Alright, good morning everyone, welcome to First Works Baptist Church, let's all find
As you find your seat, grab a songbook, turn to song number 250.
Song number 250 for our first song. Let's all stand together for this first song if you're able.
Song number 250, burdens are lifted in Calvary, all together nice and strong on that first verse.
are lonely and drear, burdens are lifted at Calvary.
Perjus is very near, burdens are lifted at Calvary.
Calvary, Calvary, burdens are lifted at Calvary.
Jesus is very near.
Jesus, today, leave your worry and fear.
Burnins are lifted at Calvary. Jesus is very near.
Burnins are lifted at Calvary. Calvary, Calvary.
Burnins are lifted at Calvary. Jesus is very near.
The Savior can see, every heartache and tear.
Burdens are lifted at Calvary, Jesus is very near.
Burdens are lifted at Calvary, Calvary, Calvary.
Burdens are lifted at Calvary, Jesus is very near.
wonderful singing. Let's start off our service with a word of prayer. Dear Lord
God Heavenly Father, we just thank you so much for giving us another day that we
can come here to your house and hear the preaching of your word and we ask that
you please bless our service this morning, bless each and every aspect of it.
Please bless the singing Lord that it would be pleasing to your ears and
bring honor and glory to your name and prepare hearts for the message.
Most of all, please fill past me here with your spirit as he preaches unto us Lord
Give us your spirit also in the congregation that we may leave here changed in Jesus name. We pray amen. You may be seated
Please turn your song books to song number 210
Song number 210 wonderful grace of Jesus
song number 210 wonderful grace of Jesus all together nice and strong on that
first verse wonderful grace of Jesus greater than all my sin how shall my
tongue describe it where shall its praise begin
Jesus reaches me. Wonderful, the matchless grace of Jesus. Deeper than the mighty roaming sea.
Wonderful grace, all sufficient for me, for even me.
of Jesus, reaching to all the laws, by it I have been pardoned.
the grace of Jesus, deeper than the mighty rolling sea. Higher than the mountains, sparkling
like a fountain, all sufficient grace for even me. The scope of my truth's questions greater
Praise of Jesus
By His transforming power
Making Him God's dear child
Purchase in peace and health
And then let's go to Minecraft's grass and see it
Greater farm than all my sin and shame
Oh, and the precious name of Jesus
All right, great singing.
Let me catch my breath after that song.
Great singing there.
Thank you for being here this morning.
Welcome to First Works Baptist Church.
Just a few announcements here before we sing our next song,
which will be song number 105,
All That Thrills My Soul.
If you wanna get that ready in your song books, 105.
If you did not get a bulletin, go ahead and raise your hand.
One of the ushers can get one for you.
Some important information on there.
Of course, our Sunday morning service.
is at 10.30. Sunday evening is typically at 5 p.m. but tonight because of our
mini soul-winning marathon we're pushing the service to 5.30 so keep that in mind.
I'll give you more info in just a bit about that and then we welcome you to
come back on Thursday for our Bible study at seven o'clock and we are
currently going through the book of Isaiah. We'll be in chapter 50 this coming
Thursday so hope to see you back then. We see also you see the soul-winning times
We do want to let you know if you're visiting with us today that we are a family integrated church
and so infants and children stay with their parents in the service but for your convenience
there is a mother baby room located in the back of the building should your child need some
diversion changing tables speakers and screens are available there as well so just keep that in mind
you see the stats there for salvations and baptisms for the month of
February great month there on the right hand side is the upcoming church events as I mentioned
So winning marathon today after the service and let me just give you the schedule here
We will be leaving for souling at 1 p.m. And so many will begin from 1 30 to 3 15
And so over the last couple of weeks
we've been doing a souling training just get encouraging people to get out there and preach the gospel and so we will
implement that today and
We're gonna have that souling time from 1 30 to 3 15 if you don't don't already have a souling team to go with everyone
Typically does but if you're new and you want to go you can see brother Ulysses Hernandez or we
can just approach you and place you on your team if you'd like. Just come and
see us if you'd like to do so. But we, along with that, we also have an early
dinner from 3.30 to 5 p.m. And so 1.30 to 3.15 is the soul evening. 3.30 to 5 p.m.
is the dinner. And we got your favorite, Pollo Loco, amen.
And so I think that's always good to have.
5.30 is the service, and so just keep that in mind there.
And pray that we just see a lot of people saved today.
Pray that the hearts are softened of the people we're going to speak to,
and that God will prosper our way.
We also have a men's prayer night coming up this Friday, March 7th,
meeting at the building at 7 p.m.
Dinner will be provided for that,
so I want to encourage the men to be a part of that.
And before I forget, I got a little sticky note.
I always forget every month.
Actually, so let me put a pause.
on the announcements and everyone was already thinking this this is why they're laughing
I forgot to sing happy birthday to the those in the month of March so let me let me find out
whose birthday is in March on this sign any birthdays in March we've got one right over here
well is anybody else over here we got one there all right anybody else over here
Right there. Okay. Anybody else brother brother carrier right here. All right. Let's sing happy birthday to those in March
Ready here we go. Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday. God bless you
Happy birthday to you round of applause
It's got to be super awkward for brother carries, you know, standing in front of everyone
That's like the worst right when when you get the birthday cake and everyone just see you just got to stand there and take it, right?
Home school park days coming up on Friday, March 14th
You have the address there. We're meeting at 10 a.m.
If you have any questions about that you can see my wife Sarah for more details and then the TJ missions trip
It's coming up on Saturday, March 29th.
We'll be meeting at the building at 9.15 a.m.
If you would like to get a ride there,
please make sure you see Brother Ulysses Hernandez
or Evangelis.
Just make sure you bring your passport
or you will become a permanent missionary, amen.
At the bottom, please make sure you silence your phones
during the preaching so as to not be a distraction
during the service.
And that is it for our announcements.
Let's go ahead and sing our next song.
105, All That Thrills My Soul.
All right, song number 105, all that thrills my soul.
All together, nice and strong on that first verse.
Who can cheer the heart like Jesus
by his presence all divine?
True and tender, pure and precious.
Oh, how blessed to call him mine.
All that thrills my soul is Jesus.
He is more than life to me.
And the fairest of ten thousand
of Christ so freely given, grace of God beyond degree, mercy higher than the heavens, deeper
more than life to me.
And the fairest of 10,000, in my blessed Lord I see.
What a wonderful redemption, never can a mortal know.
My sin, though red like crimson, Can be whiter than the snow.
All that thrills my soul is Jesus.
He is more than life to me.
And the fairest of ten thousand.
blessed Lord I see. Every need his hand supplying.
On his strength divine.
My soul is Jesus
We'll see
And then wonderful singing at this time, the ushers will come forward to receive the offering.
You can turn your bibles to 1 Samuel chapter number nine.
First Samuel chapter nine.
morning, we're in 1 Samuel chapter number nine.
1 Samuel chapter nine, the Bible reads.
Now there was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish, the son
of Abyle, the son of Zair, the son of Bekirath,
the son of Afayah, a Benjamin, a mighty man of power.
And he had a son whose name was Saul, a choice young man
and a Goodly, and there was not among the children of Israel
a Goodlier person than he.
From his shoulders and upward, he was
higher than any other people.
And the asses of Kish Saul's father were lost, and Kish said to Saul his son,
take now one of the servants with thee, and rise, go seek the asses.
And he passed through them, and he passed through Mount Ephraim, and passed through the land of Shalasha,
but they found them not. Then they passed through the land of Shalom, and there they were not.
And he passed through the land of the Benjaminites, but they found them not.
And when they were come to the land of Zeph, Saul said to his servant that was with him,
Come and let us return, lest my father take, leave, caring for the asses, and take thought for us.
