious. 643 00:28:40,570 --> 00:28:43,170 And again, I, I understand what we mean by that, but really 644 00:28:43,170 --> 00:28:45,450 the true change does not come through our hard work. 645 00:28:45,690 --> 00:28:47,770 It doesn't come through our personal discipline. 646 00:28:48,010 --> 00:28:51,210 It doesn't come from just like avoiding other people in our life, 647 00:28:51,210 --> 00:28:52,890 even though that's a good principle to have. 648 00:28:52,890 --> 00:28:56,210 I'm not saying that we shouldn't avoid sinful people, but 649 00:28:56,210 --> 00:29:01,690 what I am saying in our life is just doing human work on, on the, 650 00:29:01,690 --> 00:29:05,930 the framework of our mindset does not create a different person. 651 00:29:06,010 --> 00:29:08,570 What creates a different person is the Holy Spirit of God. 652 00:29:09,040 --> 00:29:10,520 And that's, and that's how we can have. 653 00:29:10,520 --> 00:29:12,480 Because I've heard people say, well, people never change. 654 00:29:12,480 --> 00:29:15,400 I've heard that really, I've heard people say there is no way 655 00:29:15,400 --> 00:29:16,400 a person can ever change. 656 00:29:16,960 --> 00:29:22,120 Well, that's undermining and really, I would say disobeying what 657 00:29:22,120 --> 00:29:24,320 the Bible says, that the Holy Spirit can change our heart. 658 00:29:24,320 --> 00:29:27,240 Now I understand what we mean by some people can't change in the 659 00:29:27,240 --> 00:29:29,440 fact that like, someone might be introverted. 660 00:29:29,440 --> 00:29:32,000 And it doesn't mean that they have to change from being introverted, 661 00:29:32,000 --> 00:29:32,400 extrovert. 662 00:29:32,400 --> 00:29:35,520 I'm not talking about that, but I'm talking about we do before 663 00:29:35,520 --> 00:29:38,430 we're saved, have a heart of sin, have a heart of darkness, have 664 00:29:38,430 --> 00:29:40,230 a heart of, of rebellion. 665 00:29:40,390 --> 00:29:42,990 And in the moment of salvation, yes, we still have the 666 00:29:42,990 --> 00:29:43,310 flesh. 667 00:29:43,310 --> 00:29:45,990 But really what the Bible says is that our heart has changed from 668 00:29:46,150 --> 00:29:48,950 stone to flesh and that it's a complete transformation. 669 00:29:49,190 --> 00:29:51,110 And so, yes, we can change. 670 00:29:51,190 --> 00:29:54,830 We, we can be different, we can speak differently, we can respond 671 00:29:54,830 --> 00:29:55,430 differently. 672 00:29:55,590 --> 00:29:59,150 And that's what we see here, is that it's so different that people 673 00:29:59,150 --> 00:30:04,030 Are like, basically, I don't know if any of you guys have had 674 00:30:04,030 --> 00:30:07,470 children and your children go with somebody else. 675 00:30:07,550 --> 00:30:10,390 And they go, oh, your children were just so respectful. 676 00:30:10,390 --> 00:30:11,350 They were the best kids. 677 00:30:11,350 --> 00:30:12,590 And I'm like, well, who is. 678 00:30:12,910 --> 00:30:14,030 What'd you do with my kid? 679 00:30:14,030 --> 00:30:14,830 Like, where'd they go? 680 00:30:14,830 --> 00:30:15,870 And so like. 681 00:30:15,870 --> 00:30:17,550 Or they were, you know, a certain way. 682 00:30:17,550 --> 00:30:18,549 And, and. 683 00:30:18,549 --> 00:30:20,470 And that's exactly what they're seeing here, is they're like, 684 00:30:20,470 --> 00:30:22,590 basically, what did you guys do with Saul? 685 00:30:22,590 --> 00:30:23,630 He's a different person. 686 00:30:24,110 --> 00:30:25,350 And we know what happened. 687 00:30:25,350 --> 00:30:26,750 We know behind the scenes what happened. 688 00:30:26,750 --> 00:30:28,470 It's a Holy Spirit transformation. 689 00:30:28,470 --> 00:30:29,830 It's a completely different thing. 