Participants: Pr. Doug Batchelor
Series Code: EG
Program Code: EG021719A
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00:15 Hard to believe,
00:17 coming to the end of 12 presentations on David. 00:21 And it's been a journey began last January, 00:27 but we've learned also about Jesus along the way 00:30 because the Bible tells us that David was a man 00:33 after God's own heart. 00:35 And so as we are studying the character of David, 00:39 we're really finding out a lot about Jesus. 00:41 And he's a character that 00:44 almost everybody could relate to. 00:46 You know, they say different people 00:47 can relate to different characters, 00:49 and soldiers can relate to soldiers, 00:52 and the rich relate better to the rich, 00:55 and the poor to the poor. 00:56 But, you know, David went through 00:58 almost all of these experiences in his life. 01:02 He was poor, you can relate to David. 01:06 He was rich, at the end I'm going to talk about today, 01:10 fabulous wealth. 01:13 He was a stranger, David was forsaken by friends. 01:20 He was attacked by family. 01:23 He had to flee to a foreign land, 01:26 he was a refugee. 01:29 He was a soldier, he was an administrator. 01:33 He was a creative person. He was an architect. 01:36 I mean, David was just, 01:37 he did a little bit of everything. 01:40 And so just about everybody, you can find something 01:42 of themselves in life of David and find a way to relate. 01:47 Well, we're going to pick up today, 01:48 and our mission today really is to get from 2 Samuel 20. 01:53 Now, you find the life of David not only in 1 and 2 Samuel, 01:57 you also find it in 1 Chronicles, 02:01 they cover a lot of the same territory, 02:02 we've been using Samuel. 02:05 And we'll go to 1 Kings 2:10. 02:10 The period of time we're looking at represents 02:13 the last 10 years of his reign 02:15 which is why we've titled today's message, 02:17 "The Sunset Years of David's Life". 02:21 And we remember in our last study, 02:24 he survived this terrible rebellion 02:27 where his son, beautiful son who he loves so much, 02:30 Absalom rebelled against him, 02:33 wanted to even take his father's own life 02:35 and yet his father was willing to forgive. 02:38 We've learned from that experience, I mean, 02:41 the father is willing to forgive us 02:42 even though we, by our sins, took the life of His son, 02:46 but He loves us that much. 02:48 Well, they invited him back to Jerusalem 02:51 to lead out on the people of Judah, 02:53 but there was a brief rebellion that took place. 02:56 And you read about this in 2 Samuel 20, 02:59 a man by the name of Sheba, he blew a trumpet and said, 03:03 "Who do we... 03:04 we don't need to follow David, 03:06 he was from the tribe of Benjamin." 03:08 You remember, Saul was from Benjamin. 03:09 The Benjamites were feeling like 03:11 their tribe had been slighted when Saul was slain 03:15 that they really deserved the monarchy. 03:18 And so this rebellion went on, maybe for a few months. 03:21 And Joab took things in his own hands. 03:25 He should probably know, 03:27 the general who led under Absalom 03:31 for the people to attack David was named Amasa. 03:36 David, trying to bring the kingdom back together again 03:39 and since Joab had disobeyed a direct order 03:41 and killed Absalom, God said, 03:45 I should say David said to Joab, 03:47 "You can't be the general anymore. 03:49 Amasa is going to be the general." 03:51 Well, Joab said, "Boy, David, you're making bad decision. 03:54 You're not only were willing to let Absalom live 03:56 who could be a constant threat, now you want the general 03:58 that tried to kill you to be your general." 04:02 And so after Sheba rebelled, Joab killed Sheba 04:06 and then he killed Amasa, not in that order. 04:09 Joab kind of did his own thing sometimes. 04:14 So that was taken care of. 04:16 And then you get to 2 Samuel 21, 04:19 and this is a story a lot of people wonder about. 04:22 It says, "Now there was a famine in the days of David 04:25 for three years, year after year." 04:30 And the famine after three years 04:32 is not resolved for another six months, 04:34 you'll see. 04:35 So it ends up being a famine for three and a half years, 04:38 now does that sound familiar? 04:40 How long was a famine in the days of Elijah? 04:43 How long did Jesus teach? 04:45 Three and a half years. 04:46 You'll often find this, three and a half years, 04:47 even in the prophecies of Revelation. 04:50 So there's a famine for three years. 04:51 And David wants to know what the problem is, 04:53 and the Lord speaks to David, and he says, 04:56 "It's because of Saul..." 04:57 Well, Saul's been dead for years. 04:59 "And his blood thirsty house, meaning his sons, 05:03 because they killed the Gibeonites." 05:06 And what's that all about? 05:08 If you read your Bible, you'll find in Joshua 9 05:12 that the Gibeonites tricked the Israelites 05:15 into making a covenant that they would spare them 05:19 and let them live in the land and not a victim like 05:22 they did to other nations, they said, 05:23 "We'll be your servants but let us stay." 05:26 Joshua made a covenant, and even after that 05:29 people realized they've been tricked, they said, 05:30 "Let's just kill them." 05:31 Joshua said, "We've sworn in the name of the Lord, 05:33 they are servants, 05:35 we're going to let them live in the land, 05:36 we will protect them." 05:37 That went on for hundreds of years. 05:40 But Saul decided, and his sons probably persuaded him. 05:43 The Gibeonites tricked us, let's get even with them 05:46 and they began to attack and destroy the Gibeonites. 05:49 Well, because they broke, because Saul and his sons 05:52 broke the covenant of God. 05:54 Here you've got a famine happening years later. 05:56 Now does God forget His promises? 05:59 When somebody does something right or wrong, 06:01 does the blessing or does the curse 06:03 always come immediately? 06:06 God told David, "You're going to be king," 06:07 but didn't it take a few years before it happened? 06:10 And sometimes, someone will misbehave 06:12 like King Manasseh, 06:14 but later when Nebuchadnezzar came 06:15 and destroyed the city, 06:16 Manasseh had been dead for years. 06:18 He said, "It's because of the blood that Manasseh shed." 06:21 God keeps in the accurate record of things 06:23 and sometimes the judgment comes later. 06:26 Sometimes, He's so patient. 06:27 Three or four generations go by, then the judgment comes. 06:31 Well, now years after Saul was dead but his sons, 06:34 these are the sons of his concubines, 06:36 because Saul not only had his wife 06:38 and he had three sons... 06:40 four sons with his wife. 06:42 But he ended up having other sons 06:44 through the concubines. 06:46 And David said, "What shall we do 06:49 to end the famine because they broke the covenant 06:51 that we made with the Gibeonites?" 06:53 He said that those seven sons must be executed. 06:58 They conspired, they were accomplices, 06:59 encouraging their father to attack the Gibeonites. 07:02 And so finally, David reluctantly does that. 07:05 And then it says that they prayed for the land 07:08 and after the harvest came, which is the other six months, 07:12 the rains came. 07:13 And so if you've ever wondered about that story, 07:16 that's where someone said, "Why would you punish the sons 07:20 for what Saul did?" 07:21 Well, these were adult sons who had encouraged their father 07:24 to attack the Gibeonites. 07:26 Now you read on now, 07:27 you go to the same chapter, verse 15. 07:30 And here, you've got the record of this final war 07:33 with the sons of Goliath. 