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1 Samuel 10:1-27

God Will Make You a New Man

  • Rich Jones
  • Weekend Messages
  • May 09, 2021

If sinners need to be saved, however, then sinners also need to be changed, to be transformed, to be made new. This is the work God does when He draws sinners to Himself.

1 Samuel 10 is about God changing a man or a woman. The principles here in this chapter are true today. God is still moving, God is still transforming, God is still making people new. This chapter shows us how.

  • Sermon Notes
  • Transcription
  • Scripture

God Will Make You a New Man
1 Samuel 10:1-27
May 8-9, 2021

There’s an old saying, and it’s true, “God loves you just as you are, but loves you too much to let you stay that way.” One of the most beautiful aspects of God’s love is that the holy, righteous God of heaven loves sinners. He sent His Son to seek and to save that which was lost. In another place Jesus is called the friend of sinners.

If sinners need to be saved, however, then sinners also need to be changed, to be transformed, to be made new. This is the work God does when He draws sinners to Himself.

1 Samuel 10 is about God changing a man or a woman. The principles here in this chapter are true today. God is still moving, God is still transforming, God is still making people new. This chapter shows us how.

At this point in Israel’s history, Samuel was recognized as a powerful prophet. The people came to Samuel and demanded to have a king so they could be like the nations around them. There is real danger in wanting to be like the world. God has called you and me to be different, to be set apart for Him.

This thing was displeasing to Samuel when they asked for a king, but he took their request to the Lord. God answered, telling Samuel to give them what they demanded, “They have not rejected you, but rather, they have rejected me.” That is a life lesson in and of itself; never reject God from ruling over you.

A couple chapters later, Samuel gives a powerful speech, explaining God’s heart, that God would have been their king, but they were not content. “When Israel was enslaved in Egypt and cried out to the Lord, God brought them out of Egypt and settled them in this place, all without a king,” Samuel said. “During the time of the Judges, when Israel turned their back on God and then cried out to the Lord, God sent one deliver after the other and saved them. He did all of that when there was no king in Israel because God is your king,” Samuel said.

If God is not your king, if His word does not have authority in your life, you will find yourself doing what is right in your own eyes. That is the very thing that brought so much distress and trouble to Israel, and the same will be true for anyone who does the same today. God wants to be your king, but as your king, He will direct you into the way of greatest blessing and greatest favor.

God then revealed to Samuel that Saul, from the tribe of Benjamin would be their king. 1 Samuel 9:2, “He was a choice and handsome man, there was not a more handsome person than he among all the sons of Israel; and from his shoulders and up he was taller than any of the people.” In other words, God gave Israel someone they wanted, a man after their own heart.
God gave Saul everything he needed to become a great king. Saul began well, it would be up to him to finish well.

I. Live the Spirit Filled Life

  • Verse 1 – Samuel took a flask of oil, poured it on Saul’s head, kissed him and said, “Has not the Lord anointed you as ruler over his inheritance?”
  • Anointing of oil represented the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on his life for the purpose of ruling over Israel. For Saul to reign well, he would need the very life of God upon him.
  • The ministry of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament is distinctly different than the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament.
  • In the Old Testament, God gave the Holy Spirit to specific people for specific purposes. The anointing and the infilling of the Spirit was limited. He anointed prophets, priests, and kings.
  • In this case, God gave the Holy Spirit to Saul for the purpose of ruling Israel as king.
  • In the New Testament, God gives the Holy Spirit to every person who opens their heart to receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior…

Romans 8:9, 14, If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him… For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.

  • “But wait,” you might say, “I’m not called to be a king, why would I be anointed?”
  • You have been called to be a son or daughter of God by adoption; that gives you a godly purpose in your life. You are the son or the daughter of a king.

A. God will strengthen your unbelief

  • After Saul had been anointed by Samuel, Samuel then told him a series of events that would happen to him that very day.
  • Each of these events would strengthen his faith as they were fulfilled. It’s scriptural principle; God confirms His word.
  • First, he would meet two people who would tell him that his father’s lost donkeys had been found and that his father was concerned for him.
  • Then, he would meet three men going up to worship God at Bethel. One of them would offer Saul two loaves of bread, which he was to accept from their hand.
  • Then, Saul would come to the hill of God where he would meet a group of prophets who would be prophesying.
  • Lastly, Samuel told him, the Spirit of the Lord would come upon him mightily and he would prophesy with them.
  • Then the Spirit of the Lord would come upon Saul mightily and he would be changed into another man. In other words, he would be transformed.
  • All of these were signs to strengthen his unbelief. God always confirms His word.
  • Imagine the transformation needed for Saul to even comprehend God’s call on his life. His unbelief must be transformed into faith.
  • It reminds me of a story in the gospel of Mark of a man who came to Jesus asking help for his boy who was filled with a demon. The man said to Jesus, “If you can do anything, take pity on us and help us!”

Mark 9:23-24, And Jesus said to him, “‘If? If you can?’ All things are possible to him who believes.” Immediately the boy’s father cried out and said, “I do believe; help my unbelief.”

  • Many relate to that man because they recognize they need stronger faith. Many believe, but God wants you to believe more.
  • And God gives you what we need to strengthen your faith.

Romans 10:17, So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.

