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you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you and the records clear today for he washed my sins away when the old account was settled long ago when in that happy home my savior's home above I'll sing redemption's story and praise him for his love I'll not forget that book with pages white as snow because I came and settled and settled long ago long ago long ago yes the old account was settled long ago and the records clear today for he washed my sins away when the old account was settled long ago oh sinner trust the lord be cleansed of all your sin for thus he hath provided for you to enter in and then if I should live a hundred years below up there you'll not regret it you settled long ago long ago long ago yes the old account was settled long ago and the records clear today for he washed my sins away when the old account was settled long ago ok great singing thank you so much for being here this evening just a few announcements before we sing our next song which will be song number 28 alas and did my savior bleed song number 28 if you want to get that ready in your song books if you did not get a bulletin go ahead and raise your hand and one of the ushers can get one for you some important information on there our Sunday morning service is at 10 30 Sunday evening is at 5 p.m. and then we have a Thursday night bible study at 7 o'clock we are currently going through the book of 1 Samuel and we will be in chapter 9 this evening you see there the so many times in the teams the list of expecting mothers we need to remove Miss Olivia Lee from the list by the way but please continue to pray for the remainder of the ladies on the list and then you see the important reminders there at the bottom some of the upcoming church events we do have the San Diego zoning marathon coming up this Saturday at 8 30 and you see the location there in Chula Vista if you need a ride you can see brother Ulises Hernandez he can fit approximately 5 people comfortably 6 people comfortably and so just keep that in mind and he will be here he would need you to be here at 5 a.m. because they are starting bright and early in Chula Vista right I think it starts at 8 30 and so breakfast is at 8 30 and then they will give you the itinerary thereafter if you have any questions you can see brother Ulises Miss Ariel's baby shower is coming up this Sunday March 13th and that will be after the service so just keep that in mind that will be in the fellowship hall and typically when we have a baby shower something of that nature or bridal shower we do not meet for soloing and so team leaders just make sure you get with your teams and dismissed thereafter the music training is coming up next Saturday on March 19th so if you're involved in the music ministry in any way whether that's the orchestra you're part of the the CD that we're putting together your song leader it's mandatory for you to be there you're going to receive some some just some pointers regarding our direction as a church regarding the music and then we will have lunch and that will begin at 11 a.m. and then we'll have the training thereafter men's prayer night is coming up on Friday March 24th men keep that in mind you can bring your sons to come pray with you and dinner will be provided and then we have a samaria missions trip to national city on Saturday April 11th so we're doing a lot of work down south in San Diego and so we will give you more information about that as we approach that date and then something that's not on the bulletin that I do want to mention is that Easter is coming up and I love Easter I love Christmas of course but I do love Easter I think it's just a wonderful time to invite family and friends to church and I preach a sermon but I try to gear towards you know obviously kind of all across the spectrum teach someone regarding the resurrection but also just kind of preach the gospel as well and so if you want to invite your family and friends do so we typically have a really big day on Easter and so invite as many people as you can I think last year we had 159 people and now we have more chairs to fit more people and so um and then along with that I'm just going to by faith announce this the Friday before Easter we're actually putting out a church music CD okay and it's not like congregationals or anything of that nature it's actually specials okay quartets and duets and quintets I think if I'm not mistaken and all the ets no quintets okay no quintets it sounds cool though um all of those groups together and so it's approximately about 10 songs and we're going to release that on that Friday on first works radio and so and then thereafter we're going to continue to record more music so every week brother Eric and a lot of the people in the church are putting in a lot of work to record these songs and so Lord willing it'll be out it will be out the Lord does will for it to be out and I'm just kidding well we want to get out on Friday so Lord willing it'll that'll happen and then um and then we're going to have Easter and so we'll have some invitations for Easter uh in the coming weeks and so make sure you hand those out no food to drink allowed in the main auditorium except for water and coffee no loitering in the foyer and fellowship hall during the preaching service and then make sure you silence your phones during the preaching so it should not be a distraction during the service go ahead and pull out your prayer sheet there we'll go over that briefly please continue to pray for the church corporately for God's favor in our church for the soloing and the teams the missions of course we're getting a lot of work done in regards to the soloing in our in our immediate area and we want to do our part to go a little further out uh to get more people saved and so pray that God will prosper us in that area that he would lead us to people uh who are ready to receive the gospel and then uh protection of our church a church van spiritual numerical growth of our church we've had a lot of new families join our church and so pray that they would continue to grow and they would get integrated into the assembly and uh make friends here of course and and and just um and grow as a Christian pray for the leadership and the pastors in training we got two weeks left for the pastoral institute it's been going really well and so uh looking forward to to kind of finishing that up there and then if you continue if you can pray for the church families you see the different needs there and uh I do want to mention again the church of the month steadfast baptist church please continue to pray for pastor Shelley and the church there as far as I know they haven't found the building but they're kind of like meeting in the wilderness kind of like the way we were doing it uh the difference is they have a conference room we met out we met under a tabernacle amen but it's just as good amen and so um they're still prospering and and it's to them it looks like it's just business as usual too they're still preaching and they're still doing their that that one podcast I don't know what it's called or you know something about baptists and the bias or something like that um but they have that going on and so business is continuing as usual for them pray for them pray for pastor Shelley that God will give them wisdom and and be with the soul winning there protection and success of the new building of course and um just just pray for him and I know it's a difficult time for him and it can be very stressful but we know that God is with him we know that God's hand is on him and the proof of that is the fact that he's suffering this persecution and so please keep him in your prayers and pray for him daily um that God will continue to bless him if you have any additional prayer requests you'd like to be mentioned please put that at the bottom there and we'll put that on the prayer sheet for the following week and that is it for the more he's going to come on up and pray over these needs um um uh bow your heads in a word of prayer dear Lord heavenly father thank you for allowing us to be able to come to church and Lord just thank you for the church that you've given us and thank you for salvation and the King James Bible where we can learn and grow closer to you every day Lord and Lord I pray that we have your favor on our church and as we continue to do the first works and serve you with all of our hearts Lord allow us to be um better Christians and let us be edified by the preaching that is being taught here Lord and but I also want to pray for the new people that come to our church that they get acclimated