07:35 David is still mopping up 07:36 the last of his enemies, you know. 07:38 It's really interesting after David killed Goliath, 07:40 for while, he lived in Gath. 07:41 Wouldn't that have been strange? 07:43 And David is carrying the sword of Goliath around 07:47 while he lives in Gath. 07:50 But Goliath had sons, 07:53 they never quite forgot what David had done. 07:56 It says the Philistines were at war. 07:58 I'm in 2 Samuel 21:15 if you wanted to look. 08:01 "The Philistines were at war again with Israel 08:03 and David and the servants went down 08:05 and fought against the Philistines, 08:08 and David grew faint. 08:11 Then Ishbi-Benob 08:15 who was one of the sons of the giant, 08:17 the weight of whose bronze spear was 300 shekels, 08:22 who is bearing the new sword, thought he could kill David." 08:27 And so David's getting old, you know, 08:29 when David was young, you just couldn't stop him. 08:32 I just saw it, I haven't touched this thing 08:33 for a while but I think it's got... 08:35 Yeah. 08:37 Now, you read about the sword of Goliath, 08:40 and the Bible says the sword of Goliath, you know, 08:42 I could never get away with this in a public school, 08:44 they'd be carrying me out right now 08:46 but you could do it in the church. 08:50 Isn't that right? 08:53 But these old swords were heavy. 08:55 And here, David is like 55, 60 years old 08:58 and he starts fighting these guys. 09:00 And he got into a battle with one of the sons of Goliath. 09:03 Now you'll notice, it talks about 09:04 the size of his spear head, 09:06 it's only half the size of Goliath's spear head 09:09 but it's still enormous. 09:10 Average soldier couldn't pick it up. 09:12 So David is trying to fight this guy 09:14 and he's going faint. 09:16 And the soldiers realize, 09:17 he's losing for the first time in his life. 09:20 And so along comes Abishai. 09:23 I like good old Abishai, he was always at David side. 09:26 Remember he is always the one that said, "Let me kill him." 09:29 He wanted to kill Shimei, he wanted to kill Saul, 09:31 but he was the bodyguard of David. 09:33 And Abishai saved his life, killed the giant's son 09:37 and they told David from that point on, they said, 09:40 "You shall," they swore by the Lord, his soldiers said, 09:43 "You will not go out to battle with us any more," 09:45 up until this point, and he's like 55, 60. 09:48 David is going into the battle on the frontlines 09:52 with his soldiers, fighting side by side with them. 09:57 But finally, he's getting weak and they said, 09:59 "Otherwise you will quench the lamp of Israel. 10:02 You are our prophet, you are our king, 10:05 you are our judge, we can't afford to lose you." 10:09 And then you notice that they not only killed this son, 10:13 they kill these other four sons of the giant. 10:17 And from this point on, 10:18 you can check on me, in the Bible, 10:19 you will not find the word giant mentioned again. 10:23 David and his soldiers, 10:24 it talks about David's mighty men, 10:26 and it gives that interesting chronicle of the mighty men. 10:28 By the way, I just talked about Adonijah who killed this giant, 10:33 or Abishai rather who killed the giant. 10:36 He killed 300 at one time. 10:38 You'll find that in Chronicles 10:40 and he was guarding a pass somewhere, 10:42 and as the enemy came, he killed 300 of them 10:44 one at a time. 10:46 And you can read about where Abishai led his soldiers 10:48 and they killed 18,000 Edomites. 10:51 And he was a tremendous, he was almost like Samson. 10:55 And he has these 30 mighty men that had incredible exploits, 10:58 they were all just outstanding soldiers. 11:01 It tells about them, 11:02 "They dispatched the rest of the giants." 11:04 Giants are not mentioned again in the Bible. 11:06 And David and his mighty men represent Jesus 11:10 and His servants, and that's you and me. 11:12 We are to be the servants that fight alongside of Christ. 11:15 Now at this point, when you get to 2 Samuel 22, 11:20 it's all dedicated to a psalm of victory over the enemies. 11:24 And you'll find that's exactly the same as Psalm 18. 11:28 So when you read 2 Samuel 22, 11:30 this song of deliverance and praise, 11:32 it's telling when David wrote Psalm 18, 11:35 you'll find that repeated in your Bible. 11:38 Then a strange story comes along. 11:40 Well, I've got to cover a lot, so I'm moving pretty quick. 11:44 This is often talked about as the other big sin of David. 11:47 We all know about the terrible debacle 11:50 with Bathsheba and Uriah. 11:53 It says, "When he numbered Israel, it's listed as a sin." 11:58 And you read in 1 Chronicles 21, 12:01 it's also in 2 Samuel. 12:03 "And Satan stood up against Israel 12:06 and provoked David to number Israel." 12:09 Now this is interesting that for no other reason, 12:11 because you only find Satan mentioned a handful of times 12:15 in the Old Testament. 12:17 You find the reference in Zechariah, 12:19 you find the reference in Job, 12:21 and you find this reference here in the story of David. 12:25 The word is translated "the adversary" 12:27 and that's what the word Satan means. 12:30 He stood up and he tempted David 12:32 to number Israel. 12:34 And he realized something is going on here that is wrong 12:38 because so what's wrong with taking a census? 12:41 He want to figure out, even our government does a census. 12:44 Moses once did a census to count 12:46 how many soldiers were in the army, 12:48 so why was this such a bad thing? 12:51 Doesn't a good shepherd count his sheep? 12:54 I mean, how else does that shepherd know he had 100 sheep, 12:57 only 99 show up at the fold, 12:58 he's got to go look for one that's missing, 13:00 got to count your sheep. 13:02 But it depends on why you're counting them. 13:04 Now David was doing something that he had never done before. 13:08 Every other time in David's life 13:09 when he went into battle, did David trust 13:12 how big the army was or did he trust the Lord? 13:15 When he went against Goliath, what did he say? 13:18 "You come against me with a sword, a spear, and a shield 13:20 but I come against you with the Lord." 13:22 And Jonathan said, "There's no restraint 13:24 for the Lord to deliver by few or by many." 13:28 And Moses had promised, 13:30 "One of you will chase a thousand." 13:32 And several times in the story of David, 13:35 you can read where David fought back to back with... 13:38 one of his soldiers, I'm trying to remember his name, 13:40 his father... Eliezer, that's it. 13:42 Eliezer, the son of Dodo. 13:43 I always remember Dodo but that wasn't his name, 13:45 that was his father's name. 13:47 He fought with David and they fought off 13:49 the Philistine army, the two of them back to back. 13:51 I mean, so David's always trusted the Lord, 13:53 the numbers didn't matter, but now he wants to know, 13:56 "How big is my army?" 13:58 And it's a question of pride, and he tells Joab, 14:00 "Let's see how big our army is. 14:02 I bet we're bigger than any other army." 14:05 And Joab tells him, "No, David, this is not the right spirit." 14:08 I mean, even Joab counsels him against this. 14:10 Listen to what he says, 14:11 Joab, verse 3, this is 1 Chronicles 21:3. 14:15 He said, "May the Lord add to his people 100 times 14:19 as many as they are, are they not all, my Lord, 14:22 the Kings all of them thy servants? 14:24 Why then should my Lord require this? 14:27 Why should this be a cause of guilt for Israel?" 14:31 Now if David was counting because he was afraid 14:33 some sheep are missing, that'd be different 14:35 but now he's counting for a different reason. 