“Then the Spirit of the Lord will rush upon you and you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man.”
-1 Samuel 10:6
Oh, this verse, don’t miss the picture, the correlation between the Spirit of God on someone and prophecy, the proclamation of God’s word. This is a picture we see all throughout the Old Testament at different points. Here it’s with Saul. This promise, “The Spirit of Lord will come upon you,” and the result is you will speak. You’ll be turned into another person. You’ll be able to speak in supernatural ways.
Help us to realize that your Holy Spirit is living in us, empowering us right now to speak your word to other people with supernatural power to see their lives transformed for all of eternity.
1 Samuel 10:6 Shows the Power of God’s Spirit
And we see this, again, all throughout the Old Testament. When you see prophets, what’s a prophet empowered by the Spirit of God to do? A prophet is empowered by the Spirit of God to proclaim the word of God with supernatural power. Now, what’s interesting is when you get to Acts 2 and you see the Holy Spirit come down at Pentecost, what happens in that scene? All these people start to speak the word of God in all these different languages. And Peter stands up and preaches. He quotes from Joel 2 about how the Spirit of God will come upon men and women, and they shall prophesy.
It’s interesting. You look in Luke and Acts, so Luke wrote both the book of Luke and the book of Acts. And every time, there’s eight different times where we see the Spirit of God filling someone. And every time, that person speaks or proclaims God’s word flowing from that filling of the Spirit. So the picture I want to encourage you with today, for everyone who has trusted in Jesus, you have the Holy Spirit living in you. And I want to ask you to consider: What purpose is the Holy Spirit living in you for? And based on all we’ve seen in the Old Testament, what we’ve seen in the New Testament, and specifically I would point you to Acts 1:8, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you will be,” Jesus says, “my,” what?
This Verse Reminds Us that We are Witnesses
“My witnesses.” You will receive power from the Holy Spirit and you will speak, you will testify to who I am. What 1 Samuel 10 is giving us a picture of, along with other places throughout the Old Testament, ultimately in the New Testament, how the Spirit of God fills every single follower of Christ. The picture we see is we have been given the Holy Spirit of God in a way that turns us into an entirely different person and in ways that we are empowered to speak the word of God, to speak the good news of God’s grace in Jesus with supernatural power, that people’s lives might be changed for all of eternity.
1 Samuel 10:6 Reminds Us of the Supernatural Holy Spirit of God
Are you getting this? Like in your life right now, if you’ve trusted in Jesus, you have the supernatural Holy Spirit of God in you so that you can speak with supernatural power the word of God, in ways that lead people’s lives to be transformed for all of eternity. So let’s pray.
God, help us, we pray. I pray that you’d help me and every single person listening right now to realize, for all who’ve trusted in you, Jesus, as savior and Lord of our lives, help us to realize that your Holy Spirit is living in us, empowering us right now to speak your word today, tomorrow, to other people with supernatural power to see their lives transformed for all of eternity. So God, please don’t let us stay silent. With your Spirit inside of us, with your word inside of us. Just as your prophets spoke in the Old Testament. Help us to speak your word, the gospel today, tomorrow. God, we pray you’d help us to speak your word with supernatural power. Today and tomorrow, to lead friends or family members or co-workers. Neighbors to you and people we meet in the communities where we live today and tomorrow.
This Verse Empowers by the Spirit
And God, we pray the same time you would send out men and women empowered by your Spirit. God, to Bengali Muslims all around the world, spread out in all kinds of different countries. Not just in India but in all kinds of places.
God, we pray that you would bring Bengali Muslims face to face with followers of Jesus. Spirit-empowered followers of Jesus who speak your word in ways that their lives are transformed for all of eternity. God, we praise you for the privilege of being filled and empowered by your Spirit. We pray, do your work in us. Turn us into totally different people every day. Let our words lead to eternal life in you. May it be so. We pray in Jesus’ name, in light of 1 Samuel 10:6. Amen.
View the 2021 McLean Bible Church Reading Plan.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
