Participants: Pr. Doug Batchelor
Series Code: EG
Program Code: EG021706A
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00:15 Now today in particular we're gonna be talking about,
00:19 the sermon title is "From Friend to Fugitive". 00:23 Now you've probably heard the expression 00:25 before that power or authority can corrupt, 00:30 and absolute power can corrupt absolutely. 00:34 And unfortunately, 00:35 when God had taken King Saul 00:38 from being just one of the common people 00:41 and exalted him to king. 00:42 At first, he was small in his own eyes, 00:44 but then as he met with some success, 00:46 some popularity, and some acclaim of the people, 00:49 he started believing in all the compliments. 00:52 You know, when you have power and influence, 00:54 people will say all kinds of nice things to you 00:56 because they may be want favors, 00:58 and they'll give you all kinds of compliments, 01:00 and if you start believing all of that, 01:02 it can be very damaging. 01:04 And Saul began to accept this adoration 01:07 and this worship and think more highly of himself, 01:10 started disregarding the Lord and the law of the Lord, 01:14 and ultimately he started grieving away the spirit. 01:19 And God told Samuel, pick someone else to be king. 01:22 So David was chosen 01:24 and anointed this shepherd boy to be the king 01:27 that would someday replace Saul, 01:29 but it did not happen quickly. 01:31 God is very patient in the way He works out His will. 01:35 And strangely, Saul and now he became disturbed 01:38 because when the Spirit of the Lord 01:40 left Saul, evil spirits tend to come in. 01:43 You know that parable where Jesus said, 01:44 "If a man is freed from an evil spirit 01:47 if he does not replace it with something good, 01:50 seven worse will come in." 01:52 And when the Holy Spirit left that vacuum, 01:54 and Saul had been grieving away 01:56 and disobeying the Spirit of God, 01:58 he was then tormented by evil spirits, 02:01 and darkness, and melancholy. 02:03 And they said, you need a musician 02:05 who will come and pray, 02:07 play some inspiring music for you. 02:09 And we've heard that there is this 02:10 son of Jesse in Bethlehem, 02:12 he's very skilled and he can sing too. 02:16 And bring him, let him see 02:17 if the music will lift your spirits, 02:19 and David was brought, and sure enough it did. 02:22 Well, it wasn't long after this 02:24 that there was this challenge with Goliath 02:27 which is 1 Samuel 17. 02:29 And we know that story, that David, 02:32 he ends up coming back from the fields once again, 02:35 comes to the front of the battle 02:37 and he soundly defeats Goliath. 02:41 Takes Goliath sword, 02:43 removes Goliath's head 02:45 after he renders him unconscious with a stone. 02:49 Yeah, and this is where our story takes up now 02:52 and you go to 1 Samuel 18. 02:56 And Saul is talking to his general saying, 03:01 "Who is this young man's family 03:03 because I promised whoever defeats though, 03:05 the giant would be tax free in the kingdom, 03:09 and there'd be some benefits, and some rewards." 03:12 And they said, 03:14 "Well, I'm not sure who his family is, 03:16 you know, David had been there in the court of Saul, 03:19 but I guess they hadn't done a lot of talking. 03:21 And finally, Saul calls him, and this is chapter 17:58. 03:26 He said, "'Whose son are you, young man?' 03:28 So David answered," and said, 03:29 "I'm the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite." 03:33 Now when he had finished speaking to Saul, 03:36 evidently when Saul was talking to David, 03:39 the crown prince 03:40 Saul's oldest son Jonathan was there. 03:44 And it says, "And Jonathan loved him as his own soul." 03:50 That's an interesting statement to make but, you know, 03:53 Jonathan when you read about him early, 03:55 he's very different from his father. 03:57 Jonathan had the courage to go into battle 03:59 with his armor bearer. 04:01 You remember, when he said, 04:03 "I realize there's only two of us, 04:04 but if the Lord is with us then it doesn't matter 04:07 'cause you and God are always majority." 04:09 And Jonathan and his armor bearer 04:12 defeated a garrison of 20 Philistines 04:14 just the two of them, 04:15 so he had a large hearted man, he had a lot of faith. 04:20 And when he saw the faith of David 04:22 going against the giant, he was inspired, 04:24 he said, yes, that's what I wanted to do, 04:26 but my father wouldn't let me, that's my theory, 04:29 I can't prove it, but you can't disprove it. 04:31 And it says that, 04:32 "Jonathan loved him as his own soul." 04:34 There was something that the two of them shared, 04:37 you've met people before 04:38 and you've had friends before 04:39 where you know that you clicked, 04:42 that you just resonated. 04:43 You sometimes knew what the other was thinking 04:45 before they spoke, 04:46 and the hearts and the souls of Jonathan and David were one. 04:51 And it says, "He loved him as his own soul." 04:54 And verse 2, "Saul took him that day, 04:56 and would not let him go home to his father's house anymore." 04:59 'Cause prior to this David was sort of on call, 05:03 when he would have, 05:04 when Saul would have these 05:06 bouts of depression and melancholy, 05:08 David would be called 05:09 and he'd come and he'd play and he'd be refreshed 05:11 then he get busy with other things 05:13 and David would go back home again. 05:15 But now he's telling David 05:16 to look after the giant business, 05:17 you're staying, you're good luck, 05:19 you're staying with me, 05:20 I don't wanna let him go home." 05:22 Now this next verse talks about the great friendship. 05:26 It says, "Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, 05:29 because he loved him as his own soul." 05:32 Now I want to pause here before I read the next verse. 05:35 The word "Jonathan" 05:37 the way you say God or one of the names for God 05:40 in Hebrew is Yahweh, 05:43 and sometimes you'll find like 05:45 Joshua, Yeshua, it means, Yahweh is savior, 05:49 same name as Jesus. 05:51 When you see Jesus again in Hebrew is Yeshua. 05:56 Yonatan is Jonathan. 06:00 Nathan means gift, 06:04 Jonathan means gift of God. 06:06 You've heard the name Nathaniel, 06:08 it's another name for God. 06:09 Elohim, that means gift of God, 06:10 it's just kind of a reverse way of saying it. 06:12 We've got a boy named Nathan, It means gift, 06:16 and gifts come in many forms, 06:18 as Nathan is a gift. 06:20 But Jonathan means gift of God and He is the son of the King. 06:27 He is a type of Christ, 06:30 says, he loved David as his own soul. 06:31 Now listen how he demonstrates that love 06:34 that he makes a covenant. 06:36 Does Jesus make a covenant with us, 06:38 because He loves us like his own soul? 06:41 You still with me? 06:43 Jonathan took off the robe that was on him 06:45 and he gave it to David. 06:47 Does Jesus give us a robe, 06:50 a symbol of His righteousness? 06:53 And it says, "He gave him his armor." 06:56 Does the Bible tell us in Ephesians 6 06:59 that the Son of the King, 07:02 Jesus, the gift of God, 07:03 God so loved the world He gave His Son 07:05 that the heavenly Jonathan gives us his armor. 07:09 We are to put on the armor of God. 07:12 You know, David didn't want the armor of Saul 07:14 but he does take the armor of Jonathan, 07:17 might have been more of his size too. 07:19 And it says, "Even his sword." 07:22 Does Jesus give us a sword, the Word of God? 07:26 "And his bow", in the Bible, the bow is a symbol of strength 07:28 'cause it took strength to pull back those bows. 07:31 "And his belt", another implement 07:33 in the armor of God, the belt of truth. 