14:38 Good pastors need to count the sheep. 14:41 If someone's missing, you need to know. 14:44 We try to visit. You try to stay on top of it. 14:46 And that's why we need elders and each of you to help. 14:49 But when pastors get together with other pastors 14:51 and they say, "How many church members do you have?" 14:54 Well, this is how many I've got. 14:57 That's not the Spirit of God, that's the spirit of the devil. 15:01 That's pride. 15:02 And this is what was happening with David, 15:04 it's like Jeremiah 17:5, 15:07 "Cursed is the man who trusts in man 15:09 and makes flesh his strength." 15:11 And David wrote, 15:12 "Put not your trust in princes," Psalm 146, 15:15 "or in the son of man in who there is no help, 15:17 his breath goes forth in that very day, 15:19 his thoughts perish." 15:22 But David now was thinking, "How big is my army?" 15:25 So reluctantly, Joab goes out, begins to number Israel. 15:30 And he doesn't even do some of the fringes 15:32 because the whole thing was kind of disgusting to Joab 15:35 that they were doing it, 15:36 because it wasn't for the right reasons, 15:38 the nation had been prospering. 15:41 But the Bible does give the number. 15:44 David's army was 1,570,000. 15:49 Now, if you don't think that's big, 15:52 there are 300 million people in the United States 15:54 and we have a standing army right now in the US 15:56 of 1,429,000. 16:00 David's army was bigger 16:02 than the United States' standing army. 16:05 I was not counting our reserves 16:06 but talking about the standing army. 16:08 So that's a lot of soldiers. 16:10 The Lord had really blessed him. 16:12 But after David did it, 16:14 he was convicted by the Holy Spirit. 16:15 He thought, "Man, why, what came, I was so proud? 16:17 What came over me?" 16:18 And a curse, and the people became proud. 16:21 A plague was going to go through the land of Israel. 16:23 And matter of fact, David was given a rough task. 16:26 Prophet came to him, he says, 16:27 "I'm going to give you three choices." 16:30 And he said, "Do you want to be pursued by your enemy, 16:34 "And I forget them, all three choice, but one was," 16:37 or do you want pestilence to come through the land. 16:39 And David said, "I don't want to fall into the hand of man. 16:44 But God is merciful, let me fall into your hands." 16:46 So God sent three days of terrible pestilence, 16:49 went through the land, and 70,000 people died 16:54 through this plague that went through the land. 16:56 Now that's not uncommon. 16:57 Sometimes they used to have a bubonic plague 16:59 or different plagues that would sweep very... 17:00 It was a pandemic of some sort that went through the land, 17:04 and 70,000 people died. 17:06 He still had an army of 1.5 million people 17:11 if it was only soldiers that died, I'm sure it wasn't. 17:14 And so as this angel of destruction, 17:18 you ever heard these stories and fables 17:20 about the death angel or the angel of death? 17:23 Comes from a couple of stories in the Bible, 17:26 Passover, angel of death went through Egypt. 17:29 In the days of Hezekiah, 17:30 the Assyrians were about to attack Jerusalem, 17:32 he prayed and the angel of death 17:34 went through the Syrian camp and killed 185,000 in one day. 17:40 And now this angel of death is coming through the land, 17:43 David actually sees the angel, he sees the angel 17:47 after he's gone through northern Israel. 17:48 And there's been this terrible plague 17:50 and he's gotten word of all these people 17:51 that are dying over this short period. 17:53 He sees this angel with a sword drawn 17:55 in his hand over Jerusalem, 17:57 and David prays and said, "Lord! 17:59 Lord! Please spare your people. 18:01 It was me, why are they suffering for my sin?" 18:04 Well, the answer to that question is 18:07 the people of Israel have now twice rebelled against David. 18:10 Once under Sheba and once under Absalom, 18:16 and so there's a plague that's also coming on them. 18:19 But David is pleading, 18:20 he is interceding as Jesus is our King, and our judge, 18:23 and our intercessor, he says, "Take it out on me." 18:26 This is what David says. 18:27 He said, "It's my sin, take it out on me. 18:29 What have these sheep done?" 18:30 He's still thinking like a shepherd. 18:33 And God says, "All right, you need to make an offering." 18:38 He says, "Go to the threshing floor 18:40 of Ornan, the Jebusite. 18:42 Now, the Jebusite, still even though 18:44 David conquered Jerusalem, 18:45 some of them still lived in Jerusalem. 18:47 One of them was a very noble gentleman, 18:50 he is threshing wheat on this big flat area. 18:54 David can see this angel with the sword drawn. 18:57 And amazing thing, it says, "Ornan looked up 18:59 and saw the angel with the sword drawn 19:01 and he kept threshing wheat, his sons went and hid." 19:05 Here's a man who is not afraid of very much. 19:08 He figured, "Well, God wants to take me, 19:10 He'll take me but I've got to finish with this wheat, 19:12 if I'm going to live, I'm going to live." 19:15 And so he was working. 19:17 And David goes up to him and he says, 19:19 "The Lord's told me, I need to make an offering to Him, 19:21 and He wants me to do it here. 19:23 Sell me your threshing floor. 19:25 A threshing floor is a big flat area 19:27 where they used to take the wheat, it was up on a hill 19:30 and they'd shovel the wheat after they beat it, 19:32 the chaff would blow away, the good wheat would fall down, 19:34 you needed a big flat area with a smooth paved surface. 19:40 And there was this big corner area of Jerusalem 19:44 and he owned this, he was a very wealthy man. 19:47 David said, "Let me buy it. 19:48 I need to offer to the Lord here," 19:49 because this is the spot where Abraham offered Isaac, 19:54 it's the same mountain. 19:56 And this is the place where Melchizedek brought out 20:00 bread and wine to Abraham. 20:04 Melchizedek, a type of Christ, 20:07 Abraham offering his son, a type of Christ, 20:10 and now David interceding for the people, 20:13 same place, type of Christ. 20:16 And Ornan says, "I'll give it to the King. 20:18 Not only will I give it, I will give the instruments, 20:22 I will give the oxen for sacrifice." 20:25 And it says that Ornan dealt like a king with David. 20:27 And David said, "No." 20:28 And this is a statement 20:29 you don't want to quickly forget. 20:31 David said, "I will not give an offering 20:34 to the Lord of something that doesn't cost me anything." 20:38 Is that a sacrifice? 20:40 If I pick your pocket 20:41 and put it in the offering plate, 20:44 is that a sacrifice? 20:45 That's how the government does things 20:47 because really the government is very generous 20:50 with your money. 20:52 And I kind of resent, 20:53 I don't want to get too political 20:54 but I do kind of resent 20:55 that because the government has now taken it 20:58 upon themselves to care for the poor and everything, 21:00 it's like they believe that it's the right thing to do, 21:04 but the people cannot be good enough, 21:06 they're not trusted to be good enough to do it. 21:08 And so what the churches in America used to do, 21:12 the government says, "We will take the money 21:14 and we will do it." 21:15 And what it's done, it's taken it away, 21:17 the love and the giving has been taken away 21:19 from the people and it's become politicized. 21:24 When King Saul got into trouble, 21:26 you know what happened? 