And he said unto him, Behold, now there is in this city a man of God, and he is an honorable man.
All that he saith come with surely to pass.
Now let us go thither, for adventure he can show us our way that we should go.
Then said Saul to his servant, But behold, if we go, what shall we bring the man?
For the bread is spent in our vessels, and there is not a present to bring to the man of God.
and servant answered Saul again and said,
The old I have here at hand,
the fourth part of a shekel of silver,
that will I give the man of God to tell us our way.
Before time in Israel,
when a man went to inquire of God, thus he spake,
come and let us go to the seer.
For he that is now called a prophet
was before time called a seer.
Then said Saul to his servant well said come let us go so they went under the city where the man of God was
And as they went up the hill to the city
They found young maidens going out to draw water and sit under them is the seer here and answered them and said he is
Behold he's before you may case now for he came today to the city
But there's a sacrifice of the people today in the high place as soon as you become into the city
You shall straightway find him before you go up to the high place to eat
But the people will not eat until he come because it was blessed the sacrifice and afterwards they eat that bebidden
Now therefore get you up for about this time you shall find him
They went up into the city and when they were coming to the city behold Samuel came out against them for to go up to the high place
The Lord had told Samuel in his ear day before Saul came saying tomorrow about this time
I will send the man out of the land of Benjamin
Now shout anoint him to be captain over my people Israel
They may save my people out of the hand of the Philistines for I looked upon my people because their cries come unto me
And when Samuel saw Saul, the Lord said unto him, Behold, the man of whom I speak to thee of,
This same shall reign over my people.
Then Saul drew near to Samuel on the gate and said, Tell me, I pray thee, where the seer's
house is.
And Samuel answered to Saul and said, I am this here.
Go up before me unto the high place, For ye shall eat with me today, and tomorrow I will
let thee go, and tell thee all that is in thine heart.
And as for thine answers that were lost three days ago, Set not thy mind on them, for they
are found.
And on whom is all the desire of Israel?
Is it not on thee and on all thy father's house?
And Saul answered and said,
Am not I a Benjaminite of the smallest
of the tribes of Israel?
Am I family the least of all the families
of the tribe of Benjamin?
Wherefore then speakest thou so to me?
And Samuel took Saul and his servant
and brought them into the parlor
and made them sit in the chiefest place
among them that were bid in which were about 30 persons.
And Samuel said unto the cook,
bring the portion which I gave thee,
of which I said unto thee, set it by thee.
And the cook took up the shoulder, and that which was upon it, and set it before Saul.
And Samuel said, Behold, that which is left, set it before thee, and eat.
For at this time I have been kept for thee, since I have said I have invited the people.
So Saul did eat with Samuel that day.
And when they would come down from the high place into the city, Samuel communed with
Saul upon the top of the house, and they rose early and came to pass about the spring of
the day that Samuel called Saul to the top of the house, saying, up, that I might send
thee away.
And Saul rose, and they went out both of them, he and Samuel abroad, and as they were going
down to the end of the city, Samuel said to Saul, bid the servant pass on before us,
and he passed on, but stand now, still awhile, that I might show thee the word of God.
Let's pray, dear Lord God, thank you again for everything you blessed us with.
Just pray that you would bless our passion now with your Holy Spirit as it
preaches your word unto us, and pray that you give us years to hear it.
In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
Amen.
Okay, we're in 1 Samuel chapter 9 and look down at your Bibles in verse 19, it says in
Samuel answered Saul and said, I am the seer, go up before me unto the high place, for ye
shall eat with me today, and tomorrow I will let thee go, and we'll tell thee all that
is in thine heart, and as for thine asses, that were lost three days ago, set not thine
mind on them, for they are found.
And on whom is all the desire of Israel is it not on thee and on thy father's all thy father's house
And the time I sermon this morning is the chronicles of Saul his rise and fall the chronicles of Saul
His rise and fall in this morning. I want to talk about
King Saul the first king of Israel and what are some of the things that made him initially a great king and
How really he does picture the Lord Jesus Christ in a lot of ways and then tonight
I'm actually going to cover his fall as well, so this is a two-part series.
Now King Saul can often catch a bad rap, and obviously for good reason, right?
I mean, he is mostly known for being a really bad king, and in fact, the man had one job.
He's the first king of Israel.
He set forth to really, you know, pave the way for the monarchs of this chosen nation in the Old Testament,
and he basically blew it.
He destroyed his reputation.
He destroyed, he almost destroyed the kingdom.
And of course, God had to punish him greatly.
And so this morning we're gonna look at
what initially made him a good candidate
for being the king of Israel.
And then tonight we're gonna analyze what caused his fall.
Now let's start from the beginning.
Go to chapter eight, if you would.
You're in chapter nine, but we're gonna go to chapter eight.
Now let me just say that the reason Saul came into the picture
in the first place was because the people requested a king,
right?
If you know anything about the history of the nation of Israel, prior to the monarch's reigning,
prior to King Saul, you had the system of the judges.
And of course, it wasn't that Israel didn't have a king, it's just that they didn't have an earthly king.
Their king was God himself, right?
He ruled and reigned over his people.
It was a theocracy, so to speak, since the time that he delivered them from the land of Egypt,
brought him through the wilderness into the promised land,
he was their king.
Thereafter, of course, the children of Israel
get involved in idolatry, abominable actions and conduct
that would cause God to punish them.
So then he would deliver them into the hand of an enemy and then he would raise up a judge
Which is also somewhat known as a general to deliver the children of Israel and that cycle continued for many years on end
And then you know ultimately the children of Israel wanted to be like all the other nations
And they weren't necessarily satisfied with having God as their king look at verse number one of first Samuel chapter 8
This is highlighting essentially the last judge of Israel, which is Samuel it says and it came to pass
when Samuel was old, that he made his sons judges over Israel.
Now the name of his first one was Joel,
and the name of his second Abiyah,
and they were judges in Bersheba.
And his sons walked not in his ways,
but turned aside after Luke and took bribes
and perverted judgment.
Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together
and came to Samuel and to Ramah,
and said unto them, behold, thou are old.
Well, that's nice of them to notice that, right?
Thou are old, and thy sons walked not in thy ways.
Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.
So we have here the fact that Samuel has raised up sons to take his place,
but they are not good candidates for judges.
And in fact,
They essentially are going the opposite route of Samuel.
They're not righteous people.
They're taking bribes.
They're going after filthy lucre.
They're not godly.
They're perverting judgment.
The people see this, and so they want to,
they take this as an opportunity to request
an actual earthly king, and why?
So they can be like all the nations.
Now this is an important principle to learn that
Sometimes believers and Christians want certain things of this world. They want certain possessions of this world
They want a certain status of this world not necessarily because the Bible prescribes it for them
But because they want to be like all the other nations. They want to be like the unsaved
They wanted they want to live like the world, you know
Think like the world talk like the world be like the world be like all the other
Nations they're not necessarily satisfied with the life that God provides
through the principles of God's word,
they wanna be like all the other nations.
It says in verse six,
but the thing that displeased Samuel,
when they said, give us a king to judge us,
and Samuel prayed unto the Lord.
So obviously, Samuel's upset about this, you know?
He's a judge, he's teaching them the word of God.
He is satisfied with the system
of having God rule over them.
And so he's very much unhappy with this consensus.
Look at verse seven,
and the Lord said unto Samuel,
harken unto the voice of the people
in all that they say unto thee,
for they have not rejected thee.
but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.
According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt,
even until this day, where they have forsaken me and served other gods,
so do they also unto thee.
Now therefore hearken unto their voice,
albeit yet protest solemnly unto them,
and show them the manner of the king that shall reign over them.
