it is about that time and get started this evening. Welcome to Steadfast Baptist Church.
If you would grab a hymnal and turn to hymn number 309, "Dare to be a Daniel." Hymn number 309,
"Dare to be a Daniel." 309, we'll sing there starting on the first.
Time will open with a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you for this day for another
opportunity to gather together and sing praises and learn from your word. Lord, I just pray that
you would be with those that received the word this afternoon, that a seed would maybe plant and
germinate, Lord, and that there would be faith that would grow from the soul warning that was done.
I pray that you would open our ears for the message that you've laid on Brother Oz's heart
this evening, and that you would also just fill us with your spirit as we attempt to open our mouths
and boldly sing praises out for your name, Lord. These things we pray in Jesus name. Amen.
All right, for our next hymn, turn if you would to 169, "Come Thou Fount." Hymn number 169,
"Come Thou Fount." We'll sing there on the first.
Announcements, if you don't have a bulletin, raise your hand and an usher will bring you one.
On the front is our Bible memory verse of the week, Hebrews chapter number 6 verse 9. Keep
working hard on that. Our service times and soul winning times are listed there on the left.
And last Saturday I was in Texas, so I did miss the soul winning rally, but I'm really looking
forward to this Saturday, getting back to it. And I did update the preaching schedule to reflect
evangelist furs move to Texas. So if you partake of that, please make note of that spreadsheet
that I sent in our signal group. Also our nursing home ministry schedule was recently updated as
well. So if you're a preacher in that ministry, make note of that please. Our soul winning
statistics year to date are listed there. Keep working hard at soul winning and remember to
report those numbers to the soul winning leader you go to. Also please be in prayer for Miss
Whitney Reed for her pregnancy and this upcoming Sunday just in a few days we're really excited
to have Pastor Shelley driving up from Texas to come preach for us. It's going to be an exciting
weekend and you know I hear there might be a spicy sermon tonight at steadfast so after the
church I highly recommend that you tune in. I'm really excited to hear that sermon. October 31st
we are going to have our chili cook off at 6 30 p.m. You know don't go out celebrating Halloween
or Satan or anything like that. Okay you know let's have church where we hang out with brethren and
eat some good chili looking forward to that. You could read that description there for some more
details. And November 6th through the 10th is the Faithful Word Baptist Church Missions Conference.
This time we're going to go through our prayer list. If you have a prayer request at any time
feel free to email that to the church or message me I'd be happy to add that. There's a lot of
additions this week. There's been just things going on in our church and other churches and
you'll see Florida's listed there. They're supposed to get hit with one of the worst hurricanes ever
basically and they were just hit with one just last week where there was lots of people that died
and so this is a very serious thing we should make sure to be praying for the people in Florida. So
let's go to the Lord in prayer as a church family this evening. Lord thank you for Setfast Baptist
Church thank you for the people gathered here together. I just pray that you would knit our
hearts together and knit our hearts to you to the word of God and to our pastor and just pray that
you would help our church to be unified around things that are good unified around the great
commission and that you would just bless our church as we try to serve and to please you.
Pray that you give us favor pray that you give us more laborers and just pray that you would give us
your hand of favor on our lives all of our lives lord and we want to pray for the people in the
state of florida who are about to experience likely a very horrific storm just pray that people there
would take every precaution that they can and more importantly lord that you would just reach
forth your hand and protect people that you would just cause as little damage as possible that you
would have mercy on that state and on the people there and i just pray that through this difficulty
that hearts would be softened in that state and that whenever people would go through something
difficult that it would perhaps make them more receptive to the gospel and that they would have
a desire to serve you lord we also want to pray for brother cameron's mother for her heart to
be softened as well through her difficulty she's facing with cancer and we do pray lord that you
would heal that cancer but more importantly just that she would have a heart receptive to the gospel
and lord of course we pray that for many members in our church that have family members that need
to get saved or need healing i pray that you would please heal my lungs lord and just pray for brother
theodore who's switching jobs soon just pray that he would find favor at his new job and that you
just bless him lord help him to learn new skills and to advance in his career we also pray for
miss sean fir for her friend or co-worker terry that she'd be healed from her cancer miss remi
that she'd be healed from her tumor and we pray for whitney's brother col that his heart would be
softened to the gospel and the same for brother zac for his family members for his mother and
brother and we love you lord we pray all these things in jesus christ's name amen all right let's
go ahead and go to our third song this evening all right for our third hymn in your white handouts
we'll be singing holy holy holy in your white handout holy holy holy they're on the first
the offering plates are being passed turn if you would to first samuel chapter nine first samuel
chapter nine samuel chapter number nine bible reads now there was a man of benjamin whose name
was kish the son of abel the son of zaror the son of the korath the son of afiah benjamite a mighty
man of power and he had a son whose name was saul choice young man and a goodly and there was not
among the children of israel a goodlier person than he from his shoulders and upward he was higher
than any of the people and the asses of kish saul's father were lost and kish said to saul his son
take now one of the servants with thee and arise go seek the asses and he passed through mount
ephraim and passed through the land of shalisha but they found them not then they passed through
the land of shalim and there they were not and he passed through the land of the benjamites
but they found them not and when they were come to the land of zef saul said to his servant that
was with him come let us return lest my father leave caring for the asses and take thought for
us and he said unto him behold now there is in the city a man of god and he is an honorable man
all that he saith cometh surely to pass now let us go thither her adventure he can show us our
way that we should go then said saul to his servant but behold if we go what shall we bring
the man for the bread is spent in our vessels and there is not a present to bring to the man of god
what have we and the servant answered saul again and said behold i have here at hand the fourth
part of a shekel of silver that will i give to the man of god to tell us our way before time in
israel when a man went to inquire of god thus he spake come and let us go to the seer for he that
is now called a prophet was before time called a seer then said saul to his servant well said come
let us go so they went unto the city where the man of god was 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 today to
the city for there is a sacrifice of the people today in the high place as soon as ye become into
the city ye shall straightway find him before he go up to the high place to eat for the people will
not eat until he come because he doth bless the sacrifice and afterwards they eat that bebidden
now therefore get you up for about this time ye shall find him 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 tomorrow 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 coming to me 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 seers 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 today and tomorrow i will
let thee go and will tell thee all that is in thine heart and as for thine asses that were lost
three days ago set not thy mind on them for they are found and on whom is all the desire of israel