to the church and um in the lines of soul winning Lord I pray that the soul winning uh marathon in San Diego goes well and that we have a great turnout and Lord we just pray that we're able to uh plant seeds and get people saved as we're out there Lord Lord I pray for families to continue to grow and and family salvations here Lord and um Lord I also just want to pray for um all the unspoken or general requests that we have on here Lord and Lord I also want to pray for Aria Sanchez's father um for healing after the surgery Mrs. Stevie's father um after um the procedure that he had Mrs. Susan's father and Ria's dad um as they recover and Lord please meet the needs and have a hand of healing and protection over them and be with their families uh Lord I just pray for the sick people that are um that are in our church pray that they can get better and get back to church Lord and um Lord I also want to pray for steadfast Baptist Church um Lord I pray that uh that the church continues to thrive and um and Lord just pray that um whatever happens in the future Lord that that they just keep being the center of their thoughts and actions Lord and continue to bless them as a church pray for Pastor Jonathan Shelley that he continues doing a great work over there and uh Lord pray that you bless his congregants and his family and and we pray for overall success for his church and Lord pray that we're be- we're able to be attentive to the sermon and leave greater uh leave better than when we came Lord I pray this out in the name of Amen Alright please turn your hymnals to song number 28, Alas and Did My Savior Bled Song number 28 Song number 28 Alas and Did My Savior Bled Song 28 Everyone nice and strong all together Alas and did my Savior bleed and did my sovereign die would he devote that sacred head for such a worm as I was it for crimes that I had done he groaned upon the tree amazing pity grace unknown and love beyond degree while might the sun in darkness hide and shut his glories in when Christ the mighty Maker died for man the creature sin but drops of grief can ne'er repay the debt of love I owe here Lord I give myself away tis all that I can do At this time the ushers will collect the offering. Tonight will be in 1 Samuel chapter number 9. 2 2 Tonight we're in 1 Samuel chapter 9 and the Bible reads Now there was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Becherath, the son of Ophiah, a Benjamite, a mighty man of power. And yet 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 of the people. 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 arise, go seek the asses. And he passed through Mount Ephraim and passed through the land of Shelisha, but they found them not. Then they passed through the land of Shelim and there they were not and he passed through the land of the Benjamites but they found them not. And when they were come to the land of Zoph, Saul said to his servant that was with him, come, let us return. Lest my father 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 cometh 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. What have we? The servant answered Saul again and said, behold I have here at hand the fourth part of a shekel of silver that I will give to 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 unto the city where the man of God was and as they went up to the hill of the city they found young maidens going out to draw water and said unto them, is the seer here? And they answered them and said, he is. Behold he is before you. Make haste now for he came today to the city for there is a sacrifice of the people today in the high place. As soon as you be come into the city you shall straightway find him. Before you go up to the high place to eat, for the people will not eat until they come because he doth bless the sacrifice. And afterwards they eat that be bidden. Now therefore get you up for about this time you shall find him. And they went up into the city and when they were come into the city behold Samuel came out against them for to go up to the high place. Now the Lord had told Samuel in his ear a day before Saul came saying, tomorrow about this time I will send thee a man out of the land of Benjamin and thou shalt anoint him to be captain over my people Israel that he may save my people out of the hand of the Philistines. For I have looked upon my people because their cry is coming to me. And when Samuel saw Saul the Lord said into him behold the man whom I spake to thee of this same shall reign over my people. And Saul drew near to Samuel in the gate and said tell me I pray thee where is the seers house where the seers house is. And Samuel answered Saul and said I am the seer go up before me under the high place for you shall eat with me today and tomorrow I will let thee go and will tell thee all that is in thine heart. For as for thine asses that were lost three days ago set not thy mind upon 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 I not a Benjamite of the smallest of the tribes of Israel and my 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 bidden which were about thirty persons. 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 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 and when they were come down from the high place into the city Samuel communed with Saul upon the top of the house and they arose early and it came to pass about the spring of the day that Samuel called Saul to the top of the house saying up that I may 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 thou still awhile that I may show thee the word of God Let's pray. Dear Lord we thank you for this church Lord we thank you for everyone here and we thank you for pastor Lord we pray that you bless him fill in with your Holy Spirit as he preaches your word and pray that we're edified by the preaching Lord we pray this all in Jesus name Amen Amen. Okay we'll continue this evening with our study of the book of 1 Samuel we're in chapter number 9 this evening and let me just bring you up to speed on what's going on here in the current story of course in chapter 8 we have the children of Israel basically asking Samuel asking God to give them an earthly king God had just delivered them by a mighty hand out of the hand of the Philistines and provided this great miracle and in light of that the children of Israel basically wanted an earthly king to be like all the other nations now this is obviously a grievous thing in the eyes of Samuel it's obviously grievous in the eyes of God because God was their king they were under what we would refer to as a theocracy okay where you know their divine king was over them it was God who was over them he's the one ruling for them he's the one that's going out to battle for them but they wanted to be like all the other nations and so they wanted an earthly king and you can basically view this as God's plan A and plan B right because God's plan A for their lives was basically for him to rule over them ultimately until the Lord Jesus Christ came as the earthly king during the millennial reign but of course they decided to go after plan B instead which is they wanted an earthly king and God permitted that okay he permitted them he allowed them to have them and he basically in a sense modified Israel's history so to speak in order to fit the biblical prophecy of Jesus Christ becoming that earthly king so he would allow certain kings in the Old Testament such as David of course to exemplify have those characteristics and qualities that Jesus Christ has okay in order to picture him and so he worked that all together for good but obviously when you have an earthly king you know no one's perfect and so a lot of these kings made a lot of mistakes they did a lot of sinful things even David himself and so they weren't a perfect picture now in chapter number nine we have the story of Saul who is going to be the first king of Israel it's given us basically a bit of a background of where he comes from and how he started off and really why is it that God chose him to be the first king of Israel look at verse number one we're going to look at first of all Saul's predicament then we'll get into God's providence and then Samuel's prophecy a little alliterated outline for you okay so Saul's predicament is first look at verse number one it says now there was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish the son of Abbeo the son of Zeror the son of Becherath the son of Ephiah a Benjamin a mighty man of power so it starts off by really bragging a little bit about Kish who's Saul's father and it says 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 of the people so the first thing we're going to