WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.439 And this is the position that God's people are in for Samuel as well. 00:00:03.600 --> 00:00:04.639 They're ignorant of God. 00:00:04.799 --> 00:00:05.679 They're blind to him. 00:00:06.000 --> 00:00:08.080 They're guilty before him for rejecting him. 00:00:08.320 --> 00:00:23.920 They are surrounded by enemies outside and in, and this is why throughout the story of Israel in the Old Testament, God responds to these issues of ignorance, guilt, and enemies by giving his people prophets, priests, and kings. 00:00:24.160 --> 00:00:32.000 They needed someone to bring light to their blindness, they needed someone to atone for their guilt, they needed someone to fight for them, and so God gives them what they need. 00:00:34.479 --> 00:00:36.880 And he gives us what we need as well. 00:00:37.119 --> 00:00:48.719 So in 1 Samuel 10, we get this picture in this man named Saul of the prophet, priest, and king who would soon come to us in Jesus Christ, the only cure for our illness. 00:00:48.880 --> 00:00:55.679 So I invite you to stand now, if you are able, as we read together from 1 Samuel chapter 10. 00:00:58.240 --> 00:01:03.439 1 Samuel 10, beginning in verse 1, the word of God reads as follows. 00:01:04.159 --> 00:01:13.760 Then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on Saul's head and kissed him, and said, Has not the Lord anointed you to be prince over his people Israel? 00:01:14.000 --> 00:01:24.480 And you shall reign over the people of the Lord, and you will save them from the hand of their surrounding enemies, and this shall be the sign for you that the Lord has anointed you to be prince over his heritage. 00:01:24.719 --> 00:01:34.079 When you depart from me today you will meet two men by Rachel's tomb, in the territory of Benjamin at Zelza, and they will say to you, The donkeys that you went to seek are found. 00:01:34.319 --> 00:01:40.560 And now your father has ceased to care about the donkeys and is anxious about you, saying, What shall I do about my son? 00:01:41.040 --> 00:01:45.280 Then you shall go on from there farther and come up to the oak of Tabor. 00:01:45.599 --> 00:01:54.480 Three men going up to God at Bethel will meet you there, one carrying three goats, another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a skin of wine. 00:01:54.719 --> 00:01:59.359 And they will greet you and give you two loaves of bread, which you shall accept from their hand. 00:01:59.680 --> 00:02:04.799 After that you shall come to Gibeoth Elohim, where there is a garrison of the Philistines. 00:02:05.120 --> 00:02:14.400 And there, as soon as you come to the city, you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the high place with a harp, tambourine, flute, and lyre before them, prophesying. 00:02:14.639 --> 00:02:20.719 Then the Spirit of the Lord will rush upon you, and you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man. 00:02:21.039 --> 00:02:26.080 Now when these signs meet you, do what your hand finds to do, for God is with you. 00:02:26.319 --> 00:02:33.360 Then go down before me to Gilgal, and behold, I am coming down to you to offer burnt offerings, and to sacrifice peace offerings. 00:02:33.599 --> 00:02:37.840 Seven days you shall wait until I come to you and show you what you shall do. 00:02:38.400 --> 00:02:44.400 When he turned his back to leave Samuel, God gave him another heart, and all these signs came to pass that day. 00:02:44.560 --> 00:02:51.759 When they came to Gibeah, behold, a group of prophets met him, and the Spirit of God rushed upon him, and he prophesied among them. 00:02:52.000 --> 00:02:58.319 And when all who knew him previously saw how he prophesied with the prophets, the people said to one another, What has come over the son of Kish? 00:02:58.560 --> 00:03:00.719 Is Saul also among the prophets? 00:03:01.039 --> 00:03:03.759 And a man of the place answered, And who is their father? 00:03:03.919 --> 00:03:08.319 Therefore it became a proverb, Is Saul also among the prophets? 00:03:08.560 --> 00:03:11.599 When he had finished prophesying, he came to the high place. 00:03:12.240 --> 00:03:15.759 Saul's uncle said to him and to his servant, Where did you go? 00:03:16.000 --> 00:03:20.240 And he said, To seek the donkeys, and when we saw that they were not to be found, we went to Samuel. 00:03:20.400 --> 00:03:23.039 And Saul's uncle said, Please tell me what Samuel said to you. 00:03:23.199 --> 00:03:27.439 And Saul said to his uncle, He told us plainly that the donkeys had been found. 