And also, I'd like to call your attention to next week, next Sunday, evening service, the 6 p.m. service, we'll be having the Lord's Supper. And if we're now Take some time here to prepare your hearts and your minds for worship. I understand we have um Someone we've been praying for. Watching our live stream service, Rick DeVore from Ohio.
So Rec? If you're watching today, welcome you to our service. Bless you, sir. Our call to worship today comes from Psalm 103. Would you please stand for the call to worship?
Psalm 103, verses 15 through 19. As for man, His days are like grass. He flourishes like a flower of the field. For the wind passes over it And it is gone. and its place knows it no more.
Now if it stopped right there, that'd be pretty sad. But The steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him. and his righteousness to children's children. to those who keep his covenant. and remember to do his commandments.
The Lord has established his throne in the heavens. And his kingdom. rules overall. Please be seated. Would you join with me in prayer?
Father in heaven. Lord God Almighty. We've come this morning. To worship you. To worship you for who you are.
and what you have done. You've created all things. You've given us Eternal life. You've shown us your great love and mercy. that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Let us have the Spirit work in our hearts to really Meditate upon that. while we were yet sinners. Christ died for us. And that is the reason why we come to worship this morning. for your great love and mercy for us.
How you've transformed us out of the kingdom of darkness. into the into the kingdom of light. Your Holy Spirit dwells within us to have us be able to understand. Your word given to us, the words of eternal life. The words of truth that we can depend upon.
Lord God, we just thank you for your. tender mercies for us. that you deliver us from evil. You provide us our daily bread. And you lead us not into temptation.
We thank you for your mercies for us that you. Give us fellowship. The fellowship of the saints, the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. That you guide us along our way. that you shine your light upon our path.
That we trust not in our known understanding. But we lead upon yours. that you would guide our way and set our paths straight. Lord God, we pray that this morning that We indeed would come. with repentance.
adoring hearts for you. That we would certainly give you worship for what you have done for us. We pray that you would. Build up this church. That you've called out of this world.
to be a light to the world. that we indeed would do that, that we would honor you. not out of earning your favor. But because you have shown us your favor and we love you. live our lives in thanks for that favor.
We pray that you would burn the word of God into our hearts. That the desire to share that word with others. Would come alive with fire. that are worshiped today. Would be a fiery worship that our hearts would be warmed that you would be glorified.
that you would be pleased with our worship. Would you please work in The words of the preacher today That it would The word would work in our hearts. to see where we need to repent. where we need to be obedient. And where we need to shout praises of glory.
We pray that you would be glorified today. The Lord Jesus Christ, we ask in your name. Amen. Psalm one oh three portrays. A God who is simultaneously transcendent and imminent.
He is above us at all times. But he is also among us. He is with us. He Is the king of heaven And yet, He is a God who pours out blessings innumerable on us. Let's keep both of those aspects of God in mind as we sing today, as we confess our sin, as we Rest in his forgiveness as we hear the word preached and read, as we commit ourselves to obeying that word.
Our God is both the king of heaven and the one who pours out blessing innumerable. Blessings innumerable on us. Would you stand with me as we sing Psalm 103? Bless the Lord, my soul. Bye.
Bless the Lord, my soul, my whole heart, ever bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, my soul, forget not all his blessings to draw claim. He forgives all your transgressions, your diseases, all he heals. He redeems you from destruction, and with you he kindly deals. With love and mercy, crowns you, satisfies your ears with good, so that you will like the eagle with youth's vigor be renewed.
He shall intervene with justice for all those who are oppressed. For their sake, the Lord takes action, governing in righteousness. For as high as are the heavens, far above the earth below, just as great to those who fear him, is the steadfast love he'll show. Far as the east from west is distant, he has put away our sin. Like the beauty of the Father, has the Lord's compassion.
Praise my soul, the King of heaven to his feet your tribute bring. Ransom healed his sword forgiven, who like me his grace should sing. Praise Him, praise Him, praise Him, praise Him, praise the everlasting King. Praise Him for His grace and Failure to our fathers in distress. Praise Him still the same forever, slow to chide and swift to bless.
Praise Him, praise Him, praise Him, praise Him, glorious in His faithfulness. Father, like He tongs and spares us while our feeble frame he knows in His hands He gently bears us, rescues us from all our foes. Praise Him, praise Him, praise Him, praise Him widely as His mercy. Frail as summer's flowery flourish blows the wind and it is gone. But while more souls rise and perish, God endures unchanging on.
Praise Him, praise Him, praise Him, praise Him, praise the High Eternal One. Angels help us to adore Him. You behold Him face to face.
