Latest / Bible Study with Pr. Daniel Batarseh | Verse by Verse Series | Maranatha Bible Church - Chicago / 1 Samuel 24 (Part 1) Bible Study - Pastor Daniel Batarseh
Transcript
- 0:12First Samuel 24 meet me, there, please.
- 0:22As many of the chapters, in Samuel have proved this is not
- 0:26going to be settled in one session.
- 0:28At least this chapter, there is just too much for us to quickly
- 0:33glance over these verses and you will see, I hope you will see
- 0:38the reason why in this chapter as you have in the past few
- 0:42chapters, there's so much meat for us to Feast on, but I would
- 0:46like for us to pray. One more time.
- 0:48Before we open up God's word together.
- 0:51Louis thank you. Written word.
- 0:53We thank you o God, that it is through this word that you speak
- 0:56to your people. It is through the word that we
- 1:00not only have your mind. Not only have your hearts Lord,
- 1:05it is where we have life. It is where we know as we just
- 1:08heard satisfaction and we just pray, oh God, that this would
- 1:12not be a transfer of information to the Mind merely, but that
- 1:17Lord you would Revive Our Hearts and that we would long for you
- 1:20personally as a result of This study and so Lord.
- 1:23We pray that every voice would be silence apart from the voice
- 1:27of God, we pray O. Lord that no man would be seen
- 1:30apart from the man Christ Jesus. And we pray O Lord, that there
- 1:33would be a sanctifying effect of tonight's meeting on our lives.
- 1:37We trust that by the power of the holy spirit, this will be
- 1:40the case. And we give you glory in advance
- 1:43for it. In Jesus name we pray.
- 1:45Amen, and amen. Let's just read this chapter the
- 1:51first seven verses together and it will expound beginning in
- 1:55verse 1 of 1st Samuel 24. When Saul returned from
- 1:59following the Philistines he was told behold David is in the
- 2:02wilderness of in Getty. Then Saul took 3,000 chosen men
- 2:08out of all Israel and went to seek David and his men in front
- 2:11of the wild goats rocks. And he came to the Sheepfold, by
- 2:16the way where there was a cave-in, Saul went in to relieve
- 2:19himself. Now David and his men were
- 2:22sitting in the innermost parts of the cave and the men of David
- 2:27said to him. Here is the day of which the
- 2:30Lord said to you behold, I will give your enemy into your hand
- 2:33and you shall do to him as it shall seem good to you.
- 2:36Then David arose and stealthily cut off a corner of Saul's robe
- 2:41and afterward, David's heart. Kim because he had cut off a
- 2:46corner of Saul's robe. He said to his men, the Lord
- 2:50forbid that I should do this thing to my Lord, the Lord's
- 2:54anointed to put out my hand against him seeing, he is the
- 2:59Lord's anointed. So David persuaded his men with
- 3:03these words and did not permit them to attack Saul and Saul
- 3:07rose up and left the cave and went on his way.
- 3:12Fascinating fascinating. In fact, if you come to verse
- 3:17one with me, you will see at least two things in this one
- 3:19verse alone. If you remember, and this is the
- 3:21beauty of being in touch with the weekly Bible study because
- 3:24it connects and you don't, you don't feel like you're missing
- 3:27missing the whole context, but for the sake of just reminding
- 3:30ourselves Saul had pursued David and he was so close of capturing
- 3:36him in the previous chapter, but we learn that in God's
- 3:40Providence, a messenger from Saul's Camp, came to tell him
- 3:44that the Philistines are invading, the land.
- 3:46And so Saul turned back and went towards that duty.
- 3:51While David escaped, one more time from the grip of his enemy.
- 3:56And we are told here. Interestingly enough in verse 1,
- 3:58that when Saul returned from following the Philistines, He
- 4:02was told behold David is in the wilderness of engedi.
- 4:05Now we would read past that just as an introduction to this text
- 4:08but verse 1 tells us at least two things, I'm sure.
- 4:11Among other things, notice here, in verse 1, when Saul returned
- 4:15from following the Philistines, does that mean that saw defeated
- 4:20the Philistines or that the Philistines defeated Saul?
- 4:24Saul actually saw victory over the Philistines.
- 4:29And that should cause us to think, how is that the case?
- 4:33I mean you're talking about a man who has been a rebellion
- 4:35against God. You're talking about a man who
- 4:37is in an unrepentant State. You're talking about a man who
- 4:40has already killed, so many priests has and is now willing
- 4:43to kill God's next king in line. And yet with all of that into
- 4:47consideration, he sees success. He sees Victory and to the
- 4:54Natural mind, we would say should not a man.
- 4:57Like this only no defeat failure suffering.
- 5:04Should not this man's Faith, be death and instead we see that
- 5:08his fate is accomplishment. Great strides advancement.
- 5:17And we say how how is this the case?
- 5:19Is this really fair? That's a good question, but
- 5:24reading this reminded me of so many scriptures from old to new
- 5:29that tell us to never Envy or not to be fretful about the
- 5:35apparent success of sinners. That even when the wicked
- 5:41Prosper, we should not question God's justice in his dealing
- 5:47with them. It seems as though his success
- 5:51is not fair, but may, I remind you tonight, at least have a few
- 5:55things. Number one, God is much slower
- 6:00to judge, and we are much slower.
- 6:04And what's all is experiencing here in verse one is undeserved,
- 6:08there's no question about that, but can you reflect upon your
- 6:11own life especially before you came to Christ?
- 6:15Especially you who grew up in a Christian household and you've
- 6:17heard the word preached ever since you can hear pretty much
- 6:22and how much is God been merciful over you and forgiving
- 6:27with all the things that you've done and secret all the things
- 6:29that you've done to others, all the things mainly that you've
- 6:31done against God. How about the mercy of God,
- 6:34after you got saved? How many times has he forgiven
- 6:38you when he should have stricken?
- 6:39You and me dead for representing him, wrongly for being a
- 6:43hypocrite to others for causing others to maybe even want to
- 6:46remain in unbelief and yet, God is merciful.
- 6:49And so, when you look at how saw Victory, don't see a man who's
- 6:53getting away with something. See God, who is merciful
- 6:57Secondly God is very very complex in his ways.
- 7:02I didn't say contradictory, I said complex and that complexity
- 7:05deals with his wisdom. And there are times where God
- 7:08for the sake of the good of others will even give success to
- 7:12those who don't deserve to be successful.
- 7:15Especially for those who serve God who are supposed to be his
- 7:20leaders. And so think of Moses, I often
- 7:23use that as an example that in Disobedience, he struck the rock
- 7:26twice. And yet God still let water come
- 7:29from that rock so that he can feed the rest of the nation who
- 7:32were were parched, and who wanted something to drink in the
- 7:35wilderness. Moses was going to be punished
- 7:39later, but for the sake of his own people, through his
- 7:43Disobedience, he provided a blessing.
- 7:47Thirdly when you look at something like this whatever
- 7:50peace and prosperity they may be experiencing for the moment.
- 7:54There is an appointment that God has with man to settle accounts
- 7:58with him. It's true for every single
- 8:02person whether it's in this life or in the next Saul's life down
- 8:06the road is going to prove that he could not ultimately get away
- 8:10with everything. The wick of God's mercy though.
- 8:14It is long and though it stretches wide comes to an end
- 8:18eventually and we're going to see that very very soon.
- 8:23And so, let me, let me just say this.
- 8:24As you look at Saul seeing success though.
- 8:27He deserves to be embarrassed. That he deserves to be punished,
- 8:30though. He deserves to be stricken dead.
