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Collierville First Baptist Church
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Good evening, glad you're here tonight.
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Tonight, last week we looked at David and Goliath.
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Tonight we're gonna look at David and Saul.
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And we're gonna contrast those two guys.
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And it's gonna be an interesting study tonight. So let's begin with a word of prayer.
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Heavenly Father, I'm so thankful for the opportunity to open the Bible tonight to study.
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I pray, Heavenly Father, that with the Holy Spirit's help, that you would help us to see the clear contrasting perspectives between the life of David and the life of Saul.
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And I pray that the Holy Spirit would use this teaching tonight to frame and shape our lives as a result.
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Lord, we love you. And we just wanna be involved in your kingdom until the day we step into glory.
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Lord, to do that, I know we've gotta have a heart for you because you look at the heart. You don't look at the outside stuff, you look at the heart. So Lord, just shape us tonight for your glory. In Jesus' name, amen.
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Now, wasn't it ironic last week that we discovered that for 40 days, 40 days,
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Goliath taunted the armies of Israel and blasphemed the name of Yahweh. Nobody from the Israeli army was willing to go down into the Valley of Elah and challenge Goliath, nobody.
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Not David's older brothers, not Saul, the King Saul, who was head and shoulders above everybody else when he was the people's choice for being the king of Israel.
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Nobody else, not Jonathan, nobody else was willing to go down into the Valley of Elah
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to take on the Philistine champion.
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Saul was paralyzed by fear
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and he was devoid of faith.
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Now, David in all likelihood,
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as we said last week, was a teenager.
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His experience as a shepherd
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was a fundamental shaping influence in his life. It shaped his courage, it shaped his convictions,
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and it shaped his commitment to God.
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And listen, you would think that if anybody would be ready to go down to the Valley and take on Goliath, it would be King Saul.
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He had the armor, he had the weapons, he had everything going for him. But no, he wasn't up to the task, but David was.
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David had courage, convictions, and a commitment to the Lord.
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In fact, he was incensed
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that this uncircumcised Philistine would taunt the armies of the living God
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and would blaspheme the name of Yahweh. So he walked boldly into the Valley of Elah. He was taunted by Goliath who was trying to intimidate him
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because he considered him an unworthy opponent for such a great champion of the Philistines.
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Armed with the finest weapons protected by what appeared to be impregnable armor, the battle had all the markings of a massacre.
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Surely, surely Goliath would make quick work out of this young Jewish lad who stepped into the Valley to take him on.
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Motivated by his love and his reverence for the Lord,
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empowered by his faith in God's power,
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David charged the uncircumcised Philistine.
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All it took, all it took was one well-placed stone flung from his sling to kill Goliath.
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David kept Goliath's sword and carried Goliath's head around for a little while, like a trophy.
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It was like a trophy.
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Now you say, well, that's pretty gory detail, but I believe there's a reason that the Holy Spirit inspired that to be included in the Bible. It's a picturesque glimpse of what God promised that his Messiah would do to the serpent.
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Look at Genesis 3, 14 and 15.
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The Lord God said to the serpent,
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"Because you have done this, tempted Adam and Eve, cursed are you more than all cattle and more than every beast of the field, on your belly you will go, and dust you will eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman
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and between your seed and her seed." Well, who was the seed of the woman?
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It was Jesus, the Messiah.
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Between your seed and her seed, he shall bruise you on the head
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and you shall bruise him on the hill.
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The crucified, resurrected and exalted Christ has conquered Satan, sin and death. And in him, we can walk in victory over these infernal foes.
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I believe with all my heart that this idea of David carrying around the head of Goliath was more than just a picturesque thing, a gory thing. I believe it had some spiritual meaning to it. And look, I don't know about you, but I'm so glad that Jesus bruised Satan on the head and Satan could only bruise him on the hill, amen?
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Now, the defeat of Goliath was a big turning point in Israel's history. You remember, they were in, it seemed like constant battles with the Philistines,
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almost constantly.
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And Saul had failed miserably as a king. He had failed miserably in defeating the Philistine army.
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However, the narratives that highlight David's leadership and love for the Lord show the wisdom of God's sovereign choice of David to be the next king of Israel.
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God knew exactly what he was doing.
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Now, you remember when David was chosen, right? You remember that Samuel was sent to Jesse's house and he was to anoint a son of Jesse.
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And seven of the brothers came out and boy, they looked good. They were specimens.
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And then Samuel said, "But where do you have another son?" Samuel knew there had to be another son because God says it had to be a son of Jesse. And so Jesse said, "I've got one, the youngest son out in the field."