Son and Moon bow down before Him, dwellers all in time. Space, praise him, praise him, praise him, praise him, praise with us, the God of grace. Amen. You can be seated. Our New Testament reading.
this morning is Romans chapter 14 verses 1 through 12. Hear the word of the Lord. As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. One person believes he may eat anything. while the weak person eats only vegetables.
Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains. And let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats. For God has welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls.
and he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand. One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God.
while the one who abstains abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. For if we live... We live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord.
So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. For to this end, Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? for we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.
For it is written, As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.
So then each of us will give an account of himself. To God. This is the word of the Lord. We have no righteousness in and of ourselves. To earn merit, to earn God's favor, we need the righteousness of another imputed to us.
We can't even keep the words we just read from Romans 14, not to judge one another. but to leave judgment in God's hands. We break God's law every day. And because of that, it is good and right to run to our high priest. To acknowledge our need for His mercy.
Let's do that. Church, would you confess your sin with me? God is light. In Him, there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him, Yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth.
But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, We have fellowship with one another. And the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. Most holy and merciful Father, we confess to you and to one another that we have sinned against you by what we have done and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart and mind and strength.
We have not fully loved our neighbors as ourselves. We have not always had in us the mind of Christ. You alone know how often we have grieved you by wasting your gifts. By wandering from your ways. Forgive us, we pray, most merciful Father, and free us from our sin.
Renew in us the grace and strength of your Holy Spirit. For the sake of Jesus Christ, your Son, our Savior. Amen. Take a few moments to silently confess your particular sins to the Lord now. Listen now to these words, beautiful words from Lamentations chapter three.
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness. Let's sing of that faithfulness as we stand again and sing: Great is thy faithfulness, O God, my Father.
Great is thy faithfulness, O God, my Father. There is no shadow of turning with thee. Thou changest not thy compassions, they fail not. As thou hast been, thou forever will be. Great is thy faithfulness.
Great is thy faithfulness. Morning by morning, new mercies I see. All I have needed, thy hand hath broken. Great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me, Summer and winter, and springtime and morning, sun, moon, and stars in their forces among join with all nature in manifold witness to thy great faithfulness, mercy and love. Great is thy faithfulness, great is thy faithfulness, morning by morning, universities thy stream.
All I have needed, thy hand hath provided great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me pardon for sin, and the peace that endure thine only presence to cheer and deny, strength for today, and bright hope for tomorrow. Blessings all mine with ten thousand beside is thy faithfulness. All I have need and thy hand oh my great is thy faithfulness put on to believe Amen you can be seated call my brother Will to come up for this morning's missions moment this morning we want to pray for the and also for jars as in General. Uh Corey is um Is working with a technical end of things, and he asked for your prayers concerning that as far as they try to relate things. give technical support in these times overseas when he's back here in the States.
particularly as he worked with solar, power, and other things. or the translators on the field. He said, pray for the dead that have courage. And um and love and their service of Christ in these uncertain times. and there are uncertain times.
Also, we're going to pray for jars this morning. We're praying still for the translation work there in Cameroon. But also, we give him praise because of the work that has been done in some video work in. in Colombia and in also in Bolivia. And also they have a big need for funding for the airstrip down here in Waxaw.
For the for the for the, to have that redone, that resurfaced.
So we need to pray for them. If this is up on the board, you can pray with your eyes open as I lead us in prayer.
Okay? Let us pray. Father in heaven, I thank you for this day and I thank you for the ministry of Corey and Delisa. that you just bless them and their family. Give them that courage and that Faithfulness to you as they grow in Christ and as they trust you in these uncertain times and as he ventures out around the world.
I pray, Father, also for jars that you would bless them, and we just praise you, Lord, that they finished. These videos that will be presented to the people there, and there'll be a great ministry to those who can't read. but a great outreach for the gospel. I pray that you help them in their critical needs for repairs. And that you just bless them, and we thank you for the work in Cameroon that you just continue to bless that translation.
Father, thank you for your faithfulness and for these who are faithful to you on the foreign fields. And we pray now your blessings on them. In Jesus' name, amen. One other thing this morning is that we have the privilege of having Darren Stone. He has a unique parish, a unique ministry to Where is that, Raleigh, North Carolina?
The state capitol and the people that work there. Darren, we want to welcome you and come and make your presentation. It's an easy group of people to work with as well. No division or strife or anything like that. It's good to be with you this morning.
My name is Darren Stone, and I am the minister to the North Carolina State Capitol, as Will said, with Ministry to State. Ministry to State. Is the PCA's ministry to the government community? And so, what my role is, is to go in amongst senators, representatives, policy advisors, legislative aides, lobbyists. the whole crew in the state capitol.
