Okay, go ahead and turn with
me again tonight to 1 Samuel chapter 10. I've titled this message, The Anointing. The Anointing. And it's very
important to remember that Saul being anointed king here was
the result of the hearts and disobedience of the people. They
wanted a king. God said, no, you don't want
a king. I'm your king. I'm your potentate. I'm your God. I'm gonna take
care of you. And they said, no, we want a
king like everybody else has got. And God said, I'll give
you a king, but he's gonna be a bad king. And they said, that's
okay. We'll take any kind of king. We want to be just like everybody
else. Everybody else has got a king, we want a king. And Saul is going to be an example
and a picture. I've said this more than once,
but we need to say it. We need to understand it. He's
an example and a picture of what men and women get when they are
given a king and a ruler of their own making. And that is seen
even more clearly when you understand that men and women by nature,
apart from a divine intervention and a divine revelation, will
always strive in their nature to be their own God, their own
king, just as Adam and Eve did. That's what their trouble was. The serpent said, if you eat
of the tree that God commands you not to eat of, You'll be
as gods. You'll know good and evil. And
they said, well, we kind of like that idea. But the true God, the King of
Kings, is not going to have that. And we know that from what he
did to Adam and Eve. Threw them out of his presence,
out of paradise. Made them work by the sweat of
their brow. And as I told you last study,
Saul is an anti-type, an opposing type of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ is the Lord, L-O-R-D capital. He's Jehovah, God who
saves. His title is the Christ. You
know what that means? The anointed one. He's the anointed
one. And what we have before us tonight
deals with the anointing of Saul as king, commander, and ruler
of Israel. And the Hebrew word for anointed
in verse one here, 1 Samuel 10, means to rub in with oil or to
consecrate. Consecrate means to sanctify,
to set apart, to dedicate, to reserve. Truest definition of
the word anoint means to make perfect. To anoint with oil represents
the act of making one completely clean, perfectly clean. And when the scriptures speak
of the anointing of the Spirit of God, it refers to God changing
a man or woman in their heart. And it speaks to the true salvation
of a man and woman soul. Now, sadly, true dedication and
consecration is not something we see a lot of in our day and
time. Saul's anointing never seemed
to ascend to the spiritual realm. It remained in the carnal fleshly
realm. Saul's anointing and changing
seems to have to do more with an ordination rather than regeneration. All that takes place in Saul's
anointing seems to only change him from a farmer to a governor. No real spiritual change. Where
is that true consecration? Where a believer, a child of
God, says along with Peter, Lord, where else will we go? You've
got the words to eternal life. There's nowhere else for us to
go. And if you're a believer in Christ, you've come by God's
grace to that revelation that there's no place else for us
to go. In order to be eternally with Christ in glory, face to
face with our Redeemer, there's nothing else for us to do, no
place else for us to go. And with Saul, the handwriting's
on the wall. The events before us tonight
are recorded in this portion of Scripture to reveal that the
people's voice is going to end with trouble and woe. It's not
going to turn out as they thought. Their wanting of a king is going
to create nothing but trouble for them, as God told them it
would. I wonder sometimes if we Ever
really going to truly believe the Lord. He tells us so much
in this book that we just ignore. Even believers. And most definitely
religion. The events of the life of Saul
will ultimately bring about King David, the true king, God's chosen
king, who pictures the Lord Jesus Christ. And I say with the anointing
of, will say that the anointing of Saul did point to Christ in
one respect. There were three offices that
Christ would fulfill as the Messiah. You know what they are, prophet,
priest, and king. And for the first time, we see
a picture of Christ in these three heavenly offices through
none other than Saul. In this chapter, Saul is going
to be anointed king. Saul is going to prophesize,
we'll see. Be a prophet. And Saul is going
to be given the priest's gift of bread. Now many Bible scholars
have always been inconsistent in judging whether or not Saul
was a converted man or not. Was he lost or was he saved?
