Sermons
Do you start the year with good intentions, only to not follow them through? I’ve not even made it to the gym yet to see the January crowds. Today we are going to see what we can gain from King Saul’s story. Not even sure he had good intentions to start with, but he certainly had an amazing divine encounter and just didn’t follow through
Our New Year sermon series is Good King, Bad King – we are going to be looking at what we can learn about life from some of the Old Testament Kings.
Israel wasn’t meant to have a king. They were lead by God. Or were supposed to be. They had a terrible period you can read about in Judges, where God used some judges to rule the nation. While the judge was alive, Israel followed God, then the judge would die, they\\\’d start sinning, God would judge them, then they\\\’d repent and God would raise up a judge to bring them back. A repetitive cycle.
Meanwhile a great prophet called Samuel is holding the reigns.
We start our series in 1 Sam 8:20 where the people want to be like the Jones – they want a king like the other nations.
Samuel warns them it won\\\’t be good – it\\\’ll be like slavery, but they persist!
Enter Saul – he\\\’s tall, handsome and wealthy – just like the world often chooses its leaders. And he happens to be God\\\’s man in this compromise too.
He starts off searching for donkeys. And while he is Samuel receives revelation that he will come and be anointed to be King.
Saul can\\\’t find the donkey, so he decides to go to Samuel to see if there\\\’s a prophetic word about where they have gone! A low bar for prophetic revelation!
Before he asks Samuel, the prophetic starts – go up to the high place and eat with me and by the way your donkeys have been found!
That freaks Saul out – wow there – I\\\’m in the weakest humblest clan, why are you speaking like that.
Saul is insecure!
The next day Samuel anoints Saul with oil and tells him he is anointed o be price over the people.
Saul gets his private call with 3 signs that are all fulfilled. When God has an important job, he often makes it clear privately first, with some signs, before the Lord goes public.
- 10:2 the donkeys are found, and your dad is more worried about you now!
- at the oak of Tabor, some men will give you bread for the sacrifice.
- The key one in v5-5 you will meet some prophets and
\\\”The Spirit of the Lord will rush on you and you will prophecy with them and be turned into another man\\\”
That to me is a type of Christianity, it\\\’s a pointing forward to what happens to believers in the New covenant. God is showing us what a big deal it is and it should have changed Saul.
We are born again – changed into another man 2 Cor 5:17
We can be filled with the Spirit Acts 19:2
We get to prophecy Acts 2:17-18
That happened to Saul some 1000 years before Jesus and it is still happening to people 2000 years after Jesus came.
Have you believed? Did you receive the Spirit?
Have you been anointed for the job that you do to serve God?
In 10:9 we are told all those 3 signs came to pass on that very day.
When Saul\\\’s uncle asked him what happened, Saul only mentions the prophecy about the donkeys not the kingdom.
We are seeing Saul\\\’s insecurity leading to a fear of what people may think – the fear of man. FEAR – false expectations appearing real.
Next Saul gets a public call and its a bit embarrassing!
Samuel calls the people together at Mizpah and they indulge in some Old Covenant guidance – drawing lots. To show who the king would be and of course it\\\’s Saul.
But where is Saul? God says \\\”Behold, he has hidden himself among the baggage.\\\”
What a metaphor. Saul has certainly got some baggage!
Fear of being King, fear of the Philistines, fear of his own people.
He\\\’s insecure.
And what we will see is he never deals with his baggage. Either by getting rid of it or getting on with despite his baggage.
We are all weak. God chooses the weak to show his strength. If we wait until we have got rid of all our baggage and weakness, God will never get to show His strength in and through us.
Don\\\’t let your baggage hinder you from serving God in the church or in your workplace.
We once met Princess Anne on Christmas day – she asked me where we had come from. I had forgotten what we are meant to say and was fearful of getting it wrong, so began to mumble. Bert jumped in with the answer and I\\\’ve never been allowed to forget missing my chance!!!
Don\\\’t let your baggage stop you. Don\\\’t hide behind your baggage – I could never…, I\\\’m….
God wants to use you anyway!
So Saul has had this incredible encounter with God – The Spirit of the Lord has rushed upon him – an OT way of saying a powerful infilling. He\\\’s prophecied and people have seen the change in Him. BUT he doesn\\\’t follow through. He keeps making dumb choices.
You can have amazing encounters – God can put you on the floor – it\\\’s not the going down that matters it\\\’s the getting up and staying up!
Here\\\’s 8 ways Saul didn\\\’t live in the good of the encounters.
Almost immediately he shows a LACK OF COURAGE dealing with the \\\”worthless fellows\\\” grumbling about him 10:26-27, even though he has men of valour with him!
He was meant to wait 7 days for Samuel to come and make a sacrifice, but he was IMPATIENT and feared losing the people with him more than God. 13:8-13 – that was big deal breaker. And the beginning of the end for Him. Don\\\’t let fear of man rob you of your destiny in God.
Saul is pretty RASH. He made a rash vow (14:24-33), that no-one should eat and nearly ended up killing his own son because of it. Jonathan had done a daring deed trusting God to beat the Philistines. For some reason there is honey lying all around, but the people don\\\’t eat of it because of Saul\\\’s rash vow. Not that the promised land was meant to be flowing with milk and honey. They should have nourished themselves. Instead as the day goes on the end up eat meat with blood in it – which was against their law! It gets messier and Saul realises that his vow meant Jonathan the hero should die. The people ransom him – to rescue him. Just as Jesus ransoms us from our sin. But here Saul looks like a plonker.
In ch 15 Samuel prophecies they should attack the Amalekites and completely destroy them. Saul doesn\\\’t and so Samuel confronts him \\\”What is this bleating of sheep I hear?\\\” Saul is DISOBEDIENT. At this point prophecies more strongly – God has rejected him as King because he rejected God\\\’s word.
The Holy Spirit has departed from him and his tormented by an EVIL SPIRIT – his actions have become a landing place for the demonic.
The next few chapters see some sordid JEALOUSY over the rise of David
In ch 28 he sinks further going to a MEDIUM to call up Samuel from the dead. Samuel tells him the Lord has become his enemy and the consequences aren\\\’t just for him individually but for the whole of Isreal.
Finally as Saul is wounded in battle he commits SUICIDE.
Saul starts out with the Spirit rushing on him, making him a changed man and making him prophetic.
Instead of living in the good of that, Saul spirals in ever dumber choices – allowing his baggage to define him, fearing man not God, showing a lack of courage, impatience, rashness, disobedience, jealousy rage, occultic prophecy, causing torment by demons and eventually suicide.
Mighty encounters but not living in the good of them.
Thankfully the New covenant is far more powerful than the old.
When you turn to Jesus – you are born again. The old has gone the new has come. You are irrevocably different a new creation.
When you receive the Spirit he comes to dwell in you and empower you to be Holy. Such a difference that it\\\’s almost a name change for the Spirit between the OC and the NC – Spirit of God except two times Holy Spirit- about dealing with David\\\’s confession. New Covenant Holy Spirit – literally the Spirit who is Holy – empowerment for changed life.
You get to hear God for yourself to – Acts 2
Start the New Year with a fresh encounter with the Holy Spirit.
If you identify with any of Saul\\\’s baggage – fear of man, insecurity, disobedience, jealousy, dabbling with occult or even suicidal thoughts. Time to put those at the foot of the cross.
Time to get rid of the baggage and be a bit more David!