So
You know, God obviously isn't for this.
He doesn't want an earthly king to reign over his people.
He wants to rule over them, but obviously he's not going to enforce that upon them.
He's allowing them to have what they've requested, right?
And this is kind of showing us that, you know, sometimes Christians, for example, in the
New Testament are not satisfied with plan A, so they want to settle for plan B, right?
And it's just like the acceptable will of God.
They want the acceptable will of God.
They don't necessarily want the perfect will of God.
And what's the perfect will of God for the children of Israel?
To have God as their king.
You know, God is the one fighting their battles.
They don't necessarily have to have a huge army.
God delivers them, not through just physical might of the men that they have,
but even through supernatural means.
You know, God is showing himself strong on the behalf of the people,
but they're not happy with that.
They want a physical king with the large army
and chariots and swords and spears.
They want to be like all the other nations.
And what does God do?
He says, fine, you can have that.
You know, in the principle we can learn there
is that you better make sure
that you know what you're getting into.
When you're asking God for a specific thing right and you better make sure that you're not
Forgoing God's perfect will over his permissible will and what is a permissible will?
It's when God it's not what God originally intended for you
But he'll allow you to have it just because that's what you want
And obviously God doesn't always give us what we want, but sometimes he does and once we get what we want
We realize in the end. This is not what I want. I should have stuck with just having God as my king, right?
Now of course one of the reasons God allows this is because God in his omniscience understands that you know what an earthly king
is a great way to represent the Lord Jesus Christ, right?
Because of the fact that having an earthly king
can be an opportunity to display certain qualities
and attributes of the final king,
which is Jesus Christ himself.
And in fact, you know, when you look throughout
the history of Israel, namely with King David,
you can see a lot of parallels with David and Jesus Christ,
with the reign of David and the reign of Jesus Christ.
And even some of the other kings,
Attributes the day display you can see pictures of Jesus Christ and the Old Testament is filled with God
Allowing certain situations in circumstances because it pictures the Lord Jesus Christ it symbolizes who he is
It symbolizes his coming and so obviously this is an opportunity to do so raise up a king for Israel
So that he can display the qualities of Christ and you know what I believe that Saul
Though has a bad reputation if you've already know if you already know a story
He was supposed to picture the Lord Jesus Christ
Okay, and I believe God intended to use Saul in a great way
Not just to lead Israel as their first king but also to display the qualities that is becoming unto the Lord
That's what God intended and here's the thing is that God is omniscient so he knew that Saul was gonna go back
He knew Saul was gonna make some bad decisions. He knew that Saul was gonna rebel against him
He knew he was gonna disobey him, but you know what God did he gave him a chance anyways
You know what this shows us? It shows us that even though God knows your end, he knows the decisions you're gonna make,
he's still giving you a chance to correct some of those future bad decisions that you might make.
You know showing us that God is not this this Calvinistic God that is just kind of
Controlling you like a puppet making you do everything that he wants you to you're not a robot
You have a will you have a choice to make good or bad decisions and just keep in mind
You know all of us are gonna make bad decisions in the future
Let's try our best to walk according to the laws of God to be spirit-filled to live a life
That's obedient unto the Lord so that we avoid those bad decisions and actually fulfill the potential that God has for us, right?
Because you know God could have just said you know what let's hold off on the king thing got another guy coming
Is David he's a man after my own heart, you know Saul you have no idea you know this guy's bad, you know
This guy is not gonna be a good king, but you know what obviously he loved Saul
He believed in Saul he wanted Saul to make the right decisions
Even though he knows he's gonna make the wrong decisions
He wants him to make the right decisions and he doesn't make him do the right decisions
He allows him to exercise his will and eventually of course leading to his
Demise and so we're gonna look at some of the qualities that made Saul good initially
And again, he catches a bad rap, and all of us
are probably going to avoid Saul when we get to heaven.
And we're running into him.
It's going to be like one of those, oh, oh, Saul.
Not Paul, though, right?
Oh, you're Saul.
Oh, hey.
Nice to meet you, you know?
So what was it like being the first king, you know?
Just like, and you know, I preached a lot about you.
You were used greatly on Earth, too,
as an example of what not to do, you know?
But you know there's a lot of good things that he did do initially and we're going to talk about that this morning
Look look at chapter 9 if you would chapter 9 first and foremost when we think about the fact that he pictures the Lord Jesus Christ
He pictures them as being the desire of Israel. It says in verse 8 verse 18 of first Samuel 9 and
As for dine-asses that were lost three days ago set not thine mind on them for they are found
And this is Samuel speaking to Saul obviously, he says,
and on whom is all the desire of Israel,
is it not on thee and in all thy father's house?
Now, physically speaking, Samuel's referring to the fact
that Saul is the answer to the prayer of the Israelites
because they want a physical king, right?
And he's saying he is the desire of the entire nation
to rule over them.
Well, Israel in the Old Testament can be compared
to like a microcosm of the world.
And the Bible tells us in Haggai chapter 2 verse 7, when prophetically speaking of Jesus Christ it says,
And I will shake all nations, and listen to this, and the desire of all nations shall come.
Now, who's the desire of all nations is Jesus Christ?
You know, it's a phrase that we commonly use during Christmas.
I think it's the song, Hark the Herald Angels Sing.
Is that right?
You know, it talks about the desire of all nations coming, and it says, And I will fill
this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts.
So just as Saul was the desire of Israel, well, in like manner, Jesus Christ is the desire
of all nations.
Why?
Unknowingly, they long for peace, they long for tranquility, and in fact, they long for a ruler to govern over them with benevolence, right?
They want Jesus Christ whether they want to admit it or not.
And all Israel desired on earth the king and like man of the world
desires the Lord Jesus Christ whether they want to admit it or not.
He was the desire of Israel just as Jesus Christ was the desire of all nations.
Look at verse 21. We also see with King Saul regarding his rise
that he was not only the desire of all Israel but he was selected from humble beginnings.
It says in verse 21 and Saul answered and said,
The smallest of the tribes of Israel and my family the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin
Wherefore then speak is thou so to me. So Samuel's coming. He's the man of God
Everyone knows who Samuel is he's big stuff. He comes to set he comes to Saul and he says hey, you're gonna be the next king
He's like who am I?
I am of the smallest of the tribes of Israel, referring to Benjamin, and of the smallest of the least of the families of the tribe of Benjamin.
Now, how does this picture Jesus Christ?
Well, let me read to you from Micah chapter 5 verse 2, another prophetic passage regarding Jesus Christ.
It says,
Yet out of these shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel who's going forth have been from old
From everlasting so Saul is of the tribe of Benjamin
And Benjamin is a small tribe of the nation of Israel and aside from that, he's of a small family of the family of Kish within Benjamin.
And he's basically saying, like, we have a humble family. It's a small tribe. Who am I that I would be selected for such a great task?
Well, in like manner, Jesus Christ was also selected from humble beginnings when the Word of God was made flesh.
Aside from the fact that he came from Bethlehem, Judah, he was born in a manger.
right? There was no room for him in the end. He was born in manger and so he had humble beginnings.
Not only that, but we also see that Saul, as we see here in verse 21, is from the tribe of Benjamin.
Benjamin literally means son of the right hand just as Jesus Christ sits on the right hand of the father
And so we see that parallel there Romans 8 34 says who is he that condemned it?
It is Christ that died yet rather that is risen again
Who is even at the right hand of God who also make it intercessions for us?