690 00:30:29,830 --> 00:30:32,500 And so he begins to prophesy and. 691 00:30:32,500 --> 00:30:34,260 And the heart is changed. 692 00:30:34,260 --> 00:30:36,140 And Samuel didn't give him that heart. 693 00:30:36,140 --> 00:30:37,700 Saul didn't do it for himself. 694 00:30:38,020 --> 00:30:39,780 It was God who changed his heart. 695 00:30:39,780 --> 00:30:42,580 And that's how we should always think about things if we want 696 00:30:42,580 --> 00:30:44,260 to see people change. 697 00:30:45,700 --> 00:30:48,900 And no doubt you do want to see people change for the good. 698 00:30:50,020 --> 00:30:54,180 Maybe it's a friend, maybe it's a family member, maybe it's 699 00:30:54,180 --> 00:30:57,550 a child, maybe it's fellow church member. 700 00:30:57,550 --> 00:30:58,790 Maybe it's somebody. 701 00:30:58,790 --> 00:30:59,390 I don't know. 702 00:31:00,430 --> 00:31:05,190 The way that we can truly see change happen in their life is not 703 00:31:05,190 --> 00:31:09,790 by creating more rules, even though sometimes that's the temptation 704 00:31:09,790 --> 00:31:10,390 to do like. 705 00:31:10,390 --> 00:31:12,430 And I'm not saying rules are bad, but. 706 00:31:12,430 --> 00:31:15,270 But rules are only rules to. 707 00:31:15,270 --> 00:31:16,790 To show us what's right and wrong. 708 00:31:16,790 --> 00:31:18,030 It's not there to change your heart. 709 00:31:19,710 --> 00:31:20,070 You. 710 00:31:20,070 --> 00:31:21,150 You can't force a person. 711 00:31:21,150 --> 00:31:22,270 You sometimes try to. 712 00:31:22,270 --> 00:31:23,870 I mean, I'm just using examples. 713 00:31:24,060 --> 00:31:26,060 Sometimes we try to scare people into being good people. 714 00:31:26,700 --> 00:31:29,340 Sometimes we try to guilt people into being good people. 715 00:31:30,060 --> 00:31:34,340 Whatever tactic that people have used over the years really doesn't 716 00:31:34,340 --> 00:31:35,740 create a true change. 717 00:31:36,860 --> 00:31:38,020 So what do we pray for? 718 00:31:38,020 --> 00:31:40,379 We pray for a heart to be changed. 719 00:31:40,780 --> 00:31:43,180 We pray that the Holy Spirit changes someone's heart. 720 00:31:44,140 --> 00:31:46,900 Now we can show as an example what it means to be different. 721 00:31:46,900 --> 00:31:48,700 And Paul talks about that in the New Testament. 722 00:31:48,700 --> 00:31:49,980 Follow me as I follow Christ. 723 00:31:50,710 --> 00:31:52,390 That's certainly a biblical thing. 724 00:31:53,430 --> 00:31:55,830 But if I'm wanting to see someone change, I don't want to change 725 00:31:55,830 --> 00:31:58,870 them from the outside and hope that that changes their heart. 726 00:31:59,270 --> 00:32:02,750 Really, what we should see is a heart change that then eventually 727 00:32:02,750 --> 00:32:03,990 does change on the outside. 728 00:32:04,390 --> 00:32:08,790 And so our prayer should be that they find that true relationship 729 00:32:08,790 --> 00:32:11,230 with the Lord and that they submit themselves to the Lord and 730 00:32:11,230 --> 00:32:12,510 that the Holy Spirit changes. 731 00:32:12,510 --> 00:32:14,990 They're like, I don't know if some of you in your life, maybe you 732 00:32:14,990 --> 00:32:18,890 were one of these People that someone might say, there's no chance 733 00:32:18,890 --> 00:32:19,930 that person could be saved. 734 00:32:19,930 --> 00:32:23,970 There's no chance that person could follow or serve or to teach. 735 00:32:24,290 --> 00:32:27,290 But yet, let's look at some examples of scripture. 736 00:32:27,290 --> 00:32:30,690 I'm sure that's what people said about the New Testament, Saul. 737 00:32:30,850 --> 00:32:34,330 I mean, Saul was going around killing people that were Christians, 738 00:32:34,330 --> 00:32:37,170 and then he becomes a great apostle. 