is it not on thee and on all thy father's house and saul answered and said am not i a benjaminite
of the smallest of the tribes of israel and my family the least of all the families of the tribes
of benjamin wherefore then speakest thou so to me and samuel took saul and his servant and brought
them into the parlor and made them sit in the chiefest place among them that were bitten which
were about 30 persons and samuel said unto the cook bring the portion which i gave thee of which
i said unto thee set it by thee and the cook took up the shoulder and that which was upon it and
set it before saul and samuel said behold that which is left set it before thee and eat for unto
this time hath it been kept for thee since i said i have invited the people so saul did eat with
samuel that day and when they were come down from the high place into the city samuel communed with
saul upon the top of the house and they arose early and it came to pass about the spring of the day
that samuel called saul to the top of the house saying up that i may send thee away and saul
arose and they went out both of them he and samuel abroad and as they were going down to the end of
the city samuel said to saul bid the servant pass on before us and he passed on but stand now still
a while that i may show thee the word of god dear father thank you for this service that we have
today thank you for first samuel chapter number nine i pray that you would um use brother aus as
he preaches from your word and give us a ten of years to understand the message you do play my
pray amen all right we are in first samuel chapter nine and in first samuel chapter nine we're
actually in famous characters in the bible and of course that is saul and we know that he was
ordained the first king of israel and i think he's one of the more interesting characters in the bible
and i think the reason he's preached about so often is because his life actually starts very good
and when he's introduced in the bible it's pretty much all positive but if you've read this book
spoil alert you know his life ends in a complete train wreck and so he's kind of interesting to
people for that reason but as we're going through this chapter you have to remember in your mind
that at the beginning saul was very good and there's a lot of very good qualities about him
that caused god to choose saul and so that's mainly what i want to look at this evening
is looking at some reasons why god chose saul now let's get some introduction here let's look
at first samuel chapter 9 verse 1 it says now there was a man of benjamin whose name was kish
the son of abiel the son of zeror the son of becarath the son of afia a benjamite a mighty
man of power so it's talking about sol's father here sol's family and you could see here it says
that he comes from a mighty man of power so sol he had a very privileged childhood if you will
he comes from a very powerful family later we're going to learn that his father has
asses so his father had probably lots of livestock he probably was very rich and really when you think
about it sol just had a very blessed and pretty easy childhood very easy life look at verse two it
says and he had a son whose name was sol a choice young man and a goodly and there was not among the
children of israel a goodlier person than he from his shoulders and upward he was higher than any
of the people so we're introduced to the character sol and the bible is giving us lots of descriptions
of what he's like and notice how the bible is describing him saying that he was a choice
young man choice meaning that he was preferred above others right if you're getting the choice
cut of an animal you're getting the nicest cut and so sol he was choice he was the most
preferred not only that it says that there wasn't anyone who was a goodlier person and that simply
just means that sol was a very handsome man so he's the most preferred he's handsome not only that
from his shoulders and upward he was higher than any of the people and so when we're introduced to
this man he's pretty much a guy that just has everything going for him right this is what most
people in the world would desire or strive for and you know people pay money for surgeries to look
better and people desire to be rich and people desire to be privileged and that's kind of what
Saul's life was like he was born into wealth he was born into a powerful family he's taller than
everyone else he's better looking he's the most preferred I mean from a carnal viewpoint this guy
just pretty much has everything going right in his life and it's interesting because God chose this
man and used this man who carnally speaking had all these things going right for him and the reason
why that's interesting is because this is actually the exception not the rule usually God is not
usually choosing people to do a great work in to uh exalt to positions of leadership that are just
necessarily the best looking and have the most money and grew up rich and have all these you know
carnal benefits it's actually the exception to find a person like that go to first Corinthians
chapter number one first Corinthians chapter one you know Saul is kind of like a tom brady here he's
kind of like a tom cruise here he's like got he's got everything going on for him in life but notice
what the bible says in first Corinthians chapter one verse 23 the bible says but we preach christ
crucified unto the jews a stumbling block and unto the greeks foolishness but unto them which are
called both jews and greeks christ the power of god and the wisdom of god because the foolishness
of god is wiser than men and the weakness of god is stronger than men you see most people when they
look at the things of god a man of god the word of god in their carnal mind they often view those
things as foolish or they often view those things as weak in fact there's a lot of people that think
the christian virtue forgiveness is weak and you hear like these really like alpha dudes they think
they're so alpha and sometimes you hear these guys talking about how it's such a weakness to forgive
or it's such a weakness to love your enemies that is how the world views the things of god now of
course we that have you know spirit a spiritual lens through this world we know that the bible is
stronger than the world we know that it's wiser than the things of this world but from their
perspective it's foolish from their perspective it's weak look at verse 26 for ye see your calling
brethren how that notice not many wise men after the flesh not many mighty not many noble are called
so notice because the world often views the things of god is weak and foolish god doesn't often call
people that the world would look up to and think this person's strong this person's wise this
person's noble why because god is interested in him getting the honor him getting the glory so it's
very rare that he could use a person who really does have everything going on for them who really
is i mean the bible said the narrator said that he was the most handsome guy in the land i mean
the the narrator said that he was the tallest guy land this isn't just like someone's opinion i mean
he just objectively was better carnally speaking than everyone else and that's why it's kind of
interesting why Saul was used because that's not the normal case let's keep reading it says verse
27 but god hath chosen the foolish eyes hath god chosen ye and things which are not to bring to not
things that are why verse 29 that no flesh should glory in his presence so notice usually god will
use a man that the world would look at and say well this guy's foolish this guy's base and it's
not how we use based meaning like you know you believe a lot of awesome truths it's saying just
like you're low the world will view you as low that's usually who god uses why so that no flesh
will glory in his presence right god wants humble ministers to serve him that are interested in god
being glorified and not themselves go back to first samuel 9 so just by way of introduction
sal's an interesting character because he's not fitting the mold of who god usually uses
but there's a lot of other characteristics that sal had that makes me understand why god used him
and number one the reason why is because sal was obedience number one sal was obedient look at verse
three of first samuel 9 and the asses of kish sal's father were lost and kish said to sal his son
take now one of the servants with thee and arise go seek the asses so what's happening here his
dad has these asses or donkeys and he's lost his livestock so he goes to his son and he says hey
sal do this do this thing i'm asking you to do go seek the asses verse four and notice what he did
