Old Testament in a Year: 1 Samuel 10-13

Today takes us to First Samuel, Chapter 10. That's where we're going to start. So if you have your device or your Bible, go to First Samuel, chapter 10. There's notes on the app. I learned this week that Americans spend over 130 billion with a B dollars on private security industry in order to protect their stuff.

Like, Americans place value on so many different things and they spend a lot of money to make sure that those things are protected. But here's the ironic thing, is that oftentimes we protect things that we deem as valuable. And I'm in agreement with you, cars and jewelry and houses are valuable things. But maybe there's some things that are even more valuable than that that we're pretty careless about. Like we don't do a great job sometimes of protecting relationships, protecting our marriage or protecting our integrity or protecting character.

I believe there's a commodity that believers have, the most precious commodity that we have, that many people have become careless about, and they don't protect the anointing of the Holy Spirit. That's what I want to talk to you about today. How do we protect the anointing of the Holy Spirit? First Samuel, chapter 10. We're going to begin to read in verse one, and I'm going to ask you all over the room to stand to honor the word of God as we look at this incredible story beginning in verse one.

And we read this. Then Samuel took a flask of olive oil and he poured it over Saul's head. He kissed Saul and he said, I'm doing this because the Lord has appointed you to be the ruler over Israel, his special possession. When you leave me today, you'll see two men beside Rachel's tomb at Zelza on the border of Benjamin. They will tell you that the donkeys have been found and that your father has stopped worrying about them and has started worrying about you.

He's asking, have you seen my son? If you want to know the full story of that, go back to the chapter before you can read about the donkeys being lost and how that all happened. Verse 3. And when you get to the oak of Tabor, you'll see three men coming to you who are on their way to worship God at Bethel. One will be bringing three young goats.

Another will have three loaves of bread, and the third will be carrying a wineskin full of wine. They'll greet you and offer you two of the loaves which you are to accept. Now here's where it gets very interesting. Verse 5. And when you arrive at Gibeah of God, where the garrison of the Philistines is located.

You'll meet a band of prophets coming down from the place of worship. They'll be playing a harp, a tambourine, a flute, a lyre, and they'll be prophesying. And at that time, watch.

At that time, the Spirit of the Lord will come powerfully upon you and you will prophesy with them. You'll be changed into a different person. How many of you know the anointing has the ability to change you into a different person?

Verse 7. After these signs take place, do what must be done, for God is with you. Then go down to Gilgal ahead of me. Watch, and I will join you there to sacrifice burnt offerings and peace offerings. You must wait for seven days until I arrive and give you further instructions.

As Saul turned and started to leave, God gave him a new heart and all of Samuel's signs fulfilled that day. Come on, let's make some declarations together before you're seated. Everybody together. You ready?

Here we go. I will hide this word in my heart that I might not sin against God. This word is life to my body and health to my bones. I will be a doer of the word and not a hearer only. And I'm confident of this, that he who has begun a good work in me, in Jesus name.

Amen. You can be seated. Hey, listen, here's what's going on. Israel has been crying out and asking God for a king. Now, their motive behind that should be concerning to us.

And we should recognize that, that at times in our lives we do the same thing as the Israelites did. Because the Bible tells us that the reason they were asking God for a king was so that they could be like all the other nations.

How many times have we done that in our lives? How many times have we caved to peer pressure? How many times have we done things that other people were doing only because we wanted to be like them? And that can get you into a lot of trouble. That's what happened with the Israelites.

But God in his mercy, responded to their cry. Matter of fact, if we go back One chapter to First Samuel, chapter nine, we find these words in verse 15 and 16. Now, the Lord God had told Samuel the previous day, samuel is the priest of Israel. He said, about this time tomorrow, I'll send you a man from the land of Benjamin. Anoint him to be the leader of my people, Israel.

He will rescue them from the Philistines. For I have looked down on my people in mercy, and I Have heard their cry. The thing you need to understand is that in the ancient world, anointing was a profound act. Kings and priests and prophets weren't just given a title. They were drenched in this fragrant sacred oil.