And to serve as a minister and a missionary to them. When we look in Scripture, we see a lot of this type of ministry happening. We think of Joseph before Pharaoh, right? And Daniel before Nebuchadnezzar. And there's even this great story in the book of Acts, in Acts 26, where Paul is before Festus, who's like a governor, and King Agrippa, and he is giving testimony to the Lord as to his conversion.
And Festus thinks that he is completely out of his mind, that he is crazy. And Agrippa responds with a question to Paul by saying, In such a short time, would you persuade me to become a Christian? And Paul responds to him by saying, I wish that all were as me, meaning that. They were followers of Christ except for these chains. And really, that is the essence of this ministry: to go in and develop relationships amongst people who are entrusted with great decisions for the well-being of our state, and to minister to them with no political agenda whatsoever.
To go in and to simply bring the word of God to bear upon them, to bring the gospel to bear upon them, to shepherd them towards the one true and good shepherd.
So I would just ask for you to keep us in your prayers as we go into this fascinating and sometimes challenging parish, church, that I am entrusted to pastor, these people, and to pray for us, to support us. We're very thankful for the support in prayer and financially that grace provides to us. And as we approach the upcoming legislative session, the election, and then the legislative session beginning in January, we want to be back there full-time. And so we need the prayer support and the financial support of God's people in order to do that. I'd love to talk to you more about this if you're interested in learning a little bit more out on the There's a table right over here to your left as you exit the building, and I've got a few materials there for you.
One is this little postcard with a picture of a bald guy with five other beautiful people.
So you can meet all them. We're here. And on the back, it tells you just a little bit about me and about MTS. And you can also, with your phone, just scan these little QR codes. And one of them will give you the opportunity to sign up for just to get a monthly e-newsletter so you can be praying for us and kind of knowing what's happening.
And then this QR code is a way in which you can support our ministry as well. And then there's a larger brochure, which will tell you a little bit about ministry to state going on in Washington, D.C., and other state capitals, and even in international capitals as well.
So thank you so much for your time. It's a treat to be here and look forward to meeting you after the service. Aaron, thank you so much for coming and sharing with us this morning. I told the early group we're going to keep supporting him, but we expect him to get Roy Cooper straightened out.
So uh Yeah. Ms. Nancy Malone, would you raise your hand? I want you to raise your hand up. I want everybody to look at Nancy Malone.
She has had a double amputation of her legs. And I don't want to hear any more excuses about not coming to church. If Nancy can come to church like that, and the rest of us can make it.
So, Nancy, God bless you, and it's good to have you. Have you back and be with us again. In respect to the Word of God, I'm going to ask you if you would stand up and Uh out of respect for the word of God. We're going to be in 1 Samuel chapter 23. Uh verses one through four.
Now they told David, Behold, the Philistines, are fighting against Keelah. and robbing the threshing floors. Therefore David inquired of the Lord, and Shall I go and attack these Philistines? And the Lord said to David, Go and attack the Philistines and save Keela. But David's men said to him, Behold, we are afraid here in Judah.
How much more than if we go to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines? Then David inquired of the Lord again. And the Lord answered him. Arise, go down to Keilah. For I will give the Philistines into your hands.
Let's pray. Heavenly Father, in this passage of Scripture, we can identify with David. It shows that he is mistreated. taken advantage of in everything he does. Tries to be obedient to God and things don't go his way.
He risked his life to help people out, and those very people turn on him. and betraying This kind of mistreatment can make us frustrated and angry and even bitter.
So teach us to quit relying on feelings and emotions. When we feel hurt and betrayed, Help us to run to you for our comfort. Help us to depend on the Word of God. which is always trustworthy, infallible, and errant. and instructive.
Lord, there are going to be times when we don't understand your will. When something hurts, And you don't remove it, we get frustrated. When you remove something or somebody out of our lives, we fret. Because We know that you could have stopped it. Please deepen our vision of God.
Help us to quit living by feelings. and learn the truth of Romans 8.28. that God works all things together for good to those who love Him, and of the cult according to his purpose. Teach us to stand on your character. Your promises and your word.
For it is in the precious and holy name of Jesus that we pray. Amen. You may be seated. Not long after I fell in love with Cindy, she told me that she had a hero. Maybe better said a heroin.
And that hero was Elizabeth Elliott. Elizabeth Elliott is the wife of Jim Elliott. who was um Speared to death by an Alca Indian in Ecuador as he was trying to share the gospel with these Alca Indians. Elizabeth took his body back to the United States. They had the funeral, they buried him, and she immediately went back to Ecuador to minister to those same Alca Indians that had killed her husband.