21:27 He conquered the Amalekites, he took the Amalekites, 21:32 and he offered it to the Lord, 21:34 and he was supposed to destroy it. 21:36 It's really easy for me to steal from you 21:38 and make an offering. 21:40 Is that really a sacrifice? 21:44 And so David said, "I'm not going to give 21:46 something to the Lord that which doesn't cost me." 21:50 If it doesn't cost you, it's not really a sacrifice, 21:53 is it? 21:54 And he insisted, he said, "I will buy it." 21:57 And so he sold it to the King. 21:58 I think, probably at a good price. 22:01 And the king then made an offering there. 22:03 And as a result of his offering, 22:06 the angel of judgment, the plague was stopped. 22:10 And you can read in 1 Chronicles 21:26, 22:13 "And David build an altar to the Lord 22:15 and he offered burnt offerings and peace offerings 22:18 and called on the Lord. 22:19 And He answered him from heaven by fire on the altar 22:24 of burnt offering." 22:25 Now some of you were at our dedication, 22:27 I quoted this verse because 22:28 it's a very significant passage. 22:31 Most of the time when people made an offering, 22:33 the priest would build a fire. 22:36 A few times in the Bible, 22:37 they put the sacrifice on the altar 22:40 and in a miraculous singular way, 22:43 fire came from heaven. 22:45 When Elijah prayed on Mount Carmel, 22:48 fire came down from God. 22:50 When Moses dedicated 22:52 the old tabernacle in the wilderness, 22:54 fire came down from God out of heaven. 22:56 When Solomon later dedicates 22:58 the temple build on this location, 23:00 fire comes down from God out of heaven. 23:02 So this was a great and a powerful demonstration 23:06 of God's approval. 23:07 When Abel offered the sacrifice, 23:10 fire came down, nothing came for Cain. 23:13 And so this was a sign that God had approved and accepted, 23:17 the plague was stopped but furthermore, 23:19 this was the place now that God was saying, 23:22 He wanted the people to bring their offerings. 23:24 Up to this point, they had all been waiting. 23:27 When they enter the promised land, God said, 23:29 "I will tell you where but I am going to choose a place 23:33 where I want it to be the ultimate city of refuge." 23:38 Now around the land of Israel, 23:40 they have these places strategically, 23:41 there are roads that were different cities. 23:45 Where if a person got in trouble 23:47 and they wanted to get a judgment, 23:49 if they killed someone accidentally 23:50 rather than have the avenger of blood kill them, 23:54 they could flee to a city of refuge 23:56 and they'd be safe there. 23:57 And there were six cities of refuge 23:59 around the land of Israel. 24:01 But there was none near Jerusalem. 24:03 Jerusalem ended up becoming a city of refuge. 24:06 If you want more about that, I can give you some examples 24:09 where it was used that way, but it also became the place 24:12 where they would later come to celebrate their feasts. 24:15 It became the holy city really at this point. 24:17 So when David prayed and fire came down in Jerusalem, 24:21 this was the real christening event of that city 24:25 being chosen by God. 24:27 Because up to that point, you realize the tabernacle 24:30 wasn't always in Jerusalem, it was at Shiloh, 24:33 and it was in the House of Obed-Edom, 24:34 and the tent of Moses was still moving around. 24:38 This is where God said, "This is the place 24:39 that I've chosen." 24:41 And, but you remember David said, 24:44 "Lord, I want to build You a temple." 24:45 And David said, "You can't build the temple for me 24:48 because you've been a bloody man, 24:49 not only a man of war and you shed a lot of blood 24:51 but you also are guilty of innocent blood. 24:55 And what happened with Uriah, 24:57 I can't have you build my temple, 24:59 but this is where I want it built." 25:01 And so that was the place from then on 25:03 where they sacrificed. 25:05 And you can read here where at this point, 25:11 it tells us David is aging. 25:13 And you go to 1 Kings 1, 25:17 you've gotten to the end of Chronicle. 25:20 By the way, 25:22 so who pays for the threshing floor of Ornan? 25:26 David does. 25:28 Who pays for the temple of the Lord? 25:32 Jesus pays for you being a temple. 25:36 So you got a couple of temples here. 25:38 Remember, Jesus one time said in the Gospel of John, 25:40 "Destroy this temple made with hands 25:42 and in three days, I will make one without hands?" 25:45 But he spoke of his body. 25:48 And who is the cornerstone in the spiritual body? 25:52 No other foundation can any man lay 25:54 except that which is laid which is Jesus Christ. 25:57 Jesus is the cornerstone. 25:59 Jesus laid down his life, 26:01 He paid the cost to build the house of the Lord, 26:05 for the foundation and the whole building. 26:07 So David, a type of Christ, he pays for the foundation 26:11 for where the temple is going to be, 26:12 and you'll see later, he pays for the whole thing. 26:15 So David again is a type of Christ. 26:18 Now 1 Kings, I told you, Chapter 1 26:21 begins by telling us David is getting old. 26:25 Now King David was old and advanced in years, 26:29 and although they covered him with clothes, 26:31 he could not get warm. 26:33 Now sometimes, you get a fever temporarily, 26:35 and you go shaking, they put covers on you, 26:37 you'll sweat it out and you're okay. 26:39 But this was something different, 26:41 David just couldn't get warm. 26:43 I called Dr. De Rose the other day and I said, 26:46 "You know, I got a couple of theories 26:47 but you're doctor. 26:48 And Sonny was in the car, they're both medical people. 26:50 I said, "What could possibly have caused this?" 26:54 Well, one thing could have been hypothyroidism 26:58 and can leave you cold all the time, 27:00 as you get older and you lose muscle mass. 27:01 So you sometimes could get a little colder, 27:03 if you got low blood pressure. 27:05 I'm cold all the time. 27:07 I've got very low blood pressure actually. 27:09 And the doctor I go in, last night I was in, 27:11 he said, "Are you a vegan?" 27:13 Doctor actually asked me that. 27:14 I said, "Why do you ask this? 27:16 Your blood pressure is really low which is a good thing. 27:18 I'm cold but I'm healthy. 27:20 So, don't worry. 27:24 I'm not going to ask for an Abhishag, you know what, 27:27 I haven't gotten into that yet. 27:29 They couldn't get him warm. 27:32 I thought that Dr. De Ros was going to say the reason 27:35 David was cold is because it became 27:36 a government health care and that's why. 27:41 "He was old and advanced in years 27:42 and although they covered him with clothes, 27:44 he could not get warm 27:46 and so they sought for a beautiful young woman." 27:49 Now in our home, in the winter time, 27:51 Karen and I have an electric blanket. 27:53 I think it's still plugged in, 27:54 we're not using it now because it's warmed up. 27:56 We got an electric blanket, it's kind of nice, you know, 27:58 when the house is cold, you call in to warm. 28:01 Don't look at me like that, how many of you 28:02 have electric blankets? 28:04 Okay, I know. I'm not the only one. 28:06 Yes, even in Sacramento, we do have a few cold days. 28:10 And so, but back then, 28:13 they didn't have electricity, you all knew that. 28:16 And he was cold and so, you know, 28:19 the Bible says two lying together 28:22 are better than one because you can stay warm. 28:25 You know, it says that in Proverbs. 28:27 And so they said, "Well, let there be a search 28:30 and let's find a beautiful young woman," 28:32 because you know, they're young, 28:34 you got great circulation. 28:37 "Through all the territory of Israel, 28:39 and they found Abhishag, the Shunammite. 