Bible Teaching

Calvary Temple Teaching Library

Turned Into Another Man Pt.1

Glory to God! Hallelujah, amen! Well, Happy New Year. Two thousand three! Who would have ever "thunk" it? I remember not too many years ago, we were sitting down and trying to calculate the coming of the Lord. "The generation that sees these signs shall not pass till the Lord comes," bless God. You go back and you see some of the signs of Israel becoming a nation, 1948; you say, "Forty years, a generation. A generation shall not pass, so 1988." He didn't come. Before that it was well, you know, the modern generation is only 20 years, Israel went back to Jerusalem in 1967, so you add twenty, that's 1987. Man, I was looking for the Lord in 1987, weren't you? He didn't come. No man knows the day or the hour. The one thing we know tonight for sure is it's sooner than when we first believed, amen? That's exciting, praise God. No man knows the day or the hour, but one of these days real soon the trumpet of God's going to sound, the dead in Christ will rise, those of us that remain, praise God, we're going to be changed! Aren't you looking forward to that? How many of you have been changing? Have you? Aren't you going to appreciate this slow process called sanctification being taken to its end in one moment as we're glorified? Just see Him as He is and be like Him, praise God! No more changing, forever with the Lord, praise God, every tear wiped away; that's what we're living for, that's what we're laboring for.

The bad thing is I think things are going to get worse; every year that goes by, we just see a deterioration of humanity. You know, we look at it as it was in the days of Noah and we're there. You see God having intervened in the time of the Tower of Babel and we've surpassed that. I believe we're the generation that's going to see the coming of the Lord. Are we doing everything we can possibly do to prepare ourselves and the godly seed that God's given us for this hour that we're coming into? We look around us and we see society unraveling, we see the moral fiber nil in comparison to what it was just a few decades ago. The heathen were more moral 30 years ago than most people in the churches today, because frankly there was a greater influence of Christendom in our civil society 30 years ago than there is in our churches today because of the infiltration of the world into the organized church as the great whore continues to emerge in power. The Scripture tells us they are going to be drunk with the blood of the martyrs. That's what we have to look forward to, there's going to be a turning on the true remnant, on the church, the accepted church.

The church of the masses is gaining strength and you and I are being looked upon and mocked and our narrow-minded approach to living the Scriptures, of being doers of the Word and not hearers only. What we found in our last couple of weeks of study is the fact that we're to rejoice in this distinction that we have as the bride of Christ. The holiness of our God being shared, as we separate ourselves wholly unto God and come out from among this generation to be separate, and then the Lord said, "I'll receive you," praise God.

We talked Sunday night about what it took to do that as we were dealing with humility. Those of you who were out of town Sunday, I would encourage you to get the tapes as we talked about the cross on Sunday morning and humility on Sunday night. We're talking about the victory that God wants to manifest in our lives and what His plan is for us as a people that are separated for the kingdom and for His glory. We saw that there's going to be a time when we choose the better part to bear the reproach, the stigma, of identifying with the cross, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. We saw that God does, however, plan on blessing us. He said, "By humility and fear of the Lord are riches, honor, and life." We left off on Sunday with that in our minds, that God does want to bless us, He wants to cause us to inherit the kingdom of God, He's given us richly all things to enjoy, it's His good pleasure to give us the kingdom. He wants us to be a people that are walking in the realm of the supernatural so that men can see the good works that are performed in our very hands and glorify our Father that's in Heaven. So they can see the distinction of the pagans who are taking thought for the cares of the morrow, but you and I are seeking first the kingdom of God, His righteousness, and all of the necessities of life are being added to us. A people that aren't being moved, as we saw by the world's standards, we're living by faith, and to every man is given the measure of faith. We talked about the humility aspect of that and how pride drives us to use credit to try to make ourselves look bigger than we really are, instead of living by faith and letting God be the source of all that we have. If God doesn't give it, I don't want it, praise God.

We've talked about walking in that realm of the Spirit, walking in humility, and not allowing the lust of the world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things to enter in and choke the Word of God out of our hearts. So as we summarize the last number of months of teachings, I want to go into another study for a couple of sessions. We want to talk about all of that in the light of the daily transformation of our hearts as God turns us into "another man." That's a phrase that was spoken to King Saul at one time, and I want to study the life of King Saul, and I want to contrast King Saul's life with King David's life in the study that we're going to go into.