- 8:34Rejoice in God's mercy. But look at this now I see
- 8:37something else when he returned from following the Philistines
- 8:40he was told behold David is in the wilderness of in Getty.
- 8:44Now this is amazing because he's about to now pursue David again,
- 8:49you would think that after you have seen so many interruptions.
- 8:54So clearly from God, that you would have learned your lesson
- 8:58that you would have been sobered that you would have at least
- 9:00questioned if what you were doing was right.
- 9:04You see every time that God rescued David, it wasn't just to
- 9:07rescue David. Oh, that was the ultimate thing.
- 9:11Right after his own Glory but it was also to bring warning to
- 9:15Saul. You're not just fighting against
- 9:18David, you're fighting against me.
- 9:21And yet, still the way he responds to the news of David's,
- 9:24new Hideout is no different than before this moment.
- 9:28And before we get upset with this man saw in his reaction to
- 9:32this news realized that men is no different today.
- 9:37Sinners are no different today. They respond no differently than
- 9:42Saul here to His providential blessings and his warnings, they
- 9:46persist, in their evil still. And I've seen it, you've seen
- 9:52it, you're probably one person that's actually doing it.
- 9:57What do I mean by that? That despite God's warnings,
- 9:59despite his common Grace, despite the sermons, despite the
- 10:03conviction, despite the people telling you and warning, you and
- 10:08trying to shake you up despite near-death experiences, despite
- 10:11evil on large scales, despite natural disasters, despite all
- 10:16these things yet still man will persist in their wickedness and
- 10:19the Rebellion. Saul is not unique here.
- 10:22His stubbornness is a commentary of the stubbornness of man.
- 10:30Now we read in verse two, then Saul took 3,000, chosen men.
- 10:37He takes 3,000 of his finest men and he's about to now come and
- 10:41pursued David. And so we have something to
- 10:44learn here from David's perspective.
- 10:45Okay. If you're a born-again Believer
- 10:48here and you've walked with the Lord longer than, I mean, this
- 10:51is not dogmatic. But if you've walked with the
- 10:53Lord long enough and serving him throughout that time, what I'm
- 10:56about to say something you can relate to because in verse 2 or
- 11:00at least in this whole chapter, we are going to learn a rhythm
- 11:03that is very common and shared among God's Saints.
- 11:08There's a frequency here of saws attacks that speaks so
- 11:12accurately of how the believer experiences great trials in his
- 11:16life. The Bible Asher's you and I that
- 11:20our destination to Heaven is not free from turbulence, there is
- 11:25going to be great shaking. Sometimes they're smaller,
- 11:27sometimes they're shorter, sometimes they're great seasons
- 11:30of pain and suffering. Yet one thing is for certain you
- 11:33are not going to go into heaven without scars.
- 11:37You're going to get in there because of Jesus scars but
- 11:40you're also going to get in there with your own scars for
- 11:42living for Jesus. And what we see here is David
- 11:47though, he has evaded saw and such a beautiful and
- 11:50providential way in just a moment.
- 11:52He's about to experience yet. Another attack from Saul
- 11:56believe, it's no different for you and I, it's strange.
- 12:00Is it not again? This is for those who are
- 12:03familiar and serving God long-term, there are moments of
- 12:06great trial. And then there are also seasons
- 12:09of great peace. And if you've walked with God
- 12:13long enough, even in those Seasons, where it seems like
- 12:16every Christian is walking in the spirit and there's no
- 12:19commotion and community and it seems like Ministry is
- 12:23flourishing and flowing without any any resistance or
- 12:26persecution, you know, down deep inside.
- 12:29It's not going to be like this very long without a fight.
- 12:34That's not supposed to be a negative mindset.
- 12:36It's a realistic mindset. It's a realistic mindset because
- 12:41if things are quiet in here among the Believers, you know
- 12:44that there's something outside that's going to happen.
- 12:48And if there's no persecution from outside then that kind of
- 12:51piece promotes a type of indifference and laziness within
- 12:56and and now people start acting up with in because they neglect
- 12:59their own spiritual disciplines and other matters. and so, with
- 13:04David here, he's showing us, God is showing us That there are
- 13:10different times in the Christians life but there must
- 13:12be a consistent posture throughout at all and it is
- 13:16demonstrated here with David and what is that?
- 13:18Believer you and I always have to be on guard.
- 13:23In times of trouble, in times of persecution, especially in times
- 13:29of Peace. When you've not, you have no
- 13:32nothing other than laughter and memories and great success in
- 13:36your spiritual walk. That is not a time to be
- 13:40distracted. That is not a time to not be
- 13:43disciplined David here after he escaped from Salt, wasn't like,
- 13:46you know, guys, let's go on vacation.
- 13:48Nothing wrong against vacation of talking about a spiritual
- 13:50vacation because no matter where you go on vacation, you're
- 13:52always in the Why don't we just why don't we just lay back?
- 13:57I mean, just no. No, they were still vigilant.
- 14:01It got us helped us here, but we have to do our part and be wise.
- 14:04Here, we have to be careful. The enemy can come from any
- 14:07place, we have to remain sharp. We have to remain sensitive.
- 14:10We have to remain nourished. We have to remain strengthened.
- 14:13That is a soldier mindset in the kingdom of God.
- 14:16Because oftentimes what happens to Believers is that, when there
- 14:19are things that happen from within, or from outside, they
- 14:22have so neglected, their discipline, they have some
- 14:24neglected taking care of themselves.
- 14:25They're not ready to respond to it in the spirit, So, David
- 14:30still knew that there is a threat.
- 14:32So he remained equipped, he remained among the six hundred.
- 14:37He remained smart, though, he was securing God's sovereignty.
- 14:42So listen to this. How does a Believer remain in
- 14:45the same posture? Listen, your nourish continually
- 14:49by God's word. You don't just come to the
- 14:52Bible. When things get shaky in life,
- 14:55you get fed with the word of God.
- 14:56So that nothing shakes you You understand the difference.
- 15:01You don't just pray when things get desperate.
- 15:04You pray, so that you know how to respond when desperate times
- 15:07come. You don't just come to church
- 15:10when you're in trouble, you remain with a family.
- 15:13So that when Trouble Comes, you have people who can give you
- 15:15wisdom and counsel and love and encouragement.
- 15:20David here is proving that And so these men the through the
- 15:253000 chosen men just like how Satan Works.
- 15:28He amps up. He becomes more fierce when he
- 15:32realizes. He didn't get you the way he
- 15:34could get you last time. Oh he doesn't fall into that
- 15:37kind of Temptation. So let me present this one.
- 15:39Oh he doesn't love money. So let me bother him from within
- 15:42and he tries to come from different angles. now, this time
- 15:46Saul is coming with his Elite men and David is ready.
- 15:55And this is what happens. This is so interesting.
- 15:59All those this seems like a cycle of cat and mouse between
- 16:02Saul and David. There's something unique about
- 16:04this chapter and you already read it.
- 16:06And so many different chapters. We read that that's all came
- 16:09close. So that David heard about saw
- 16:11approaching him and he was able to escape.
- 16:13But this time Saul and David are going to be the closest they've
- 16:16ever been physically. In verse 3, you read any came
- 16:21that's saw to the Sheepfold by the way where there was a
- 16:24cave-in, Saul went in to relieve himself.
- 16:26Now David and his men were sitting in the innermost parts
- 16:29of the cave. Can you imagine that?
- 16:34Here's this man. Who's chasing David and
- 16:38unknowingly he just has to go and deal with personal business.
