At Imperial Academy, we have been going over Mr. Gerald Flurry’s sermon from Summer Educational Program in 2024 in our forums. His first point was: God is re-creating Himself in man. While introducing that point, he said: “If you really understood that fully in your mind, you might get a little close to fainting.” Herbert W. Armstrong said it is almost unbelievable if you think about all of this—but it’s true! God really does want to give us everything!

Mr. Flurry said that we are here to win victories because God’s whole plan is to make us leaders who will share the very throne and power of Jesus Christ Himself! Can you imagine yourself on that throne? How much do you believe that God will use you to lead the world? You must make this personal and real! This is your future.

In 1 Samuel 9, there was a man in the same situation that many of us can find ourselves in today. Verses 15-16 say: “Now the Lord had told Samuel in his ear a day before Saul came, saying, To morrow about this time I will send thee a man out of the land of Benjamin, and thou shalt anoint him to be captain over my people Israel, that he may save my people out of the hand of the Philistines: for I have looked upon my people, because their cry is come unto me.” God was using Samuel to set up a king over all of Israel, and that meant it was about to get very real for one man.

When Saul realized what was being asked of him he said, “Am not I a Benjamite, of the smallest of the tribes of Israel? and my family the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin? wherefore then speakest thou so to me?” (verse 21). Samuel praised him, and he wasn’t comfortable with it. He had a hard time believing that he could be “the desire of Israel”!

“Then Samuel took a vial of oil, and poured it upon his head, and kissed him, and said, Is it not because the Lord hath anointed thee to be captain over his inheritance?” (1 Samuel 10:1). Saul was just going about his day, looking for his father’s animals, and now he had been anointed king over Israel!

God gave him three signs to make this believable to him. The first was that he would meet two men who would tell him his father’s animals were found. Later, he would meet three men who would give him two loaves of bread. Lastly, he would run into students and receive God’s Holy Spirit. God was very detailed in these signs to try to make this real to Saul.

Neither Saul nor David were looking for the throne. They were just trying to do their jobs, and God chose them and exalted them. If we exalt ourselves, then God will humble us. In the Spokesman Club manual, Mr. Armstrong warns that if the men go into club thinking they are big shots, they will probably be humiliated. None of us were seeking to be future leaders of the World Tomorrow. We were drafted, and now we must run with it! God calls the lowly of the world to become His king-priests.

Samuel brought all of Israel together to cast lots to introduce their new king. “And when Samuel had caused all the tribes of Israel to come near, the tribe of Benjamin was taken. When he had caused the tribe of Benjamin to come near by their families, the family of Matri was taken, and Saul the son of Kish was taken: and when they sought him, he could not be found” (verses 20-21). Saul thought that if he hid, they would just pick someone else.

Verse 22: “Therefore they enquired of the Lord further, if the man should yet come thither. And the Lord answered, Behold he hath hid himself among the stuff. ”Saul hid himself so well from this opportunity that they needed God to tell them where he was. “And they ran and fetched him thence: and when he stood among the people, he was higher than any of the people from his shoulders and upward. And Samuel said to all the people, See ye him whom the Lord hath chosen, that there is none like him among all the people? And all the people shouted, and said, God save the king” (verses 23-24).

Saul may have looked the part, but inside he was having a hard time believing it, even after all those signs and all that time that he spent with the Prophet Samuel.

Overcome a Spirit of Fear

The Matthew Henry commentary suggests Saul may have been afraid he was not capable enough for this job. We all must conquer our inferiority complexes, or we too will run from royal opportunities God gives us.

In How to Be an Overcomer, Mr. Flurry identifies inferiority complexes as a big issue we must conquer. God chose you. He wants you to be a leader. Even though we are the lowly of the world, we can change that. We may not be soldiers, but God is helping us to become spiritual soldiers. We may not have experience in royal courts, but God gives us Church activities, school activities and more to learn what it means to be royalty.

We can put ourselves into Saul’s shoes as he stood there after being declared king. We are about to be kings at Christ’s return, and God is trying to do all He can to make this future of ruling from David’s throne real to us! Do we believe it?

Another possibility the commentary includes is that maybe he was worried his neighbors would be jealous of him. He was known to be a people pleaser in the Bible. Do we fear accepting opportunities because we are too concerned of what our friends may think? Might other’s opinions be an idol for us and hinder us from obeying God?

The last possibility Matthew Henry gives is that, knowing that God wanted him to subdue the Philistines, Saul may have been apprehensive about this. He may have felt intimidated.

We don’t know why Saul hid among the stuff—there may have been another reason, but this example is recorded for us to learn from. God is setting us up on David’s throne. We can’t let fear, inferiority complexes or people’s opinions get in the way. God is giving us education with vision in His Church, and that future underpins all that we do!

Be Bold

Mr. Flurry said in his sermon: “You must be bold and you must be aggressive if you’re going to lead the world, and that’s what it’s all about! You can see why God sets such high goals for us.” We cannot be like King Saul and go hide in stuff.

We need to be like King David! Soon after David was anointed, he ran to battle with Goliath.

Think about the ways that fear may be holding you back. Fear causes us to become self-conscious and keeps us from letting our true personality shine. It can cause us to follow the crowd. We can learn to become bold and aggressive over time. David didn’t start out charging after the giant. He learned boldness by going after the bears and the lions first! We have many opportunities to grow in that boldness too. It can be as simple as raising your hand, asking questions, putting your thoughts out there in front of your classmates and teachers. God has given us plenty of ways to learn to overcome that tendency to hide in the stuff, and we must take advantage of them!

When you think about Saul’s decision to hide, it was all selfish. But God’s love is unselfish—it’s about putting God first and loving others as yourself. In his sermon, Mr. Flurry turned to 1 John 4:18: “perfect love casteth out fear.” You can pray for that love, and as you grow in it, you will overcome those insecurities and become bolder. God promises in 2 Timothy 1:7: “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”

You are here to win victories because God wants to make you leaders! Can you imagine yourself on that throne? It’s almost unbelievable, but work on imagining yourself on that throne. Look on yourself as a future leader of that world!