And that oil symbolized that they were being set apart for the Holy Spirit. They were being empowered by the Spirit of God and they were being authorized for a divine purpose. What you need to know and understand is that this oil that was used in the anointing process was not just cooking oil. It wasn't like they grabbed a bottle of Westson out of the kitchen cabinet and poured it over somebody's head. It wasn't the oil that you would find in a lamp.

No, this was a sacred oil. The recipe that came from God himself that we find in Exodus, chapter 30. Look what it says there beginning in verse 22. And then the Lord said to Moses, collect choice spices. 12 and a half pounds of pure myrrh, 6 and a quarter pounds of fragrant cinnamon, 6 and a quarter pounds of Fragrant Calamus, and 12 and a half pounds of Cassia as measured by the weight of the sanctuary shekel.

Also get 1 gallon of olive oil. Like a skilled in incense maker, blend these ingredients to make a holy anointing oil. God provided the recipe for something that was to only be used when they were anointing a prophet or anointing a priest or anointing a king.

Now listen, we believe in the anointing of oil. In fact, these elders that are under the screens every single week to pray with you will anoint you with oil. When we're here in the altars, will anoint you with oil. We believe in that. According to James chapter five.

It's a little different than what we find in the Old Testament because they would take an entire flask of oil and pour it over somebody's head. We don't do that here. How many of you are thankful for that?

But under the new covenant, the same principle is true, that the anointing of God, the anointing of the Holy Spirit is not some mystical feeling that's reserved for a select few people that will stand on the platform. No, listen to me. The anointing is the presence and the power and the authority of the Holy Spirit that operates through any believer that yields to the power of the Holy Spirit for a divine purpose. It's not reserved for just certain people. I say that because I want you to understand that God wants to anoint you.

Listen. At salvation we receive the person of the Holy Spirit into our lives. But Scripture also makes it clear that beyond the Holy Spirit entering into a person's life at salvation, we see numerous times in Scripture that there's an additional experience with the Holy Spirit. There's an empowerment and an anointing that comes to a believer that's different than salvation. And the troubling and concerning thing is that so many people have been careless with the anointing of the Holy Spirit and many people don't understand the purpose.

Listen to me. The purpose of the anointing of the Holy Spirit is not for status. It's for service. In other words, you don't pray for the anointing so that you can draw more attention to yourself. No, you pray for the anointing so that you can lay your hands on sick people and see them recover, see him healed, so that you can cast demons out of those who are possessed and oppressed.

The anointing of the Holy Spirit is so that you can see people walk in freedom, that are in bondage to addictions, in bondage to depression. The anointing of the Holy Spirit is not about you getting more attention. It's about you serving the purposes of God. Listen. Jesus talks about the purpose of the anointing in Luke chapter 4.

Look at what we read in verse 18. These are his own words. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. Watch. For he has anointed me.

Why? To bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim the captives that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free. There's nothing in that verse that says that Jesus is anointed so that he can receive a lot of attention. No, no, no.

Jesus said, I'm anointed so that I can carry out the purposes of God.

Isaiah, the prophet, talks about the anointing. It's a familiar verse to many people. In Isaiah, chapter 10, verse 27, it says this. Watch. It shall come to pass in that day that his burden will be taken away from your shoulder and his yoke from your neck.

And the yoke will be destroyed because of the anointing oil. The version that maybe you've heard at different times is the anointing breaks the yoke, not the Y O L K of an egg, but the Y O K E. What's a yoke? A yoke was an agricultural device, very bulky, very heavy, very big wooden device that was put around the neck of oxen, these massive creatures. Why? For two reasons.

Number one, so that it could restrict their movement. Number two, so that the farmer can control the oxen. And the prophet Isaiah comes along. He says something very interesting. He says, the anointing of the Lord, the anointing of the Holy Spirit will break the yoke.

What does he mean by that? That word anointing in the Hebrew is the word shaman. And the word shaman, some of you are not going to like this. The word shaman literally translates fat.

That the anointing makes you fat. Another translation is it makes you satisfied. What in the world is the prophet Isaiah trying to convey to us when he says the anointing will break the yoke? The prophet is saying, listen, when you yield to the person of the Holy Spirit, it will make you fat. So that the restrictive device that the enemy has put on you will be broken off of you.