- 16:44And he goes into a random cave, a random hole in the wall, not
- 16:48knowing that the person he was looking for is in the very same
- 16:53room. And this could speak to the
- 16:58depth of the KB Can. It can speak to the loudness of
- 17:00the men that were with David just outside of the cave.
- 17:03It definitely speaks about how stealth these men were as
- 17:06soldiers. And what David is about to
- 17:10experience. This time in this chapter is a
- 17:13new kind of test to his faith. David has had many Divine
- 17:18evaluations from God up to this point.
- 17:20Many, we've seen David outshine all the Israelites by being the
- 17:24sole person that would face a giant named Goliath.
- 17:28We seen David fail and grow and bleeding and God's protective
- 17:33care over him. When Saul was pursuing him,
- 17:35we've seen David clearly, clearly mature, and his
- 17:39dependency on the Lord. That whenever something came and
- 17:41he didn't know the direction, he dropped to his knees as God,
- 17:44give me an answer. And now a new curriculum, David
- 17:49has enrolled in in this chapter, in the school of God, David is
- 17:54about to now face, something that he has not faced before a
- 17:57new kind of Temptation. And this verse sets, the stage.
- 18:06If you've never read the story before, what would you think?
- 18:09Imagine that you verse 3 was its own page and you couldn't read
- 18:13what happens afterwards. How many Believers would think
- 18:17or be tempted to believe that David is about to take out Saul?
- 18:23Saul is finally going to get what was coming to him up to
- 18:27this point saw has outnumbered David up to this point.
- 18:32David was the mouse. And now here, providentially.
- 18:37Saul is outnumbered 602 one. And all that has to take is one
- 18:43of those men to come and Jab him in the back.
- 18:47And this is done, it's over with how many people When innocently
- 18:54think that this is not just an opportunity.
- 18:57It's a god-given opportunity for David to kill Saul.
- 19:02This is God, giving this you on a silver platter just do it end
- 19:06your suffering and your misery and this Chase and in fact move
- 19:10forward with your life and become the next king.
- 19:13Just kill the guy. And if you and I are tempted to
- 19:19believe that or if we didn't know the story and we did come
- 19:22to that thought, believing that was the case, then it would not
- 19:25be the first time. That many followers of Jesus
- 19:30have misinterpreted, what God does in their own lives or in
- 19:34the lives of other people. remember when Jesus was walking
- 19:40with his that his disciples in John chapter 9 and there was a
- 19:42man there, born blind, and you know what, they ask their Rabbi
- 19:46rabbi Was it this man sins or his parents sins that caused him
- 19:52to be to be born this way? And Jesus says, neither it
- 19:58wasn't because of his sins. It wasn't because of his parents
- 20:02sins, but it's because this is going to set up a way for me to
- 20:06reveal my glory. and I want to say to you today that many
- 20:11followers of Jesus Christ, Put a wrong commentary.
- 20:18On people on situations on circumstances, whether it's
- 20:23their own or it's others, you have people today, who still
- 20:27think with the retribution principle, if you're suffering,
- 20:30if there's Misfortune, if you have a disease, you might have
- 20:34done something to make God. Angry must have been some
- 20:37secrets in for your life, to turn out this way.
- 20:41You're no different than the disciples in John chapter 9.
- 20:44And yet you have people also who look at their own lives and they
- 20:48see their Misfortune and they put commentary on what God is
- 20:53doing because they don't have an understanding of the word of God
- 20:57and they don't understand the mystery of his sovereignty at
- 20:59times and so they are quick to say and even accuse God of his
- 21:03goodness, they're quick to question God's love because of
- 21:07delays in life. And as they compare with other
- 21:10children of God they think we'll why isn't it happening to me
- 21:13when it's happening to them? And so we are very tempted to
- 21:18not just give personal commentary but commentaries to
- 21:21others about what God is doing. When in fact, he is ways are not
- 21:25your ways and his thoughts are not your thoughts or mine.
- 21:29And that is exemplified here by these men, David's men here.
- 21:36Are giving a commentary what's happening?
- 21:38That is totally wrong, totally wrong.
- 21:42Look what they say here at the second part of verse 3.
- 21:47And the men of David said to him, here is the day of which
- 21:49the Lord said to you behold, I will give your enemy into your
- 21:52hand and you shall do to them as I shall seem good to you.
- 21:55I'm opening it up to ask. Can anybody find where God said
- 21:59this to David? You've been here week after
- 22:02week, where's this prophecy? If you can find it, I will
- 22:11reward you. What's my point?
- 22:14You can't find it. Why?
- 22:18Because God didn't say it. God never told it was never
- 22:23recorded here and and some would say well just because it's not
- 22:27recorded doesn't mean that it didn't happen, maybe it did
- 22:29happen and it's just not it's not in the scriptures.
- 22:32David's response to these men and verse 6 proves that God
- 22:35never said it. In fact, what they were
- 22:36suggesting was totally wrong So, what's happening here?
- 22:43These many are misinterpreting God's Providence.
- 22:48And because they're excited. I mean they suffered under saw
- 22:51themselves. And because they love their
- 22:54leader and they have the best interest in mind for him.
- 22:58They're encouraging him to do something that God didn't say to
- 23:02do. But in their enthusiasm, listen
- 23:05to this. They know that David is such a
- 23:08godly man that he only takes his directions from God.
- 23:12And so what do they do? They formulate this in a way it
- 23:15as though God is encouraging to do it so that he can he can be
- 23:18more relaxed and moving forward in this decision.
- 23:23It could be either that or they are actually really convincing
- 23:26This Moment. Like no way the most protected
- 23:29man in Israel is using the bathroom.
- 23:32Just a few feet from us right here, right now.
- 23:34No, bodyguard, no. Nothing.
- 23:36This has to be God. This has to be God.
- 23:42So they whisper, can you imagine them whispering and David's
- 23:44here? This is it.
- 23:48Are you kidding me? David?
- 23:51This is your shot. This is God.
- 23:53Clearly doing this. Who knows what else?
- 23:57They added the scripture doesn't.
- 23:58I don't want to add to the scripture, but if I was one of
- 24:01those soldiers in the flesh, I probably said you could be king
- 24:03right now. We don't have to hide in caves
- 24:07anymore. We can establish godliness and
- 24:10Israel again. This is it this is the new
- 24:13chapter. That God had been prophesying
- 24:15over you. This is why we're supporting you
- 24:17and look, God is making a way. So let's just do it.
- 24:19Go kill him. You want to use my sword?
- 24:21I don't know. Regardless of their excitement
- 24:27regardless of how they Justified it even if they included God's
- 24:31name in it. The question is simple is a
- 24:35right? Is it right?
- 24:40And the answer is obviously not, it's not right.
- 24:44It's not right to kill a man. There is no justification for
- 24:49him to assassinate the leader of Israel.
- 24:52And here's the point that you want to take out of this that no
- 24:54matter how we feel about something, no matter how
- 24:57convinced we may be, what you and I have to come to is asking,
- 25:03is this an alignment with God's word?
- 25:10After having a balanced understanding of God's word is
- 25:15this, right? If you want to know how to
- 25:17interpret, God's mind about a person.
- 25:20Listen carefully, now about a situation, About a circumstance
- 25:27about a decision. All you have to do the main way
- 25:31of being safe is ask yourself this.
- 25:35Does this line up with the balance comprehension of God's
- 25:39word and I emphasize balanced because anybody can pretty much
- 25:44Justified just about anything with one or two verses in the
- 25:46Bible. Cults have started with one or
- 25:49two verses in the Bible. Is fascinating, how people can
- 25:54justify just about anything and have a verse to back it up?