07:35 And so he makes his covenant with him 'cause he loves him 07:38 and he gives him all the things necessary to be victorious. 07:41 It's interesting that as David is preparing to go through 07:46 one of the hardest times in his life, 07:47 because up until now when he killed the giant, 07:50 but David doesn't show 07:51 that he's gone through any real trials. 07:53 We're getting ready to read about a number of trials, 07:56 where David goes from his friendship with Jonathan 07:59 to being a fugitive 08:00 and it's almost like God is telling us 08:03 at the beginning of these chapters 08:06 that he makes a covenant with them, 08:09 he arms him, 08:10 he gives him everything he's gonna need 08:12 to survive the trials he's about to go through, 08:14 so I think there's a spiritual analogy here. 08:17 Verse 5, in 1 Samuel 18:5, 08:21 "So David went out 08:22 and wherever Saul sent him, and he behaved wisely." 08:26 Why? 'Cause the Holy Spirit has come upon him. 08:28 "And Saul set him over the men of war, 08:31 and he was accepted in the sight of the people..." 08:33 He's the hero, he's killed the giant. 08:35 "And also in the sight of Saul's servants." 08:38 And up to this point, it says Saul loved David also, 08:42 you'll notice it says, Jonathan loved David. 08:45 The servants loved David. 08:47 "Now it happened as they were coming home, 08:49 when David was returning 08:50 from the slaughter of the Philistine, 08:52 that the women had come out of all the cities of Israel..." 08:56 Now they've come back from one of their battles 08:58 and with the Philistines 09:01 and you've probably seen a victory parade before, 09:05 you know, at the time of this recording 09:06 a Super Bowl completed, 09:09 and the winning team, 09:11 and I guess it was quite a game. 09:14 The winning team had a victory parade, 09:16 even though the weather was very inclement, 09:18 everybody came out 09:19 and they all wanted to welcome their heroes 09:21 and praise their heroes. 09:22 Well, when they came back from a victorious battle 09:24 against the Philistines, 09:26 all the people came up principally women 09:27 'cause all the men are fighting. 09:29 And the women would dress up 09:31 and they'd get their tambourines, and they play 09:33 and they sing these songs of victory 09:36 and they had the ticker tape parade. 09:38 And while they're doing, here's one of the songs. 09:41 It says, "The women sang as they dance, 09:43 they went out before the procession." 09:45 Saul has slain his thousands," 09:48 and Saul heard that and he smiled 09:51 and he took a chest full of air 09:53 and made him feel really good, 09:54 and start to look down on all the people 09:56 'cause he was taller and being on a horse, 09:58 he was really high, 10:00 but then he heard the next verse. 10:03 And the women went on to sing, 10:04 and I don't know who wrote this song 10:06 and they never get royalties for it, 10:08 but someone wrote the second verse, 10:12 and it calls all kinds of problems. 10:14 "And David his ten thousands." 10:17 Now David was the armor bearer of Saul, 10:19 Saul's coming back, 10:21 Saul was leading the parade and David is back a little bit. 10:25 And when Saul hears them say, Saul has slain his, how many? 10:30 Thousands. 10:32 But then the women go on to say, 10:33 "And David his ten thousands." 10:36 He was, "what?" 10:37 Instead of saying, that's right take a bow David, 10:40 you deserve it, isn't he great? 10:42 And cheering along, he becomes resentful, 10:45 he's jealous. 10:47 If you don't have the Spirit of God, 10:48 there's only one alternative, whose spirit do you have? 10:52 If you are not like Christ, 10:54 you're like the other character. 10:57 And Satan wants all the praise and the glory. 11:01 And when Saul grieved away the Spirit of God, 11:03 he wanted all the praise and the glory, 11:05 and when he heard them giving acclaim to David, 11:08 he now becomes very jealous, he's not at all happy, 11:12 and he starts to resent it. 11:14 The Bible says that, "Saul was very angry..." 11:18 Verse 8, "Saying, and the saying displeased him. 11:22 And he said, 11:23 'They have ascribed to David ten thousand, 11:25 to me they've only ascribed thousands." 11:27 Now anyone out there have been given credit 11:29 for slaying thousands of enemies? 11:32 I mean, I would be happy with that 11:34 and he was until he heard the next verse. 11:38 You know, if you go to Baskin-Robbins 11:40 try this sometime, you got a couple of kids. 11:44 Get one two scoops and hand them their two scoops 11:46 and they will be so happy, 11:47 but then get their sibling three scoops. 11:51 Watch the problems that will cause. 11:53 Even if they've only got room to eat two scoops, 11:56 the fact that one of the others got three, 11:59 they're not happy with two anymore. 12:02 They would have been happy, 12:03 but the idea that someone else got more. 12:08 Millionaires are happy until they find out 12:09 that someone else got a billion, 12:11 and they're not happy anymore. 12:13 Someone asked Rockefeller, 12:15 "How much money does it take to make a person happy?" 12:19 He said, "A little more." 12:21 It's always a little more. 12:24 And if you don't have the Spirit of God, 12:26 then you're never satisfied, and Saul is unsatisfied 12:29 with the amount of praise he's getting, 12:30 especially if someone gets more. 12:32 I'm the king and he goes on and he says, 12:34 "They're giving him credit for ten thousands, 12:37 and me only thousands." 12:39 And then he adds, 12:40 "What more can he have but the kingdom?" 12:43 Now don't forget 12:45 Saul had received word from Samuel the prophet, 12:48 the Lord is going to take the kingdom away from you 12:51 and give it to your neighbor who is better than you. 12:53 He knew that there was someone, a nigh brother, 12:56 someone else in the kingdom 12:57 that was going to get the kingdom. 13:00 And it just cracks me up that, 13:02 he kept suspiciously looking 13:04 at all the other subjects wondering, what are their clan? 13:06 What are their family? 13:07 Where was this person that was gonna 13:08 dare to replace him? 13:12 And all of that while he get, he'd think about 13:14 who was going to replace him and it would bother him, 13:16 and he go into one of his fits of depression, 13:18 and anger, and rage. 13:19 And he said, "David come play for me, 13:21 I got to figure out who it is gonna replace me." 13:23 He was David, his musician. 13:26 This is the first time he begins to suspect 13:29 that maybe David is the one, after all he killed the giant, 13:34 all the people love him. 13:35 Boy, if there was an election, they'd vote for him right now. 13:38 You see what's happening in his mind. 13:41 And he's thinking, oh, maybe David is the one. 13:45 And from that moment, verse 9, 13:47 "So Saul eyed David from that day forward." 13:51 And here is where David's trials really begin. 13:54 "And it happens..." 13:55 verse 10, "The next day 13:57 a distressing spirit came from God on Saul, 14:01 and he prophesied, he's ranting in the house. 14:04 And David played music, David's got his beautiful harp, 14:07 and he's strumming, and he's singing, 14:09 he's trying to soothe them, but why is Saul ranting. 14:12 The day after this parade, he's upset, 14:14 what's he upset about? 14:15 David, and so David's there, and he's trying to soothe him, 14:19 the last person in the world now Saul wants to soothe him 14:22 is the one that is scaring him, that he's gonna take his place. 14:26 And so in a fit of jealousy, 14:29 it says, "His spear was in his hand. 14:32 And Saul cast the spear, 14:37 and he said, 'I will pin David to the wall.'" 14:40 But, you know, if you can kill giants, 14:42 you're usually pretty quick. 