Was Saul lost or saved man? I've often wondered myself. And
a casual reading of this text before us tonight may give us
the impression that Saul was in fact a believer. but careful
consideration tends to point to an opposite conclusion. However, let me say, ultimately,
who is or is not saved is the Lord's business, His decision,
and His doing. Only God knows a man or woman's
heart. Sometimes I think I do, but I
don't. I say that to my shame. It's wrong for me to judge in
the matter. None of us have any true evidence
of what's going on in each other's hearts. A man can seem to love
Christ, love the Gospel, and not at all. And sometimes the
person that gives the least evidence of loving the Gospel and the
Lord Jesus is the one who loves them most. We don't even know our own hearts,
much less anyone else's. And the scripture declares that
we shall know who loves and trusts the Lord Jesus by their fruit. But then we've got to remember
that we're not fruit inspectors. God doesn't need fruit inspectors.
He knows. He knows everything. So Saul
proves to be an unsavory character throughout his history in the
Scriptures. And David refers to Saul as a
bloody man. In the book of Psalms, he referred
to Saul as an enemy, a bloody man, and a worker of iniquity,
Psalm 59. However, in the verses that we
have before us tonight, we find some positive appearances of
Saul in the beginning of his kingship. And it's the same with
many professing believers today. How they start and finish are
often two different things altogether. So tonight I wanna talk to you
about Saul's anointing. And more than anything, I want
us to see something of our own anointing. And I think this will be a blessing
to you. It was to me. Verse 1, Samuel
10. Then Samuel took a vial of oil
and poured it upon his head, upon Saul's head, and kissed
him. and said, is it not because the
Lord hath anointed thee to be captain over his inheritance? And by that, what Samuel said
there, I suppose by the look on Saul's face that he still
can't believe that this is happening to him. It's only partially correct
to say that Samuel anointed Saul because it was actually the Lord
that anointed Saul. But if Saul's gonna be king,
he's got to be anointed. Christ's anointing was spiritual. And he received the spirit, the
scripture says, without measure. And even though Saul's anointing
pointed to the spirituals, pointed to Christ, it was only a carnal
anointing. And this kiss from Samuel, was
just a little more than a symbol of just well-wishing. Kind of
like someone in the world who believes in luck. We don't believe
in luck, do we? But someone who does say, good
luck, buddy. You're going to need it. Now, before we go any further,
let me show you four prophecies foretold by Samuel that'll dismiss
any doubt in Saul's mind as to whether or not God had called
him to be king. These four prophecies are found
in verses two through 12. Look at verse two. Samuel prophesies
and he says, when thou art departed from me today, Then thou shalt
find two men by Rachel's sepulcher in the border of Benjamin at
Zelzah. And they will say unto thee,
the asses which thou wentest to seek are found, and, lo, thy
father hath left the care of the asses, and sorroweth for
you, saying, what shall I do for my son? Then shalt thou go
on forward from thence, and thou shalt come to the plain of Tabor,
and there shalt meet the three men going up to God to Bethel,
one carrying three kids, and another carrying three loaves
of bread, and another carrying a bottle of wine. And they will
salute thee and give thee two loaves of bread, which thou shalt
receive of their hands." Verse five, and after that, thou shalt
come to the hill of God. Where is the garrison of the
Philistines? And it shall come to pass when
thou art come thither to the city, thou shall meet a company
of prophets coming down from the high place with a psaltery
and a tabret and a pipe and a harp before them, and they shall prophesy. And the Spirit of the Lord will
come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them. and shalt
be turned into another man. And let it be when these signs
are come unto thee, that thou do as occasion serve thee, for
God is with thee. and thou shalt go down before
me to Gilgal, and behold, and I will come unto thee to offer
burnt offerings and to sacrifice sacrifices of peace offerings.
Seven days thou shalt thou tarry till I come to thee and show
thee what thou shalt do." 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, just as Samuel had prophesied. And when they came thither to
the hill, behold, a company of prophets met him, and the Spirit
of God came upon him, Saul. and he prophesied among them,
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? We didn't know he was a prophet,
he's prophesied. And one of the same place answered
and said, but who's their father? Therefore, it became a proverb,
is Saul also among the prophets. Now, in these verses, we see
from these four prophecies, three particular and positive things
in the anointing of Saul as king. The Spirit of Lord, first, the
Spirit of Lord came upon him. Secondly, he joins the other
prophets in prophesying. And thirdly, it says he's given
another heart. So let's look at these briefly. The Spirit of the Lord came upon
Saul, verses six and 10. Some say that this made Saul
a spiritually regenerated man, a saved man. Yet when we studied
the history of Saul, he wasn't a spiritual man at all. No doubt
that for that particular instant, the Spirit of God did come upon
him and enabled him to prophesy, just as Samuel said. And there
have been others who God used for servants to accomplish his
will that he equipped with a temporary gift. That's all this was. God
can use any means, we say this often, God can use any means
He desires to accomplish His will. You agree with that? Of
course you do, that's God. He can do whatever He wants to.