Look at chapter you're in chapter 9 go up to verse number one if you would
So we see that Saul symbolizes Jesus Christ initially by being the desire of Israel just as Jesus Christ is the desire of all nations
He has he's selected from humble beginnings because he's of a small tribe of Benjamin and a small family within that tribe
Just as Jesus Christ was also from humble beginnings. We also see that Saul was sent to find the livestock
by his father it says in verse one and the asses of kish Saul's father were lost and kish said to
Saul his son take now one of the one of the servants with thee arise and go seek the asses
so Saul's journey started with doing the will of his father right just as the bible tells us
that Jesus christ came to seek and to save that which is lost he's coming to seek out the lost sheep
the house of Israel when he first came so he was sent by his father to seek the
asses just as Jesus Christ was sent of his father to seek it to save that which
was lost look at verse number four if you would
He says, and he passed through, this is referring to Saul,
he passed through Mount Ephraim,
and passed through the land of Shalisha,
but they found them not.
Then they passed through the land of Shalim,
and they were, excuse me, and there they were not.
And he passed through the land of the Benjamites,
but they found them not.
So what do we see here with Saul?
He's pretty diligent.
He's going from village to village city to city seeking out the lost
livestock the Bible says of Jesus Christ in Luke chapter 8 verse 1 and it came to pass afterward that he went throughout every city and
Village preaching and showing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God
and the 12 were with him.
So just as Saul had his servant with him,
Jesus Christ had the 12 with him
going through every city and village.
You're in chapter nine still.
Now let's look at the rise of Saul.
So those are just some of the pictures
that we can see from the life of Saul
that pictures the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now let's talk about his rise here.
First and foremost, one of the reasons he was selected,
believe it or not, is because he had a good head
on his shoulders, right?
Look what it says in verse one.
Now there was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish,
the son of Zeror, the son of Bekorath, the son of Afaya,
a Benjamin, a mighty man of power, and he had a son whose name was Saul,
a choice young man in a goodly, and there was not among the children of Israel
a goodlier person than he. For, excuse me, from his
shoulders and upward, he was higher than any
of the people. So, what was an attribute of Saul that stood out?
Well, the fact that he was just really tall, okay? It says from his shoulders and upward
He was higher than all the people.
So in other words, he physically possessed
the qualities becoming to a king.
You look at him and he's like, oh yeah, this is a king.
You know, he possesses those physical qualities,
those physical attributes.
He's higher than all the people.
And it specifically says that he was goodly.
Now what does goodly mean?
Well, it's a compliment. It means that he is attractive. He's excellent. Okay, you know today's modern term people would say
He's a handsome fellow or something right, but you know, I don't know good. He sounds pretty cool to me, too
You know, he's a goodly man. He's attractive. He's excellent from his shoulders and upward
He was higher than any of the people now. How does this picture Jesus Christ?
Well, I think the Bible goes out of its way to indicate to us that from his shoulders and upward
He's higher than all the people,
just as Jesus Christ in Psalm 61 tells us
that he is the rock that is higher than I.
The reason Saul was selected to be king
because of his physical prowess
is because of the fact that he can overlook
the people of God, right?
He was higher than them, he was taller than them.
And in a spiritual sense, Jesus Christ, of course,
is that rock that is higher than us.
He has somewhat of a bird's eye view of our lives
and therefore can lead us.
So it's indicating that he has stature and is able to govern the people so from his shoulders and upward he's higher than all the people and we see of Jesus Christ the prophetic statement in Isaiah 9 and verse number 6 that the government shall be upon his shoulders right referring to that millennial reign.
Now, why is this important to talk about the fact that Saul, physically, from his shoulders
and upward, was higher?
That he is physically just tall and strong, and he is goodly to look to, he's a choice
young man, why would the Bible go out of its way to describe him as such?
I'll tell you why.
Because of the fact that despite his physical prowess, he remained humble.
Because when you look at that, you know, someone who is typically goodly, tall, dark, and handsome,
you know, they got might, they got strength, they have a tendency or a temptation to become proud.
Now, it's not just tall people that are proud.
I know some short people that are pretty proud too in arrogant, you know.
There's some average height human beings out there.
They got a short man syndrome or whatever
and they got a lot of pride and arrogance, see?
But I think what the Bible's trying to indicate here
is despite the fact that he is physically big
and goodly in choice, he was still humble.
And in fact, the Bible specifically says
that he was little in his own sight.
So even though from his shoulders and upward he was higher,
In the eyes of the people in his own eyes. He was still very small. That says a lot look at
Go to first Sammy chapter 15 if you wouldn't first Sammy chapter 15
And of course we know that he was literally on his own side because in chapter 9
He says when he's selected to be the king
He says that he's of the smallest of the tribes of Israel and he's like why are you even talking to me?
You know instead of having this attitude is like oh, yeah about time
I was waiting for you.
Someone, finally someone sees how great I am.
I've been trying to tell my dad,
I've been trying to tell my family,
I've been sending scrolls to the judges since whenever,
and I'm trying to be this candidate.
I'm glad you guys finally see
what a success I can be, right?
Oh, that was like the furthest thing from his mind.
He didn't have this attitude that he felt
like this is what he deserved, right?
He had the attitude of, why are you even talking to me?
And by the way, what does that show?
It shows a sense of humility,
and this is a quality that we as Christians need to learn.
We should never think that when we get something good,
that that's what we deserved.
Right, you know, we obviously know that the Bible says that every good gift and every perfect gift coming from above from the father of
Lights in whom there is no shadow of turning not a variable
That's not the shadow of turning the Bible says so anything that we get that is good. We need to give glory to God
And never have this attitude, well, it's by my might and my strength, my intelligence,
my physical prowess that I'm able to succeed to this degree.
No, it's actually because of God, right?
Be little in your own sight.
Be humble in your own sight.
Well, yeah, I get that pastor, but I'm beautiful though.
And you know, I'm just a super good looking person.
I can get whoever I want.
I can get anybody to bow down to my wishes.
You're prideful and arrogant and quite frankly,
you're probably not as good looking as you think you are.
Okay, you know God hates a prideful look
God hates an arrogant spirit, and he looks to those who all have a humble heart
Who are a little in their own sight despite maybe having some physical qualities that would make them quote-unquote superior?
But you know what may that come out of the mouth of others and not your own let another man praise thee and not thine own mouth
Right you're like well, but I am handsome though my you know
All right, you know, if your mom tells you you're handsome,
whatever, it's good, you know?
But sometimes, we just got to stop buying into the narrative,
though, because it's making you proud and arrogant,
and it's causing you not to be humble.
Be like Saul in his initial stages where he was humble,
OK?
Who wherefore then speakest thou so to me look at first Samuel chapter 15 and of course
This is already in his stage of life where he's rebelling against God and Samuel is kind of reminding him of first Samuel chapter 9
Look at verse 17 and Samuel said when thou was little in thine own sight
Was thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel and the Lord anointed the king over Israel now?
This is obviously showing that Paul said Saul became proud right became arrogant became proud. He may have felt this
Attitude that he felt as though he deserved the position that he had and Sam was reminding him
Hey keep in mind the reason you're even at the position that you're at is because you were humble you were little in your own
Site you didn't think yourself to be some
big person, some important individual,
some powerful leader,
you were selected by God
because you were little in your own sight.
And let me say this, folks, is that God honors humility.
When you are humble at your job, he will promote you.
When you are humble in church, you will be elevated.
When you are humble as a servant
in a Logan New Testament church,
God will magnify you
because he wants to exalt those who are humble,
not those who exalt themselves.
Samuel didn't salt in an exalt himself initially even though from a human perspective earthly speaking he probably could have
You know, he just stands up. He's taller than everyone. How's the weather down there?
You know, he could he could have probably been a real jerk if he wanted to
But he was little in his own sight
Go to first go back to chapter 9 if you would chapter 9
When you are humble, God honors you.