look at is Kish's pedigree because the chapter begins off with just kind of bragging about Kish and Saul and their house and how really to the eye these were some pretty godly goodly men okay it says there that Saul was a goodly young man he was a choice young man and really it says that he was head and shoulders above everyone else now what we can what we can get from this particular passage is the fact that Saul basically stood out you understand he stands out to the people he's someone who people would obviously say who's most likely to succeed it would be like Saul okay he's like he's taller than all the Israelites he's goodly seems to be a man of reputation he comes from a good family a wealthy family at that his dad is a mighty man of power and so god wants to utilize someone like this because of the fact that obviously god is the one who gave him those qualities now another thing that we can learn is the fact that you know obviously god can use anybody right he can use someone who's not head and shoulders above everyone else someone who is waist below everyone else kind of thing okay he can use a short person he can use a tall person he can use a skinny person he can use a fat person he can use a beautiful person he can use an ugly person it doesn't matter who you are god can use you and I think he's starting off with showing us this example of Saul because you know at the end of the day it doesn't matter what your physical attributes or qualities are is where your heart is right it's whether you actually possess the inner qualities to serve god okay which obviously we're looking at his outward qualities the fact that he stands out but we're also going to see that he has some very good inward qualities as well we're going to see later on that he's humble which is an attribute that is essential for god to use you and to exalt you and to bless you and for you to be a vessel meet for the master's use so to speak and so he's a goodly person he's head and shoulders above everyone else he has a great pedigree here and you know from a spiritual standpoint obviously it doesn't matter how tall or how short we are but we do want to be tall spiritually right we don't want to be no short stuff spiritually we want to be head and shoulders above anybody else in this world from a spiritual perspective okay and we obviously understand that we can't add one cubit to our stature by taking thought but we can add a cubit to our spiritual stature by reading god's word by meditating upon god's word by serving god and in fact the bible says but grow in grace and in the knowledge of our lord and savior jesus christ so that growth there is a spiritual growth of the inward man though the outward man perish yet the inward man is being renewed day by day we can grow in the knowledge of god and grow in that spiritual stature so to speak so that we stand out to this world okay and the more we walk with god the more we read the bible the more we pray the more we serve god the more alienated we become to this world the more the world begins to look at us and we begin to stand out to them you know you're walking with your family out in the world you know you're going to stand out a little bit especially if you act different from the world right you're going to dress different talk different conduct yourself in a different manner you're going to be like Saul who just kind of stands out you know before everyone else and so we see that pedigree there to show us that you know Saul is obviously from an outward perspective someone who is basically fit to be king now go to Philippians chapter 3 if you would go to Philippians chapter number 3 Philippians chapter number 3 and we're just going to look at a quick example of another Saul in the Bible right and this Saul is not actually his name is Paul but his Hebrew name is Saul and it's interesting because Paul in the New Testament the Apostle Paul is of the tribe of Benjamin as well and we see that he also gives his pedigree here in Philippians chapter 3 but when it comes to his physical attributes he wasn't necessarily head and shoulders above everyone else right in fact we see throughout the epistles that he has some physical ailments you know he's given a thorn in the flesh the messenger of Satan was sent to buffet him so he's not exalted above everyone else or think that he's more better than anybody else because obviously God is revealing all these divine revelations to him to write the word of God but we see here in Philippians chapter 3 look down at your Bibles at verse number 3 it says for we are the circumcision which worship God in the spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh though I might also have confidence in the flesh if any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh I more circumcise the eighth day of the stock of Israel of the tribe of Benjamin you know like Saul in Hebrew of the Hebrews as touching the law of Pharisee concerning zeal persecuting the church touching the righteousness which is in the law blameless but what things were gain to me those I counted loss for Christ so he's saying look I have a good quote unquote spiritual pedigree you know I come from I am a Hebrew my tribe is Benjamin I was a Pharisee of the Pharisee I have some pretty awesome credentials from a religious perspective but I count those things but dung which is what he's going to say in the next verse he says yea doubtless and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus I'm sorry verse number verse number 7 but what things were gain to me those I counted loss for Christ yea doubtless and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and do count them but dung that I may win Christ so the Apostle Paul is saying you know I have this pedigree I have these credentials but at the end of the day it's dung to me because the greatest thing the greatest accomplishment that I can have is the fact that I can know Jesus Christ that I can know the word of God that I can preach Christ and him crucified that's the most important thing so this is a great lesson for us to learn in regards to Saul that don't worry about your physical attributes don't worry if you don't meet up to the world standards of what beauty may be or what it may be to be handsome or you know I don't like the tone of my skin it's too light it's too dark it's too in between or I don't like this mole I don't like this freckle who cares? because at the end of the day you should be seeking to please God and God alone and the Bible talks about the inward man and the beauty of the inward man and the fact that we as God's people should seek to exercise the spirit exercise the spirit renew the spirit, know the word of God and to have stature from a spiritual perspective now that's not to say that if you are a good looking person that somehow oh that's bad or something like that oh man it just sucks to be so good looking or something no just don't let it get to your head if you are or if you consider yourself to be a good looking person don't let it get to your head don't become prideful and arrogant don't be a person who thinks more highly of himself as he ought to think the Bible says, you should be a humble person and thank God for those physical qualities that you have and seek to instead exercise the inward man and be beautiful on the inside, I know that's cliche but that is biblical though we should seek to be head and shoulders spiritually speaking more than any of the people of this world, go back to 1 Samuel 9 1 Samuel 9 so we are going to look at Saul's predicament first and foremost we saw Kish's pedigree he produced a really good son and we are going to see that he not only has these outward physical qualities but he actually has some very good inward qualities as well one of them being obedience to his father we are going to look at the pursuit of the lost asses, it says in verse 3 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 arise, go and seek the asses he says and 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 there they were not and he passed through the land of the Benjamites but they found them not and when they were come to the land of Zaph, Saul said to his servant that was with him, come and let us return, let my father leave caring for the asses and take thought for us and he said to him, behold now well we'll stop there, so we see here that he not only has these outward qualities but he's actually an obedient son which is a wonderful quality to have, right? He obeys the law of his mother and the commandment of his father, we see that he's not a rebellious son, you know the livestock is lost and so he sends Saul his son along with one of the