1 Samuel 10-11 Saul, The New Man

Today we are in our 6th sermon in our series called a Prophet and 2 Kings.

Before we get into our text...

I want us to think about a reality we have face...

Flesh and Spirit.... (Romans 7:15-20)

Saul’s journey as king I believe will help us identify struggles in our own lives...

And as when we unpack this historical event of king Saul that we may see and learn from the good, bad, and the ugly.

(Saul did good at times....)

I love the Bible because it does not clean up people’s lives to make them look better.

(History is the greatest teacher)

[what can we learn from Saul in order we do not repeat his same mistakes]

1 Samuel 10:1–11 (ESV)

1 Then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on his head and kissed him and said, “Has not the Lord anointed you to be prince over his people Israel? And you shall reign over the people of the Lord and you will save them from the hand of their surrounding enemies. And this shall be the sign to you that the Lord has anointed you to be prince over his heritage. 2 When you depart from me today, you will meet two men by Rachel’s tomb in the territory of Benjamin at Zelzah, and they will say to you, ‘The donkeys that you went to seek are found, and now your father has ceased to care about the donkeys and is anxious about you, saying, “What shall I do about my son?” ’ 3 Then you shall go on from there farther and come to the oak of Tabor. Three men going up to God at Bethel will meet you there, one carrying three young goats, another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a skin of wine. 4 And they will greet you and give you two loaves of bread, which you shall accept from their hand. 5 After that you shall come to Gibeath-elohim, where there is a garrison of the Philistines. And there, as soon as you come to the city, you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the high place with harp, tambourine, flute, and lyre before them, prophesying. 6 Then the Spirit of the Lord will rush upon you, and you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man. 7 Now when these signs meet you, do what your hand finds to do, for God is with you. 8 Then go down before me to Gilgal. And behold, I am coming down to you to offer burnt offerings and to sacrifice peace offerings. Seven days you shall wait, until I come to you and show you what you shall do.”

9 When he turned his back to leave Samuel, God gave him another heart. And all these signs came to pass that day. 10 When they came to Gibeah, behold, a group of prophets met him, and the Spirit of God rushed upon him, and he prophesied among them. 11 And when all who knew him previously saw how he prophesied with the prophets, the people said to one another, “What has come over the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?”

After Samuel anoints Saul to be king.

We see a transition take place in the life of Saul,

as the work of God begins in him.

Samuel prophecies over Saul,

telling him that he will see 2 men who will inform him that the donkeys have been found.

Then you will run into 3 different men who give you two loaves of bread.

After this Saul,

you are going to meet a group of prophets who are prophesying with a harp, tambourine, flute, and lyre.

And when this happens,

the Spirit of the Lord will rush upon you and you will prophesy and be turned into another man...

All these things are to be done in order that you, Saul, may know that God is with you...

Verse 9

“When he turned his back to leave Samuel, God gave him another heart. And all these signs came to pass that day.”

Saul’s process of becoming king,

I believe gives us a theological picture of what happens in salvation…

Because when we give our lives to Jesus we became a new creation in Christ,

just like when Saul was anointed as king it says he was turned into another man.

2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

When we surrender our lives to Jesus,

and make him Lord and Savior of our lives,

we become a new creation.

This experience is called by Jesus being born again....

John 3:3 ESV

3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

As Saul receives this new heart and becomes a new man,

the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him...

(When we are born again.. we receive the work of the Spirit...)

2 works of the Spirit for the believer...

[Sanctifying work... Empowering work… ]

When Saul recieved his new heart he was soon introduced to the empowering work of the Spirit.

When the Spirit of the Lord rushes upon Saul,

he began to prophesy.

And as Saul is prophesying,

some men who knew Saul previously before he was anointed by Good make this cynical remark,

saying…

V11 “Is Saul also among the prophets?”

(gesturing at the fact that this is not Saul… Saul is timid and scared)

[work of the Spirit is often times disregarded by the lost… think about Acts... drunk.. dumbest argument ever]

After Saul experiences this manifestation of the Spirit on his life.

After Saul experienced the empowering work of God almighty through his life.

How God took him and removed his insecurity in order that he may speak powerfully and prophetically by the power of the Spirit.

Saul stumbles back to what he knows best.

(insecurity and believe lies about himself)

later in chapter 10

Samuel is about to present Saul as King of Israel.