- 26:00And that's what these guys are essentially doing.
- 26:03Was it God's will for David to become king?
- 26:06It was God's will. You can say it was God's word,
- 26:09God's word, declared that David would become king.
- 26:13But was it God's will for David to kill him to arrive to the
- 26:16throne? No.
- 26:19And so you have to have a balance.
- 26:21If you just have, it's God's will for you to be king.
- 26:23You could think. All right, then this is the way
- 26:26to do it, but when you understand the totality of
- 26:28scripture, you realize, yeah, that sounds right, and it seems,
- 26:32right? But there's also this, that's
- 26:35how Jesus combated, Satan's lies with the scriptures.
- 26:39Satan said it is written and Jesus said what it is also
- 26:43written. Not just it is written.
- 26:47He says yeah but you got it. You got to balance that verse
- 26:50with this verse How do you explain this story with this
- 26:55commentary in the Bible of that story?
- 26:59This is where many Christians get themselves in trouble.
- 27:02David being King was God's will. But David killing King Saul to
- 27:05get. There was was evil.
- 27:08It was sin and I want to take this verse and I want you, and I
- 27:13to see just how clever sin is Let me put it this way.
- 27:21I want you to see how Temptation works, and David here is
- 27:26experiencing a heavyweight of Temptation.
- 27:30This wasn't just a, like a light thing.
- 27:32There were so many layers that made this extremely attractive
- 27:37to David. So, look at verse 3 and I want
- 27:40you to look at verse 3 in your Bibles and and you can, you can
- 27:43answer give me some elements that would make this very
- 27:47appealing to David. What are some Elements about
- 27:50this temptation, that would persuade David more than usual
- 27:54to move forward and assassinating Saul.
- 28:07Say that again. Saul's alone.
- 28:09Sure. So it's easy.
- 28:16We just covered one part of it. Whose name was invoked into
- 28:19this. We just we just read it.
- 28:25Who got brought into the situation, God.
- 28:29God, number one. Temptation.
- 28:35Is stronger. When God's words?
- 28:38Supposedly justifies it one of the ways that men Try to silence
- 28:45their conscience is if they have enough understanding of God's
- 28:49word, if they've grown up in a Christian home even if they are
- 28:52genuine believers, they will try to come to God's word and either
- 28:57intentionally try to twist it or they are doing something wrong
- 29:01because they have received a twisted word and have believed
- 29:05it. So there is something that helps
- 29:08the the inner alarm by knowing that God's word apparently gives
- 29:14the green light on it or he silent about it.
- 29:17And so so it's okay for me to continue in this.
- 29:20Let me give you an example. I know of a young man many, many
- 29:23years ago that before he was born again and though he grew up
- 29:26in a Christian household. He went to Sunday school here at
- 29:30the sermons, he had Christian parents but he was not born
- 29:32again. He was living in the world and
- 29:34he was living at one point and great sexual sin.
- 29:38And his conscience was so alarmed and Disturbed that at
- 29:42one point, he came to the Bible itself.
- 29:46To try to find out if he could justify his behavior.
- 29:52And this is how he was doing it, he was looking for specifics.
- 29:54That was the standard. I have to find specifics to my
- 29:57immorality and if God is silent about those specifics and sure
- 30:01enough he can give me some Grace here. so you see how men tried
- 30:07to invoke God's name or go to compromising Christians to get
- 30:11their Council and they try to ease the disturbance within
- 30:16their soul by either silencing God's word altogether or
- 30:20manipulating God's word in order to try to comfort them with a
- 30:24false peace, peace, peace, that the false prophets, speak on
- 30:28behalf of God, that gave those men of Israel, some comfort in
- 30:32their sin So God's name is invoked though.
- 30:37God never said it. And God's attributes today are
- 30:40being used, manipulated Twisted to justify sin.
- 30:43God is love. Love is love.
- 30:46God is forgiving. He'll forgive, you know, any
- 30:48Christians, use that. I'll tell you it's garbage.
- 30:52Your theology brother is garbage.
- 30:54When you try to plan to sleep with somebody and you say God is
- 30:57merciful, he'll forgive us. That's an abuse of the grace of
- 31:02God. And so men, try to come to God's
- 31:07word and manipulate in twist, in order to bring themselves to it
- 31:10and he's in their conscience. But let me ask you this
- 31:14question, who is suggesting it to David?
- 31:18His friends. His closest friends, his devout
- 31:23followers. Those that have sacrificed so
- 31:27much for him, those that have surrendered everything to
- 31:30support him. And here's the problem.
- 31:33This is not the first time that David's friends have suggested
- 31:37something contrary to God's word.
- 31:39Remember When God says go and defend kiella, remember that?
- 31:43What did all the rest say we're afraid?
- 31:45We're already afraid here in Judah.
- 31:46Now you want us to go fight against the Philistines.
- 31:49And so, David's friends though they were good-hearted, they
- 31:52were not mature and faith and so, they were an obstacle to
- 31:56David. I one point and now they're an
- 31:58obstacle again, They're now suggesting to David encouraging,
- 32:03David to kill the king. And here's the point that I want
- 32:08to make this may shock you this this point may shock you, but
- 32:13it's true. Nonetheless, and I want to give
- 32:14you a biblical biblical evidence for that.
- 32:16Listen to this. Satan knows that there are
- 32:19certain people in our lives. That carry more influence than
- 32:23others. Satan knows that there are
- 32:28relationships in our lives that hold more weight than others and
- 32:33because of that, Satan will find a way to lie to them so that
- 32:38they can lie to you. You thinking brother, you're
- 32:45reading way too much into this, this is extra biblical.
- 32:48Is it really What did Jesus tell his closest friend when he
- 32:54suggested to him? Not to go to the Cross, get
- 32:58behind me, Peter No, get behind me.
- 33:01Satan, you know what's interesting about that.
- 33:07Peter though, he was a follower of Jesus Jesus, criticize
- 33:12rebuked. The representative of the
- 33:14Apostles because afterwards, he says, for you have set your mind
- 33:20as a man does and not on the things of God.
- 33:23In other words, you're thinking worldly and because of Peters
- 33:27worldly mindset, Satan's lies were believable and then he
- 33:32began to now cause Jesus to be tempted and it all started with
- 33:36an Open Door from a follower of Jesus Christ.
- 33:40I know this is, this is like, what, what are you suggesting?
- 33:43I'm suggesting this, that when Satan tempted, Jesus directly,
- 33:47he failed. So, what did he do?
- 33:50The next thing was this. Well, if I couldn't do it
- 33:52directly, let me go through one of his closest followers.
- 33:57All satan wanted. Jesus to do, was not get to the
- 34:00Cross. You want the world?
- 34:02I'll give you the world. It just just take a shortcut.
- 34:05Don't go to the cross. Jesus with the scriptures
- 34:10defeated Satan and that moment. So what I say to do is the
- 34:13clever devil that he is, he whispers into a man's mind who
- 34:18was worldly and is thinking and through Peter, try to convince
- 34:22Jesus, not to go to the cross. So here's what I want to tell
- 34:29you today. No matter how much you love
- 34:35somebody, no matter how much somebody claims to love you, no
- 34:39matter the history of your relationship with that
- 34:40individual, people are susceptible to get into the
- 34:43flesh, even followers of Jesus Christ.
- 34:46Here's the point that I want to make.
- 34:48It doesn't matter. Who says it?
- 34:50What they say doesn't matter. Your history with that person
- 34:53God's word Trump's over man's word.