servants to go and seek out the animals, okay and he's not like, well let me go play video games first, obviously they didn't have video games back then you know, let me go cast lots first I don't know what they did back then, let me go throw rocks or something before I go do that No, he was, what was he doing? He went immediately and obeyed his father and made seeking the asses his priority which shows you that he has a great inward quality of obedience Now what we have seen or what the Bible seems to allude to and this is obviously there's a there is an exception to the rule is that when someone obeys their parents, when they obey their mom, they obey their father that likely will transfer over to their obedience unto the Lord which is possibly why God chose Saul, he saw that he was an obedient son so a good prerequisite to be used of God is that you are a faithful and obedient son and or daughter Not a rebellious kid, not a rebellious teenager not a rebellious child obviously no one is perfect but for the most part you fall in line what your mom is telling you to do you fall in line with what your dad tells you to do and this is exactly what we see Saul doing here, he makes it his priority to go and seek after the animals and this isn't like, you know, you tell your kid to go throw the trash and then like he gets sidetracked and does something else, you know no this is actually something where he went out for three days because you see later it took about three days he's going from city to city looking for these animals, he can't find them but he's putting in a considerable amount of effort to find his father's asses which says a lot about him and so what else do we see that Saul possesses, we see that he possesses consistency, faithfulness effort, okay you know, he's not lazy he's actually taking the bull by the horn so to speak, because it's not like he went to one city and was like, oh they're not here I guess I'll just go back home which is something he could have easily done but instead what did he do, he went to different cities seeking the asses, okay and this says a lot about Saul, the fact that he's willing to get the job done, now unfortunately you know, we see here that he's very thorough in his obedience to his father, right but later on when he becomes king unfortunately he deviates from that specific quality that he once had because now, you know, later on we'll see in the coming chapters, when God commands him, hey, you know, make sure you destroy all the Amalekites all the sheep, all the livestock make sure you don't save anything do as I tell you he kind of haphazardly obeys that, right and then of course he's confronted with that and then, you know the kingdom of God is taken from him and given to someone who is better than him, referring to David a man after God's own heart but this also shows you that just because you possess a quality in your younger years it doesn't mean it's always going to be that way okay, you can't expect yourself to have a certain quality today and just kind of, it's always going to be there tomorrow it's always going to be there the following year, you know being a Christian and exerting Christian qualities requires maintenance requires a lot of maintenance just because you know the Bible today doesn't mean you'll know it a year from now why, because Bible reading requires maintenance it requires for you to study the word of God over and over, to remind yourself of the truths of God's word, it requires exercise right, it requires for you to exercise your soul and your brain to do those things that are pleasing unto the Lord because if not, you can easily lose those things you know, I speak Spanish and I'm fluent in Spanish but I find that when I stop speaking Spanish for quite some time and I pick it up again, I struggle there's certain words that I just don't remember how to say, okay and I find myself when I'm preaching the gospel in Spanish I'm like, I know there's a word for this and I completely forgot what it is and then I throw in some Spanglish in there you know and then the person is like, oh you mean this I'm like, yeah, I was testing you, no I'm just kidding you know, but if you don't use it you lose it, well you know that's also true it's true with inward qualities as well if you don't exercise the inward quality of honesty you're going to end up losing it if you don't exercise the inward quality of virtue and obedience and holiness and righteousness, you can lose those things and here's a great example of this because Saul started off as being an obedient son, which is one of the reasons why God chose him, because he wants he wanted a king, an earthly king who was obedient, but then what happened he strayed from that, he got away from those qualities, became proud etcetera, and therefore you know, the kingdom was stripped from him and given to David and so, look at verse number let's see here, we see verse number five, verse number six excuse me he says, 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 cometh surely to pass, now let us go thither, prayer adventure he can show us our way that we should go, so now they're talking about Samuel, they know about Samuel, he's a prophet, he's a seer, and here's another good quality about Saul and his servant is the fact that when they're posed with a problem they don't go to the world they don't go to their buddies who do they go to? The man of God they go to the man who is speaking on God's behalf for a solution to their problem and this is another great quality because after three days of seeking after the asses, they can't find them, instead of throwing them in the towel, calling it quits I'm just going to leave church, I'm just going to stop reading my Bible, I'm just going to move away, I'm just going to do x y and z, what does he do instead? He goes to the man of God and this shows you that Saul is determined he has persistence and you know what, it requires persistence to stay right with God sometimes don't be this Christian where when the slightest problem comes, the slightest little tribulation comes the slightest difficulty relational issue that comes into your life oh I need to take a break from God I need to take a break from, well first of all there's no such thing as taking a break from God I don't know who told you that, you can't compartmentalize God, like hey God this relationship is just getting kind of serious I think we need our space you know I'm just going to go out there maybe we'll touch bases later on in the future or something like that no it doesn't work that way if I make my bed in hell, they aren't there you can't hide from God and if you are a Christian, meaning if you're a believer, you've trusted Christ as your savior, you're a son of God you're a child of God and you will not be able to escape the chastening hand of the Lord and so by the way, it requires more effort to getting right with God than to staying right with God you know it obviously requires effort to maintain your walk with God, but it requires much more effort to get right with God after your life has just been completely destroyed by God in order to get your attention to bring you back okay but we see here that he's not a quitter and you know what we need today, we need Christians who are not quitters then when the going gets tough, tough tough luck, you just stay in church you just keep reading the Bible oh but I got my feelings hurt well join the club you have feelings so they can get hurt hey the fact that you have feelings should be a reminder to you or cause you to be thankful that you can feel things it's a reminder to you that you have emotions okay, hey at least you're not a cold person, okay at least you're not a hardened person who doesn't get hurt you know obviously pain is a good reminder that we're still alive pain is a good reminder that we still feel hurt, we can feel love, we can feel all these emotions and all these things but you know just because it gets tough it doesn't make it an excuse to just quit oh I can't find the acid so I'm just going to quit well why don't you just go to the house of God, hear the preaching of God's word or go on YouTube and look up any one of my friends and hear some preaching throughout the week or why don't you just go and read the Bible say you know what, I'm in the flesh I think I just need to spend about an hour just reading the Bible and just you know getting my heart in tune with God's word so I can just stay right with God instead of just calling it quits that's not what Saul did and so you know we need to raise a generation of young men and young ladies who don't know what it means to quit it's just like well I