  • In a similar way, God tells us in advance what will happen in the latter days. When you see these things, they will confirm God’s Word.
  • Jesus said that in the last days there will be wars and rumors of wars, famine, earthquakes, and pestilence and that as the end draws near, these will increase like a woman in pangs of childbirth.
  • God foretold that there will be a reunification of the old Roman empire; that Israel would be back in the land after 2000 years, that the epicenter of world tensions would be the Middle East, that Israel would be for the world a cup of trembling and an unsolvable problem.
  • We are told in advance that in the last days, men will not endure sound doctrine, that men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, and lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God; that they will hold to a form of religion but deny the power thereof.
  • When you see the Word of God being fulfilled in the latter day, it should strengthen faith. When you see those things, God is confirming His word.
  • God confirms His word to strengthen your faith so you will stay the course in times of trouble.

1 Timothy 1:18-19, …fight the good fight, keeping faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith.

B. God’s Holy Spirit is life changing power

  • Samuel told Saul that the Holy Spirit would come upon him mightily.
  • This is the same Holy Spirit that was promised to the church.

Acts 1:8, “…you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

  • God gives the Holy Spirit for the purpose of life changing power; so that sinners are changed from what they were when they were saved to becoming the sons and daughters God desires.
  • When the Holy Spirit came upon Saul he prophesied along with the prophets.
  • When Saul was prophesying, he very likely was declaring the mighty acts of God by the infilling of the Spirit as the disciples did when they were filled with the Holy Spirit.

Acts 2:11, “…we hear them in our own tongues speaking of the mighty deeds of God.”

  • He could have been singing, he could have been declaring, but he was ‘inspired’ by the Holy Spirit, the breath of God.

Illus – Moses appointed seventy men as elders of Israel, he gathered them around the tent of meeting, the place of meeting God, and the Spirit came upon them and they prophesied. Two of the men were still in the camp of Israel and they also prophesied. A young man ran and told Moses. Joshua protested, “Moses, my lord, restrain them!”

Numbers 11:29, But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them!”

  • God was touching Saul’s heart; that is the beginning of life-changing transformation.
  • It was such a radical thing that it became a saying in Israel, “Is Saul among the prophets?” In other words, if anything completely unexpected happened, someone might respond, “Hey, is Saul among the prophets?”

App – Shouldn’t the same be said of you and me? If God gives transforming power, shouldn’t people be amazed at the changes they see in our lives?

Illus –If you made wrongful decisions year after year, people who saw you later would be surprised how you changed for the worse, “Is that so and so? What in the world happened?” The world happened, that’s what.

But if you walk with God year after year, wouldn’t people be amazed at the life changing transformation of maturity in the Holy Spirit? of deeper faith?

  • Doesn’t God set you on a course for good, to increase your life? to make you more like him?

Illus – I remember an illustration I heard when I was younger. Imagine you’re driving in a bad part of town and your car broke down. Then you see a group of burly men come barreling out of a house towards you, wouldn’t it make a huge difference if you knew they were coming from a Bible study? God transforms those He call His own!

  • God doesn’t leave you to transform yourself. He doesn’t say, “Get your act together or I’m going to be angry.”
  • No, He says, “I want you to be a different man and if you open your heart, I will be the power that changes you.”

Ezekiel 36:26, “Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a new heart.”

  • The problem of stone is its hardness; stubbornness has gotten in the way of many people. However, if you will delight your heart with God’s infilling, you will be changed.

Psalm 37:4, “Delight yourself in the Lord; and He will give you the desires of your heart.”

II. He Who Began a Good Work is Faithful

  • Samuel told Saul that the Holy Spirit would come upon him and that he would be changed into another man.
  • What you see as the rest of the chapter unfolds, however, is that change doesn’t happen all at once.

Philippians 1:6, For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it until the day of Christ Jesus.

  • In other words, transformation is a process. God is faithful, keep walking with God and He will bring the change in your life.

A. Keep being changed; it’s God’s work in you

  • The day finally came for the inauguration of Israel’s new king.
  • As Saul was being pronounced as king, however, he was nowhere to be found. The Lord told Samuel that Saul was hiding himself by the baggage.
  • This may appear to be humility on Saul’s part, but it wasn’t humility — it was fear.
  • True humility comes from strength of character and maturity of soul.
  • This is a character flaw in Saul. The question for you and me is whether we will allow God to touch our character flaws.
  • Fear will derail Saul, and at the end, it will consume him.
  • But God had a plan for when Israel had a king; to keep that king in the way that is good and right; so that not only would he begin well, but he would also finish well.

Deuteronomy 17:18-20, “Now it shall come about when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself a copy of this law on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests. It shall be with him and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, by carefully observing all the words of this law and the statutes, that his heart may not be lifted up above his countrymen and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, to the right or to the left, so that he and his sons may continue long in his kingdom in the midst of Israel.”

B. Open your heart and He’ll touch you as well

  • After the inauguration, Saul went to his house at Gibeah. But valiant men “whose hearts God had touched” went with him.
  • God is still looking for valiant men today whose hearts He can touch. But God will not touch your heart by force; it’s something that you must desire.

2 Chronicles 16:9, “The eyes of the Lord look to and fro throughout the whole earth to show himself strong in behalf of those whose hearts are perfectly His.”

