How to Behave in a Cave | Part 2

... in an incredible way, and God is going to infuse you with great, great power and make you have kingdom authority, just as David one day set upon Israel's throne and became Israel's greatest king.

But that is very hard. Welcome to Love Worth Finding, featuring the dynamic teaching of pastor and author, Adrian Rogers. King David was a remarkable man after God's own heart. David was a man who lived by principle, not by appearance. He was a warrior who knew many victories.

But perhaps the greatest victory was the one over his own spirit when he became subject to kingdom authority. If you have your Bible, turn to 1 Samuel chapter 24 as Adrian Rogers reveals how to behave in a cave. 1 Samuel chapter 24.

And in a moment, we're going to read the first of the seven verses of that chapter, but more verses later on. This is an episode in the life of David. Now, King David was a mighty, mighty warrior. And I believe that he was the kind of man who exercised kingdom authority.

He was literally a king. He was a man that was known for victory. But the greatest victory that David ever had is going to be recorded in this chapter of the Bible. It was not a victory over someone else. It was a victory over himself. He got victory over self and learned the lesson that I want you to learn, and that is to have kingdom authority.

You must remain under authority. Let's look at the background. Saul is the king of Israel, and as the king of Israel, he is God's appointed and God's anointed, though he was a very unworthy king. Now, God was going to replace Saul with a young man whose name was David, a man after God's own heart.

Now, Saul is getting wind of this. He sees David, the rising star. He sees that his own son is setting, and now is eaten up with envy and jealousy against David. And so he makes David public enemy number one, and all of the energies of the kingdom now are focused on Saul's burning, malevolent ambition, and that is to kill David.

And Saul now is insane with jealousy, and in his mind he repeats these words, kill David, kill David, kill David. Now, he's had a skirmish with the Philistines, and when he gets finished with that, he learns that David is now hiding down by the Dead Sea, up in the mountains in a place called Ein Gedi, which means the spring of the goats. I've been there many times. I've seen those caves.

I've seen that spring, those waters cascading down. It's a beautiful place, and each time I go, I think of this episode of David up there in those caves hiding from Saul. Saul takes 3,000 hand-picked men after one man, David. Now, David is in a cave, and Saul goes in there to relieve himself into this cave. It's dark in the cave. David's eyes and his companions, their eyes are accustomed to the darkness, but Saul can't see them.

They're back in the recesses of that cave. David's men see Saul, and they say, David, this is your opportunity, one act of courage, David, just one stroke of the sword, and goodbye to poverty, goodbye to persecution, goodbye to despair, goodbye to hiding in the caves. Welcome, riches. Welcome, honor. Welcome, power.

Welcome, authority. You will be the next king, just one stroke of the sword. David goes over, and with his sword in the darkness, he cuts off the hem of Saul's robe. That's how close he is to Saul. Saul doesn't know David is there, but David cuts off the hem of his robe, but he won't kill Saul. Later on, after Saul has gone out of the cave, David says to Saul, he lifts his voice across the chasm now. David's on one hillside, and Saul's on the other. He says, Saul, you see what I have? Do you see what I could have done to you? Now, we're going to get to the whole episode a little bit more, but we've just set the stage now.

That's what all of this is about. Now, what David did in this episode was not to win a victory over Saul. What David did was to win a victory over himself.

The Bible says in Proverbs chapter 16 verse 32, he that is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city. How that was fulfilled in David. Now, David refused to take vengeance on Saul.

He refused to do what he was able to do because he gained a great victory. David understood the principle of kingdom authority. David understood that he needed to be under Saul even though Saul sought for his life. Saul was still, though unworthy, he was still at that time the king of Israel. He was the appointed and the anointed king. Now, folks, we must recognize kingdom authority.

Here's the second thing we must do. Not only must we recognize kingdom authority, but we must respect kingdom authority. Now, begin in verse 8. David also arose afterward and went out of the cave and cried after Saul saying, My Lord the king.