The Scripture speaks about Saul and it says "I'm going to turn you into another man," (1 Samuel 10:6). God truly did that for this young man named Saul. He experienced the visitation of God, he experienced the anointing of God, and he experienced the supernatural, as we did our study on walking in the supernatural. The tragic thing was it didn't last. He was a new man, but he didn't finish the course. So we're going to contrast the new man--we had a lot of new men that have been in this congregation over the years. They were made new creatures and they turned back to the vomit as the dog does, and as the pig to the pig pen. Many who had tasted and embraced the supernatural and the glory of God's presence and riches are content to live in the whore's finery and philosophy of how "good" man basically is. How sin can be tolerated in our midst because God, after all, is a god of love, and that it's really "intent" and not "action" that determines whether we have a good heart, contrary to the Scriptures. The masses are embracing that ideology and that pseudo walk in the Spirit. It's as bizarre as the psychobabble of a Crystal Cathedral, to the feigned Pentecostal Spirit-filled miracles. You and I need to come to a place of being able to study the Scriptures and show ourselves approved unto God, workmen that need not be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of truth.

I want to admonish you as we go into this next year to spend time in the Word like you've never spent before, come to know It! Not what you're hearing taught from this pulpit, but you spend time seeking and finding out as the noble Bereans did, whether these things are true or not. Because if it's not real to you, you're going to just head down the road yourself whenever things get tough, whenever the prophet isn't there on time, you'll revert back to the flesh, back to your old nature. Because to graduate from being "another man," as Saul was, to a man after God's own heart, like David was, has to do with the time you spend in the presence of God. You see, God called them both, God anointed them both, but one of them was more interested in what men thought, and the other was more interested in what God thought. One was more interested in building the kingdom; the other was more interested in esteeming the glory of God. As you begin to contrast these men's lives, you're going to find out what it means to walk in the Spirit and to live in the supernatural.

We want to talk about humility as it was in Saul's life. We talked about it Sunday night. We started to refer to this passage of Scripture, how we need to humble ourselves; because if we do, it's the only way we can be exalted. We made reference back to Saul's failure when the Prophet spoke to him and said, "You know, when you were small in your own eyes, God could use you." You want to know whether you're reverting back to the old man, whether that "new man" that was created in us in the image of Jesus Christ is beginning to lose control? How big are you in your own eyes today, how confident are you in making your own decisions, how self-assured are you in your own spiritual analysis so you don't need counsel, input, reproof, rebuke, and instruction into righteousness because "I have a relationship with God"? You see, that's what brought Saul down. He was a man who was so impressed with the Prophet of God. Then, when the anointing came upon him, he assumed the role of the prophet of God, and Samuel was despised because Saul was thinking more highly of himself now than he ought to think. That's the downfall of every one of us: We begin to walk in the Spirit, we begin to grow, we begin to hear from God, we begin to know a little bit of Scripture, and then we begin to think of ourselves more highly than we ought to think, and we're no longer teachable, we're no longer humble, and we mistake the anointing of God and the visitation of God for character. We need to look and examine ourselves as we go on in this study and ask ourselves: Where is the character of Christ in me? Where is the fruit of the Spirit? Where is the humility; where is the taking on of that yoke as we learn of Him who is meek and lowly so we can embrace the same power?