  • They were valiant men because they were men of action. There’s an old saying that “Evil prevails when good men do nothing.” Spiritual warfare is a reality, but victory begins when God touches the heart.

2 Timothy 4:7, I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith;

God Will Make You a New Man
1 Samuel 10:1-27
May 8-9, 2021

There's an old saying you might have heard it, but it's very, very true and that is, "God loves you just the way you are, but he loves you too much to let you stay that way." I love that saying because it really touches on one of the greatest aspects of God's love. One of the greatest aspects of God's love is that the holy, righteous God of heaven actually desires sinners to have a relationship to Him. He loves sinners, and He even sent His only Son to seek and to save sinners and to draw them to Himself.

Now, here's my point, if sinners need to be saved, then sinners also need to be changed, to be transformed, to be made new and that's the work that God does when He draws sinners to Himself. Sometimes people don't like the word sinner, I don't know why. It is the honest word of who we were when God took hold of us, and that He pursues us so that He would transform us. It's a work that God does.

1 Samuel 10 is about God changing a man or a woman. The principles here in the chapter are very much true today because God is still on the move, God is still transforming, He's still making people new and this chapter shows us how. Now the background to this is that at this point in Israel's history, Samuel is the prophet and he's well regarded. Actually will come to find he's one of the greatest prophets of the Old Testament. He's well regarded than the entire nation, but they come to Samuel and they want a king. They want a king they say, "Like the other nations around us."

Now there's a danger, there's a real danger in wanting to be like the world out there around us. Hey, God called us to be separate from the world. What is the idea of trying to be like them? There's danger in that. Now, this thing was displeasing to Samuel when they asked for a king, but he took their request to the Lord. The Lord told Samuel to give them what they demanded saying, "They've not rejected you, they rejected me as their king." Now, this is a life lesson in and of itself, never reject God from ruling over you. He wants to be your king, as he desired to be the king of Israel.

A couple chapters later, Samuel is going to give this amazing speech. In this speech, he explains to them why they've rejected God as King when they choose to ask for a king like this. Then, in this speech he says, now when Israel was enslaved in Egypt and God brought them out of Egypt and brought them to the desert and brought them to this holy land, He did all of that without a king. Then during the time of the Judges when Israel was in trouble and they were in distress and they called out to God for help, he sent the deliver who saved Israel.

He did it one after the other. He saved Israel over and over and over, and He did all of that without a king, but you have rejected God as your king. Now, if God is not your king, if God's word does not have authority, because when God is king, then His Word has authority. If God's word does not have authority, then you will find yourself doing what is right in your own eyes. This is the very thing that brought so much trouble and so much distress and so much trouble and disaster upon Israel. The same is true for anyone who does the same today.

God wants to be your king, but here's the good thing, He loves you and when He gives a word of authority, it's always to direct your way to that place of greatest favor and blessing on your life. God reveals to Samuel that it will be Saul who was from the tribe of Benjamin who will be king. Now we get to meet the first king of Israel. Saul, we know by name. In the chapter before this, it tells us that Saul was a choice and handsome man. There was not a more handsome person than he among all the sons of Israel. Now there's a qualifier right there.

Then, it says that he was taller, he was head and shoulders taller than anyone else of the people of Israel. What an interesting qualifier. By the way, interesting factoid, even in our modern times, it is statistically proven that when a candidate is good-looking, that they are more likely to be elected simply because they are good-looking. Isn't that an interesting factoid, it does reveal a lot about human nature.

God is giving Israel someone they wanted, a man after their own heart, but God will give to Samuel everything he needs to be a great king. He will begin well, it will be up to him to finish well. All right, 1st Samuel 10, let's read it, will be in verse one. "Samuel took a flask of oil and he poured it on his head." This was very common as a picture of the anointing of the Holy Spirit oil, picture the Holy Spirit. He poured it out on him, picturing the Holy Spirit being poured and then he said, "Has not Jehovah the Lord anointed you to be ruler over his inheritance."
"Now, when you go from me today," and he's now going to list all of these detailed things that are going to happen that very exact day. These are signs, these are things when he sees them will confirm this is in fact God's word. Notice, "When you go from me today, you will find two men close to Rachel's Tomb in the territory of Benjamin at Zelzah," not one, not three, two.
"They will say to you, "Hey, the donkeys which you went to look for have been found. Now, behold, your father has ceased to be concerned about the donkeys and is anxious for you saying, 'What should I do about my son?' Then, you will go on further from there, and you will come as far as the oak of Tabor, and there three men going up to God at Bethel we'll meet you." Three, not one, not five, three. "One of them will be carrying three kids," or goats, baby goats. "Another will be carrying three loaves of bread, and another will be carrying a jug of wine.

Now they will greet you, and then they will give you two loaves of bread, which you will receive from their hand. Afterward, you will come to the hill of God where the Philistine garrison is. It shall be as soon as you've come up there to the city, that you will meet a group of prophets." Not prophets in the sense of people declaring the future, which oftentimes people think of when they hear that word, but no, this is a different sense.

"These will be a group of prophets coming down from the high place," which is to say they were worshipping with these exact instruments, "harp, tambourine, flute, and a lyre. They will be prophesying. Then, the Spirit of the Lord will come upon you mightily, and you, Saul, will also prophesy." Notice, "You will be changed into another man." Here's the whole point of the chapter, "You will be changed into another man." This is the work that God does.