On June 15, 2015, Elizabeth Elliott went to be with the Lord. They had a memorial service for her a few days after that, and one of her dear friends, Arlita, shared a story at that memorial service that most people did not know about Elizabeth Elliott.
Now I had asked Cindy before. About why Elizabeth Elliott meant so much to her. And she said, Elizabeth Elliot knows God. She doesn't just know about God. She knows God.
And Cindy listened to the memorial service, and she shared with me this story that our leader had shared. She said, after Jim Elliott's death, Elizabeth went back and she realized that one of the great needs there with the Alka Indians was that they have a Bible in their own language.
So she decided to start working on a translation. It wasn't long after that that she met a young Alca Indian girl, a teenage girl. She shared the gospel with her. This girl came to Christ. She took her up under her wing and started discipling her.
And the girl said, I would like to be your interpreter. I would like to help you with this translation.
So they worked day and night for three years in a row on that translation work. And then as they were just about to finish it up, Elizabeth was in her tent one night and she heard a shot. And she went outside and And her interpreter, this young girl, had been shot to death. and then died right outside of her tent. She died just right outside of her tent, and when that happened, they knew they had to leave quickly.
So they uh got in a a van. And they packed all their stuff up in suitcases, threw their suitcases up on top of the van, and they took off down the road. They were on a very high mountain. And as they were going across this high mountain road, the van hit a a bump and tipped the van a little bit, and one of the suitcases flew off the top of that van and flew down that deep, deep cliff.
Now, what was in that suitcase? all of her translation work. three years of work was in it, and it hit a rock, the suitcase burst open, her papers just flew out, and they all fluttered down into a river below. never to be retrieved again. Needless to say, she was confused.
She knew the power of God. She knew that God could have prevented that. God could have stopped that bullet from hitting that interpreter, that young girl. God could have saved that that Translation work. He could have stopped that suitcase from bouncing off the van and down that cliff and into that river.
But God didn't do that.
So her question was why? She said, Lord, what is missing? I've given my life to you. I love you. Three years of translation work from the Bible, just thrown off the side of a mountain.
She said, I don't even understand why I'm in this jungle. And she started reading scripture. She went to the book of Isaiah. She started reading and reading, finally got to the 43rd chapter. She got to the tenth verse, and she said, God spoke to her heart through that verse with more authority and more power than the Word of God had ever spoken to her heart before.
I want to take a minute and read you that verse. It says this. You are my witnesses, says the Lord. and my servant whom I have chosen. That you may know me, believe me.
and remain steadfast to me. And understand that I am He. Before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. And then she put her name in that verse. And she read it this way.
You, Elizabeth. Are my witness, says the Lord. And you, Elizabeth, are my servant, who is whom I have chosen. That you, Elizabeth, may know me, believe me, and remain steadfast to me. And understand That I Am He.
What did that verse do to her? What did that verse teach her? She said, I need to know my God. and his ways And I need to know them in a way so that I am not shaken. What did she learn through all that?
She learned that the most important thing in her life was that she might know God. It was more important than a Bible translation. It was more important than her personal human relationships. It was the most important thing in her life. She said, Isaiah 43:10 taught me that my biggest wonder is God.
She said, my favorite book is God's Word, the Bible. And she said, if I have God. and his word Then I have it all. I wanted to share with you that story today because it reminds me of David in 1 Samuel chapter 23. David is going through a time where they experienced tribulation.
and heartache and great pain. And what did that do? That drove him to the word of God. that he might know God. After David's lying to the priest Ahimelech, he backslid in Nob, and then after that, he went to a place called Adullum, where there was a series of caves.
While he was up there, he met a man who was a prophet of God, whose name was Gad. And Gad said to him, God has a word for you. He wants you to leave this place and go back to Judah and go right now. David wasted no time. He gathered together his family.
He gathered together 600 men who couldn't stand Saul anymore and were committed to David, and they left and went to Judah.
Now four points I want to share with you in this passage. Number one is supplication. Look of me again, if you would, at verses 1 through 4.
Now they told David. Behold, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah and are robbing the threshing floors. Therefore David inquired of the LORD, Shall I go and attack these Philistines? And the LORD said to David, Go and attack the Philistines and save Keilah. But David's men said to him, Behold, we are afraid here in Judah.
How much more then if we go to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines? Then David inquired of the Lord again, and the Lord answered him. Arise, go down to Keilah, for I will give the Philistines into your hand. In the wonderful acrostic that we have for prayer, Acts, A-C-T-S, what does that stand for? Adoration.
confession, thanksgiving, and supplication.
Now what does supplication mean? It means to ask earnestly. And humbly of God. David is back in judo. Finally, there's a little bit of peace that he's experiencing.