00:03:27.680 --> 00:03:32.080 But about the matter of the kingdom of which Samuel had spoken, he did not tell him anything. 00:03:32.719 --> 00:03:33.439 This is God's word. 00:03:33.680 --> 00:03:34.639 Please be seated. 00:03:36.000 --> 00:03:37.360 Please pray with me now. 00:03:38.800 --> 00:03:39.840 King Jesus. 00:03:45.919 --> 00:03:52.960 That you would use the proclamation of your word to be an instrument of your grace to us. 00:03:54.240 --> 00:04:06.800 That by your word, your spirit would meet with us in this place today, exposing our sin, healing our brokenness, strengthening our weakness, and dismantling our unbelief. 00:04:07.039 --> 00:04:11.680 That you would be glorified as our mighty King and loving Lord. 00:04:12.000 --> 00:04:14.960 We pray these things in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. 00:04:15.280 --> 00:04:15.919 Amen. 00:04:19.839 --> 00:04:29.839 Alright, imagine I pull you aside after the service, and I say I have a message from God for you, and the message that God wants you to hear this morning is this you are going to be the next king of England. 00:04:31.519 --> 00:04:37.360 You probably would be like, You're crazy, or I'm a woman, or I don't know, you might have all sorts of different responses to that. 00:04:37.839 --> 00:04:47.680 You probably would have a hard time believing me, and you might reasonably expect some sort of evidence, some sort of sign to indicate that my message is truly of the Lord. 00:04:48.560 --> 00:04:51.600 This is the sort of thing that happens with Moses in Exodus 3. 00:04:51.759 --> 00:05:04.879 He's called by God as this 80-year-old shepherd, murderer, old man to do this incredible thing, and he doubts God, and God says, Here are three signs for you, signs that not only confirm that this is his calling, but reveal what he's being called to do. 00:05:05.120 --> 00:05:09.600 And a similar thing is going on here in 1 Samuel chapter 10. 00:05:09.759 --> 00:05:13.360 At the close of chapter 9, Samuel tells Saul, I'm going to make known to you the word of God. 00:05:13.519 --> 00:05:20.800 And then chapter 10 opens, he pours oil on his head, he kisses him, and he tells them, You are going to be a prince over God's chosen people. 00:05:20.959 --> 00:05:34.879 And to confirm this message, he prophetically reveals three miraculous signs, three things that are about to happen that not only confirm his calling, but reveal what he is being called to. 00:05:35.519 --> 00:05:45.279 And what we'll see is that Saul is being called to be, with the help of the Spirit of God, a sort of prophet, priest, and king for the nation of Israel. 00:05:45.680 --> 00:05:49.040 So here's where we're going real quick to set the sage. 00:06:08.639 --> 00:06:14.879 The spirit falls on Christ without measure, equipping him and empowering him to be the prophet, priest, and king that Saul could not. 00:06:15.040 --> 00:06:19.279 And then here's the stunning part the waterfall doesn't stop with Jesus. 00:06:19.439 --> 00:06:26.240 What falls on Christ overflows from Christ, and what overflows from him rains down on us as his people. 00:06:26.480 --> 00:06:47.279 So that's where we're going to move today through those three movements of droplet, waterfall to overflow this morning, looking at the Spirit falling on Saul like a droplet to anoint him to be prophet, priest, and king, then pouring on Jesus like a waterfall to do that perfectly, and then finally overflowing from Christ onto his people, anointing us in him as prophets, priests, and kings. 00:06:47.519 --> 00:06:48.319 So that's where we're going. 00:06:48.480 --> 00:06:51.199 Droplet, the waterfall, and the overflow. 00:06:51.839 --> 00:06:53.759 Let's start with the droplet. 00:07:02.959 --> 00:07:06.560 Look first at how Saul is called to be a prophet. 00:07:06.720 --> 00:07:16.079 In verses five to six, Samuel tells him that he's going to meet a group of prophets, and the Spirit of the Lord, he says, will rush upon you, and you will prophesy with them. 00:07:16.240 --> 00:07:18.879 And that's exactly what happens in verses 9 to 13. 00:07:18.959 --> 00:07:21.600 The Spirit rushes on him, he speaks among the prophets, people are shocked. 00:07:21.680 --> 00:07:23.519 Is Saul also among the prophets? 00:07:23.600 --> 00:07:26.480 And it becomes an expression, a proverb in their day. 00:07:26.720 --> 00:07:29.360 Not one I think is gonna catch on here, but it's kind of fun. 00:07:29.439 --> 00:07:29.680 We should. 00:07:29.839 --> 00:07:30.480 Whoa, that's amazing. 00:07:30.560 --> 00:07:32.000 Is Saul also among the prophets? 