"It shall be that when these signs come," these are confirming signs, when they come, "do for yourself what the occasion requires, for God is surely with you. You will go down before me to Gilgal and behold, I will come to you to offer burnt offerings and sacrifice peace offerings, you shall wait seven days until I come to you and show you what you should do. Then it happened that when he turned his back to leave Samuel, that God changed his heart," God touched him.

Something happened there. God did something. He touched him, He changed his heart, "and then all of these signs came about on that very day. When they came to the hill there, behold, a group of prophets met them and the Spirit of God came upon him mightily, and he indeed prophesied with them. It came about that when all who knew him previously saw that he now prophesied with the prophets that the people said to one another, 'Is that's Saul? Is that the son of Kish?' Then, 'Is Saul among the prophets? Really? Is Saul among the prophets?'
A man they're answered and he said, 'Now, who is their father?'" I love that answer. "Is God not their father? This is the Spirit of the Father. Therefore, it became a proverb," in other words, it became a saying in Israel, "Is Saul among the prophets?" In other words, if anything unusual would happen, if this strange thing or that strange thing would happen, somebody would say, "Well, hey, is Saul among the prophets?" If Saul can be among the prophets, then that can happen too.

"When he had finished prophesying, he then came to the high place. Now, Saul's uncle said to him and his servant, 'Where did you go.' He said, 'To look for the donkeys, and then when we saw that they could not be found, we went to Samuel.' Saul's uncle said, ''Well, then, please tell me what Samuel said to you.' Saul said to his uncle, 'He told us plainly that the donkeys have been found,' but Saul did not tell him about the matter of the kingdom, which Samuel had mentioned." Not yet.

There's no fruit of this yet. "Now, thereafter, Samuel called the people together to the Lord at Mizpah. He said to the sons of Israel, 'Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the power of all the kingdoms that were oppressing you,' without a King, 'but you today rejected your God who delivers you from your calamities and your distresses. Yet, you have said, 'No, set a king over us.' Now, therefore, present yourselves before the Lord by tribes and by clans.'

Thus Samuel brought the tribes of Israel near, and the tribe of Benjamin was taken by lot." This was a common way in that day to discern the direction and will of God, by lot. Then he brought the tribe of Benjamin near, by families, and the Matrite family was taken and then, eventually, Saul the son of Kish was taken. When they went to look for him, they couldn't find him. He could not be found." I find this part of the story kind of humorous. Therefore, they inquired of the Lord, "Has the man even come here yet?"

He said, ''Oh, he's here. Behold, he's hiding himself in the baggage.' They ran and looked for him and took him from there, and when he stood among the people, behold, he was taller than any of the people from his shoulders upward. Samuel said to the people, 'Do you see him whom the Lord has chosen?' Surely there's no one like him among all the people. All the people shouted, 'Long, live the king.' Then Samuel told the people the ordinances of the kingdom, wrote them in a book, placed it before them. Samuel sent all the people away each to his own house.

Now, Saul also went to his house at Gibeah." Would you notice this right here? "Valiant men whose hearts God had touched went with him. There were other certain worthless fellows," in the Hebrew sons of Belial, who said, 'How can this man deliver us?' They despised Saul and did not bring him any present, but he kept silent about this matter."
These are the verses I want us to look at. It's very important to understand and discern how this is applied to our lives because God is doing the very same thing today. God is transforming. God is making people new and He does so-- Notice at the beginning of this chapter when he pours out the anointed oil, it's a picture of the Holy Spirit. This is the very same Holy Spirit that is at work in the church today. Same Holy Spirit then is the same Holy Spirit now.

I. Live the Spirit Filled Life
Therefore, to live the transformed life, to be made new, He is indicating by this to live the spirit-filled life. That's what He's asking today for believers in the Lord, "Live the spirit-filled life." Now it's important to recognize by the way that the ministry of the spirit was different in the Old Testament than in the New Testament. In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit was only anointed a limited number of people. For example, prophets or priests or kings for the purpose of which they were called to be that prophet or king or whatever. Very limited number of them anointed by the spirit.

Not true in the New Testament. In New Testament, in this time and age in which we are living, every single person who asked Jesus into their heart as Lord and savior is anointed by and filled by the very same Holy Spirit that filled Saul in that day. It's very important to recognize God is doing a new work by pouring out his Spirit on every believer who opens their hearts to the Lord.

Notice, Romans 8:9,14. ''If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he doesn't belong to Him. For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are in fact the sons of God." These are the ones being led by the Spirit. These are the sons of God. Wait, you might say, "I'm not called to be a king. Why should I be anointed?" You are called to be a son or a daughter of the King, and in fact, you have been adopted by God so that you have a relationship to God as your father. That is a calling. That is a mission. That is a purpose.

A. God will strengthen your unbelief
When God calls and when God fills by His Spirit, He gives everyone a mission, a purpose, a calling. God sends forth everyone with a mission, a purpose, a calling. Now, in order to walk in that, to be transformed, He pours out the Holy Spirit, but it's also true that you must have faith. You must increase in faith. Here's the thing. Here's what we got to see is great, beautiful part of the story. God will strengthen your lack of faith. God will strengthen your unbelief. He gives these confirming signs, it's a scriptural principle. God confirms His word.