We talked Sunday morning about the need to be crucified with Him, humiliated with Him, so that we might be raised in the likeness of His power, making ourselves available to the constant purging of the Holy Spirit's presence and the constant washing of the water of God's Word. We're a people that have been blessed; God's called us, placed us in a position over the years, many of us, where we could learn of the great mysteries of God. We've been taught well as a people. What have we done with the knowledge that God's given us? It's been sad to watch people in just recent weeks run off and use it for their own purposes. It's been sad to watch people who for years, even decades, were instructed in the Word of God, and then turn right back around to their counselors and teachers and mock them because they have a little bit of knowledge now. The Spirit of God is looking for men after God's own heart, and that's what we want to talk about for these next couple of sessions: how we can become men who would walk in the realm of King David. We all know his natural tendencies and the trouble that David got into, but God never said anything about the man but that he was a man after His own heart. He was a man that could be broken, knew how to repent, was aware of his own frailties, and he was a man that was willing to dance before the ark and be despised in the eyes of others because of the overwhelming presence of God. He was a man who, after having to drink the cup of his own sin, and watch his child die, could anoint himself, rise up, bless the Lord, and judge God faithful and just, and realize that there's an eternal reward. He lived in the supernatural and said, "Even though the child can't come to us, we can go to him, praise God." We need to get our act together and finish this course. How do you respond to the trials, the adversities? With character? Character is living from the eternal perspective. So it's very important for us to analyze these lives.

Let's go to Samuel and take some time and go back and refresh ourselves about these kings. We want to talk first of all about young Saul. Let me set the time for you in your minds. The Ark had just come forth. The Scripture says in verse 15 of the 7th chapter, "And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life." Now Chapter 8, verse 1 says, "And it came to pass, when Samuel was old..." I have a little trouble with that; if you study it out, some commentators say he was 54--just a kid. "And it came to pass, when Samuel was old, that he made his sons judges over Israel." Now, I want to contrast some things that I think are important when we begin to look at character. Isn't it sad how many of the great men of God in the Scriptures had sons that weren't able to finish the course? That was the one thing I determined as God called us into the ministry; I saw so many preachers' kids ruined, so many missionaries' kids despise God and the ministry. I asked the Lord when He first called us, "How can we raise up kids that won't despise the ministry, that will love the ministry, and want to serve in the kingdom?" The Lord spoke to me and said, "Don't make the ministry competitive with you being Dad. You need to be there for them as a father. You need to fulfill the role that I've given you as the head of the house as well as the under shepherd of the flock. Include them in the ministry, don't make it a competitive thing. Make sure they're involved, and that there's the understanding of the value of what we're investing into the eternal perspective, etc."

We don't know why Samuel's sons were not living up to his particular character, but the thing we do know is this: "And his sons walked not in his ways, [verse 3] but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment." It's interesting, because that's the exact opposite of the type man that Samuel was. In fact, you remember later, when he was ticked off at the people because they wanted a king, he said, "You tell me, you judge me, and tell me what I've ever done to take from you. You tell me what I've done that would cause you now to want to go the way of the nations and want a king instead of allowing the Spirit of God to oversee you through the supernatural" (1 Samuel 12:3).

But, you see, what's going on here is Samuel is being grieved by the hearts of the people, wanting a king like the other nations, was misreading the character of his own sons, because he had turned the oversight to them. The people realized that Samuel's sons were lacking character, and so as Samuel is grieving over their choice, the people responded and said, "...Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations. But the thing displeased Samuel..." (verse 5). But God said in verse 7, "...Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: [Now look at this.] for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them."

Interesting thing that's taking place here. You know, this is something that we've had to deal with over the years. It's obvious that we have another purging going on in our midst here, people that are leaving and it's not over yet as God is continuing to refine us as a people. It breaks your heart; you grieve for the tragedy that some are going to experience, the deception that many have involved themselves in. But I remember the first time we experienced a split back when we were leaving Herndon and moving up to this property for the first time. It breaks your heart and you can begin to take things personal, and it was something that you ask yourself, "What have I done, what is it that I've done that's caused this, how is it that you just try to help the people of God, and help them to finish the course, you just hold the standard of the Word of God, and people misinterpret your motives, and all of the things you're doing?" As you study out the Scriptures, this is a very comforting passage to men who are going through those types of ordeals, and of course we've experienced it more than once in our lives. But the real issue comes down to this, verse 7. He says, "...they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me..."