00:07:32.240 --> 00:07:41.600 And it and it's not random, it is a sign indicating that Saul, the future king, must be a man under the Word of God and empowered to declare the Word of God. 00:07:41.759 --> 00:07:46.720 This is something that we read back in Deuteronomy 17, when God is telling the people that they will have kings. 00:07:46.800 --> 00:07:51.199 They must submit to and actually have their own handwritten copy of the word of God. 00:07:51.439 --> 00:07:54.480 Can you imagine having to write out the Bible by hand? 00:07:55.920 --> 00:08:04.240 The word of God is the driving force of the king of Israel, because Israel's deepest problem isn't just the Philistines, it's ignorance. 00:08:04.480 --> 00:08:06.319 It's blindness to God. 00:08:06.399 --> 00:08:15.279 And so the Spirit falls on Saul for a moment, and he becomes a mouthpiece of God, a channel through which God's word flows to his people. 00:08:15.839 --> 00:08:21.120 Because a king that doesn't listen to or speak God's word will harm his people rather than serving them. 00:08:21.199 --> 00:08:28.399 And so before he ever lifts a sword, he must first be seized by the Spirit of God and aligned with God's voice, with God's word. 00:08:30.240 --> 00:08:32.960 So, second, then notice how Paul, sorry. 00:08:34.320 --> 00:08:36.799 Saul, not even close. 00:08:37.919 --> 00:08:41.279 Saul is set apart as a priest. 00:08:41.759 --> 00:08:46.559 In verse 1, Samuel pours oil on his head, which is a sacred anointing. 00:08:46.639 --> 00:08:57.120 This is a practice and language used for the priests, for Levitical priests and for the temple items to consecrate them as holy according to the law of Moses. 00:08:57.360 --> 00:08:59.600 We read about this in Exodus 30. 00:09:00.559 --> 00:09:11.759 And then in verses 3 to 4, we get this weird scene kind of of three men carrying goats and bread and wine as they go up to Bethel, the house of God, to worship in the sanctuary there. 00:09:11.840 --> 00:09:16.879 They're carrying the sacrifice on the one hand, and then the meal to commemorate the sacrifice. 00:09:16.960 --> 00:09:25.840 They're carrying the living thing that must die, and then the bread and wine to celebrate and to be enjoyed in response as priests in communion with God. 00:09:26.320 --> 00:09:36.399 And then they offer Saul to share in this sacred priestly bread with them that is set apart for the sanctuary, intended for priests to eat in the sacrificial meal. 00:09:36.480 --> 00:09:45.519 And Saul isn't a Levite, but he is being drawn into the sphere of priesthood to be a mediator of God's presence amongst his people. 00:09:45.679 --> 00:09:47.519 That is what a king is called to do. 00:09:47.679 --> 00:09:56.240 So his kingship must revolve around sacrificial worship and the presence of God, because Israel's problem isn't just ignorance, it's guilt. 00:09:56.480 --> 00:09:58.159 They need atonement. 00:09:58.960 --> 00:10:02.159 So Saul must not only be a prophet, but a priest. 00:10:04.240 --> 00:10:07.200 Finally, then Saul clearly is called to be a king. 00:10:07.360 --> 00:10:10.879 He's a ruler, a warrior, a deliverer from Israel's enemies. 00:10:11.039 --> 00:10:17.840 In verse 1, Samuel says that he's anointed as a prince or like a royal leader of God's people to save them from their surrounding enemies. 00:10:18.080 --> 00:10:24.559 In verse 5, we're reminded, shockingly, kind of, that there is a garrison of the Philistines in the land of Israel. 00:10:24.639 --> 00:10:30.879 There's a military outpost of Israel's violent enemies that has encroached on sacred soil in the kingdom of God. 00:10:31.200 --> 00:10:39.679 And in verse 7, Saul is told that when the Spirit comes upon you, he says, Do what your hand finds to do, for God is with you. 00:10:40.320 --> 00:10:49.840 Which is a metaphor we know is used elsewhere in Scripture, like in the book of Judges, to refer to rising up in military action against God's enemy. 00:10:50.000 --> 00:10:51.519 It's battle language. 00:10:51.840 --> 00:10:56.240 Because Israel's problem is not just ignorance and guilt, it's the enemy that is amongst them. 00:10:56.320 --> 00:10:57.440 They're surrounded and threatened. 00:10:57.519 --> 00:11:00.639 And so the spirit falls on Saul and sends him into battle. 00:11:00.799 --> 00:11:03.519 He is to fight and conquer and deliver God's people. 00:11:03.600 --> 00:11:09.519 He is to act as a warrior and a king to crush God's enemies under his feet. 00:11:09.840 --> 00:11:10.960 Because God is with him. 00:11:11.120 --> 00:11:14.320 The spirit of God has fallen on him. 00:11:15.759 --> 00:11:17.519 But only as a droplet. 