He tells them all of these events, exact, that will happen that day. "You will meet these two men and they will say to you this. You will go to the high place, you will meet three men, one would be carrying three baby goats, one would be carrying three loaves of bread, one would be carrying a jug of wine. They will offer you two, you take them from them." This is very exact. "You will find these prophets coming down with these exact instruments. They will be prophesied and then you will be anointed powerfully by the Spirit and you will prophesy." Exactly so.
All of these signs were given to strengthen his unbelief, to strengthen his faith because God always confirms His word. When He confirms His word, it strengthens faith. I've mentioned recently, it bears repeating that the greatest confirming, the greatest evidence and proof that God's word is true is in fact, the resurrection of Jesus Christ. That is the confirming proof and evidence that everything God said is true, and then it's interesting because you imagine now the transformation. First of all, do you even comprehend God's call on his life?

In order for him to move into and fulfill the calling and purpose and mission, his unbelief is going to have to be transformed into belief. He's going to have to increase in faith. Now, it reminds me of a story of an occasion that happened in the Gospel of Mark when a man came to Jesus asking for help for his boy. Now, his boy was tremendously bothered by this demon to the point that this demon was trying to harm the boy, cast him into a fire, and whatnot. The man came to Jesus and he said to Jesus, ''If you can do anything, please take pity on us and help us.''

Would you notice what he said? ''If you can do anything, take pity and help us.'' Mark 9:23-24, Jesus answered and He said-- ''If you can do anything--'' Jesus says, ''If? If you can? All things are possible to him who believes,'' immediately the boy's father cried out. This is fascinating. The boy's father cried out and he says, ''I do believe, help my unbelief.'' Now why I liked that is because there are so many people today who can relate to that very thing. There's so many people who believe, but know that they need to believe more. They want to believe more.

"Help me I want to believe more." You see, there's deeper faith. There's increasing faith. There's greater places to go in your faith. I believe, but I want to believe more. How many people would say that very thing? "I want to believe more." Here's the thing. God will give you what you need to strengthen your faith. God will give you what you need to strengthen your faith. When He gives you confirming signs, He's giving you what you need, but here's another thing.

Romans 10:17. ''Faith comes from hearing and hearing by the word of Christ. When he sends forth His word, it is sent forth by the power of the Holy Spirit. When you open your heart to the word of God, He sends it forth in power and it does not return void without accomplishing the purpose for which He sent it." It is a transforming power because the word of God will strengthen your faith. If you want to be a man or a woman that's transformed, being made new, you must have the word of God abiding.

Now, interesting in a similar way, God tells us in advance what will happen in the latter days. When you see these things, they will be confirming signs. Jesus said that in the latter days, there will be wars, there'll be rumors of wars. There'll be famine. There will be earthquakes that will increase in intensity as the time draws near. Pestilence, all of these things will be like a woman in the pangs of childbirth, greater intensity, closer together as the time draws near. He, God, foretold.

There would be a reunification of the old Roman Empire, that Israel would be back in the land after 2,000 years, that the epicenter of world tensions and problems would be the Middle East, that Israel would be for the world a cup of trembling and an unsolvable problem. We are told in advance the condition of things in the latter days. Men in the latter days will not endure sound doctrine, their ears will not endure sound doctrine. In the latter days, men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.

They will hold to a form of religion, but they will deny the power thereof. Now, when you see the word of God fulfilled in the latter day, it strengthens faith, because it is the confirming signs of God. God confirms His Word. God confirms His Word to strengthen your faith because when you have faith that's strengthened, then you can live out the purpose and calling and mission of your life. God is transforming you by that increasing faith. That's why Paul writes to his young son in the faith, to Timothy, this is 1st Timothy 1:18-19, where he says to Timothy, "Fight the good fight, man."

B. God’s Holy Spirit is life changing power
Hey, this is a troubled world. We're living in a very difficult world. They had many troubles then. We are facing many troubles today. "Fight the good fight, man." Notice, keeping faith, this is how you fight the good fight in a spiritual sense, keeping faith and a good conscience. That is interesting. There's a deep word there. Fight the good fight by keeping faith and a good conscience.

What does that mean, to keep a good conscience? It means that as you are walking according to what God is doing in your life, transforming you, making you new, and that you're walking according to the way that He has ordained for you. Now you're walking in the purpose and mission and calling of your life, that your conscience, your soul within you bears witness that it's good. It's good to walk in the ways of God. It's good to walk in deeper faith. There's a confirming within you, a good conscience, "Which some have rejected and suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith."

Do not let this happen. God will transform you, He will send forth His Spirit and His word because God's Holy Spirit is life-changing power. The very reason He sent it. His Holy Spirit is life-changing power. Samuel said to Saul, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you mightily." The same Holy Spirit Jesus promised to the church, very same.

Notice Acts 1:8, "You will receive power," the word there is dunamis, power. "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses," because you have the power of the Spirit is moving in you with such strength of God, "that you will bear witness in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, even the remotest part of the earth." He sends His Holy Spirit for the purpose of life-changing power so that He can take sinners and they will be changed into becoming, walking in the mission and purpose and calling of sons and daughters of God. That's what he does.