- 34:57Every time, every time. And David here is going to prove
- 35:04that that even though 600 unanimously are trying to
- 35:07convince him a go one way, God's word was more important and more
- 35:11authoritative than the word of 600 men.
- 35:17And I'm telling you not to condemn others, not to think
- 35:19that people are demon possessed, who have the Holy Spirit and I'm
- 35:22not saying that. What I am saying is this that we
- 35:25have to be so wise and Discerning that even people that
- 35:28love you. Even people that claim to love
- 35:32God, like these men like Peter. If what they say doesn't line up
- 35:37with God's word, you always stand by God's Eternal,
- 35:41unchanging Council always And that's what David's about to do.
- 35:50That's what our lord Jesus did. That is what you and I have to
- 35:53do. Lastly, there's something else
- 35:56here. We consider the fact that God's
- 35:59name was invoked. Now as you're hearing this,
- 36:01think about David was a man, think about the weightiness of
- 36:04this God's name you have 600 people saying.
- 36:08God is telling you to do this. Wow, it wasn't even like 90/10
- 36:14100%. You have 600 people who have
- 36:17your best interests in mind who are giving you advice.
- 36:21We're giving you counsel but it contradicts God's word.
- 36:24What are you gonna do? And lastly, you have the
- 36:29personal interest, the ends that can be achieved if you do this,
- 36:34imagine what can be finished once and for all if David just
- 36:39kills Saul Imagine that peace. The harmony.
- 36:44Imagine you can arrive to the throne much earlier.
- 36:49This is taking forever. And this is the Temptation.
- 36:54David knew he was going to be king and sometimes she needed to
- 36:57be reminded of that. But the thing that was tricky
- 37:01here was that there was a an offer for an early fulfillment
- 37:05of that. There is no doubt that David was
- 37:10going to arrive. But in this moment, he can have
- 37:14it now. Much sooner.
- 37:18Suffering can be spared. Seems like all of this is done
- 37:23for his favor and for his benefit.
- 37:25But let me say this, just because an ambition is good, it
- 37:30does not permit us to use, sinful means to get there.
- 37:34Just because the end might be good, it will never justify sin
- 37:39to obtain it. Never forget this no matter how
- 37:42profitable something is. No matter how much good you
- 37:45think that you can promote, and accomplish if you get there, if
- 37:49it is not done. According to God's ways, you
- 37:52will not have God's ultimate blessing on it.
- 37:57Is this not true among Believers?
- 37:58How many Believers are constantly tempted with a less
- 38:03costly way of doing something? How many Believers are tempted
- 38:09to shortcuts in life and those shortcuts are sin?
- 38:15Sinful ways of arriving somewhere.
- 38:17So I think of Christian businessmen.
- 38:19Who want a quicker way to make money.
- 38:23And so they will lie, they will cheat.
- 38:25They might even justify and say I have more to give to the
- 38:27church if I make more if I have more property and so they
- 38:31deceive and they write false information and they tell their
- 38:34employees to not, be honest, how many single Christians can't
- 38:39imagine living another year being single.
- 38:43So they'll take a shortcut and they will justify marrying
- 38:46somebody who's not saved because that's how much they longed for
- 38:50companionship and for a family. So, so we'll take a shortcut to
- 38:54arrive to God's desire for them. How many people in lust for
- 38:59something as holy as a Ministry. Position will manipulate
- 39:02people's minds and make politics within the church.
- 39:05So they can poison people because somebody's in the way of
- 39:09what they want and they want to do it.
- 39:10Apparently, in the name of God, do you see Do you see how this
- 39:13temptation is very relevant to many people's lives today?
- 39:18Temptation is much more desirable when it offers a
- 39:21shortcut to things. When it can bring things.
- 39:25Now when it could bring things quicker, when there's more
- 39:28fulfillment that can be known. And yet I will tell you this
- 39:32that a Spirit-filled Christian will be much more satisfied and
- 39:35knowing that they are pleasing God.
- 39:37Even though there is a delay on whatever blessing they are
- 39:39hoping for So now David has a mountain.
- 39:47Of Temptations on his shoulders. Apparently you have God's name,
- 39:51invoked in it, you have your friends telling you to do it and
- 39:55now you have even your personal interest freedom from suffering,
- 39:59you can now govern, you can be king, you can see, God's will
- 40:04performed and you're thinking, what is he going to do?
- 40:08And with suspense in our hearts, as we're reading it, David
- 40:11doesn't answer them at all and with the Assassin abilities that
- 40:16he As a mighty warrior as saw, there is taking care of his
- 40:21personal business. Most likely facing away from
- 40:23David and his men. He stopped, Ali comes to this
- 40:27King. And like any King in that day
- 40:30would have a long robe that would symbolize their Authority.
- 40:34David pulls out his dagger and the men behind watching from the
- 40:38womb of that cave or probably celebrating inwardly.
- 40:42Like this is it man we're getting out of this thing.
- 40:45I'm getting one room in the palace.
- 40:46I'm getting that and there they're just here it is.
- 40:51He pulls out that dagger he approaches saw saw has no clue.
- 40:55He's probably whistling himself to his death in a moment.
- 40:59And as he lifts up his hand, men are thinking, maybe he's going
- 41:02to go right for the jugular, he brings it low and he cuts a
- 41:07piece of fabric. Off of Saul's rope.
- 41:13And he back, pedals into the shadows of that cave.
- 41:21And then we read verse 5. And afterward.
- 41:26David's heart, struck him. Because he had cut off a corner
- 41:31of saws rope. So, David Cuts, just a piece.
- 41:37I wonder if it was the color red.
- 41:38He had a piece of the robe in his hand.
- 41:43And he comes back to his men and I don't know what the response
- 41:46of the men were like, probably like, what are you doing?
- 41:49Get back there and kill him. And we're about to find out,
- 41:52maybe there were like, I'm gonna do it myself because it says
- 41:54that he restrains them. In that moment, David wasn't
- 41:58concerned about anything else other than his conscience.
- 42:03His heart struck him. That word struck is a very
- 42:08powerful word. It's the same word that is used
- 42:11in Exodus to 12, where Moses saw, an Egyptian mistreating, a
- 42:15Jewish slave and he looked around to see if there is
- 42:18anybody watching and he slew That Egyptian Soldier and he
- 42:24buried them, it's the same word for kill.
- 42:28His heart was smitten, it was stricken it exploded with
- 42:34conviction, imagine that just for cutting a piece of Saul's
- 42:42robe. What would have become of the
- 42:43man? If you actually killed Saul, I
- 42:48read this verse verse 5 first, Samuel chapter 22, 24 verse 5,
- 42:53many years ago and it has greatly impacted.
- 42:56My walk with the Lord, particularly in my fight against
- 43:00sin. Why?
- 43:03Because what you have here is a man with a very, very sensitive
- 43:08conscience. I mean David is proving much
- 43:12already. He has proven that he will not
- 43:15get to the throne knowing that I got here because I killed Saul,
- 43:21he subtle with himself. If I'm going to go where God
- 43:24tells me, I'm gonna go, God's gonna have to do it.
- 43:26Secondly, we learned that this man did not have bitterness
- 43:29against Saul when he had the opportunity to do more harm to
- 43:32the one who is creating much misery in his life.
- 43:35He did not take vengeance. But more than that, more than
- 43:41that. More than that.
- 43:43This man here, it's incredible. The purity of his soul is on
- 43:48Full display here. He could not handle the fact
- 43:52that he actually, he actually did something to him those so
- 43:57insignificant and small. and here's the point that I want to
- 44:03make, This is a great thing to have in life.
