What It Means to be Filled with the Holy Spirit # 59

The Natural Man Receiveth Not the Things of the Spirit (continued)

And Each Man Did That Which Was Right in His Own Eyes

So the Lord used Samson to begin to deliver the children of Israel out of the hands of the Philistines. We have seen that Israel should not have been in bondage to the Philistines, or to the Canaanites; but they were overcome, over and over again, because they did not drive them out when they were strong. They did not drive them out when they were "strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might." They were taken into bondage because they allowed their natural man to govern their lives. Even after the Lord began to deliver them through Samson, we find these solemn words recorded at the end of the Book of Judges: "In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did [continually] that which was right in his own eyes." This caused the strength of everyone's natural man to grow stronger and stronger, until the collective strength of the natural man governed Israel. Then Saul, who represents the accumulative strength of their corporate natural man, was made their king.

In the Old Testament, we have seen that the Philistines are one of the agents used by satan for his antichrist activity. We have also seen that that which is of the antichrist becomes stronger and stronger when God's people, individually or corporately, give place to the devil by allowing their natural man to control their lives. So the Philistines had reached their maximum strength because the natural man was king in Israel, and Goliath appeared to challenge Israel. The strength and power of the antichrist spirit of satan had reached its maximum strength, and the sum of its evil strength is 666.

But God has other plans, He already has those in place who will overcome this giant of uncircumcision. Therefore, during the last years of Samson's life, when God began to deliver His people out of the hands of the Philistines, and during the time each man was continually doing that which was right in his own eyes, a handmaid of he Lord was praying. In the hill country of Mount Ephraim, in a town called Ramah, a handmaid of the Lord, a bondslave of the Lord, named Hannah was in deep travail and anguish because she had no child.

"Year after year" Hannah poured out her earnest longings for a son. "Year after year" Hannah poured out her sorrows and distresses before the Lord. Though she felt oppressed, and even "bitter in soul" at times, she still continued her travail "in the Spirit," she did not give up. Hannah's travail was the travail of the Spirit; in other words, her prayers were not expended upon her own natural desires. No! At the center of Hannah's prayers was her desire to satisfy the Lord and His Way, for she vowed to give her son to the Lord: "...I will give him unto the Lord all the days of his life..." (1 Samuel 1:11).

So Samuel was born. God had called and chosen Himself a man who would serve Him all the days of his life, and Samuel proved to be one of the most faithful of God's servants. Remember, throughout the ages, those who are with the Lamb as He overcomes all that is antichrist are "they that are ... called,and chosen, and faithful" (Revelation 17:14). Samuel was birthed through prayer, even his name speaks of prayer. Samuel's name means both "asked of God" and "God heard." Samuel was birthed through prayer because Hannah's long travail was "in the Spirit"; and Samuel himself became a fervent intercessor.

~T. Austin-Sparks~

(continued with # 60)