Sermon
2 Samuel 18 (Part 2) & 19 (Part 1) Bible Study (David Grieves / Joab Rebukes David) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh
Publisher transcript
Transcript
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Second Samuel. Chapter 19 is where we are
2 Samuel 19 chapter mention
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meeting tonight. You might be wondering if you've
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been with us, especially if you were here last week, why are we
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going to chapter 19? We still have half of 18 to
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complete and the main reason, why is because when you look at
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the first few verses of chapter 19, you get the sense that it
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belongs with the end of chapter 18.
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What I mean by that is that there is an awkward chapter
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break here and I'm allowed to say that because Cuz the
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references in our Bible are not inspired by the Holy Spirit.
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Those numbers were added much much, much much later after the
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scriptures were recorded. And so you kind of feel like
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there's this break that should have happened maybe after the
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first nine verses or so. But instead of instead of just
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stopping and starting with a new thought, we're going to honor
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the context honor the way it was originally written, zoom out and
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look at the complete picture that is before us because what
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And last. Where did we stop?
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Well where we stop whiz with the end of absalom's.
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Life Absalom was tragically killed and was buried in a
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Dishonored way because of his disgraceful life.
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And we know that David's wishes here was that Absalom would be
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spared in battle and those wishes were disregarded
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specifically by joab. And what we're going to witness
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from chapter. 19 on word are the Ramekin ramifications of war or
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the aftermath of this battle between Father and Son.
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And before we look at the national consequences, we're
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going to actually take our time because the Holy Spirit invites
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us to look at the personal effects that this dark moment
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had on David. And the way you and I are going
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to study this is by separating our thoughts in three main
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categories. The first thing that you and I
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are going to look into is the report of the news of absalom's
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death, the report following the report, we're going to look at
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the remorse. The remorse that David had over
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the news and finally, and lastly, we're going to look at
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the rebuke. The rebuke concerning the
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reaction that David had about the death of his son, a brother
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prayed, but let's pray again. But we thank you that you've
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gathered like-minded Christians in this place and Lord, we pray
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that you would protect this service from becoming a
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powerless lecture of moral ideas.
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Let us feel the weight of the authority of the word of God and
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let us by your grace, since the stirring of the heart.
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Our affections being revived again for the person of Jesus
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Christ. May, we believe that, as we look
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at these verses, it is your very voice speaking and so we pray
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that nothing would be added That you did not intend to add,
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nothing would be subtracted that you intended to keep we.
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Pray that there would be no man-made interpretation or
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application, May everything be delivered the way you intended
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it to be delivered. We want to honor you primarily
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and Lord. We trust that as we honor your
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word the way it was designed to be honored that we will benefit
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much and we trust that this will happen tonight in this place.
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In Jesus name we pray, amen. We're not starting a chapter 19,
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I just told you to go there, because we want to begin in
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verse 19 of chapter, 18 and connected the chapter 19.
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So, scroll back a few verses go to 18:19.
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We're looking at the report of the news of, absalom's, death
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and what you're going to realize as I'm reading, this is how it
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is intriguing to me, at least of the great detail that is given
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with the background of how this message of absalom's, death is
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going to arrive to King David. David could have received this
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news and the Holy Spirit could have summarized it in a verse or
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two, right? But instead it's drawn out to
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about a dozen versus clearly. There is something that the Holy
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Spirit wants to convey to us concerning how it is who it is
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that brought about the delivery of this news to the king there's
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instruction here there's application here again.
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It could have been just and David received the news of
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absalom's that And he grieved, it could have been just that but
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instead we get a, we get a really rich look into how this
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came about and I want you to see it with me to see God's mind for
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us in it. Then I amaz the son of zadok
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said, let me run and carry news to the king.
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At the Lord has delivered him from the hand of his enemies.
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And job said to him, you are not to carry news today.
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You may carry news another day. But today you shall carry Reno
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news because the King's son is dead, then job said to the
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kushite, go tell the king. What you have seen.
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The could shite bowed before joab and ran then I Hamas the
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son of zadok again said to Job. Come what may?
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Let me run also after the crash site and job said why will you
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run my son seeing that? You will have no reward for the
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news verse 23, come what may? He said, I we'll run so he said
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to him, run And I'm as ran by the way of the plane and outran,
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the kushite. This is the tale of two
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messengers of to faithful communicators of Truth.
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The first being a man named I'm as the second, a nameless fellow
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who was a kushite. He was not an Israelite.
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He was a foreigner that apparently served the king and
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the King James was a cushy but it's believed by many
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translators that this was more of a reference to his actual
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ethnicity more than a name. And that's why we have the
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cushion here before us. Now, there are many things to
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learn from these verses the first Is that animal has the son
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of zadok was a messenger in this context back in chapter 15.
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We were told that King, David instructed.
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The son of zedekiah man has with another to be informants about
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what Absalom was up to, and to keep David and his men updated
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with what was to come to pass. And so this man was called to be
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a messenger. And at this point, he is very
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excited and even presumptuous to deliver a new Message to the
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king. And so he comes to job, though
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he was not called by job and volunteers himself to bring this
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news to his beloved master. And when we look at this, we
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read and see that there is a man who is very excited, but job
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does not seem to be sharing that sentiment.
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In fact job is very hesitant extremely hesitant.
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I am as I don't think you want to deliver this news to the
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king. Now, why do you think that is?
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Why do you think job is very reluctant?
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For, I am as the participate in this endeavor, any idea, all you
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have to do is think back to David and how he treated
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Messengers in the past, right? What did he do with past
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Messengers? Who brought him news that he did
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not like you killed them? Maybe job really likes I amaz
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and he doesn't want imma has to be the object of David's
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frustration in a moment of great pain and so he seeks to spare
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him and so he Looks at a cushy. And he says, well, why don't you
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go instead? But what we see here is that
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more than jobs concern is, the Silence of Iowa has his motive.
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Why is he so determined to do this?
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We are not explicitly. Told, makes you wonder if he was
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a friend of David, Who Loved David and desired David to be
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prepared for the bad news, right?
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He knew what Absalom meant to Dave.
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And so he wanted to in his in essence skillfully, tell him how
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this would happen. Let somebody just come in guns
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a-blazing and David is just in a State of Shock.
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So maybe he just wants to prepare his friend his Lord.
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But I don't believe that's the case.