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And Samuel said, "Well, send for him." And when he came in, it's like the spirit of God confirmed in Samuel's heart, this is the next king of Israel.
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He was the runt of the family, the youngest in the family. But I'll tell you what, out there in the field, keeping the sheep was not wasted time. It was training ground for him to be the next king of Israel. It was training ground for him to go into the valley of Elah and take on Goliath.
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Remember what he told Saul? He said, "I've killed the lion, I've killed the bear.
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I can handle Goliath." Right?
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Now, I want us to focus tonight as I said on the contrast between David and Saul's character and competency.
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I love what Alan Redpath said in his book
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entitled "The Making of a Man of God."
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Let me quote this for, I'm gonna read this, it's a pretty long quote, but let me quote it for you.
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"Quite clearly at this point in the story,
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the Holy Spirit brings to our attention David and Saul
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and setting them side by side for our careful, thoughtful meditation.
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Both of them were chosen for leadership and both of them were anointed by the Spirit.
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But with these two statements, comparison ceases and contrast begins.
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For everything else in the life of Saul and David is in striking opposition.
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We see the sun begin to rise upon one life and to set upon the other. For one, there is steady growth in grace and in the knowledge of God. For the other, there is tragic decline and disobedience to God, darkness, frustration and sin.
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Yet Saul began so well
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and he might've been all that David was.
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The two men are placed side by side for our examination, for our warning
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and for our encouragement.
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The same loving God, the same heavenly resources are at the disposal of both of these men. But we see one of them steadily rising
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and the other steadily sinking.
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Now, the contrast between David and Saul structures the entire narrative of 1 and 2 Samuel
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as a theological statement about what constitutes spiritual vitality
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and the kind of qualities that a king of Israel should have or basically anybody in spiritual leadership.
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Now look at verses one through four of chapter 18 of 1 Samuel.
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Now it came about when he had finished speaking to Saul
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that the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David.
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Now, I want you to look at that. Who was Jonathan? Jonathan was the son of Saul.
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He was the heir apparent successor to the throne of Israel. He was set up to be the next king of Israel to follow in his father's footsteps.
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He had all of the armor and everything that a young prince would have.
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Now, the Bible says that his soul was knit
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to the soul of David.
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And Jonathan loved him as himself.
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Saul took him that day and did not let him return to his father's house. Now, that's referring to David.
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After David killed Goliath,
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Saul did not let him go back to his dad's house.
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He kept him.
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He enlisted him in the army
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and he made him a part of Saul's leadership team. Verse three, "Then Jonathan made a covenant with David "because he loved him as himself."
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Now, let me say something here.
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I mentioned this earlier and I feel like I need to mention it again.
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It is amazing how godless
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people want to take this story of David and Jonathan, their friendship and their love for each other and turn it into a gay rights agenda item.
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That they use this story to say that the Bible affirms same sex relationships.
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Now listen, nothing can be further from the truth.
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I told you maybe a week or so ago that you take, for instance, these soldiers who were fighting in Iran.
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Let me tell you, they have a bond
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that you and I may not be able to understand unless you've been where they are. And they're close to each other. They would be willing to die for each other. Did you read what the second pilot, the one that had to climb up to 7,000 feet in order to get rescued even though he was injured and had to hide out for 48 hours? Did you hear what he said when he found out that the first pilot had been rescued?
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He was tickled to death that the first pilot was rescued because the first pilot didn't have on some kind of jacket or something that he had on.
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Now that's amazing. Now that's love.
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Love.
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Listen, there's no way this side of heaven that you could ever take this story and twist it and to make it so perverted that you would sanction same sex relationships.
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Now, the Bible says that Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him and gave it to David with his armor, including his sword, his bow and his belt.
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Now these things were part of being a prince, of being next in line to being king. And he gave them to David, his friend,
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that he loved dearly, okay?
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Now the sovereign God knew that David would need a good friend to go through what he was about to go through. He needed somebody who would stand by his side and would be an encouragement to him. Because listen, even though Jonathan David didn't know what lie right ahead of David, God knew, God knew that Saul would chase David all over Israel trying to kill him.
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David didn't know that.
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Jonathan didn't know that at the time. But let me tell you the God of heaven knew.
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And God wanted to give David someone that he could lean on
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in that perilous time in his life. And it was for several years
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that he was hunted down like an animal by Saul.
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Now, in Chuck Swindoll's book,
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David, a man of passion and destiny, he described some attributes of true friendship.