and he passed through mount effrayim and passed through the land of shalisha but they found them
not then they passed through the land of shalim and there they were not and he passed through the
land of the benjamites but they found them not and here we see a great character trait of sal
that he was obedient his dad gave him a job to do and he just went and did that job and not only
that he actually is working really hard because he's not just immediately finding these asses
i mean he's going through location after location after location he's not giving up very easily
he's just working hard on obeying what his dad said to do and it's interesting because
sal was a wealthy person he was privileged he was well favored and he didn't say hey go have some
slave take care of this go have some servant take care of this his dad just told him to do it and
he's just like yes sir i will do that and you know that's one of the reasons why i think god
chose sal even though he was wealthy even though he was having everything going for him you know
he was just the type of man that when someone told him to do something that was in authority he just
said yes sir and you know that's who god is looking to bless today god is looking to bless men and
women that get a commandment from god and just say yes lord that's what i will do go to ephesians
chapter number six ephesians six you know the idea of authority and the idea of obedience is under
attack today it's under attack by the world and it's even under attack by christians it's even
under attack by fundamentalist christians and you know we need to renew our mind we need to be
reading the bible and seeing what it says seeing what god's will is for our life and making sure
that our philosophies aren't just coming from the world look at ephesians six verse one notice what
it says children obey your parents in the lord for this is right honor thy father and mother
which is the first commandment with promise that it may be well with thee and thou mayst live long
on the earth so we see here that the bible commands children to obey a privileged man a man who's well
favored a man who's rich a man who's handsome a man who's tall you know what it's still a command
for all of us and god wants today for children to obey their parents god wants children to respect
their parents authority why because a child that respects their parents authority will respect god's
authority and so god can look down from heaven and see saul a man who by every right would be
prideful most of the time in this world he's given a command by his father and what does he do he
obeys and so what does that say about him well if he's going to obey his dad he'll probably obey me
is what god often looks down from heaven and sees in people go to ephesians 5 ephesians chapter 5
ephesians chapter 5 look at verse 22 it says wives submit yourselves unto your own husbands
as unto the lord so of course parents are not the only ones with authority in this world god has also
instituted that the husband would be the head of the home because what does it mean to submit it
means to put yourself under right so a wife is supposed to place herself under the authority of
her husband and notice what it says in verse 23 for the husband is the head of the wife even as
christ is the head of the church and he is the savior of the body therefore as the church is
subject unto christ so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything so god wants ladies god
wants wives to obey their husbands god wants wives to submit to their husbands and there's a lot of
churches today that are afraid of this verse that are afraid of this passage and there's a lot of
pastors that are just no longer teaching this doctrine i mean i went to a church for like three
years and never heard this talked about one single time this old ifb church i went to but really just
reveals where the heart of that pastor is because the bible is equating a wife submitting to her
husband like the church should submit to christ so it just tells me if you have a problem with a wife
submitting to her husband you probably have a problem with the church submitting under christ
and so a lot of times you'll just notice the same type of preachers that don't preach that women should
obey their husbands are the same type of preachers that don't preach a lot of what's in the bible
because they as a church are not submitting themselves unto christ so you know god is
Constantly looking in our lives and in our hearts and he's looking down from heaven and he wants to make sure that we have
Obedient hearts, you know pastor Shelley told me this one time and I thought it was a really profound statement that he told me
He said life is all about obedience
But the question is to who and that is a true statement all of us in life
We should be obeying someone if you're at the workplace. You should be obeying the boss
You say I am the boss then you should be obeying the Bible in the church. You should be obeying the pastor
Well, I am the pastor. You should be obeying Christ. You're the wife. You should be obeying your husband husbands
You should be obeying Christ, right?
So there's always you know, and all of us should be obeying the higher powers the government that God has established
laws that don't contradict the Bible life is all about obedience and you know what someone that doesn't like obedience someone that does not
Like authority is a wicked ungodly person. You cannot be a godly person
You can't be someone that loves the Bible loves the truth but despise authority. No rather the Bible actually describes
false prophets and reprobates as people that despise
Dominion Dominion meaning authority. So why is it? One of the reasons why God really liked Saul is because he was
Obedience go to Isaiah chapter 6 Isaiah chapter number 6
Because I think all of us in this room have a desire to be used by God have a desire to be blessed by God
Have a desire to be blessed in the workplace advance in our careers
Succeed as a father or mother
Succeed as a preacher or minister and you know what it's gonna take for God to look down and bless us
It's gonna take obedience look at Isaiah 6 verse 8
I heard the voice of the Lord saying whom shall I send and who will go for us then said I
Here am I send me and you know
Saul just was the type of person that when he was asked to do anything even a menial task like chasing after the asses
He was just the person that said here am I send me and it's funny
You never see Saul put in that job application for king of Israel
You know that he never once asked to be the king
he never applied to be the king yet God looked down from heaven and saw a man that was obedient and
Exalted him to that position and so it's so important in our lives to have God on our side
Go to James chapter number one James chapter number one
I don't even think that if we were to look into the heart of King Saul at this time, which this is before he was King
I don't even think he would have said of himself. Oh, of course, I should be king. Oh, yeah
I definitely want to be king. It probably wasn't even something on his radar, but because he was obedient God blessed him James 1 verse 22
But be doers of the word and not hearers only deceiving your own
Selves for if any be a hearer of the word and not a doer he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass
For he beholdeth himself and goeth his way and straightway forgetteth what manner of man
He was but who so looketh into the perfect law of Liberty and continue it therein
He being not a forgetful here, but a doer of the work
This man shall be blessed in his deed and like I said, that's what we all want right to be blessed in our deeds
But God's warning us against this mentality. That's so common to human nature to think that just because you're hearing something that you're gonna be blessed
Just to think that just because I'm hearing preaching or hearing the Word of God that somehow you're right with God
But the Bible saying hey don't remember to be a doer of the word meaning you actually have to be obedient to what it says
It's not enough to just look into the law of Liberty
You must obey what the Bible tells you to do and the Bible gives us this funny illustration
Saying the person that just listens to the Bible or just looks at the words on their page
But doesn't actually do what it says
it's like a person that stands in front of a mirror sees that their their face is messed up that their hair is messed up that they've
Got stuff in their teeth and they're just like a big deal and they just leave and wouldn't that be just ridiculous
I mean, wouldn't you think that person is just mad and insane?