If what you're holding forth as the standard of holiness, the integrity of the Word of God, then it has nothing to do with the application, the agent; it's the message and the very source that's being rejected. Now Samuel still had a little trouble with that. Let's not take these men of God--a man like Samuel--you know Samuel was a man that the Scripture says, "Not anything that he ever spoke fell to the ground." That's powerful, man! But he wasn't perfect. You can read these passages and watch the hurt in this man, and watch some of the natural tendencies in him and still see how God is able to put things perfectly on course even through natural vessels like you and me. It should give you confidence, as you oversee your house, men, that God doesn't need perfect men, He needs yielded men. He needs people who are jealous for the will of God. It was not the best thing, but God said He can turn all things for good to those that love Him and are called according to His purpose.

There is a greater thing that's taking place at this particular time. The best would have been to walk in the Spirit. The best would have been for Samuel's sons to be prophets like their dad was, and to speak as the oracles of God, but that's not where the nation was, it's not where Samuel's sons were, and it's not where the people were at that time. God says why He allowed this to happen as we read on. But the first thing we see is this: He said, listen, "...they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them." Verse 9, "Now therefore hearken unto their voice: howbeit yet protest solemnly unto them, and shew them the manner of the king that shall reign over them." In other words, tell them, "Okay, we'll listen to you, but it's under protest. God's going to give you the desire of your heart, but it's under protest; it's not His best for you. He's going to give you a king until it comes out your nostrils. Here's what the king's going to do: he's going to eventually raise up to where he's going to take taxes from you, man armies, and they're going to take your sons and all of these different things, and it's not going to be all you think it is." "And ye shall cry out in that day [verse 18] because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the LORD will not hear you in that day. Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us. [We want to be--verse 20 is the key to this thing, look at it--we want to be like the world.] That we also may be like all the nations; and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles."

You see, many people today are looking for ministries that will fight their battle for them; they don't want to establish their own character; they don't want to have to hear from God. They just want somebody to stand up and say, "Here's the norm, here's what everyone's accepting as the voice of the Lord to us today." They've entangled themselves with the world's philosophies, it's an accepted means of government, of religion, and "That's what we want in our lives. This walking in the Spirit, the waiting on the supernatural, the walk of faith, we're no longer interested in as a people, we want a king." So God says, "Okay, I'll give you one." God reached in and He took the best out of their midst Scripture tells us.

"...Saul, [Chapter 9, verse 2 says] a choice young man, and a goodly: and there was not among the children of Israel a goodlier person than he: [He was a man of physical prowess. There seems, we'll see in him to be a natural ambition that can either be good if it's sanctified, or destructive if it's used for our own purposes. The Scripture says] from his shoulders and upward he was higher than any of the people." But, you know, when Goliath shows up, there's always somebody bigger than you. If you're going to depend on your own strength, if you're going to depend on your natural resources, you're going to run into some giants that will take you down. I'd rather have the faith of a David, with a little slingshot, than to have the natural abilities of Saul and rely upon the anointing, than on all of my physical preparation; but this is the man that they are receiving. Now watch what happens as we go on and survey this young man's life.

This particular young man is getting ready to be introduced to the prophet. We know the story of how their lives came together. You remember that Saul was out looking for the missing livestock and as they were looking to where these might be, they said, "Well, let's go up and ask the prophet if he might be able to give us a word." It's interesting to see the confidence that they had in these prophets to hear from God, I mean even things as mundane as to where the missing donkeys were. Does God speak toward things like that? I've shared different stories with you in the past of how the Lord's spoken.

One of my favorite times--and there have been numerous times when God's spoken to me about different things, and lost things--here are some lost donkeys. I lost a septic tank! It wasn't really lost, I just didn't know where it was, and I didn't even know what it was! I'd never lived in a house that had a septic tank, and all of a sudden we needed to find the septic tank. Janet said, "Do you know where the thing is?" I said, "I don't even know what it is, but we have to find it." I prayed, and I asked the Lord--to make a long story short, I said, "Lord, I've got to be downtown, there's some young people waiting for me." This is right in the middle of all of that revival I was telling you about that was going on where we were reaching these kids, just a great move of God. I said, "Lord, I've got to be down town in a couple of hours, and I've got to find this septic tank and dig this thing up, and I don't even know where it is, I just need Your help." I walked out in the backyard with a shovel, and I said, "Lord, where is that thing?" The Lord spoke to me, He said, "Dig right there." I went over there and I stuck the shovel in the ground, and took a few shovel loads of dirt out and all of a sudden I hear "Clank!" It was the septic tank! It wasn't just the septic tank; it was the lid to the septic tank. It wasn't just the lid to the septic tank; it was the handle on the lid to the septic tank. God knows where your septic tanks are, and He'll speak in time of need and tell us where to put the spade in and what needs to be turned over in our lives so we can get a handle on our ugliness.