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You know, Chuck Swindoll said in this book,
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it's rare that any man would have a true friend, maybe two or three during a lifetime, a true friend, a deep friend, a friend that would stick by him.
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He said, characteristics of true friendship, a true friend is willing to sacrifice. That's what we see in verse four, isn't it?
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I mean, look, Jonathan,
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and this is hard for me to wrap my mind around, it shows the character of Jonathan.
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Jonathan was willing to give up his shot at being the next king of Israel in order for his friend, David, to be the next king because I believe Jonathan knew that God had anointed him to be king.
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And look at 1 Samuel chapter 20, verse four, I've got it here, you don't have to look it up.
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Then Jonathan said to David,
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whatever you say, I will do for you.
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That's true friend, isn't it?
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Whatever you say, I will do for you. Now, some of our so-called friends say that kind of stuff, but when push comes to shove and you need them, they don't show up, right?
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It's sort of like America and the NATO allies.
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They didn't show up, did they? They talk a good game,
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but when we need them to step into the fray and help with the enemy Iran, they don't show up.
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And that's what a lot of so-called friends will do to you.
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But a true friend is willing to sacrifice and a true friend does not keep score.
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Now, you know what I mean with that.
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Well, I did this for you. Now, what are you gonna do for me? You don't keep score.
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You're just ready at any moment
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to do anything that will help your friend.
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Second, a true friend will stand up for you.
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Jonathan was not afraid to speak well of David even to his jealous and paranoid father, Saul.
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In 1 Samuel chapter 19, verse four,
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then Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father and said to him, do not let the king sin against his servant David since he has not sinned against you and since his deeds have been very beneficial to you. Can I tell you this? David would not have survived without Jonathan.
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Jonathan gave him warnings.
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Jonathan was there for him.
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Jonathan was key for David escaping the insane attacks
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on his life by Saul.
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And then third, a true friend is a constant source of encouragement.
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Look at 1 Samuel 23, 15 and 16.
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Now, David became aware that Saul had come out to seek his life
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while David was in the wilderness of Zeph at Horesh.
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Verse 16, and Jonathan Saul's son arose and went to David at Horesh. He didn't have to go to David,
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but David was his friend.
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He loved him like a brother.
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And he went to David at Horesh and encouraged him in God. Now look at that statement. He encouraged him in God.
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And I tell you what, I've had some people in my life
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that have been incredible encouragers for me.
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I never would forget a dear lady when I was coaching, coaching in Columbus, Mississippi.
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And Darlene and I were members of First Baptist Columbus.
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And there was a dear lady, Ms. Margaret Lewis,
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Coddly Spirit Phil, loved Jesus, loved the Word of God.
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I taught the young couples Sunday school class and Ms. Lewis was in that class. She was sort of the class grandmother.
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And man, she loved us. She was there for us. She invited Darlene and myself. And at that time Heather over to eat lunch several times at her house.
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And even after we moved and I got the head coach and job at South Tilla High School,
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Ms. Lewis would call me. She'd say, "Chug, do you have any prayer requests?"
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And when I had prayer requests and she didn't call, I called her because that lady could pray.
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And when she died, she had left word that she wanted me to be a part of her funeral.
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Now I'm gonna tell you, sometimes it's hard to preach people's funerals and sometimes it's easy. I don't mean that disrespectfully, but let me tell you something. I knew where that lady was. She was with Jesus.
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And she preached her own funeral by the way she lived
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and by the way she encouraged young couples in that class.
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Amazing.
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We all need encouragers in her life, don't we?
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I had a pastor to call me this week.
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And I'm telling you what, he was so discouraged.
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He's getting beat up.
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They had a wonderful Easter service,
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a wonderful Easter service.
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He walked into a meeting and it was almost like a trap was set for him.
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And he called me and he was almost in tears
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and I prayed for him. You know what he needed?
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He needed somebody to listen to him.
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He needed somebody to encourage him in Jesus.
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We all need that, right?
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I look around the room and I noticed that you all sit at the same table every Wednesday night.
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Evidently you've made some friends here, good friends. And that's a good thing.
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So we see when you have an enemy like Saul, you need a friend like Jonathan, right?
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Someone that will encourage you and stand up for you and even make sacrifices for you. All right, now let's look at the dynamic, this contrast between Saul and David.
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The first heading I have here is Saul's spiritual regression,
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his spiritual regression.
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Look at verses five through eight of chapter 18.
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So David went out wherever Saul sent him and prospered.
