Opening Illustration: A certain king needed a faithful servant and had to choose between two candidates for the office. He took both at fixed wages and told them to fill a basket with water from a nearby well, saying that he would come in the evening to inspect their work.
After dumping one or two buckets of water into the basket, one of the men said, "What is the good of doing this useless work? As soon as we pour the water in, it runs out the sides." The other answered, "But we have our wages, haven’t we? The use is the master’s business, not ours. He is a wise King, and must have his own purpose that we do not understand."
"I’m not going to do such fool’s work," replied the complainer. Throwing down his bucket, he went away.
The other man continued until he had drained the well. Looking down into it, he saw something shining at the bottom - it was a diamond ring. "Now I see the use of pouring water into the basket!" he exclaimed. "If the bucket had brought up the ring before the well was dry, it would have been filtered out in the basket. The King was looking for his diamond. Our work was not useless." The King found his most faithful servant! (Christian Cheong, SermonCentral)
Introduction: This dimension of the text rings out loudly in our cultural context. We rely for almost everything on our sight, but it often proves untrustworthy. Advertisers know that the quickest way to get their fingers into our wallets is through our eyes - by bombarding us with images of sexuality and excess. Do we really think that wearing the same watch as Heidi Klum or Tiger Woods will make us more attractive and successful? Apparently, since we buy the watches. And the cars, hamburgers, and light beer.
We also tend to pick our leaders - politicians, principals, coaches, celebrities, and so on - based on our society's norms about appearance. For the last century or more, the taller of the two final presidential candidates has almost always won. And lest we in the church think we have risen above this shallow horizon, take a look at the leaders of the church - pastors, elders, bishops, and college and seminary presidents - and ask yourself, "Are we really any different?"
Today people do crazy and some even stupid things to get noticed. In the eyes of his family and the world, David had made no impression and went unnoticed but in the eyes of God he was a man after God’s own heart. Everyone else went unnoticed before God, but not David. Who are you noticed by? God or man?
How does God choose the ones he calls?
1. Separation of the one He chooses (vs. 1-5)
Samuel asks all the sons of Jesse to be sanctified. This was not a one day thing but had to be carried out for a number of days. He knew that when an individual was chosen to serve God, he had to be sanctified so that he becomes eligible for God’s service which was followed by consecration.
Sanctification does not consist in retirement from our place in life, and the enunciation of our social duties. In every age it has been a snare with many to take up this line in the pursuit of holiness. Hundreds of hermits have buried themselves in some wilderness, and thousands of men and women have shut themselves up within the walls of monasteries and convents, under the vain idea that by so doing they would escape sin and become eminently holy. They have forgotten that no bolts and bars can keep out the devil, and that wherever we go we carry that root of all evil, our own hearts. To become a monk, or a nun, or to join a House of mercy, is not the high road to sanctification. True holiness does not make a Christian evade difficulties, but face and overcome them.
So many professing Christians today are not being sanctified because they are still trying to hold on to this world and the sinful ways of this world. It's God's will that we all be sanctified for Him, but He will not force us to serve Him. Just as He didn't force Adam and Eve to obey Him, He will not force us either. It is our free choice to be saved or lost. Unfortunately, many professing Christians will find that they have not been sanctified when Christ Jesus returns, because they weren't prepared to do God's will and obey Him.
Sanctification is a process by God of making a person separated for Him. Every day our selfish nature must be crucified, in a new commitment with the Lord. Disobedience and selfish acts will never be a part of sanctification, and they must be rejected daily in order to maintain a sanctified experience. As we walk with Jesus each day living in His Word and looking to do His will, He will sanctify us and set us apart. Are you letting God sanctify you? Our Master Himself said in His last prayer, “I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one.” (John 17:15)
Many professed Christians do not see the initial step of full consecration as essential to one who would be a follower of Christ. In our conversation with people many tell us that they have been trying for years to be children of God, that they have been for years seeking to do God's will and live a holy life. We try always to get these down to the particular point: Have you begun right? Have you been trying to run the Christian race on the outside or on the inside? Then they ask us what we mean. And we tell them that the matter is like a race-course, where there is a certain prize offered, with certain definite rules and regulations. The person who is to run in the race must be entered in the regular way. The contract must be made and signed. The man must agree to all the conditions. Then he will be entered as a contestant, and must run on the prescribed track and for the goal.
God’s idea of consecration is completely different. A man could only consecrate himself to God under His approval. The New Testament also exhorts us to consecrate ourselves through the compassions of God. God loves us so much; therefore, we have to consecrate ourselves. This is the most reasonable service. This is not a request for favor; this is the most reasonable thing, the most natural thing, to do.
Consecration does not depend upon our willingness. It is because of God's abounding grace that we can consecrate ourselves. We must see that having the right to be God's servant is the greatest honor of our life. It is a joyful thing for a man to be saved. It is a far more joyful thing for a man to have a part in God's service! Who do we think our God is? We have to see His greatness and His glory. Only then will we see the tremendous significance and honor of this service! What a tremendous thing it is for us to receive His grace and be counted worthy of serving Him! The purpose of sanctification and consecration in our lives is, so that God can work in our lives by the power of the Holy Spirit.
2. Not the appearance but sees the heart (vs. 6-7)
The narrative clearly emphasized God's initiative, his judgment, and his power. He searches us, chooses us, and empowers us. His measure is the human heart. By the way, we should ask: what was wrong with the seven brothers? Probably nothing. The text doesn’t say anything negative about them. Eliab and the others were no doubt fine fellows who could qualify for any job in the world except one: King of Israel. God had already filled that position.