739 00:32:37,570 --> 00:32:41,490 Peter was a fisherman and probably had a lot of issues. 740 00:32:41,490 --> 00:32:43,690 And people would have never guessed that he would have been the 741 00:32:43,690 --> 00:32:47,530 one that preached the message of Pentecost, but yet he did because 742 00:32:47,530 --> 00:32:49,050 of the power of God in his life. 743 00:32:49,450 --> 00:32:51,450 And so God can change people. 744 00:32:51,450 --> 00:32:52,970 God is still changing people. 745 00:32:53,370 --> 00:32:55,570 And it's something that we should pray for and that we should 746 00:32:55,570 --> 00:32:57,210 look to in our lives. 747 00:32:57,210 --> 00:33:00,930 And so Saul has changed here, though we know that at this time 748 00:33:00,930 --> 00:33:05,410 frame, Saul does follow to some degree the Lord, but he does, 749 00:33:05,410 --> 00:33:06,210 he does slip. 750 00:33:06,210 --> 00:33:06,770 And later on. 751 00:33:06,770 --> 00:33:09,210 We're going to talk more about that later on in the study. 752 00:33:09,450 --> 00:33:10,170 Verse 12. 753 00:33:10,890 --> 00:33:13,130 We'll go a few more verses and then we'll wrap it up here. 754 00:33:14,090 --> 00:33:14,530 Verse 12. 755 00:33:14,530 --> 00:33:17,810 And one of the same place answered and said, but who is their 756 00:33:17,810 --> 00:33:18,250 father? 757 00:33:18,570 --> 00:33:20,290 Therefore it became a proverb. 758 00:33:20,290 --> 00:33:23,450 It's Saul, also his soul, also among the prophets. 759 00:33:23,450 --> 00:33:25,490 And so like, the question would be, is like, how could he be 760 00:33:25,490 --> 00:33:26,090 a prophet? 761 00:33:26,570 --> 00:33:30,890 You know, the question is basically ask, who's the source of 762 00:33:30,890 --> 00:33:31,370 this change? 763 00:33:32,090 --> 00:33:34,250 We, I thought we knew Saul's father. 764 00:33:34,250 --> 00:33:36,490 And his, his father can't change him like this. 765 00:33:36,890 --> 00:33:42,340 And, and so if, if God is our change, then it's true change. 766 00:33:42,820 --> 00:33:45,220 And I think that's the note that, that we see here. 767 00:33:45,780 --> 00:33:51,020 And so Saul continues on in verse 14 or 13, sorry. 768 00:33:51,020 --> 00:33:53,740 And it says, and when he had made an end of prophesying, he came 769 00:33:53,740 --> 00:33:54,580 to the high place. 770 00:33:54,900 --> 00:33:58,260 And Saul's uncle said unto him, and to a servant, whither went 771 00:33:58,260 --> 00:33:58,540 ye? 772 00:33:58,540 --> 00:34:00,260 And he said, to seek the asses. 773 00:34:00,260 --> 00:34:04,580 And when they saw that they were nowhere, where we came to Samuel. 774 00:34:04,580 --> 00:34:06,020 So he's basically recounting the story. 775 00:34:06,270 --> 00:34:09,110 And Saul's uncle said, tell me, I pray thee, what Samuel said 776 00:34:09,110 --> 00:34:09,590 unto you. 777 00:34:09,590 --> 00:34:12,550 And he said unto his uncle, he told us plainly that the asses were 778 00:34:12,550 --> 00:34:12,830 found. 779 00:34:13,070 --> 00:34:15,750 But of the matter of the kingdom whereof Samuel spake, he 780 00:34:15,750 --> 00:34:16,590 told him not. 781 00:34:17,070 --> 00:34:22,470 And so essentially what we see here is that Saul doesn't tell his 782 00:34:22,470 --> 00:34:25,630 family, his uncle, what happened, which is interesting. 783 00:34:25,870 --> 00:34:29,550 He hides this whole experience from his uncle. 784 00:34:29,630 --> 00:34:33,350 And we don't know exactly why Some, some different people have 785 00:34:33,350 --> 00:34:38,230 some different philosophical reasons why he didn't divulge the 786 00:34:38,230 --> 00:34:38,510 information. 787 00:34:40,190 --> 00:34:41,670 Basically, Saul Wanted to know what. 788 00:34:41,670 --> 00:34:42,430 What happened. 