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And Saul set him over the men of war.
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Now remember, David is young.
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Let's just imagine that a few years, maybe he's 18, 19 years old by now, maybe he's 20, I don't know.
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But Saul set him over the men of war.
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Can I tell you that tells you something about David's leadership, right?
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He was a man of God.
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I'm gonna tell you, he was a quintessential leader.
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The army respected him, the people of Israel respected him.
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And Jonathan respected him and Saul's daughters respected him.
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Look at this.
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And it was pleasing in the sight of all the people
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and in the sight of Saul's servants.
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I mean, they were impressed with David, okay?
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And why would they not be, right?
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By now, word had gotten around that David had killed the Philistine champion.
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And it led to a rout of the entire Philistine army, right?
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So they were impressed with David.
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Now, it happened, verse six, as they were coming when David returned from killing the Philistine that the women came out of all the cities of Israel singing and dancing to meet King Saul with tambourines, with joy and with musical instruments. Verse seven, this is where it gets a little dicey. The women sang as they played and said, "Saul had slain his thousands and David his 10,000."
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That was a turning point in Saul's life.
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Now, I believe he had already begun to regress spiritually.
[01:26:40;11 - 01:26:57;12]
But I think at this point when he heard the women singing about him slaying his thousands and David slaying his 10,000s, it poured gasoline on the fire.
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I mean, he went downhill in a hurry.
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Verse eight, "Then Saul became very angry." That's a very strong word in the Hebrew language.
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He was very angry.
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For this saying displeased him.
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And he said, "They have ascribed to David 10,000s, but to me, they've ascribed thousands." Now, what more can he have but the kingdom?
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You see where he's going? You see where his mind's going? He was insanely jealous of David.
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Now, have you noticed this?
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When somebody begins to backslide spiritually
[01:27:53;38 - 01:27:57;49]
and they begin to go down the path of spiritual regression,
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they're usually the last ones to see it. They really are.
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Now, people around them, the family sees it.
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Sometimes fellow church members see it.
[01:28:14;36 - 01:28:23;32]
But the person who is a backslider in heart, a person who is going down a path of spiritual regression,
[01:28:24;55 - 01:28:32;29]
there's a blindness, there's a spiritual blindness that covers their spiritual eyes.
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Now, in Saul's case, the first thing that showed up in his life that indicated this insane jealousy directed toward David was the fact that that had to be directed toward David was the fact that he would put David over the armed forces. Now, let me say why I'm saying that. As we go through this story, you're gonna notice that Saul was very manipulative.
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And Saul tried several different ways to kill David.
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I think one of the ways he tried to kill David, he put him in harm's way.
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The more he could get him before the Philistines, the more chances he had of seeing David come back in a body bag. Later on, he's gonna give one of his daughters to David,
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but he requires that David bring back a hundred foreskin's of Philistines.
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Now, you know what? I'm not gonna tell you what a foreskin is if you don't know what it is, okay? Not getting into that, not going there, I promise you. But you know what David did? He brought back 200.
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200. Now, why would Saul do that? That was his dowry for David marrying his daughter.
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Now, he did that because he thought sure
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that David would come back in a body bag.
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So he tried several unique creative ways
[01:30:30;47 - 01:30:37;02]
to make sure that David's life came to an end. Look at chapter 19, verse one.
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It's not in your notes.
[01:30:41;06 - 01:30:42;26]
Chapter 19, verse one.
[01:30:43;43 - 01:30:46;21]
Now, Saul told Jonathan his son,
[01:30:48;22 - 01:30:50;04]
who was David's best friend,
[01:30:51;49 - 01:30:55;26]
he told Jonathan his son in all his service to put David to death.
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But Jonathan Saul's son greatly delighted in David.
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So one way after another,
[01:31:09;19 - 01:31:12;33]
Saul was absolutely committed
[01:31:14;04 - 01:31:17;38]
to making sure that David's life came to an end.
[01:31:18;52 - 01:31:21;40]
Because here's what was happening and Saul could see it.
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Saul could see that his kingdom was in decline
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and David's kingdom was on the incline.
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And it was obvious.
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I mean, when you got your Saul's family and you got Saul's servants and you got the people of Israel, the women of Israel, and they're all so proud of David and so enamored with David and they're not enamored with Saul anymore.
[01:31:54;28 - 01:31:57;35]
The handwriting was on the wall, so to speak.
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Now, now keep in mind that Samuel had already told King Saul
[01:32:09;56 - 01:32:12;49]
that God had rejected him from being king.