28:42 Now, some of you remember, 28:43 Elisha stayed with a great woman of Shunammite, 28:46 it's up in the north. 28:48 And they were a people, 28:49 they were not regular Israelites, 28:50 but they had adopted the God of Israel 28:52 and they were very bright and very beautiful people. 28:55 If you later read in the Bible, 28:58 Solomon in the Song of Solomon, 28:59 he talks about the Shunammite. 29:03 And there's some who theorize 29:05 that Abishag was a very young woman, 29:07 she never knew David. 29:09 Her job was basically to get into bed with him, 29:13 to cuddle him and try to get him to stop shaking 29:16 because he was cold all the time. 29:18 And she took care of him, you know, 29:20 and she really became an attendant to David 29:23 but, you know, was very personal 29:25 and that she would hug him and try and get him warm. 29:29 And they brought her to the king, 29:31 the young woman was very beautiful 29:33 and she was of service to the king 29:35 and attended to him, 29:36 but the king knew her not, she was a virgin. 29:39 Now he might be interested to know that the word Abishag 29:44 in Hebrew means pretty little hot water bottle, 29:47 isn't that amazing? 29:49 I bet you would never have known that. 29:52 You don't believe me. 29:54 No, but, you know, I do think there's a very... 29:57 There's a very interesting spiritual point here. 29:59 Here you've got... 30:00 Who does David represent in our analogies? 30:02 Jesus. 30:04 And he has a virgin that becomes his bride, 30:07 that remains a virgin. 30:10 And you sort of see those parallels through history. 30:13 So that's interesting in itself. 30:16 Now, you know, I was reading the book, 30:19 Patriarchs and Prophets. 30:21 What's happening with David, 30:22 because he's not 70 years old yet, 30:24 and here's this giant killer and he goes faint in battle, 30:28 he can't get warm. 30:30 And you read there, it says, "Many cares and wars 30:33 had sap the fountain of life." 30:36 Another commentator wrote, 30:38 "But David's strength was impaired 30:40 and his natural force abated by his many wars fatigues 30:44 by night and day in campaigns and the many sorrows 30:48 and afflictions he met from his family and his friends, 30:51 as well as his enemies that exhausted him 30:54 aging him prematurely." 30:56 So David, look at what he went through. 30:58 He spent years running for his life, 31:00 he was the, you know, he was living in caves, 31:04 he was, you know, had problems at home. 31:08 He fought constant battles with all the enemies, 31:11 he was victorious but it drains you after a while. 31:14 And the constant stresses, having his children rebel, 31:17 he had another child that died and all these things, 31:21 it had just worn him out. 31:23 And that's supported by the commentators 31:26 led by the Spirit of Prophecy 31:27 and so it kind of prematurely aged him. 31:30 David is the one who wrote that typically 31:32 our days are three score in ten, 31:34 and yet if by strength we happen to live four score, 31:38 sometimes there's aches and pains, 31:41 so I'm paraphrasing that. 31:44 Now as David is weak and he's in bed 31:47 and he can barely get up and get around, 31:50 one of his sons, Adonijah, the younger brother of Absalom, 31:54 he thinks that this is the moment. 31:56 Since no one's been chosen as King, 31:58 rumor is that Solomon is David's favor, 32:02 Nathan the prophet is training Solomon to be king, 32:05 he was sort of the tutor. 32:07 And Adonijah, this other handsome son of David, 32:11 the younger brother of Absalom, 32:15 probably also very handsome, 32:17 he's next in line to reign as far as age 32:20 and he thinks to take it upon himself. 32:22 He said, "Look, David is kind of getting old, 32:23 I have to take care of this myself." 32:25 So he gets together with Joab, and he said, 32:27 "You want that young bookworm Solomon, he's a poet, 32:29 he's righting proverbs, you want him to be king?" 32:32 He said, "These other kids, they're not prepared, 32:35 I'm the one that should be king." 32:36 And then he goes to Abiathar, the priest, he says, 32:38 "I should be the king," and he talks them into it. 32:42 He said, "David's getting old, you know, look at him, 32:45 he's shaking all the time." 32:47 And somehow Adonijah through his cunning 32:50 and through his persuasion he gets Joab 32:53 and he gets Abiathar, the priest to support him. 32:58 He prepares 50 horses to run before him, 33:01 does that sound familiar? 33:02 It's exactly what Absalom did. 33:05 He's starting to make himself 33:06 out to be the next in line, to be the king. 33:09 He's got this entourage running around, 33:10 finally he picks a day and he says, 33:13 I'm going to send out invitations, invite everybody, 33:15 I'm gonna sort of have my own coronation. 33:17 Invites all these people of the kingdom 33:18 and they're all starting to sing, 33:20 "Long live, King Adonijah." 33:22 Now David is still alive, he's in Jerusalem. 33:25 This is on the outskirts of town, 33:27 they go to I think it's Gihon. 33:29 And they're all celebrating Adonijah. 33:33 And pretty soon the word reaches Bathsheba. 33:36 Everyone's invited, 33:37 all the king's sons were invited except Solomon, 33:40 that's not a good sign. 33:44 And... 33:50 Nathan, the prophet is not invited 33:51 because he's been training Solomon to be king, 33:53 Bathsheba is not invited. 33:56 Abiathar, Zadok, the priest is not invited, 33:59 there were kind of two priests back then. 34:01 And they go into David, Bathsheba goes into David 34:04 and she said, "My Lord, the king, 34:06 did you say that Adonijah should reign? 34:09 Didn't you say my son Solomon should reign?" 34:11 David said, "Absolutely." 34:13 And she said, "But Adonijah just had a party 34:15 and they're all saying, "Long live King Adonijah." 34:17 And when you die if you don't settle this," 34:19 she says, "We're done for. 34:22 We've not been invited, that's not a good sign." 34:25 And then Nathan, the prophet comes in, 34:27 he says the same thing to the king. 34:29 And David, all of a sudden he sits himself up in bed, 34:33 and you remember when Absalom tried to be king, 34:34 he ran for it. 34:36 David now knows that God has said 34:38 Solomon should be king, he doesn't have to run for it. 34:41 He becomes very lucid and he said, 34:43 "Here's what you need to do," he says, "I'm swearing to you 34:46 that your son is gonna be king. 34:47 God has told me so I know it's going to happen." 34:49 Just like God promised Abraham and Abraham believed 34:53 and it gave him confidence, 34:54 David knows he doesn't have to worry about this. 34:57 He says, "I'm gonna do it right now, I'm still king. 35:00 I'm still alive," 35:02 he said, "I want you to put Solomon on my mule," 35:05 and it was a very unique white beautifully decorated mule, 35:09 everyone knew David's mule. 35:12 "I want you to go down to Gihon, blow the trumpets, 35:17 get Benaiah," the leader of the army. 35:19 He had sort of taken over for Joab. 35:22 "I want you to get Zadok, the priest, 35:23 I want you to pour the anointing oil. 35:25 No one's anointed Adonijah, I want you to anoint Solomon. 35:30 Put the law in his hand and then announce that 35:32 he's king and there everyone's gonna see that I'll sit up 35:35 and all raise my hands and I'll praise God 35:37 and I will endorse Solomon." 35:39 So they do that 35:40 and pretty soon word spreads through Jerusalem 35:43 that Solomon has been chosen by David 35:45 and everybody is singing and the priest is there 35:47 and they put the oil on his head and that was, 35:49 that was the important thing. 