The anointed ruler

I Sam 10: 1 – 13

Rev. Peter R Green, Sunday morning, 09 May, 2004

ONE OF the best things that John Howard did, in the very early days of his Government, was to bring the States together and bring them into line on gun control.
THE DO–IT–YOURSELF GUIDE TO KINGSHIP
  When I was at University, I did a study on the idea of kingship in Cambodia.
  Back around the time of King Alfred in England, the Cambodian kings were linked with the Hindu god, Shiva. The people saw their king as Shiva’s personal representative on earth. Later on, as Buddhism became established, they saw the king as the Buddha’s earthly representative. The cult was known as devaraja at first — that means “god–king” in Sanskrit; then it became buddharaja to follow Buddhism.

  There is a very common pattern in rulership. The king or the leader or the Prime Minister or whoever does something to prove himself. He has to show in some way that he is the earthly representative of the local god.

  Don’t laugh. Don’t call this “Primitive nonsense, that hung on much too long in Cambodia.” Just think. Only 355 years ago, the British Parliament decided that King Charles I was not God’s personal representative, and executed him. People thought the sky would fall in, even that recently.

  I mentioned John Howard and gun control.

  The kinds of things kings and other rulers did to show they were legitimate included building new capital cities, so that they became builder–kings; or they brought about religious reforms, like King Josiah in Judah. The reforms could mean building new temples or new church buildings or improving financial support for religion, or it could mean trying to resolve religious conflicts or pushing out under–trained priests. They were sort–of priest–kings.
  Other leaders take a more ethical approach and become almost prophet–kings. They look at the nation. They see social issues needing reform, or they see injustices needing challenge. They tackle corruption or introduce new laws. They are reformers.

  That was essentially what John Howard did after the Port Arthur Massacre. He reined in gun ownership and gun use. It was a social issue. It needed a changed outlook. It was difficult to tackle, but something many people had longed for over many years.

  For a while, he wasn’t “Little Johnny Howard”. He grew taller. We saw him as a true leader. He was in touch with goodness, in touch with greatness, in touch with God.

  When we look at the three great kings of Israel, when we look at Saul at David, at Solomon, we see something of the same thing at work in their lives.
  That should never surprise you. One trait of good leaders is that they know how to capture the people’s imagination. A new city, a new religious expression, a new sense of justice — they mean something to people. Other kings defeated enemies, captured resources, fought off tyrants.
  It is all a way of linking themselves to God, however the people understand God.

THE UNIQUENESS OF ISRAEL’S KINGS
  But there is something different about Saul and David and Solomon.
  In I Samuel 10, we heard, only a few minutes ago,

As Saul turned to leave Samuel, God changed his heart, and all these signs were fulfilled that day. When they arrived at Gibeah, a procession of prophets met him; the Spirit of God came upon him in power, and he joined in their prophesying.

  We only have to turn over a few more pages and here’s David, about to take over as King, because Saul disobeyed God and destroyed one of God’s major plans. We read about David,

  Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. But Samuel said to him, “The LORD has not chosen these.” So he asked Jesse, “Are these all the sons you have?”
  “There is still the youngest,” Jesse answered, “But he is tending the sheep.”
  Samuel said, “Send for him; we will not sit down until he arrives.”
  So he sent and had him brought in. He was ruddy, with a fine appearance and handsome features.
  Then the LORD said, “Rise and anoint him: he is the one.”
  So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the LORD came upon David in power. Samuel then went to Ramah.

  The story of Solomon is somewhat different, partly because he came to the throne suddenly. There was a plot to overthrow King David, and David defeated the plot by deciding that Solomon would be the new King when he died. So Solomon effectively became the King before David died.

  In II Chronicles, we do not read specifically of the Holy Spirit, but we read of the LORD coming to Solomon at night and offering Solomon a gift. Solomon asked for wisdom and knowledge, so that he could rule the people wisely. And God answered that prayer.

  It doesn't have the drama we find with Saul or David, where the Holy Spirit came upon them powerfully. But here God gives to Solomon what we now recognise as clear gifts of the Holy Spirit.

  Do you see a pattern merging?
  A special infilling of the Holy Spirit is God’s standard way of starting a royal Kingship; it's the sign which clearly marks a straightforward beginning of kingship.

  Think back for a moment to Samson. Do you remember what I said last week? I said that the real secret of his strength was not his hair, but the Holy Spirit. His hair was the context or setting for the Spirit to work in him. His hair was the symbol of his separation from the ordinary world and his separation to God’s purposes. While his hair was long, he was separated out and holy. He was fit for God to use. But it was God’s Holy Spirit who equipped and empowered him to serve.

  It’s the same with the kings, like Saul and David. The key to their service to God was their holiness, their separation to his purposes, That was the purpose of anointing. That anointing marked each king out. It divided him from the rest. Saul was no longer one of the young men looking after donkeys. David was no longer the little brother among Jesse’s sons. Saul was now the king; David was now the king. And as king, each was empowered by the Holy Spirit for that kingly task.
  You will also notice that Saul lost the Holy Spirit because he was disobedient. But David was different. We read,

...from that day on the Spirit of the LORD came upon David in power.