But then while he's there, he gets a message from the people of Keilah. And they say to him, David, we're in great trouble. The Philistines are attacking us and they're going to wipe us out. We need some help. Please come here and help us.
And what did David do? David immediately prayed. He supplicated. He petitioned the Lord. He was growing.
He was spiritually maturing. And would to God that he had done that in Nob. That's not what he did in Knob. When he was in Knob, he backslid. He just depended on his own human ingenuity.
And he lied. But not here. He's learned his lesson. And what does he do? He prays.
He said, God, should we go? Should we defeat the Philistines? And will you use us to save the city? And God said to David, Yes, go. And you will defeat them.
What did God give to David? He gave David. His word. Folks, that's what we need. The Word of God.
We need to hear from God. And that's what David got. In Psalm 19, David said this, The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart.
The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. Psalm 109 and verse 105, Psalm 119, verse 105, David said, Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. God said, Go. And David said to his men, All right, guys, we've got to go. Let's go right now.
Let's go and defeat the Philistines in Keilah. And the men balked at that. They said, Wait a minute, David. We've got enough trouble right now just trying to stay away from Saul. We don't want to add to our trouble.
Why should we do this? We're not sure this is right. And David said, Okay, I'll tell you what I'll do. I'll pray again. And what did he pray for?
He prayed that God would give him. A word. Why is that so important? Hebrews 4.12 tells us For the Word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit and of the joints of the marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
So David had competing voices to deal with. His men were saying, don't go. God was saying, go.
So he's got a decision he's got to make. What is he going to do? Is he going to obey his men or is he going to obey God? Is he going to trust in human wisdom or is he going to be faithful to the word of God? David did a wise thing.
He said, my men have a different opinion than I do.
So this is what I'll do. I'll just pray again. I'll pray again. I'll ask God again. And he did.
And what did God say? God said the same thing. Joe, David. and you will win. Listen to this carefully.
If God's word clearly prescribes a certain course of action, We are to obey it. regardless of what other voices say. I have deeply appreciated John MacArthur's stance on keeping his church open. Uh when the California government has told them to close down. This past Friday, A new ruling, a new injunction came down from a judge.
Uh telling them that that church was to stay closed down. and it was not to open Sunday. and they were not to open it. No way they were to open. I don't know what they're going to do.
I don't know if the police are going to go in and arrest 4,000 people and take them out in handcuffs. I don't know if the police are going to stand there and bar them from getting in the door. I'm not sure what they're going to do. But it's interesting to me that in California, all of these protests took place, and all these riots took place, and nobody said a word. All of those things took place.
Nobody said a word. The abortion clinics didn't stop, they're running full steam. Nobody says a word. But they say to the people of God, you close down, you don't go to church, and if you do, there are going to be great consequences. I don't expect a godless governor.
to understand God's command to his people. that we are not to forsake the gathering together of his people. I don't expect a godless governor to understand our need to corporately worship. And to go to church daily, weekly, that we might be under the teaching of God's Word. I don't expect a godless governor to bow to the greatest commandment.
That thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, mind, soul, and strength. But brothers and sisters, that governors ignorance. That kind of Governor's ignorance. is not our excuse. In this situation, God's people have a decision to make.
Am I going to be obedient to God or am I going to be obedient to man? I think that's what David is doing right here. Let me quote Roger Ellsworth, and I could not have said it better than he did. He said, Through my years as a pastor, I had been astonished to see many Christians stop going to the house of God when difficulties set in on them. We always need to be in the house of God, and especially in times of trial.
God did not design Christianity to be a fair weather faith. In other words, he does not intend us to practice our faith only when things are going well. And then cast it aside in times of difficulty to embrace messages that contradict it. God designed Christianity as a seaworthy vessel that can withstand the storms of life. One would never know this by looking at some professing Christians.
As soon as a storm hits, they seem to abandon ship. They run from God and the church at the very time they most need to be running towards both. David arises from the pages of Scripture to remind us to heed the word of God when we are in the midst of vexing circumstances. Amen. Point two.
Reigning through the word. Look with me at verse 4 and 5. Then David inquired of the Lord again, and the Lord answered him: Arise, go down to Keilah, for I will give the Philistines into your hand. And David and his men went to Keilah and fought with the Philistines and brought away their livestock and struck them with a great blow.
So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah. David has given us a great example here of what godly leadership is. David did not turn against his men. And and and and and Run at them and denounce them as cowards. He didn't do that.
He said, okay, we've got a differing opinion here, so I'm going to pray again. I'm going to seek the Lord again. I'm going to ask God for his word again. And he did that, and God said, yes, David, you are to go and fight the Philistines and defeat them. We Christian leaders need to learn from this.