14:44 And David being a shepherd and all, 14:47 he quickly ducked and evaded the spear. 14:51 Some of you remember that image from the news years ago 14:54 when President George W. Bush 14:59 was in Iraq at a news conference, 15:02 and one of the Iraqis who wasn't too happy about 15:05 what was going on there, 15:07 took off his shoe and threw it at the president. 15:09 Remember all that. 15:11 And that's a terribly disrespectful thing 15:13 but, you know, what really impress folks, 15:15 is a guy threw two shoes, Bush dodged them both. 15:20 And I was really impressed with his coordination. 15:22 And someone asked Laura about it and she said, 15:24 "He's always been very athletic." 15:27 But it says that not only did this happen once, 15:31 you notice in verse 11, it says, 15:32 "He escaped his presence twice", 15:34 it tells you later about the second incident, 15:36 throws a spear at him. 15:37 Now I wouldn't go back to work, if my boss did that to me. 15:41 But he's the king 15:43 and they knew he was having mental problems. 15:45 They said, well, maybe that was just an episode, 15:47 he will get over and that won't happen again, 15:49 but it didn't happen so fast. 15:51 So Saul finally fires David. 15:54 David is removed from his position 15:57 as the medical minstrel in the palace. 16:00 You heard of medical missionaries, 16:03 David was a medical musician. 16:05 And so he says, 16:06 "Look, I don't want you in the palace and you don't, 16:08 no more playing for me anymore. 16:10 He says, I want to make you a captain of thousands, 16:13 we're engaged in full ongoing 16:16 declaration of war with the Philistines. 16:18 I'm gonna put you in charge of a thousand soldiers, 16:20 you're to lead them into battle. 16:22 And he thought to himself, you know, 16:23 there was a high mortality rate among those soldiers, 16:26 the captains of thousands, 16:28 thought I don't want to destroy him, 16:30 I'll make the Philistines kill him. 16:32 And it says, "So David went out and came in before the people." 16:35 Verse 14, "David behaved himself wisely 16:38 in all his ways, 16:40 and the Lord was with him and he kept winning victories. 16:43 Therefore, when Saul saw 16:45 that he behaved himself a very wisely, 16:48 now how count how many times it says, 16:49 "David behaved himself wisely, wisely, wisely." 16:53 He's gone from being a shepherd 16:56 to hobnobbing in the palace of the kingdom 16:58 and he's praying always 17:00 that God will give him wisdom 17:01 to know what to say, when to be quiet, 17:02 how to conduct himself wisely, 17:04 all of this and he's gone from being a shepherd, 17:05 he's leading soldiers in the battle, 17:07 he was still comparatively a young man. 17:10 I remember years ago 17:11 when I first went into ministry... 17:14 Oh, no, even before I was in ministry, 17:17 when I started attending church 17:19 and I started teaching the Sabbath school class 17:21 that some of the folks in the church 17:23 got to get in, they said, Doug, we need to ordain you an elder. 17:28 I said, "An elder," said, "I'd barely grown a moustache, 17:31 you want to make me an elder." 17:34 I don't want to be unkind, 17:36 but any of you ever had Mormon missionaries 17:38 visit your house? 17:39 That's commendable that they're out there doing that. 17:42 But, you know, they wear a name tag, what does it say? 17:45 Say so and so Elder Jones and Elder Carpenter, 17:48 whoever it is, it will say elder 17:49 and some of these are young guys, 17:51 they can't even grow a mustache yet. 17:53 The word for elder there in the Bible is presbuteros 17:56 and it means people of age and experience. 17:59 I said, "Elder?" 18:00 And the one's that are asking me were in their 80s. 18:02 Said, "Doug, we want to make you an elder." 18:05 And I studied it out and I said, "I'm doing this." 18:08 "Well, this is what you got to do, 18:09 if you're gonna teach and if you're gonna, 18:11 you know, minister to community you need to be an elder, 18:12 and so they finally talk to me into being an elder, 18:14 but I always felt like that was a misnomer. 18:16 I felt like I'm way out of my league, 18:18 so here David is just, 18:20 you know, he hasn't even... 18:21 When he went to fight Goliath, Saul said, 18:23 "You're just a youth, he's a man of war." 18:25 But now he's telling him, 18:26 "I'll make you a captain of a thousand 18:29 but he's winning battles. 18:31 He's learning some of the skills 18:33 he learned dodging bears 18:35 and wolves and lions out there in the wilderness, 18:38 when it came to knowing the terrain 18:40 and leading his army. 18:41 And David was a very successful general. 18:44 You'll never find in the Bible where David lost a battle, 18:48 not with the enemy on the battlefield, very brave, 18:52 very courageous, very strong, and very successful. 18:56 And this started bothering him, more successful he was, 18:59 the more it bothered Saul. 19:01 Saul doesn't want him to be successful. 19:03 The more he's victorious, the more kingly he appears. 19:06 And Saul is now afraid that 19:07 David's the one that's gonna take his place. 19:10 Verse 15, "When Saul saw that he behaved very wisely, 19:14 he was afraid of him. 19:16 But all Israel and Judah loved David," you notice that? 19:19 First it says, Saul loved him, now Saul hates him. 19:22 You read in chapter 16, it says Saul loved David. 19:25 Jonathan loves him. 19:27 All of Israel loves him. 19:31 And so Saul said to David, I got an idea, 19:35 he's a poor shepherd, I'll let him marry my daughter 19:37 because when he killed the giant, 19:39 then one of the ideas was 19:40 you're gonna get to marry one of the king's daughter, 19:42 Saul had several children. 19:44 And he said, "I'll let him marry my daughter Merab 19:47 and I'll give you to you as wife. 19:49 Only be valiant for me and fight the Lord's battles. 19:52 For Saul thought, 19:54 'Let my hand not be against him, 19:56 but let the hand of the Philistines 19:58 be against him.'" 19:59 Now that idea of killing your enemy 20:01 through your enemies. 20:03 David later picked up on that, 20:05 and you remember what David did 20:06 when he wanted to get rid of Uriah? 20:08 Said, "I won't lift my hand against him, 20:10 make him go to the front of the hottest battle 20:13 with the Amorites and let them kill him, 20:17 and it happened, but didn't work for Saul. 20:20 Saul hoped that, 20:21 "Look, I know you're poor and you can't pay a dowry, 20:24 but if you go fight battles for me, 20:26 and if you'll kill a hundred Philistines, 20:29 bring me evidence 20:30 that you've killed hundred Philistines, 20:32 you know, David just didn't feel worthy." 20:34 He said, "So you think it's a small thing 20:35 to be the king's son in law?" 20:37 But then Saul got word, "Michal..." 20:39 I'm in verse 20. 20:41 Your daughter Michal, she is smitten by David. 20:44 And they told Saul and the thing pleased him. 20:46 He said, notice, it's verse 21, Saul said, 20:49 "I'll give her to him 20:51 that she might be a snare to him, 20:53 and that the hand of the Philistines 20:55 might be against him." 20:56 Well, it turns out Michal ended up 20:58 being a snare in many ways, 21:00 but he was hoping that his love for Michal 21:04 and her love for him 21:05 that he'd use the dowry of killing hundred Philistines 21:10 that David, you know, he'd be killed 21:12 in one of those battles and he'd never do it. 21:14 "Saul said to David the second time, 21:16 'You're to be my son-in-law today.' 