But yet that's what we are like when we read a verse in the Bible and we're like, oh, that's cool verse
Not gonna do it though. That's insane. That's madness. That's not what God is looking for
Go back to first Samuel chapter 9 for Samuel 9. So number one Saul was obedient
Why else did God choose Saul? Well number two Saul considered others Saul considered others
Look at verse 5 it says and when they were come to the land of Zeph
Saul said to his servant that was with him come and let us return
Lest my father leave caring for the asses and take thought for us
So notice Saul was obedient to his father
But he also was considerate of his father's feelings and considerate of what his dad is thinking and he's saying hey
We've spent a lot of time on this task and you know
Maybe dad's gonna get upset that we didn't get the task done
But we don't want him to worry to where he's thinking we're dead out here in this field or something, right?
And so Saul had not only obedience towards authority
But he had a genuine respect for authority and he had a genuine consideration of other people, you know
Saul was not someone that was selfish that was only thinking about himself. No, he was actually thinking
What would my dad think about this situation and you know
We could apply that to our lives that when we're out in the workplace
We should be considerate and thoughtful of how would my boss like this job to be done not how would I like to do it?
You know, what product am I satisfied with? No, it's what was the what would this boss be satisfied with what would make him happy?
What would please him not just well, I'm cool with the job, you know
That's a bad attitude and think about this also as a husband, right?
Don't just live your life as a husband saying like well, you know, I think I'm doing a pretty good job
I think I'm spending enough time with your what with my wife
No
You need to be considerate that your wife is having her needs met that your wife actually feels loved by you
And of course this could apply vice versa, you know ladies don't just think like yeah, you know, I'm doing everything up to my standards
So my husband must be pleased automatically with my house cleaning and meals or whatever
No, you should actually think will my husband actually be pleased with this?
Not just yourself go to Hebrews chapter number 10 Hebrews 10
But look when it's coming to who God is looking for to bless and to advance and to even make a leader someday
God is looking for a person that is considerate of other people and you know
There's a way that the Bible says that we can actually show that we have a consideration for other people
Look at Hebrews 10 verse 24. It says this and let us consider one another
Well, how are we gonna do that to provoke unto love and to good works?
Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is but exhorting one another and so much the more
As he see the day approaching so notice how is it that us as Christians?
Can show that we are considerate of other people. Well one really big way is by going to church and
The Bible talks about how there's the manner of some people. It's their lifestyle. It's their custom
It's their habit to just forsake the assembling of ourselves together
And you know what those people have they have a problem in their heart where they are not considerate of other people
You know a person who just decides yeah, I'm saved, but I'm not gonna go to church
I'm gonna quit going to church. You know what that person is
That's a person that doesn't consider other people because let me tell you something every single person in this church is important
You know the Bible talks about
Us being members of a body members of the body of Christ
And you know you wouldn't like it very much if tomorrow your arm got chopped off
You wouldn't be very excited if you lost your foot tomorrow, right?
I mean, that's pretty inconsiderate of your foot to just leave your body. That's not very cool, right?
So, you know us as Christians, it's not all about us
We need to get this mentality into our head that serving God, you know doing things for the Lord going to church that it's not something
That's for you necessarily and so many people today. They go to a church where this is their only thought
What can I get out of church?
You know you go you go out soul-winning you get someone saved and the first question they ask is do you have a kid's ministry?
Do you have a Sunday school? Do you have free babysitters to watch my kids, right?
Their first thought is not like hey, do you guys preach the King James Bible? Do you guys preach doctrine?
Do you guys have a good preacher? Do you guys believe the right gospel? No, their first thought is like hey
Can you watch my kids for free because people aren't considering other people people are only considering themselves and you say I want to be
Someone that's blessed by God. I want to be someone that's used by the Lord
You need to consider other people and you could just do an automatic heart check right now to see if you're considering other people
Have you forsaken the assembling of ourselves together because the Bible says that when we don't forsake the assembly
What are we doing? We're considering one another to provoke unto love and to good works
And you know, I've been in church for over a decade and I just know that people come to church oftentimes
For a variety or combination of reasons even people that are coming for the right reasons
They are coming for spiritual reasons, you know for the Bible for the word of God for fellowshiping with other people
Sometimes a big reason they come is because their friend goes to that church and that's not necessarily a bad thing, right?
But here's the thing when you decide to quit church, you know what you're doing
You're being inconsiderate of other people and you're discouraging other people when people see you quit
You are encouraging other people to quit and you know what? That's a shameful thing to do
That's a completely ridiculous thing to do and and you know, let me just say this
Let me just be very frank right now
There's a lot of people leaving all sorts of churches over an issue that has nothing to do with the church that they're going into
And you know what those people are carnal that do that
Those people are very carnal and quite honestly those people are in a cult because they're they're leaving over some other guy
That's in a different church a different situation. It's like who's got the cult like mentality. I'm here for the Bible
I'm here for God's people. I'm here for winning souls. I'm here for the Great Commission
I didn't move here from a different state for another person. And so why do you go to church?
Do you do it to consider others or do you do it for yourself and quite honestly the people that quit church?