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You know why? Because once you see, I'm Oz
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encounter, David. And David asked about what
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happened to Absalom. What is what is ionized do he
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appeals to ignorance? I don't know what happened, I
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just saw some kind of commotion going going on there, so it's
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obvious that he's not willing to come to his Aid necessarily.
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Maybe Joe has an inside that we don't have look here.
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I verse 17, excuse me. Verse 22.
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Then I'm as the son of zadok said again to job come what may
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let me also run after the cushion and job said why will
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you run my son seeing that? You will have no reward for the
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news. could it be that job had an idea that maybe I manage
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wants to do this so that you can be compensated or rewarded for
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being the person that brought about this Victory, this
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Triumph, this news of success And he wants to just give him
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sobering reality. Listen.
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You're not going to get anything out of this, so just stay out of
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this. Again, it's not really clear.
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It's not definitive, it's not something that we can say
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dogmatically. what if it's just because I'm as has a pure love
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for David and he wants to speedily, let him know that he
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can be alleviated of any angst and concerned because this dark
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cloud has now passed. His greatest threat is
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eliminated and his rain will continue.
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Maybe he's just like what any good friend would want for
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another friend to just let him know with excitement of the good
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news, concerning his life. His future the hope, the
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faithfulness of God. Okay, we can debate what his
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motive is, but one thing is for certain, I am a has is very
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excited for something that he is not prepared for.
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And we're going to see that near the end of this chapter, but we
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can learn something from that point here and now because I am,
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as is a picture of many people who really want to serve God,
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but don't understand what it really entails.
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Now, I'm fully aware that I think christendom's main problem
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is to get people to be like I am as and get excited to serve God,
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right? I think that's more of a
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challenge than anything else but that's not the only challenge.
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You have some people who are very eager.
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Or who are very much invested emotionally into the idea of
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serving God at a certain capacity and they are not yet
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informed nor are they yet equipped to do that which they
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desire to do. They want to run.
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They want to run and they don't care about the consequences.
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They don't care about what it might, demand of them, they just
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want to run, it seems that my herbal but it's actually
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dangerous. It's dangerous for many reasons.
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And I am has proves that he's going to show that in a moment
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and the reasons in which why God would not allow us to move
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forward in a certain directions, very, and some of those reasons
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include character deficiency that the Lord wants to develop
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you and your personality and your attitude and your
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convictions before he places you on any platform, it can be many
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reasons. And one of those reasons can be
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this simple mysterious timing of the Lord where he knows.
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But opportunity is fitting for you and he knows what's
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appropriate and what should be either delay, or postpone for
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your good. And for his glory, And in the
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case of this man he did not really care.
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But look at the words of job. Again in verse 20 and job said
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to him you are not to carry news today.
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You may carry news another day. But today, you shall not carry
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no news because this King's son is Dead.
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Sea job wasn't discouraging. I am as from being a messenger,
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he was just encouraging him to not take this particular
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opportunity because he had Insight that I am as did.
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Not have. Joe, I've had an understanding
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of this situation, the potential outcome of the situation that I
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am as did not have. And unfortunately evidently
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could not care about because he was willing to run for it
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anyway, and it's really again, a strong picture of how many
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people relate to the Lord. The Lord knows our future.
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He knows our tomorrow's, he knows what decisions you make
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will bring about certain outcomes even if they're
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dangerous outcomes. And so he and his love and his
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Providence and his power puts obstacles.
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Al's closes doors does not allow things to go the way you desire
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for them to go because he knows something you and I don't you
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know I have to learn how to trust in.
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God's leading eager believer. Eager servant of God, learn to
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trust God's nose and his delays. If not, you might be running
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into trouble, even know what you think you're running into, is
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the call of God. God's going to call using to
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call. You don't self appoint yourself
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and don't force yourself and don't push doors kicking and
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screaming and manipulating, it's not going to help you.
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And it's not going to help the cause of Christ learn to wait.
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Because as we will see shortly I am as will prove to be lacking
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in a very important area as a messenger, but for now let's
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compare them to the cushy to shall we.
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Joab looks to the could shite and he says you go and tell the
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king everything that you have seen and what I Love about this
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nameless. Servant is his immediate
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response. he bounds, and he runs He doesn't challenge joab.
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He doesn't negotiate with joab, he simply receives.
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What has been given to him, and he makes an attempt to do so as
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Faithfully as possible, not like, I am, as I am, as was
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going back and forth, debating convincing, he could not take no
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for an answer from The Authority that has been placed over his
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life. But I also see something else in
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the crew. Sheets attitude, joab, called
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the could shite. The Kush I didn't call for job
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to call him. It came to him and all the Kush
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I did is what you're called to do in this whole equation of
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being used by the Lord. What is that to be ready and
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willing? That's it.
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That's the core of this whole thing.
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If you want to be used by the Lord but you don't know the next
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step. All you have to do at this
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moment is to be ready. And to be willing, he was a
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servant and whatever capacity was a servant and whenever there
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was a promotion given he was ready to do it, whenever There
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Was An Open Door that was Tailor-made for him.
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He was ready to do it. And so wait on the Lord and that
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way, be ready, be willing be prayerful.
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Express your desires to be used by God in a certain way there's
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nothing wrong with that. What's dangerous is when like I
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am as you start to twist things and push things.
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And so this could shot here was a man that's worthy, of example.
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Now here's what's interesting. It only continues.
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It says here in verse 23, look at it with me in your Bibles.
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Come what may? He said?
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I will run so he said to him, run jobs, just like, all right,
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you're obviously you're very determined.
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So just get out of here, go ahead.
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So he runs and then look at this, inside at the end of verse
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23, then I am a has ran by the way of the plane and outran the
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Kush a'ight. Why is that in the Bible?
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Why is that important for me to know that I am has ran and
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outran? The cachet?
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What's significant is the cushion.
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Had a head start. Clearly you had heavy feet or
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something, right? Because he gets a head start.
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I'm a has runs and outruns him. And I think the reason and this
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in this teaching, in this context it's meant to show us
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that I am as was clearly gifted. He was talented.
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He was a good runner, a better Runner than the Kush height but
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where the kushite outshined I'm has was in the realm of
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character Giftedness was there. Character was lacking or saying
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where are you seeing that? Just hold on tight.