21:19 And Saul commanded his servants, 21:20 'Communicate with David secretly, 21:21 say him, 'Look, the king delights in you 21:24 and His servants love you. 21:25 Now therefore go 21:26 and become the king's son-in-law."' 21:28 So they told David that. 21:30 And so David said, "All right, well, if you insist 21:32 but that just doesn't seem right 21:34 that I should only kill 100 Philistines, 21:36 I'll kill 200." 21:38 So David goes out and he doubles it. 21:41 You know, when you loved your firstborn, 21:44 you give a double portion, 21:46 when Elkanah loved Hannah, he gave a double portion. 21:51 Bible says, Elisha said to Elijah, 21:53 "If you love me, give me a double portion." 21:57 And so David said, "I won't kill 100 Philistines, 22:00 I'll kill 200" 22:01 and he did, and he brought the evidence. 22:05 And Saul is mystified because everything he's doing, 22:09 all these plots are backfiring, 22:10 and he's getting madder and madder, 22:12 he's trying to pretend he likes David 22:13 but inwardly he hates him, 22:15 he's very jealous, very peevish and small. 22:20 And so Saul knew that the Lord was with David, 22:23 and then Michal Saul's daughter loved him, 22:25 so he got someone else that loves him, 22:28 and Saul was more afraid of David. 22:31 So Saul, I am in verse 29 of chapter 18, 22:33 we're about done with this chapter. 22:35 "Saul became David's enemy continually." 22:40 Not good to have the king as your enemy. 22:43 Now you're gonna see from this point on 22:44 David begins to go through a series of trials, 22:49 and you might be wondering 22:50 why is all this happening to David. 22:52 Didn't God have a big plan for David's life? 22:54 Why is he going through all this hardship? 22:57 I thought he was gonna be anointed king 22:59 and suddenly sit on the front throne, 23:00 be surrounded with gold and everybody obeying Him. 23:03 But David goes from being filled with the spirit 23:06 to all kinds of trials. 23:09 Now don't forget that 23:10 because you go through trials and life gets messy 23:15 and you've got challenges 23:16 in all kinds of different areas, 23:18 does not mean God does not have a plan for you. 23:20 Sometimes the Lord allows you 23:22 to go through a whole spectrum of trials 23:25 'cause he's preparing you to live and reign with Him. 23:30 God through the trials was preparing David 23:33 to be a king. 23:35 Why did Joseph go through all of his trials? 23:38 God was preparing him to lead for many years 23:41 but, you know, you learn leadership through service. 23:44 And David was being prepared through these trials. 23:48 Verse 30, "Then the princes of the Philistines 23:50 went out to war. 23:51 And so it was, whenever they went out, 23:54 that David behaved more wisely..." 23:56 You noticing the pattern. 23:57 "Than all the servants of Saul, 23:59 so his name became highly esteemed." 24:02 Wherever they went out into battle, 24:04 David would always have the best battle plan, 24:08 his troops would be victorious, they were always the ones 24:11 that were blowing the trumpet, 24:12 coming to the rescue of everybody else, 24:14 they went down mowing down the enemy 24:17 and the morale of his group, his team was very great. 24:22 So Saul spoke to Jonathan, his son, chapter 19, verse 1, 24:26 "That they should kill David. 24:28 But Jonathan, Saul's son, delighted greatly in David." 24:31 You notice that Jonathan is interceding with the king 24:34 for David, again another Christ like attribute, 24:37 now that the father wants to kill you, 24:39 but it's like against judgment. 24:42 "And Jonathan told David saying, 24:43 'Look, my father wants to kill you. 24:45 Therefore please be on your guard until morning, 24:47 stay in a secret place and hide." 24:49 You go on this field, they assigned a place. 24:50 He said, I'm gonna walk out of the field, 24:52 and I'll talk to my dad, you'll be able to listen, 24:55 and I'll stand in the field and I'll talk to him. 24:58 "Thus Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father, 25:01 and said to him, 25:02 'Let not the king sin against his servant, David, 25:05 because he has not sinned against you, 25:07 because his works have been very good. 25:09 Jonathan waited till Saul was in a good mood, 25:11 he wasn't having the evil spirit, 25:12 he could reason with him. 25:14 "For he took his life in his hand 25:16 and he killed the Philistine, 25:17 and the Lord brought about 25:18 a great deliverance for all of Israel. 25:20 You saw, then you rejoiced. 25:23 Why will you then sin against innocent blood?" 25:26 What did Pilate say 25:27 when they wanted to execute Jesus? 25:30 I don't want to be guilty 25:31 against this man's innocent blood. 25:34 Why will you sin against innocent blood 25:35 to kill David without a cause? 25:38 You know, Saul had not totally grieved away the spirit 25:40 and the spirit reason with him at this point, 25:42 and he listen to the voice of Jonathan. 25:45 And Saul swore, he made a vow, by the way this vow came true. 25:48 "As the Lord lives, he will not be killed." 25:52 You know, that Saul made another vow 25:54 that his son Jonathan would die, 25:57 and Jonathan did die a violent death 25:59 and David did not. 26:01 It's interesting, Saul was a prophet 26:03 and Bible says that. 26:05 "And Jonathan called David, 26:07 and Jonathan told him all these things." 26:09 He said, "Look, he's calmed down, he's okay, 26:11 you can go back." 26:13 "And Jonathan brought David to Saul 26:14 as he was in the past, 26:16 and in his presence in past times. 26:19 And there was war again. 26:20 And David went out 26:21 and he fought with the Philistines, 26:22 and he struck them with a mighty blow, 26:23 and they fled from him. 26:25 And now the distressing spirit of the Lord 26:27 came upon Saul as he sat in his house, 26:29 his spear in his hand. 26:31 And David was playing music." 26:33 Now if I were David, I would have thought, 26:34 you know, 26:35 "Your Majesty, can you please put the spear now 26:37 and I'll play for you." 26:39 You've already once tried to shish kebab me. 26:43 We don't want you to, you know, just have a flinch, 26:47 ill-temper and... 26:48 But he is playing, now, do you think David was relaxed? 26:53 He's probably missing a few notes 26:55 and Saul is scowling at him 26:58 and he is tightening and losing his grip 27:00 on his spear. 27:01 Every time Saul shifted, 27:02 David would miss a note, you know, 27:05 'cause this didn't go well last time, 27:07 and this was the second time. 27:09 And again, he's playing music. 27:12 "And Saul sought to pin David to the wall with the spear, 27:16 but he slipped away from Saul's presence. 27:19 And he drove the spear into the wall." 27:21 Saul's pretty big and strong and that would have hurt. 27:24 "And he fled and he escaped that night. 27:27 Saul also sent messengers to David's house to watch him 27:30 and to kill him in the morning." 27:31 Now he's got assassins, 27:34 they're stalking his house to kill him. 27:37 "And Michal, David's wife, told him, saying, 27:39 'If you don't save your life tonight, 27:41 tomorrow you will be killed.' 27:43 So Michael let David down through a window. 27:46 And he fled and escaped." 27:48 It's not the first time that God's servants 27:50 been let down a window by a woman. 27:53 Remember the story of Rahab? 27:56 You remember when Paul was in Damascus 27:58 and they had spies waiting to kill Paul? 28:00 And he was let down through a window, 28:02 they let him down in a basket and he escaped. 28:07 "And Michal put an image and laid it in the bed..." 28:09 And everyone says, "Pastor Doug, 28:10 what was an image doing in David's house?" 