It just shows that you're not considerate of other people and it doesn't mean you're a terrible person
It just means you need to get that right in your life
You need to fix your heart go to Philippians chapter number two
And when we go to Philippians to keep a place there because we're gonna come back shortly to that
But you know, especially leaders especially guy like Saul
You know, he needs to be someone that considers other people leaders need to be people that consider other people look at Philippians 2 verse 3
Says let nothing be done through strife or vainglory but in lowliness of mine
Let us see let each esteem other better than themselves
Look not every man on his own things but every man also on the things of others
Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus
So it's you know why God likes this mentality from Saul that not only was he obedient
But he was actually considerate of his father's feelings because this mentality this mindset this mind
Was also in Christ Jesus and when you look at our Lord and Savior, you know
One of the biggest character traits of him was that he was considerate of others
Why because we're sinners deserving of hell and he was perfect sinless never did anything wrong yet
He died an extremely brutal torturous death on the cross for people that don't even deserve it and for many millions of people
Who don't even accept the gift of salvation, you know
He descended into hell for three days and three nights and suffered in
Burning fire and agony for a lot of people that will never believe on him that will never care for him
That will never do anything for him. But you know, that's the mindset that Jesus Christ had
He was considerate of other people and I think that's why God looked down and saw Saul and liked that
He was considerate of other people go back to first Samuel 9 first Samuel chapter 9
So we talked about the fact that he was obedient that he was considered of other people number three
Saul had a desire for spiritual things look at verse 6 it says and he said unto him behold now
There is in this city a man of God and he is an honorable man all that he saith cometh surely to pass
Now let us go thither per adventure. He can show us our way that we should go
So notice Saul he's faced with this problem in his life. He can't find the asses. His dad gave him a job
He can't do it on his own. He's failing at this task and notice what Saul's immediate response is he's like
Hey, I heard in the city
There's a man of God his first thought is to think about spiritual things and you know what?
This is an awesome attribute in a person and especially an awesome
Attribute in a leader that you're faced with an issue and your first thought is something spiritual
You know, there'd be a lot better homes in America today
There'd be a lot better marriages if the man every time their family faced an issue
Faced a problem faced a challenge that man thought what does the Bible say about this? What does God want me to do about this?
Hey, maybe I should pray about this situation
Hey, maybe I should go ask the man of God for some advice go to Proverbs chapter number two Proverbs chapter number two
You know, I think it's pretty cool that Saul's just knee-jerk reaction was to turn to something spiritual
That's that's a rare thing in people today
You know most people they have a problem and they turn to Google, right?
Most people have a problem and they turn to a psychiatrist
You know a therapist or they turn to a worldly textbook and I'm not saying that all these things are necessarily wrong
But when we're faced with a problem in life
You know what our first knee-jerk reaction should be is to turn to something spiritual Proverbs 2 verse 6 says this
for the Lord giveth wisdom out of his mouth cometh knowledge and
Understanding so notice what is the source in this world of wisdom knowledge and understanding?
it's God and specifically it's God's words go to Psalm 119 Psalm 119 and
Because of that the lesson that we should draw as to how we should live our lives today
Is that when we're faced with a challenge a problem and issue and let me tell you you'll be faced with many
Every single day pretty much is a challenge in the Christian life
But where should you turn should you ask your college professor? Should you talk to your worldly friends? Should you go to the therapist?
No, you know what you should do first. You should read the Word of God. Look at Psalm 119 verse 97
It says oh how love I thy law
It is my meditation all the day thou through thy commandments has made me wiser than mine enemies
For they are ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers for thy testimonies are my meditation. I
Understand more than the ancients because I keep thy precepts
I have refrained my feet from every evil way that I might keep my word
I have not departed from thy judgments for thou has taught me how sweet are thy words unto my taste
Ye sweeter than honey to my mouth through thy precepts. I get understanding therefore. I hate
Every false way thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light
Unto my path and you know, I love how the Bible kind of gives a picture of itself that it's a light
That it's a lamp and of course
We know that we're living in a world full of darkness full of sin full of lies full of false doctrine
And without the Word of God, how would we be able to navigate through this life?
We wouldn't you can't lean on your own understanding. You can't lean on your own worldly philosophy
You know what you need. You need the lamp
You need the light of the Word of God to shine the path for your feet, you know, so many people today
They're just trusting in their own heart
There's so many people today that are trusting in their own worldly understanding you say, how do you know that?
Just listen to them when they open their mouth
Because if you actually read the Bible if you actually know the Bible you hear someone talk and you're thinking like man
You are in darkness. You are blind. There's like yeah, you know, I think that
Marriage should be 50/50. I just think that sometimes, you know, the husband should obey the wife. You're just like wow, you're blind
You're walking in darkness, right? There's like, you know, I just I think that the NIV is just perfect
The NIV is great. It's just like oh darkness, you know
Oh, yeah salvations by faith alone, but you have to live a good life and you have to keep doing works to be saved
But but it's by faith. It's by grace, but you have to follow the commandments. You're like, wow, you're in darkness, right?
You just hear what comes out of people's mouth and you realize this person does not have the word of God
That's guiding their feet in this life. They're leaning on their own understanding. And so, you know
Spiritual people like Saul when they have a problem, what do they do? They turn to something spiritual go to Proverbs chapter 11 Proverbs chapter number 11
And we saw that he turned to the man of God and of course we should go to the Bible
But another source another resource that we have in this life is spiritual people in our life
Proverbs 11 verse 14 says this where no council is the people fall but in the multitude of counselors
There is safety and you know, we would be wise in this life that when we have a problem an issue that yes
Of course we go to the Word of God
But beyond that we also go to spiritual people in our life to advise us and who would be a person like that
Well, how about your mom and dad? That'd be a good person to go to or ladies
How about your husband that would be a good person to rely upon and to trust and to follow their leadership
And how about your pastor, you know?
That's a great person to go to to get advice from to get counsel from go back to first Samuel chapter number 9 first Samuel chapter 9
So we saw that Saul he immediately turned to spiritual things look at verse 7 of first Samuel chapter number 9
Says then said Saul to his servant but behold if we go
What shall we bring the man for the bread is spent in our vessels and there is not a present to bring the man of God
What have we and the servant answered Saul again and said behold I have here at hand the fourth part of a shekel of silver
That will I give to the man of God to tell us our before time in Israel when a man went to inquire of God
Thus he spake come and let us go to the seer for he that is now called a prophet was before time called a seer
Now I think this verse is pretty interesting
Because it kind of illustrates the reason why I think that the King James Version does not need to be updated
And why the King James the language of the King James it doesn't need to be modernized or changed or updated
Why because if you just read the Bible oftentimes the context will determine and help you understand what a word means and
Sometimes the Bible will literally define itself
This is a great example because notice what it says it says come and let us go to the seer now if the verse stopped
Right there, maybe some people would have a hard time understanding. What is a seer?
I mean that is not a word that we really use today in our modern vernacular
And if I think of a seer I'm thinking of like maybe a guy on a ship with some you know binoculars looking at something
It's not something we really use but notice the Bible says for he that is now called a prophet
Was before time called a seer so notice the Bible just helps us out helps us understand a word that we don't really use in
Our modern vernacular and there's tons and tons of examples in the Bible like this, but you know what?