can't quit well why not? Well because I mean there is no other option you know there is no other option and so I'm just going to stay right with God and you know what I may not be at 100% in my Christian life today I might be putting in 80% but that's better than putting in 15% okay so put in whatever percentage you can put into the Christian life today even though you might not be at 100% do what you can today but don't throw in the towel so Saul and his servant they go to the man of God they're not going to the psychologist of this world they're not going to you know some unsafe person for advice they're going to the mouthpiece of God which is the prophet to figure out what should I do and you know when you're going through an issue when you're going through a problem a tribulation in your life sometimes you're emotionally unstable right? and when you're emotionally unstable you just kind of you can come up with some wacky solutions like maybe I'm just going to move to Australia or maybe I'm just going to move to England maybe I'll just but when you talk to someone who's actually level headed right? someone who's level headed they'll be like that's a really bad idea Australia's really bad don't go to Australia you know maybe I'll move to Canada like woah woah just kidding Adam but you know when you're emotional you're emotionally unstable you can't really come up with a good solution and that's the same with everyone we're all like that right? so what do we do in those times? well we go to someone who is emotionally stable we go to someone who has their head on their shoulders they're thinking clearly see when we can't think clearly we need to go to someone who can think clearly for us like hey this is my issue this is what I think I should do you know can you give me some advice and just like yeah don't do that I don't even have any other advice for you but for sure don't do that or you know don't do that but do this okay? and so go to the man of God go to church go to your Bible what I'm saying is you should seek the Lord's face for a solution okay? before and by the way don't make hasty decisions either anytime there's a major decision that you feel you have to make tonight it's like I gotta do this tonight it typically means you don't have to do it tonight why don't you sleep on it for like two weeks or so okay it's like whoa wait wait I'm not gonna have any peace unless I make a decision right now well then go have an in and out burger go fellowship go hear some preaching go calm down go take a walk around the block go lift some weights go exercise go get your mind off of things and then you'll come back and you say well that was really dumb what I thought I really wanted to do I shouldn't have done that I'm glad I didn't do that and so we see here that he's not calling it quits I'm looking for the asses you know he's finding a way and this is another quality that I really admire about Saul during this time is the fact that you know when he's presented with a road block for him it's just like this doesn't mean stop this this just means I gotta find a different way he doesn't come up with excuses you know anytime we run into some technological problem at our church with the media or something like that this is what I always tell brother Ulysses cause he tells me hey we can't I tell him this I said this this is 2022 okay we can do that I don't know how but this is 2022 okay we should have flying cars by now and I'm sure it's out there somewhere okay it's like there should be no reason why we can't do a specific task why cause this is 2022 we're not out there looking for asses anymore we can have a phone that will locate it for us just put an apple tag on there boom right there and there okay what I'm saying is like he didn't come up with excuses why he couldn't do something he looked for reasons as to why he could he said well let's go to the man of God instead if we physically can't find these asses well let's go find someone who is a seer who can locate them because God's gonna tell them where they're at so we can go and discover them okay and so this is his predicament but obviously he finds a solution we see Kish's pedigree, the pursuit of the lost asses and then the search for the prophet so he stops looking for the asses and he starts looking for the prophet okay he says in verse uh let's see here let's start at verse 7 he says 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 what have we and the servant answered Saul again and said behold I have here a hand the fourth part of a shekel of silver that will I give to 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 let us go to the seer for he that is now called the prophet was before called before time excuse me called the seer then said Saul to his servant well said come let us go so they went into the city where the man of God was and as they went up to the hill to the city they found young maidens going out to draw water and said unto them is the seer here they answered them and said he is behold he is before you make haste now for he came today to the city for there is a sacrifice of the people today in the high place and as soon as you be coming to the city you shall straightway find him before he go up to the high place to eat for the people will not eat until he come because he does bless the sacrifice and afterwards they eat that are bidden so basically they're just telling them look this is where he's at go look for him and this is where you're going to find this man of God so aside from the fact that they were putting all this effort into looking for the asses now they're going to redirect that same effort into looking for the prophet which is Samuel now again they're seeking God's face now we're going to look at God's providence so this turned from a predicament to actually a plan that's unfolding for Saul which is another thing that we can learn anytime there's a predicament in your life don't throw in the towel because maybe God's working something out for you in the background that you don't particularly see at this moment you think Saul is thinking oh I'm for sure going to be king after I find these asses or the reason I'm looking for these animals is because I'm going to be king no he's just doing what he's supposed to do and in light of that God led him to the man of God who would eventually make him and anoint him to be king which shows us that hey if you just keep doing what you're supposed to be doing God will reveal his specific will for your life there's a lot of people out there like what's God's specific will for my life it's right here it's the Bible do what the Bible says first and as you're looking for the asses as you're looking for the sheep as you're soul winning as you're reading the Bible as you're seeking just to live a life that's pleasing unto God then God will begin to reveal what his plan is now my father-in-law used to use this illustration and for a while it became obsolete because no one knew what it was but now these are coming back these Polaroid pictures you know they have those now right Polaroids now and now people like take Polaroid pictures and then they take a picture of the Polaroid and then they pose and it's like how does this work you know but the Polaroid pictures you take it and then you wait for a little bit and then little by little begins to reveal the picture and my father-in-law used to say that's how God's will is you know you take a photo and that photo you taking that photo can be you know figurative of you just doing God's will but when you take that photo you start waiting you gotta wait a little bit you know and then you start seeing a face you start seeing a body you start seeing all these images and then God's will becomes clear as to what he wants you to do ok but it requires a little bit of time and it requires for you to be in the right place at the right time now where is the right place in your Bible where is the right place serving God where is the right place in church oh are you just trying to say that you gotta be in your church well my church or a church like this church you know what I mean but if you're here then yeah obviously it's this church ok now if you move away you go somewhere else go find a church that's like this one that's preaching God's word you know our church is not the only godly church out there this is a great church but there's plenty of other good churches out there as well just find somewhere where you can go and flourish and grow and your knowledge but Saul here his predicament basically ended up leading him to God's plan which is why we see God's providence in his life and so you know God's basically kind of