789 00:34:42,910 --> 00:34:45,230 I don't know if he still had the remnants of the anointing on 790 00:34:45,230 --> 00:34:47,190 him, but he probably had that. 791 00:34:47,190 --> 00:34:48,750 And so there's probably some questions. 792 00:34:48,990 --> 00:34:50,550 And so it does seem strange that. 793 00:34:50,550 --> 00:34:52,830 That Saul didn't tell anybody of his experience. 794 00:34:52,990 --> 00:34:56,750 And maybe, maybe Saul is using discretion, saying, well, I want 795 00:34:56,750 --> 00:35:00,030 to wait till this becomes public before I tell anybody. 796 00:35:00,990 --> 00:35:02,670 But nonetheless, he's. 797 00:35:02,830 --> 00:35:05,990 We could see, maybe, that he's humble and waiting for God to reveal 798 00:35:05,990 --> 00:35:08,670 it and not to be prideful and reveal it himself. 799 00:35:09,630 --> 00:35:12,030 Maybe he's fearful of what people might say. 800 00:35:12,030 --> 00:35:14,910 Maybe he's concerned that there could be judgment upon him. 801 00:35:15,230 --> 00:35:18,350 Maybe it's an act of cowardice, maybe it's humility. 802 00:35:18,430 --> 00:35:19,710 We're not entirely sure. 803 00:35:19,870 --> 00:35:21,150 But he does not. 804 00:35:21,710 --> 00:35:24,750 Does not tell them about what just happened. 805 00:35:25,150 --> 00:35:26,910 And so we're going to go to verse number 17. 806 00:35:27,730 --> 00:35:31,330 Samuel's going to give a speech to the nation before the public 807 00:35:31,330 --> 00:35:31,970 announcement. 808 00:35:31,970 --> 00:35:34,250 So, so Saul keeps it quiet. 809 00:35:34,250 --> 00:35:35,650 Samuel's going to profess it. 810 00:35:35,650 --> 00:35:39,650 And Samuel called the people together unto the Lord to Mizpah 811 00:35:39,730 --> 00:35:42,690 and said unto the children of Israel, thus saith the Lord God of 812 00:35:42,690 --> 00:35:43,090 Israel. 813 00:35:43,090 --> 00:35:44,690 So this is a proclamation of God. 814 00:35:44,770 --> 00:35:48,650 I brought up Israel out of Egypt and delivered you out of the 815 00:35:48,650 --> 00:35:51,690 hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of all kingdoms and of 816 00:35:51,690 --> 00:35:52,570 them that oppressed you. 817 00:35:52,570 --> 00:35:53,090 So what is. 818 00:35:53,090 --> 00:35:54,130 What is Samuel doing here? 819 00:35:54,130 --> 00:35:58,320 Samuel is reminding the people of God's power and presence. 820 00:35:58,320 --> 00:35:59,720 So he's like, God's in control. 821 00:35:59,800 --> 00:36:01,080 God's saved you. 822 00:36:01,240 --> 00:36:03,080 God's provided for you. 823 00:36:03,320 --> 00:36:04,720 God has sustained you. 824 00:36:04,720 --> 00:36:07,720 God has guided throughout all these different things that you remember 825 00:36:08,040 --> 00:36:08,680 verse 19. 826 00:36:08,680 --> 00:36:11,800 And ye have this day rejected your God. 827 00:36:12,600 --> 00:36:14,200 So there is a call to action here. 828 00:36:14,200 --> 00:36:15,560 There is a challenge here. 829 00:36:16,120 --> 00:36:18,440 He says, God's the one that got you through all of this. 830 00:36:18,600 --> 00:36:22,930 You've rejected your God, who himself saved you out of all your 831 00:36:22,930 --> 00:36:24,850 adversities and your tribulations. 832 00:36:25,010 --> 00:36:28,410 And you have said unto him, nay, but set a king over us. 833 00:36:28,410 --> 00:36:30,290 And so he's reminding the people of their decision. 834 00:36:30,370 --> 00:36:32,810 He says, you had a choice to have God as your king. 835 00:36:32,810 --> 00:36:34,930 You didn't want that, even though he's the one that got you. 836 00:36:35,170 --> 00:36:38,370 Him alone, got you out of the adversities, out of tribulations, 837 00:36:38,450 --> 00:36:38,890 out of. 838 00:36:38,890 --> 00:36:41,090 Out of all these issues that that were there. 