8-5-07
Do whatever your hand finds to do
Introduction to the life of David Pt.5: The rise of Saul
1 Samuel 10-11

Summary: The rise of Saul was enabled, empowered, and brought about by God, and yet it still only happened by means of effort, shrewdness, ability, and victory on Saul’s part. God promised Saul the kingship, but the promise required Saul applying his hand to the effort. God gives us the same promise, and so we should strive with great urgency so that the power of God will work in us. Success is supplied by God, not our effort, but it comes only through our effort. The correct understanding of sovereignty and free will will increase effort and decrease worry and pride.

Review
The rise of Saul (hope)
Saul Anointed as King
Transformation of Saul
Anointing
True conversion
Things are looking hopeful (second chance)
Saul Publicly Crowned as King
Saul’s reluctance
Don’t resist your calling
Regulations GOD IS STILL KING
Saul established as king
Deliverance
Full acceptance of Saul
Application
Realization of God’s work through human effort
Perhaps you have the same promise
Balancing providence
Test for orthodoxy: the doctrines should move you toward more effort and humility and less worry
God has given us the same promise

1 Samuel 10:1-8 Then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on Saul's head and kissed him, saying, "Has not the LORD anointed you leader over his inheritance?  2 When you leave me today, you will meet two men near Rachel's tomb, at Zelzah on the border of Benjamin. They will say to you, 'The donkeys you set out to look for have been found. And now your father has stopped thinking about them and is worried about you. He is asking, "What shall I do about my son?"'  3 "Then you will go on from there until you reach the great tree of Tabor. Three men going up to God at Bethel will meet you there. One will be carrying three young goats, another three loaves of bread, and another a skin of wine.  4 They will greet you and offer you two loaves of bread, which you will accept from them.  5 "After that you will go to Gibeah of God, where there is a Philistine outpost. As you approach the town, you will meet a procession of prophets coming down from the high place with lyres, tambourines, flutes and harps being played before them, and they will be prophesying.  6 The Spirit of the LORD will come upon you in power, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be changed into a different person.  7 Once these signs are fulfilled, do whatever your hand finds to do, for God is with you.  8 "Go down ahead of me to Gilgal. I will surely come down to you to sacrifice burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, but you must wait seven days until I come to you and tell you what you are to do."

Review
We are getting ready to do a study of the life of David, which begins half way through the book of 1 Samuel…
, and so we are doing a survey of the first half of the book so we will be able to understand the context. 
In ch.7 we see the theocracy in Israel at its best. 
They had no king but God, and they were never better off.
But not long after that they started to drift from God, and by ch.9 they had rejected God as their king.
They wanted a king like the nations had – someone who could deliver them from their enemies without them having to worry about faithfulness to God.
And so they committed the terrible sin of rejecting God and asking for a replacement king.
The rise of Saul (hope)
Saul Anointed as King
Transformation of Saul
Ch.9-12 describe the rise of Saul to the throne, and those chapters are full of hope.
God, in His great mercy, gives Israel a second chance.
He judged them by giving them the kind of man they wanted, but then He has mercy on them. 
He doesn’t leave Saul the way he was.
God sends Saul to Samuel via providence and Samuel lets him know that he is about to undergo a massive internal change.
10:6 The Spirit of the LORD will come upon you in power, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be changed into a different person.  

Anointing
Then Samuel anointed Saul as king, and for the first time in Scripture we are introduced to the concept of “messiah” (“messiah” means “God’s anointed”).
This is a very big deal.
1 Then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on Saul's head and kissed him, saying, "Has not the LORD anointed you leader over his inheritance? 

One thing you will notice is that Godly men show very high honor to God’s anointed. 
Saul was an insignificant nobody prior to this, but the moment he becomes God’s anointed…
Samuel (the greatest man in the world at that time, and one of the greatest men who have ever lived) gives him a kiss of homage. 
Later we will see David showing him great honor even while Saul is trying to kill him. 
So the very first thing we learn about “messiah” – God’s anointed, is that if you love God you will deeply honor him.
And the principle behind that applies to anyone God has placed in authority. 
True conversion
Anyway, we only have to read a couple verses to see the fulfillment of Samuel’s prophesy about Saul becoming a different person. 
9 As Saul turned to leave Samuel, God changed Saul's heart, and all these signs were fulfilled that day.