Balaam comes to mind. You remember the story of Balaam?
Balaam's beast, Balaam's ass, donkey, whatever you wanna call
him, mule, comes to mind. They were for an instant in time
employed as prophets. They spake the Word of God, but
none would consider them being of a spiritual kind. You know,
Balaam was a deceiver. Now, the reason the Spirit of
God was upon Saul was to point him out as the one that God had
ordained to be king. And I suppose more than anyone,
it was to prove to Saul that he was. This was to accomplish God's
will in giving Israel exactly what they wanted. Never lose
track of that as we go through this book. Just like in the early church
after Christ ascended, remember men spoke in tongues, other languages
that they didn't know. There are some that still think
that's going on today, but the scripture's clear, they've ceased.
They prophesied and they told future events to prove as a sign
that they were those that Christ had chosen to witness and establish
the church of God. That's the reason they spoke
in tongues, to preach the gospel so that every man could hear
it. That word tongues in the scriptures is glossio, it means
a language. It doesn't mean gibberish like
men do today. It would be like me being in
Russia and all of a sudden I'm preaching, I may hear it in English,
I don't know, but they're hearing it in Russian. Or he actually
gives me the ability to speak in a language I don't know. I'm
not sure what it is, but it's not this gibberish that we hear
today. And it was all used by God to
witness and establish God's church. Now, how the Lord used Saul was
to point him out as the one that God had called and ordained king.
And it was a means to bring Saul's recognition prior to his inauguration,
so to speak, as the chosen king, to bring him political recognition. And secondly, Paul prophesied
with the other prophets. So we see in verse 10, when the
company of prophets came to the hill, the spirit of the Lord
came upon Saul and he prophesied among them. And again, this just
seems to be a temporary gift because I can't find anywhere
else in the scriptures where Saul prophesied again. The ability to prophesy is not
proof of regeneration or salvation. Just as Balaam prophesied in
the Old Testament, and Caiaphas, the high priest, prophesied in
the New Testament. Neither one of them proved to
know God. Our Lord said in Matthew 7, many
will say unto me in that day, Lord, Lord, haven't we not prophesied? in thy name, and in thy name
have cast out devils, and in thy name done many wonderful
works. But they didn't know God. And as for the Spirit of God
rushing upon Saul, this too seems to be just a temporary thing
and for a specific purpose, and that being empowered to be king is why the Spirit did it. Not
the reason of saving him. And in verse 9 we're told that
God gave Saul another heart. Now many would say, well see
right there, that proves that Saul was saved. God gave him
another heart. No, it doesn't. So in the least. The Lord does not say that Saul
would be a new man. It doesn't say that Saul would
be a new creature or that God would give him a new heart. It says another heart. Totally
different from new. The word another does not suggest
Saul became a new creature, that he became a believer. It simply
suggests kind of a lateral change. Saul would be given another heart
Saul would be turned into another man, different than what he was. And as I said, you know, he,
best I can tell, you know, he was a farmer, you know, with
his dad. That's, we sent him out to be
a, to find the farm animals. And he went from being a farmer,
another man, to being a governor seeking a kingdom. He'd be turned
into another man altogether. Now one with royal responsibilities. Now one with the heart of a ruler
and not a follower. But as we'll discover, Saul was
turned into a man who was more interested in promoting himself than the welfare of his people.
He'd be turned from a poor man. Remember when he said, we're
of the least of the tribes, and my family's one of the least
in that tribe. He'd be turned into a poor man
to a rich man, another man. He'd be turned into one whose
interest was in self, not in the people that he was anointed
to serve. And his gifts would not be turned
to the welfare of his people. His gifts would be turned to
the things of politics and self-preservation. Now I'm trying to establish here,
excuse me, that Saul was not a saved man. He wouldn't have
carried on like he did. You know him by the fruit, right?