directing him throughout these things so we're going to see the declaration of God's plan he says in verse 15 Now the Lord, listen to this Now the Lord had told Samuel in his ear a day before Saul came saying tomorrow about this time I will send thee a man out of the land of Benjamin so according to the Bible God is sending Saul to Samuel whereas Samuel doesn't even know this I mean excuse me Saul doesn't even know this Saul's just doing whatever his dad told him to do but because he's doing what his dad told him to do God translates that as I'm sending Saul to you which is pretty amazing if you think about it so this is basically I being in the way the Lord led me don't stress about who you're going to marry don't stress about when are we going to have kids don't stress about when is everything going to fall into place just keep doing what you're supposed to be doing and when you are continuously fulfilling God's will basically the Lord can say of you I'm going to send you to this place he's going to lead you by his hand and this isn't a physical feeling either I just feel like God's leading me somewhere you know nonsense we're talking about spiritual leading where as you obey God you're doing God's will he begins to formulate your life in such a way where things are being coming into place and sometimes you don't see the big picture sometimes it's like I feel like I'm not being led right now I'm like in debt or I'm just in distress or I'm diseased, I got coronavirus I don't know I got all these things working against me how do I know that this is going to help me well all things work together for good to them who love God to them who are the called according to his purpose and so God's providence is on Saul he's leading him and he's even telling Samuel I'm going to send you a man by this time I will send thee a man out of the land of Benjamin and thou shall anoint him to be captain over my people Israel that he may save my people out of the hand of the Philistines for I have looked upon my people because their cries come unto me now notice he didn't say you know I have chosen me a man because I just want to make him the man I want him because he's head and shoulders above everyone else I want him to just you know be the man and be in charge there's a purpose behind him exalting Saul and the purpose is what? to save his people out of the hand of the Philistines we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them so Saul's destiny was predestined by God in Christ obviously he wanted him to be king he wanted to use him to deliver his people out of the hand of the Philistines and he's doing it with a purpose so this is not just you know exalting me just for exalting reasons magnify me just to magnify me no there's a purpose behind it the purpose is to benefit someone else's life to give someone the gospel to lead a group of people to get people saved to turn them into righteousness there's always a bigger picture involved and of course ultimately God magnifies people he exalts people so that his name may be exalted so that he may be magnified he's putting Saul in a position of leadership because he knows Saul at least initially would exalt God okay verse 17 and when Samuel saw Saul the Lord said unto him behold the man whom I speak to thee of speak to thee of this same shall reign over my people so he gives him the declaration of God's plan he's saying this is the guy who I'm gonna use to be the king of Israel verse 18 then Saul drew near to Samuel in the gate and said tell me I pray thee where the seers house is and Samuel answered Saul and said I am the seer go up before me into the high place for ye shall eat with me today and tomorrow I will let thee go and I will tell thee all that is in thine heart as for thine asses 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 so this is pretty interesting because Saul doesn't even know that he's gonna be king even during this time not even until the end of the chapter because it's at the end of the chapter that Samuel tells Saul all the word of the Lord referring to the prophecy concerning him becoming king Saul's just thinking you know oh he's just gonna preach to me he's gonna teach me some stuff I'm being honored just to kind of be with him and spend time with the prophet this is great and but then he reveals to him like hey your your father's asses are found so don't even worry about that okay but I want you to notice what he says at the latter end of verse 20 and on whom is all the desire of Israel now this is a very interesting statement here and the reason he words it that way it's for a couple reasons number one is because Israel wants an earthly king that's their desire now that's pretty sad because what it should say is that the desire of Israel should be God that should the desire of Israel be it should be that they desire the Lord right but who is Israel desiring a physical king okay now this is very interesting because of the fact that Saul is the desire of Israel whereas Jesus Christ who David pictures by the way is the desire of all nations according to the book of Haggai okay you know we've seen that during the Christmas season come desire of nations come you know he's the desire of the nations whereas King Saul is the desire of Israel okay now there's a lot of symbolic meaning in this particular statement because we're going to see throughout Saul's reign that because he made so many mistakes because he did a lot of stupid things he's unfortunately going to be a byword and a proverb now in the most literal sense there's a lot to learn from him because he's a byword and a proverb but he's also going to picture one of the most wicked people in all of history which is the Antichrist you know because obviously Saul comes before the real king which is David just as the Antichrist comes before Jesus Christ you know this fake king rises up first and you know what the Antichrist is the desire of Israel right? because they're looking for that earthly ruler they don't want a divine ruler they don't want someone to be divine their messiah is like a physical king, a ruler okay who has no divine abilities he's just a political leader who can basically carry out their agenda and what they want okay which is why I personally believe and I think I can prove it by scripture is that you know the Antichrist will be a Jew because they're still waiting for that messiah and he is the desire of Israel, he will be the desire of Israel now another interesting thing that we can take from this is that Saul is the desire of Israel which means that Israel rejected God as their king you know he came into his own and his own received him not and therefore Jesus Christ became the desire of all nations because Israel did not want him you know the Gentiles did you understand? and so that's why Saul who pictures you know New Testament Jews the kingdom is taken from him and given to someone who is better than him just as the New Testament says the kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof and the nation is referring to is believers okay and of course David not only pictures Jesus Christ but he also pictures New Testament believers and so we see here that yeah he's the desire of Israel, Israel desires a physical king they want to reject the divine king just as Jews want a physical ruler who's gonna be the Antichrist okay who by the way Saul persecutes David just as the Jews in the New Testament persecute believers and obviously they're rejecting the Lord and so he says there on whom is all the desire of Israel is it not on thee and on all thy father's house now at this point he still really doesn't know what they're talking about he's just kind of like what because it says in verse 21 and Saul answered and said am not I a Benjamite of the smallest of the tribes of Israel and my family the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin wherefore then speakest thou so to me now I believe this is a sincere reaction response to Samuel's prophecy because he's like but I'm a Benjamin now we saw in the very beginning that he actually comes from a good pedigree he's wealthy his dad has servants he's a mighty man of power but yet in Saul's eyes he's still like nothing which what that shows us that he has a great quality of humility he's obviously not a prideful arrogant person and he has he has not allowed the wealth of his father the reputation of his father to go to his head because even when the man of God comes to him and says Israel's desires on thee he's like but I'm a Benjamin he's like I'm of the smallest of the tribes of Israel he's like my family's the least of the families of the tribes of Benjamin what is he he's