839 00:36:41,490 --> 00:36:44,010 He says, now therefore, present yourselves before the Lord 840 00:36:44,010 --> 00:36:45,450 by your tribes and by your thousand. 841 00:36:45,450 --> 00:36:48,440 So he says, okay, this is going to be an opportunity for you 842 00:36:48,440 --> 00:36:49,600 to come together here. 843 00:36:49,600 --> 00:36:51,280 And essentially they're going to. 844 00:36:51,280 --> 00:36:55,240 They're going to cast lots for their king, and it's going to fall 845 00:36:55,240 --> 00:36:55,720 on Saul. 846 00:36:55,720 --> 00:36:59,720 And for the people, it's going to look like they essentially pick 847 00:36:59,960 --> 00:37:00,600 the king. 848 00:37:00,600 --> 00:37:03,160 But ultimately we know that God is still in control. 849 00:37:03,880 --> 00:37:07,280 And so let's just finish it. 850 00:37:07,280 --> 00:37:07,920 Let's just finish it. 851 00:37:07,920 --> 00:37:08,360 We can make it. 852 00:37:08,360 --> 00:37:08,560 All right. 853 00:37:08,560 --> 00:37:08,800 We'll. 854 00:37:08,800 --> 00:37:10,200 We'll skim through this really quickly. 855 00:37:10,280 --> 00:37:13,240 And when Samuel had caused all the tribes of Israel to come near, 856 00:37:13,610 --> 00:37:14,730 tribe of Benjamin was taken. 857 00:37:14,810 --> 00:37:18,250 So, okay, tribe of Benjamin, remember Saul's tribe of Benjamin 858 00:37:18,330 --> 00:37:21,250 when he had caused the tribe of Benjamin to come nearby, the families. 859 00:37:21,250 --> 00:37:25,050 The family of matry was taken, and Saul the son of Kish was taken. 860 00:37:25,210 --> 00:37:27,770 And when they saw him, he could not be found. 861 00:37:28,090 --> 00:37:31,690 Therefore, they inquired of the Lord further if the man should 862 00:37:31,690 --> 00:37:32,730 yet come thither. 863 00:37:32,730 --> 00:37:36,010 And the Lord answered, behold, he hath hid himself among the stuff. 864 00:37:36,490 --> 00:37:37,170 Now, there's. 865 00:37:37,170 --> 00:37:39,770 There's a lot of things that you could talk about with that, but 866 00:37:39,960 --> 00:37:40,240 he just. 867 00:37:40,240 --> 00:37:44,760 Basically, God has recognized that Saul is not present. 868 00:37:44,840 --> 00:37:45,520 Verse 23. 869 00:37:45,520 --> 00:37:47,160 And they ran and fetched him thence. 870 00:37:47,240 --> 00:37:50,120 And when he stood among the people, he was higher than any of 871 00:37:50,120 --> 00:37:51,280 the people from his shoulders upward. 872 00:37:51,280 --> 00:37:53,640 So this is again another reminder of his physical appearance. 873 00:37:53,880 --> 00:37:56,920 Taller than the others, stronger than the others, probably 874 00:37:56,920 --> 00:37:57,440 better looking. 875 00:37:57,440 --> 00:38:01,520 As we were reminded earlier on verse 24 in Samuel said unto all 876 00:38:01,520 --> 00:38:04,000 the people, see ye whom the Lord hath chosen? 877 00:38:04,000 --> 00:38:08,280 So they might think that there's that human element of them 878 00:38:08,280 --> 00:38:08,640 choosing. 879 00:38:08,640 --> 00:38:11,560 But ultimately he reminds them that God is still in control, that 880 00:38:11,560 --> 00:38:13,360 there is none like him among all the people. 881 00:38:13,680 --> 00:38:16,480 And all the people shouted and said, God save the king. 882 00:38:16,480 --> 00:38:21,520 And so they make a recognition to put their allegiance to Saul. 883 00:38:21,759 --> 00:38:22,480 Verse 25. 884 00:38:22,480 --> 00:38:24,920 Then Samuel told the people the manner of the kingdom and wrote 885 00:38:24,920 --> 00:38:27,360 it in a book and laid it before the Lord. 886 00:38:27,360 --> 00:38:27,840 And the. 887 00:38:28,240 --> 00:38:30,920 And Samuel sent all the people away, every man to his house. 