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You'll see in a moment. You know, leaders if you want to
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inside about house leaders face, certain Temptations leaders,
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often feel the Temptation in the context of ministry to recruit
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people or to appoint People based out of one and need like a
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desperate need. And we just need to fill this
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void or two because somebody excels with a certain ability.
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That leaders can foresee might enrich their Ministry and so
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they were willing to overlook weaknesses in order to benefit
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from a person's god-given strength and it is god-given.
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And the point that we see here is this that you are better off
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with a slower, but more faithful Kush 8 than a talented but
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inadequate Hamas. Gifting will always be
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subordinate to character. And to God-fearing attitude.
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Character and a striving for Holiness and obedience and
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faithfulness to the clear will of God outweighs, gifting all
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the time all the time. And sometimes, you don't see
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that immediately, you only see later on And that's what we see
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here as predicted. I am.
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As gets to the king first and scroll down with me to verse 29,
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actually, let's read verse 28, then I am a has Cried Out To The
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King. All is well easy.
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He's very excited and he bowed before the king with his face to
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the Earth and said, blessed, be the Lord, your God who has
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delivered up the man who raised their hand.
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Against my Lord, the king. That is what he intended to tell
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the king good news. Do you have Victory?
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The conquest is yours. It said it's determined and
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right away. David shows what's in the
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Forefront of his mind? And what is it?
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Verse 29, the king said, is it well with the young man Absalom?
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Like the victory, didn't even matter.
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What happens to Israel? What happens to the king?
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That is not even a thoughts, not a primary thought, at least what
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he's concerned about is the state of his son.
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And I get the hunch that I am as was not prepared for that
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question. Or maybe he was and he gave this
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answer. But look at this, I am as
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answered when joab sent the king's servant your servant, I
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saw a great commotion but I do not know what it was.
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Who here thinks that I am as being honest.
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Who here is? He's just like, look, I don't
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know what happened. I saw something and I don't I
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can't give you a clearer report. All I know is that there was
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something, but, hey, good news, you know, you're winning, you
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want, is he being honest? Because some people believe that
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he's just utilizing the information that he has.
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How do we know that's not the case?
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Thank you. What did job?
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Tell him the King's son is dead. So he knows that Absalom was
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dead, so what explanation are you?
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And I left with, with Hamas is generalization of what took
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place, he's unwilling to tell him the hard truth.
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He's unwilling to deliver the full truth and this is where I
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am as fell short as a messenger. And we think about even today,
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how many reflect the very same weakness, reluctancy, when
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they're asked about different things, I'm talking to you
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Believers me as a Believer. Culturally sensitive issues,
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right? Clear doctrines, there's no
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confusion about it though. It may be difficult to apply and
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exhort is undeniably obvious. Like I'm as many people in their
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explanation of these things are thinking they're saying
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something. When the reality do not really
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seeing anything you've heard it, right?
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I've heard it over the years, famous Christian musicians, on
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radio stations being interviewed theology, professors preachers
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evangelist people pack out stadiums and they're interviewed
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by secularist. And when they're asked about
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certain things, they dance around the answer.
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They remain as ambiguous and as Central as possible.
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And what they're doing is exactly what the holy spirit is
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indicating here. They are proving to be
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unfaithful Messengers, they might be gifted, they might have
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a platform. I hate my eyes.
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As you read earlier was actually known for his running when the
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Watchman saw him running. He goes his running is like the
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running of a Hamas like imagine being known for your running.
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So, he was not just a son of a priest.
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He was athletic. He was, he was good at what he
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did, but he was unfaithful There are many people like that today
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and they disqualify themselves, right?
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And what's interesting here is that it's a lesson about again
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giftedness not being enough position or platform, not being
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enough, being promoted by the people not being enough, God has
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given those who are called to serve him and to honor him with
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rules. There are rules in the realm of
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serving the lord and your main ambition and serving the lord is
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knowing those rules and honoring those rules, no matter what, it
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reminds me of a verse. And here's the verse in the New
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Testament, it's in 2nd Timothy 2:5, and in second Timothy 2:5,
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Paul is speaking about Christian service.
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You know, what he says in that verse he says, this an athlete
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is not crowned, unless he competes, according to the
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rules. What is he talking about?
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Is he talking about the Olympics of his day?
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Now, he's talking about Christian Duty.
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There are many people who are running.
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But at the end they're going to be encountering, a very shocking
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report and evaluation they will not be rewarded.
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You know, you look at some people and you wonder and you
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even figure some Scandal out or you realize that there's some
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inconsistency in their behavior. Their one thing up on there on
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the platform there. Another thing on their social
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media there, another thing out there in the world and you think
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like why doesn't God just strike them down?
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Why doesn't God just remove them immediately sometimes he does?
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But here's the reality for those who remain that look like
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they're Still running at the end.
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They will not be crowned. They will not be rewarded.
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This verse brought so much relief to me when I saw that in
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the realm of ministry you look around and you meet people and
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you hear things and you even see things for yourself and it seems
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to be no intervention from Heaven.
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It seemed like they just go on with their Ministry and and
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they're so big nobody can touch them almost and Hollow people
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are afraid to correct them. And you think how is God going
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to do this? And then you wonder, are they
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legitimate shade? And some are not or maybe they
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are saved but they could be saved but they're not running.
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To the rules. So just because you're running
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doesn't mean you're running. Well it's because you're serving
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this mean you're serving. Well, what all matters to God is
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if the rules are being honored and that is what we see with the
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kushite. What a contrast, right?
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Come here to the kushite he arrives and he comes with that
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news in verse 31 and behold the Kush, I'd cane and the Kush I
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said, good news. For my Lord, the king for the
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Lord has delivered you this day from the hand of all Who Rose up
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against you. The king said that the cushion,
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he isn't well with the young man, Absalom, it's like, wow.
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And the kushite answered May the enemies of my Lord, the king and
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all who rise up against you for evil, be like that young man.
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That's not an easy pill to swallow, but that's what
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Messengers do. They honor the message, no
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matter who Their audience is, the message is the message,
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right? And this man fearlessly
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courageously, but also wisely knows how to deliver hard truth.
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Notice what he didn't say, it's a yeah, your son Absalom was
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hanging by his neck between an oak tree.
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And there is three javelins that job through into his heart and
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there is all his armor bears that finished him off,
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unnecessary delivery, right? So he's aware of his audience.