00:11:20.559 --> 00:11:22.960 Because as we'll learn, Saul doesn't do this. 00:11:23.279 --> 00:11:28.240 In a few chapters, we read that the Spirit departs from Saul, and a few chapters after that he dies. 00:11:29.279 --> 00:11:37.279 In fact, the chapter sort of begins by highlighting for us not only that Saul will lose the Spirit, but that he will lose his life. 00:11:38.559 --> 00:11:46.080 The first place in sec in uh verse 2, the first place that Samuel directs Saul after anointing him isn't a throne but a grave. 00:11:46.559 --> 00:11:49.360 And not just any grave, it's the grave of his ancestors. 00:11:49.440 --> 00:11:57.759 It's Rachel's grave, who uh uh died giving birth to Benjamin, Saul's forefather, which you read about in Genesis 35. 00:11:57.919 --> 00:12:00.720 I think Sunday school will be there in just a couple weeks. 00:12:01.279 --> 00:12:10.799 Before Saul ever wears a crown, before he eats at the tables of priests or sings among the prophets, he must stand beside a grave and learn a quiet but necessary lesson. 00:12:11.039 --> 00:12:14.480 He is just a man, and he is going to die. 00:12:16.879 --> 00:12:23.679 There's an old Latin expression, momentum or from the ancient Roman Empire, meaning, remember you must die. 00:12:24.240 --> 00:12:35.200 And when rulers would be returning triumphantly from a victorious battle, they would be paraded through the streets of the city and celebrated and praised as a god. 00:12:35.759 --> 00:12:45.679 And there would be a designated servant whose sole job was to stand on the back of the chariot behind the ruler and constantly whisper in his ear, Memento More, Memento More, Memento More. 00:12:46.080 --> 00:12:48.480 Remember that you must die. 00:12:48.960 --> 00:12:50.000 You're not a god. 00:12:50.159 --> 00:12:54.639 You are immortal, and you will return to the grave to be with your ancestors and lie there dead forever. 00:12:54.799 --> 00:12:55.840 That is your fate. 00:12:56.080 --> 00:13:02.639 Despite all this worship, despite these people singing your praises, you must remember that you will die. 00:13:02.720 --> 00:13:05.120 And that's sort of what God is doing here with Saul. 00:13:05.200 --> 00:13:07.600 It's a subtle whisper in his ear. 00:13:07.840 --> 00:13:14.000 Yes, you will be king, yes, you will be praised almost like a god, but you too will join your ancestors in the grave. 00:13:14.480 --> 00:13:32.240 He's taken Saul on his path to the throne, but the path leads through a cemetery to show him his mortality, his frailty, his weakness, his finitude, and to point our eyes as readers beyond the grave to the true prophet, priest, and king who could not be held by it. 00:13:34.480 --> 00:13:38.000 Which brings us to our next point, the waterfall. 00:13:38.960 --> 00:13:47.360 Whereas Saul had the Spirit trickle down on him in a drop here and a drop there, and then taken away, leaving him to fail and die. 00:13:47.600 --> 00:13:52.320 The true King, Jesus, was filled with the Spirit in an entirely different way. 00:13:52.639 --> 00:14:04.799 The Gospel of Luke in chapters three and four tells us this that Jesus' baptism, the heavens opened, the spirit descended on him, it descended fully, it remained on him, and he was filled with the Spirit of the Lord. 00:14:04.879 --> 00:14:10.480 And then Jesus himself says, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me. 00:14:10.720 --> 00:14:12.960 That's what the word uh uh Christ means. 00:14:13.039 --> 00:14:14.320 It's not like Jesus' last name. 00:14:14.399 --> 00:14:15.360 It means the anointed one. 00:14:15.519 --> 00:14:17.200 The Messiah means the anointed one. 00:14:17.360 --> 00:14:20.639 He is filled, anointed with the Holy Spirit. 00:14:21.440 --> 00:14:33.600 The Spirit fell in a dribble on Saul, but it was poured out like a waterfall on King Jesus, who lived and spoke and conquered as one empowered by the fullness of God dwelling within him. 00:14:33.759 --> 00:14:40.399 Not briefly, not partially, not here and there, but fully and permanently and without measure. 00:14:40.720 --> 00:14:50.720 And it is this man, Jesus Christ, that is our true prophet, priest, and king, and the only cure for the deadly disease that has infected us. 00:14:52.639 --> 00:15:02.399 Though we were ignorant, our minds darkened by sin and blind to the truth of God, Jesus came as the perfect prophet. 00:15:02.559 --> 00:15:07.840 He didn't merely speak God's words, he is the word of God in the flesh. 00:15:08.159 --> 00:15:10.240 He perfectly reveals the Father. 