I wouldn't want to change this verse. I like it just how it is the Bible defines itself
And you know, this is not a coloring book. This is not a menu at Red Robin like this is the word of God here
Okay, it doesn't need to be so simple that a three-year-old could figure everything out
You know, I like the style of the Bible how it's written look at verse 10
Then said Saul to his servant well said come let us go
So they went unto the city where the man of God was and as they went up to the hill of 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 today to the city
For there's a sacrifice of the people today in the high place as soon as he become into the city
He shall straightway find him before he go up to the high place to eat notice this for the people will not eat
Until he come because he'd have blessed the sacrifice and afterwards they eat that be benin now
Therefore get you up for about this time. You shall find him
you know, I find it kind of interesting the
Foreshadowing that you sometimes see in the Bible and you would not catch this your first time reading through the Bible
But if you know the story of Saul, you know that later on in his life
He gets in trouble for doing the sacrifice before Samuel shows up and it's kind of interesting here that he just talks to this maid
And this maid saying like oh don't the people are not gonna come eat until he comes
the people are gonna eat because he Samuel is gonna bless the sacrifice and
Afterwards they eat that'd be bitten. It's just kind of funny to me that the Bible throws this detail in there
There's little conversation when this is the very thing that's gonna basically end his reign as a king
And so I just I thought that was kind of a cool thing to see look at verse 14
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 and that word came out against it just means he stood in front of them
He presented himself to them verse 15 now the Lord had told Samuel in his ear a day before Saul came saying
Tomorrow 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've looked upon my people because their cry is
Come unto me now go to Proverbs chapter number 3 Proverbs 3 so I mentioned this earlier
But remember Saul never applied to be king, you know, he never went and filled out a job application
He never asked anyone for the position
He was simply just a righteous man that was obedient that was considered of other people
That turned to spiritual things as his knee-jerk reaction and notice God was literally speaking in the ear of Samuel saying
Hey, this is the guy that you're gonna choose and you know, that makes me think of Proverbs 3 look at Proverbs 3 verse 1
It says my son forget not my law but let thine heart keep my commandments for length of days and long life and peace
Shall they add to thee?
Let not mercy and truth forsake thee bind them about thy neck write them upon the table of thine heart
so shalt thou find favor and good understanding in the sight of God and
Man trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding in all thy ways
Acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths
So notice a person that obeys the commandments a person that obeys their parents
That doesn't forsake the way of God the Bible says that that person is going to find favor and good
understanding in the sight of God and
Man and us as Christians
We just have to realize this truth that if you want to be blessed if you want to advance if you want to
Have more things or have more influence or just be blessed in your career
Whatever it is that you want the blessing of God on your life is literally your secret weapon
Because again Saul never asked to be king. He never was seeking this he never asked anyone yet
This opportunity came to him
Why because he found favor in the eyes of God and man and so, you know
What's more important than your portfolio or your resume or your work experience or your references or your contacts?
You know, it's more important than all that is having a good relationship with God
You know, it's more important than that is having the favor of God on your life
And it's just such a foolish decision that people make often times where they'll say well, you know going to church on Sunday is hurting
My career so I'm not gonna go to church on Sunday because I need to advance in my career or hey
I'm gonna move to this city where there's no good church because that's gonna bless my career and it's like hey idiot
What's gonna bless your career is God blessing you what's gonna bless your marriage?
What's gonna bless your child rearing is God's hand God's favor on your life yet today
We're so carnal and sometimes we just reviewing things through a carnal lens and we think that if we just work hard if we put
In the hours if we build the business if we build the contacts that we're just gonna be fine
But you know what you need to do. You need to get on your face and get right with God is what you need to do
You know what you need to do is you need to get your butt in church when the doors are open
What you need to do is read the word of God. What you need to do is respect authority obey your parents
And you know what God's favor then will be on you and then all those other things fall into place and you know
I've seen that in my life and you know, it's not because I was anyone great or anything special whatsoever
But I think it's kind of funny. I never applied to work at said fast Baptist Church. I never asked
I met pastor Shelley one time. He just called me. That's not because I'm cool or special
That's cuz God just was favoring me and I give him all the honor and glory for that
And it's just interesting how I never called that pastor Shelley and asked him to work for him
I mean, I've seen tons of emails saying like hey, can I be paid as a soul winner? None of those people got chosen?
Okay, Saul he never asked anyone to be king
But yet God was speaking in Samuel's ear saying this is the guy to choose
Why because Saul was actually a man of character. Saul was actually a godly person go to
First Samuel chapter number 9 first Samuel chapter number 9 keep reading verse 17
It says and when Samuel saw Saul the Lord said unto him behold the man whom I spake to the 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 seers 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 today
And tomorrow I will let thee go and will tell thee all that is in thine heart
So Samuel here is offering Saul a very huge honor saying like hey random person
I've never met before you're gonna eat with me
You know, that's a big honor look at verse number 20 and as for thine asses that were lost three days ago
Set not thy mind on them for they are found and on whom is all the desire of Israel
Is it not on thee and on all thy father's house?
So again, we see God's favor on Saul's life that the asses were found and it wasn't you know
Anything that Saul necessarily did but but think about this situation and think about Saul's estate in life at this point
He's tall. He's handsome. He's rich. He's favored
God's helping him with his job. He found, you know, all the asses were found
He's being invited by Samuel to go eat with him
I mean this guy just has everything going on for him and you would think that
This guy has every reason to be prideful and let's just be honest most people that are in Saul's situation right here
You know what? They would end up being super prideful. I mean, I'm the tallest. I'm the most handsome
I've got the most money. I'm hanging out with the spiritual leadership. Aren't I awesome? Aren't I great?
But you want to know one of the biggest reasons and this is number four this evening
One of the biggest reasons why God chose Saul is Saul's humility Saul's humility
He had every reason to be prideful
But look at verse number 21 and Saul answered and said am not I a benjamite of the smallest of the tribes of Israel?