I read a lot of arguments this week for why this couldn’t have been a true conversion. 
They say that all it means is that Saul’s attitude about being king was changed.
He was persuaded to be willing to take the job.

I really don’t think that’s what the text is saying.
First, because it doesn’t say that. 
If all that happened were that Saul were persuaded to take the job, there would be no need to use such extreme language (changed into a different person; changed Saul’s heart). 
He could have just said Saul was persuaded to serve as king.
Secondly, I don’t think Saul was persuaded to serve as king.
When the time came later for the king to be selected, and Saul was chosen, he was hiding.

And thirdly, the immediate action that followed his transformation was religious, not political.
He was empowered by the Spirit to prophesy. 
It’s significant that Samuel told him that there would be 4 signs to prove that this was really God’s Word.
And v.9 says that all 4 were fulfilled, but the writer only actually describes the fulfillment of the one about the transformation of his heart – because that’s the main issue.
9 As Saul turned to leave Samuel, God changed Saul's heart, and all these signs were fulfilled that day. 10 When they arrived at Gibeah, a procession of prophets met him; the Spirit of God came upon him in power, and he joined in their prophesying. 11 When all those who had formerly known him saw him prophesying with the prophets, they asked each other, "What is this that has happened to the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?" 12 A man who lived there answered, "And who is their father?" So it became a saying: "Is Saul also among the prophets?" 13 After Saul stopped prophesying, he went to the high place.  

When they keep asking the question, “Is Saul among the prophets?” the point is that they were surprised. 
This was not the kind of thing they would have expected to see their friend Saul doing.
This was a man who had never even heard of Samuel - the greatest prophet and judge since Moses. 
Saul seems to have been just a profane, secular individual with no involvement with spiritual things. 
And God said, “I’m going to transform his heart and make him a different man”…
 and the result was the Holy Spirit come upon Him and He began speaking the Word of God as a prophet.

During the Clinton administration there was a major debate in our country over whether a man’s character has any relevance to his ability to lead.
In Scripture that’s the only thing that matters.
Every king’s effectiveness as a leader was 100% dependent upon his character and what was in his heart.
So changing Saul’s heart was a great act of mercy on God’s part.
Things are looking hopeful (second chance)
Israel rejected God, said “No!” to His warning...
, but then in His great compassion He gave them another chance to be faithful to Him.
And He changed Saul’s heart and made him a new man.
So immediately after the prophesying incident Saul obeys the word of Samuel and goes to the high place.

Things are starting to look hopeful.
And it gets more and more hopeful from here all the way through ch.12, where they get the “second chance” speech from Samuel.
That’s the way God is. 
We make a train wreck out of our lives through sin…
, and yet, even though there are some permanent consequences that are bitter…
, still the Lord gives us another chance and offers to redeem our hopeless situation if we just return to Him with all our hearts.
Saul Publicly Crowned as King
Saul’s reluctance 
So now Saul has been anointed, God has miraculously confirmed His Word to Saul that he would be king…
, Saul is transformed and he prophesies and then goes to worship.
And then he heads home.
When he gets home and his uncle finds out that he spoke with Samuel, the uncle immediately wants to know what Samuel said.
(It seems like Saul is the only one who has never heard of Samuel.)
15 Saul's uncle said, "Tell me what Samuel said to you." 16 Saul replied, "He assured us that the donkeys had been found." But he did not tell his uncle what Samuel had said about the kingship. 