00:15:10.399 --> 00:15:12.960 In John, he says, Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. 00:15:13.039 --> 00:15:15.200 If you've seen Jesus, you have seen God. 00:15:15.679 --> 00:15:17.840 If you know Jesus, you know God. 00:15:18.000 --> 00:15:21.360 Colossians says that he is the image of the invisible God. 00:15:21.600 --> 00:15:29.120 Hebrews says, He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of God's nature. 00:15:29.279 --> 00:15:37.279 The full revelation of the triune God that you were created to know and enjoy is given to you freely and fully in Jesus Christ. 00:15:38.399 --> 00:15:56.559 If you feel lost this morning, or blind or ignorant to the reality of God, the realities of joy, what God is like, to the meaning of your existence, to the story that your life is a part of, if you feel lost, look only to Jesus, the Christ. 00:15:56.879 --> 00:16:01.200 He is the answer to all of your blindness, to all of your searching, to all of your questions. 00:16:02.080 --> 00:16:05.679 Though we were ignorant, Jesus came as our perfect prophet. 00:16:06.559 --> 00:16:10.879 And though we were guilty, Jesus came as our perfect priest. 00:16:11.759 --> 00:16:21.519 Not to offer goats, but to offer himself to suffer and die for every wrong we have ever done, no matter how wicked. 00:16:21.679 --> 00:16:29.440 Meaning that if you are united to Jesus Christ by faith, all of your sin has been nailed to the cross with him and is done for. 00:16:29.519 --> 00:16:33.440 It is paid for perfectly by his perfect sacrifice. 00:16:33.519 --> 00:16:44.480 And now he lives as your high priest to always intercede for you, constantly and perfectly, interceding before the throne of heaven, before God himself on your behalf, pleading your case. 00:16:44.639 --> 00:16:48.480 Jesus is praying for you and defending you before God right now. 00:16:51.279 --> 00:16:54.960 Though we were guilty, he came as our perfect priest. 00:16:55.039 --> 00:17:05.440 So if you feel the weight of your guilt this morning, if you feel burdened by the heaviness of the wrong that you have done and the harm that you have caused, look only to Jesus the Christ. 00:17:06.000 --> 00:17:09.680 He is the answer to all of your guilt as our perfect high priest. 00:17:11.279 --> 00:17:17.200 And though we had an enemy, Jesus came also as our perfect king. 00:17:18.160 --> 00:17:22.640 Our enemy is not just physical like the Philistines, it can be that as well, but it is more than that. 00:17:22.720 --> 00:17:33.920 We also face a spiritual enemy, an invisible enemy, a real one, a powerful one, stronger than you, smarter than you, relentlessly evil, with armies of demons at his hand. 00:17:35.039 --> 00:17:44.880 But Jesus is the perfect, mighty warrior king, the one prophesied from Genesis 3 to come and crush Satan's head under his feet. 00:17:44.960 --> 00:17:52.000 And by his death and by his resurrection, he disarmed the rulers and authorities and triumphs over them, Colossians 2 says. 00:17:52.160 --> 00:17:56.400 Hebrews 2 says that through death, he destroyed the devil. 00:17:56.559 --> 00:18:03.440 And Ephesians 1 tells us that now he is enthroned far above all rule and authority and power and dominion as King of the cosmos. 00:18:03.599 --> 00:18:07.119 Jesus has conquered as the mighty King of the universe. 00:18:07.519 --> 00:18:16.720 So, yes, sin is real, and death is real, and Satan is real, and his armies are real, and King Jesus has disarmed and defeated all of them. 00:18:16.960 --> 00:18:17.759 Every single one. 00:18:17.920 --> 00:18:23.759 There is no longer any enemy that has any ultimate power over those who are united to Jesus Christ. 00:18:25.279 --> 00:18:40.000 So if you feel the presence of the enemy in your life this morning, if you feel enslaved by sin and overwhelmed by the reality of death and pursued by the devil with lies and temptations and condemnation, look to Jesus, the Christ. 00:18:40.720 --> 00:18:50.240 He has defeated every enemy for you and now governs the universe and the galaxies as king for you. 00:18:53.440 --> 00:18:55.119 But it gets even better. 00:18:55.839 --> 00:19:02.480 Because Jesus is not merely the prophet, priest, and king for us. 00:19:03.359 --> 00:19:07.839 He is the anointed one who shares his anointing with us. 00:19:08.799 --> 00:19:16.640 Because Jesus had the fullness of the Spirit poured out on him without measure. 00:19:16.880 --> 00:19:23.200 And when he ascended to the throne, that same spirit was poured out by him from him onto his people. 00:19:23.359 --> 00:19:27.920 The waterfall doesn't stop with Christ, it overflows. 