And my family the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin
Wherefore then speakest thou so to me and I don't think this is some sort of fake humility some sort of false humility here
Saul actually has a humble view of himself
Even though he has every carnal reason to be prideful and you know what that is an attitude that is an attribute that is so
Rare today. It's not even funny where someone is actually little in their own sight as the Bible describes him go to 1st
Samuel chapter number 15 will actually look at that real quick
and of course, we know unfortunately this attitude did not last Saul's entire life and
Man, it would have been great if that would have been the case for him
But the Bible shed some light on his earlier life in first Samuel 15 17
It says in Samuel said when thou was little in thine own sight
Was thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel and the Lord anointed the king over Israel?
So notice the Bible's get shedding light on here
Why was one of the reasons God chose Saul because he was little in his own sight, but the problem is Saul's entire life
He didn't stay humble because here's the thing about humility
Humility is not just something you do one time humility is not just like well one day in my life
I was humble humility is something that you have to do every single day
You have to constantly remind yourself of your place in this world and your status before in a holy and mighty God
and that it doesn't matter how rich you are how good-looking you are how many
Assets you have how many kids you have what kind of status you have what kind of access to powerful people you have
You are nothing in the sight of God and the only thing that you have in this world
Every good that you have every good attribute about you that you have it all comes from the Lord
And so we need to constantly remind yourself every single day, you know, and here's thing. I want to be blessed by God
I want to be exalted. I want to have influence
I want to have you know the things in this life that people desire
But if God gives me those things and then my heart gets lifted up
Then I know I'm gonna be destroyed go to Luke Luke chapter 9 Luke chapter number 9
Or I'm sorry go to first Timothy 3 while you're turning to first Timothy 3
I'll read for you Luke 9 verse 23
Luke 9 23 says and he said unto them if any man will come after me
Let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me
So we have to remember that you know being saved. It's a one-time event
It's one moment in time putting all your faith in Jesus Christ
And once you do that you're saved for forever, but you know the Christian life being a disciple
Walking with God is a daily thing taking up our cross and following Jesus Christ is something that we have to consciously purposely
You know endeavor to do every single day and humility is not just something that people are born with no
You know what our flesh is prideful. The human nature is prideful. So daily we have to take up our cross go to 1st, Timothy 3 6
The Bible says in 1st Timothy 3 6 not a novice lest being lifted up with pride
He fall into the condemnation of the devil. So Bible talks about here the condemnation of the devil
Why was the devil condemned?
why was the devil condemned by God because he lifted up himself in pride and
Desired to be like the most high and the Bible saying here, you know, you wouldn't want to ordain a guy. That's a novice
That's a rookie why because he's gonna be in a position of leadership. He's gonna be looked to he's gonna be followed
So he's gonna have the fleshly temptation of lifting himself up with pride and thinking man
these people are listening to me because I'm great because I'm awesome because I have intellect because I could speak well but the Bible saying
Make sure not to ordain a guy like that because he's gonna be lifted up with pride and he's gonna be falling into the
Condemnation of the devil meaning God will look down at that person and condemn his actions in the same way that he condemned the devil's actions
and so that's obviously gonna destroy that man and it's gonna destroy the ministry and man you want to destroy yourself fast the
Fastest way you could destroy yourself is become prideful is to become arrogant. You will destroy your life very quickly now
Go to Luke 14 Luke 14
While you're turning there 1st Samuel 9 22 says and Samuel took Saul and his servant and brought them into the parlor and made
Them sit in the chiefest place among them that were bitten which were about 30 persons
So notice Saul is getting invited to eat with Samuel. Not only is he getting to invited to eat with Samuel
He's getting invited to sit in the chiefest place
Among them that were bitten which were about 30 persons
So Samuel and all his entourage is there and Saul is gonna sit in the chiefest place among them again
Yet another reason why most people would be lifted up with pride in this situation
But look at Luke 14 8 the Bible says when thou art bitten of any man to a wedding
Sit not down in the highest room lest a more honorable man than thou be bitten of him and he that bade thee and him
Come and say to thee give this man place and now begin with shame to take the lowest room
You know Jesus is saying when you go to a wedding or banquet or some sort of meal
You know
you don't want to be presumptuous and just put yourself at the chief of the table because it's gonna be really awkward when someone of
Higher status than you comes and they're just like hey get out of this guy's seat and then you've got to walk with shame
Away from that seat, you know, that's embarrassing and Jesus saying don't do that
But look at verse 10 it says but when thou art bitten go and sit down in the lowest room and when he that baby
Cometh he may say unto the friend go up higher
Then shalt thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meet with thee for whosoever exalted himself
Shall be abased and he that humble with himself shall be exalted and I just don't think it's a coincidence
That here in first Samuel 9 Saul has a humble attitude, you know
He's invited to eat with Samuel and he's saying I'm I'm lowly my family's of the lowest tribe of Israel and
Because he humbled himself, you know what happened? God exalted him where not only was he invited to eat
He was invited to sit at the chiefest place at the table
And I think it's kind of cool how Jesus gives this parable
But we actually see this really happen in first Samuel chapter number 9 where he is invited to come up higher
Simply because he was humble and look it's just this this verse verse 11 of Luke 14
This is just a spiritual law that's as true as any physical law that if you exalt yourself
You will be abased and that is something that I just wish people would take more carefully and take more seriously in their life
That when you decide to promote yourself when you decide to tell everyone else how great you are and in your heart
You're doing works for to be seen of men
You're desiring the people like you and praise you and exalt you God's going to knock you down a notch
God will humble you and so for your own sake, you know what you should do
You should humble yourself because when you humble yourself God will exalt you in due time go to Philippians chapter 2 Philippians 2
While you're turning there, I'll read for you Matthew 23 11
Jesus said but he that is greatest among you shall be your servant and whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased
He that shall humble himself shall be exalted
You know the world does not agree with Jesus there the world thinks the greatest among you is being served the greatest among you is
The rich guy that has a valet and has a caddy and has a butler and has a masseuse and has all these servants
But really in the eyes of God
The greatest person is the person that serves other people and when you have a desire to serve other people God will exalt you
I want to read this again in Philippians 2 just because it's such it's such important and powerful
Verses that we're gonna read and quite honestly. It's just very applicable to the time and age
We're living in and even to situations that have happened recently
So I really want you to pay attention to these verses Philippians 2 verse 3
Let nothing be done through strife or vain glory. What is vain glory?
