What do I mean when I say that the Saul spirit is rising? To those of us who are sensitive to the things of the Spirit this word will need no explanation, in fact it is to you that I write. You will “ know,’ this word in your “bowels,” you will need no convincing.
1 John 2:18-20 (ASV)
18 Little children, it is the last hour: and as ye heard that antichrist cometh, even now have there arisen many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last hour.
19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they all are not of us.
20 And ye have an anointing from the Holy One, and ye know all the things.
You see the Scriptures confirm that those who have an anointing from the Holy One “Know all things,” and can recognize the truth when they hear it. Some may say “I have a witness in my spirit.” You either know it already or when you hear it , it confirms what you “knew,” in your spirit but now that knowing has “flesh,”….has words. So I write this to those who have an anointing from the Holy One, which is all of His people.
As the Scripture stated, the anti-christ is coming. In fact even now many anti-christs have arisen and “went out from us.” You see, as always, the danger to Gods people does not come from outside but comes those who “went out from us, but were not of us.” Our persecutors , brothers and sisters, will come from what we would call the “Established church,” which includes denominational and non-denominational churches, in fact, the Evangelical movement.
Now this may seemed far-fetched at this time, but for those who have glimpsed through the Spirit, you will know that this is true. They will grow to despise us, as strange as that may seem. Now why will they hate us and hate us enough to persecute us and hand us over to the civil authorities when the time comes? Well brothers and sisters, there is nothing new under the sun. The same anti-christ spirit that was behind all previous persecutions is still alive and well and binding his time. It still has that demonical hatred for those that have a relationship with the Father. This is the true source of all Satanical hatred of Gods people down through the ages.
You see, we have what Satan and the demons once had, a close relationship with our Heavenly Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We can call Him “Abba,” and Satan hates it. We are the apple of our Fathers eye. He loves us with an everlasting love. How much you say? Well just look to Calvary. His thoughts of us are innumerable, as the sands of the sea. He knows every hair on our head. His love for us is beyond words.
All of this Satan and the demons had at one time, but they gave it all away . And for them there is no going back. There is no hope of redemption for them, they are truly hopeless beings and they despise us with a hatred that cannot be put into words. And so, they are darkness and we who “know,” the Father are light. They are our mortal enemies and they do not rest, day or night in their efforts to destroy us. Yet, we serve a risen Savior, Jesus Christ the Lord and we stand under the shadow of His wings, we are covered by His blood. Our enemies may be able may be able to destroy our earthly tents, yet they can never destroy what they hate the most, our eternal relationship with our Father.
And so we see Saul. The people wanted a king so they could be like all the other countries. They wanted to put their trust in a man, in an institution and despite a severe warning from God, they still wanted it. And so God gave them over to what they wanted. Now, Saul believed that he was a servant of God. The Spirit of God would even come upon Saul, yet it did not take Saul long to expose himself. In 1 Sam 13 Saul takes on the role of Priest and he unlawfully sacrifices. He makes rash oaths which he cannot keep. He spares King Agag and all the best of the animals totally against the will of God. This was a man who was a law unto himself, he was a lawless man.
How much of the church today have that same spirit of lawlessness ? In 1 Sam 15 we see that the lawless King is rejected by God. (1 Sam 15:11) Now is the time for God to anoint His own King. This King would be a man after Gods own heart as opposed to Saul who represented the people. It is interesting that simultaneously we now have tow Kings. One is legitimate and has the anointing of God, the other is rejected of God. Today, we have the established church and we have the Remnant Church. One is anointed of God and the other has been rejected by God. And we see in 1Sam 16:14 “The Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul and a distressing spirit from the Lord troubled him.”
Saints, the Spirit of the Lord has departed from the Established church. It now has a distressing spirit from the Lord. It is run through with many fears, it staggers to and fro. It runs to the left and to the right. It has run to a prosperity Gospel, a Gospel of health and wealth, name it and claim , word of faith movement, in a desperate attempt to move in faith and the things of God. It has also run to the politicians, to Washington, to the halls of earthly power because it has no heavenly power. They have also run to legalism and the confines of the Law and it has brought them to a place of self-loathing. They seek to gain peace for their souls, but it cannot be found, they are distressed.
It is interesting to see David act as King even although he has not yet been established. One has the position, the other has the anointing. Today, the church has the position, the remnant has the anointing. The Remnant are so zealous for the glory of God and His name that they will still run to the battle and the established church allows this. They battles the giants of darkness who seek to shame the name of God. David loves God and is indignant when he hears Goliath. He runs to the battle and as one who is anointed , kills the giant.
Initially Saul is happy but when he hears the people singing that “ Saul has killed his thousands and David his ten thousands,” he begins to hate David. You see pride is at the root of evil. Pride is the very sin by which Satan fell. And the final nail in the uneasy relationship between Saul and David comes quickly. “ And it happened on the next day that the distressing spirit came upon Saul and he prophesied inside the house. So David played music with his hand as at other times, but there was a spear in Saul’s hand. And Saul cast the spear for he said “I will pin David to the wall!” But David escaped.” Now here is why Saul tried to kill David……. ‘Now Saul was afraid of David because the Lord was with him but had departed from Saul.” (1 Sam 18:12)
We can now see the “Saul spirit.” The essence of the Saul spirit is captured in verse 12. Saul was afraid of David because the presence of God had departed from him, and David walked in the presence of God. From that time on Saul would seek to kill David. His madness and arrogance only increases as he plummets into darkness. Consider the murder of all of the priests of Nob, not only killing 85 of them for daring to help David, but also killing all the men, woman, children and babies that dwelt in Nob, and all of their livestock. This is the madness and level of hatred of the darkness against the light.
From that time on and down through the ages this spirit has continued. Whether it was the Pharisees killing Jesus and the Apostles, or the Catholic church killing the Waldensians or the Hussites or the countless hundreds of thousands killed in the inquisitions, or the Reformers killing Anabaptists or Moravian’s, that which is established but has no anointing seeks to kill that which has the anointing. The illegitimate hunting down the legitimate. The enemy always tries to kill those who are walking in the Spirit, walking in the presence of God.
When God calls His Remnant out of the desert and pours out His Spirit upon them , this will mark the beginning of severe persecution. There is a direct correlation between the depth of the anointing to the ferocity of the persecution. Amos 9 talks about the day that the ploughman will overtake the reaper. A great outpouring of His Spirit upon His remnant. When this happens, then begins the great persecution by the “Saul spirit,” from the established church. They will hate the Remnant for the same reason that Saul hated David. The spiritual darkness that motivates them cannot stand any human being that walks in the presence of God and who is headed towards an eternal relationship with Him. The established church will come after the Remnant in that day, but be of good cheer brothers and sisters, if we are fortunate enough to be the generation that sees these things, then we know that the Lord is at the door, our salvation draws near, the Bridegroom is coming for His Bride and we will be with Him forever.........Frank