A Cure For Heart Disease

Title: "A cure for Heart Disease."

Text: I Samuel 10:1-9

Date: 8/23/09

Location: Sulphur Spring Baptist Church

Introduction: A few years ago an urgent plea went out from a Philadelphia Hospital. They were searching for a heart for a young sixteen year old boy, who needed a transplant. For three weeks a nation wide search was conducted to try to locate a heart that would be compatible. The young man was an outstanding athlete and a very good student. He was committed to his family, friends and his community. Due to a complication that developed from what is called a common routine illness, this young man’s heart had enlarged and was quickly failing. His mother sat by his bedside every day caring for him and encouraging him to fight for his life. She used the media daily to plead with the nation to respond to her sons’ urgent need for a new heart.

Sadly, after three weeks of searching without finding a compatible heart the young man died.

A. Even though tremendous progress has been made in fighting Heart disease, it continues to be the leading cause of death in the United States, and has been since 1900. Over 300 thousand Americans die every year from heart disease.

B. People who develop Coronary artery disease have a choice to make. They can either choose to have surgery, which in most cases is successful and adds several years onto their lives. Or they can choose not to have surgery, and live with the fear of having a heart attack, which in some cases will be fatal.

C. In recent years people whose hearts are beyond repair have been given new hope. With the advances in modern medicine, heart transplants are becoming more and more frequent. According to the research I did around 2,000 heart transplants are done in North America every year, but unfortunately thousands of others like the young man I mentioned earlier, die waiting on a new heart.

Patients who are fortunate enough to receive a new heart are given a second chance at life.

D. In verse 9 of our text, The New King James Version says, "As Saul turned to leave Samuel, God gave him another heart."

Now obviously this wasn’t meant to be taken literally. God didn’t perform the first heart transplant Surgery on King Saul. I think it would help us understand the context of this verse of Scripture by examining some of the Historical events that are mentioned in our text.

I. Historical Background:

A. The Nation of Israel was made up of 12 autonomous tribes. When they conquered the Promise Land each tribe was given a section of land and the Elders of those tribes became the governing authorities. It was much the same as what we see today in parts of Afghanistan. The people and the elders of Israel had become so frustrated with this tribal system of government that they asked Samuel, who was the High Priest, to help them establish a Monarchy for the nation of Israel.

They told him they were willing to be governed by a King as long as he could help them deal with the difficulties of a society that was constantly changing. They made the mistake of believing that a new form of Government would solve their problems. Unfortunately, it didn’t because the root of the problem was SPIRITUAL not political. Did you hear what I said? REPEAT!

Unfortunately some people in America today are convinced that giving the government more power and control, or even switching our form of government will solve all of our problems. But it won’t because like the nation of Israel our problem is SPIRITUAL, which is something the President, Congress, and the majority of Americans just don’t understand!

But let’s get back to Israel. Samuel reluctantly agreed to help the elders of Israel draw up some guidelines for the new King. They agreed that He should come from the tribe of Benjamin, which was the smallest of the 12 tribes of Israel. The main reason for this was the fact that Benjamin had remained somewhat neutral in the conflict that had developed between the other tribes.

---Saul the son of Kish was the man who was chosen to become Israel’s first King. Saul’s strong family background provided him with the social and spiritual foundations that helped prepare him to rule over the nation of Israel.

--Of course his commanding physical appearance didn’t hurt either. He was the tallest man in the tribe of Benjamin. In a time when physical appearance and charisma were more important than a person’s ability to lead, Saul definitely looked like a King.

As the High Priest of Israel it was Samuel’s responsibility to anoint Saul as King of Israel, which he eventually, although somewhat reluctantly did.