(Saul’s big moment) [Just had that encounter with God]

1 Samuel 10:21–22 (ESV)

21 He brought the tribe of Benjamin near by its clans, and the clan of the Matrites was taken by lot; and Saul the son of Kish was taken by lot. But when they sought him, he could not be found. 22 So they inquired again of the Lord, “Is there a man still to come?” and the Lord said, “Behold, he has hidden himself among the baggage.”

(Joke Baggage Lord northern accent)

Think about what has just played out...

Saul has just experienced this great victory of having the Spirit move powerfully on his life...

And right after that victory, Saul resorts back to the old nature of being insecure and afraid…

Many of us can probably relate to something like what happened to Saul...

Expample…

doubt that God is really working…

Sometimes when we are in that place of falling,

we need someone to fight for us…

1 Samuel 10:22b–24 (ESV)

22b the Lord said, “Behold, he has hidden himself among the baggage.” 23 Then they ran and took him from there. And when he stood among the people, he was taller than any of the people from his shoulders upward. 24 And Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see him whom the Lord has chosen? There is none like him among all the people.” And all the people shouted, “Long live the king!”

Story of affair… (Noah and Heidi)

We lose people on the battle field because we don’t have enough people to jump down in the trenches to pick people up out of their filth to say lets move on…

Hands and feet of Jesus is not just doing service projects… Amen!

I want to ask the question to you today

who is in your circle?

Because there are people who will bring you up,

and people who will bring you down.

listen close when I say this…

What is interesting is that when we start falling from grace,

it is easier to resort to surround ourselves with people who bring us down,

because there is no resistance to the direction we are already going....

Whereas, when we are falling from grace,

and someone tries to bring us up,

there is a tremendous amount of strain involved,

because you are changing course of direction.

I have learned when people are falling they surround themselves with people that will bring them down because that is much easier.

But how many know that easy is not usually the best way?

As Saul steps into his position as king,

he encounters people that wanted to disregard his anointing,

but he also had people who took him by the hand to bring him up to his calling as king. (took him from the baggage)

As king he is faced immediately with a test…

King Nahash of Ammon marches against the town of Jabesh-gilead.

The people plead for a treaty with King Nahash,

and he says I will give you a treaty on one condition…

“I gouge out all your right eyes, and thus bring disgrace on all Israel.”

(Everyday they would have a reminder that they are not free, but rather belong to their enemy)

1 Samuel 11:4–6 (ESV)

4 When the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul, they reported the matter in the ears of the people, and all the people wept aloud.

5 Now, behold, Saul was coming from the field behind the oxen. And Saul said, “What is wrong with the people, that they are weeping?” So they told him the news of the men of Jabesh. 6 And the Spirit of God rushed upon Saul when he heard these words, and his anger was greatly kindled.

This is the second time that Saul experiences the empowering work of the Spirit.

The first time he began to prophesy.

But this time is different...

Anger kindled within him…

(explain anger) [righteous indignation against sin]

Ephesians 4:26a (ESV)

26 Be angry and do not sin;

John Stott wrote,,

“There is a great need in the contemporary world for more Christian anger.… In the face of blatant evil we should be indignant not tolerant, angry not apathetic. If God hates sin, his people should hate it too. If evil arouses his anger, it should arouse ours also.”

Here in text the spirit of the Lord came’s upon Saul,

and anger began to arise in him.

This anger drove a complacent man to action...

Saul, a man who struggles with insecurity and was just found hiding.

Is now aroused to action, by the power of the Spirit to go

and save his people from humiliation.

Saul recruits an army to go save the people.

And Israel was able to drive out King Nahash and save the people of Jabesh-gilead.

The Spirit of the Lord brought victory to Israel...

And that is the important thing to remember is that it was God who brought the victory.

(Saul was the instrument but it was God who did it)

[Saul was far from perfect but that is who God used to deliver the people)

And as we continue on in the weeks to come,

I believe that there is tremendous value in studying the life of Saul.

His ups and down,

his victories and defeats,

but ultimately his life needs to be examined so we can learn from the good and bad from his life.

Today, we saw Saul encounter the empowering work of the Spirit yet still fell.

And maybe that is you this morning,

you have expereinced God’s presence in your life but you find your self slipping away form your God given calling...

battle flesh and spirit...

(God gives us the power to overcome)

[but also is the God of second chances]

The prodigal… (Always a son)