888 00:38:30,920 --> 00:38:34,740 And Saul went home to Gibeah, and there went with him the band 889 00:38:34,740 --> 00:38:37,740 of men whose hearts had hearts God had touched. 890 00:38:37,980 --> 00:38:40,460 And then we get to the very end, because this is actually interesting, 891 00:38:40,460 --> 00:38:41,940 but the children of Belial, which. 892 00:38:41,940 --> 00:38:45,980 The children of Belial is a phrase for like sons of worthlessness. 893 00:38:46,460 --> 00:38:49,980 So it would be that there were individuals who were naysayers essentially 894 00:38:49,980 --> 00:38:50,620 to this. 895 00:38:51,020 --> 00:38:52,940 They didn't trust in the leadership of Saul. 896 00:38:52,940 --> 00:38:55,420 Even though we think that everyone's behind Saul at the early 897 00:38:55,420 --> 00:38:59,380 part, it doesn't mean that they say, how shall this man save 898 00:38:59,380 --> 00:38:59,540 us? 899 00:38:59,540 --> 00:39:03,050 And they despised him and brought him no presence, but he held 900 00:39:03,050 --> 00:39:03,570 his peace. 901 00:39:03,570 --> 00:39:06,970 And so here in this point, we do see that Saul has some naysayers 902 00:39:07,290 --> 00:39:11,250 Saul has some of those that doubt and that's any leader, specifically 903 00:39:11,250 --> 00:39:13,530 any young leader, any new leader, there's going to always be 904 00:39:13,530 --> 00:39:14,250 some questions. 905 00:39:14,970 --> 00:39:17,169 And Saul could have responded in a lot of different ways. 906 00:39:17,169 --> 00:39:20,770 But it says here that he held his peace, which probably was a wise 907 00:39:20,770 --> 00:39:21,650 decision at that point. 908 00:39:21,650 --> 00:39:25,130 Probably was only the power of God that he could hold that back 909 00:39:26,330 --> 00:39:29,120 because obviously he just got off of this anointing. 910 00:39:29,120 --> 00:39:31,880 He was probably feeling God's presence in his life. 911 00:39:31,880 --> 00:39:33,440 And then there was people that questioned. 912 00:39:33,440 --> 00:39:35,360 But the Bible says that he held his peace. 913 00:39:35,600 --> 00:39:38,440 And so even though there were people calling out long live the 914 00:39:38,440 --> 00:39:41,960 king, there were some that were still naysayers. 915 00:39:41,960 --> 00:39:45,960 And even though the monarchy is established, there were still 916 00:39:45,960 --> 00:39:47,320 some that despised him. 917 00:39:47,320 --> 00:39:50,440 And, and yet, you know, he's going to, that's going to cause him 918 00:39:50,440 --> 00:39:54,000 a problem later because, you know, any, any good leader should 919 00:39:54,000 --> 00:39:59,400 recognize people that are, are against the Lord are going to, there's 920 00:39:59,400 --> 00:40:00,520 going to always be naysayers. 921 00:40:00,760 --> 00:40:05,240 And the Bible speaks of them being emptiness, empty, empty hearted 922 00:40:05,320 --> 00:40:07,400 sons of belial, sons of worthlessness. 923 00:40:07,800 --> 00:40:12,800 And so Saul could have later on in his life dealt with them in 924 00:40:12,800 --> 00:40:13,280 the same way. 925 00:40:13,280 --> 00:40:16,240 But we know that Saul gets to hearing what the other people are 926 00:40:16,240 --> 00:40:18,920 saying and eventually controls him. 927 00:40:19,560 --> 00:40:22,040 And really any good leader we're going to see throughout this 928 00:40:23,100 --> 00:40:26,220 study, I think in other studies that any good leader can 929 00:40:26,220 --> 00:40:30,500 be led by really two different motivations, maybe more than two 930 00:40:30,500 --> 00:40:31,220 different motivations. 931 00:40:31,220 --> 00:40:34,540 But typically you see people either led by comfort or conviction. 932 00:40:35,420 --> 00:40:40,460 Comfort would be what makes me feel good, what people want the easiest 933 00:40:40,460 --> 00:40:40,860 route. 