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Still, this is, yes, this is a king, but this is the father of
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the son who died. So I'm going to tell him the
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truth. But I'm going to say, in a way
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that I make it the least offensive as possible.
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While also honoring my duty as a messenger.
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Makes you wonder why the Holy Spirit put this?
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I think those are the reasons why at least some of the
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reasons. And so you see here in the first
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part the report of the news but now we come to the remorse over
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the news. We read here in verse 33 and the
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King was deeply moved and went up to the chamber over the gate
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and wept and as he went he said o my son Absalom my son, my son
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Absalom would iodide and Of you. Oh Absalom.
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My son. My son.
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Your heart goes out to him. And some way, right?
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David sorrow, you can sympathize with it but we have to say right
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from the beginning that it is unwarranted.
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It's unwarranted and it's excessive because when you bleed
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over into chapter 19, look what we see, it was told Joe.
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I behold the king is weeping and mourning for Absalom.
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So the victory that day was turned into mourning for all the
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people for the people heard that they the king is grieving for
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his son and the people stole into the city, like they were
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embarrassed of what they had done.
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They stole it. Into the city that day as people
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steal and who are ashamed. When they flee in battle the
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king covered his face and the King cried with a loud voice.
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Oh my son, Absalom, oh Absalom, my son, my son.
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This is this is a little awkward, at least for the
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people. They risked their lives, for the
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king, they're willing to die for the king.
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They opposed the popular vote for the king, and when they
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fought for the king and came back with a victory, for the
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king, the king, tucks, his face away hides up in the chamber and
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just weeps and the news in the city is the king is actually
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very upset. With the people should have
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expected as the king waiting at the gate and giving them his
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praise and his Commendation. But instead, they are met with
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grief and a broken heart. There are some good hearted,
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Believers, Some solid followers of Jesus Christ that are
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vulnerable and susceptible to excessive sadness.
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They are given over to prolonged misery.
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This is it not a Temptation for everybody, but it is a
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Temptation for some. And there are some who would say
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that the cause of David's pain. Here is the death of his son.
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Yes. And part but the longevity of
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it, the reason why I went so far Far is not because of the death
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of his son. There's a deeper issue here that
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we have to address. Think back to the two initial
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responses that David had when those two Messengers came with
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the news for his kingdom and his position as a king, what was,
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what was on his mind? was that the kingdom was that
-
Israel was a future was of the Covenant that God made with him
-
that being preserved by his faithfulness know, it was his
-
son, his son, his son, his son, his son, and it's clear that
-
David has come to the point that his personal feelings and
-
relationships and his own world eclipsed.
-
His duty as a king and he lost sight.
-
This is so crucial. He lost sight of God's agenda,
-
his responsibility and his partnership with God's agenda to
-
be a leader over God's people. Do you want to know why there's
-
more dick dejection among the people of God than is necessary?
-
I'll give you one reason because they have lost sight of the
-
kingdom of God. What do I mean by that?
-
Well, they got so distracted, or they've, prioritize things that
-
they should not have prioritized, and they lost
-
sight. Lost grip on eternity.
-
On their blood bought gifts that God has deposited in them of
-
their unique role that they play in the greatest institution that
-
this world will ever known. That's the church, And they've
-
put their identity, they put their priority and that which is
-
under the most important thing and if it's not God's kingdom,
-
if it's not God's purposes, then it's something temporal.
-
And if its temporal then it's subject to loss and because you
-
put all of yourself into those temporal things.
-
When you lose it, you were in danger of losing yourself.
-
This grief and great part is caused because David was
-
consumed by his father leanness and he totally missed his
-
identity as a king called by the Lord is being a father
-
important. Yes, is the loss of a child
-
painful. I can't even imagine.
-
That's why I want to be very careful with my tone and
-
criticizing this man. It is, but we can save ourselves
-
from much undoing if we know how to put things in its proper
-
perspective. A lot of Believers don't know
-
how to deal with persecution with pain, whether it's
-
self-inflicted or caused by others, because they have not
-
kept the bigger picture in front of them.
-
And it reminds me of another story of a man who also was a
-
man of God. One of my favorite men of God,
-
in all of the Bible, one of my favorite profits, actually.
-
Who also got caught up in grief. And it came to the point where
-
he himself was rebuked by the Lord, who is that?
-
Man that I'm referring to. I heard four different guys.
-
Well, a lot of those sounded, right, but I have one in
-
particular and he's a neighbor to the book of second.
-
Samuel. Gays in first Samuel.
-
What's his name? Somebody whispered, it Samuel
-
you remember when Samuel was caught up in grief.
-
Maybe you don't go to 1st Samuel. 16 with me.
-
I want you to see this first Samuel 16.
-
This is why review is necessary. I'm going to bring something to
-
you that I've taught before but we are, we are creatures who
-
need repetition to learn. First name is 16 1.
-
This is after Saul was rejected as king and I want you to see
-
how this chapter opens up. And it's going to teach you
-
something very important about grief first.
-
Samuel 61 reads, the Lord said to Samuel, how long, will you
-
grieve over Saul since? I have rejected him before from
-
being King over Israel, fill your horn with oil and go, I
-
will send you the Jesse the Bethel might fry.
-
I've provided for myself a king among his sons God is not
-
against grief. God is not against your tears.
-
God does not think your pain or your sorrow is a sign of
-
unbelief, it can be, but it's not necessarily always the case.
-
What God is opposed to is exactly what we read here.
-
The duration of our lament, how long will you grieve over saw?
-
That's the problem. How long not The Grieving, the
-
how long you're grieving for? But here's the thing, I want to
-
know when I've crossed the line. I want to know when my sorrow
-
become sinful. How can I be able to identify
-
when I've exceeded the righteous boundaries of those feelings
-
that eat me up inside. And I believe there are two, I
-
believe there are two strong marks of knowing when my pain my
-
sorrow, my misery. Is becoming an offense.
-
The first one is this. This is important.
-
When we begin to accuse the character of God, when we begin
-
to accuse the character of God Samuel here, had reason to
-
grieve over sauce in but as Paul to the Thessalonians you know
-
this that we as Christians grieve differently, we don't
-
grieve as the world Grieves. Your inheritance in Christ.
-
Jesus is a hopeful grievance. Right?
-
The faith that you and I have is so profound and so powerful that
-
it is able to carry you through that storm where you are able to
-
honor God, obey, God and worship God in the midst of it.