small in his own sight and this is a great quality to have to be exalted by the Lord okay and in fact go to 1 Peter if you would 1 Peter chapter 5 this is a fantastic quality to have and in fact it's essential if God's going to use you in a big way now why is it essential for someone to be humble in order to be used by God well because if someone is prideful they're going to magnify themselves they want all the attention they're going to want to glorify themselves whereas someone who is humble will basically seek to divert the attention to the Lord and recognize you know what if I do any accomplishment if I do anything if I win anybody if I preach anything if anything prospers from my hand it's because of God and others who have influenced my life and just remember this you and I if we're successful in the Christian life we're simply a byproduct of someone else's investment as well as God just remember that before you think yourself to be all high and mighty and you're so wonderful and you have so many great qualities and you're this and you're that and you're all the bag of chips and all that you know before you allow yourself to get so high minded and prideful just remember you are a compilation of someone else's investment Look what the Bible says in 1 Peter chapter 5 in verse number verse number 5 it says Likewise ye younger submit yourselves unto the elder yea all of you be subject one to another and be clothed with humility Why? Because God resisted the proud and giveth grace to the humble. If you're prideful He will resist you He will stop you dead in your tracks He says humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God Why? That He may exalt you in due time If you want to remain in an exulted state as a Christian you got to keep being humble Say that's hard well you know yea because we're sinners and our natural propensity is to become prideful and arrogant when we accomplish something significant So what do we have to do? We have to remind ourselves where we came from We have to remind ourselves were it not for the grace of God I wouldn't be here I couldn't save myself from hell and even thereafter any good qualities that I had I learned them from other men of God The Bible that I learned obviously I put in the work for it but at the end of the day God gave me this brain to be able to read it Whatever talents I have come from God and at any time God can remove these qualities from me and I can just become worthless So humble yourself and here's another way that you can humble yourself hey why don't you thank people around you for their investment Well I'm a self made man No no one is a self made man There's no such thing as a self made man You are a compilation of other people's investment in your life Yea but I taught myself Yea but you taught yourself from some YouTube channel from some tutorial or something or you taught yourself looking at other people do it Someone else taught you you may not have asked them for help or asked them to teach you but you learned from somebody there's no such thing as a self made man Be thankful and by the way learn to say thank you learn to just hey how about this learn to say thank you just flippantly to just random people you know not random people but I'm saying like I'm not saying out on the street like hey you thanks I'm saying like in church you know it's not bad to go to someone who's invested in your life and say hey I just want to thank you for what you've done in my life I really appreciate you or thank you for that advice that you gave me or you know just thank you just have a heart of gratitude say why because that's an expression of humility that's recognizing that you didn't get where you're at because of your own effort or because you're just a great person or so talented or you just have so many great qualities someone instilled those qualities in you not just the Lord but even people around you well who how about your parents hey kids you should go to your parents tonight and say thank you for bringing me to church why are you laughing Miss Kelly? I guess she wants you to say thank you hey for a while Miss Kelly would bring Gio to church kind of drag him in but now Gio just comes up by himself but you know what Gio's not a self made man he has his mom to think because of that you know where his mom got him to a point where he basically decided and Gio you're 17 right Gio's a very young man but yet he puts it upon himself to be in church when he needs to be in church right like he's taking on responsibility but obviously Gio can't say well it's because of me well Gio is gonna say after the sermon you know it's because of my mom it's because of brother Maury it's because of different people who encouraged me it's because of brother John you know who encouraged me in these ways and discipled me and that's why and by the way you know we I poke fun at brother Gio but at the end of the day there's rarely a 17 year old like brother Gio out there I don't meet 17 year olds like brother Gio don't let that go to your head my friend we know your head and shoulders above everyone here okay but according to this story that doesn't end very well alright I'm just kidding don't make the same mistakes as Saul Gio hey Gio has his mom to thank and you know he's not the only one you know other kids in this church you have your parents to thank yeah but you know I'm going through so many problems yeah but what about the good things that you've experienced in your life thank your parents for that say mom thank you for bringing me to church thank you for teaching me the bible thank you for bringing me to a baptist church thank you for bringing me to a new IFB church I mean good night in the morning that's a great thing and then some of you adults why don't you thank your parents I know you're already you got your stuff together and you're already older and you're an adult but you know what thank your parents for being who you are today and so we see that that he has an attitude of humility even though he's the desire of Israel he's still thinking to himself but who am I who am I and he doesn't even know what he's being chosen for that's just his response to what Samuel is saying about him he's just like why would they desire me who am I I'm looking for asses I'm looking for my father's livestock I'm just trying to obey the Lord like how is this how did I go from looking for my father's livestock to being the desire of all Israel well I'll tell you why because you're just in the way Saul you're doing what your dad told you to do you're putting the priorities of your parents first you are humble you're a man of character you're a man of virtue this is why you're here and so he's the desire of Israel we see Saul's distinct humility in verse 21 and then we see that he begins to dine with Samuel he says in verse number 22 and Samuel said behold that which is left send 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 he sets this spread this food before him and it's like a really good meal it's the shoulder I mean and he's saying look this was prepared for thee he says this has been kept for thee since I said I have invited the people Saul didn't know anything about this but this meal was prepared for him even when before Samuel had called this assembly of people together now what is the principle we can learn there there's a prepared place for prepared people there is a prepared spread for prepared servants so if you just prepare yourself to do God's will keep working there is a prepared place for you in the future there is a shoulder waiting for you there is a meal spiritually speaking waiting for you but you have to prepare okay now you can apply this in many different ways okay obviously if you're going to be a pastor you know there's a prepared place for prepared people and you say well when can I be a pastor I can't give you a timeline I'm not going to do that you know that's up to you and that's up to the Lord but I will say this there's a prepared place for prepared people and look here's the thing is that this church is an example of that because I prepared for years on end not even knowing that something like this was going to happen I put in hours and hours of work into the Bible studying the Bible hours of work into working on my preaching just hours of work learning the ministry for it just all to be taken away in one instant and it's like what because I'm not going to be a pastor like I kind of wanted to say like it was kind of all a waste but I know it wasn't because I learned the Bible I'm an effective servant of the Lord I think you know I learned from my father-in-law I learned from my church members how to serve