[01:32:15;00 - 01:32:17;28]
That conversation had already taken place.
[01:32:19;02 - 01:32:25;07]
Look at 1 Samuel chapter 15 verse 22 and 23 and then verse 28, look at it.
[01:32:26;27 - 01:32:32;45]
Samuel said, "Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices
[01:32:33;55 - 01:32:38;02]
as in obeying the voice of the Lord?" Now, remember the context here.
[01:32:39;25 - 01:32:58;37]
The context is that Samuel relayed the word of God to Saul that God wanted the Amalekites destroyed and all their animals destroyed just total annihilation.
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And Saul and his men went to the Amalekites and they brought back the best of the sheep. They brought back Agag, the king of the Amalekites alive.
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That's not what God told him to do.
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So if you were to ask me, pastor, what is the first bad step that Saul made toward this regression in his spiritual life? Here it is, disobedience. Can I tell you this?
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What was true back in those days is true today.
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I promise you, if you choose to live a life of disobedience and you ignore God's principles found in God's word to live life your way, you will find yourself in a state of spiritual regression. I promise you, that's a principle. That's a biblical principle.
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God values obedience more than burnt offerings or any kind of religious observance that you could possibly do. Look at it.
[01:34:24;18 - 01:34:45;07]
So first Samuel 15, 22 and 23, "Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offers and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord?" Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice. You ought to underline that in your notes there. To obey is better than sacrifice.
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And to heed than the fat of rams.
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For rebellion, you ought to underline this.
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For rebellion is as the sin of divination.
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And insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry. So I think that when we read these two verses right here in first Samuel 15, we get the picture that in God's eyes, disobedience is a very serious, serious thing. Okay? Now look at this.
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Because you have rejected, here's what Samuel told King Saul.
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Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,
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he has also rejected you from being king.
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And then verse 28, remember Samuel was leaving and Saul reached out and grabbed his robe and it tore his robe.
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And so Samuel turned to King Saul and said, "The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today."
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That day, that was a final step.
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And has given it to your neighbor who is better than you. I remind you that this incident happened before Goliath and the Valley of Elah.
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So Saul's first step in the spiritual regression was disobedience.
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Now remember, I made this statement,
[01:36:32;44 - 01:36:34;33]
partial obedience is disobedience.
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He partially obey God, but he didn't obey God. He didn't obey God. He didn't obey God.
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But he didn't obey God all the way.
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Now look, disobedience turned into something else. That's the way it works.
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When you begin to live life your way, when you begin to go down the path of spiritual regression, one thing leads to another.
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And disobedience led to something else. It turned into jealousy.
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He was insanely jealous of David.
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Now notice verse nine, first Samuel 18.9. Saul looked at David with suspicion from that day on. Man, isn't that a sad way to live? I mean, here's a young man who laid his life on the line for you and the nation of Israel.
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Here's a young man who put his neck out there for the Philistine champion to whack it off.
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And he won a great battle.
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And yet here's Saul, insanely jealous. Insanely jealous.
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Now jealousy, remember disobedience, jealousy, jealousy ripened into a murderous intent. He committed murder in his heart already.
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You remember what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount? He said, "If you hate somebody,
[01:38:25;26 - 01:38:27;28]
you've already committed murder in your heart."
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And I'm telling you, Saul had already committed murder in his heart.
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David was not in a body bag,
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but Saul had already committed murder in his heart.
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Look at verses 10 and 11.
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Now it came about on the next day
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that an evil spirit from God came mightily upon Saul.
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And he raved in the midst of the house while David was playing the harp with his hand as usual. And a spear was in Saul's hand.
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Verse 11, "Saul hurled the spear for he thought I will pin David to the wall."
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I'll get him with my spear.
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But David escaped from his presence.
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And I never have really noticed this, twice.
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Let me tell you, he would only throw a spear at me one time.
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I'm out of there.
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You get your own, get you another musician.
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Twice.
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But I'm gonna tell you what that shows.
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That shows the integrity of David.
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And it shows the lack of integrity of King Saul.
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Man.
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Now you say, well, pastor, I'm struggling with this thing that God sent an evil spirit upon Saul.
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Now let's think about that just a minute.
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We know, right? We know that God's sovereign over everything and everyone.
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What did Jesus say?
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When he was resurrected from the dead in the great commission, he said, "All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe what all I've commanded you and lo, I'm with you always, even at the end of the age."
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Jesus has authority over every demon in hell.
