Changed into a different person

1 Samuel 10: 1 – 13

Rev. Peter R Green, Sunday morning, 22 Jun, 2008

SAUL WAS an unsatisfactory king. He began his kingly career well, and ended it in failure and suicide. It is a sad story. But he began well, and we can learn a lot from his good beginning.

The most important thing we see in Saul is how the Spirit of God came on him and, as Samuel predicted, he was changed into a different person.

I want to make an important point about revival. All corporate revivals involve personal revival, even if not all personal revival leads to corporate revival.

Of course, a few of us might undergo personal revival or renewal but the church itself may not be revived. This kind of thing happened in the 70s, when there were charismatic renewals among some members of several churches but the membership, by and large, rejected what was happening. So the renewed group would leave. Then everyone in the church said, “See how these charismatics are? They split churches.” And it would be business as usual.

I don’t agree with everything that was done under the charismatic label. But any movement bringing together people who are really keen to grow in their personal lives and in their relationship with God, any movement encouraging them to do those very things, has a lot going for it.

But my point here is that you can have a renewal–minded group — a renewed group — in any church, but still not get all–of–church revival.

Then, you can have a full church revival, but some people in the church will not be part of it. Some people are just not at that point in their Christian life. Others may resist the move of the Spirit. And, of course, some can’t respond because they were never truly Christians.

All full–church revivals depend on individual renewal, but not all individual renewals lead to full–church revival, and not all people in full–church revival will be personally renewed.

So this is important for us.

Think about it. To get revival in our church, we must aim for personal renewal, we must aim for each individual to be personally revived, because every revived individual counts towards a full–church revival. No one can afford to say, “Leave it to the others.” No, you and I need our own personal renewal.

Now you might wonder why we have read a passage about appointing of an ancient king of Israel when the topic is personal renewal.

I believe that Saul shows us some important facets of personal renewal.

First, he is a man who is appointed.

Second, he is a man who receives.

Third, he is a man transformed.

All three are important when we consider personal renewal,

A man who is appointed

Saul is like us, In the first instance, he is a man in a covenant relationship with God.

This is important.

Saul’s position is exactly comparable to yours and mine. He was within the covenant made between God and Israel on Mount Sinai. By faith in the Lord Jesus, you and I are within the covenant made between God and humanity when Jesus died on the hill of Golgotha.

This passage does not speak to everyone, but only to people who belong to God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

God cut a covenant with Israel, to be his people, and he would be their God. They either chose to be part of that covenant people or to withdraw and live as aliens and outcasts.

In the same way, God has established a covenant with us through the death of Jesus. When Jesus shed his blood, he paid the price which establishes the covenant.

God binds himself in that covenant to love you and me forever with an unfailing love.

No one has greater love than this — that he lays down his life for his friends.

That’s what the Bible tells us.

But God’s love by far surpasses all other human love:

God commends his love to us in this way: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

God’s love is stronger than death: the Bible shows us that fact.

God has bound himself to love us: he asks in return that we trust him, and surrender our lives to him.

So, when I say that Saul was a man of the covenant, I mean that Saul is like us. His experiences parallel our experiences.

So Saul was appointed to a very specific role among the covenant people. He was to be a leader, to be their very first king.

I have talked at length about the covenant so that you and I are very clear that this passage speaks to us Christians.

In the same way, you and I are appointed to very specific roles within the Body of Christ, within the covenant people of God.

That’s why Paul tells the Corinthians,

^{1 COR 12:7} Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.

After he lists the various types of gifts the Spirit gives us, he repeats the basic message,

 ¹¹ All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.

If you belong by faith to Jesus, you have a Holy Spirit gift for the purpose of ministry, for the purpose of service, in this church among these people of God here. You may not be using it, you may not even clearly recognise it

But God, who never changes, already had you in his sights to minister to us all with what he has given you.

The third thing we see about Saul in this condition is that he is not a very spiritual man.

In other words, he is a man needing personal revival, a man needing individual spiritual renewal.

Some of us are more spiritual than others. When I look at myself, I can see various areas of gifting, but I am not a very spiritual person.

But I don't give up hoping and praying and trusting and, above all, preaching to the best of my ability, to encourage us all to seek revival.

And God chose and called out Saul, a man who would be so different when the Spirit touched his life in a deeply renewing work that people would say, “He’s a new person!” That is exactly what Samuel means when he says,

6 The Spirit of the LORD will come upon you in power, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be changed into a different person.

When the Spirit of the LORD comes on you and me in power, we will speak under the Spirit’s direction, and we will be changed into different people. We will be made new!

So, to what has God appointed you?

A man who receives

Saul was a man who was willing to receive,

I think that is one of the critical issues for today’s Christians. We want God’s blessings, but we find it hard to receive.

Do you remember the parable of the Pharisee and the tax-collector? The Pharisee stood in the temple telling God what a good person he was and how much better than the tax–collector he was. The tax-collector beat his breast and said, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!”

One was willing to receive, the other was not.

When I went into theological college, my pastor at the time gave me some advice. He said, “One of the most important things you can learn is to receive, and not just to give.”