When you are humble, God exalts you.
When you are humble, God allows you to win.
When you are humble, God allows you to succeed.
When you are humble, God allows you to prosper.
As a Christian, we're like,
well, I know some prideful people out there
that, you know, they're prideful,
they're arrogant and they're succeeding.
Yeah, but we're talking about God's people though.
And we work under a different economy, a different system, we have God as our father, and quite frankly we just don't have the luxury to just be arrogant and prideful and succeed at the same time, it's just not going to happen.
God will not allow that.
The point is that God wants to teach us to be humble in order to succeed, in order to have honor.
And in fact, when he's little in his own sight, look what happens in verse 22, Samuel took Saul and his servant.
and brought them into the parlor and made them sit,
listen to this, in the chiefest place among them
that were bitten, which were about 30 persons.
So what do we see here?
He invites them over to dinner,
and of course Samuel's the man.
And he invites him with 30 other people
and he allows him to have the best seat on the table.
That's what it means by the chiefest place
among them to be bidden.
Whether that's the front of the table, whatever,
I don't know where that is back in those days.
I don't know if they have a round table or whatever.
But it's just the most important position at the table.
This is what he allowed him to have.
Why? Because he's humble, he's literally on his own site.
Look at verse 23.
And Samuel said into the cook,
Bring the portion that I gave thee,
of which I set unto thee, set it by thee.
And the cook took up the shoulder,
and that which was upon it, and set it before Saul.
And Samuel said, behold, that which is left,
set it before thee, and eat, for unto this time,
hath it been kept for thee,
since I said I have invited the people.
So Saul did eat with Samuel that day.
So in other words, Samuel comes to Saul,
he bids him, he sits in the chief of sea,
and then he gives him like the best meat.
And Saul's not anyone important at this time.
He doesn't necessarily deserve it,
but because of his humility,
he not only gets the best seed,
he gets the best meat as well.
The best seed and the best meat.
Okay, now what does this teach us?
It teaches us that God has something prepared for you
as long as you're willing to remain humble.
Because it says there, in verse number 24,
Towards the latter answers for unto this time hath it been kept for thee since I said so in other words
I've been saving this for you Saul
The best part of the animal, I've been saving just for you.
And you know what, replace shoulder with success, replace shoulder with promotion, replace shoulder
with, you know, prospering, whether that's financially, at your job, prospering physically,
whatever you deem as being successful this side of eternity, put shoulder in place of
that or that in place of shoulder, and how do you get it?
By being humble.
By being little on your own side.
And once you get that you could just think about this patch and say you know God had this for me
There's an equate. There's a formula to receive success at this side of eternity, and it's not by this dog eat dog world
It's not by putting other people down in order to elevate myself.
It's not by being shady and going after filthy lucre.
It's not by dishonesty and unjust balances and unjust weight.
It's not by being crooked and deceitful and abominable
and doing things that are just displeasing in the eyes of God.
It's literally through being little in your own sight.
Yeah, but if I get that shoulder though,
you know, I want some credit for it.
Well, you're not going to get any credit for it.
Because the Bible says here, I mean, he's given it to him, but not because Saul did anything
extraordinary
He hasn't completed any
Extraordinary feats. He's not an extraordinary person. He hasn't accomplished anything of
Value in the world's eyes. God literally rewarded him for being humble
Goes to show us the humility my friends goes a long way not in the world, but in the in the eyes of God
Be humble
Now obviously this pictures the Lord Jesus Christ as well
Why because despite just as Saul despite the fact that he was shoulders and upward higher than all the people
He had this physical prowess
He was goodly he was a choice young man and in spite of all that he remained humble in his own eyes and like manner
Jesus Christ who's the God of all creation
He is the Creator. He's the Word of God that was made flesh. He is the Word of God. He's deity
He came down from heaven and what do you do?
He humbled himself and in fact the Bible says in Philippians 2 5 let this mind be in you
Which is also in Christ Jesus who being in the form of God thought of not robbery to be equal with God
Why because he is God
But made himself listen to this of no reputation
What was Saul doing when he was disputing with Samuel about his position? Who am I?
I'm of the smallest tribe. I'm of the smallest family. What is that? He's making himself of no reputation and
Took upon him the form of a servant. How did Saul do that by going after the asses the lost livestock of his father?
and was made in the likeness of men being found in fashion as a man he humbled
himself and became obedient unto death even the death of the cross where for
listen to this God also had highly exalted him referring to Jesus and
given him a name which is above every name that at the name of Jesus every
knee should bow
of things in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth and that
every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the
Father. Saul abased themselves and ended up becoming the greatest man in the
land. Saul humbled himself was little in his own sight and became exalted by God
as being the most important person in the land of Israel. You say is it wrong to
want to be important? Absolutely not. Is it wrong to want to be great? Absolutely
not. What's wrong is how you go about it.
Or should I say what could be wrong is how you go about it by wicked means God understands that we all have a desire to become great
To do great things to do great exploits to be successful and prosperous
Those are qualities that are instilled by in us within by God, but the formula of how we get to that destination
Really determines whether God is pleased with you or not and whether you get it or not
Being little in your own side go to Luke chapter 14 if you would Luke chapter 14 hold your place there in 1st Samuel
We see with Saul
That he was the desire of all Israel. He was selected from humble beginnings
He was sent to find the livestock the lost livestock by his father
Just as Jesus Christ was sent here. He had a good head on his shoulder and
He was little in his own sight
We see in first hand in chapter 9 that because of his humility. He's given the chiefest seats, right?
Look at what says in Luke chapter 14 verse 7
It says, And he put forth the parable to those which were bidden, when he marked how they
chose out the chief room, saying unto them, When thou art bidden of any man to a wedding,
sit not down in the highest room, lest a more honorable man doth be bidden of him.
And he that bade thee, and him come and say to thee, Give this man place, and thou begin
with shame to take the lowest room.
What is this referring to?
It's referring to the most embarrassing thing that can happen to you, right?
Some tickets to a baseball game.
Let's just use that as an example.
You get some tickets, and you look left.
You look right, and you're like, well, those seats down there.
No one's sitting in them.
I think I'm going to take the chiefest seats.
And so then you're like, you sneak down, and you go down
there, and you sit there.
No one notices you.
By the way, don't do this dishonest.
This is thievery.
But you go down there, and you sit there, and you're like,
oh, there's another.
Even closer. No one's sitting there
So then you go and you sit there and you're like man
I'm like right here in front of the game and then all of a sudden like a group of people come and they're like
Sir, this is my seat and then you with shame
begin to like oh
Sorry, you know and you got to go all the way to the what do they call the bloody nose air? What do they call that?
Nosebleed area with shame right with embarrassment. Hopefully you're not on the jumbotron when they do that
This is what it's a
When you place yourself in a position of being exiled you exalt yourself by placing yourself in the chiefest room in the chiefest seat
But then someone comes who's more honorable than you because they're humble and what happens you get a base they get exalted
They get honored you become ashamed he says in verse 9 and he that baby or excuse me verse 10
But when thou are bitten go and sit down in the lowest room
Then when he that baby cometh he may say unto the friend go up higher
Then shout thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meet with thee for whosoever exalted themselves shall be a base
And he that humbled of himself shall be exalted in other words whatever situation you're in a base yourself take the lowest room
That way someone comes to you and exalts you it comes as a surprise to you and you appreciate it that much the more like all great
Thank you, you know
What is it showing us?
It's showing us the value of being humble.
It shows us the value of being little in our own sight,
not just bragging about who we are,
what we're capable of doing,
how much money we make,
what possessions we have,
how many gifts and talents we possess.