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Well, God the Father has authority
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over Satan and every demon in hell. Remember the story of Job.
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Satan showed up there at the throne of God
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and he asked for permission to take Job down. Remember that?
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But notice he had to ask permission.
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And remember I read Sunday where Satan had asked permission to sift Peter like wheat. Remember that? Luke 22.
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But he had to ask permission.
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Now here's the deal.
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When you reject God and you choose to walk in disobedience to God's word,
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it leaves you open for the attack of the enemy. There's a void in your spiritual life, a void in your heart. And I'm gonna tell you what, the enemy loves a void.
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So God allowed an evil spirit to obey the enemy. And the evil press maybe even possess Saul at this moment.
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Now I found it interesting.
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We're talking about contrast here. I found it interesting that Saul has a spear in his hand
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and David has a harp in his hand.
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Think about it.
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Now let me tell you that the spear gives evidence
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of anger, of jealousy, of hatred.
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The harp gives evidence of worship, of loving God.
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Remember David out there in the wild where he was taking care of the sheep for his dad,
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he wrote no telling how many songs. We call them Psalms, right? He was a worshipper at heart.
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And when David played that beautiful music, it soothed Saul, except with that evil spirit, got a hold of his heart and he grabbed the spear
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and tried to kill David not once, but twice.
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Now look at verse 12.
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I found this interesting. Now Saul was afraid of David.
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Think about that.
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Saul was afraid of David. Did David have a sling in his hand? What was he threatening to do to Saul? What he did to Goliath? No.
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Let me tell you what David, his modus operandi was.
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He viewed Saul as the anointed of God until God took him out.
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And he would not do a thing to dishonor the anointed of God. I'm gonna show you that in just a minute.
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But Saul was afraid of David.
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For the Lord was with him, but had departed from Saul. I'm gonna tell you, that verse right there says it all.
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Says it all. So why was he afraid? Why was Saul the king afraid of David?
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He was afraid of him
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because the spirit of God had left him
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and had gone into David. He was with David. God took his hand on Saul and God placed his hand on David
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and Saul knew it
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and he was afraid of David.
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I just found that interesting that he was afraid of David. Now you say, well, why did God take his hand off David, off Saul? Well, it's because of his ungodly behavior, his blatant disobedience.
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That's why God withdrew the spirit of God from him and took his hand off him.
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Look at 1 Samuel 16, verses 13 to 14.
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Then Samuel took his hand off him then Samuel took the horn of oil
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and anointed him anointed David in the midst of his brothers
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and the spirit of the Lord came mildly upon David. Look at this, from that day forward,
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from that day forward. But wait, pastor, I thought David committed adultery back. She even had her husband murdered, he did.
[01:46:27;27 - 01:46:29;54]
But let me tell you the difference between Saul and David.
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Saul had, I mean, David had a tender heart for God.
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And when the spirit of God convicted David, he was quick to confess and repent and get right with God.
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That was not true with Saul. David had a teachable spirit.
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Saul did not have a teachable spirit.
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The Bible says, "The Lord came mildly upon David from that day forward." Now understand, a young teenager,
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and this young teenager,
[01:47:16;43 - 01:47:23;35]
again, this is before, this is before David went into the Valley of Elah and killed Goliath.
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This was preparation for Elah.
[01:47:30;55 - 01:47:36;04]
And Samuel arose and went to Ramah. Verse 14, look at this.
[01:47:37;10 - 01:47:43;34]
Verse 13, okay, the spirit of God comes upon David, never departs from him. Look at verse 14.
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Now the spirit of the Lord departed from Saul
[01:47:48;46 - 01:47:51;41]
and an evil spirit from the Lord terrorized him.
[01:47:55;50 - 01:47:57;26]
Now you talk about contrast.
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That is the quintessential contrast between Saul and David.
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Look at verse 15, 1 Samuel 28.15.
[01:48:13;24 - 01:48:20;50]
That's jumping way ahead, but I want you to see that. Then Samuel said to Saul, let me tell you what happened.
[01:48:22;39 - 01:48:28;45]
All right, so the spirit of God had departed from Saul.
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He said that God didn't answer his prayers anymore,
[01:48:35;57 - 01:48:38;23]
and he needed some direction and guide us.
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You know what he did?
[01:48:42;32 - 01:48:44;13]
He went to the witch of Endor.
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He resorted to the occult to get answers. He wanted the witch of Endor to call up Samuel from the dead so he could ask Samuel what he should do. Instead of crying out to God, he went to a witch.