There was a confidence in the men of God. We've lost that today. We all think we have to hear for ourselves, we can't depend on somebody else. So we've taken this office out of the church. We don't believe there are prophets in our midst today, but there are men that know your hearts. There are those that go around and feign this office and make a show and do it for filthy lucre. Then, there are those that will tell you what's in your heart, whether it's over a pulpit or whether it's in dealing with you personally, and they'll speak to you in counsel and tell you, "Look, here's your real problem right here, here's what you need to deal with." It's not from reading J. Adams' book on counseling, it's not Freudian, it's the anointing of God and you need to listen, because God doesn't do anything but that He first reveals it to His prophets.

So God's going to use these lost donkeys to introduce this young man to the prophetic office. What did God use to introduce you to the prophetic office, to be able to hear the Word of God spoken from His heart, from lips that have been touched with coals from the altar? Don't despise what you receive here, whether it's myself or one of the other men of God that stand here and share the Word of God with you. It's not the word of men you've been hearing these years, beloved, but it's the Word of God. What brought you here to hear this, and in the process were you made "another man", and then did you begin to think more highly of yourself than you ought to think and not be able to fulfill the purpose in the kingdom for which you were introduced in the first place? It's sad to watch potential gifts for the kingdom of God destroyed because of the natural tendencies all of us have of self-exaltation, the lack of humility and the despising of the measure of faith so that we begin to think of ourselves more highly than we ought to think.

Verse 6 says, "...there is in this city a man of God, and he is an honourable man; all that he saith cometh surely to pass..." So they go and the Scripture tells us that a very interesting thing was taking place. Verse 11, "And as they went up the hill to 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 to day to the city; for there is a sacrifice of the people to day in the high place." See, God orders your steps and gets you in the place you need to be to hear a word in season. You seem to think it's a trial, something's lost, there's confusion, and God's got you exactly where He wants you to hear the voice of the Lord. It's not always a positive word spoken directly to you, but God working circumstances to put you in a place where you're now susceptible, ready to hear. So they now come into the city, the Scripture tells us, "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, To morrow 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 come unto me" (1 Samuel 9:14 - 16). We get so caught up thinking it's about us; it's not about Saul becoming king, it's about God's people being delivered. Everything that happens in our life it's not about us, it's not just about our immediate families. Beloved, the things that are going on that we're experiencing are for the kingdom of God; they have eternal purpose to them. The cry of the people came up and God moved upon the hearts of men, and we begin to see these supernatural incidents beginning to take place.

"And when Samuel saw Saul, the LORD said unto him, Behold the man whom I spake to thee of! this same shall reign over my people. Then Saul drew near to Samuel in the gate, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, where the seer's house is. And Samuel answered Saul, and said, I am the seer: go up before me unto the high place; for ye shall eat with me to day, and to morrow I will let thee go, and will tell thee all that is in thine heart." I love that phrase, don't you? So many times I've been able to be in the presence of the men of God and they would speak and tell me what was in my heart. Not words of knowledge specifically, but as they spoke just like Jesus did on the road to Emmaus, my heart burned within me. They touched within me the same presence of God that burned within their hearts. The things that I wanted to know about God, the things that I wanted to know that I was capable of doing, the things that I had hoped that I was hearing from God, and as the men of God sat down and just began to share the vision, it clarified the course that I was on. What a privilege it was to just sit down and eat with the man of God. Just listen to him talk. What do you do when you get around counselors, men who are proven in ministry, some of the multitude that has gone on before you? Do you have more to say than you ought to say? How many of you need to be slow to speak and swift to hear? Some of you young people, I'd encourage you, when you get around the captains, Pastor Jeff or some of the other men, you ought to thank God for the privilege of being called and to sit down and eat with them and listen to what God has to say. "I'll tell you all that's in your heart."