  David was not always close to the Lord, but he always remained pointed in the direction the Lord had set him.
  That’s still the key to blessing even today. We all fail; we all disobey, but forgiveness and cleansing and new beginnings are there for all who remain pointed in the direction that Jesus has set for us.
  There is much more that the Bible says about forgiveness and cleansing and what to do if you sin, and it's not my intention to go over all of that today. If there is anything troubling you in that respect, come and see me after the service, and we will talk further. Don’t run off with a few words and decide that, because you were not covered by what I said, that you are beyond God’s help.

  What I’m saying is this: press on towards the goal, and your mistakes and missteps will be manageable; but if you put your hand to the plough and then turn back, that is a very different situation as far as Holy Spirit empowerment goes.

JESUS, BAPTISM AND THE SPIRIT
  At this point I want us to skip forwards in history by around 1000 years. David ruled around 1000BC; we now move forward to see Jesus, in Matthew’s gospel:

3:1In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea 2and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” 3....
5People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. 6Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.
7But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. 9And do not think you can say to yourselves, `We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. 10The axe is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
11"I baptise you withB water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. 12His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

13Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptised by John. 14But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptised by you, and do you come to me?”
15Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfil all righteousness.” Then John consented. .
16As soon as Jesus was baptised, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. 17And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”1

 1 Excerpted from Compton’s Interactive Bible NIV. Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights Reserved

  Now here’s something to think about. What do we see about the Holy Spirit’s role in Jesus’ life? What are the links between Saul and David 3000 years ago, and Jesus 1000 years later?
  Why was Jesus baptised? As John himself said, for Jesus there was no need. Jesus didn’t have to show repentance for sin by being baptised.
  You will tell me, “He was baptised to show his identification at all points with us sinners.” And you would be perfectly right. But there is more to it.

  By being baptised, Jesus marks out very clearly the dividing line. From this point on, there’s no doubt. From now on, he is holy, he is separated from the world and devoted to the holy purposes of his Father, God.
  And this is the context. This is the setting. God can pour out his Spirit on Jesus to empower him, because he is separate and marked out to serve God.
  In the same way as, say, David was anointed as king and empowered by the Spirit, so Jesus was spiritually anointed through the combined action of baptism and infilling with the Spirit. It is an essential factor in Jesus’ being the Messiah, in Jesus’ being the Christ. To fulfil all the requirements to be the final great king of Israel, Jesus had to be separated out as king and had to be anointed with and filled by the Holy Spirit.

  So, just as the prophet Samuel anointed Saul and David, so Jesus went to the only functioning prophet in all of Israel. He went to John the Baptiser, and was baptised and immediately infilled with the Spirit.

YOU, ME AND THE SPIRIT
  Now this has some very serious implications for you and me.
  One great weakness in Christian life today is that we have largely lost the twin ideas of consecration and anointing.

  Consecration is about holiness. In fact, it comes from the same Latin root as “sacred”. We need men and women who are sacred to the LORD, men and women who deliberately step into the river, boots and all. We need men and women who are willing to disassociate from the world and its ways and to become part of the army of the King of kings.

  Maybe it is appropriate today to talk of the influence of Kat’s Mum and Dad, the way forward that they show to us all. Mother’s Day is a day to think of our mothers and all they mean to us, to think of the models they provide for us in our lives, and I am impressed by the model Kat’s parent’s have provided.
  I would imagine that Kat’s parents are about the same age as Neph and Divina. When we reach around 50, we often stop wanting to change. We often begin to content ourselves with how things are. But, a couple of weeks ago, they were both baptised at a houseparty of their church.

  They show us how important it is to be consecrated to God through baptism in the name of Jesus. Actually, of course, we baptise in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, because baptism relates us to the whole being of God, all three persons. But it is in Jesus name particularly, because, in dying on the cross and shedding his blood, he has opened the way for us to follow.
  The other thing is the Holy Spirit’s anointing to empower us for service. While the Spirit is given as soon as we believe, there is a sense in which that gift will always be limited for those who stop their consecration short.
  In other words, if you think you can be a sort–of Christian who doesn’t show any real determination to go all the way with Jesus, regardless of the cost, don’t expect the Holy Spirit to be able to pour out his whole blessing on you. You don't get serious with him, he can’t get too serious with you!

  As the old hymn says,

Nearer, my God to thee,
Nearer to thee –
E'en though it be a cross,
That lifteth me...

  There is an ancient pattern in the Bible, and what once belonged exclusively to the kings is now available to you and to me. Our salvation is great! Don’t neglect any aspect of it!

AMEN 

© Peter R. Green 2004. Permission is granted for quotation in full for non-commercial purposes provided that authorship is acknowledged and this copyright notice is displayed with the text. Portions also copyright The Bible, NIV (Zondervan Ltd.)

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