[01:49:10;36 - 01:49:13;22]
Then Samuel said to Saul, so Samuel comes up
[01:49:15;09 - 01:49:17;57]
and I don't know, I really believe it's Samuel.
[01:49:20;54 - 01:49:23;35]
Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?
[01:49:24;52 - 01:49:26;49]
I often thought about Lazarus,
[01:49:29;01 - 01:49:37;11]
who had been dead for four days, had been in paradise and Jesus calls them out of paradise back into that old broken body.
[01:49:40;05 - 01:49:55;07]
And here's Samuel, why have you disturbed me by bringing me up? And Saul answered, I'm greatly distressed for the Philistines are waging war against me and God has departed from me and no longer answers me.
[01:49:57;40 - 01:50:04;04]
Either through prophets or by dreams, therefore I've called you that you may make known to me what I should do.
[01:50:07;12 - 01:50:12;13]
(Congregation Laughing)
[01:50:15;15 - 01:50:23;49]
I tell you, Saul is in a bad place, bad place.
[01:50:27;32 - 01:50:29;37]
Not only had God departed from him,
[01:50:31;36 - 01:50:37;08]
but now an evil spirit was working in his heart.
[01:50:38;12 - 01:50:46;41]
Now look, when you're in spiritual regression and you're backslidden, think about it.
[01:50:48;07 - 01:50:50;16]
You don't have any appetite for the things of God.
[01:50:51;50 - 01:50:52;35]
You don't.
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You don't wanna read the Bible, you don't wanna pray,
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you don't wanna worship, you don't wanna obey the Lord.
[01:51:05;56 - 01:51:14;32]
So he turned to the powers of darkness for God is in direction. And that was, I believe that was the icing on the cake
[01:51:15;58 - 01:51:21;13]
for Saul, what a pitiful sight.
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Now, all right, we've seen Saul's spiritual regression. Now let's look at David's spiritual progression, okay?
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Look at verse five, 1 Samuel 18.5. So David went out wherever Saul sent him.
[01:51:42;22 - 01:51:44;17]
Look, he was a man of integrity.
[01:51:45;51 - 01:52:01;53]
He obeyed those who were in authority over him, even if it was King Saul. So he went out wherever Saul sent him, and look at this, and prospered. You gotta underline that word prospered.
[01:52:03;27 - 01:52:11;26]
And Saul said over him, the men of war, and it was pleasing in the sight of all the people and also in the sight of all Saul's servants. Look at verse 14.
[01:52:12;35 - 01:52:19;39]
David was prospering in all his ways for the Lord was with him. You ought to underline that word prospering.
[01:52:21;33 - 01:52:29;46]
Look at verse 15. When Saul saw that he was prospering greatly, underline that word prospering. He dreaded him.
[01:52:31;15 - 01:52:32;37]
He was afraid of him.
[01:52:33;59 - 01:52:35;47]
Now he dreaded him.
[01:52:37;25 - 01:52:40;21]
Now the word prospered in the Hebrew
[01:52:41;43 - 01:52:45;00]
has the idea of acting wisely or prudently,
[01:52:46;39 - 01:52:48;27]
using good common sense.
[01:52:50;42 - 01:52:59;19]
The end result of prospering with the idea of this Hebrew word is to be successful.
[01:53:03;20 - 01:53:04;50]
I think it's pretty obvious.
[01:53:06;57 - 01:53:08;29]
The Lord was with David,
[01:53:10;07 - 01:53:16;00]
and he wouldn't trade that for anything the world could offer. He had a heart for God.
[01:53:20;15 - 01:53:31;04]
In Psalm 51, 10 through 13, David wrote that Psalm. By the way, he wrote it after he had committed adultery with Bathsheba and had Uriah the Hittite, her husband murdered.
[01:53:33;08 - 01:53:42;37]
Now I'm not here tonight to say to you that David was perfect. He was not perfect. By the way, none of us are perfect, right?
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David did some heinous things.
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I tell you what, he had a heart for God.
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When Nathan the prophet came to him
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to point out his sin, he repented.
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He repented.
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Okay, so in Psalm 51, 10 to 13, here's what David wrote.
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He said, "Create me a clean heart, O God,
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"and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
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"Do not cast me away from your presence."
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Look at this. "And do not take your Holy Spirit from me.
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"Restore to me the joy of your salvation
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"and sustain me with a willing spirit.
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"Then I will teach transgressors your ways
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"and sinners will be converted to you."