- 44:11It is a great thing to feel great pain, for small sins.
- 44:16Listen, God has instituted many restraints and creation.
- 44:21He has provided institutions and he has even provided an inner
- 44:27faculty. It's called a conscience.
- 44:31And what a conscience does is that it accuses you when you do
- 44:35wrong and it rewards you, when you do write it celebrates, when
- 44:42you are walking righteously. And it condemns you, when you
- 44:47are doing something that is, contrary to the sense of
- 44:51morality that God is established in the universe.
- 44:54And here's the thing. That restraint that God has put
- 44:58in every single human being by the way.
- 45:03What is that? By the way, what is that?
- 45:05How do humans have that I often? Say?
- 45:08Those who believe that? They've come from animals.
- 45:11Don't you ever wonder how monkeys don't have a Judicial
- 45:13System? Humans do.
- 45:19Do cats and dogs have a prison system humans do.
- 45:24There is something that we've been wired with.
- 45:27That knows right from wrong and people are trying to explain it
- 45:32away and for a reason schools are trying to teach the media is
- 45:37trying to do something with man's conscience.
- 45:40Have you noticed they are trying to blur as much as possible this
- 45:45concept of right and wrong. They want to eliminate this,
- 45:50this idea which is God's doing that.
- 45:53There is objective morality in the world.
- 45:57And so, what's happening here is that the enemy wants to wants to
- 46:02silence people's consciences? Because that is one of God's
- 46:06restraints in society when you silence people's consciences
- 46:12evil, becomes more accessible. And people are more willing to
- 46:18sin without hesitation or a second thought.
- 46:23So there's no right and wrong. Hey, if your shirt is black and
- 46:26you want it to be green, let it be green.
- 46:28Hey if it feels good, do it. If if you want it you can have
- 46:33it. What is that?
- 46:35That is training the conscience to not listen to the voice.
- 46:40That says this is wrong. This is right.
- 46:47And I want to show you how that is the case I want to show you
- 46:50how this conscience that God has given every man, you can either
- 46:55train it to become more sensitive and that preserves you
- 46:58for much trouble or you can. So damaged it That's in.
- 47:05Is a reality in your life. As breathing is go to.
- 47:10First Timothy, I want you to see this.
- 47:13In chapter 4. Here's what the scripture says
- 47:30in verse 12 1st Timothy 4 verse 1.
- 47:33Now the spirit expressly says that in later times some will
- 47:36depart from the Faith by devoting themselves to
- 47:38deceitful, spirits and teachings of demons through the
- 47:42insincerity of liars, whose consciences are seared.
- 47:48Notice the equation here, Paul, by the spirit is warning that in
- 47:52the last days you're going to have more and more people
- 47:54teaching, things contrary to the Bible or twisting the Bible.
- 47:58It's going to become more and more Uncommon and here's the
- 48:01cause how is it that you're going to have people behind
- 48:03pulpits? How is it that you going to
- 48:05people in popular TV shows and podcasts teaching others demonic
- 48:10things the cause is here? Their consciences are seared.
- 48:16Meaning it's burned and just like how if you burn your nerve
- 48:21endings? Severely enough you lose
- 48:23sensation in them. What Paul is saying here is that
- 48:26these men have so callous, their souls, that they have no issue,
- 48:32spewing lies, it doesn't bother them or keep them awake at
- 48:35night. One bit, So how could they lie
- 48:40in a way that would damn people? Well, it started with the fact
- 48:43that they've silenced their conscience, They have sold
- 48:47burned. Their inner alarm system that
- 48:49they are capable of doing this knowing that it can destroy
- 48:53people. And that is a dangerous thing
- 49:00when you no longer able to feel guilt, shame, hesitation
- 49:06discomfort, fear, a healthy fear regret, especially those who are
- 49:12outside of Christ. I'll get to the how we should
- 49:14feel outside inside of Christ. But when man, fails to feel
- 49:18these things, Sin will become more rampant.
- 49:24Devious schemes will become more.
- 49:26Common people will be destroyed. and so one of Satan's strategies
- 49:33as we're seeing them full display is to make sure that
- 49:35this thing that restrains man from going too far, Would be
- 49:41muted as much as possible. It's the same idea as pain pain,
- 49:45physically is good. Is good. because when I put my
- 49:52hand on top of a heated stove, it's pain that goes, ah, and we
- 49:59can liken that to the conscience when a conscience is sensitive
- 50:02and it's doing something right, it promotes you to retract and
- 50:07from continuing in that sin But my question is this, how does a
- 50:12man come to the point where they see her their conscience?
- 50:17How does it may come to a point where they so burn up that part
- 50:20of their inner faculty? That there are willing to live
- 50:23in sin to their own self-destruction and the
- 50:25destruction of others, isn't it? Relieving to know that the
- 50:28answer is found in the same book.
- 50:30Go to chapter 12, First Timothy, and verse 19.
- 50:37There's a little phrase that we might Overlook first Samuel 119,
- 50:42and here's what we're told. Holding faith and a good
- 50:45conscience by rejecting this. Some have made shipwreck of
- 50:53their faith. Rejecting, what?
- 50:57Not just the faith, but a good conscience.
- 51:02The word rejecting means to repel.
- 51:06It means to push away. It means to continually reject.
- 51:11T'. What we are being told here is
- 51:14that the way a person arrives to a seared conscience is they
- 51:18weren't born that way. Though, they might have
- 51:21developed early on, they've learned to ignore it.
- 51:28So this is what happens, you ready?
- 51:30And it could be possible that somebody listening today is in
- 51:32the very process of what I'm about to describe.
- 51:35You do it the first time and you feel intense guilt.
- 51:39You lose sleep that night. You can't believe that you've
- 51:42brought yourself to do such a thing.
- 51:45There's no repentance, not least heartfelt repentance.
- 51:50So you do it again and you still, you still feel that Rush
- 51:55of disgust of embarrassment, Maybe.
- 52:02And your conscience tells you don't you ever do that again.
- 52:06You do it again, the fourth time, the tenth time, and that
- 52:12voice that was trying to negotiate with you before doing,
- 52:15it is getting quieter and quieter and that feeling of
- 52:19disturbance. It's like a whisper now.
- 52:25And now for something you find yourself, not only in it, but
- 52:29doing things that you never thought you would do watching
- 52:31things, you thought you never watch handling things.
- 52:33The way you never thought you would handle it.
- 52:35And how a person arrives there is that they have trained to
- 52:39ignore their conscience. and it can come to a point where it
- 52:46becomes so insensitive that the feeling is gone, And that's why
- 52:54you can have people who kill. they're serial murders and it's
- 52:59like, And then you watch him in interviews and you think they
- 53:03look. So they talk normal.
- 53:06They look like a guy that would live down my street.
- 53:08Yeah, they have seared their conscience though.
- 53:11And that's why there are people who are liars and they don't
- 53:15even realize that they're like sometimes there's there's
- 53:18there's so they're so used to doing that and ignoring it.
- 53:21And perhaps, they've even thought themselves, I've gotten
- 53:23away with it, I've gotten much from it, I've made much great
- 53:27moves because of it and so now they lie.
- 53:29They don't even realize they're lying is just like them talking,
- 53:32what happened? They've seared their conscience.
- 53:36By rejecting this. Look at the result.
- 53:38They have made shipwreck like a boat crashing into rocks.
- 53:43Is what happened to their relationship with the Lord?
- 53:47By rejecting, not just their faith, but their conscience and
- 53:52I read that I go. Well, now I know how to silence
- 53:54my conscious, but that's not my concern.