934 00:40:41,020 --> 00:40:42,660 And other people are led by conviction. 935 00:40:42,660 --> 00:40:43,860 I don't care what people say. 936 00:40:43,860 --> 00:40:45,500 This is what God has called me to do. 937 00:40:45,500 --> 00:40:48,220 I'm going to do this regardless of the people's response. 938 00:40:49,150 --> 00:40:53,510 Now there, there is some, what people might understand as a middle 939 00:40:53,510 --> 00:40:54,030 ground there. 940 00:40:54,030 --> 00:40:56,910 Certainly we can move with conviction to also have the people's 941 00:40:56,910 --> 00:40:58,030 concerns in mind. 942 00:40:58,190 --> 00:41:01,990 But at the same time, if our first priority is the approval of 943 00:41:01,990 --> 00:41:07,190 the people as a leader, we ultimately might be putting that 944 00:41:07,190 --> 00:41:10,430 as a priority over the Lord and therefore not following what 945 00:41:10,430 --> 00:41:11,470 the Lord has for us. 946 00:41:11,790 --> 00:41:14,070 And so eventually we're going to see Saul's heart. 947 00:41:14,070 --> 00:41:16,840 He doesn't just ignore and hold his peace with people. 948 00:41:16,840 --> 00:41:19,680 Eventually Saul gets really bothered when people start praising 949 00:41:19,680 --> 00:41:20,600 David over him. 950 00:41:20,600 --> 00:41:22,560 If you guys remember that story, he's like, well, I want to 951 00:41:22,560 --> 00:41:23,280 have that praise. 952 00:41:23,280 --> 00:41:25,520 And it became a heart of covetousness. 953 00:41:25,520 --> 00:41:28,560 And then he was, he was driven by covetousness, which essentially 954 00:41:28,560 --> 00:41:31,560 was him trying to find some kind of comfort by the people's praise. 955 00:41:31,560 --> 00:41:34,920 And so we're going to see that over and over again as a, as a repetition 956 00:41:34,920 --> 00:41:35,840 in Saul's life. 957 00:41:35,840 --> 00:41:39,840 And so this point in time, I think we can take a few lessons away 958 00:41:40,570 --> 00:41:42,090 at the end of this chapter, then we'll be done. 959 00:41:43,450 --> 00:41:49,050 God chose Saul regardless of, you know, whether or not it was the 960 00:41:49,050 --> 00:41:50,570 people's decision or God's decision. 961 00:41:50,810 --> 00:41:52,810 We know that God allowed for this to happen. 962 00:41:52,810 --> 00:41:57,290 And therefore God chose and anointed Saul. 963 00:41:57,850 --> 00:42:00,250 God filled Saul with the Holy Spirit. 964 00:42:00,970 --> 00:42:04,330 God supported him by giving him Samuel. 965 00:42:05,210 --> 00:42:09,030 God gave him opportunity to have the vast majority of people 966 00:42:09,030 --> 00:42:10,270 supporting him at this point. 967 00:42:10,670 --> 00:42:15,470 He even gave him wisdom not to respond in an evil way back to those 968 00:42:15,470 --> 00:42:16,310 naysayers. 969 00:42:16,310 --> 00:42:20,030 But all these advantages that God gives him are predicated upon 970 00:42:21,150 --> 00:42:23,550 Saul obeying the Lord and following the Lord. 971 00:42:23,710 --> 00:42:26,990 But we're going to see that even I, I, I believe that Saul's 972 00:42:27,230 --> 00:42:29,990 the way that you could characterize Saul, I think, is many 973 00:42:29,990 --> 00:42:32,430 different words, but the one that I always think about when I 974 00:42:32,430 --> 00:42:34,110 think about Saul's life is potential. 975 00:42:35,090 --> 00:42:38,730 And potential can be such a scary word because Saul had so much 976 00:42:38,730 --> 00:42:39,250 potential. 