Interesting statement that was made here. Some of what Samuel told Saul, Saul didn't hear. He did tell him all that was in his heart; he told him about the dangers that were ahead. He reiterated to him on numerous occasions: "Be careful that you do everything that I tell you to do. You don't need to know the specifics, know this one principle: Be teachable." There are people that have been put into your life that will speak to you the Word of God.

Now, as he meets with him, you know the story of how it's beginning to be revealed to him that God has a call on his life. The prophet of God is getting ready to anoint him to make him a captain, Chapter 10 says, over the inheritance of God's people. He said, "Here's the purpose of God in your life. Here's what I want you to do, I'm going to anoint you and I'm going to send you forth. As you go forth, you're going to run into a company of prophets." Did you notice there were "prophets" and then there was Samuel? Just, again, to see the order of God, we're not all equal, the diversity, and that the anointing that comes upon us, whether it's these prophets or whether it's Saul, doesn't necessarily make us eligible for the office of a Samuel or the office of a King David. Saul was king, but he was only interim. Saul was king, but the Messiah didn't come through his lineage. What's God doing in our lives as He's placing us into the body? I wonder how many of us are here for the sole purpose of persecuting the Davids to make them greater men. Who among us, as we shared a few weeks ago, are the Ananias and the Sapphira so that God can show Himself mighty? Who are you? What is the call on your life? You've experienced visitation, you've experienced anointing; it's to put you in the place, but why are you here? Are you seeking reputation like Saul, are you seeking ease and comfort like Ananias and Sapphira, or have you seen the vision and committed yourself like the rest of that company that Acts speaks toward? You know your heart; if not, the prophet has spoken into it and shown you from time to time.

Now let's watch what transpires in this young man's life. Let's go back and review: A man of natural ability, good looking man, physical prowess; it said he was a goodly man, seemed to be a pretty good guy until he became demon-possessed. We see a humility in him because when the prophet speaks and says, "You're going to be anointed king," he said, "Who am I? I am of the least of the tribes, and my family is the least of the least tribe." Seems to be who God likes to use, doesn't it? He said, "Don't you worry about it, God will be able to use you. In fact, here's what's going to happen: I'm going to anoint you, and as you begin to head back, you're going to run into a company of prophets." First Samuel 10, verse 6, check it out. "And the Spirit of the LORD will come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them, [and here's the title of our teaching] and [you] shalt be turned into another man."

Turned into "another man." The Spirit of the Lord will come upon you and you will be turned into "another man." "Go to Jerusalem and tarry, the Spirit's going to fall, and you will be endued with power from on high, and you'll receive power to be witnesses unto Me." When the Day of Pentecost was fully come and they were gathered into one place, the place was shaken where they were gathered and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in tongues as the Spirit of God gave them utterance. The visitations of the Holy Spirit affect our lives, they turn us into new men, many times, but what keeps us in that condition? It's not the spectacular, it's the mundane; it's not the momentary, specific visitations, it's the daily obedience of walking it out in the mundane, the drudgery of daily obedience in doing the things that aren't exciting, the things that aren't lovely, and just keeping the commandments of God. Choosing against our own emotions, choosing against our own appetites. But we have to have these visitations. When's the last time you were refreshed by the visitation of God? Do you need that visit this evening to be reminded that you are "another man"? If so, it's not going to come about by wishful thinking. It's going to come about by prayer and fasting, it's going to come about through repentance, through drawing nigh to God and He'll draw nigh unto you. When you seek Him with all of your heart, you'll find Him, the Scripture says.