28:13 Well, they did have statues back then 28:16 and that's simply what it's saying, 28:17 the Bible doesn't say, don't have any work of art, 28:20 it says, don't make them and bow down to them. 28:21 So for whatever reason they had something 28:24 that looked like a body or person 28:26 or figure of some sort. 28:28 They stuck it under the blanket, 28:31 and they took some red goatskin, 28:33 the same color as David's hair, and they put it there 28:35 and made it look like he was in the bed. 28:36 They were hoping, they'd look and say, 28:37 look, he's sick let's leave him alone. 28:40 "So Saul's messengers got the word, he is sick. 28:43 And Saul said to the messengers, 28:44 'Bring David back, 28:45 bring him in the bed that I might kill him.' 28:47 They come in, there was the image in the bed, 28:49 and the goat's hair for his head. 28:52 And Saul said to Michal, 28:53 'Why have you deceived me like this, 28:55 and you let my enemy go away.'" 28:57 She was probably thinking your enemy, 28:59 you're the one that told me to marry him. 29:02 "And Michal answered, he said, 'Let me go! 29:03 Why should I kill you?'" 29:05 It's a fib. 29:06 You'll see that there's some dishonesty 29:08 that is uttered during this whole thing. 29:10 "So David fled and escaped." 29:11 Now I want you to notice 29:12 what's going on here as we proceed. 29:14 First, he's got a true friend in Jonathan, 29:17 and Jonathan prepares 29:19 and then gives him his armor and sword 29:20 and watches over him. 29:23 And the Bible says, 29:24 "There's a friend that sticks better than a brother. 29:26 He's long as he know, he starts out with a friend, 29:29 Jonathan sees his friend through the whole ordeal 29:32 and he encourages them through the whole thing. 29:34 Do we have a friend in Jesus? 29:39 So then he loses his job. 29:40 You know, one of the hardest things 29:41 that can happen to a man is lose his job. 29:43 David had been in the palace and he's kicked out. 29:46 He says, now I want you to go be a captain. 29:49 And, you know, what's happening 29:50 with these jealous feelings of Saul, 29:52 Saul was not fighting against David. 29:54 Who is Saul really fighting against? 29:57 He's fighting against Jehovah. 29:59 Because he's grieved away the spirit, 30:01 he sees the spirit is in David, 30:03 he's trying to just destroy David 30:06 because God had said 30:08 through His word and His prophet, 30:10 someone else is gonna replace you, 30:11 and he's trying to stop it from happening. 30:13 He should have just surrendered to it. 30:15 And then he gets to marry the princes 30:17 and you'll think, you think that's a good thing. 30:20 But no, Saul tries to do that 30:22 hoping that he'll die trying to pay the dowry, 30:25 and then he sends his assassins to David's house 30:28 where Michal is to kill him. 30:29 You know, during that time, David actually wrote a psalm, 30:32 while he's going through his trials 30:33 and I don't have time. 30:35 But if you read through the Psalms, 30:36 you're going to find is, this is a psalm 30:38 that David wrote when this happened. 30:40 This is a psalm David wrote when this happened. 30:42 David actually wrote a psalm 30:43 when he sent assassins to kill him at the house, 30:48 and you find that in Psalm 59. 30:50 I'm just gonna read a few verses of that. 30:53 I want to feel like composing music, 30:55 but David found great comfort in that. 30:57 Psalm 59, I'll read verse, you know, just 1 and 3. 31:01 "Deliver me from my enemies, O God. 31:03 Defend me from those who rise up against me. 31:05 Deliver me from the workers of iniquity, 31:07 and save me from bloodthirsty men. 31:10 For they look, they lie and wait for my life." 31:13 There they were at his house lying in wait, 31:16 he's outlining what happened. 31:17 "The mighty gathered against me..." 31:18 The king was against me. 31:20 "Not for my transgression nor for my sin, O Lord." 31:24 I don't deserve this and they're trying to kill me, 31:26 they're lying in wait. 31:27 So as you look in the Psalms, 31:29 pay attention to some of those introductions 31:32 and you'll see that David wrote some of these 31:34 during times of great trial. 31:36 Isn't it interesting 31:37 how much beautiful music has been written 31:40 during times of great trial, 31:42 and so he wrote that when he fled. 31:44 Now it tells us if you go to chapter 19, verse 18. 31:49 Where does he go? 31:51 He's ended up on the most wanted list. 31:54 David now flees to Samuel. 31:57 And this is natural, 31:59 Samuel had been his spiritual mentor. 32:01 He's thinking, I'm gonna die before I ever become king, 32:03 I just like some reassurance, 32:04 you are anointing me to be king? 32:06 Doesn't look like I'm a king. 32:07 I'm running for my life right now. 32:10 And so he gets some encouragement from Samuel, 32:12 but pretty soon word came to King Saul, 32:15 that David was with Samuel and up in Naioth. 32:20 That was a town nearby to Ramah where Samuel lived. 32:24 So what does Saul do? 32:26 Stubborn sends his soldiers to arrest David. 32:32 But when his soldiers come to arrest him, 32:33 Samuel is out preaching with the sons of the prophets, 32:36 and they're prophesying to the people. 32:38 The sheriff from Saul come to arrest David, 32:43 and the Spirit of the Lord comes on them 32:44 and they start to preach. 32:46 And Saul is waiting and waiting, 32:48 said, "Why, what's taking them so long." 32:50 Sends some more to arrest David, 32:54 bring him back so I can kill him. 32:56 Another contingent goes out to arrest David, 32:58 and when they come into the presence of Samuel, 33:00 the Holy Spirit comes on them, 33:02 and they begin to preach and teach. 33:05 And Saul says, "Where are they? What's taking them so long?" 33:09 Send another group because Saul is just south of 33:12 where Samuel is, they're not that far away. 33:14 He sends another group. What happened to them? 33:17 Well, looks like the Holy Spirit came on them 33:18 and there they're preaching 33:19 and teaching along with the rest. 33:22 Finally, Saul can't stand, 33:23 he said, "Well, if you want something done right, 33:25 you do it yourself." 33:26 Says, "I'll go, I'll get him." 33:28 So he arms himself to the teeth. 33:30 He goes up there, he comes to Naioth, 33:31 where Samuel is and all the prophets 33:34 and the people and they're teaching. 33:36 And the Bible says, "The Holy Spirit came on Saul." 33:39 Can the Holy Spirit even come on a person against their will? 33:43 When Balaam wanted to curse God's people, 33:46 and God said, you can't curse them 33:47 because I blessed them. 33:48 The Holy Spirit came on Balaam, and against his will, 33:50 he had to utter a blessing. 33:54 And pretty soon, he runs out of energy 33:59 and Saul, he starts to prophesy and preach 34:02 and takes off his clothes and lies down naked, 34:06 and then he prophesies until sundown. 34:08 You can't fight against God. 34:11 So now he has to leave Samuel. 34:13 He says, well, Saul knows where I'm at, 34:14 this won't work forever. 34:16 David flees again, he goes back to Jonathan. 34:19 And most of chapter 20 is talking about 34:22 where Jonathan tries to intercede with his father. 34:26 And David says, "You didn't realize 34:27 that your father tried to kill me 34:29 in your sister's house," 34:31 David is telling Jonathan. 34:33 "So then your father sent soldiers to arrest me, 34:35 when I was up seeing Samuel. 34:36 He's trying to kill me." 34:37 Jonathan says, "No, he promised me, 34:39 he swore it wouldn't happen." 34:40 He said, "No, he's trying to kill me again. 34:43 He threw a spear at me again." 34:45 Jonathan said, "Look, let me talk to him again." 34:47 Said, "You hide out here in the field." 34:49 They set up another secret mission 34:51 'cause, you know, people in the quarter watching, 34:53 there are spies looking, 34:54 David is now hiding in the bushes. 