It was great advice, because he explained to me that receiving from others allows them the joy of giving. Why should I be the only one who has the opportunity to do that?

He told me, “When you give, you put yourself into a position of power. You are the one taking the action. And that puts the person you are giving to into a position of weakness. In fairness, you have to let people reverse the power situation occasionally!”

That is where many Christians fall down. We don’t want to lose our power, so we refuse to receive. And that means we don’t even fully receive from God. We always want to keep a bit of control for ourselves.

In our passage, we see Saul receiving.

There are three different events which build the picture up.

The first is when Saul receives anointing from Samuel.

^{1SAM 10:1} Then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on Saul’s head and kissed him, saying, “Has not the LORD anointed you leader over his inheritance?

Saul lets Samuel do it. I don’t know about you, but I don’t like having oil on me. I used to use that greasy kids’ stuff on my hair, but gave up. I don’t suppose that Saul particularly liked having a small bottle of cooking oil poured over him, either.

But he submitted. This was a symbol of his kingship. It was a symbol that God has appointed him to be the King of Israel. It was a symbol of the coming of the Holy Spirit to empower him, to equip him to be the King.

But it also symbolised his submission — submission to God’s will, submission to Samuel’s judgment, submission to his mission in life.

How willing are you to submit to others? How willing are you to receive?

I once visited another Baptist church, and the pastor challenged the people to come forward for laying on of hands and prayer if they were willing to commit themselves to the cause of revival.

I went forwards, not because I wouldn’t make revival a priority if I didn’t, but to submit in this to someone else.

I didn’t feel different afterwards. Another pastor and his wife were there, and they were a bit superior about it all, as though I was a bit silly or weak–headed to go forward for prayer.

I told them that I had not gone expecting magic, but to say, “I am not doing anything in my own strength: I want to depend on Jesus and on my brothers and sisters.”

Their smirks changed when I said that, because they hadn’t submitted to anything.

The second instance of receiving is where Saul receives a gift of bread from the three men with the goats and bread and wine.

Samuel tells him,

Three men going up to God at Bethel will meet you there. One will be carrying three young goats, another three loaves of bread, and another a skin of wine. ⁴ They will greet you and offer you two loaves of bread, which you will accept from them.

Saul had to be prepared to receive from strangers as well as from friends.

It is part of humility.

God says,

If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and forgive their sins and heal their land.

We have to humble ourselves if we are to receive from God.

A homosexual man who totally rejected God spent quite a bit of time talking to me about my role in the church and some of the things I might do just to survive in that very bleak time about 10 years ago when everything seemed to be going wrong.

He liked me — I think, because I didn’t judge him — and he was prepared to put in time to try to help me. I listened carefully, because I felt that God had something to say to me through him. Many of his comments were quite wise.

I could have decided that he had nothing to add, and I could have missed the good things he brought to me.

Saul didn’t know these three men, but they had a gift for him, and he received it.

When Jesus sent out the 12 in mission, he told them that to accept food and accommodation from the first person who offered, and stay there while they ministered.

Learning to receive from others is part of humility.

The third way Saul received was that he did actually receive the Holy Spirit, and let the Spirit control him.

I believe that often people speak in tongues when the Spirit comes on them because it is so meaningless in many ways. You can speak in tongues and know that there is an element of praising God. It sounds like gibberish, it feels like the Spirit himself is directing it, and if anyone else heard from outside, they would think you were mad. It takes a bit of humility.

And when the Spirit came on Saul, he prophesied.

A man transformed

And that is where we come to Saul as a man transformed.

He experienced this transformation in the gift of the Spirit he manifested at that time.

We read,

  ^{1 SAM 10:9} As Saul turned to leave Samuel, God changed Saul’s heart, and all these signs were fulfilled that day. ¹⁰ 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.

His heart was changed, the Spirit came on him in power, and he prophesied. There was a change of the basic orientation of Saul’s life and attitudes. God did that in a moment.

Then there was a change in spiritual direction, as the Holy Spirit came on him in power, taking charge of what had for far too long been controlled by Saul’s human wants and desires, what had for too long been controlled by the flesh, to use a New Testament term.

Third, there was a change in the expression of his relationship with God as he prophesied. In this instance the word prophecy does not necessarily mean “telling the future.” It means that he spoke under the Holy Spirit’s guidance.

You can see how amazed people were who had known Saul, that he should even be among this prophetic band.

Some unknown bystander got it right, though. While everyone else was gawping at Saul in amazement and asking what had gotten into him, this man said, in effect, “He didn’t get it from his father, so it has to be something God is doing.”

The Spirit of God did something amazing and refreshing in Saul’s heart and life. As Samuel said, Saul was changed into a different person. God took him, shook him, and put him back together differently.

Conclusion

God wants us changed as individuals. It means taking our appointment seriously. It means being willing to receive from Jesus, through whom the Spirit is sent upon us. And it means being transformed by the renewing of our minds through the power of the indwelling Spirit.

As with every good gift from God, it all comes down to desiring what he promises, asking for it, and trusting that we have it.

Will we receive God’s renewal today?

© Peter R. Green 2007. 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.)