The prophet is saying the things that the enemy has used for years to restrict your movement or are to control you, that when you come under the anointing of the Holy Spirit, you begin to increase in a way that breaks that thing off of you. And what the enemy used to think fit you will no longer fit you. Come on, somebody.

That bondage, that addiction, that oppression that the enemy has used for years. The prophet is saying that the anointing is so powerful that if you yield to that, it will break that device off of your neck. Come on, somebody, man. That's a word for some of you watching on Pando right now that you've been in bondage. And the Spirit of God wants to break that bondage off of you today.

Now watch what happens. Saul, who's been anointed as king by the prophet, by the priest. Samuel becomes very casual about the anointing. He's anointed, he has a new heart. He encounters these prophets and God changes him in a moment.

But then he becomes casual. And for Saul, it becomes more about his status than it does about him fulfilling the purpose of God. Watch this. In First Samuel, chapter 13, if you're still with me, say I am. Meanwhile, verse seven, Saul stayed at Gilgal and his men were trembling with fear.

Saul waited there seven days for Samuel, as Samuel had instructed him earlier. But Samuel still didn't come. Let's stop right there for a moment. We read that earlier. In chapter 10, Samuel, the priest says to Saul, I'm going to come.

Wait there seven days, I'm going to come. I'm going to make sacrifices before you go into battle. I'm going to make sacrifices for you and your men.

And then the Bible says that as time went on, day four, day five, day six. Day seven no sign of Samuel. The men are trembling in fear because the enemy is taunting them. The enemy is threatening them. And so watch what happens.

Verse 9. So he demanded Saul bring me the burnt offering and the peace offerings. And Saul sacrificed the burnt offering himself. Wasn't his job. Just as Saul was finishing with the burnt offering, Samuel arrived.

Saul went out to meet and welcome him. But Samuel said, what is this you have done? Saul replied, classic case of deflection. Watch. I saw my men scattering for me.

He blames them first. And then you didn't arrive when you said you would. And the Philistines are at Mikmash ready for battle. So I said, the Philistines are ready to march against us at Gilgal and I haven't even asked for the Lord's help. So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering myself before you came.

How foolish. Samuel exclaimed. You've not kept the command that the Lord your God gave you. Had you kept it, the Lord would have established a kingdom over Israel forever. But now your kingdom must end.

For the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart. The Lord has already appointed him to be the leader of the people because you have not kept the Lord's command. And out of this story comes the well known phrase that so many of us have heard. And it's obedience is better than sacrifice. Obedience is better than sacrifice.

Saul felt compelled. He said, listen to me. Samuel was a man of his word. Samuel had a good track record as a priest. Samuel said, I will come.

I'll make the sacrifice for you. But all of a sudden it became more about Saul's status than it did about him serving the purpose of God? And Saul was more concerned about losing some men than he was losing the anointing.

How many people. How many people do we see today that have become more concerned about losing their reputation than they are about losing the anointing? How many people are more concerned about losing some clients than they are about losing the anointing or losing status than they are about losing the anointing? How many people are more concerned about losing followers on TikTok than they are about losing the precious anointing of the Holy Spirit? How many people do we find that are more concerned about losing the temporary pleasure of a boyfriend or a girlfriend than they are about losing the anointing?

How many people are more concerned about losing the fleshly cravings and desires and fulfillment that comes that's very temporary than they are about losing the permanent presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives? Saul had Clear instructions from Samuel. Wait seven days. Wait seven days.

Samuel showed up. Maybe not when Saul thought he should have, but he showed up. Reminds me of the Israelites who were given instructions by God. Think about this. March around Jericho one time every day for six days.

On the seventh day, march around seven times in silence, and I'll give you that fortified city that is the entryway into the promised land. Imagine if the Israelites would have marched for six days. And then on day seven, they march once, twice, three times, four times. Nothing has happened. There's no visible change.

There's no cracks in the wall. There's no surrender of the army. Imagine if on lap six, if they would have said, this is so stupid. Nothing is happening. Why are we out here?