34:57 And Jonathan said, "I'll go talk to my father." 35:00 He said, "Now is the feast of the new moon." 35:02 It's a new moon Sabbath. There will be a feast. 35:04 And all of the kings, counselors, 35:06 his cabinet will be gathered together, 35:08 they're all there and he said, 35:11 "I'll ask him then in front of everybody." 35:14 And so then after the second or third day, 35:16 and David is not in his seat, 35:18 he's one of the king's captains, 35:19 he's supposed to be there. 35:20 Saul says to Jonathan, he knows they're friends. 35:23 Said, "Where is the son of Jesse?" 35:26 "Oh, dad, David asked if he could go to Bethlehem 35:30 because his family was having a special sacrifice 35:32 for the new moon, 35:33 and I told him it would be okay, 35:34 I knew you were busy." 35:36 Saul threw, went into a fit. 35:40 He says, "Don't you know if David is not dead 35:44 that you will never be crowned prince? 35:47 So you're doing this against you 35:48 and he begins to curse that his son, 35:51 says stuff about Jonathan's mother. 35:53 I mean, Saul just comes unhinged. 35:56 And Jonathan becomes outraged, 35:58 he says, "Why are you trying to kill him? 36:00 He has done nothing but good, the people love him, 36:02 everyone loves him." 36:03 And that really bothered Saul. 36:05 Saul now throws a spear at his own son 36:10 and he misses. 36:11 He does not have a very good aim 36:12 evidently with his spear. 36:15 And Jonathan goes out mad 36:16 and he meets David in the field, 36:18 and he embraces and he says, you're right. 36:20 He said, he is bent on killing you 36:22 and I can't reason with him, he's lost his mind, 36:25 he tried to spear me. 36:27 And so now he has to flee from his friend. 36:31 So you notice what's happening? 36:33 He's losing his position, he loses his wife, 36:37 he loses his home, he loses his friend. 36:41 He's separated from Samuel, 36:42 that was the last time he saw Samuel. 36:44 Samuel ends up dying by chapter 25. 36:48 He now says, "Where do I go?" 36:49 When you're losing everybody, he goes to the house of God. 36:53 Now the temple has not been built yet, 36:54 they are still operating out of a very tattered tabernacle. 36:59 And so he goes to Nob where the priest is. 37:01 I think I even have a map up on the wall 37:03 that you'll see there. 37:05 And David flees from Nob, later he goes to, 37:08 you can see where Gibeah is and Ramah 37:10 at the north of the map there is where Samuel was, 37:13 Gibeah is where Saul had his kingdom at that time. 37:16 He goes down south on the right, 37:18 there you'll see is Nob, 37:19 that's where the tabernacle was. 37:21 And he goes to Ahimelech there who is the high priest. 37:25 And when he saw David, he was scared. 37:27 He says, "How come you're alone and nobody is with you," 37:30 'cause they'd heard about Saul going after David. 37:34 And he said, "I'm on some urgent business for the king, 37:36 everything's okay." 37:37 David begins to tell stories. 37:41 I'm in chapter 21, verse 1. Thank you. 37:44 And he said, "I need some food, do you have any provisions?" 37:48 And there's the only bread here is holy bread. 37:51 He said, "That will work." 37:53 By the way, do you know David... 37:54 Jesus refers to this experience, 37:56 Matthew 12, Jesus said, "How do you not read 37:59 what David did when he was hungry 38:01 and those who are with him?" 38:02 He had a small group of men with him. 38:04 "How he entered the house of God 38:05 and ate the showbread, 38:07 that was not lawful for him to eat 38:09 nor those who were with him, but only for the priests. 38:12 But since it had served its course 38:13 and they took it out, 38:14 they were now gonna replace it with fresh bread. 38:16 They said, you can eat this and they gave David the bread, 38:18 the holy bread was given to David. 38:20 And he said, "Do you have any weapons here?" 38:22 And he said, "This is the temple." 38:24 He said, "You know, the only weapon 38:26 we've got here is we've got the relic 38:28 that you gave us, it's the sword, 38:30 it's the sword of Goliath that you gave us." 38:33 David said, "Oh, there's no sword like that, 38:34 let me have it." 38:36 So he ends up coming to the house of God, 38:38 and what does he get? 38:39 He gets holy bread and he gets a sword. 38:42 I hope you friends can find holy bread 38:44 and the sword when you come to the house of God. 38:46 What does that bread represent? 38:48 Man doesn't live by bread alone but by every word. 38:51 What does that sword represent? 38:52 The Word of God which is a two-edged sword, 38:55 he went to the house of God 38:57 and he got some encouragement there, 38:59 he was fed with holy bread, 39:01 and that's what we eat when we come to church, right. 39:04 He was fed with holy bread and he got a sword 39:06 but not like any other sword, 39:07 there was no sword like the sword of Goliath. 39:11 But, you know, that the high priest 39:12 because he had helped David, 39:15 he and his whole family 39:16 with the exception of Abimelech, one of his sons, 39:19 they were all later annihilated by Saul. 39:22 Saul became so angry, 39:24 he didn't care what means he used 39:26 or how many people were killed, 39:28 if he could just get rid of David. 39:30 Why does the devil hate people so much? 39:34 Because the devil, Satan, Lucifer hates Jesus, 39:38 the Son of David. 39:39 And most of the pain 39:41 and the suffering you see in the world today is not 39:43 'cause the devil cares that much about you, 39:45 but he wants to do what he can to hurt Jesus. 39:49 It's all about destroying Jesus, 39:50 it's all about hurting Jesus, 39:52 and that's why he then sown his wrath against the devil, 39:55 against you and me. 39:59 And so he now has to leave the house of God. 40:04 You notice something else about David, 40:05 his problem was never so much the enemy on the outside 40:08 as the enemy within. 40:10 David always was able to kill the Philistines, 40:12 but boy, he had a lot of problems 40:14 from people in the kingdom. 40:17 Now David is, he leaves the house of God 40:19 and he is so discouraged. 40:20 Where does he turn? 40:22 He now flees to his enemy. 40:24 You've probably heard the expression before, 40:27 "My enemy's enemy is my friend." 40:31 And he knew that the Philistines hated Saul 40:34 and Saul now hates David, 40:36 he figures maybe if I go to the Philistines, 40:38 they'll protect me. 40:41 And this is in chapter, 40:42 I'm actually in chapter 21, verse 10. 40:46 "David arose and he fled that day from before Saul, 40:49 and he went to Achish the king of Gath." 40:52 What? 40:53 King of where? 40:56 King of where? Gath. 40:58 Have you heard that word Gath before? 41:02 Who's from Gath? Who is the hero in Gath? 41:05 David is so troubled right now, 41:09 he is so down, he's not thinking clearly. 41:11 He goes walking up the streets of Gath, 41:13 he and a handful of men with him 41:15 that stuck with him. 41:16 And on his side, he's got the sword of Goliath. 41:22 And he comes to the king and he's looking for haven. 41:26 And the king is going, he says to his cabinet, 41:32 he's applying for asylum? 41:35 He isn't the one, this is the one that said, 41:39 Saul killed us thousand, but David ten thousand, 41:41 ten thousand who? 41:42 Ten thousand of us, 41:44 and we're supposed to take care of him 41:45 and he's wearing Goliath sword. 41:47 And David starts to hear that it's not gonna end well 41:51 and, you know, what he does? 41:53 He's pretty clever, he wasn't honest. 41:56 He says, "I better act like I'm crazy, 41:58 so they'll have pity on me." 41:59 And he begins to drool on his beard, 42:02 and start looking wild eye and acts like he's crazy, 42:05 and he starts to scratch on the gates. 