Why won’t he tell him?
Saul doesn’t tell him because Saul isn’t so sure he wants to be king.
Watch what happens when it’s time for God to reveal publicly to the nation who the king will be.
17 Samuel summoned the people of Israel to the LORD at Mizpah  18 and said to them, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'I brought Israel up out of Egypt, and I delivered you from the power of Egypt and all the kingdoms that oppressed you.'  19 But you have now rejected your God, who saves you out of all your calamities and distresses. And you have said, 'No, set a king over us.' So now present yourselves before the LORD by your tribes and clans."  20 When Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel near, the tribe of Benjamin was chosen.  21 Then he brought forward the tribe of Benjamin, clan by clan, and Matri's clan was chosen. Finally Saul son of Kish was chosen. But when they looked for him, he was not to be found. 

Evidently Samuel is using lots to reveal God’s choice.
The opening verses of Hebrews say that in past times God spoke through the prophets in various ways…
, and one of those ways was by means of the casting of lots. 
And it’s kind of ominous the way he does it.
The only other time the process happened was when they were trying to find out who was responsible for a hidden sin that was bringing the wrath of God upon Israel.
They went tribe by tribe, then clan by clan, then family by family until they pinpointed Achen as the offender.
And he was then put to death.
So it’s a little bit ominous that God uses the same method for revealing who this king is that Israel wanted instead of God.
According to the normal OT prophetic speech pattern, v.20 would be the normal place for the announcement of judgment (following the indictment of vv.18-19). 
What comes instead is this selection process.
When you read it you’re not sure if it’s a wonderful, joyous thing or an announcement of judgment.  
Depending upon how Israel and the new king respond, it could go either way.
So anyway, they go through the whole process and it comes down to the end, and the man ends up being none other than the big tall son of Kish – Saul.
But he’s not present.
It wasn’t like a raffle, where if the winner isn’t there they just pick another number. 
22 So they inquired further of the LORD, "Has the man come here yet?"

All the people are standing there ready to lift up a huge cheer and start in with “Long live the King!” …
, and Saul isn’t even there. 
You’ll never believe where he was.
Saul was hiding in the baggage. 
This is the subtle clue from the text that tipped me off that he wasn’t really sure he wanted to be the king. 

So there’s big, long, lanky Saul trying to crouch behind some suitcases where no one can find him.
And they probably never would have found him except that something gave him away.
22 So they inquired further of the LORD, "Has the man come here yet?" And the LORD said, "Yes, he has hidden himself among the baggage." 

There’s nothing worse than playing hide and seek against God 
Don’t resist your calling
What are we to make of Saul’s reluctance? 
Is it godly humility? Or disobedient resistance of God’s will?
I believe it is the latter.
True humility is not reluctant to obey God.
God had made it crystal clear that Saul was to be king.
He got is straight from the mouth of Samuel himself, and then it was confirmed with miracles. 

But once you know for sure you are called to something, any reluctance is sin.
God became angry with Moses when Moses didn’t think he was equal to the task of confronting Pharaoh and freeing the children of Israel.
When your Maker calls you to do something it is not a good idea to instruct Him with regard to whether He has made a good choice. 

23 They ran and brought him out, and as he stood among the people he was a head taller than any of the others.  24 Samuel said to all the people, "Do you see the man the LORD has chosen? There is no one like him among all the people." Then the people shouted, "Long live the king!" 

Regulations GOD IS STILL KING
 25 Samuel explained to the people the regulations of the kingship. He wrote them down on a scroll and deposited it before the LORD. Then Samuel dismissed the people, each to his own home. 

Interesting – now that Saul is the king, Samuel is still in charge.
Samuel says when the meeting is over and tells all the people to go home.
And they all obey him – everyone goes back home, including Saul!
26 Saul also went to his home in Gibeah

Samuel says, “OK, now you have your king. Now go home” and Saul says, “OK” and heads back to Gibeah to plow his fields.

I love the little statement at the end of v.26.
26 Saul also went to his home in Gibeah, accompanied by valiant men whose hearts God had touched.

Isn’t that a great image? 
Instead of saying He changed their hearts, it says He touched them. 
All it takes is a touch from the finger of God and a man is changed.