Well, he didn't give much fruit. Does it sound familiar? It sounds
a lot like religion today, men and women in religion. They're
made religious. They're made holier than thou.
They're made self-righteous, but they're not anointed. They're not made new creatures
in Christ. And that's what I want to be
made. I want to be born again. I don't want to be reformed. People talk a lot about reformation
today. That's taking the old and trying
to make it better. That's exactly what religion
is doing. I don't need reformation, John. I need a new heart. I need to be born again. I need
to be made a new creature. Where old things are passed away
and behold, all things have become new. That's what I need. I don't
simply want or need a makeover. There used to be a show on, you
know, where they made people over and they, man, they looked
so much different than they did before, but there was no change
here. The same old person, just in
a different shell, just looked different. It doesn't change
what's on the inside. I need an inward makeover. One
that permeates to the outside. And I'll cover the rest of this
chapter, Lord willing, the next time, but I do want you to look
at verse 26. It says, and Saul also went home
to Gibeah, and there went with him a band of men whose hearts
God had touched. Now, these touched hearts speak
of hearts that were touched to follow Saul. Have you ever worked
for someone, maybe, and you really respected that person, and you
wanted to do a good job for them? They treated you well, and you
wanted to work hard for them. They had your heart, so to speak.
That's what this is talking about. They had hearts of a temporal
change, reformation, not regeneration. And they, as I said earlier,
were lateral changes, not vertical. It's a sideways move, not an
improvement, a real improvement. They were carnal, not spiritual. And that's, again, exactly what
we have in religion today. People are given another heart
and become another person. At least they act as if they
have, but it's temporary. You know, when the Lord saved
me out of this world, and I got religion, that's exactly
what I got. And I became, just as I said
a moment ago, myself holier than thou. And I tell you, people didn't
like me. You've heard the old saying,
people say, I liked you better before God saved you. And religion can be ugly. Most of religion's participants
lose interest in a short period of time, or they become twofold
the child of hell that the person that proselyted them was. But
even if people in religion hold on until they leave this life,
this world, this change, this religion that they possess is
at best temporary. Because when they die, when they
leave this world, they're gonna find out that they didn't obtain
a thing by it. Except eternal damnation. And
this is serious, serious business. Over the years, I've seen many
come and go after hearing the truth of Christ and Him crucified.
How can we understand, how can we explain or reason in our own
minds how some can sit under the gospel for so many years,
seemingly loving, the preaching of Christ and loving Christ,
and then just stop or quit. Just totally lose interest. I
have those in my own family that have done so. Ones that I love
dearly. Well, the beloved John shines
a little light on the subject found in 1 John 2. Turn there
with me. You can let your place go in
1 Samuel. And we'll just briefly look at this. 1 John 2, verse 9. Look at it with me. Now, John here is speaking of
Antichrist. Look at, excuse me, not verse
9. Verse 19, but look first at verse
18. 1 John 2, verse 18, John says,
little children, it's the last time. Do you believe we're in
the last time? I do, I do. A lot of the things
Christ said would come are coming. It's the last time, it was the
last time when John wrote this. A day is a thousand years, a
thousand years is a day with the Lord. In the Lord's time,
since John wrote this, two days have passed, 2,000 years. And as ye have heard that Antichrist
shall come, even now are there, now look, many, many Antichrists,
whereby we know that it's the last time. Now this is not speaking
of that Antichrist, that one who will deceive the whole world.
with signs and wonders. This is speaking of anyone and
everyone that is Antichrist or opposed to Christ. If you're
opposed to Christ, if you are Antichrist, then you're Antichrist. And there are many of them. We
know that. This is talking about those who
will not have Christ to reign over them. I will not have this
man to rule over me. That's who it's talking about.
Those who will not bow to Christ to put their sin away. No, I'm
gonna work it out on my own. Had a man tell me that, someone
that I highly respected and believed in through the Lord. He said,
I'm gonna make a go of this on my own. Oh my. So what does the Lord through
the Apostle John say about these opposers? Are they just backslid? That's what a lot of people like
to say. Well, they just backslid, they just backslid. Are they
still saved? Were they saved and then lost?