"And let it be, when these signs are come unto thee, [Here's another powerful statement in verse 7.] that thou do as occasion serve thee; for God is with thee." You know, there are times when you can't do anything wrong. I can remember times when in the moments of this refreshing, under the anointing of God, that you could do whatever you wanted and it prospered. Everything you spoke came to pass. He said, take the occasion, this is going to be a special visitation, enjoy the visitation of God, let it produce the fruit in your life that God intends for it to produce, don't be afraid of anything, God's with you, and if God's for you, nobody can be against you. You see, it's only thinking of yourself more highly than you ought when you're doing it in the natural, not in the supernatural. It's not pride to prosper in the supernatural. It's not pride to declare, "I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me." It's not pride to say, "There's no weapon formed against me that can prosper." It's not pride, it's faith to say, "Though a thousand fall at my side, and ten thousand at my right hand, it won't come nigh unto me," when it's being spoken under the unction of the Holy Spirit. A humble young man is getting ready to experience the anointing of God, and what he says is, "Listen, don't let false humility keep you from being a champion for God, do what occasion presents, and don't be afraid of anything for God is with you." Natural timidity is not humility. So we need to see, then, that at this time, some that are naturally timid, we need to become bold as that anointing comes upon us; as the prophets look on, we prophesy with them.

The Scripture says in verse 9, "And it was so, that when he had turned his back to go from Samuel [Oh, beloved, look at the phrase!], God gave him another heart..." I love this passage of Scripture. God gave him another heart, but, you know, we can lose the heart of God. It won't be long before we see the natural ambition come back into this young man. He's going to experience the anointing that makes him "another man;" he's going to experience supernatural humility, he's going to experience supernatural faith to where there's an awareness that he can do all things through Christ Jesus. Then, he's going to receive one admonition from the prophet: "Tarry and wait for me to come and I'll offer an offering to God." The Scripture tells us that as the enemy surrounded them and fear began to smite the hearts of the people, the people began to faint, and the people began to leave, that Saul couldn't handle the apparent failure. He couldn't handle the demise of this kingdom that he was getting ready to build, and because of that, he couldn't wait for the prophet any longer, but he offered it up himself. He took upon himself the glory of God, and it became his mode of operation, or M.O., and it became the cause of his death and the downfall of the kingdom. You see, it's not the excitement of the anointing; it's the obedience to the commandment when the prophet's spoken. It's what you do in adverse circumstances, not what you do in revival, that determines whether we have character and not just an anointing.

The Scriptures goes on this way and it tells us that God gave him another heart, and all the signs came to pass that day. "And when they came thither to the hill, behold, a company of prophets met him; and the Spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied among them." And the saying went forth, "Is Saul also among the prophets?" To prophesy doesn't make you a prophet, and it sure doesn't make you a Samuel. To experience the anointing, to get a word from God, to have a special miracle take place, to have a true visitation, doesn't make you one of the prophets, even if you are the king--you know, the king of your kingdom, your household. "I'm in charge of my life, I'm in charge of my business, I'm in charge of my family." The fact that you are a king doesn't make you a prophet. We understand that the Word of the Lord is very precious, and it was precious in these times, and Samuel was the man that spoke for the Lord. These prophets glorified God; Samuel spoke for God. These prophets spoke unto edification, exhortation, and comfort as 1 Corinthians 12 and 14 tell us the simple gift of prophesy as it works in our assembly; but there is the office of the prophet, and we need to become very aware of what that is and how we relate to it. It's important to see, then, that as Saul's being raised up as king, he experiences the anointing, and that's what's taking place here, the visible expression of the anointing of God. It's obvious that the Spirit had come upon him, that his kingdom was not going to be one of the natural, but it was going to be one that was ordained by the Spirit of God, and it was going to be for the glory of God.

So let's finish with this for this evening as we set down this introduction for the teaching. He's made into "another man," he receives another heart, he receives the anointing to fulfill the call on his life to oversee his kingdom, and then the commandment comes, "Tarry and wait. When I come, I'm going to offer to God from the prophetic office and recognize the work that was done in your own life." Each of us has a choice, and we'll end with this for tonight, we can recognize, ourselves, what we believe God's done in our lives, or we can let God reveal through our obedience what, in fact, He has done in our lives. Because it's those that keep His commandments, the Scripture says, that love Him.

Samuel's still wrestling with this transition into kingdom relations with the people of God and he says, "...I have walked before you from my childhood unto this day. Behold, here I am: [I'm looking for a witness, I want one person, anybody who can say as the anointed of God, I want you to speak and I want you to say]...whose ox have I taken? or whose ass have I taken? or whom have I defrauded? whom have I oppressed? or of whose hand have I received any bribe to blind mine eyes therewith? [And if you can produce it] and I will restore it you. And they said, Thou hast not defrauded us, nor oppressed us, neither hast thou taken ought of any man's hand. And he said unto them, The LORD is witness against you...[They responded]...He is witness" (1 Samuel 12:2-5).