And when Saul looked behind him, David stooped with his face to the earth and bowed himself. And David said to Saul, Wherefore hearest thou men's words, saying, Behold, David seeketh thy hurt? Behold, this day thine eyes have seen how that the Lord had delivered thee today into mine hand in the cave. And some bade me kill thee, but mine eye spared thee, and I said, I will not put forth my hand against my Lord, for he is the Lord's anointed.

Moreover, my father, see, yea, see the skirt of thy robe in my hand, for in that I cut off the skirt of thy robe, and kill thee not. Know thou, and see that there is neither evil nor transgression in my heart, for I have not sinned against thee, yet thou huntest my soul to take it. The Lord judge between me and thee, and the Lord avenge me of thee, but mine hand shall not be upon thee. As saith the proverb of the ancients, Wickedness proceedeth from the wicked, but mine hand shall not be upon thee. And after whom is the king of Israel come out? After whom dost thou pursue?

After a dead dog, after a flea? The Lord therefore be judge and judge between me and thee, and see and plead my cause, and deliver me out of thine hand. Dear God, help us to understand this.

I hope you'll understand this. I hope, sir, madam, that you will live this, practice this, and teach this to your children, because if not, you will never understand spiritual authority. Here is a man respecting spiritual authority.

This man was an unworthy authority. But David recognized that authority, and he respected that authority. I want you to see how he talked to Saul with reverence.

He bows his head down. With respect, he calls him my Lord the King. He even gave him the benefit of the doubt. He said, perhaps you've been misinformed. And then, during all of that time, that did not mean that he gave in to Saul's wicked ways. But he said, I am trusting God to get me out of this thing. I'm not trusting you, Saul.

I am trusting God. Look, if you will, again in verse 12. The Lord judged between me and thee, and the Lord avenged me of thee, but mine hand shall not be upon thee. Look, if you will, in verse 15. The Lord, therefore, be judged and judged between me and thee, and plead my cause, and deliver me out of thine hand.

Now, the point is this. Not only did David recognize the authority that was in Saul, but he respected the authority. And, folks, this is the hard part. It's one thing for us to grudgingly give in to that authority, but it's another thing for us to respect that authority and to respect those leaders that God has put over us. Sometimes children have parents, and those parents don't deserve respect. And if you have parents that don't deserve respect, respect them anyway. If you have teachers that don't deserve respect, respect them anyway. If you're in a church and your pastor doesn't deserve respect, respect him anyway. If you have a government, and the government does not deserve respect, respect that government anyway. You're not respecting the individual. You are getting yourself in a place under authority, and when you do, when you get to that place, then God is going to begin to work in your life in an incredible way, and God is going to see that you don't have the spirit of rebellion, and God is going to infuse you with great, great power and make you have kingdom authority, just as David one day set upon Israel's throne and became Israel's greatest king. But that is very hard. Do you know the problem with many of us is that we have a spirit of rebellion, and folks, I want to tell you, by nature, I have a spirit of rebellion. You know, I have a gift for smart remarks.

And I find myself many times not in sheer rebellion, but I find myself with a spirit of rebellion. I'm like that little boy whose mother said to him, son, sit down, and he wouldn't sit down. She said, son, sit down. He was about a four-year-old, wouldn't sit down again. She took both hands and sat him in a chair.

He sat down for a little while and looked at her and said, I'm standing up on the inside. Now, I think many of us are that way. I think that while we may grudgingly get under those authorities that God has put over us, we are standing up on the inside, and many times we speak in ways we wish we hadn't. In Jude, verses 8 and 9, just put this in your margin. Jude is talking about apostates.

And he says, likewise, also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, listen to this, despise dominion, that is, they don't want anybody over them, and speak evil of dignities. Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil, he disputed about the body of Moses. Durst not bring against him, that is, Michael did not bring against the devil, a railing accusation, but said, the Lord rebuke thee.

Now, Michael did not give in to the devil. As a matter of fact, he disputed with the devil. He stood against the devil. He was opposed to the devil. He was going to bring Satan's kingdom down. Michael was the mighty archangel. And yet, because of the residual dignity that was in Satan, who was once the anointed cherub, the Bible says that even Michael the archangel would not speak disrespectfully.