00:19:38.880 --> 00:19:48.000 Fully and permanently, uniting us to him and making us with him to be prophets, priests, and kings under him. 00:19:48.960 --> 00:19:59.200 The Spirit who filled our great prophet, priest, and king now fills us fully and permanently, uniting us to him and making us with him to be prophets, priests, and kings under him. 00:19:59.519 --> 00:20:12.160 If you are in Christ, if you are united to Jesus, the Spirit of God has been fully poured out on you and permanently poured into your very being. 00:20:12.960 --> 00:20:15.119 In such a way that Saul could never dream of. 00:20:15.279 --> 00:20:16.720 Samuel can never dream of this. 00:20:17.039 --> 00:20:24.960 Moses, David, John the Baptist could not dream of the way that you now, as a believer in this age, are filled with the Spirit of God. 00:20:25.599 --> 00:20:32.000 And he has equipped you by this and anointed you in this to be a prophet, a priest, and a king. 00:20:33.279 --> 00:20:45.440 You are called to be a prophet in the sense that, like Saul, you are called to be a mouthpiece of God's word, a channel, channel through which God's word flows to his people. 00:20:46.640 --> 00:20:52.319 I'm not talking about having dreams and visions and predicting the future. 00:20:52.400 --> 00:20:58.400 If someone comes up to you after the service and says, God told me you're gonna be the next king of England, they probably misunderstood this point. 00:20:58.880 --> 00:21:00.160 Ask for three signs. 00:21:00.799 --> 00:21:02.240 We're not talking about new revelation. 00:21:02.799 --> 00:21:08.000 God's word in Scripture is written, it is complete, it is sufficient for everything. 00:21:08.319 --> 00:21:19.440 But the prophetic calling of every spirit-filled believer is this: it is to know God's word and to speak it faithfully into the world. 00:21:19.680 --> 00:21:22.319 You're not given scripture just to keep it inside of you. 00:21:22.640 --> 00:21:25.519 You're given it so that it pours out of your mouth toward others. 00:21:26.240 --> 00:21:32.960 To know God's word and speak it faithfully to yourself, back to God, to one another, and to unbelief. 00:21:33.039 --> 00:21:44.799 If you have received God's word, if you have received his spirit, then you are now a prophet, a mouthpiece of God Himself, a channel of his revelation called to speak the truth of God to those around you. 00:21:44.880 --> 00:21:52.160 And one of the many ways that we do this shows up here in our story for this morning in a really interesting way. 00:21:53.440 --> 00:21:59.839 When Saul prophesies, he does so among a band of prophets with harps and tambourines and flutes. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:01.039 And liars. 00:22:01.440 --> 00:22:04.240 Liars being the instrument, not like false prophets. 00:22:05.200 --> 00:22:12.480 And this is actually something that we see throughout the story of God's people, that music is intimately connected to prophecy. 00:22:13.519 --> 00:22:17.440 In a lot of ways that we could go really deep into today, but a few examples. 00:22:17.519 --> 00:22:22.400 In 2 Kings 3, Elisha wants to prophesy, and so he calls for a musician to help him prophesy. 00:22:22.480 --> 00:22:28.720 And as soon as the musician starts playing, the Spirit of the Lord comes upon him through music and begins to prophesy through him. 00:22:29.039 --> 00:22:36.960 In 1 Chronicles 25, David appoints a group of men, and it says in verse 1, to prophesy with lyres, with harps, and with cymbals. 00:22:37.119 --> 00:22:41.279 The musical instruments actually become the medium through which they prophesy. 00:22:41.519 --> 00:22:50.480 In fact, we actually have a whole book of the Bible called the Psalms that are devoted to songs, to musical arrangements that are also prophecies of the coming Messiah. 00:22:50.720 --> 00:22:56.640 Because in the Bible, music isn't just there to make the worship service feel nicer. 00:22:57.440 --> 00:23:00.960 It's not just decoration, it is proclamation. 00:23:01.359 --> 00:23:02.400 It is the word of God. 00:23:02.480 --> 00:23:07.039 It's one of the chief ways, actually, that God's voice is heard and his word is proclaimed. 00:23:07.119 --> 00:23:14.240 So when we gather here in this space on the Lord's Day, as we're doing, we're not just expressing personal emotion. 00:23:14.400 --> 00:23:15.839 We're declaring truth. 00:23:16.079 --> 00:23:17.680 Something extraordinary is happening. 00:23:17.759 --> 00:23:22.880 We are declaring the very words of God, the truth of God to ourselves and to one another. 