-
That is what we have because of the holy spirit, because of the
-
word of God and it makes me wonder if Samuel here is
-
wallowing at this point, because he is lost and forgotten what
-
God has done in the past which is common with most of us, how
-
was Samuel even called to begin with?
-
He was called as a boy. And in first Samuel chapter 3,
1 Samuel 3 chapter mention
-
there's this interesting detail given before Samuel is called.
-
We are told that he was sleeping there in the Tabernacle and that
-
the lamp of the Lord. Still had a little light though.
-
It was not completely snuffed out.
-
Now, we know that that, that lamp that was ordained to be
-
designed by God, in Exodus was designed to give illumination to
-
the entire house of worship. If you didn't have the lamp, You
-
didn't have light, there is no windows, there is no ceiling
-
light, it was just that lamp and you're thinking, well, why does
-
the Lord want to let us know that the light was barely there?
-
And the point is this it was a reflection on the leadership of
-
Israel's day At that time earlier, we're told that Eli's
-
Vision was almost gone. And then we're told about the
-
lamp in verse 34 saying the chapter 3 and so there's a
-
correlation there that the dimming lights spoke of the the
-
dimming of the discernment and the Holiness and the
-
god-honoring leaders of that time, it was almost gone but
-
wasn't completely gone. And it was setting the stage for
-
us to realize that Samuel was going to be promoted at the
-
right time that when it seemed absolutely hopeless.
-
God would raise up another man and it would be actually a young
-
boy, who would be a Offit. That Samuel forget that it's
-
Samuel. Forget that even though Eli.
-
Who is the leader of the picture of God's leadership before King
-
came onto the scene that when he was condemned by God, he raised
-
up another. Would it be any different for
-
Saul? Okay?
-
This man is going to be removed from the throne, okay?
-
He's the first king. Okay, he Dishonored God.
-
Yes, that's hurtful. That's painful but God's agenda
-
has not been thwarted. But he didn't, he didn't know
-
that. He should have known that but he
-
didn't. He lost grip with what God has
-
done before and that that caused them not to believe God for the
-
future. And so in some sense here,
-
Samuel should have known better better.
-
And his grievance here is a sign of unbelief.
-
Because of his history with God because of what God has done in
-
his life through his life. He should have known better but
-
he didn't And that's where we have to be careful because we
-
can look to God. And we can be broken before God,
-
but if our tears blind us from his sovereignty and his
-
providential ways, then we have to understand that we are now in
-
worldly grief. We're not in the grief, that
-
Jesus allows us to agree with. How does David do that here?
-
How does David show that his grief was actually a worldly
-
grief? Not just a worldly grief, but a
-
grief that accuses the character of God Here's where I believe it
-
is. Go back to 18:33.
-
Look what he says here. And the King was deeply moved
-
and went up to the chamber over the gate and wept.
-
And as he went, he said, o my son Absalom, my son Absalom, my
-
son Absalom right. Would I had died instead of you?
-
Oh Absalom, my son, my son. What I've died inside.
-
Again, you want to feel the pain with him, you want to be
-
sympathetic here but that's a terrible wish.
-
What would happen if you died instead of Absalom, what would
-
have become of the Kingdom? What would become of the
-
nation's future? What would it become of God's
-
program? No, in fact, you and I learned
-
in chapter 17 that God intended and designed to bring harm upon
-
absolutely. By defeating the council that he
-
TOEFL. And so, the death of Absalom was
-
perfectly designated by A Perfect God.
-
And what you have here is a man who didn't believe.
-
So I wish I had died. Instead are you kidding me?
-
What are you saying about God's Sovereign?
-
Will what do you think about God's perfect?
-
Dealings with Affairs in life. So when your heart begins to
-
accuse, God's faithfulness, God's wisdom, God's power.
-
Then you know that your grief is illegal and it's crossed the
-
boundary that it shouldn't have crossed but there's a second
-
Mark, it's not when you begin to accuse God in your grief but
-
it's when begin. You begin to lose the grip of
-
your service to God? When you begin to lose your grip
-
on your service to God, that's another flag that indicates our
-
morning crossed, the boundaries that God has designed and not
-
not physically, of course, not being able to move forward.
-
I'm speaking about mentally not being able to say I can move on
-
from this garbage. Still worthy of my service.
-
You know he failed as a King Saul did, right?
-
But we see here that Samuel was still a prophet, saw was no
-
longer King, but Samuel, you're still a man of God and why you
-
need to understand here is that you cannot afford to be so
-
overwhelmed that you are paralyzed in your position, and
-
that's what Greek can do. It can paralyze you, it can keep
-
you in place. It can keep you in place until
-
your dying day. There are mothers who are like
-
that. They're our sons were like that.
-
There are pastors who are like that that they never seem to
-
recover after a severe blow, whether it was from their own
-
failure, or failure of another or something that is
-
unexplainable. And what we see here is that
-
David was morning as a father but just like Samuel, he had a
-
position, he had a calling, he was a king and as a king, he
-
needed to still serve God's people and he's allowing his
-
personal grievances to it. Fear with that calling.
-
And here's the thing. Maybe none of this is relatable
-
to you because you're not in a leadership position, but let me
-
tell you how grief is has a wide spectrum.
-
There are people today who not? Because of a loss of a loved one
-
or because of a tragic incident, but because more like Saul and
-
Samuel, you've been failed by someone, someone has
-
disappointed you. That can be a pastor or leader
-
from a former church, that can be because of spiritual abuse.
-
Zeus and you can never read your Bible the same way again, right?
-
You come here and you worship, but as your worship, you're
-
thinking, maybe all those people in the worship, team are
-
absolute Hypocrites, just like the last church I was a part of
-
maybe that Pastor is not really a true man of God.
-
Just like the last Pastor that destroyed me and my family or my
-
friends. So you look at hypocrisy, you
-
look at others, you look at inconsistencies and you allow it
-
to affect you. As a man of God, as a woman of
-
God, you have some people who just don't want to deal with
-
Ministry because there are people who make more mess than
-
blessing in Ministry. So you don't want to be
-
disappointed again. So you're very distant.
-
Your body is here but you left your heart at home.
-
You have some people who just are skeptical.
-
And they live in that skepticism.
-
And that skepticism has so affected them because of serious
-
things. Maybe not so serious things it
-
so they don't even come to church anymore.