But not everyone’s heart was touched. There was some negative polling data on Saul’s early approval ratings.
27 But some troublemakers said, "How can this fellow save us?" They despised him and brought him no gifts. But Saul kept silent.

That verse gives us insight into a couple things.
First, it shows the people were still missing the point.
If Israel was going to be saved it wasn’t going to be “this fellow” who would do it.
Now that there was a king they were just as dependent upon God for deliverance as ever.
No king could save them from anything.

The other thing it points to is the fact that there was still some skepticism about Saul.
It was going to take more than just Samuel’s word for everyone to really get behind the Saul administration.
Obtaining the royal power God had promised was not going to be easy.
It required some effort and some time and some ingenuity and some work, and some name recognition and the endorsement of Samuel and…
, most importantly, a major military victory.
And that comes in ch.11.
Saul established as king
Deliverance 
11:1-15  Nahash the Ammonite went up and besieged Jabesh Gilead. 

The Philistines were Israel’s enemies on the west, and the Ammonites were Israel’s enemies on the east.
So the king of the Ammonites attacks Jabesh Gilead. 
And all the men of Jabesh said to him, "Make a treaty with us, and we will be subject to you." 

They would rather be slaves to their enemy than rely on God.
2 But Nahash the Ammonite replied, "I will make a treaty with you only on the condition that I gouge out the right eye of every one of you and so bring disgrace on all Israel." 3 The elders of Jabesh said to him, "Give us seven days so we can send messengers throughout Israel; if no one comes to rescue us, we will surrender to you." 

War was so brutal in those days that they would go to great lengths to avoid actually fighting. 
And Nahash seems to be betting on the fact that Israel would not come to their aid.
(And if it hadn’t been for Saul, they probably wouldn’t have.)
4 When the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul and reported these terms to the people, they all wept aloud.  5 Just then Saul was returning from the fields, behind his oxen, and he asked, "What is wrong with the people? Why are they weeping?" Then they repeated to him what the men of Jabesh had said.  6 When Saul heard their words, the Spirit of God came upon him in power, and he burned with anger.

If you are attacking Israel and the Spirit of the Lord comes upon their leader, look out.
You’re about to get spanked.

Saul has been laying low. But now it is time for him to act.
And so he borrows a technique from the book of Judges. 
7 He took a pair of oxen, cut them into pieces, and sent the pieces by messengers throughout Israel, proclaiming, "This is what will be done to the oxen of anyone who does not follow Saul and Samuel."

Kind of a gross method of instituting a draft, but at least he cut up an animal instead of a human being like in the book of Judges. 
It also seems to be a decision on Saul’s part to give up farming.
Killing your oxen would be like a farmer today disassembling his combine or tractor and sending the parts all over the country.
Evidently Saul is leaving farming and will be “kinging” full time now.

Saul saved all his political capital up to this point, and here is spends it all.
He threatens harm, he invokes Samuel, so if you don’t follow Saul you’re not following Samuel, and he really tightens the screws on everyone.
Time is of the essence, and there is no time for subtle methods. 
And it worked.
Then the terror of the LORD fell on the people, and they turned out as one man. 

A threat like that was not guaranteed to work by any means.
But it worked because God made it work.
God had promised that whatever Saul put his hand to would be a success.
And so the people were afraid of Saul’s threat because God moved in their hearts.
Saul had to come up with the idea, he had to give up his oxen, he had to go to a lot of trouble to get the word out quickly to the whole nation, he had to put everything on the line for the effort…
, but when Saul did all that God supplied the success. 
8 When Saul mustered them at Bezek, the men of Israel numbered three hundred thousand and the men of Judah thirty thousand.

Total of 330,000.
You should know that in Samuel the word translated “thousand” is also the word for “clan.” 
So it could be that it was 330 clans, or 330 detachments.
But either way it’s a huge army.
There was only one other time from Genesis through Kings that we see an army this big.
9 They told the messengers who had come, "Say to the men of Jabesh Gilead, 'By the time the sun is hot tomorrow, you will be delivered.'" When the messengers went and reported this to the men of Jabesh, they were elated. 10 They said to the Ammonites, "Tomorrow we will surrender to you, and you can do to us whatever seems good to you." 11 The next day Saul separated his men into three divisions; during the last watch of the night they broke into the camp of the Ammonites and slaughtered them until the heat of the day. Those who survived were scattered, so that no two of them were left together. 