- 53:57That's not my concern. My concern is, how can I make it
- 54:00sensitive? My desire is I want to be like
- 54:05David and that's what I was alluding to earlier.
- 54:07I read this many years ago and I thought to myself, I want that
- 54:13Lord, I so want my soul to be in tune with you, because remember,
- 54:18the robe symbolize saws Authority, and in David's, Mind
- 54:22by cutting a piece of the robe, he assaulted to a degree saws
- 54:27Authority, How do I get there? How do I arrive there?
- 54:34How do I keep it tender? How do I keep it soft?
- 54:37How do I keep it in tune with God?
- 54:39How do I keep it from taking me places that I don't want to go
- 54:42go back to 1st Samuel, 24, and you'll find out.
- 54:47It's in verse 6 of first Samuel, 24.
- 54:51He said to his men being David. The Lord forbid that I should do
- 54:56this thing to my Lord, the Lord's anointed to put up my
- 54:59hand against them seeing. He is the Lord's anointed.
- 55:01Is there a name that's repeated there?
- 55:05Three times. Yahweh is mentioned in one verse
- 55:10when he says my Lord concerning Saul, it's not the same name.
- 55:12That's just a title Master, three times.
- 55:18David looks at his men in that cave, says God.
- 55:23God. God God.
- 55:28He knew what God's word said about unjust killing and he knew
- 55:34God's Will. And he knew that God's will up
- 55:37to this point is that saw was the appointed Authority. and so
- 55:43in his mind, what face this mountainous layers of
- 55:48Temptation, Was God's word, God's word, God's will the Lord,
- 55:54the Lord? The Lord.
- 55:58I didn't tell Daniel was going to Pastor Daniel was going to
- 56:01reference this verse but he read in the beginning of the service
- 56:03I was thinking to myself. Is there a Psalm though?
- 56:06We don't know a song for this chapter but is there something
- 56:08that David had said where he can he can show us that it was
- 56:12really God's word that prevented from doing certain things and it
- 56:15was in Psalm 17 listen to this. Psalm 17 the half of it verse 4
- 56:21David says by the word of your lips, I have avoided the ways of
- 56:28the It. By the words of your lips, I
- 56:33have avoided the way of islands because I knew your word.
- 56:37I didn't kill Saul. And I didn't listen to the 600
- 56:42who are telling me to kill Saul. How do you keep a conscience
- 56:46soft, you saturated with the word of God?
- 56:49You wash it with the word of God.
- 56:51You don't just memorize it. You believe it.
- 56:56You let your life be governed by it.
- 57:00You're convinced that this is your rule of life that this is
- 57:04your Authority. That this word is the determiner
- 57:07of not just your decisions for big things but even the way you
- 57:10react to the evil of others, like salta David, You know what?
- 57:16I think that this is convicting to me.
- 57:18You know what? I think of that cutting of the
- 57:20robe. Can be referenced to in our
- 57:23context like speaking ill of somebody.
- 57:28A trying to ruin the reputation, whatever it may be, it might not
- 57:31be, might not be me, hitting them with my fist.
- 57:34But with my words, And yet, David in a sense, felt
- 57:39conviction for such a small thing.
- 57:40But how because he was so consumed with the word of God,
- 57:46That when sins suggested itself it had to deal with layers of
- 57:50revelation of who God is. And what I love about this
- 57:55moment is that we don't just learn how the word of God keeps
- 57:58our conscience sensitive. But listen to this, it's so
- 58:02powerful that it can awaken the consciences of others.
- 58:06Look at verse 7. So David persuaded his men with
- 58:10these words and did not permit them to attack Saul.
- 58:17What a contrast to Saul and his men when Saul's men with the
- 58:21amalekites says, you know, we can, we can take some of this
- 58:23and make great sacrifices. He believed them and he did it.
- 58:26He listened, he listened to his men and yet David finds itself
- 58:30in the same situation where the men, his followers are trying to
- 58:34tell him to do something and yet he preaches to his men.
- 58:38What a man of God are wish I was in that cave.
- 58:44I wish I was a fly on that wall to see David Whispering this.
- 58:47Sermon to his men while Saul is out there.
- 58:50Relieving himself in the same room, he's going God, God put
- 58:54him there and God will not. Let me kill him and God and God
- 58:59and he's preaching the word. And what happens?
- 59:02Now, their conscience is awake. Like all he's right.
- 59:08That's the power of God's word and may I remind you that is why
- 59:11Satan and America has trying to take God's word out of all that
- 59:15we do in life. You think getting God's word
- 59:18being removed from schools? You think prayer removed from
- 59:20schools is just a list separation of church and state.
- 59:25You think that's the issue? No.
- 59:27It's that we don't want children growing up with an awareness of
- 59:30God's holy law. And now we're in the day where
- 59:33we don't just have the absence of God's word, we have the
- 59:35promotion of insanity That's what's happening.
- 59:42Because even a knowledge of God's word even.
- 59:45And so I don't know if all states do it you have to swear
- 59:48on this book. Why?
- 59:51Because the presence of God's word provides a sense of an
- 59:54Awakening to the conscience. So let's get rid of the Bible,
- 59:57get rid of the Ten Commandments get rid of prayer.
- 1:00:00Let's try to remove God as much as possible because here's the
- 1:00:04spiritual strategy, remove God, and the conscience becomes more
- 1:00:08susceptible to being seared. But we're Americans.
- 1:00:12So we're very smart. So what do we do?
- 1:00:14We put the Bible in prisons. And let their Consciousness be
- 1:00:19awakened. After the fact that they've done
- 1:00:21the crime. What do you put in the schools
- 1:00:23for? So they don't have to read it in
- 1:00:24prison. And so we see here, the power of
- 1:00:32God's word that even the name of the Lord was invoked in a right
- 1:00:37way. And six hundred men were
- 1:00:39stopped, were restrained from doing something that would have
- 1:00:42been evil. And we can applaud David for
- 1:00:46many things and I'll play this David then ago.
- 1:00:48Well, Brothers, I can't kill Saul.
- 1:00:54I can't do it. I can't kill saw, but let you
- 1:01:00didn't play that game. He didn't play that game.
- 1:01:04He feared God. Here's what's so encouraging
- 1:01:07about this? We often think of David being a
- 1:01:10faithful man when he faced Goliath and killed him.
- 1:01:15How many people considered David as a faithful man?
- 1:01:17When he faced salt and didn't kill him?
- 1:01:21When we think of David as the hero of faith, we think about
- 1:01:24the one who stood out among all the Israelites and all the
- 1:01:27armies of Israel and he killed Goliath.
- 1:01:29What about what about the faith that he had, when he had an
- 1:01:32opportunity to get to the throne?
- 1:01:34But he chose not to kill Saul and left him into God's hand.
- 1:01:43We learned back in chapter 17. that God's Providence, LED David
- 1:01:49precisely to be on the battlefield at the right time to
- 1:01:52hear two Goliath's taunts and to make himself available to go to
- 1:01:57war with Goliath and deliver Israel is God's Providence, any
- 1:02:00different here Saul having to use the bathroom and the exact
- 1:02:06cave where the men were hiding in.
- 1:02:11And now a new test presented itself for David.
- 1:02:15What are you going to do? Brothers and sisters, the test
- 1:02:22of your understanding of God's word is not going to come and
- 1:02:25Bible trivia. It's not, it's going to come in
- 1:02:29real life. Going to come in real life.
- 1:02:34And our knowledge, or at least our trust in God's word.