-
They do there's no intensity. There's no participation that
-
Zeal died That Zeal died with your disappointment and now
-
you're just a hollow shell. That wants to try to live your
-
Christian Life without disappointment from others,
-
right? You're wrong.
-
Your grief has led you to grieving the heart of God.
-
And what's amazing here is what God says to Samuel.
-
He says how long, how long will you grieve over Saul?
-
And then he moves forward by saying, fill your horn with oil
-
and go I will send you to Jesse the bethlem light What is he
-
trying to say there? Hey Samuel, you still have a
-
purpose to fulfill. I still have a call for you.
-
You're still my man and I need you to understand that, and I
-
need you to walk in that. And here's what I think is so
-
insightful, I think and I believe That God giving this
-
instruction to Samuel was not just because it was his
-
responsibility. But because in that was a
-
remedy. One of the greatest remedies to
-
seeing healing is serving God. What do I mean by that?
-
Here's the thing. When you because what Ministry
-
really is, is coming to the aid of people's needs.
-
When you surround yourself and put yourself before people who
-
have needs, it takes your eyes off of you.
-
And so you're not wallowing as much because you're distracted
-
in a way. In a holy way, in a good way,
-
service is a sanctifying shield and that Shield can protect you
-
from being swallowed up by yours.
-
Your sadness or even protecting you from sexual Temptation.
-
Listen, Samuel was not going to do any good for himself by
-
staying in his room and crying day after day after day.
-
And that's proven even in David's life when he chose to
-
stay home with his thoughts. Stead of being out in the
-
battlefield, like, God called them to be.
-
And so, the Lord tells Samuel get up, fill your horn with oil
-
and go and anoint, the men that I have prepared to take salts
-
place. In other words, get busy, get
-
busy serving the lord You're not going to heal by laying there
-
and just letting time wash Over You, Without You Walking In the
-
purpose that God has for you. And that happens actually with
-
David, this is just happening with sauce.
-
I'm trying to prove this that this is not just an isolated
-
incident. This is something that we see as
-
a principle throughout the word of God, you haven't read it.
-
So I'm not going to ask you the question, but here's where we
-
see that same idea being articulated.
-
Go to chapter 19 again and look at verse 7.
-
This is joab. Joab is the agent of Correction,
-
not the Lord himself, but job is.
-
And he says to David now, therefore arise go out and speak
-
kindly to your servants. For I, swear by the Lord, if you
-
do not go, not a man will stay with you this night and this
-
will be worse for you than all the evil that has come upon you
-
from your youth. Until now, then the king arose
-
and took his seat in the gate. And the people were all told.
-
Behold the king is sitting in the gate and All the people came
-
before The King, right? You know, a job is saying, get
-
up. Stop sitting here in your room.
-
Pounding your fist. And go do what you're supposed
-
to do as a king. I get very nervous when sad
-
Christians don't show up anymore.
-
I get very nervous. You should get nervous too.
-
The Lord's words to Samuel. You can safely translate them in
-
the following way. Why are you still acting like
-
this sauce? Failures have not affected my
-
plans for the nation and you still have a calling that I gave
-
you so, get going. David gives the same advice.
-
The remorse over the death. Now we come to the rebuke the
-
rebuke We come to chapter 19. Right job was told, behold the
-
king is weeping he's devastated and job would not tolerate this
-
for one moment further. He's going to confront David and
-
so he comes to David. And job has messed up a lot and
-
he's actually going to mess up even more after this chapter.
-
But what job does here is instructive He comes to the king
-
and he rebukes him. He rebukes this man and it might
-
seem a little intense, but here's what I want to tell you
-
rebuke. Is very necessary at times and
-
sometimes intensity in that rebuke is just as necessary.
-
What woke up? Samuel rebuke.
-
What woke up David rebuked. I'm going to get to a little
-
teaching on rebuke because we're intimidated by that word and we
-
kind of put that Christian instruction in a vault.
-
And we try not to touch it ever in our lives.
-
And so we like exhortation, we like instruction, we like
-
encouragement, but also rebuked know.
-
We can be doing rebuke stuff. That's on Godly.
-
It can be, but it's absolutely necessary.
-
I want you to see something here, a few insights with what
-
job does with his friend verse 5.
-
We told that he receives a news about Absalom or his father's
-
grief over. Have some verse 5, then job came
-
into the house to the king and said I liked that job came to
-
his house. You know what that tells me?
-
David went to his house and David stayed in his house when
-
David was supposed to be around. Of people.
-
He was supposed to be before the people celebrating rejoicing
-
giving, thanks to God. And instead he goes up to his
-
chamber sticks, his hand in his face and drenches his fingers
-
with his tears. Isolation is so common for those
-
who are sorrowful. Can I tell you something?
-
It's very unwise to do that for too long.
-
You might need some time alone to process your grievances, but
-
to stay there. Is suicide for the soul.
-
And job comes here with intervention.
-
He comes here. He comes to this man in his very
-
home, and what do you find David doing?
-
From what he learned in 18:33 to chapter 19, he still singing the
-
same song. My son, my son, all the same.
-
Tune, the same song. The same problem.
-
Nothing's changed even though he became isolated.
-
Isolation can be deceptive and again being surrounded by
-
people. Even people who have needs can
-
bring your healing faster. This is God's wisdom.
-
And additionally for those who lean towards isolation, may add
-
something okay? Because some of us are more
-
introverted Like being around like being here.
-
Right now is like it's difficult for you and it's only going to
-
get more difficult when people stand up and they might shake
-
your hand. You just want to zoom out of
-
here as soon as possible. I get it.
-
I know people like that and doesn't mean you're any less
-
Godly than a person who is an extrovert.
-
But for those who tend to have leniencies towards pulling away
-
from others, especially when your heart is heavy, you have to
-
understand that. Do you think you are healing
-
from hurt the very Act and the Very cessation of your presence
-
is actually most likely hurting others.
-
Look at the words here of job in verse six because you love those
-
who hate you and hate those who love you.
-
For you have made it clear today.
-
That commanders and servants are nothing to you for today.
-
I know that if Absalom were alive and all of us were dead
-
today, then you would be pleased.
-
That seems a little intense, right?
-
It's again sometimes rebuke is necessary and sometimes a little
-
dose of intensity is needed in that rebuke.
-
What's he trying to say here is like, look the fact that you're
-
pulling away from everybody with with your tears and your
-
Brokenness, you're actually communicating something.