35:52 And it says the city was rant 35:53 with the sound of everybody celebrating. 35:56 Well, the party pavilion where Adonijah is celebrating, 36:00 they said, "We hear noise, what's the noise?" 36:02 And the messenger comes in and Adonijah just says, 36:04 "Oh, you brought good news, is it?" 36:05 "No, I haven't." 36:07 And the city's in an uproar 36:09 because David has chosen Solomon to be a king 36:11 and everybody is celebrating and saying, 36:13 "Long live, King Solomon. 36:15 And may the reign of Solomon be even greater 36:18 than the reign of David." 36:19 And everybody who had come to Adonijah's party, 36:23 you just say the party was over. 36:26 They realize they are going to be seen as rebels 36:29 by this new king and they all very quietly left. 36:34 Adonijah then, he goes to the temple 36:37 where the tent was, 36:39 he gets a hold of the horns of the altar 36:41 and he stay in there and they said, 36:42 "Adonijah, your brother go to Solomon's," 36:44 and Adonijah, your brother's 36:46 clinging to the horns of the altar 36:48 and he said, "Please, don't slay me." 36:50 And Solomon said... 36:52 He proves himself to be a worthy man, 36:53 "Not a hair of his head will fall to the ground." 36:55 He probably had thick hair like Absalom, 36:57 that's why he said that. 36:59 And Solomon dealt with Adonijah later 37:04 because he's conspired one more time 37:06 and he was executed 37:08 but, that ends up with the four sons 37:11 that David loses that was foretold. 37:15 So David gets to see Solomon sitting on the throne 37:18 and David lifts his hand, he praises Lord, he says, 37:20 "Praise God, who's allowed me to live 37:23 and see your promise fulfilled," 37:26 'cause God had promised David, 37:27 "You will not fail to have a man sit on the throne 37:30 until the Messiah comes." 37:32 And he sees the next in succession 37:34 and he's encouraged by that. 37:36 Now Solomon, we're not sure, 37:37 he may have been 25 to 30 years of age at this time, 37:41 so he's still comparatively young. 37:43 You remember when he begins to reign, he says, 37:45 "I'm just a child, I don't know how to go out 37:47 or to come in." 37:48 So Adonijah's rebellion is put down 37:52 but David's not done yet. 37:53 He still had a few good days 37:54 where he get up and move around, 37:56 maybe in the summertime it was a little warmer. 37:59 And you read in 1 Chronicles 29, 38:01 he gets all the elders together. 38:04 And he says, "This is the most important thing on my heart 38:08 is the building up of God's kingdom." 38:11 He says, "Now for the house of my God, 38:14 I have prepared with all of my might. 38:17 Gold for the things of gold to be made of gold, 38:20 silver for the things of silver, 38:22 bronze for the things of bronze, 38:23 iron for the things of iron, wood for the things of woods, 38:25 onyx stones, stones to be set, 38:28 glistening stones of various colors, 38:30 all kinds of precious stones and marble slabs in abundance." 38:34 Now, why is he got all this equipment? 38:36 He is getting all the materials together 38:39 to build a house for God, a beautiful house. 38:42 He looks out the window and he sees 38:43 the ark of God is in a tent, 38:46 and he wants to build up a beautiful house for God. 38:49 "I have given to the house of my God over above 38:52 that I prepare for the house, the holy house 38:54 of my own special treasure of gold and silver." 38:58 And he so inspirers them. 39:00 And when he saw that ended up, 39:02 he literally gave, I'm not exaggerating, 39:04 tons of gold and silver and gems 39:09 to be put into the temple of God. 39:11 I've always wondered why, when they talk about 39:13 the ancient wonders of the world, 39:14 they don't list the temple of Solomon, 39:16 because the temple that Solomon built 39:18 had so much precious metal and gold in it, 39:20 it was phenomenal. 39:22 I mean, it does comment, when Nebuchadnezzar destroyed 39:24 Solomon's temple that they couldn't even tally 39:27 all the bronze that had been put into it. 39:30 So after David does this, he says, 39:32 "Look, I've taken everything I've amassed over the years 39:36 by conquering these nations," whenever he'd conquer them, 39:38 it said talk about the treasure and the revenue 39:40 and the taxes that came in, 39:42 and there was just warehouses full of riches. 39:45 David said, "I want this to go to build up the house of God. 39:48 All these other pagan nations 39:49 have their gods that aren't gods. 39:51 We're going to have a house 39:52 dedicated to the service of God 39:53 that's gonna be unlike anything else." 39:55 That was his passion. 39:56 What's the passion of Jesus? 40:00 Didn't Jesus... 40:01 What was Jesus' job? 40:03 Carpenter. 40:04 What did He build? A temple. 40:07 You are that temple. 40:09 We are living stones in the temple of God, 40:11 isn't that what the Bible says? 40:12 Christ is a foundation stone. 40:14 He said, "We're part of the body of Christ." 40:17 Jesus came to build a house. 40:19 You and I are the house that Jesus built. 40:22 And so the passion of David was to build up the house, 40:24 the passion of Jesus was to build up the house 40:27 to give glory to God. 40:28 That's why He's working in our lives every day, 40:30 so we might become like Him and give Him glory. 40:33 Amen? Amen. 40:35 And then after he gives, it says in 1 Chronicles 29:6, 40:40 "The leaders of the father's house 40:42 and the leaders of the tribes of Israel 40:43 and the captains of thousands and hundreds 40:46 with the officers offered willingly." 40:49 They were so inspired by David's sacrifice 40:52 that they also gave. 40:53 And so this warehouse is full of treasure 40:56 to build up the house of God. 40:58 1 Chronicles 29, David then praise, 41:02 "Now therefore our God, we thank You 41:04 and we praise Your glorious name, 41:06 but who am I and what are my people 41:09 that we should be able to offer so willingly is this, 41:12 for all things come from You 41:14 and of Your own we have given You. 41:16 Oh, Lord, our God, 41:18 all this abundance that we have prepared 41:20 to build You a house for Your holy name 41:22 is from Your hand and it is all Your own." 41:26 Now I'd be a miss 41:27 if I didn't use this opportunity to remind you, 41:29 that's something we're involved in now, 41:31 trying to build up the house of God, 41:33 to get the message in all the world. 41:34 Amen? 41:35 And when we give to God, are we giving Him our stuff 41:38 or we just returning what's already His? 41:42 Isn't that what David said. 41:44 Now, we get to the last words of David. 41:46 You can find this in both Chronicles 41:48 and 2 Samuel 23:1. 41:52 "These are the last words of David, 41:54 thus says David, the son of Jesse, 41:56 thus is the man raised up on high, 41:58 the anointed of the God of Jacob 42:01 and the sweet Psalmist of Israel..." 42:02 He's talking about himself, 42:03 but he knew that God spoke for him, 42:05 through him. 42:06 He says, "The spirit of the Lord spoke by me 42:10 and His word was on my tongue. 42:12 The God of Israel said, the rock of Israel spoke to me. 42:16 He... "And here's what he says, 42:18 "He who rules over men must be just ruling in the fear of God 42:23 and He will be like the light of the morning 42:25 when the sun rises, a morning without clouds, 42:28 like the tender grass springing from the earth, 42:30 like the clear shining after the rain." 42:34 So some of his final words, he gives the charge to Solomon. 