It's just you wanting to get praise just meaningless praise for you
Just to puff yourself up and feel good about yourself and the Bible says let
Nothing be done through strife or vain glory, you know, this is a bad reason to do anything to strive or to have vain glory
You know God doesn't want us doing things for that purpose
But how does he want to stack but in lowliness of mind that's being little in your own sight
By the way, let each esteem others better than themselves and notice how the Bible here
It says don't it doesn't say treat others better than yourself say that other people are better than yourself
It says to esteem others better than yourself
You know what that means that means that you're actually convinced in your mind that other people are better than you
That means you're actually convinced in your mind that other people are more important than you that other people's needs should come before yours
That other people's desires come before yours. That's what it means to actually esteem others better than yourself
Not just like empty words like oh, of course, you know other people are better or of course. I want to serve other people
No, it's actually something of the heart that your heart's convinced of that first for look
Not every man on his own things but every man also on the things of others and just ask yourself
You know if you are wondering right now, do I have this mentality?
Well, what are you doing for other people because when you're looking on the things of others?
That's how you could actually know that you're of a lowly mind first five
Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus who being in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal
With God but made himself of no reputation
That is one of the most interesting statements in the Bible because Jesus Christ
Did not try to build himself a reputation yet
he has the best reputation of anyone that's ever lived and
Billions and billions and billions of people throughout history all know the name of Jesus Christ
They don't know my name. They don't know your name. No one cares about us and rightly so but you know who everyone knows?
Jesus Christ why because he was lowly why because he was humble why because he esteemed others better than himself
And here's the thing that's interesting about that. No one was better than him
He actually was the best yet. He still esteemed others better than himself
Hey, and with Saul no one was taller than him. No one was more handsome than him
No one was more favored than him yet. He esteemed others better than himself
Is it any wonder why God chose Saul verse 9 wherefore?
God also have highly exalted him and given him a name
Which is above every name that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in heaven and things in earth and things
Under the earth and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father
You know because Jesus was humble he exalted his name above every name
He has a better name than Muhammad
He has a better name than Buddha and all the people in this world that worship Buddha and Muhammad and pray to Mary
They will all one day bow and confess the name of Jesus Christ
Why because he was humble and because God exalted him go back to first Samuel chapter number 9 first Samuel chapter number 9
We need to remember to have a humble view of ourselves first Samuel chapter number 9 verse 23
And Samuel said unto the cook bring the portion which I gave thee of which I said unto thee said it by thee and the cook
Took up the shoulder and that which was upon it and said it before Saul and Samuel said behold that which is left
Said it before thee and eat for unto this time have it been kept for thee since I said I've invited the people
So Saul did eat with Samuel that day and when they were come down from the high place into the city
Samuel communed with Saul upon the top of the house and they arose early and it came to pass about the spring of the day
That Samuel called Saul to the top of the house saying up that I may send thee away and Saul rose
They went out both of them he and Samuel abroad number five why God used Saul number five
Saul read the word of God look at the last verse of this chapter verse 27 and as they were going down to the city Samuel
Said to Saul bid the servant pass on before us he passed on but stand thou still a while that I may show thee
The word of God and you know, I think it's very cool that this is right before
Chapter 10 where we're gonna see Saul get anointed as king
But before he was put into leadership before he was exalted
Samuel said hold on stand still for a minute and I'm gonna show you some things out of the Bible
And you know what?
God is looking today to use men and women that stand still that take time out of our busy lives
And we're dealing with kids and we're dealing with work and we're dealing with this world
We're dealing with problems to just stand still and read the word of God. That's something that God's looking for today
That's something that God values and to me
It's just cool that even today before we ordain someone, you know
What happens the preacher gets up and preaches a sermon out of the Word of God and then he ordains that man, right?
And here we're gonna see in chapter 10 that Saul he's gonna get the Word of God from Samuel
He's reading the Word of God and then he's gonna be anointed as
The king go back to Saul or go to Psalm chapter 1. This will be the last place we look this evening
But look, it doesn't matter how great you are. It doesn't matter how much God is using you
It doesn't matter how much money you have or how much wealth or how much favor how good-looking you are
You know, you're never too good to not need the Word of God
You will always need the Word of God no matter how high God exalts you no matter where you are in life
You will always need to stand still and read the Word of God and here Saul
He's about to be exalted to the highest office in the land
But you know what he did he stood still and read the Word of God and you know, even in our country
Before a president, you know takes the oath of office
He usually usually puts his hand on a Bible which obviously we shouldn't you know swear by heaven or anything like that
But still at least there's some sort of respect to the Bible being given if only men actually believed it they were being ordained in
The office, but it's just showing that it doesn't matter how big you are
How you know higher in power you are we should respect and give heed to the word of God Psalm 1 Psalm 1 says this
Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly or standeth in the way of sinners
Nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful
But his delight is in the law of the Lord and in his law that he meditate day and night
And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water
That bringeth forth his fruit in his season his leaf also shall not wither and whatsoever. He'd do it shall prosper
You know the Bible equates the man who reads his Bible who meditates in it who thinks about it day and night
To a tree planted by the rivers of water and that water is the life for that tree, right?
I mean the tree is gonna get life basically from the Sun and from water and a tree that's planted by water is gonna have deep
Roots, it's gonna be strong. Its leaf is not gonna wither. It's gonna bring forth fruit
You know what that tree is that tree is just gonna be blessed. You say I want to be blessed in my life
I want to be exalted. I want to advance then you know what you need to do
You need to read the Word of God
Why did God use Saul number one because he was obedience number two because he considered others number three
He desired spiritual things number four. He was humble number five. He read the Word of God. Let's pray Lord
Thank you for this chapter and thank you for the lessons that we find therein
I just pray that you'd help us to be people that had all these character traits that Saul had at the beginning of his life
But not that we would just have these traits but that we would be diligent to
Maintain them throughout our lives that we wouldn't forget no matter how much you bless us or our church or our finances or our children
Or anything in our lives in the future Lord
We do hope you do bless those things
But I pray that we would never forget that every good thing comes from you that every good and perfect gift
Comes from you and I pray that you would help us to continue to rely upon you and be humble
We love you in Jesus name we pray. Amen
If you'll grab your hymnals the last hymn for this evening is number
183 oh how I love Jesus
him number
183
183 oh how I love Jesus will sing there on the first there
♪ In earth's perfect peace of peace ♪