We look like fools doing this. Imagine if they would have walked away then. Imagine Naaman giving instructions by the prophet Elijah. You got leprosy. Go dip in the Jordan river seven times.

And Naaman was highly offended because the prophet didn't even come to him himself. Naaman was a man of stature. He was a man of prestige. And the prophet didn't even come to him. He sent a messenger.

Naaman's already offended, and now he tells him, hey, just go dip in the muddy waters of the Jordan. Seven times. Once Naaman swallowed his pride and he wades into the Jordan river and he dips the first time and the second and the third, the fourth. Can you imagine? Every time he would come up looking at his skin, hoping that maybe.

Maybe the third dip would do it. Maybe the fifth dip would do it. After dip number six. What if he would have said right then? This is stupid.

I knew this wouldn't work. He was seconds away from a miracle. And he comes up the seventh time and his skin is completely cleansed. Saul was only minutes away from God fulfilling his purpose through him, and the kingdom would have remained in his hands. But yet he took matters into his own hands because he was more concerned about his status than he was about serving God.

So the question is this. Y' all still with me?

How do we protect the anointing? Three ways. Number one, you got to keep the dead flies out. Keep the dead flies out, you say? What do you mean by that?

Ecclesiastes, chapter 10, verse 1 tells us about what dead flies can do to the anointing, as dead flies give perfume a bad smell. So a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor. A little folly outweighs wisdom and honor. Listen to flies and remember. Remember, one of the names for Satan is Beelzebub, which translates Lord of the flies.

The flies represent those small compromises, those hidden sins, or those moments of minor foolishness. Listen, a lot of people are careful to protect against the big sins. We want to make sure that we don't fall into addiction or adultery or whatever it might be. But yet we will compromise in the little things. The word honor in verse one is the word, the Hebrew word kabod.

It literally means the weighty presence of God, the glory of God, the divine presence of God. Yet oftentimes we're careless about things like gossip. We're careless about a spirit of entitlement. We're careless about lying or about pride or about are about complacency. And the Song of Solomon, chapter 2, verse 15, tells us that it's the little foxes that will completely ransack a vineyard.

And we're so consumed with the big stuff, the big sins, that oftentimes these flies are coming into our oil. These flies are polluting our anointing. These little foxes are coming in and destroying the fruit that's in your life and ruining the anointing of God on you. Listen to me. The quick glance at porn can ruin the anointing on your life.

The little occasional wine party with the girlfriends that others have said is fine and you don't think it's any big deal and you've justified it in your own mind. Listen to me. Coming from a pastor who loves you, it can ruin the anointing on your life. The weekend fling with your boyfriend or with your girlfriend that others have said is okay. It's just everybody's doing this and it's not a big deal.

You're going to get married one day anyway. It can cause you to lose the anointing on your life while the person of the Holy Spirit resides in every single believer. Listen to me. The anointing of the Holy Spirit can be developed and grown inside of us. That's why John said I have to decrease so that he might increase.

But watch. The anointing on our lives can also be grieved and depleted if we don't pay attention to the flies. Secondly, we have to prioritize intimacy with the Holy Spirit church. You cannot have his power without his presence. You make room for the person of the Holy Spirit by sitting with the Lord and communing with him and spending time with him, being in a relationship with him.

We read in Judges about a man by the name of Samson who was anointed from birth for the purposes of God. But yet he became careless and reckless with the anointing he didn't guard against the dead flies, and it cost him.

He was called to deliver God's people from the oppression of the Philistines. But compromise in his life, a desire to feed his flesh, cost him the anointing on his life.

So many times we see in scripture Judges chapter 13 is an example. Verse 24 and 25 says the woman gave birth to a boy, named him Samson. He grew, and the Lord blessed him, and the Spirit of the Lord began to stir him. Chapter 14, verse 6. At that moment, the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon Samson, and he ripped the lion's jaws apart with his bare hands.

Chapter 14, verse 19. Then the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him. Chapter 15, verse 14. But the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon Samson, and he snapped the ropes on his arms as if they were burnt strands of flax. But yet Samson was careless.