Saul shows himself to be a capable general. 
He uses some pretty good tactics, and wins big.
Full acceptance of Saul
 12 The people then said to Samuel, "Who was it that asked, 'Shall Saul reign over us?' Bring these men to us and we will put them to death."  13 But Saul said, "No one shall be put to death today, for this day the LORD has rescued Israel."  14 Then Samuel said to the people, "Come, let us go to Gilgal and there reaffirm the kingship."  15 So all the people went to Gilgal and confirmed Saul as king in the presence of the LORD. There they sacrificed fellowship offerings before the LORD, and Saul and all the Israelites held a great celebration.

Application
Realization of God’s work through human effort
When Saul was anointed the Holy Spirit came upon him in power.
But the release of that power was tied to Saul’s own efforts.
10:7 Once these signs are fulfilled, do whatever your hand finds to do, for God is with you.

God told Saul, “When you put your hand to something I’m going to bless it.”
It’s conditional. There will be no success until Saul’s hand actually finds something to do.
When Saul finally made his move, and he made an effort to muster the people for war, it worked.
And when he tried his battle strategies, they worked. 
The source of the success was the Holy Spirit, not Saul’s human efforts.
However, God was not willing to grant that success apart from Saul’s efforts.
Perhaps you have the same promise
It makes you wonder if perhaps the Lord has given that same blessing to some of you in this very room…
- He has decided that whatever you put your hand to in His kingdom He will grant great success…
; but you don’t realize it because you’re not really putting your hand to much of anything.
Maybe God has determined that if you went on the mission field, or started a prayer group at your kids’ school, or did something to help the poor, or took over the youth ministry, or whatever…
- God would grant success if you would just do it.
Now, God’s idea of success and our idea of success don’t always match – so the outcome may not look like success to you.
But the promise that God will work though you when you put your hand to something should motivate you to put your hand to something.
Balancing providence
This is a good balance to our study last week on providence.
Human reasoning would assume that if God controls everything, our effort doesn’t really matter, or that there is no real urgency.
That’s as wrong as it can be.

Even though from the eternal perspective God has predetermined everything…
, from the temporal perspective, outcomes still remain dependant upon human effort in a real way…
, so that the attainment of them is actually in jeopardy if we do not strive in the ways God has commanded us to strive. 
Don’t ever assume that just because you are doing what God called you to do…
, that you are going to have success even with a half-hearted effort.
Test for orthodoxy: the doctrines should move you toward more effort and humility and less worry
If you are ever wondering if you are on the right track in understanding God’s sovereignty and human free will and responsibility, here’s a test:
A proper understanding will cause an increase in how hard you work and a decrease in both worry and pride.
If your view on God’s sovereignty causes you to have less urgency and motivation to labor hard, you are off track.
And if your view on free will and human responsibility causes you to worry and fret over things outside of your control, you are off track.
And if your view results in you being puffed up with pride when you work harder and accomplish more than everyone else, you are off track.
This biblical view of those doctrines should generate both joyful trust and earnest, urgent, passionate zeal to work hard.
And the more the success, the more humble it should make you.

Success comes from God alone and not from our efforts, but the means by which God brings it about is our effort. 
2 Cor.3:6 He has made us competent as ministers

God’s grace comes in the form of enablement and competence. 
And so if we believe something is accomplished by grace…
, that is all the more reason to work all the harder for it’s accomplishment. 
Because if grace comes in the form of enablement, and the means by which the goal is accomplished is human effort…
, then the more I desire the grace the more effort I will put forth.