He takes sinners, and He transforms them to give the mission and purpose and calling of God. When the Holy Spirit came upon Saul, he prophesied. Now, when he's prophesying is likely, again, not in the foretelling sense of prophesying, but of declaring. He's infilled by the Spirit, he's inspired. The word inspired literally means to be breathed into. The Holy Spirit is the breath of God. He breathes his life in so that there is a declaring. It could be a singing or shouting for the mighty deeds of God, very much like in Acts 2:11.

"We hear them in our own tongues. Now, the Holy Spirit poured out on the early church, speaking of the mighty deeds of God." It could have been singing, it could have been declaring, but he was inspired by the breath of God. He was ushering forth from his soul, declaring these things.

Now here's what's interesting. Another similar thing happened during the time of Moses. If you remember, as Moses was leading the people of Israel through the desert, that at one point he appointed 70 elders in the overseeing of the people of Israel.

He gathered these 70 elders at the tent of meeting. This is that tent that Moses had set up outside the camp for anyone who would meet God. He brings these 70 elders outside the camp to the tent of meeting, and what should happen? The scripture describes that God took of the same Spirit that was on Moses, the same Holy Spirit anointed for the purpose and calling of his life, He took the same Holy Spirit and He put it on the 70 elders. It says that they all began to prophesy, same word, same idea. They all begin to prophesy, not foretelling but declaring.
What's interesting is that actually, there were 2 of those 70 that were not there. They were still in the camp. Maybe they got up late that morning, who knows, but they were still in the camp, and they started prophesying in the camp. A young man came in, ran to Moses, "Medad and Eldad are prophesying in the camp." Joshua said, "No, my lord, restrain them." Now, I love Moses' answer.

Notice in Numbers 11:29, "Moses said to Joshua, 'Are you jealous for me? Are you jealous for my sake?' Would that all the Lord's people were prophets. Would that all the Lord, that the Lord will put His Spirit upon all of them." Here's a glorious thing, He did, He does today. The fulfilling of that word is today, because the same Holy Spirit is moving, that even today when people are worshiping and declaring the mighty acts of God, you're doing so because the Holy Spirit has moved and inspired upon you to do it. He's beginning life-changing transformation.
It's such a radical thing what's happening in Saul that those who saw him prophesy, filled with the spirit, those who knew him previously, saw this transformation and said, "Is that Saul? Is this the son of Kish? Is this the same one that we know that used to plow with the oxen? Is this the same guy?" Then they said, "Is Saul among the prophets?" It became a saying in Israel. I find that just to be an amazing example. Can you just imagine that being said of you?

Okay, imagine, let's say this, you've been out in the world, you're done with the world, and then you open your heart. You begin to recognize that God loves you. God loves sinners, and you open your heart. He knocks on the door, He calls your name, and you open your heart, you come to faith in Jesus Christ. Then he begins to work, to transform you and He moves in power, He's making you a new man or a new woman. Imagine now five years later, you've been moving, walking in the power of God, and being transformed.

Five years later, you run into someone who knew you when you used to do the world thing. Now they see your life's changed, your life's transformed it, wouldn't it be glorious if they look at you and say, "Wow, is that you? Look at you, man, something's happening in you." That's a great testimony, God doing something. Now, but the reverse is also true. Imagine that a person does the world hard. You know what I'm talking about? They do the world thing and they do it hard.

I tell you, you run into someone five years later who knew you before, and they look at you having done the world hard for five years. They will look at you and say, "What happened to you?" It's like when Naomi came back from Moab, "Is that Naomi?" "Don't call me that, call me bitter. It's been a hard turn." You've been in the world for five years, you've done the world hard and they look at you, "What happened?" "The world happened, that's what," and it doesn't end well. It doesn't end well.

This is important. God sets you on a course for good. When He calls you and sets forth purpose and mission, it's for good. It's to increase, to make you more like Him. I was thinking of an illustration I remember hearing when I was younger, and it says, Imagine, you're driving in your car and you take a shortcut, and you take a shortcut to the bad part of town. As you're driving through the bad part of town, it's late in the evening, and your car breaks down. You think, "Oh no, of all places." Your car breaks down and then you start looking around and you realize, "There's a house right there, lights are on, and then the door opens, and out comes a whole bunch of big burly guys coming right at you." It goes like this, "Would it make a difference at all at that moment if you knew that they were coming from a Bible study?" I suggest if you heard that they were coming from a Bible study, you'll be going, "Oh, Praise God from whom all blessings flow," because then you would know, "Oh, these come to help me," because God transforms for good.

God increases your life. Now here's the thing, God doesn't leave you to transform yourself. He doesn't say, "Hey, you need to get your act together, and if you don't, I'm going to be angry." Many people think that of God, but they're quite wrong. God doesn't say that, God didn't say you need to get your act together. What He says is this, "I want you to be a different man or a woman. I called you as a sinner, but I won't leave you that way, I'll make you transformed into the son or daughter called to be. If you'll open your heart, I will be that power that changes you. I will do this work."

This is the work of God. You just open your heart. Here's a great word. It's a prophetic word out of Ezekiel 36:26. "Moreover, I will give you a new heart," the Lord prophesies, "and I will put a new spirit, different spirit, a new spirit. I will remove that heart of stone from your flesh, and I'll give you a new heart." Now, why that's such an apt picture is because the problem of stone is its stoniness, it's hard. It's a picture of the stubborn one.