He was reckless. He didn't pay attention to the flies. He kept giving in to the lust of the flesh and his longing, his lust for. For women. He enters into this relationship with a woman by the name of Delilah.

And then in chapter 16, we find what I would deem as one of the saddest verses in the entire bible. In verse 20, Judges 16, verse 20, it says this. And then she said, samson, the Philistines are here. And he woke up. And he thought, I'll leave as I did before and shake myself free.

Watch. But he did not know that the Lord had left him.

Oh, how many, how many people, how many believers have compromised week after week, year after year? The dead flies are all in their anointing oil, the little foxes running through their vineyard and destroying the fruit that's in their lives? And how many people don't even realize that the anointing has left you because you didn't guard it? You didn't protect something so precious and so powerful and so life changing as the anointing of the Holy Spirit because you didn't prioritize time in his presence. Here's the third thing.

You have to be willing to walk in forgiveness and in unity. Walk in forgiveness and in unity. Let me tell you something, Church. And this is coming from someone who, in over four decades of ministry, 63 years of living, of someone who has had many, many occasions to be offended. But I know this, that if I give place to offense in my life, if I'm not willing to forgive people throughout my life that have hurt me, I'll lose the anointing of the Holy Spirit.

If you refuse to forgive if you refuse to walk in unity, you'll lose the anointing. The psalmist tells us in Psalm 133, verse 1 and 2, oh, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell together in unity. And then he says in verse two, it's like oil poured over the head of Aaron, flowing down across his beard, and then all the way down his robes. Notice the progression. The oil starts with the head represents your authority.

It represents your thoughts. It represents your intellect. And when you're anointed by the Holy Spirit, all of a sudden your mind is under the dominion and the control of the Spirit of God. Listen to me. When you're not willing to forgive, when you're not willing to walk in unity with other believers, your mind becomes toxic by the thoughts of the enemy.

The anointing starts with the head, and then it says it flows over Aaron's beard. Do you realize in the Hebrew culture that the beard was a sign of dignity and maturity and honor? It represented someone's identity. So the psalmist is saying, as the oil, the anointing of the Holy Spirit flows over your head, and then all of a sudden, your identity is lost in his anointing. It's not about you anymore.

It's all about him. And then the psalmist says, it flows all over his robes. It flows all the way down to the hem of his garment. And everywhere he walks, he leaves a deposit of that sweet aroma.

Three changes that happen when you're anointed by the Holy Spirit, which is why so. So vitally important that we guard and protect the anointing. Number one, that anointing oil that came from God himself. That recipe had a fragrance to it that was beyond any other fragrance. And when we're anointed by the Holy Spirit, we walk into a room, people might not know what it is.

They might not recognize what it is, but they just go, wow, something different about you. What is that? You see, the anointing oil that we read about in Exodus, chapter 30 carried with it a fragrance that when poured over the head of a prophet or a priest or a king, long before they arrived, people knew they were coming. Why? Because they smelled that fragrance.

And the apostle Paul tells us, and he reminds the Corinthian Church, in First Corinthians, chapter 2, verse 15, he says, we are the aroma of Christ. We carry a fragrance that when we are with unbelievers, when we're at our workplace, when we walk onto the campus of our school, that there should be this thing that's been guarded by us, that causes people to go, man, what is that?

Secondly, when that oil was poured over the head of a prophet or a priest or a king, all of a sudden their hair would shine, their face would glisten, and the anointing of the Holy Spirit changes our countenance. It changes our appearance so that we radiate the glory of God. It just pours out of us, comes out of our pores. Lastly, there's a spiritual shift. There's a spiritual reality, just like we read earlier, that when Saul was anointed, all of a sudden he received a new heart.

And the same thing happens with you and I, that when we're anointed by the Holy Spirit. And again, it's not reserved for a precious few people. It's for anyone who would ask.

Jesus said about his Father, if you ask him for bread, he's not going to give you a scorpion or a stone. He's the kind of Father that wants to give good gifts to you. And if you ask him for the anointing of the Holy Spirit, he wants to do that. And when he does, there's a total shift that takes place.