Leadership is not following the latest management practices or market ploys. It is not compromising with the culture. It is finding out what God's word says and then leading God's people to obey it. This is why Paul's teaching methodology always centered around the idea of preaching the whole counsel of God. This is why David said in Psalm 1: Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful.
But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
So David led his men to Keilah. They were now convinced that David had been right, that God did want them to go, and so they went and they defeated the Philistines soundly. And the Philistines ran from them. And all of a sudden the people of Keilah were free. They were not under bondage to the Philistines anymore.
They were set free. And not only that, but when the Philistines left, they left their livestock there. And David and his men got to keep the livestock as spoils of victory. Brothers and sisters, that is reigning in the Word. Point three, rescued by the word.
Look at verse 6 through 13. When Abiathar, the son of Ahimelech, had fled to David to Keilah. He had come down with an effort in his hand.
Now it was told Saul that David had come to Keilah, and Saul said, God has given him into my hand. For he has shut himself in by entering a town that has gates and bars. And Saul summoned all the people to war to go down to Keilah to besiege David and his men. David knew that Saul was plotting harm against him. And he said to Abiathar the priest, Bring the ephod here.
And then David said, O Lord, the God of Israel, your servant has surely heard that Saul seeks to come to Keilah to destroy the city on my account.
Well the men of Keilah Surrender me into his hand. Will Saul come down as your servant has heard? O Lord, The God of Israel, please tell your servant. And the Lord said, He will come down. Then David said, Will the men of Keilah surrender me?
and my men into the hand of Saul. And the Lord said, They will surrender you. Then David and his men Who were about 600 arose, departed from Keilah, and went wherever they could go. When Saul was told that David had escaped from Keilah, he gave up the expedition. Not long after this great victory, where David and his men were rejoicing and just having a good time, celebrating the victory, enjoying the spoils of war, they heard That King Saul had found out that David had been had won this great victory in Keilah.
and that Saul was headed to Keilah for the purpose of killing David. Saul said Keilah is a town with gates and bars. And that means that if David is in that town when I get there, he won't be able to escape, and I will be able to kill him. I want you to consider today the wickedness of Saul's heart. David went.
and and delivered these people from the hands of the Philistines. These were citizens of Saul. Saul should have been greatly appreciative of what David had done. David had saved the lives of his citizens. But no, he's not greatly appreciative.
He wants David dead.
So just as David finds that out, Abiathar shows up. You remember Abiathar? Abiathar was the one priest that made it out of knob. He's the only one out of that whole town that lived. And he took off and he went to to see David.
Abiathar's dad was Ahimelech, the high priest. And before he left Knob, he did something. He took the high priest. Uh effort. And he took it and he ran with it to David.
What is the aphid? A ephod is a priestly garment that is worn over the chest. In the epha there's a pouch. It's worn over the chest, and there's a pouch there. It looks like a pocket.
And they put two things in it, two flat objects, probably two stones. They were called the urum and the thumin. And I want you to listen to what Roger Ellsworth said and how he explains this. He said the effort was a garment that included what was known as the Urim and the Thummim. This was a small pouch containing two flat objects.
One side of each was called Urim, which means curse. The other side of each was designated thummim. which means to be perfect. And both sides turned up Urim when the priest drew out the objects. The answer was negative.
If both turned up thummen, then the answer was positive. This was one form of guidance God employed in the Old Testament. The primary way God guides his children today. is through the written word. When David needed guidance, he was able to say, bring the effort here.
When we need guidance, we are able to say, in the words of Matthew Henry, Bring me the Bible. Amen. Amen. David knows that Saul is coming, so he tells Abiathar to bring the ephod. And Abiathar brings the ephid, and he cries out to the Lord, and David says, I got two questions here.
I want to know first of all if Saul is going to come to Keilah to try to kill me. They get the effort out. He takes out the urim in the thumen, takes it out, and the answer is: yes. Saul is coming, and Saul is going to try to kill you. He says, okay, I have another question.
He gets out the Urim and the Thummen again. He checks it out. And the question is this. He said, will the people of Keilah surrender me to Saul? And the answer to that question was also, yes.
That folks, these are people who David had just saved. And these people of Keilah, God tells him, will not have pity on you. They will not hide you. They will not protect you from Saul. They are more concerned about their lives than they are about yours.
Now can you imagine that? These are people that David has just saved. He saved their lives. He came to Keilah to protect them, to run the Philistines out. And after That happened, what did they do?
They said, Well, we can't help you, David. We're sorry about this, but we just can't help you. We'll have to turn you over to Saul. What would have happened? If David had just depended there on his own human ingenuity, Instead of going to God and asking for a word from God.