God looks at the heart. He doesn't look at the outward appearance. Many people are like Eliab—impressive on the outside, but inwardly have many flaws. You'll remember how Eliab rebuked David when he was preparing to fight against Goliath. Saul was like that too. He was an impressive young man who was tall and good looking. It was true of David's son Absalom as well. Outward appearances can be deceiving to us. But they do not deceive God. God looks at the heart. He sees things as they really are. This great truth has great implications for us. God knows your heart and that should be a great incentive for you to be holy.
And God chooses David. What was God thinking? Even Samuel, God’s most loyal servant seemed to be caught off guard by the choice. David is not the tallest. He is not the oldest. He is inexperienced and he is engaged in a line of work that is most despised by the “proud in the imagination of their hearts.” God seems to have this odd fondness for those of low estate. Samuel is shocked by the choice. So is David’s own father, Jesse, who is, by the way, the grandson of Ruth, a Moabite woman, which adds yet another level of ethnic strangeness to this story—David is to be the king of the Jews, but he is actually of mixed racial heritage. What a mess!
This being the political season in America, I should note that we often choose leaders solely on the basis of how they look to us. It is said that Kennedy beat Nixon in 1960 in part because he appeared more youthful and vigorous on television. This week I read that in most elections, the taller candidate usually wins. Maybe we’re not so different from ancient Israel after all. And yet the man many people consider our greatest president was homely and gawky. Almost no one considered Abraham Lincoln a handsome man and even his friends made fun of his appearance. But there he is - on our coins, our currency, and enshrined on the National Mall.
Even in church we like to pay attention to how people look on the outside. We notice who drives the nice cars and how people dress and where they work and that sort of thing. Occasionally someone will tell me about a certain person they have invited to church. And they will say, “I hope he starts attending here. He could do us a lot of good,” meaning he has money and influence. That’s never said about a homeless person or the unemployed.
In the beginning of his story, no one believes in David but God. Not Jesse, not Samuel. Only God. In the end, his family broken, his nation troubled, his closest friends mostly gone, he discovers that God is still there. “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.” God never gave up on David. That’s grace. David never gave up on God. That’s what it means to be a man after God’s heart.
It is interesting to study the people that God chooses. He rarely chooses the powerful, the beautiful, or the naturally talented ones. He often chooses the weak and the outcast to do amazing things for Him. In 1 Corinthians 1:26-29 we read, “For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence.” God can even use young boys and girls who have a heart to serve Him and are willing to obey Him. God looks at our hearts, not our outward appearance.
3. Evidence of the presence of the Holy Spirit upon the chosen (vs. 8-13)
David was anointed with the Holy Spirit, as was Jesus, and as were we at our baptism. With the Holy Spirit continuing to enlighten and sanctify us, the sky is the limit, so long as we keep in mind that it – heaven – is also the goal. The reason God has poured out the Holy Spirit on us is so that he might guide us to heaven and usher us into an eternal dwelling with him. Let us throw off anything that would hinder that, and cling to the Holy Spirit, who through the blood of Christ will take us there.
Jesus Christ said His followers would “receive power” when the Holy Spirit came upon them, and directly connected with that power would be their work of being witnesses of Him, starting in Jerusalem, then spreading throughout Judea and Samaria and ultimately to the end of the earth. The book of Acts records the beginning of that mighty work with Christ's followers receiving the Holy Spirit on the Feast of Pentecost. Then, empowered by that Spirit, they went out proclaiming the gospel of the Kingdom.
Christ made it clear that the Holy Spirit is connected with power. The Greek word translated “power” is dunamis. It is translated “power,” “mighty work,” “strength,” “miracle,” “might,” “virtue” and “mighty.” It is the same Greek root from which we get modern English words like dynamic, which means active, forceful and energetic; dynamo, which is a device for generating electric power; and dynamite, which is an explosive of great power, energy and force. These give us a sense of the power that would result from the Holy Spirit being given to the early Church.
The evidence of the Holy Spirit in the lives of the ones that God calls, is through the manifestation of the fruit and the operation of the gifts where there is not an iota of human interference. It cannot be operated by feelings, emotions, intellect, educational qualification or manipulation. It can solely be operated through the divine power of God. They are the ones who are completely immersed and baptized by the Holy Spirit. God's Spirit enables the ultimate change to take place: for carnal, selfish humans to become converted in this life and ultimately be transformed into God's very children, changed into immortal, glorified sons of God!
Illustration: In Washington D.C. there is a building called the "National Institute of Standards & Technology." This facility is responsible for storing perfect samples of weights and measurements. They have what are called “prototypes” of pound weights and kilograms. Measuring rods for feet, yards & metric measurements like meters. For example, they have a “Meter Standard” a reinforced bar of platinum alloyed with exactly 10% iridium. When they want to know the exact measurement of a “meter” they cool this bar down to 0 degrees Celsius at a sea level of 45 degrees latitude then they know they will have the exact tip to tip measurement of a meter. That bar is known as “prototype #27, because the original is kept in a suburb of Paris at the International Bureau of Weights & Measures.
We Christians also have a measuring rod that never changes. God’s word and the evidence of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
Application: Has God really called you? Then where is that separation? Where is your heart? What is it captivated by? Is the presence of the Holy Spirit evident in your life? This is not something you can determine or speak for yourself. It should be evident to the body of Christ with no difference of opinions and above all has God taken notice of you?