977 00:42:39,810 --> 00:42:45,770 He had so much opportunity, he had so much gift, gifts from God. 978 00:42:45,770 --> 00:42:49,730 But then at the time of his passing, we see him basically turned 979 00:42:49,730 --> 00:42:50,570 away from the Lord. 980 00:42:50,570 --> 00:42:54,410 And so he wastes a lot of potential that God allowed for in 981 00:42:54,410 --> 00:42:54,770 his life. 982 00:42:54,770 --> 00:42:58,210 And so despite all these advantages, despite all of these 983 00:42:59,010 --> 00:43:02,970 potentially blessings that he has been given in his life, we see 984 00:43:02,970 --> 00:43:05,650 that it still can end badly for an individual if they turn their 985 00:43:05,650 --> 00:43:07,650 hearts and their minds against the Lord. 986 00:43:07,650 --> 00:43:09,330 And that's really the story of Saul. 987 00:43:09,330 --> 00:43:10,450 But this is the very beginning. 988 00:43:10,530 --> 00:43:13,530 And so we're going to get into it and we're going to see, basically 989 00:43:13,530 --> 00:43:15,490 it starts in a very good place. 990 00:43:15,730 --> 00:43:18,690 It begins to spiral, and it begins to get out of control. 991 00:43:19,170 --> 00:43:22,170 And ultimately by the end of his story, it's completely out of 992 00:43:22,170 --> 00:43:22,450 control. 993 00:43:23,090 --> 00:43:27,450 And so the rest of the book of 1st Samuel shows Saul dealing with 994 00:43:27,450 --> 00:43:30,420 the choice of whether or not he's going to obey God or he's going 995 00:43:30,420 --> 00:43:32,900 to obey basically himself and disobey God. 996 00:43:32,900 --> 00:43:35,460 And that's, that's the rest of the story of First Samuel. 997 00:43:36,100 --> 00:43:37,220 Well, I'll go ahead and close there. 998 00:43:37,220 --> 00:43:41,300 I know that was a long study, but I did want to end there at a 999 00:43:41,300 --> 00:43:43,620 very awkward place and then not be able to pick up in the next 1000 00:43:43,620 --> 00:43:44,540 chapter next time. 1001 00:43:44,540 --> 00:43:48,100 So we won't be back next week in First Samuel. 1002 00:43:48,820 --> 00:43:52,500 Actually, we have a guest speaker next Wednesday night. 1003 00:43:52,900 --> 00:43:55,780 Our, our candidate for assistant pastor is going to be preaching 1004 00:43:55,780 --> 00:43:57,930 on Wednesday night, he's going to be preaching on Sunday morning 1005 00:43:57,930 --> 00:43:59,610 and he's going to be preaching on Wednesday night. 1006 00:43:59,610 --> 00:44:03,010 So you get an opportunity to hear from him twice if you come to 1007 00:44:03,010 --> 00:44:03,290 both. 1008 00:44:03,770 --> 00:44:07,130 And so unless he's preaching in 1st Samuel chapter 11 about the 1009 00:44:07,130 --> 00:44:10,130 Ammonites covenant conditions, I doubt he will be. 1010 00:44:10,130 --> 00:44:13,010 But if he is, then you get then you'll get one Samuel chapter 1011 00:44:13,010 --> 00:44:13,290 11. 1012 00:44:13,930 --> 00:44:16,770 But but nonetheless, if he doesn't, then we'll be back in two 1013 00:44:16,770 --> 00:44:18,810 weeks looking at 1st Samuel chapter 11. 1014 00:44:20,650 --> 00:44:23,250 Thank you again for listening to the Middletown Baptist Church 1015 00:44:23,250 --> 00:44:23,850 podcast. 1016 00:44:24,090 --> 00:44:26,550 I hope that this sermon has been a blessing blessing for you. 1017 00:44:27,110 --> 00:44:29,390 If you would like to find out more information about our church 1018 00:44:29,390 --> 00:44:32,870 or this sermon, you can find us at middletownbaptistchurch.org 1019 00:44:33,190 --> 00:44:35,750 or find us on Facebook or YouTube. 1020 00:44:36,470 --> 00:44:40,910 You can also email me directly at Josh Massaroiddletownbaptistchurch 1021 00:44:40,910 --> 00:44:43,590 dot com if you've enjoyed this podcast. 1022 00:44:43,750 --> 00:44:48,150 Please subscribe and follow along for future podcast and updates. 1023 00:44:48,870 --> 00:44:49,750 Thank you so much. 1024 00:44:49,990 --> 00:44:50,790 God Bless. 1025 00:44:51,030 --> 00:44:52,310 Have a wonderful day.