00:23:23.039 --> 00:23:36.319 When Noah leads us in worship, this congregation becomes a choir of prophets speaking the truth of God's revelation, a channel through which God's word flows through your mouths to one another, to his people. 00:23:37.440 --> 00:23:47.039 So do not underestimate the power, the very real and supernatural power of worship in song. 00:23:47.119 --> 00:23:52.640 It is the singing of God's people that destroys armies in 2 Chronicles, chapter 20. 00:23:52.880 --> 00:23:58.000 And in chapter 5, brings the holy of presence of God Himself to fill the temple with a cloud. 00:23:58.079 --> 00:24:06.400 It's the worship in singing of God's people that shakes prisons and earthquakes in Acts 16 and breaks the chains of God's people. 00:24:06.640 --> 00:24:17.200 Do not underestimate the real supernatural power and prophetic power that you are called to participate in here by your singing each week. 00:24:18.319 --> 00:24:26.960 As Rob spoke on last week, it's through what seems to be mundane to us that God does some of his most extraordinary work. 00:24:27.119 --> 00:24:35.839 And it is by singing that God has called each of us to be prophets and channels of his word. 00:24:38.319 --> 00:24:49.279 But not only that, as Christ shares his prophetic anointing with us, he also shares his priesthood and calls us with him to be priests. 00:24:50.640 --> 00:25:01.119 We saw in verses three and four that these priests come carrying goats, bread, and wine on their way to the sanctuary. 00:25:01.440 --> 00:25:15.920 They're carrying the sacrifice that will die and the meal of bread and wine to commemorate that sacrifice in the presence of God Himself and church, just as they invite Saul, a non-priest, to participate in this priestly activity. 00:25:16.400 --> 00:25:26.160 You have been invited by Jesus, the great high priest, to be a priest, to enter his holy dwelling place, and to feast with God Himself at His table. 00:25:27.359 --> 00:25:38.400 The sacrifice has been offered and paid for in Christ, and now he welcomes you, not to make sacrifices anymore, but just to enjoy the feast with him, to enjoy his holy presence that is with us. 00:25:38.559 --> 00:25:46.559 When we partake of the Lord's Supper, as we're going to next week, we are not just doing a religious object lesson. 00:25:46.799 --> 00:25:50.559 We're not even merely remembering Jesus' sacrifice. 00:25:50.720 --> 00:25:56.400 We are exercising our priesthood and entering the presence of King Jesus himself. 00:25:57.359 --> 00:26:01.680 Every month when we do this, we do something that Saul could not even dream of. 00:26:01.839 --> 00:26:04.640 We don't climb a mountain to sacrifice goats somewhere. 00:26:04.720 --> 00:26:10.720 We come directly to King Jesus as our hearts are lifted spiritually into the throne room of heaven. 00:26:11.119 --> 00:26:12.480 That's what the priests did. 00:26:12.720 --> 00:26:23.119 They enter the holy place, they draw near to God, they commune with God at his table, and in Christ, our sacrifice, that is now your privilege to commune with God at his table. 00:26:24.160 --> 00:26:32.240 Do not underestimate the power, the real and supernatural power of partaking together in the Lord's Supper. 00:26:32.880 --> 00:26:37.920 Jesus is with us when we do that very special and sacred thing. 00:26:38.000 --> 00:26:41.519 And that is your calling and gift as a priest in his presence. 00:26:42.240 --> 00:26:54.480 And from that presence, you are not only welcomed, you are sent, nourished and strengthened to live as kings under Christ in a world still at war. 00:26:56.640 --> 00:26:59.359 In Christ, you are no longer slaves. 00:26:59.519 --> 00:27:05.359 You are freed and set on a new throne under Christ, but you are enthroned. 00:27:05.519 --> 00:27:07.119 Sin does not rule you anymore. 00:27:07.279 --> 00:27:08.720 You rule over it. 00:27:08.880 --> 00:27:10.640 It does not have power over you. 00:27:10.799 --> 00:27:12.400 You are not its slave. 00:27:12.799 --> 00:27:28.319 Kingly living begins with spirit-empowered self-governance, not allowing a single garrison of anger or lust or pride or greed or fear to encroach on the sacred territory of your heart. 00:27:28.559 --> 00:27:46.880 Being a king under Jesus means that you with him wage war against laziness and against gluttony and against lust and bitterness and cruelty and every type of sin, taking every thought captive, putting on the full armor of God to go to battle against your own flesh, against your own sin. 00:27:48.640 --> 00:28:09.359 And being a king means that you under King Jesus are called also to advance the kingdom of God, to go to war, not just against your own sin, but against the darkness still at work in the world, to destroy it through the spread of the gospel, to destroy strongholds and tear down every lofty argument and advance the kingdom of God through gospel witness. 