42:07 And the king says, "He's crazy." 42:11 I don't have enough going on, you bring me someone insane. 42:14 I haven't got time to have an insane person in my house, 42:16 get him out of here, 42:18 that's exactly what David wanted to hear. 42:20 Instead of killing him, he pities him, 42:22 and he says get him out of Gath. 42:25 I don't want him here. 42:27 So he's now gone, 42:29 he's getting rejected by his enemies. 42:33 You wonder how much further down can he go. 42:37 You know David wrote a Psalm, Psalm 34:1, 42:42 "A Psalm of David when he changed his behavior 42:44 before Abimelech, and he drove him away, 42:47 and he departed." 42:49 Have you read where it says, "The angel of the Lord," 42:51 and this is in Psalm 34. 42:53 "The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear him, 42:57 and delivers them." 42:59 Something else that David said in that Psalm 43:01 and you think it's a confession. 43:03 He says, "Keep your tongue from evil, 43:04 and your lips from speaking to see." 43:06 He said, "Lord, I know I lied and acted like I was crazy. 43:10 I got scared, I didn't know what to do. 43:12 It's like, it's a song that includes confession. 43:15 But you read the Psalms, it's telling about these trials 43:18 that David is going through. 43:19 And here we'll end up with this. 43:22 He get to chapter 22, 43:24 "Now David flees to the Cave of Adullam. 43:27 And I think on the screen here, we've got a picture 43:29 where someone tried to take a picture 43:31 inside the Cave of Adullam, it's still there today. 43:34 It used to be much bigger, but over the millennia, 43:36 we're talking about 3,000 years ago, 43:39 it had a little more space. 43:40 There's been, you know, some cave-ins 43:42 and water washes in and people used it overtime, 43:45 but there used to be a little more capacity in there, 43:47 you can still probably fit 100 people in the cave. 43:50 But that became his holdout, he ends up in the cave. 43:55 Now here's someone who when he got called 43:57 from the fields to the palace, 44:00 and he knew someday he was gonna be king, 44:02 it made sense to David 44:03 that you've got a big plan for my life, 44:05 I'm gonna be king, 44:06 it makes sense I should be here, 44:07 I'm gonna learn all I can in the palace. 44:10 But it didn't play out the way he had expected. 44:12 Now the king tries to kill him and he loses his wife, 44:16 he loses his home, he gets fired from the palace, 44:19 he's separated from his friend Jonathan, 44:23 he can't go back home to his family, 44:25 he's sort of an alien in his own nation. 44:28 On every telephone pole around Israel, 44:31 it says, top ten most wanted, 44:33 David was number one on the list. 44:35 The king is trying to kill him. 44:36 He's running for his life, 44:38 and he ends up in a dark wet moldy cave. 44:44 And later you can hear, David says, 44:46 the water wasn't very good there, 44:48 and he was yearning after the water of Bethlehem. 44:50 So he's drinking sulfur water and he's in a cave, 44:53 and he's in the dark, and he's now really, 44:55 he's got athlete's foot and everything is going bad. 44:57 And he thought I'm filled with the Spirit of the Lord, 44:58 why is this happening to me? 45:02 Sometimes the path to God's will for your life 45:06 is gonna take you through a lot of difficulty. 45:11 God was preparing David for usefulness and this... 45:16 So I'm telling you this, 45:18 because you may be going through that. 45:20 David actually was a great escape artist. 45:23 I wanted you, there's a word I didn't highlight, 45:25 I want you to notice. 45:27 It's the word "escape". 45:30 1 Samuel 18:11, 45:34 "David escaped the presence of Saul twice. 45:36 1 Samuel 22, "He escaped to the Cave of Adullam." 45:41 1 Samuel 19:12, 45:44 "He went and fled and escaped from Michal, 45:46 Michal's house." 45:48 1 Samuel 19:18, "David fled and escaped, 45:51 and he went to Samuel." 45:53 1 Samuel 27:1, 45:55 "David said, I'm better from dying 45:59 from the hand of the Lord to go with the Philistines, 46:01 I'll escape to the land of the Philistines." 46:04 And then of course, he ends up in the cave. 46:06 You know, Jesus was an escape artist too. 46:10 Bible says, John 10:39, 46:13 "Therefore they thought to arrest Jesus again," 46:15 What does again mean? 46:18 It had happened before, but he escaped. 46:22 The son of David was pretty good at that too. 46:24 He escaped from their hand. 46:27 You know what Adullam means, the cave of Adullam? 46:29 A sealed off place. 46:31 God brought David to a sealed off place, 46:34 and there things are gonna turn 46:36 from the cave on his circumstances turn. 46:40 From the cave on and we'll be dealing with this 46:42 in our next message. 46:44 An army begins to form, 46:46 and David's greatness begins to rise, 46:49 and his leadership and his experience, 46:51 but God had to bring him down into a cave. 46:55 Did God had to bring Elijah to a cave at one point? 46:58 Sometimes God's got to bring you 47:00 into a dark place before you can see the light. 47:04 From the cave, David wrote a Psalm, 47:07 you can read Psalm 142:7, 47:09 it's called the "Maskil of David", 47:11 a prayer when he was in the Cave of Adullam. 47:16 And I want to read a quote to you from the book Maranatha, 47:20 that wonderful devotional that talks about the last days. 47:22 Why am I emphasizing this? 47:26 David had lost every earthly support. 47:29 God was preparing David for greatness 47:32 by getting him to learn to fully depend on him. 47:36 The Lord was also telling David, 47:37 no matter where you go, 47:39 you might have to flee to Naioth, 47:41 then you might have to go to Gath, 47:43 you go to Adullam, 47:44 you go wherever you go, I am with you. 47:46 I will never leave you and forsake you. 47:48 God delivered him out of all of his troubles. 47:50 And here's that quote from Maranatha, page 181. 47:53 "In the last great conflict of the controversy with Satan 47:58 those who are loyal to God 48:00 will see every earthly support cut off. 48:05 Because they refuse to break His law 48:06 in obedience to earthly powers, 48:08 they will be forbidden to buy and sell. 48:10 It will finally be decreed 48:11 that they shall be put to death. 48:14 But to the obedient the promise is given, 48:15 'His dwelling will be on high, 48:17 his place of defense will be the munitions of rocks.'" 48:21 Will there be a time when maybe we will see, 48:24 friends, and job, and family turn against us. 48:28 Jesus said, 48:29 those of your own household will become your foes. 48:32 That doesn't mean every person, every case, 48:34 but we're gonna see even among our family. 48:36 People will turn against us. 48:38 You may lose your earthly support, 48:39 your earthly possessions, and your earthly positions. 48:43 You might find yourself out in the woods, 48:45 but the promise is that I will take care of you. 48:48 I will support you. 48:50 It says, "Bread will be given them 48:54 and the water will be sure. 48:56 By this promise the children of God will live." 49:00 You know, when we look at the trials 49:01 that David went through 49:02 as He prepared him for the palace, 49:05 and here he starts in the palace, 49:06 ends up in a cave, 49:08 but he's gonna go back to the palace again. 49:10 When you come to Christ, He makes a promise to you, 49:12 but you might find your path to the palace 49:15 is gonna take you through some really difficult trials. 49:18 When you're going through your trials 49:19 and you're running for your life, 49:21 you know, the devil is out to destroy you. 49:23 Did you know that? 49:24 I don't want to scare you, but it's true. 49:26 The devil is going around like a roaring lion 49:30 to make an appetizer out of you. 49:32 He wants to destroy you. 49:33 And so you go through these trials, 49:35 don't be discouraged, Jesus is your friend. 