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So David walked in fellowship with God,
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and he knew what it was to abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
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I just listed some things about David that I wanted to point out to you. David acted with wisdom.
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He obeyed the Lord.
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He worshiped the Lord.
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He had pure motives.
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Can I tell you, Saul was so filled with pride and arrogance, it was all about Saul. It was about Saul's glory and Saul's kingdom, not God's.
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He had pure motives. He sought to please the Lord. He had a teachable spirit. He was quick to confess and forsake his sins, and he sought God's direction in critical moments.
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Let me just explain to you
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how David lived his life and what integrity he had. Take your Bible, flip over to chapter 24,
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1 Samuel 24.
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(Pages Flipping)
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Saul was out to kill David.
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Saul had him hemmed up,
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and Saul went into a cave to relieve himself, and I'm not gonna explain relieve himself.
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You can use your own imagination.
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But David and his army, his men were inside that cave.
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You know what David's men said to David,
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"This is our chance, King David.
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"Let's kill Saul."
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Now, I want you to look at verses one to seven.
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And when Saul returned from, well, I've already got that.
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Verse four, verse four, start with verse four. The men of David said to him, "Behold, this is the day of which the Lord said to you.
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"Behold, I'm about to give your enemy into your hand, "and you shall do to him as it seems good to you."
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Then David arose and cut off the edge
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of Saul's robe secretly.
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Just a little corner snippet.
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And it came about afterward that David's conscience bothered him because he had cut off the edge of Saul's robe.
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See, David, did you see that? He had such a tender conscience.
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And the fact that he had cut off the robe of God, a little sliver of God, the anointed of God, I'm gonna tell you, it really got to him.
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Verse six, so he said to his men, look at this,
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"Far be it from me because of the Lord,
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"that I should do this thing to my Lord.
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"The Lord's anointed to stretch out my hand against him "since he is, the Lord's anointed."
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Now, you see the contrast between Saul and David.
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Look at 2 Samuel chapter one. So, David and Saul and Jonathan were killed in a battle with the Philistines.
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And can I tell you that David didn't throw a party,
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even though Saul had been out to kill him for years.
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Notice what the Bible says in verse 17. "Then David chanted with this angel,
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"and he told them to teach the sons of Judah "the song of the bow.
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"Behold, it is written in the book of Jasser."
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And he talks about King Saul and Jonathan.
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And he wept, he grieved over the death of King Saul and Jonathan. Now, he's a little bit more than a little bit more than a little bit more than a little bit more. Now, to me, that's just amazing integrity.
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So, I wanna close by asking you some questions.
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Now, you gotta answer this question in your heart.
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Are you regressing or progressing in your spiritual life?
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I should set that question.
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You realize that everybody in this room has the same opportunity.
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If you're not a believer, you can turn from your sin and place your faith in Jesus and be a part of the kingdom of God.
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You can receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
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And then if you are a believer in this room,
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you have the same opportunity that I have or anybody in this room has to grow spiritually
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to progress in your spiritual life.
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You've got a Bible.
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You've got time that you can dedicate to prayer and reading your Bible.
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You got a church that has wonderful worship services every Sunday morning.
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You can worship.
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There's no reason for anybody in this room or anybody watching live stream.
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There's no reason for any of us to regress in our spiritual lives when God has put all of this before us so that we can progress in our spiritual lives.
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Second question, are you obeying the Lord or disobeying Him right now?
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I mean, as a characteristic of your life right now,
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obviously nobody in this room bats a thousand, okay?
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But you know what?
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When you look at your life and I look at my life, my lifestyle should be one of obedience, not disobedience.
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Third question, do you sense the Holy Spirit's presence in your life?
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Do you realize that if you're a born again believer,
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the moment you repented of your sin and placed your faith in Jesus,
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you receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
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Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity lives within you.
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And you know what God promises you as a born again believer?
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God promises you that He will never take His Holy Spirit from you.
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In fact, the Bible says that you are sealed with the Holy Spirit until the day of redemption.
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You got supernatural help at your disposal 24 seven to help you be all that God wants you to be.
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All right, so last week we look at David and Goliath.
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This week, David and Saul.
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Come back next week and we're gonna look at David and somebody else, I don't know who yet.
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But we're gonna look at them, okay?
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Hey, thank you for coming, let's pray. Heavenly Father, help us.
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Help us to be a David, not a Saul.
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Help us to progress spiritually in our Christian life and never regress spiritually.
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Lord, we love you.
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Help us to be men and women of God, in Jesus name, amen.
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Thank you.