If a king announced that you could have as much as you want…
, however you must be willing to do the hard work of bringing a wheelbarrow to the palace doors and hauling off load after load…
, you would be all the more motivated to get in shape and get start wheeling loads back to your house.
The wheelbarrow is human effort. The gold is success in serving God.
The wheelbarrow doesn’t create the gold. 
Your work is not the source of the success.
But if the king decides that will be the means by which the gold is delivered, then you will be zealous about hauling loads in that wheelbarrow.

And the reason all your faithful wheelbarrow hauling does not generate pride is because…
not only is human effort the means by which God delivers much of His grace, but it is also the effect of grace.
The effort itself is a work of God.
When God gives you grace, you can tell you have received it by the fact that the intensity of your effort increases.
1 Cor.15:10 his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them

The effect of God’s grace in his life was that it made him work harder.
So the harder you work, the further in debt you are to God because you are borrowing that much more grace.
God has given us the same promise
Now, the most important question for us as we consider what the implications of this text are for or lives is this: has God made the same promise to us that He made to Saul?
Has God poured out His Spirit on us in power and then said to us, “Do whatever your hand finds to do and you will have success”?
I would like to suggest that the answer to that question is yes. 
God has poured out His Spirit on us in power and He has made that very same promise to us.

Now at this point someone might say, “Wait a minute – do you mean to say that there is an absolute promise that I can do anything – without qualification, and God will grant success?”
No. It is not without qualification for you, nor was it without qualification for Saul. 
When God said to Saul, “Do whatever your hand finds to do” that did not mean Saul was free to do absolutely anything.
Let’s look at that passage again.
7 Once these signs are fulfilled, do whatever your hand finds to do, for God is with you. 8 "Go down ahead of me to Gilgal. I will surely come down to you to sacrifice burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, but you must wait seven days until I come to you and tell you what you are to do." 

Verse 7 says he can do whatever he wants, and v.8 says he has to follow Samuel’s orders.
That is not a contradiction; it is an important principle that the writer brings up repeatedly in these chapters.
God is making it clear how the kingship in Israel is to function.
God is the king. And the human king is not an absolute sovereign – he is still under God.
And so in Israel the prophet of God tells the king what to do; the king does not tell the prophet what to do.

So the promise was not, “You are free to do anything you want.”
The promise was tied to Saul’s calling.
God was saying, “Your efforts to take the throne will succeed, because I have called you to take the throne.”
And God has made the same promise to us.
As we put forth effort to fulfill what He has called us to do, we will enjoy success and bear much fruit because He will be with us just like He was with Saul.
John 15:5 If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit

When Jesus told the disciples in Luke 5 that He would make them fishers of men…
, it was right after He had just given them net-ripping, boat-sinking success at fishing.
When we labor hard at what we were called to do, God grants abundant success.
In the OT, any time you read about the Spirit coming upon a person it is followed by a description of awesome success.
That’s why the promise in Jn.14:17 – that God’s Spirit would now reside in us all the time, was such an unbelievable promise. 

So what does that mean for us? 
God said to Saul:
7 …do whatever your hand finds to do, for God is with you. 

And we have the same promise. 
Jesus said Surely I will be with you always, even to the very end of the age. (Mt.28:20)	
For Saul it meant that once he began putting forth effort, God would bless those efforts. 
For us it means the same thing. 
Col.1:24 - 2:2  Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, …  28 We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ.  29 To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me. 2:2 …that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ

Paul says, “I labor, struggling…” 
And then he says, “his energy … powerfully works in me.” 
So God’s energy powerfully working happened when Paul labored and struggled.

And Paul labored and struggled because he understood that if he didn’t he would forfeit the powerful working of God through him…
, and the people would not be encouragement, would not have unity of love, and wold not have understanding and knowledge of Christ.
And the possibility of those things failing to be accomplished was such a concern to Paul that he was willing to suffer incredible agony to bring it about.
The urgency of the work burned in his soul.
2 Cor.11:28-29 I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.  29 Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn?

God forgive us for twisting the wonderful doctrine of sovereignty into an excuse for dull affections and passionless living.