And by the way, if God has blessed you
with gifts and talents,
just make sure you give glory to God.
If someone comes to you and says,
oh man, you are so talented, you're so gifted,
praise God.
Praise God. He just enabled me to do these things if it wasn't for God. I wouldn't be able to do it
And I'm a firm believer that when you are praised for certain things whether successes
Talents or gifts you should thank God. He should thank your parents
Thank God and then thank your parents like you know praise God
But you know I also had some really good parents too. You know, I didn't really have good parents
We can still thank your parents anyway
Go back to first Samuel if it wouldn't first Samuel go to chapter 10
So this is the strongest quality that Saul possessed and really it's the quality that went out the window
When his demise came into play, okay?
Is that he was little in his own sight look at 1st Samuel chapter 10 verse 20
This isn't when Samuel had caused all the tribes of Israel to come near the tribe of Benjamin was taken
And when he had caused the tribe of Benjamin to come near by their families,
the family of Matri was taken and Saul, the son of Kishworth, was taken,
and when they sought him, he could not be found.
So now Samuel comes back, he's already had this conversation with Saul about being the king.
He comes back and he starts taking, you know, all of the tribes and he's looking for Saul,
but Saul can't be found. He's just not there.
He's hiding himself, right?
It says in verse 22, therefore they inquired of the Lord further, if the man should yet
come hither, and the Lord answered, behold, he hath hid himself among the stuff.
Now I don't believe Saul's avoiding responsibility.
I think he's just still being humble.
He's just kind of like who am I? I'm not you know, this is not me. I can't do this or you know
I'm not worthy of this he is not saw he can't be found
He's hiding himself among the stuff now
This also pictures Jesus if you think about it because what's taking place in first Samuel 10?
They're coming to anoint Saul to be king and he's nowhere to be found well first
John chapter 6 verse 15 says this when Jesus is therefore perceived
that they would come and take him by force to make him a king,
he departed to get into a mountain himself alone.
So anytime they would come to try to take him to be a king,
he would hide himself, right?
And obviously for different reasons,
but the principle and the parallel still applies there.
What do we see with Saul?
He's being humble.
He's not even there when he's going to be inaugurated to be king.
He's hiding himself among the stuff.
Look at verse 23.
And when he stood among the people he was higher than any of the people from his shoulders and upward again
It's emphasizing how physically big he is this is the verse 24 and Samuel said to all the people
See him whom the Lord has chosen that there is none like him among all the people and all the people shouted and said
God saved the king then Samuel told the people the manner of the kingdom
So, what do we see here as far as a parallel with Jesus Christ's concern?
Well, aside from the fact that he's hiding himself when he's going to be anointed king
just as Jesus did the same when they took him to be king, in like manner we see that
Samuel is kind of like a forerunner of Saul just as John the Baptist was the forerunner
of Jesus Christ.
How so?
See who the Lord have chosen, that there is none like him among all the people.
This is similar to when John the Baptist said,
Behold the Lamb of God, which should take away the sins of the world, right?
And of course we see Samuel talking to them about the manner of the kingdom,
just as John the Baptist went and preached the kingdom of God, okay?
So he kind of operates as that forerunner, the one who's preparing the way for the Lord.
You're still in chapter 10.
We see here what Saul, that the reason he was a great candidate to be king, was because he was little in his own sight.
But also he displayed being filled with the Spirit.
And you know what? You can't be used of God. Let me just say this. You cannot be used of God.
You will not be used of God if you're not filled with the Spirit.
Because it's through the Spirit of God that we can accomplish things. Through the power of God.
Not just at your job, not just through door-to-door, not just with your family, not just with your spouse,
not with your family, not just in church, in all matters of life.
We need to be filled with the Spirit in order to accomplish great things for God.
You're in chapter 10 and look at verse number 6.
This is Samuel speaking unto Saul and he says the spirit of the Lord will come upon thee and thou shall prophesy
With them and shall be turned into another man. Now side note here. This is proof that Saul was saved
Because the Bible specifically says that he was turned into another man
The New Testament rendition of this is that we take on the new man, right?
The Bible says if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature old things are passed away behold all things are become new
Now, we see later on in Saul's life that the Spirit has departed from him.
And sometimes people can point to that and say, well, that's proof that he lost his salvation.
Because the Spirit departed from him.
But what they don't seem to understand is that the system of the Old Testament when
it came to the Spirit of God is the fact that the Spirit of God did not dwell in dwell believers.
So when people believed on the Lord, the Spirit of God would come upon them to regenerate their spirit,
but he would not permanently dwell within that believer.
Why? Because the Spirit of God dwelt in the presence of the temple, and then earlier, of course, the tabernacle.
So the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, the presence of God, would be in the Tabernacle later on in the Temple
but then in the New Testament, what does the Bible say?
We are the Temple of the Holy Ghost which you have of God and you are not your own.
So the transitional period between Old and New Testament, one of the things that changed was that the Holy Spirit now permanently
dwells within the believer. So once you believe on Jesus Christ for salvation, the Bible says that the Holy Spirit comes, it
regenerates your dead spirit, meaning he brings it to life.
And then he also indwells you so you have the new man, which is referring to you
Okay, the person the aspect of your being that is born of God
But then you also have the Holy Spirit of God dwelling within you as well
And this is what the Bible refers to as the inheritance,
how does it go, the, what, earnest of our inheritance,
thank you, the earnest of our inheritance
until the redemption of the purchase possession,
meaning God allows the Holy Spirit of God
to live within you, and that's kind of like
his down payment on it, until the entire body
is purchased at the rapture.
Because I don't know if you notice, you know,
this body is not purchased by God yet.
You know, we have to cause the body to subject itself to the laws of God and do the things
that we're supposed to be doing, etc.
That's a different sermon for another day.
But the point that I'm making here is that when we're filled with the Spirit, the Bible
would also indicate that we are turned into another man, okay?
A spirit filled man says in verse seven and let it be when these signs are coming to thee
That I'll do as occasion serve thee for God is with you look at verse nine if you would verse nine
Brother Ruben if you can turn it up, please it says in verse nine
And it was so that when he had turned his back to go from Samuel God gave him another heart
and all those signs came to pass that day.
So there's a couple signs that God gave Samuel,
excuse me, that Samuel gave Saul
to indicate that God was with him.
And one of them was the fact
that he was gonna be filled with the spirit,
and it says here that God was gonna give him another heart.
And you know what, this is something
that happens to Christians as well.
Because you know, sometimes once you get saved,
things don't just change automatically, right?
They just don't change.
But I think all of us in here to a certain degree could attest to the fact that as we serve God as we read the Bible as
We hear preaching as we sing the hymns. We're given another heart
Like our heart begins to change
Your attitude towards the things of God begins to change your eyes are enlightened
You begin to love people, love souls, you begin to have joy.
The things of God actually bring you satisfaction, right?
You actually want to be in church, you want to win souls, you want to read the Bible,
you begin to want to pray.
You have these new desires, this is what the Bible refers to as a new heart.
Now here's the thing though, is that that doesn't come automatically.
Those things have to be cultivated.
How are they cultivated?
Okay, but also by being spirit-filled and so we see here that God gives them another heart and of course
It's a heart of the new man
It's a heart that wants to serve God look at verse 10 and when they came thither to the hill
Behold a company of prophets met him and the spirit of God came upon him and he prophesied among them
So you know there's a there's a company of preachers that are coming and
Saul runs into them and then he's just like he starts preaching to it's like a freestyle session or something
Everyone's freestyling he comes he starts freestyling too. He starts preaching. That's what it means to prophesy look at verse 11
And it came to pass when all that knew him before time saw that
Behold he prophesied among the prophets then the people said one to another
What is this that has come unto the son of kish is Saul also among the prophets?