He would not bring a railing accusation against the devil himself. I'm going to tell you something. Around the dinner table, when you begin to carp and criticize those people, school principals, teachers, policemen, pastors, parents, presidents, whatever you do, do you know what you're building in your children? A spirit of rebellion, a spirit of rebellion. I'm going to tell you, it's going to come back on you. It's going to come back on you.

And you're going to have a little revel on your hands and you're going to say, what happened? Why will not this person submit to authority? That does not mean we give in to wickedness. That does not mean we approve error any more than David approved what Saul did.

As a matter of fact, it was David's submission that brought Saul's kingdom crashing down and made King David the king that he was. Now, folks, I don't know whether you understand what I'm saying or not. And maybe you think it doesn't apply, but I think there's hardly a message that applies more than what I have to say right now. I am saying to you that God wants His people to live with kingdom authority, but we will never be over those things that God has put under us until we're willing to get under those things that God has put over us. And the Bible says, whoever it is, whether we like them or not, put this verse in your margin.

1 Peter chapter 2, 18 through 20. Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward. That means to the evil. You work for a boss. You work for a man that's not a good man. Be in submission to him if he's the boss, for this is thank-worthy if a man for conscience toward God endured grief, suffering wrongfully. You say, well, he doesn't treat me right. God says, well, you do it for conscience' sake. Just suffer wrongfully. And then He goes on to say, for what glory is it if when you be buffeted for your faults you take it patiently, but if and when you do well and suffer for it, you take it patiently, this is acceptable with God.

We need to learn to respect authority. One of my heroes you may well know is Joseph Son. Joseph Son, that apostle to Romania, he told me a story one time, brought tears to my eyes. He said, I was in a village there north of Bucharest. I was a pastor.

It was back in 1974. He said, I was in my study when seven communist soldiers came just bursting into my study. They said, are you Joseph Son?

I said, yes. We have reason to believe that you're an insurrectionist against the government. We're going to go through your library and if we can find one book in your library that has anti-communist words in it, you're going to be arrested.

You're going to be in serious trouble. And they started taking the books off of his library shelf. Now, you know, to a pastor, his books are very, very important, but they began to confiscate his books and they began to make him sign his name in the fly leaf of every book so that they could use it against him.

Put your name here and put the date here that we got this book out of your library. One by one, they were taking down his books. He said it was a terrible day. Seven communist soldiers in my house. But he said they'd only taken down a few books when they handed me one that said, Joy Unspeakable and Full of Glory.

That was the title, the subtitle, Are You Experiencing It Now? And he realized that God says, Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice. And he said, I choose to rejoice. And he said, Elizabeth, we have guests in our home.

Make them some coffee. And he said, from that time on, I was in charge, the Lord and I, because I learned somehow not to have the spirit of rebellion. Joseph and others were those who brought that communist dictator Ceausescu crashing down. But how did they do it?

With a spirit, a spirit of submission. They took those books. They could not find anything in those books, but they took all of Joseph's tapes.

They brought them back to the major. And they said, we don't know what's in the tapes. He said, I'll listen to the tapes. So he began to listen to those tapes. And as he was listening to the man of God preach, he had a heart attack and died just like that.

Word got out all around. One person heard these communists talking and it got back to Joseph. They said, be careful what you do with a man of God.

Be very, very careful. Don't touch the man of God. Now, folks, what we need to learn to do is to exercise submission to authority, but yet not acquiescence. It doesn't mean that we agree, but we must have a victory like David had.

Now, here's the third thing. Not only must we recognize a kingdom authority and not only must we respect kingdom authority, but we need to rest in kingdom authority, not rest in the government, not rest in the Sauls, not rest in the Ceausescus, but rest in the Lord. Notice what David said again in verse 15. The Lord therefore be judged and judged between me and thee and see and plead my cause and deliver me out of thine hand.