Do you desire the experience of the power of almighty God coursing through you?
Then put your hand to something that requires divine power.
Seated all around you there are people who are becoming deeply discouraged. 
Some aren’t even here because they have dropped out of the fellowship,  
others are in danger of being led astray through error,  
others are being enticed by various temptations and are right on the precipice of disaster.
Rescuing people from problems like that is not easy.
If you give them a few words of encouragement off the top of your head that won’t do it.
It requires a lot more work than that.

Think of how hard our task is.
If there were just one person in your life in need of grace, how much time and effort would be required. 
But you have so many. 
You are fighting to overcome the thick chains of enslaving sins, and ignorance about God, and lack of motivation in people’s hearts, and deeply rooted evil desires…
– and failure to overcome all that could result in eternal disaster for the person. 
Your duty is to bring their dull, nearsighted hearts to see the glory of God. 
You must convince them of the delightful superiority of God’s grace over what their flesh treasures.  
That’s not easy.
It’s not easy to bring people to give up their most treasured idols and their dearest pleasures.
We aren’t going to save anyone from hell with a few vague platitudes. 

We are going up against an enemy who has defeated some of the strongest, most spiritually vibrant men and women who have ever lived.
He is smarter than us, stronger than us, more experienced, more motivated, and he has deceived and destroyed people by the millions.
And our fight is against not only him but a host of rulers, authorities, powers and spiritual forces in the heavenly realms. 
And they will only be defeated through a skilled use of the Sword of the Spirit.
That’s a book that has over 31,000 verses…
- was written in foreign, ancient languages in a very different culture and addresses some of the most difficult topics imaginable. 
The well is deep and our brains are shallow – skilled use of the Sword of the Spirit will not come without very hard work.

The task of ministry is so hard that even someone as gifted as the Apostle Paul had to work and strive and labor and struggle with everything that was within him.
He had to beat his body and make it his slave just to avoid total disqualification. 
The work of the ministry is so hard that even the Son of God Himself had to work hard and rise early and stay up late.
The battle is so fierce that even Jesus Himself needed angels to come and attend to Him at one point.

Finding out that a task is incredibly hard might discourage action if it’s an optional task.
But if it’s an essential task, the harder it is the more that should motivate us.
If you find out that it’s hard to swim 50 yards underwater, you may be discouraged from trying.
But if you have to swim 50 yards or drown, the difficulty just increases your motivation to put forth effort.
The task the Lord has given us is extremely difficult, and it is more important even than saving yourself from drowning. 

Does anyone here want the power of God to work powerfully in you?
Then let your joyful hope for that drive you to labor and strive.
Instead of wasting hours at a time, let’s wring every drop out of every moment of the day in His service. 
If there really is more grace to be had if we are more earnest, Oh how earnest should we be! 
If there really is a greater likelihood of a person finding joy in God if we labor and strive on his behalf, how hard should we labor and strive! 
If it’s really true that a soul could spend eternity in heaven instead of hell if we pray hard and diligently and share the gospel passionately…
, Oh how intense should be our efforts! 
If there really is an opportunity to experience God’s mighty power flowing through us today if we work hard, Oh how hard should we work! 
If there is a chance of bringing the Lord’s blessing and favor down on my family through my efforts to teach them and lead them in prayer and worship…
, Oh how relentless should be my attempts to lead them! 
If it’s really true that we are actually capable of bringing God honor or dishonor through the way we do our jobs each day…
, Oh how hard should we strive for excellence! 
If fellowship with God really is available for those who seek Him with their whole heart throughout the day…
, Oh how we should strive to overcome the million distractions that would make us forget to seek Him! 
Jesus said:
Jn.9:4 As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work.

Our time in this world is very short. 
Let’s devote ourselves to an energy level in our work that is fitting given 
the importance of the work, 
the urgency of the work, 
the difficulty of the work, 
the shortness of the time, 
; and let’s live in a way that reflects our desire for His strength to work powerfully in us.

Benediction: 1 Cor 15:58 Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.