42:38 He tells Solomon in what was a private meeting probably 42:42 that was later recorded, 42:43 "There's some things you need to mop up 42:45 after I'm gone. 42:47 There are some people who are still guilty out there 42:49 that are going to be a threat to you, 42:50 you need to take care of." 42:52 And David tells Solomon how to deal with those things 42:55 and you can read about it, and Solomon does 42:57 and he ends up with 40 years of a peaceful kingdom. 43:01 And then he goes on and says in 1 Kings 2, 43:04 "David rested with his fathers 43:06 and was buried in the City of David 43:09 and the period that David 43:10 reigned over Israel was 40 years." 43:14 Jesus said this generation will not pass away 43:17 till all these things be fulfilled. 43:19 Jesus talks about a 40 year period of time. 43:22 And it goes on to say, 43:23 "He was 33 years in Jerusalem, seven years in Hebron." 43:27 How old was Jesus when He died? Thirty three and a half. 43:32 "And Solomon sat on the throne of his father David 43:35 and the kingdom was firmly established." 43:38 You know, in conclusion of our series on David, 43:41 the thing that I think we should remember 43:44 is the Bible tells us 43:45 that David was a man after God's own heart. 43:48 I'm actually quoting Paul in the New Testament. 43:51 "After removing Saul He made David their king. 43:54 He testified concerning him, 43:57 I have found David, the son of Jesse, 43:59 in him a man after my own heart. 44:02 And he will do everything I want him to do." 44:05 Now I thought that was strange. 44:07 You would say that, 44:08 "How could David be a man after God's own heart, 44:09 didn't he blow it a few times?" 44:12 But you know, the Bible record is, He says, 44:14 "David kept my commandments." 44:17 Look at 1 Kings 14:8, 44:20 "You have not been like my servant David 44:22 who kept my commandments and followed me 44:24 with all of his heart 44:25 doing only that which was right in my eyes." 44:27 What's the great commandment that God gives us? 44:30 Thou shall love the Lord thy God with all... 44:33 It's in the Old Testament, Jesus repeats it in the new. 44:36 David loved the Lord with all of his heart. 44:38 It's good to know David's life is not being judged 44:41 by that serious defect 44:44 in numbering Israel or with Bathsheba. 44:48 God's looking at the panorama of his life 44:51 and did he end with the love for the Lord. 44:54 You know, I wondered, why does it say 44:56 that David was a man after God's own heart? 44:58 And I started to itemize 45:00 some of the characteristics of David. 45:03 David was forgiving, Jesus is forgiving. 45:06 I mean, Saul tried to kill him several times 45:07 and David kept forgiving. 45:09 He was willing to forgive his own son. 45:10 He was forgiving, you all agree? 45:11 Yes. David was obedient. 45:14 Psalm 119, "Give me an understanding 45:17 and I will keep your law and obey it with all my heart." 45:21 David was humble. He let Shimei curse him. 45:26 Psalm 62, "Lowborn men are 45:29 but a breath and highborn are just a lie." 45:32 David understood that power can corrupt. 45:37 He was a generous man, 45:38 donates most of his vast wealth to build the house of God. 45:43 He says in Psalm 54, 45:44 "I will freely sacrifice to you." 45:47 And then I started looking at the characteristics of David 45:49 and it made me go to Galatians. 45:51 You know what Galatians says the fruit of the Spirit is? 45:55 Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, 45:57 self control, gentleness. 46:00 Was David loving? 46:01 David said, "I love you, Lord, my strength." 46:04 It's showing you, he loved Jonathan, 46:06 he loved his son. 46:08 Did David have joy? 46:10 He danced before the Lord. 46:12 He knew about joy. Read some of the psalms. 46:16 Did David have peace? Have you read Psalm 23? 46:19 "He makes me to lie down in green pastures, 46:22 He leads me beside the still waters." 46:26 Did David have patience? 46:28 He waited for years for God 46:29 to fulfill His promise that he would be king. 46:31 He did not take it ahead of time, he waited. 46:34 He could have killed Saul, he said, 46:35 "No, it's not God's timing." 46:38 Did David have kindness? 46:40 Remember he thought about Mephibosheth, 46:42 this cripple of an enemy king 46:45 that he brings into his house and he shows him mercy. 46:49 Did David have goodness? 46:51 Again, Psalm 23, 46:52 "Surely goodness and mercy will follow me 46:54 all the days of my life." 46:57 Did he have faithfulness? 46:58 When he made a covenant, did he keep his promise? 47:01 He did. Did he have gentleness? 47:04 Psalm 18:35, "Your gentleness has made me great." 47:08 What does it say about Jesus? "I am meek and lonely." 47:11 Jesus was gentle. 47:13 Did David have self control? 47:15 When they brought him water and he was thirsty, 47:18 because they risked their lives, 47:19 he poured it on the ground. 47:21 He was a man that had these gifts of the spirit. 47:25 David was respectful, he was reverent, 47:27 he was trusting, 47:29 and when he did sinned, he quickly repented. 47:32 Whenever he was shown that it was wrong, 47:34 he repented. 47:35 He was a man after God's own heart. 47:38 And so, you know, in the Bible 47:39 we see that in the life of David we see Jesus, 47:42 but we also see somebody that was very human, 47:45 that we can all relate to, 47:47 that God took from a very low place 47:50 and brought him to a very high place. 47:52 You know, we started out 47:54 poor like David and God is calling us 47:56 to the palace which is, of course, 47:58 the story of the Bible. 47:59 God takes us from poverty and He gives us riches, 48:04 and we go from this low station in life... 48:06 David wasn't even invited to the supper 48:08 when he ends up being the one that's anointed, 48:10 they didn't even think to invite him, 48:12 "Oh, he's out there following the sheep." 48:14 And God takes him and He makes him king 48:16 and he ends his life in glory. 48:18 And God is calling us to those lives. 48:21 It's like the 23 Psalm, you know how it ends? 48:26 "I would dwell in the house of the Lord for ever." 48:33 Amazing facts changed lives. 48:42 You know, we grew up in a neighborhood 48:43 up in the Midwest 48:45 that was pretty bad neighborhood. 48:47 And when I became a teenager, 48:50 I started using drugs, I was on... 48:52 I started using meth when I was like, 48:54 I think 16, 15 something like that. 48:56 I was having some problems in my life, 48:58 I really didn't know how to deal with. 49:02 The only thing I really knew was violence. 49:05 So this night here I was going to inflict violence on myself. 49:09 I was really high and really depressed 49:12 so I took, you know, I had this. 49:13 40 caliber, so I remember 49:15 I put one in the chamber and I stuck it 49:16 to the side of my head like this. 49:20 And that gun had a hair trigger, 49:23 you known, I remember I was tapping it 49:26 'cause a part of me said, "No, I don't want to do this." 49:31 But there was something very evil present there saying, 49:33 "Do it." 49:34 I just said to myself, I said, 49:37 "God, if you're real show yourself to me." 49:43 My mother took me to church when I was a little kid. 49:47 And we used to sing, 'Jesus loves me' 49:49 and I remembered that song. 49:51 It started playing in my mind. 49:54 And almost had like a vision of me as a little kid. 50:00 You know, in Sabbath school 50:02 we used to bang those sticks together. 50:08 And sing, 'Jesus loves me'. 50:11 And I heard that in my mind. 50:15 So I said, "Wow." 50:19 So I just kind of, like, put the gun down 50:21 and I kind of fell on my bedside there 50:23 and I said, "Lord." 50:26 I just basically just prayed this crazy prayer. 