Intro: the bible is full of sad stories about people who failed God. The Word of God is full of biographies of men and women who missed the mark. One of these people is King Saul. We find his story of failure in I Samuel chapter 13 and 15. He started off so good, but ended up so wrong. By looking at his story, we see a perfect example of how to lose the anointing in your life.
How A King Lost His Crown
I Samuel 13-15
Our story starts in chapter 13 where Saul and his armies are in Gilgal waiting on the prophet Samuel to come and offer sacrifices before they went to war. They waited seven days but Samuel hadn’t come yet so the people got worried and many scattered. At the same time they were scattering the Philistines had gathered 30,000 troops to fight against them. Saul gets impatient and offers the sacrifices instead of waiting on Samuel. When Samuel arrives Saul is rebuked for operating in haste, and told his kingdom was coming to an end because God would seek a man after his own heart.
In chapter 15 we see Saul blowing it again, this time he was told to smite the Amalekites and totally destroy everything, including the animals and all the goods. But Saul spares King Agag, and animals and goods. God tells Samuel again to go to Saul and let him know his kingdom was over, that he had sinned again in disobedience to God.
Now that you know the two stories: I would like to give you the reasons why Saul lost his crown or how we can lose the anointing in our lives.
v.11—when I saw the people scattering—here is the first statement that reveals how you lose the anointing in your life. Saul saw his army on the run and he panicked. He basically tells Samuel that everyone was leaving him, so he had to do something, even if it was wrong. Saul’s first sin was something we all must guard against and that is where we place our faith. Saul had stopped trusting God because things were not going the way he thought they should go. Samuel calls this foolish, because his trust as King of Israel should have been in the Lord. The Lord could save with many or few.
v.11b—and that you didn’t show up on time—here is another key to Saul’s failure, he got ahead of God. When we try to put God on our timetable instead of us being on His timetable, we will miss God every time. Saul told Samuel, if you would have shown up on time I wouldn’t have done what I did.
v.11c—the Philistines were gathered together—here is another part of Saul’s failure, he looked at the enemy instead of God. God demands faith, without faith it is impossible to please God. We all must guard against looking at our problems, our enemies, instead of trusting God. Saul made a terrible decision, he let his enemies decide his moves instead of God.
· in verse 13 Samuel tells Saul that the Lord was about to establish him in this situation. I believe Saul didn’t realize that his faith was being tested. When we are in difficult times, when we face hard situations, we must realize these are the times where our faith is being tried. God never promotes us until he proves us. Saul didn’t realize God wanted the odds to be stacked against Saul, so that God could prove that no situation was impossible if you will trust God.
v.14—Samuel tells Saul that God wants someone who goes after God’s heart. This is an indicator that Saul had lost his sensitivity to the Spirit of God and was trying to operate in Saul more than God. Every minister must guard against operating in their talents, gifts and abilities, instead of total reliance on the Spirit of God. It is the anointing that destroys the yokes in people’s lives.
The Story now moves to Chapter 15 where Saul messes up again. This time the kingdom is rent from him because he was operating in rebellion against God.
v.13—blessed be thou of the Lord, I have performed the commandment of the Lord. This is so sad, Saul had come to the place where he was comfortable in partial obedience. You will lose the anointing when you get comfortable with doing things half way. Every minister must evaluate their ministry to make sure they are doing what God is directing them to do. Anything less than total obedience is not obedience at all. Samuel calls it rebellion, and as the sin of witchcraft.
v.15-when Samuel hears the bleating of the sheep, Saul says, we saved the sheep to offer up for sacrifices. Here is the biggest anointing killer of all, it is called compromise. Every Pastor, Evangelist, Missionary, Church leader, must guard against this above any other sin. It is the sin of compromise. It is saying, I know God wants me to do this, but surely He wouldn’t mind if I did this too. Every area of our lives must be examined by the Holy Spirit to prove what sort it is.
v.15b—another interesting part of Saul’s explanation is he states it is the people that brought the sheep to sacrifice. This is the old pass the buck routine that people have tried to use all the way back to the garden. Saul didn’t take responsibility for this sin, he chose to make excuses, which in the sight of God won’t do.
v.17 reveals another reason people lose the anointing in their ministries. Saul started out humble, sensitive to the Spirit of God and the Word of God, but pride had so filled his heart, he had lost his connection to God. It can happen to anyone in ministry, they can get so caught up in wearing the crown, sitting on the throne, being the leader, they forget it is all about God, obeying and honoring Him.
v.22—Samuel now explains a God principle that every minister, especially those who are worship leaders should adhere to, it is this: your worship to God won’t count, if your obedience to God isn’t first in place. Saul tries to excuse sin because the people were going to worship God in this, but no matter how much praise and worship goes up to God, if purity, holiness, a Godly lifestyle isn’t in place, your worship will count for nothing.
You can’t worship your way out of sin.
v.31-to show you the height of Saul’s pride, he begged Samuel not to leave in front of the people, so Saul could save face. He shows here that he is more concerned about how he is viewed by people, than the fact that he has lost his anointing. This is the biggest problem in religion, as long as attendance is up, as long as finances are coming in, as long as someone is well known in ministry circles, than they are a success. But if you don’t have the anointing of God, if you don’t have relationship with God, what does any of that really matter?
v.33—this is a strong verse, Samuel cuts Agag into pieces. He basically does what God commanded Saul to do. Here is one last point on losing your anointing, God will give your anointing to someone else if you don’t do what He is asking you to do. There is always a David that is on ready to carry your mantle. Don’t ever think you are irreplaceable in God’s eyes. He can bring down the highest and most lofty in ministry in a second. The higher someone stands, the farther they can fall. Pride still goes before the fall and a haughty spirit before destruction..
close: when I read the Word of God I am always amazed that it is the little foxes that eat up the vine. It isn’t that those who fell did it in one giant step, but through a process of rejecting God’s Word or not following the leading of the Spirit, their ministries or authority was stripped away. Saul is a warning for the modern day ministers, it only takes 3 chapters of scripture and two poor decisions for a mighty king to lose his crown.