00:28:09.440 --> 00:28:12.960 And here is the promise that strengthens us in this fight. 00:28:13.200 --> 00:28:15.359 I love this verse, Romans 16, 20. 00:28:16.880 --> 00:28:22.319 Believers, the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. 00:28:22.640 --> 00:28:23.759 You hear that? 00:28:24.559 --> 00:28:25.599 Whose feet? 00:28:25.920 --> 00:28:28.880 Genesis 3, Jesus will crush Satan under his feet. 00:28:28.960 --> 00:28:34.160 And now Romans 16, the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet. 00:28:35.279 --> 00:28:46.880 God has promised to do what Saul could not and destroy the ultimate enemy, and he has promised to do it through you, functioning as a king in his world, in his kingdom. 00:28:47.119 --> 00:28:50.160 United to the conquering king, you share in his victory. 00:28:50.319 --> 00:28:53.200 You participate in the victory. 00:28:54.799 --> 00:29:08.240 Meaning every act of obedience, every resisted temptation, every lie rejected and truth proclaimed is ground, reclaimed for Christ, reclaimed for the kingdom of God. 00:29:08.400 --> 00:29:12.960 As we resist the devil in our own hearts, the kingdom advances. 00:29:13.599 --> 00:29:16.559 As we share the gospel with our coworkers, the kingdom advances. 00:29:16.640 --> 00:29:20.160 As we raise children in the knowledge and fear of the Lord, the kingdom advances. 00:29:20.319 --> 00:29:36.880 As we give financially toward overseas missions, the kingdom advances until Satan's head has been fully and finally crushed beneath our feet through ordinary believers living out their kingship under Christ in ordinary, mundane ways. 00:29:37.119 --> 00:29:38.960 That is how God works. 00:29:40.799 --> 00:29:45.440 Brothers and sisters, you are not mere spectators in the story of redemption. 00:29:45.519 --> 00:29:46.880 You are participants. 00:29:48.480 --> 00:29:59.359 The droplet has become a waterfall, and the waterfall has overflowed to you and has become a flood spreading across the nations through the lives of ordinary spirit-filled believers like you and me. 00:29:59.519 --> 00:30:12.160 And because of this, we have confidence that the graves that we stand beside and the graves that we enter will not have the last word. 00:30:13.359 --> 00:30:19.279 The presence of Christ in our communion will not remain invisible and hard to feel. 00:30:21.359 --> 00:30:26.079 The enemy that we fight will not always seem so strong and victorious. 00:30:26.799 --> 00:30:29.680 Jesus Christ will return. 00:30:30.400 --> 00:30:32.400 You will be resurrected. 00:30:32.559 --> 00:30:41.680 You will see him and feast with everlasting joy at his table, and the enemy lingering in you and in the world around you will be destroyed for good. 00:30:44.640 --> 00:30:48.960 Until that day, live like who you are. 00:30:50.240 --> 00:30:51.920 Sing as prophets. 00:30:52.960 --> 00:31:00.319 Draw near to his table as priests fight as kings under our great prophet, priest, and king, the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:31:00.640 --> 00:31:01.599 Let's pray. 00:31:03.119 --> 00:31:22.319 Gracious Father, we thank you that you have not left us in our darkness or guilt or fear, but that you sent your only son and anointed him with your spirit and saved us from this broken, corrupted world. 00:31:22.559 --> 00:31:46.799 Father, we ask now boldly as your children that you would make us here, that you would make a community Bible fellowship church, a family of prophets who sing and speak your world word to the world around us, as priests who draw near to your holy presence, and as kings who wage war on sin and advance your holy kingdom. 00:31:46.960 --> 00:31:48.319 Keep us faithful, Lord. 00:31:48.559 --> 00:31:55.359 Keep us unified and dependent on Christ until the day he returns and makes all things new and good forever. 00:31:55.599 --> 00:31:58.079 It's in his mighty and glorious name that we pray. 00:31:58.400 --> 00:31:59.039 Amen. 00:32:00.319 --> 00:32:06.000 At this time, I'm gonna invite Noah and the band back up to close us out in song. 00:32:06.079 --> 00:32:11.920 This is a time that we get to respond to the word of God because when his word goes forth, it demands a response. 00:32:12.000 --> 00:32:15.039 So I invite you now to stand and prepare your hearts to worship.