50:29 I says, you know, I told Him everything 50:31 that was wrong with me. 50:32 And I remember one day I was driving around, 50:34 I kind of felt lost and I drove by this church 50:37 and I've seen Tom out there. 50:38 Tom was just out there watering flowers, you know. 50:42 So I caught a vision of the side of my eyes, 50:46 this big husky guy with tattoos 50:49 walking up and said, hello. 50:53 So I asked him if I can help him. 50:57 And he told me that he drives by the church occasionally. 51:03 Every time he goes by, 51:04 he's thinking that he should stop in. 51:06 After he showed me around the church... 51:10 You know, I was like, 51:11 "Okay, man, it's nice meeting you," 51:13 and this and that. 51:15 So I jumped in my car 51:16 and I started heading down the driveway. 51:19 And the next thing, you know, in like my peripheral vision, 51:23 I see him coming around the corner 51:26 like Jerry Rice run in a football. 51:28 No, not that fast but, you know, 51:30 he was taken off after me and he says, 51:33 "Hey, hey, hey, hold on, hold on." 51:35 I asked him if he would like to have some Bible studies 51:38 and he said, "Yeah." 51:40 He would come by the house, we'd all start, 51:41 we'd start hiding a beer cans 51:43 and trying to air out the weed smell 51:46 and there was a presence that came with Tom 51:50 that was comforting. 51:52 You know what I mean? 51:53 Even though I wasn't taking the Bible studies 51:55 as serious as I should have, 51:57 looking back there was just a presence about him 52:01 being there in the house that was comforting. 52:05 I told Tom, I said, 52:06 "Tom, you know you can't win everybody." 52:08 I looked at him and I knew, I said to him, 52:11 "Rueben, I never get anybody." 52:14 I said, "The Holy Spirit will do that." 52:19 And I kind of in my heart knew 52:21 that the Holy Spirit was gonna work on Reuben. 52:23 So then Tom, kind of, left the picture for a while 52:27 and then I think, one day at my mother's house 52:29 they were watching 52:30 the final events of Bible prophecy, 52:32 so I watched that and... 52:36 I remember the scene 52:39 where they had the hellfire and stuff. 52:42 You know, they're outside the city 52:44 and it showed the hellfire coming down 52:47 and burning people and stuff. 52:49 And I remember saying to myself, 52:53 "That's where I will be right there." 52:55 After the hellfire scene, I saw the saints in the city, 53:02 in the New Jerusalem and Jesus recreating the earth. 53:06 And I said... 53:10 "I want that to be my... me and my family." 53:14 There was something about the way Doug preached 53:16 and things that I felt that touched me. 53:19 Because he's kind of like myself, you know, he's... 53:23 He didn't grow up like that, you know. 53:26 He'd done drugs and things. 53:29 So I kind of found these common grounds 53:31 that I have with him. 53:33 And I liked how he just kind of like 53:34 kept it real with his preaching. 53:35 And then Pastor Rod Lee came to the church 53:39 and I got to know him very well. 53:42 And we started doing some finishing studies. 53:46 He wanted to make sure I understand what I was doing 53:49 and things and baptized me, my wife, my brother. 53:54 No matter what you've done, where you come from, 53:59 where you've been, 54:00 no matter how bad of a sinner you think you are, 54:04 the Lord Jesus loves you no matter what you've done. 54:08 Friends, it's because of God's blessing 54:10 and your support, thousands of others 54:13 just like Reuben 54:14 have found Jesus and eternal life. 54:38 Friends, are you afraid of heights? 54:39 If so, you might want to look away right now. 54:42 One of the most famous attractions 54:44 in the San Francisco Bay Area 54:46 is the iconic Golden Gate Bridge. 54:49 While this world famous bridge was named 54:51 as one of the Seven Wonders of the modern world, 54:53 few people know the story of the brave men 54:55 who were involved in its construction 54:57 and also known as The Half Way to Hell Club. 55:01 Designed by a group of visionary engineers 55:04 at 4200 feet from end to end, 55:06 the Golden Gate Bridge was at one time 55:08 the longest suspension bridge in the world. 55:11 During its construction from 1933 to 1937 55:15 the Golden Gate Bridge 55:16 had one of the best safety construction 55:18 records of any project during that time. 55:21 Keep in mind, 55:22 they would factor in and calculate 55:23 that one man would die 55:25 for every million dollars that was spent. 55:27 So with a budget of $35 million dollars, 55:29 they knew that loss of life would be unacceptable. 55:32 This is why the chief engineer Joseph B. Strauss 55:35 was absolutely adamant about using 55:37 the most rigorous safety precautions 55:39 that had ever been used in bridge building. 55:42 He had a local manufacturer of safety equipment, 55:44 design special headgear 55:46 that he insisted be worn on every job. 55:48 This became the prototype for the modern hard hat, 55:51 worn for the first time ever, 55:52 but the safety precautions went even farther. 55:55 Strauss provided a special hand and face cream 55:58 to protect their skin from the cold biting wind 56:01 and glare free goggles to protect their eyes. 56:03 In addition they also ate a special diet 56:06 to help ward off dizziness 56:08 when they were working at those epic heights. 56:10 But the most conspicuous safety precaution 56:12 was a gigantic net 56:14 that was suspended from end to end 56:16 under the entire construction area of the Golden Gate Bridge. 56:20 In fact during construction 56:22 this net saved the lives of 19 men 56:26 who later became known as The Halfway to Hell Club. 56:29 Now you need to keep in mind, 56:30 these were some of the most dangerous construction 56:33 conditions you can imagine. 56:35 The wind was constantly blowing, 56:37 they were walking around on iron 56:39 that sometimes had ice from the freezing fog. 56:42 In places, they were over 700 feet 56:45 above the icy waters, 56:47 yet the men coming from all walks of life 56:49 were willing to take these risks 56:51 because it was during the Great Depression, 56:53 and they would get paid up to $11 a day 56:56 which was a fortune back then. 56:58 One of the other benefits of the net 57:01 was they discovered that the men 57:02 were much more courageous 57:03 even though they were walking high 57:05 on those slippery surfaces 57:07 because they knew there was a mechanism 57:09 to protect them if they should fall. 57:11 This gave them the confidence and the courage to press on 57:14 and get the bridge built in record time. 57:16 You know, friends, as Christians 57:17 we have a great work to do. 57:19 The Bible tells us that we get to participate with Jesus 57:22 in building a bridge that connects heaven and earth. 57:25 And there are dangers along the way. 57:27 The devil would like to paralyze us with fear 57:30 that we might fall or make a mistake 57:32 but we know that Jesus 57:33 has provided a safety net for us 57:35 and we don't have to be afraid. 57:37 We can press on with confidence 57:39 because the promises in the Book of Jude 24, 57:41 "He is able to keep us from falling." 57:44 But sometimes we make mistakes, 57:46 still don't be discouraged, friends, 57:48 if you read in 1 John 2:1, the Bible says, 57:51 "If we fall, if we sin, 57:53 we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ." 57:56 So let's press on together 57:57 and build that bridge with Christ. 58:08 For life changing Christian resources, 58:11 visit afbookstore.com. |
Revised 2019-07-24