- 1:02:39God is such a, wonderful teacher and discipler.
- 1:02:43He will put you in situations. Never in a situation to be
- 1:02:47tempted beyond what you can bear never in a situation to prepare
- 1:02:51you to fail, never in a situation to tempt you to sin.
- 1:02:55But in life, he puts us in moments.
- 1:02:59And he brings us two seasons left to see how much do you
- 1:03:01really believe me? How much do you really want to
- 1:03:05apply this to your life? There's some things you want to
- 1:03:08apply it for and other things. Not David didn't do that David,
- 1:03:11anything to himself when it came to Glide from me killing.
- 1:03:13Yeah, I can trust God for that but for this, thank you God.
- 1:03:15I'll handle it myself. He didn't do that.
- 1:03:18He trusted God all across and all season, and this test David
- 1:03:23past. David past.
- 1:03:27And then make a final note before we pray about how the
- 1:03:29Believers should deal with their conscience.
- 1:03:31Walking With Jesus, When a sinner is conscience is
- 1:03:37sensitive, it has the same purpose.
- 1:03:41For the saint whose conscience is awakened because of his sin,
- 1:03:44they might have committed, both ends are the same, you run to
- 1:03:48Jesus. You run to Jesus.
- 1:03:52The conscience given to man is a general Grace to make life
- 1:03:56livable. So that even if a person does
- 1:03:59not come to Jesus, that conscience can be loud enough to
- 1:04:03hold them back from creating chaos, in the home and family
- 1:04:06and in the streets, and in school at work.
- 1:04:09But the ultimate goal is, for the people to come to Christ and
- 1:04:12that's where the gospel Comes. The Gospel is good news, it
- 1:04:14heals, it invites people to know a guilt-free conscience and to
- 1:04:18have the burden of sin, roll off of them believer, although we
- 1:04:22want to have a sensitive conscience.
- 1:04:25We also want to have an awareness of the mercy of Jesus
- 1:04:28Christ. That when I do wrong, when I do
- 1:04:31something. I know I wasn't supposed to do.
- 1:04:33Yes, you want a sensitive conscience, you don't want to
- 1:04:36ignore it, but you also don't want to sit in your guilt.
- 1:04:40That's not God's will either. God's will is for you to come
- 1:04:44with your dirty feet to sit at his table and let him wash it.
- 1:04:48That's what he wants to do. So I want the most sensitive
- 1:04:54conscious possible, and let me also say this, there is a
- 1:04:58difference between a sensitive conscience and our oversensitive
- 1:05:01conscience. Let me just make that clear
- 1:05:03because you have people who are guilty about just about
- 1:05:06anything, they do that. They think that, if it's in, if
- 1:05:10it's sin and there are sins with different magnitude of
- 1:05:14consequence, and what we want is even for the smallest sins, we
- 1:05:17want to feel that sensitivity because listen, when we ignore
- 1:05:20smaller sin, We tend to then ignore bigger ones but I'm not
- 1:05:24talking about something that's not in the word.
- 1:05:27I'm not talking about something that's outrageous and not
- 1:05:30realistic. I'm talking about something that
- 1:05:32we should feel pain for so that it can keep us from doing more
- 1:05:35damage to ourselves and others. Let me wrap this up before I
- 1:05:39continue. What's your conscience telling
- 1:05:42you tonight? Maybe, I don't know.
- 1:05:47There's a new person here, every week, at least one new person,
- 1:05:49Friday, or Sunday. So, I don't know what your
- 1:05:51conscience is telling you, are you ignoring it?
- 1:05:55Are you ignoring it? And I can tell you this, if you
- 1:05:58know that you are not in Jesus Christ and you know that you're
- 1:06:01in sin, you know that your uncompromising, you're still
- 1:06:03ignoring it. Here is God's way of trying to
- 1:06:05awaken it again. But if you walk out of here, I
- 1:06:08can tell you confidently that you're just going to sear it a
- 1:06:10little bit more than you did before you walked in.
- 1:06:15So come to Christ and surrender. And no, something that nothing
- 1:06:20else can offer you in this life and that is a liberty to your
- 1:06:23conscience. There's nothing that feels
- 1:06:27better than to know that you're forgiven, nothing, nothing
- 1:06:31compared to it. Nothing can compare to knowing
- 1:06:35that you've been reconciled to God and you have peace with God,
- 1:06:40nothing. Believer.
- 1:06:43What's your conscience telling you have you been have?
- 1:06:47You been doing what these men have been doing with God's word,
- 1:06:49twisting? It adding to it subtracting from
- 1:06:51it, to try to justify something, for your personal gain.
- 1:06:57It's not worth it. Because you're his child and
- 1:07:01guess what? You're not going to get away
- 1:07:02with it. I've seen God's children trying
- 1:07:06to run and do something outside of God's Will, and God is a good
- 1:07:09good father. He will discipline that's not
- 1:07:13going to be in that famous song. Good good.
- 1:07:15Father a good good father. Yeah he'll discipline you.
- 1:07:18He's a good good father. And so you're not going to get
- 1:07:23away with it either and you're just listen, save yourself from
- 1:07:25the trouble of same. Your sit save yourself from the
- 1:07:27shame. Save yourself from the save
- 1:07:30yourself and just respond to the word of God as it is been given.
- 1:07:36And you will know life and peace and whatever that sin is trying
- 1:07:39to convince you with it's a lie. It's a lie, take it from a
- 1:07:44brother who loves you, who cares for you?
- 1:07:48Isn't Bible study amazing. I study this by myself and I get
- 1:07:53excited and I'm glad that you love God's word as well but
- 1:07:56let's apply and ask God to help us apply.
- 1:07:58Amen. Let's pray.
- 1:08:18Lord your word amazes us. It moves us.
- 1:08:25To the core, it moves us. What wisdom, what treasure?
- 1:08:30What jewels, what life. That in seven verses, you can
- 1:08:36change us so dramatically. Oh Lord.
- 1:08:41We are we are amazed that you What a wonderful God.
- 1:08:47You are what an amazing text for us tonight.
- 1:08:53And Lord. We hear what you're saying in
- 1:08:57these verses? Oh God.
- 1:08:58Make us tender in our conscience.
- 1:09:04What a man of God David was in this moment.
- 1:09:06O, Lord may we reflect that posture of heart when it comes
- 1:09:09to sin that even a sliver of wrong would cause great turmoil
- 1:09:18within Not so that we can live feeling that we are not accepted
- 1:09:23by you, not so that we can think that we are condemned but oh
- 1:09:26Lord to know that we have broken your heart.
- 1:09:31It's a know that we've done something that doesn't represent
- 1:09:33the Lord. That we said we would serve and
- 1:09:35follow. and so Lord by the spirit of God, through the word
- 1:09:41of God, may you tenderize our hearts, We are attracted to what
- 1:09:47David displayed before us. We are not, we are not afraid of
- 1:09:51that. Lord, we long for it, but Lord
- 1:09:53also protect us from a misunderstanding of these
- 1:09:55things. And so father, we just praise
- 1:09:59you, we praise you that and this in this moment as a family,
- 1:10:03we've feasted on your word, we sat at your table and you have
- 1:10:07not left us hungry and God. We worship you.
- 1:10:10We worship you. And Thanksgiving for your
- 1:10:14provision for our spiritual nourishment in this place in
- 1:10:18Jesus name, we pray. Amen, and amen.
- 1:10:22Why don't we with joy in our hearts?
- 1:10:24Thank God for his word and celebrate.
- 1:10:26His goodness. Hey man, can you stand with me?