-
They're not valuable to you. They have nothing to offer you
-
their not important to you especially when these people
-
have given so much of themselves to you.
-
So it can be a very selfish thing and it can actually cause
-
others to hurt, see the body of Christ.
-
Listen, you're a member of the body and when the body's hurting
-
scripture tells us, we all hurt meaning that we hurt together.
-
And so if you're if you're hurting and you're temptation is
-
to pull away your like a finger that wants to disconnect from
-
the hand. Yeah.
-
You think that being isolated will help you write?
-
But in fact you've severed something and you're causing
-
others to bleed at the same time, this is a place where you
-
receive your healing, the people of God.
-
If this is truly Godly place with people who love the Lord
-
and love his word, this is where you receive your wholeness
-
again. God designed it that way.
-
And Satan would love for you. Even not just in your sin
-
people. People always think somebody's
-
isolating themselves because of their sin.
-
No, it can be because of their sadness and that sadness will
-
lead to sin. That's the whole idea.
-
It's to learn discipline yourself, to throw yourself at
-
the feet of the hands and feet of Jesus.
-
The people of God, pour out your heart.
-
Am I saying that you can't be along?
-
Just saying don't be alone too long.
-
And so we see here that job comes to this man's Rescue by
-
appearing and showing up and dealing with him and what does
-
he do? You've heard me say, he rebukes
-
and I wanted to take advantage of talking about rebuke, just a
-
little bit. What does it mean to rebuke?
-
Does anybody have an idea? Like what's a Christian word?
-
Rights are in a Christian vocabulary, I don't know if you
-
know what it means. What does rebuke mean?
-
To correct. I would say it's even more than
-
that. It's that's the essence of it
-
but what does it mean to rebuke? Because I can be teaching and
-
it's correcting. Better a firm correction.
-
I would even go more than that. It's a confrontation.
-
That seeks to criticize a wrong. For the sake of restoring,
-
someone from sinful Behavior. That's what it means to rebuke.
-
And the scripture in the New Testament encourages us to
-
rebuke, especially for those who are in leadership positions,
-
they are commanded to rebuke, right?
-
But as Believers in Luke 17, it says, when a brother sin against
-
you rebuke him. So even as Believers, you might
-
not have a position of teaching or preaching, but your call to
-
in day-to-day life at times to rebuke, Now I'm fully aware that
-
there are some who have a strange satisfaction and
-
gratification of confronting people.
-
There's some relief there for them, they just vent and they
-
just, they send superiority by reprimand.
-
I don't know how they do that. I think rebuking is one of the
-
most uncomfortable experiences for the Christian for anybody
-
who has a delight in it. There needs to be some
-
counseling there. Okay.
-
It's difficult to do, it's difficult to do that.
-
So I think it's comanded because it's not something that
-
naturally we want to do at least for some But nonetheless, it is
-
a command. You see that second Timothy 4:2,
-
you see that in Titus 2:15 where these pastors are commanded by
-
God to know how to confront people in their sin.
-
Now, with that being said, I mentioned how we kind of put
-
that in a vault and we put a very, very strict code on it, so
-
we never open that Vault ever again, because who wants to
-
rebuke, right? No, you're supposed to rebuke,
-
but cautiously Very cautiously because that kind of
-
Confrontation can do very much more damage than it can good.
-
And I think the best way to know how to be like Christ in your
-
rebuking is to ask a series of questions to self-reflect to
-
pause and to be more confident in your motive.
-
And in your reason before you make that move, some people are
-
trigger happy with their rebuke, right?
-
And I think in some cases, Rebuke is necessary immediately
-
and even publicly. When Paul rebuked Peter, he
-
didn't send him an email after the whole thing, galatia?
-
Right. He rebuked them publicly in
-
front of everybody, and I think the rule for that is, if the sin
-
is public, it deserves public correction If the sin is
-
private, then it warns private confrontation, right?
-
Just like your confession of sin, by the way, let me just
-
give a word of counsel. If your sin is private and it
-
deals with very intimate details, it's not necessary for
-
your testimony to share and to spill all the guts.
-
Okay, there's wisdom and even how you share your testimony.
-
Coming back to this. So he I'm just I'm curious
-
because we want to be equipped. What questions do you think are
-
necessary to ask yourself before you come to a point where you
-
deal with a person and criticize them for their sin?
-
Not them as a person but criticized, their sin.
-
And the way they're living for the sake of restoring them unto
-
Holiness. Any ideas?
-
What questions? Very good.
-
What is my intention in this? Am I just angry at them?
-
Do I just want to spill over my emotions on them?
-
Because they did something that I didn't like, or why do I want
-
to see them restore? Do I really want to see them
-
rescued? And the means by which I will
-
see that at least closer. Into realities through this
-
rebuke. Yeah.
-
Do I love them? And I think that correlates with
-
that. Do I love them and doing this
-
and in loving them you want to see them restore.
-
And so you're willing to rebuke them as uncomfortable as that
-
may be for you. Any other idea?
-
Is it biblical I love that point.
-
Am I confronting someone because of a personal preference Am I
-
confronting someone? Because of something that might
-
be right for their conscious but not as right for my conscience,
-
or is this black and white in the Bible, very important.
-
A lot of Confrontation is done because you're doing something
-
that I don't like, well, where's the verse in chapter it?
-
Well, it's because I don't like it.
-
So that doesn't work. You're gonna cause more Civil
-
War than anything with that kind of attitude.
-
Yes, Is it the right time? That's very important, too.
-
Right? We need to know that timing is
-
important, context is important. Place is important Peterson
-
publicly. It deserved public correction.
-
If you saw brother sitting somewhere and you're in charge
-
of worship, and you get on before we sing this song,
-
Brother so-and-so. I saw at the mall and brother, I
-
did tell you something you're wrong for what you did to that
-
Clerk and your attitude that wasn't Christ like no, no no.
-
Extreme example, but you'd be surprised.
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Yes. You guys are doing so good.
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Am I rebuking somebody for a sin that I'm entertaining myself?
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Whoo, there's the spec but here's the log, And what we do
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is when we confront people with that log we tend to walk them
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over the head, right? So pulled along out, do some
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self surgery first and then you will see clearly to know how to
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deal with somebody else. We have a log in your eye, you
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don't tell you don't tend to see clearly not from experience.