David was ahead of his times. He understood the Spirit in the New Testament, which says, dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath, for it is written, vengeance is mine. I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore, if thine enemy hunger, feed him. If he thirst, give him drink, for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. This is contrary, folks, to human nature. You're in chapter 24, look in verse 19. For if a man find his enemy, will he let him go well away?

Wherefore the Lord reward thee good, for that thou hast done unto me this day. Saul said, what you did to me, David, was not human nature. You did something that was beyond human nature. And I'm going to tell you, you're looking at a man whose nature is the nature of a rebel.

That's me. I mean, by nature, it's hard for me to submit, and that is against human nature. It's against human nature for all of us. Now, isn't it?

Be honest. When the Bible says, he that ruleth his own spirit is better than he that taketh the city. And I'll say again that David killed a bear, David killed a lion, David killed Goliath, but the greatest victory that David ever had was that day in that cave where he said, I'm going to get under those people that God has put under me so that I can be over those things that God has put under me. Now, that does not mean that we blindly obey ungodly government.

If you think I believe in that, you are wrong. The prophets in God's Word preached against the wickedness in the kingdom. Nathan warned David when he did wrong. Elijah warned Ahab.

Eliezer spoke to Jehoshaphat, Daniel to Nebuchadnezzar, Moses to Pharaoh. We do not acquiesce, but I am telling you there must be in us a spirit of humility and surrender over ourselves, and when we get under those things that God has put over us, then God can trust us to bring these wicked kingdoms crashing down. The church, beloved, is not the master of the state, not the servant of the state, we're the conscience of the state to preach God's truth. Now, folks, you will never win a victory over self, over anything else until you yield to Jesus Christ. You've got to submit, first of all, to the King of kings, the Lord of lords, Jesus himself. And when you give your heart to Jesus, he will cleanse you and forgive you of every sin.

He will send his Holy Spirit into your heart to empower you, to give you peace and comfort and direction, and when you die, he will take you to heaven. Would you like to be saved? Would you pray a prayer like this? God, I acknowledge that I'm a sinner, and I acknowledge that my sin deserves judgment, but I need mercy. I want to be saved. Jesus, you died to save me, and you promised to save me if I would trust you.

I do trust you, Jesus, and right now, like a child, I receive you into my heart. Come into my heart. Forgive my sin. Save me, Lord Jesus. Pray that prayer. Save me, Lord Jesus. In your name I pray.

Amen. If you prayed to receive Jesus just now, we want to celebrate with you and invite you to our Discover Jesus page. Go to our website, lwf.org slash radio, and you'll find answers that you may need about your newfound faith. We have a response section where you can share your testimony or how this message has made a difference in your life. Again, go to lwf.org slash radio and click the text box at lwf.org slash radio and click the tab at the top that says Discover Jesus.

Welcome to God's forever family. We can't wait to hear from you today. Now, if you'd like to order a copy of today's message, you can call us at 1-877-LOVEGOD and mention the title How to Behave in a Cave. This message is also part of the insightful series The Incredible Power of Kingdom Authority.

For the complete collection, and wonderful messages, call 1-877-LOVEGOD or go online to order at lwf.org slash radio or write us at Love Worth Finding, Box 38600, Memphis, Tennessee 38183. Do you recognize and respect authority? Do you rest in kingdom authority? Remember, God took care of Saul and God will take care of our enemies as we learn to rest in the Lord. Please join us next time for more timeless truth right here on Love Worth Finding. We received a message from a listener recently that said this, Thank you and continue to reach the lost world and teach wandering believers like me to live to glorify Jesus' name. We are so passionate about equipping believers with messages and resources to help them in their walk with Christ. That's why, as a way to say thank you for your gift this month, we want to send you the book The Incredible Power of Kingdom Authority. Featuring messages and insights from Adrian Rogers, this book is packed with poignant truths about our kingdom authority in Christ, how to obtain it and use it in this dark, fallen world. Request the book The Incredible Power of Kingdom Authority when you call with a gift right now 1-877-LOVEGOD or give online at lwf.org slash radio. And again, thanks for your generous support of Love Worth Finding.