I'll tell you that stubbornness has gotten in the way of many people's lives. It's gotten in the way. It's kept many people from taking hold of what God would do in their lives. If you would delight your heart in Him, if you would open your heart, He'll give you a new heart. Psalm 37:4, "Delight yourself in the Lord." That is the transformation.

II. He Who Began a Good Work is Faithful
That is what God does to make you new, "Delight yourself in the Lord," and He'll even give you the desires of your heart. He'll change, your desires. He will complete it.

See, here's the thing. "He who began a good work will be faithful to complete it." He who began this work, when He called sinners to himself, He began the work, a work of transformation, and He's faithful. Samuel told Saul, the holy spirit would change him into another man. What we see in the rest of the chapter is that it's the beginning. It doesn't always happen at once. Philippians 1:6, "I am confident of this very thing," Paul wrote, "that He who began a good work in you," that's the Lord, "He will be faithful to complete it until the day of Christ Jesus."

A. Keep being changed; it’s God’s work in you

In other words, transformation is a process. Keeping faithful, keep walking, keep walking with God and He will change your life. It's a process. We are all still in the process of being changed. I have never yet met a person, I've never yet met a person who would claim, "I have reached the pinnacle. There is nothing higher than what I have achieved in my life." If anybody said that I have a word for them, "Oh no, there is something higher still. Let's get rid to the pride, and then see what God can do." Amen.

There is always more. God is still yet doing more. God is not finished with you yet. I'm in process, you are in process, but the key is to keep being changed. Stay steadfast, keep being changed because it's God's work that He is doing in you. Keep being faithful, keep walking, keep being changed. The day of the inauguration comes, Saul is pronounced King, but he's nowhere to be found, he's hiding amongst the baggage. Now, at first, you think, "Oh, this is so cute. He's so humble." This is not humility, it's fear. It's a character flaw. It's a character flaw.

The question is, whether he will allow God by that same Holy Spirit to touch that character flaw because we all have character flaws. None among us is perfect. We all have things that are flaws. The question is, will you let God touch that very thing? That flaw is the very thing that God wants to touch in order to transform you into his mission and purpose and calling in your life. That very flaw, that weak point, God will touch that. Fear is a debilitating thing. Fear is a prison. It is a debilitating thing.

Fear will derail Saul, and in the end, it will consume him as we will see when we get into the story of David. Here's what's interesting. God had a plan for Israel, so that one day when they did have a king-- because God did say to Moses, one day they will have a king, but when they have that king, I give a provision to you to keep that king on the way that is good and right if only they would stay steadfast in it, but here's the word. 

Deuteronomy 17:18-20, God's word through Moses. "When it shall come about when that one day when you have a king. It shall come about that when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write for himself a copy of the law on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests." Now just imagine this scene.

B. Open your heart and He’ll touch you as well
It says, when a king is inaugurated, one of the first things he must do is to sit down with a scroll and a pen, with the Levitical priests on one side and another on the other. He used to write out the entirety of the law by hand. The priests are watching over him to make sure that he misses not one word, nothing is misspelled, and it's all in the correct order. Then it shall be with him and he shall read it all the days of his life.

He's giving a word of the power of transformation that comes when a person abides in the word. Jesus said, "If you abide in the word, truly you are disciples of mine. If you will abide in my words, truly you are disciples of mine." He says, take this man, write it out by hand, and he shall keep it with him all the days of his life. He shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord. That word means to have respect, have revering. To stand in awe of who God is. That is a powerful aspect of transformation.

When you revere God, you recognize Him as king. You recognize His authority over you. He says, if a king would do that, if a king would stand under the authority of God, then it says, being careful to observe the words of his laws and statutes, then his heart may not be lifted up above his countrymen. May he not think that he's all that, may he not Lord it over people because this is not the heart or character of God. Let him not turn to the right or to the left so that his sons may continue along in the kingdom, in the midst of Israel.

Lastly, we'll close with this. Would you notice in the very end of this chapter that when Samuel dismisses everyone to go to their homes, that Saul went to his house at Gibeah, and then valiant men went with him? Would you notice this, valiant men whose hearts God had touched went with him. There were men, valiant men, men of action, stood up. God touched, something happened. God touched.

Here's the thing, God desires to do the very thing today. If you would open your heart, he'll touch you as well, because God is still looking for valiant men and valiant women today, men and women of action. That will fulfill their mission and purpose and calling and walk into what the transformation of a son or daughter of God means. He's still looking, he's searching to touch.
One of my favorite verses of all the Bible is 2nd Chronicles 16:9. If there's such thing as life verses, this has got to be one of them. "The eyes of the Lord search to and fro," always looking, always searching. The eyes of the Lord search to and fro, throughout the whole earth in order to show Himself strong in behalf of those whose hearts are perfectly His." Those whose hearts are His, He's looking for them. Those who have a heart after Him, that He might show Himself strong in their behalf. He'll touch.

They were valiant men because they were men of action. "Fight the good fight," He said, "fight the good fight, keeping faith and a good conscience." Be men and women of action, fulfilling the mission and purpose, and calling of your life. Then at the end of Paul's life, as the end drew near, he wrote this, 2nd Timothy 4:7, "I fought the good fight, I finished the course, I kept the faith." Wouldn't that be glorious? Walk in this path, be transformed, be men and women of action by walking in that purpose and mission and calling of your life, but you got to be transformed.