So what's going on here? Well?
Saul's never preached before
He's never prophesied, and we don't know what his interest was in the things of God, but obviously it wasn't much
So all of a sudden he gets around these preachers
He starts preaching and the people who knew him before telling like what's this guy doing?
Isn't this kiss his son?
Isn't this Saul was he like also they're kind of shocked. They're kind of surprised of these turn of events in Saul's life
It says in verse 12,
and one of them, and one of the, excuse me,
and one of the same place answered and said,
but who is their father?
Therefore became a proverb is Saul also among the prophets.
So what do we see here?
We see people were in disbelief of Saul's preaching.
Now you can obviously see
how this pictures Jesus Christ as well.
Why?
Well, go to Luke chapter four, if you would.
Luke chapter four.
We're gonna look at a couple examples of this.
We can say with Saul that he's not receiving honor.
from his own people.
They're not like, hey, praise God.
This man is preaching.
Wow, you're gonna be used greatly Saul.
What are they saying?
Like, what's come upon the son of Kish?
Is he among the prophets?
Who's their father?
Right, they're kind of downplaying like you don't you have probably I know business preaching
What do you know your dad's not a preacher your dad's not a judge
Your dad is kiss. You're of the tribal Benjamin. They're kind of despising who he is, right? Well, look look chapter 4 verse 18
Jesus Christ here. It says the spirit of the Lord is upon me
Because he had anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor
He had sent me to heal the brokenhearted to preach deliverance to the captives and
Recovering of sight to the blind to set it liberty to them that are bruised to preach the acceptable year of the Lord
And he closed the book and gave it again to the minister and sat again and sat down and the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue
We're fastened on him
And he began to say unto them, this day is the scripture fulfilled in your ears.
And all bear him witness and wonder at the gracious words which proceed out of his mouth.
And they said, is not this Joseph's son?
So they're kind of hating on him too, right?
Just as they did with Saul, like, isn't this Kish's son?
Aren't you the son of Kish?
Well, like, isn't this Joseph's son?
They're trying to kind of downplay, you know, they can't deny the fact that what he's preaching
It's gracious, it's powerful, because it's God's word,
but these are just haters, okay?
And beware of the haters, my friends.
Beware of the haters at your job.
Beware of the haters in your family.
Beware of the haters, you know, in different churches.
You know, you accomplish something great,
and all of a sudden it's just like,
well, who are you, though?
Aren't you the son of whatever fill in the blank?
Well, since when do you start preaching?
That Saul is preaching the word of God
Serving God being filled with the spirit. They're just like yeah, but who are you though?
Like you've never done this before you didn't go to Bible college
And this is basically what they're saying of Jesus
Now easily someone could have been like actually no, he's not the son of Josie's son of God
And he's the greatest preacher who will ever live
and he's better than all you Pharisees
because you guys aren't even saved.
Look at verse 23, and he said unto them,
ye will surely say unto me, this proverb,
physician, heal thyself, and whatsoever we have heard,
done, and capernaum, do also here in thy country.
So just as they gave a proverb of Saul,
They were going to give a prophet to Jesus, but Jesus was like, beat him to the punch.
He's like, you're going to say this proverb up to me, of course, because he's God and he knows.
In verse 24 he says, and he said, verily I say unto you, no prophet is accepted in his own country.
Well, we see that with Saul. You know, they were kind of despising him. They were downplaying.
The fact that he was filled with the Spirit is preaching the word of God.
And may I say that, you know, the greatest honor that you will receive as a Christian is often amongst other Christians.
And it's often amongst those who didn't grow up with you.
They just see you for who you are right now.
They see the work that you're doing now.
They see the souls that you're winning now.
They see the love that you have for God right now.
They see what you're doing for the Lord right now
and people honor you for those things.
But I'll tell you who doesn't sometimes honor you
as your own family members.
I change your diaper.
You know, I was there when you did. How are you gonna tell me about God? I told you about God
How are you gonna tell me this? You know, I knew you since you're a little I knew you when you were in or how about your friends, right?
Your old friends just like yeah, I remember when you used to do this though
And why because there's no honor amongst your own countrymen
That's just how it works sometimes and don't feel bad about it because Jesus the same thing happened to Jesus and he's God
Right, he's without honor yet. He is the one worthy of all honor
You know Jesus could have been like zap
Just erased from the records of human history, you know
But he even received he didn't receive any honor
Showing us that you shouldn't feel bad if your family members brothers sisters cousins aunts uncles extended family
Don't necessarily view your exploits. They don't appreciate what you do. They don't appreciate the progress that you've made
They don't necessarily appreciate
You know all of the work that you put it into being a Christian all the accomplishments that you've done
That's okay. You have a bunch of people here who see it
You have a lot of people here who will honor you
And praise you for it and thank you for it and praise God for who will appreciate what you do
You just have to understand that sometimes there's no honor in your own country. You're not accepted in your own country
There's no honor in your own country. That's just the way it works
And in fact, you know when Jesus Christ first came out in his ministry and the disciples are coming to other disciples
They're just like hey, we found Jesus, right?
You know Philip finds Nathaniel and then what does Nathaniel say like can there any good thing come out of Nazareth though?
It's like, man, did you even hear what I said?
He's like, yeah, but can there any good thing
come out of your city, wherever city you're from?
Like, no good thing comes out of there.
You trying to tell me your prophet's coming?
Yeah, yeah.
God can do great things through any person
who is humble, little in their own sight,
and filled with the Spirit.
Go back to the first Samuel, go to chapter 11,
if you wouldn't, chapter 11.
So Saul's spirit filled.
showing us that everyone has access to being
spear-filled once they get saved.
And it shows us that once he was spear-filled,
one of the first things he began to do is what?
Preach.
You know what? One of the first things that we
should do as Christians once we get spear-filled,
is preach.
I'm not saying behind here. I'm just saying
preach is the gospel.
Talking to your family and friends about salvation.
Talking about hell
and heaven and eternal life. That's what a
It seeks to get their friends and family saved.
It seeks to get the unsaved people saved,
the people that you don't know, the strangers,
to be saved, to come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
You say, why?
Because that's what a spirit-filled person does.
That you open your mouth boldly
to make known the mysteries of the gospel.
Look at 1st Samuel chapter 11, verse five.
It says, and behold, Saul came after the herd
out of the field, and Saul said,
what aileth the people that they weep,
and they told him the tidings of the men of Jabish.
So let me give you a little bit of a background here.
You have the Ammonites coming to Jabish Gilead and they want to destroy
those of Jabish don't want to kill them and
basically the men of Jabish is like well, what can we do like so we can come to an agreement so you guys don't kill us and
The Ammonites answered roughly and they basically said well, this is how we can make a covenant is you we pluck out your eyes
How about that?
You know just being just rude and grotesque and disgusting and so they're kind of mocking
them saying like there is no covenant we're just going to destroy you and take you over.
So the men of Jabish Gilead they're kind of freaking out they're they're stressing out about this tidings are spreading all over the nation about this
And it gets to the ears of Saul now keep in mind at this time Israel isn't it's a nation
But it's not necessarily a nation with an organized army
They don't necessarily have swords or spears and in fact there's no swords or spears during this time
Because of the fact that they're in the land of the Philistines and the Philistines basically disarmed Israelites
So they're kind of they're a nation, but they're not a nation with the military
They don't have a general. They barely just got a king's very primitive, right?
And so they're just like, what are we gonna do? Look at verse 6
So obviously this comes to Saul and there it says in verse 6 and the Spirit of God came upon Saul
When he heard those tidings and he said well, let's just pray for them
No, he says in his anger was kindled greatly
showing us that anger is often the display
of being spear-filled.