Were they ever saved? Did they have salvation? Did
they have Christ and did they lose it? Verse 19, they went
out from us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of
us, they would no doubt have continued with us, but they went
out. that they might be made manifest
that they were not all of us. Now, I'm not saying this applies
to every person that's quit attending church. I'm not saying that,
but how else do we reconcile this in our minds? The word of
God says here in verse 19 that they were never saved. Because
you can't be saved, truly saved, and then lost. The Lord said, all that the Father
giveth me shall come to me, and I'll know why He's casting them
out. It says they never were of us.
They never were of the true church. They never were true believers.
If they had been, they would have continued with us. That's
what John said. Their leaving has made manifest
that they were never true believers. Now I know some folks leave and
they come back. And some leave again and never
come back. So how important, here's the point I'm getting
at. How important is it to be anointed? To be dedicated and consecrated
and sanctified, set apart and anointed by God? It's life and
death. It's the most important thing
at all in this world. To not be is to go out and meet
God without a substitute and to be forever condemned. Look at verse 20 here in 1 John.
This is written to believers. He says, but you, but you have
an unction from the Holy One. I found this so interesting.
Did you know, do you know what the word unction here means?
Speaking of that unction that the believer received from God,
the word unction means anointing. Same word, same original word. And I thought about this today
and it just tickled me. I just loved it. The definition
of the original word anointing is a smearing. It's taking that
oil and smearing it and rubbing it. It's a smearing. It's an
applying of the Holy Spirit on a believer like oil. God takes
his spirit and he smears it all over you. He rubs it in and it becomes
a part of you. Never to be separated from you. He said, I'll never leave you
nor forsake you. That's what it's talking about.
Those who leave and separated never had it. They were never
anointed, consecrated, set apart of God. They will never separate and
cannot be separated. They are one of the select elect
ones. They were once saved and they're
always saved. If they're truly saved. And look at verse 21. I have
not written unto you because you know not the truth. "'I've
written unto you because you know it, "'and that no lie is
of the truth. "'Who is a liar but he that denieth
"'that Jesus is the Christ? "'He is Antichrist that denieth
the Father and the Son. "'Twenty-three, whosoever denieth
the Son, "'the same hath not the Father, "'but he that acknowledgeth
the Son hath the Father also. "'Let that therefore abide in
you "'which you have heard from the beginning. "'If that which
you have heard from the beginning "'shall remain in you, "'ye also
shall continue in the Son and in the Father.' "'And this is
the promise that He hath promised us, "'even eternal life. "'These
things have I written unto you "'concerning them that seduce
you.'" Now look at verse 27. "'But the anointing, which you
have received of Him abideth in you. And ye need not that
any man teach you, but as the same anointing teacheth you of
all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath
taught you, ye shall abide where? In Him. Christ is God's anointing. Christ is God's salvation. We're
chosen in Christ. We're set apart in Christ. This
all comes back to Him. Everything concerning salvation
does. By the word of God, He begot
you. He begot you with the word of
truth. That's Jesus Christ. The subject of the Bible, the
subject of the scriptures is Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And if God shows you who Christ
is, He's God's Son, and He's God the Son. If God shows you
what Christ did, God died for your sins on the cross, that
your sin might be put away. Only God could do it. Nobody
but God could do it. He is your anointing. God has
smeared Christ on you and in you. You're forever saved. You forever have hope. Why? Because
Christ in you is the hope of glory. See, it all ties together. You're forever saved. Christ
is the only hope I have of spending eternity in glory face to face
with Christ. Christ in you is the hope of
what? Glory. Being with Him forever. And you know what that makes
you? Anointed. anointed, set apart, consecrated,
saved, made perfect, holy, and righteous, not as Saul for a
particular fleeting time, but like David forever and ever and
ever. And you know, that's exactly
what David said on his deathbed. David's dying and he said, although
my house be not so with God, yet he hath made with me. And
friends, I sure hope that God, I've got hope, Christ in me is
my hope, that when I'm laying on my deathbed, that I know that
he's made this everlasting covenant with me and with you. Because it's ordered in all things
and it's sure. In a day where there's not much
sure, this is sure. And this is all my salvation,
all of it. Not part of it, not 50% of it,
all of it. And it's all my desire. So, are
you anointed of God? May God be pleased to make it
so. For his glory, your good, and for Christ.