Samuel says then, "Why did you insist on a king?" Now they were insisting because Samuel's sons were of another spirit. Samuel wasn't looking through the eyes of his sons; he was looking through his own heart. You see, we judge out of our own hearts; to the pure all things are pure. He just knew that the anointing was sufficient. He knew that the call of God on his life as a young man from his very childhood being raised in the house of Eli was sufficient to accomplish the will of God even in the most adverse circumstances. Even in the ugliness of the house of Eli, God's purity could still be seen, and it grieved him that the people were turning to the natural. He responds, and we'll close with this for this evening, he said, "You remember the great victories that were won through Moses and all of the other leaders and the judges." He gives the whole scenario from the verse we were just reading clear down into verse 12 and he ends with this, and I want to close with this tonight, actually into verse 13. Look at the contrast of this statement, and let it hit your heart, I'll just read the phrase to you: "And when ye saw that Nahash the king of the children of Ammon came against you, ye said unto me, Nay; but a king shall reign over us: when the LORD your God was your king. Now therefore behold the king whom ye have chosen..."

Read those phrases tonight and over the next few days. You've seen what the Spirit of God's done in your life. Why would we revert back to the natural, why would we go the way that the masses are going, when God has so faithfully delivered us in every battle of our lives? When you've set yourself as king, it's too late to go back to the supernatural. When we've walked in the Spirit and we've now "perfected" ourselves in the flesh, there's not always access back, though we seek it with tears. Many of us here, beloved, have received a precious gift of God; don't despise it by looking at the success of man's kingdoms. There's a spirit in the kingdoms of Saul that the kingdom of David knows nothing about. He's looking for humble men, he's looking for a people after his own heart; guard yourselves and don't let any man take your reward.

Father, we come in the name of Jesus, and as we continue to study on this subject of humility, as we spend these next couple of sessions in examining our own hearts as to what kingdom we live in, let us learn from the life of Saul that even in the midst of the reproof and the rebuke he said, "Can't you just honor me in the eyes of the people?" There was no concern for the brokenness of the heart of God; there was no concern for the holiness of Your statutes, but only for his reputation, only for his momentary ease and pleasure. He couldn't receive what he was in the flesh, and because of that he could never be delivered from it. When the prophet speaks, give us a heart of David to accept the fact that we are the man; it's our hearts' desire, Father, in Jesus' name. Amen. Let's stand before the Lord.

As Gary plays for us, we'll take just a moment and allow the Holy Spirit to speak to us. "When you were small in your own eyes, I could use you." Oh, how that must have rung in Saul's ears! What would cause him to take up that javelin and try to kill the man that loved him? We're going to read on about a very interesting story pretty soon, about Saul's son Jonathan, and Jonathan's armor bearer, and how they smote the Philistines. I have a little piece of paper in my desk that I saved. It states, "As Jonathan's armor bearer said, 'Do all that's in your heart, and I'll be with you,' so am I with you." It's signed by an apostate. I just save it as a memorial. We don't know our own hearts, beloved. It wasn't too long after that that this man no longer saw himself as the armor bearer, but he'd experienced a little bit of anointing and now he became Elihu, the expert, the man with all the answers. Read Job. What's the preparation in your heart tonight? What type of a kingdom will you oversee? It all has to do with what we're going to look at in our next session, whether we step over the boundary or not and assume control over our lives again. Once God's anointing has come upon us, we no longer have the luxury of making decisions as to how, or where, or what. We're no longer our own, we're bought with a price. He makes us "another man," and He puts another heart in us, and that new man that we are is a man of humility, a man of brokenness, a man that hangs upon a cross, a man who has no appeal to the world.

Let's sing this together and just allow the Spirit of God to speak to us. "Lord You Are So Precious To Me." Thank You, Jesus. Let's sing it one more time. Hallelujah!