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I just assumed log in your eye doesn't help very good, very
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good, anything else How do I know if my rebuke is legitimate?
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Okay, good. So when it comes to confronting,
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especially with sensitive matters, or when the accusation
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is severe, it helps to have witnesses.
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Now I'm not, that's not always the case, because scripture
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tells us in Matthew 18 that if a brother has sinned that you
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approach him privately, right? You bring in two or three other
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Witnesses when he doesn't repent.
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But when it comes to certain situations and you're right
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brother, when you see somebody especially in a leadership
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position, where told you got to have more than one witness here,
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they can't just be something that comes from your perspective
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or your ideas. It's good to have more than one
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individual who can validate what your concerns are.
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Yes. And I think that comes back to
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the timing thing, right? And my ready is my heart in the
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right place for me to approach this brother or the sister with
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my concerns. Yes.
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Yeah so am I judging them with the right calculation?
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Again by scripture so we're kind of revisiting some of the points
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that we already made. Somebody hasn't made one point
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that I think is crucial. I'm going to give it a couple
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more tries before I make it. Okay, so restoration, right?
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So it's interesting, right? We rebuke, but Timothy was told
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by Paul you rebuke and you exhort Reprove rebuke exhort.
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So Our intention, there isn't a blow things up and leave things
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in pieces. We come, we deal with that
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thing, but we also come with a solution and I think part of
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that solution to and if you, if you're a person that wants to
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know if you're ready for that solution, I think.
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One thing that can help is if you're praying for that person,
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not just willing to confront the, but if you're praying for
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them and prepared to pray for them after the matter, right?
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But more than that brother. Look, you're in the wrong.
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And I've Seen this as a pattern. It's not right it's breaking my
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heart is breaking others people's heart but here's the
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thing, how can I help you? What can I do?
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What can I offer you to see you overcome this?
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That's something that will win. A person's heart.
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At least it should. Yes.
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Yeah, you're in it. How to bring up the matter of
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rebuke. Yeah.
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So how are you going to watch your tone?
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What's your voice? If you're going to premeditate
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it make sure that you have it planned out, at least the best
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that you can. I'll give you what I think.
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Everything you said I agree with 100%.
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Here's one that we also have to consider.
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Am I willing to receive the rebuke that I'm about to give
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That's huge, right? How would I feel if I was
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sitting at the other end of that coffee table?
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Hearing what I'm planning to say to that brother or sister, most
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of the time, if you're ready to rebuke somebody, you're going to
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revisit your script. When you ask that question, you
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will probably 99.9% of the time you at least revisit it and
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maybe Council somebody else to help you.
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Put it together in a certain way to make it airtight from any.
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Any cardinality or unnecessary offense?
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Am I will, how would I would Should I be convinced that this
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person really loves me wants to see Christ formed in me, the way
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I am prepared to say what I'm about to say. and if you can
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say, yes, then you're ready for that rebuke, and the Lord needs
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to give us wisdom, right? Lord doesn't need to give us
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wisdom because sometimes that rebuke will be something we have
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to be ready to do at that very moment.
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And the way that we are ready, is when we remain prayerful, we
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remain watchful. When we remain continually in a
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place of self-examination, so we're continually clean vessels.
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So that when we are taken by surprise, will be more
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christ-like than ever. There's so much more to say.
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I'm not going to continue to say anything, but here's what I want
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to say, and enclosing If you're a person who is sorrowful today,
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you did the right thing in coming to this place, but I want
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to let you know that the Lord has Mercy toward you even in
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your grief. And sometimes his Mercy comes in
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the form of a rebuke. So maybe today you are you have
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been enduring pain and it's been paralyzing.
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Hear God's voice in this study today and realize that if you
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have been accusing God, even slightly or your walk with the
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Lord, has been altered in any shape or form because of that
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grief. Realize that the Lord wants to
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heal you today. Realize that he has a purpose
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for you. Realize that his program is
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bigger than your personal life and your part of that program in
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your life is beyond your son. Your daughter.
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Your life is beyond your job. Your life is beyond what others
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have done. It's bigger than that and you're
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part of that bigger picture. You know what's so sad, is how
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David's grief here? Cause other people to be to be
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sad? And to really even caused
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themselves to reflect on their own ways and their own
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decisions, you know, you have parents who when they go
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through, grieving things specifically with one specific
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child, they isolate themselves with other children.
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They don't give any love any attention to the children, they
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just keep remembering what about that once on whether their
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Wayward or even altogether loss from this life.
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And what happens to those kids, they get bitter, they get
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broken. They pull away they Rebel and so
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we need God's wisdom, Even in our pain, we need the Lord's
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help. We can do a whole series on
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that. Can we not?
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But it's 935 so you're not getting a Series tonight.
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At least let's pray. Lord words.
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Can't express how how full my heart feels to see a room filled
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with people who are eager to hear from your word.
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Thank you for this Bible study. Thank you that on a Friday
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night. People want to be under the word
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of God, or we asked conveyed today would have been beneficial
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to our walk with you. We pray, Lord that you would
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help us be. Believers who know how to grieve
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with hope. We pray that you would help us
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to be faithful Messengers, not like I amaz who get excited, but
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don't understand the responsibility of running this
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race. Help us be like cush site.
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Help us be like that man who may not have had the fastest feet,
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but was obedient and faithful to what you asked of him.
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Well we pray that in those uncomfortable moments where we
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might have to correct a brother or we might have to criticize
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even for the sake of seeing them restored.
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We won't have to call them out. Lord maybe we not be unwilling
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to wield that but when we also be cautious to do so in the most
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christ-like manner as possible, help us believe that.
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Like with Samuel and David rebuke was the means by which
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you revived their concern for you and your purpose for them.
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And Lord for those who attempted to isolate, for those who might
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be in isolation, this very moment, maybe they're not here
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because they are isolating. Go, where we can't go.
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Help us know what to do. But also Lord, if we've done all
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that we can do, would you be merciful and speak to them?
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As you spoke to Samuel, open their eyes, let your voice be
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loud and clear rescue them from their despair.
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Pull them out of that pit so they can operate the way you've
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called them to be with their gifting and their presence and
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their involvement in the advancement of your purpose.
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Lord, we look to you and we trust you and we sing to you
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with gladness of heart. In Jesus name we pray.
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Amen. Let's stand Worship the Lord.