God and you know what I guess I'm not going to be a pastor but you know there's a prepared place for a prepared person and I literally remember the last day that we were at our church I think I told brother Ulysses well I guess I'm never going to preach God's word ever again there goes that that was a cool run you know at least I know the Bible and you know what the very next Sunday I had to preach two sermons because the very next Sunday is when we started the church and I didn't even know like I had no idea and people were even saying like you planned this with Stephen Anderson you guys plotted together it's just like I had no idea I went to the prophet for a different issue you know I went to the man of God for a complete separate issue and then this church began a week later well it just seems like you know this is kind of being construed together yeah it's called God's providence where God is just kind of boop have you two meet and then the church has started right well here's the thing what if I didn't study the Bible throughout those years what if I was just a lazy student of the word of God what if I just didn't read my Bible just skipped a couple days just did not read it didn't memorize it didn't think upon it there was times in my Christian life where you know I didn't really have a whole lot of friends or even family members and you know what I would just no one really thought about me or thought to check up on me so I would just go to the coffee shop and just go read my Bible for a couple hours catch up on studying God's word not knowing that something like this was going to happen in the future but you know it was important because there's a prepared place for prepared people so I don't know what God has prepared for you but you better prepare now because whatever it is you better prepare for it like it's the biggest thing that's going to happen to you in your whole entire life because there's a prepared place for prepared people and you know what these little qualities that he had that he exerted made a huge difference when he actually became king so a prepared place for prepared people we see that there and of course you know he's being bidden to a feast like it says in Luke chapter 14 he's being exalted he's not inviting himself to the feast Samuel invites him to the feast of 30 people and gives him the best of the meal ok now look at verse number 25 we're going to see so we looked at Saul's predicament we see God's providence and ultimately we see Samuel's prophecy in verse 25 it says and when they were come down from the high place into the city Samuel communed with Saul upon the top of the house and they arose early and it came to pass about the spring of the day that Samuel called Saul to the top of the house saying up that I may send thee away and Saul arose and they went out both of them he and Samuel abroad so still remember keep in mind to this point he still doesn't know what's going on he just thinks he's feasting with the prophet so Samuel's about to relieve Saul and then ultimately he reveals Saul's destiny it says in verse 27 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 out still awhile that I may show thee the word of God so as he's about to leave he tells his servant tell your servant to just kind of separate from you a little bit because I need to tell you the word of God now this is a great principle that through desire a man having separated himself seeketh an intermeddleth with all wisdom and let me just say this is that in order for you to be used of God greatly or at any capacity there has to come a time where you separate yourself from the multitudes to go pray where you separate yourself from the multitudes to go read God's word to go hear the word of God okay there has to come a time when you don't have you know your friends and your family it's just like you're in your prayer closet alone or wherever you read your Bible and you sit there and you hear the word of God yourself you say how do I seek an intermeddleth with all wisdom well first of all desire you better desire to get close to God you better desire to read God's word but number two you gotta separate yourself sometimes and just be alone you and the Lord reading the Bible studying the word of God not because you're going to preach some great sermon one day not because you just want to debunk some doctrine not because you're even trying to refine your soul just because you want to read God's word how about that how about just reading the Bible just because it's like honey to your mouth because you just want to love the word of God you want to stand in awe of his word you just want to hear what God has to say well yeah but I gotta prepare a sermon though I need a good sermon or I need to refute this false doctrine or I need to do this well those are all great but more than that how about just sitting at the feet of Jesus hearing his word you know the most important thing is for you just to hear the Lord speak through his word and just learn the word of God because you love God's word and by the way through that that's where he discovers that he's going to be anointed king and so it's a great story here now unfortunately a little after this it's just all downhill for Saul you know but you know ultimately what we can learn from this chapter is that God believes in people even though God knows he had the foreknowledge that Saul was going to mess up he was going to screw everything up he still invested a lot into him in spite of that because he believed that Saul would do the right thing or that at least he would try to do the right thing and he treated him as such he never said like oh yeah by the way Samuel I just want to let you know a couple years from now he's going to blow it big time no he's like I want him to reign over my people I want him to serve me so it shows you that even God in his foreknowledge and providential mind understanding all things still invest in people in spite of that in hopes that they would make the right decision which by the way proves that he has given to us free will you know he went through all this to make him the first king of Israel think about that knowing full well what was going to happen in the future and you know he does the same with us ok he knows the mistakes that we're going to make he knows the successes we're going to have he knows the right decisions we're going to make he knows the bad decisions we're going to make let's just hope and pray and try our best to stay on track because if God has invested this much into us if he's given us this much it must mean that he believes in us quite a bit to make the right decision you know let's not disappoint that and let's keep making the right decisions being humble, loving the Lord hearing his word, serving God and that's it let's pray, Father we thank you so much for your word we're so thankful for Saul's beginnings and unfortunately his ending is not well but I pray you help us to learn from his beginning all of us can have that same beginning and maintain that as long as we don't make the mistakes that Saul made Lord help us to be humble to give credit where credit is due to let another man praise us and not our own lips and not only that but help us to divert the praise Lord and be thankful for the accomplishments that we have and recognize that they're a compilation of your investment in us as well as others and I pray that Lord you bless us as we go on our way give us a great weekend I pray that a lot of souls will be saved on Saturday and on Sunday that you'd give us a great day at church and take us home safely and bring us back here safely as well in Jesus' name we pray, Amen song number 15 lead me to Calvary our last song, song number 15 lead me to Calvary everyone nice and strong all together on that first verse king of my life I crown thee now thine child have glory be lest I forget thy thorn-crowned brow lead me to Calvary lest I forget Gethsemane lest I forget thine agony lest I forget thy love for me lead me to Calvary show me the tomb where thou was laid tenderly morn and well angels and robes of light the rain guarded he wilt now slip lest I forget Gethsemane lest I forget thy agony lest I forget thy love for me lead me to Calvary let me like Mary through the bloom come with a gift to thee show to me now the empty tomb lead me to Calvary lest I forget Gethsemane lest I forget thy agony lest I forget thy love for me lead me to Calvary may I be willing Lord to bear daily my cross for thee even thy cup of grief to share thou has borne all for me lest I forget Gethsemane lest I forget thy agony lest I forget thy love for me lead me to Calvary Amen you are dismissed you