I think he would have probably come up with this conclusion. Man, I'm their hero. They look up to me. I'm the one that protected them. I'm the one that saved them from the Philistines.
They would never turn me in. And God said, oh, yes, they will. They would, David. They'd rat on you in a heartbeat.
So David with his 600 men Make a hasty escape. and they get out of Kilo. How does that apply to us?
Well, we may think, humanly speaking, that we may never fall into some type of terrible sin. I'm going to just use immorality for an example. We may say, I will never do that. That'll never happen to me. But how many times has it happened?
that uh has that idea, thinks that that won't take place in his life. And then just at that perfect time. A wicked immoral temptation. strikes the heart with great power. And that person gives over to that immorality.
His marriage is destroyed. Her marriage is destroyed. and and countless lives are just terribly, terribly hurt. Let me give you a situation here. What if in that situation Right before that immorality took place, right before that person...
was ready to give in to that temptation. What if that person heard A voice from heaven. And that voice from heaven spoke. And spoke these words. Listen carefully.
Flee from sexual immorality. Let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous. Can a man carry fire next to his chest and his clothes not be burned? Or can one walk on hot coals and his feet not be scorched?
So is he who comes in to his neighbor's wife, None who touches her will go unpunished. He who commits adultery lacks sense. He who does it destroys himself.
Now you think of that situation. If that man was getting ready to get involved in a moral situation and all of a sudden he heard those words from heaven, what do you think he'd do? I know what he'd do. Man, he'd run like crazy to get away from that. Or, brothers and sisters, we're not going to hear a word, an audible word, spoken to us from heaven.
But I want you to know that where I read the the script the Words that I just read to you a minute ago come right from God's holy word. They come right from Scripture. And I want you to know that the Scripture is just as authoritative, just as powerful, and just as true. As if God spoke those words to us from heaven itself. Folks, this is important.
The word of God is what rescued David. And the Word of God will rescue us. Point 4, the danger of bitterness. Look at verse 14. And David remained in the strongholds in the wilderness, in the hill country of the wilderness of Zieth.
And Saul sought him every day. But not God did not give him into his hand. How do you keep from getting bitter? When you feel let down or betrayed. When your spouse walks out of your life and leaves you for another person.
When you're a supervisor at work, Passes over you for a promotion, gives it to somebody that doesn't work half as hard as you do. When someone's negligence causes you pain, and and uh a lot of hurt and sorrow. is in a car. And a drunk driver hits that car and mangles your child's body. or kills your child.
In Hebrews chapter 12, verse 15, the scripture says this. See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God. That no root of bitterness springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled. This story has always blown my mind to think that these people begged David and his men to come down to Keilah and help them because they were getting defeated by the Philistines. And they said, please come and help us.
And David and his men come and they fight and they fight for the people of Keilah and they run the Philistines out and they save the city and they save their lives. And then right after that. Here are these people in the city who were willing to rat out David, who were willing to turn him right over to Saul, that Saul might take his life. Brothers and sisters, that is the epitome. of ingratitude.
And it would have been so easy for David to have said, no, no, no. You don't treat me like that. I'm going to be the king of Israel, and I've got a long memory. And I'm going to think back to what you did, and you're going to pay for it. I'm going to get vengeance on you.
David could have done that. He could have gotten bitter and become vengeful. Or he could have just let that situation throw him into a terrible depression. He didn't do that. Instead, he honored God.
He honored God by refusing to get bitter. Adolph Coors was the wealthy owner of the Coors Brewing Company. His grandson was named Adolph Koors III. Adolph Kurz III in 1960 was murdered by a man named Joseph Corbett. And Adolf Kur's son, Adolf Kur III's son.
uh had just become a Christian at that time. And right after that, his dad was killed. And when he saw the senseless murder of his dad, It just made him extremely bitter and angry. And all of a sudden he realized that He had just lost the joy of his salvation.
So he did like David did in Psalm 51. And he cried out, O Lord, restore to me the joy of my salvation. But it didn't come back.
So he started reading the scripture. And he got to Hebrews chapter 12, verse 15. That tells us that if we allow a root of bitterness to well up within us, to spring up down inside of us, that it will cause us to fail. of the grace of God. And he said, hey, that's it.
That's exactly what's happened to me. I've gotten bitter over this murderer, this guy that killed my dad. And he said, I'm going to start praying for him. And he started praying for him that day. that God would save this man's soul.
And he prayed and he prayed, and then God let him to go witness to him. He said, I need to go and tell him about Jesus. And so he wrote a long letter out explaining who he was. Explaining what the letter was about, that it was to share the gospel with him. He gave a presentation, scripture by scripture, of the gospel, of how to repent, of how to turn to Christ, of how to have faith.
