The Suddenness of the New Birth

# 126 – Today's Du-votional comes from 1Sa 10:6 "Then the Spirit of the LORD will come upon you, and you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man. (1 Sam 10:6) When Saul bumps into the musicians who are bubbling over with the Spirit, this same Spirit will literally rush upon him, leap upon him, overpower his flesh and turn him into another man. Saul is about to be mugged by the Holy Spirit of God working through His Word. The striking part of this encounter is the suddenness of it all. One minute Saul is walking along, still trying to figure out what this being king is all about, and the next moment, BANG! A new man! He suddenly finds himself prophesying or bubbling over with the Holy Spirit just as these musicians were. I am reminded of that first Pentecost of the New Testament church. We read about it in Ac 2, “And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind,” (v2) “And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” (v4) And what were they speaking? “ the wonderful works of God." (v11) And they were speaking of these works in a clearly understandable way to their audience. Oh the suddenness of it all. One moment the disciples cowering in fear in the upper room, the next moment boldly proclaiming the wonderful workings of God. One minute Saul the timid Benjamite, the next moment a changed man filled with the Holy Spirit and ready to serve as God's anointed King. How does this happen? It happens by God's grace! It is by His divine influence on the individual heart that brings about the new man. Eph 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. God uses His Word to bring His saving grace to the unregenerated heart. 1Pe 1:23 says, “having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever,” Let those who have been born again, spill out His Word! Who knows how suddenly God will use that Word to make new men out of others?