He says, "This is the work that I do. I do this work. You open your heart, I'll touch. I'll give the holy spirit. I'll send forth my word. I'll establish a foundation and I will build your life upon it. Let me do this work." You say, "Well, what's my part?" My part is wanting it and opening your heart, desiring that which God would do. Your part is the one thing, the desiring and the opening of your heart.

Father, thank you so much for showing us your way. Help us now to understand that this is a work that you're doing today in our time, that you're calling men and women to be men and women of action now. You called sinners, what a glorious thing is this, you've called sinners to yourself and then you transform those sinners to be sons and daughters of the almighty. Giving them mission and purpose and calling, and then transforming them by the pouring of your presence and the Spirit of God, giving a foundation in the word, but Church, your part is the desiring.

Would you say to the Lord today, touch my life, I want more. I want more. I want to live out that purpose and mission and calling on my life. I want more. Would you say that to God? Would you just raise your hand and say it by raising your hand? I'm asking, I'm desiring, I want more. I want more, God. Do this work in me, do this. It's a delight of my soul. Do more. I want to believe you for more.

Father, thank you for everyone who is moved of God, inspired by, breathed into by the Holy Spirit. You are breathing into, today, hearts that are opened to you, touching lives, transforming by your power. We give you honor, we give you thanks and glory for all you're doing in us now, in Jesus name, and everyone said--
Congregation: Amen. Can we give the Lord praise and glory and honor for what He's doing. Amen.

1 Samuel 10    NASB

1 Then Samuel took the flask of oil, poured it on [a]Saul’s head, kissed him, and said, “Has the Lord not anointed you as ruler over His inheritance? 2 When you leave me today, then you will find two men close to Rachel’s tomb in the territory of Benjamin at Zelzah; and they will say to you, ‘The donkeys which you went to look for have been found. Now behold, your father has stopped talking about the donkeys and is anxious about you, saying, “What am I to do about my son?”’ 3 Then you will go on further from there, and you will come as far as the [b]oak of Tabor, and there three men going up to God at Bethel will meet you: one carrying three young goats, another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a jug of wine. 4 And they will [c]greet you and give you two loaves of bread, which you will accept from their hand. 5 Afterward you will come to [d]the hill of God where the Philistine garrison is; and it shall be as soon as you have come there to the city, that you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the high place with harp, tambourine, flute, and a lyre in front of them, and they will be prophesying. 6 Then the Spirit of the Lord will rush upon you, and you will prophesy with them and be changed into a different man. 7 And it shall be when these signs come to you, do for yourself what [e]the occasion requires, because God is with you. 8 And you shall go down ahead of me to Gilgal; and behold, I will be coming down to you to offer burnt offerings and sacrifice peace offerings. You shall wait seven days until I come to you and inform you of what you should do.”

9 Then it happened, when he turned his back to leave Samuel, that God changed [f]his heart; and all those signs came about on that day. 10 When they came there to [g]the hill, behold, a group of prophets met him; and the Spirit of God rushed upon him, so that he prophesied among them. 11 And it came about, when all who previously knew him saw that he was indeed prophesying with the prophets, that the people said to one another, “What is this that has happened to the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?” 12 And a man from there responded and said, “And who is their father?” Therefore it became a saying: “Is Saul also among the prophets?” 13 When he had finished prophesying, he came to the high place.

14 Now Saul’s uncle said to him and his servant, “Where did you go?” And he said, “To look for the donkeys. When we saw that they were nowhere to be found, we went to Samuel.” 15 Saul’s uncle said, “Please tell me what Samuel said to you.” 16 So Saul said to his uncle, “He told us plainly that the donkeys had been found.” But he did not tell him about the matter of the kingdom which Samuel had mentioned.
17 Now Samuel called the people together to the Lord at Mizpah; 18 and he said to the sons of Israel, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘I brought Israel up from Egypt, and I rescued you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the [h]power of all the kingdoms that were oppressing you.’ 19 But today you have rejected your God, who saves you from all your catastrophes and your distresses; yet you have [i]said, ‘No, but put a king over us!’ Now then, present yourselves before the Lord by your tribes and by your [j]groups of thousands.”

20 So Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel forward; and the tribe of Benjamin was selected by lot. 21 Then he brought the tribe of Benjamin forward by its families, and the Matrite family was selected by lot. And Saul the son of Kish was selected by lot; but when they looked for him, he could not be found. 22 Therefore they inquired further of the Lord: “Has the man come here yet?” And the Lord said, “Behold, he is hiding himself among the baggage.” 23 So 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 Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see him whom the Lord has chosen? Surely there is no one like him among all the people.” So all the people shouted and said, “[k]Long live the king!”

25 Then Samuel told the people the ordinances of the kingdom, and wrote them in the book, and placed it before the Lord. And Samuel sent all the people away, each one to his house. 26 Saul also went to his house in Gibeah; and the valiant men whose hearts God had touched went with him. 27 But certain [l]useless men said, “How can this one save us?” And they despised him and did not bring him a gift. But [m]he kept silent about it.

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