And he took it to the to the prison yard. He went into the prison yard and he said, I want to see Joseph Corbett. And they went in to get him. And the prison guard came back. He said, I'm sorry, but Joseph Corbett will not see you.
He said, well, I brought him a Bible. And I brought him this letter. I want you to give it to him. And they took it back and they gave it to him. He never, Joseph Corbett never got in touch with him.
They never made any contact whatsoever.
So Adolph Korus III's son never knew. Whether he read that letter or whether he read his Bible. Or whether it touched him at all. He didn't know it. But let me tell you something.
When he walked out of that prison yard. The weight of the world fell off his shoulders. And it was like all that bitterness all of a sudden. was just completely and totally gone. and the Lord restored to him The joy.
of his salvation. Brothers and sisters, that's what's going on with David here. I think that this story is one of the stories that teach us more about the godliness of David. than any of the stories that we read about David. For here he had a situation where he could easily have become bitter and angry and vengeful, but he didn't do it.
Instead, he forgave these people. and moved on. Do we have another example of this in Scripture? Yeah, we have a lot better example. His name was Jesus.
And when Jesus Christ was hanging from the cross, bleeding. and suffering and dying. He looked down from the cross. at the people who did that to him. At the people who mocked him.
And spit on him. And whipped him. and beat him and nailed him to the cross. Then he looked up to heaven. and said, Father, forgive them.
For they know not what they do. We've all been wronged. We've all been hurt by others. But nobody has done to us. What that crowd did to Jesus.
And whether we won't admit it or not. You and I were in the crowd. Because it was my sin. And it was your sin. That sent Jesus to the cross.
Folks, don't let bitterness control you. Give it to Christ. Give it to Christ. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, this passage today teaches us that the sanctification process is not for sissies.
Becoming like Jesus is not the goal of the prosperity gospel.
So many false teachers are leading your sheep down wrong and dangerous paths.
So many Christians are being told that God's purpose in saving us is to make us wealthy and comfortable and problem-free. That's not what happened to David. It's not what happened to Moses. It's not what happened to the disciples. is certainly not what happened to Jesus.
Men and women of God are forged in the crucible of trials and battles. We don't get our rough edges sanded off through luxury and ease. Fighting the good fight, finishing the course, keeping the faith. Is not for the faint of heart. We're living through harder times now.
than we've ever lived in before. We've never seen this kind of anger and antagonism against Christians. Lord, make us tough. Help us not to compromise. Help us to depend on you.
Help us to be a bright shining light. in a dark world. We love you, Lord. Thank you for loving us. For it's in the precious and holy name of Jesus that we pray.
Amen. Would you stand with me as we conclude our service today and respond to the truth that we've heard? Every promise. your work. Uh From the breaking of the dawn to the setting of the sun, I will stand on every promise of your word.
Words of power, strong to say, that will never pass away. I will stand on every promise of your word for your covenant is sure, and on this I am secure. I can stand on every promise of your word. When I stumble and I sing, condemnation pressing in, I will stand on every promise of your word. You are faithful to forgive that in freedom I live.
So I stand on every promise of your word. Guilt through innocence restore, you remember sins no more.
So I'll stand on every promise of your word. When I'm faced with anguish choice, I will. Will listen to your voice, and I'll stand on every promise of your word through this dark and troubled land. You will guide me with your hand as I stand on every promise of your word. And you promise to complete every work begun in me.
So I'll stand on every promise of your word. Hope that lifts me from despair, love that casts out every fear as I stand on every side. Every promise of your word not forsake and not alone for the Comforter has come and I stand on every promise of your word grace affairs for me grace for all who will believe we will stand on every promise of your word thank you for coming and worshiping with us today and I want to really encourage you to be back with us Wednesday. Eugene said. Yeah.
Yeah. on the two kingdoms. on what it means to be a A citizen of heaven. And yet still live in His. Here on this earth.
And the first session was just absolutely great. Yeah. We're going on vacation this week. I'm not going to be there Wednesday night, so I told Kim. get her cell phone up there and uh and Record it for me so that we can hear it on vacation.
It's that good.
So be there Wednesday night tonight. We have our new members class that's open to everybody in the church. We'll be dealing with soteriology tonight. Eugene's teaching this class, and it's the doctrine of salvation. And that's good for everybody, not just the new members.
So I encourage you to be here and enjoy that with us. In closing, let me encourage you with these words. And after you have suffered a little while, The God of all grace. who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ. will himself restore Confirm Strengthen.
and establish you. to him. Be the dominion forever and ever. And all God's children said.