49:48 Have you ever heard a mouse howl like a wolf? 49:52 Well, what would you expect would happen 49:54 when a creature changes its destiny 49:56 from the hapless prey to mighty predator? 50:00 From the outside, they look very much like 50:02 just an oversized field mouse. 50:04 Cute brown fur, white on the underbelly, 50:07 nice little beady eyes, 50:09 but that's where the similarity stop. 50:11 Grasshopper mice are very unusual, 50:13 making them the objects of great interest 50:15 for animal researchers. 50:18 These furry little creatures are found 50:20 in the harsh deserts of North America, 50:23 they're very territorial in nature, 50:24 and they will monopolize and fend off 25 acres. 50:28 They don't build their own homes 50:29 but sort of confiscate the burrows 50:31 in the homes of other creatures. 50:34 They're not called grasshopper mice 50:35 'cause they hop around, 50:37 but it's because they eat a lot of grasshoppers. 50:39 In fact, scientists have discovered 50:40 grasshopper mice are the only mice 50:42 that are purely carnivorous. 50:46 They hunt much like cats or weasels stocking their prey 50:49 in a predatory fashion, and when they pounce, 50:52 they are ferocious. 50:53 Sometimes even taking on snakes and scorpions and centipedes. 50:59 When a grasshopper mouse gets into a fierce battle 51:01 with a snake or a scorpion or centipede, 51:03 they may be bit or stung several times, 51:07 but what is amazing to researchers is 51:08 they've noticed, when they are bitten, 51:11 they somehow shake it off 51:12 because they convert the toxin and the venom to pain killer. 51:17 I think you can understand why this information 51:20 would be of special interest to scientists 51:22 that are trying to discover new ways for people 51:25 to deal with chronic pain. 51:27 What are the most intriguing characteristics 51:30 of these little creatures is 51:32 when they're defending their territory 51:33 or celebrating a victory over some adversary, 51:37 they'll throw back their head 51:38 and let out this earth shaking howl. 51:41 It's a mousy howl, check it out. 51:50 The grasshopper mouse is not the only member of creation 51:53 that can survive encounters with venomous predators. 51:57 In Luke 10:19, it says, 51:58 "Behold, I will give you authority 52:01 to trample on serpents and scorpions 52:04 and over all the power of the enemy. 52:06 Nothing will by any means hurt you." 52:09 We don't have to be the biggest and the strongest 52:11 to defeat our enemy and let out that victory roar. 52:14 When God called David to be king, 52:16 no human would have guessed that he had it in him. 52:18 He was young and insignificant, 52:21 from the outside he looked like there was no greatness in him, 52:24 but when God looked at his heart, 52:26 he saw courage, humility, compassion, and love. 52:29 David was imperfect and he made mistakes, 52:32 but through God's power he was able to conquer giants. 52:36 Friend, God does not intend 52:37 that you live out the rest of your life 52:39 cowering and trembling like a little field mouse. 52:42 If God can take the grasshopper mouse 52:44 and give him courage, 52:45 so that he fights snakes, and scorpions, and centipedes. 52:49 If God can put in the heart of David the courage 52:51 to fight giants like Goliath, 52:54 then he can give you that same courage. 52:56 The scripture say, "God has not given you the spirit of fear, 53:00 but of power, love, and a sound mind." 53:03 And you can have that peace in your heart, 53:05 when you invite the Prince of Peace 53:06 in your heart. 53:07 Why don't you do that right now? 53:21 Amazing Facts, changed lives. 53:30 My greatest wish is that my children will see me 53:35 the way I see my own father. 53:40 He's a very devoted man. 53:43 And that kind of framed my childhood 53:46 going forward from there 53:47 where I was always involved in church work, 53:51 and I had a very rich experience 53:54 with the Lord at a young age, 53:58 all the way up through college. 53:59 Then after I got married, 54:01 I got in a company called Comcast. 54:04 And I spent the past roughly eight and a half years, 54:08 nine years at Comcast. 54:11 And I was actually watching television with my son. 54:15 And a Comcast commercial came on the air. 54:19 And he said, "Oh, daddy, that's Comcast, 54:22 that's where you work, daddy." 54:25 And most fathers would be proud of something like that, 54:29 but it really struck me that, 54:31 you know, my son is getting older 54:33 and he does not see me as a servant of the Lord. 54:36 He sees me as a servant of my company. 54:40 And I knew that I would have to make some changes, 54:44 because I wanted him to know me as a man of God. 54:49 I never thought I would be a preacher 54:51 or anything like that. 54:53 But I knew that, there was room in the work for me 54:57 and for my own, for my talents. 55:00 And I wanted my son 55:02 to see me operating in the work. 55:07 That's when I knew that my time there was coming to an end. 55:11 I was sitting in my office one day 55:13 and I was kneeling in prayer, 55:15 I said, God, now show me what You want me to do 55:18 because, you know, 55:20 it seems like a big move here and... 55:26 Everyone is thinking, I'm crazy. 55:29 And I don't know exactly how, 55:33 you know, things are gonna go if they don't go well. 55:38 You know, the crazy thought 55:39 when you, you're thinking about God 55:42 and I lifted my head up in prayer 55:46 and they were just like a flock of... 55:49 Oh, maybe 300 birds that were just flying 55:54 and they were swooping down over the water 55:56 and they would fly back up 55:58 and then, they would chase each other around 56:01 and, you know, I was just looking at the pattern 56:03 of the giant flock, 56:05 and the promise of the Lord came to me 56:08 where He says that, 56:10 you know, He takes care of the sparrows, 56:13 and you don't see them worrying about 56:16 how they are going to be taking care of from day to day. 56:19 You know, they don't, you know, wring their hands wondering, 56:23 you know, will there be any worms to eat tomorrow? 56:26 And that promise really stood out to me 56:30 and He said, "How much more do I love you? 56:33 You know, I'm not gonna send you on a mission 56:36 to do My work and leave you high and dry, 56:40 because you claim to be My child, 56:42 you claim to be My son." 56:44 And everyone knows that, 56:47 that assurance allows me to know that, 56:49 whatever happens here, whatever happens after here. 56:55 We're sons of God 56:57 and there are certain things that we shouldn't worry about. 57:01 From the day we arrived at AFCO, 57:05 it's been obvious 57:07 that God has blessed the Amazing Facts Ministry, 57:10 the AFCO program, 57:12 and I will be using my AFCO experience, 57:17 no matter where I go to reach people out 57:19 because the personal touch of face-to-face evangelism, 57:25 speaking and sharing the word of God 57:28 out of your own mouth, 57:29 there's no replacement for that. 57:32 And Amazing Facts has been very instrumental 57:35 in helping me 57:36 find the area of the work of God 57:41 and shown me how large and how broad it is. 57:45 It's been a tremendous blessing to be in a place 57:48 where we are around people seeking to do God's will 57:53 and listening for His voice in their life, 57:56 and that's very, very important today. 58:06 Together we have spread the gospel 58:08 much farther than ever before. 58:11 Thank you for your support. |
Revised 2017-07-18