You know, don't listen to what churches tell you out there.
Well, if a person is angry,
then that means they're not spear-filled.
Wrong, according to this,
that's actually a byproduct of being spear-filled.
When you hear of injustices,
you hear of wrongdoings, you hear of evil,
you hear of that which is contrary to God's word,
you hear of innocent people being violated and threatened,
if you're spear-filled, you'll get angry about it.
That's what happened to Saul he heard about this and what happened his anger was greatly kindled now obviously
Anger can lead to sin
Anger could lead to violence it could lead to wrath it could lead to malice it could lead to things that are contrary to God's word
Which is wrong, but the Bible says this be angry and sin not
Let not the Sun go down upon your wrath. So it's actually possible to be angry and not sin
And I believe that God wants us to be angry regarding false doctrine false prophets and justices the things that make him angry should anger us
Well, how do I do that? I'll tell you how get spear-filled
That's what happened to Saul the spirit came upon him
He not only preached the word of God by being spear-filled, but he also felt and had the right emotions
By being spear-filled as well go to chapter 10 you're in chapter 10 look at verse 26
So saw man he was good
Start off good little in his own sight
Going after the lost livestock of his father. We see that he is he has a good head on his shoulders
He is little in his own sight. He's being promoted. We see that he's spear-filled. He's preaching the word of God
He's getting angry over injustices
We see how all those parallel the Lord Jesus Christ, but I also want you to notice that he's actually hated of the sons of the devil
look what it says in verse 26 and
and there went with him a band of men
whose hearts God had touched.
Now, here actually is kind of a speech
that Samuel is giving to the people
about the coming king, which is Saul.
And everyone's kind of excited,
they're just kind of celebrated like,
wow, we got a king, and they're saying,
God saved the king, and a band of men,
we'll say like 12 maybe or so, right?
They get inspired, their hearts are touched,
and they're following Saul, they're behind Saul,
they're supporting Saul, right?
But the children of Belial now what does Belial mean means the devil okay
In other words, these are children of the devil's children of Satan. These are reprobates
But the children of the devil said how shall this man save us and
They despise them and brought no presence, but he held his peace now
You can obviously see how this picture is Jesus Christ
Because he was also hated of the sons of the devil
He was hated of the Pharisees which according to Jesus were sons of the devil
you know their children of hell as it says in Matthew chapter 23 and
These Pharisees and Jews who rejected Jesus Christ they hated him and they also kind of said like how shall this man save us?
Shall this man reign over us?
They basically were rejecting his kingly authority.
And, you know, in like manner, we see this with Saul.
They despised him.
They brought him no presence.
And what did Saul do?
He held his peace.
In other words, he just didn't say anything.
And the Bible tells us in a prophetic Psalm in Isaiah 53,
it says that as his sheep before his shears is done,
so he opened not his mouth.
So that same quality was displayed through Saul as was through Jesus Christ
And what do we see here? We see that when you do a great work for God, you're always going to have some sort of opposition
You cannot expect to serve Jesus Christ and not be hated and in fact it could be said if you're not hated
Then you're probably not doing something right
Because any ounce of service to God
is 100% rejected by the world,
and if someone catches ear of you living for God,
serving God, and you're not receiving
some measure of hate for Christ's sake,
as the Bible puts it, you know what?
You need to take inventory once again
of your spiritual life, because the Bible says,
all that will live godly in Christ Jesus
shall suffer persecution.
And this is how we know that Saul was right with God
for a time, because it came to a point
where he was filled with the spirit,
and what happened?
The children of the devil hated him.
They despised him. They rejected him and yet he was he held this peace
He allowed them to say whatever and moved on looking for Sammy chapter 11
Here's the last portion of Saul and
Pretty much after this is just all it's all downhill after this
so
I'll give some closing thoughts after this, but here's the last thing is that he displayed assertiveness leadership and mercy
Look at verse 11.
It says, and it was so on the morrow that Saul put the people in three companies.
This is his war against the Ammonites.
And they came into the midst of the host in the morning watch and slew the Ammonites into
the heat of the day.
And it came to pass the day which remained, were scattered so that two of them were not
left together.
So, was he here that as soon as he is anointed king, he doesn't waste any time.
Once his nation is threatened against a foreign nation
that is seeking to destroy them, he's assertive, right?
He takes action.
What does he do?
He's like, let's round up 3,000 men and we're going to war.
And of course, the morale of the people
is lifted because of this, which obviously, you know,
allows them to win the war there.
It says in verse 12,
and the people said unto Samuel,
who is he that said shall Saul reign over us?
Bring the man that we may put them to death. So after this great victory
You're like, hey, you guys remember those guys are saying, you know, how's the song gonna save us? Yeah, right?
Let's go. Let's go put him to death. Let's go execute them. Okay, and
Saul said there shall not a man be put to death this day for today
The Lord has wrought salvation in Israel. So he showed their mercy and this kind of reminds me of the story in Luke chapter 9
Where there were people who were necessarily an opposition to Jesus ministry, but they weren't running with Jesus
And then you have Jesus disciples and they're like Lord shall we call down fire from heaven as Elijah did and just consume them
And then what does Jesus say like?
You know, you don't know what spirit you're of for I came not to destroy men's lives, but to save them
You know showing them mercy, right?
And so we see here that Saul displayed being assertive,
being a leader, and of course, showing compassion as well.
And really, that's where it ends, you know?
And you know, as I read through the story of Saul,
I was kind of sad because I, you know,
I wish it would just end at chapter 11.
And you kind of wish like,
man, I wish you would have turned out Saul.
And unfortunately, you know, the story of Saul is in the Bible for us because throughout
our Christian lives, we're going to know someone like this, whether they had a great
start, but they're not going to have a great ending.
And it's hurtful to see people make wrong decisions.
You almost wish, like, Saul, you could have been used in such a great way.
You know, God was using you to display qualities of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Oh, what could have been if you would have just stayed right with God?
Oh, what wonderful symbolisms could have been done
throughout your life if you could have just
stayed right with God, obeyed the Lord,
all the potential that you had to serve God
and do great things for God
if you would have just stayed right with God.
You know what, that is the same message
that echoes throughout the centuries through ever-Christian.
And maybe you be reminded of this,
that you may have had a great start.
And in fact, everything's going great now.
But just because it's going great now,
Just because you had a great start now doesn't mean it can end. Well
Stay little in your own sight
Stay spirit feel
Keep obeying the Lord and if God uses you in a great way with the people around you in your church
remain humble
Why because we have Saul who was once little in his own sight, but then at the end of his life kills himself
What a horrendous ending
to a man. And you know what? It's not because the Lord didn't love Saul.
The Lord loved him. He chose him first.
He selected him. He used Saul to picture his son.
But yet he finished in a horrible manner.
And the message this morning is simply this.
You know, take heed lest ye fall.
Amen, let's pray father. We thank you so much for the beginning of the life of Saul and of course
We're thankful for his ending as well only because it shows us what we should not do and
May it strike fear in our hearts of what we are potentially capable of if we veer off the path
Become disobedient
It seems as though in these first three years Saul did so well
He made a lot of right decisions. He was humble. He was spirit-filled
And it's a reminder to us all that things can change in an instant in our hearts and in our minds Lord
Help us not to veer off the path and if we if our trajectory
Seems to go to the left just a couple degrees. I pray that Lord you bring us back on track either through
The reading of the scriptures coming to church a brother or sister in Christ that is open with us
And is willing to show us and rebuke us and correct us so that we don't end up like Saul
I pray that you bless this as we go on our way Lord bless the soul winning and all there is in Jesus name. Amen