WEBVTT 00:00.660 --> 00:02.560 Man, the title of my sermon this morning 00:02.560 --> 00:04.780 is Saul's Envy of David. 00:05.220 --> 00:06.320 Saul's Envy of David. 00:06.380 --> 00:08.820 We've been talking about the life of David, 00:09.020 --> 00:12.500 and this is obviously a major theme in the life of David 00:12.500 --> 00:15.900 is that his father-in-law, Saul, the king of Israel, 00:16.140 --> 00:18.340 ends up becoming extremely envious, 00:19.120 --> 00:22.360 persecuting him, hunting him for years and years. 00:22.680 --> 00:24.520 And so this is a major plot point 00:24.520 --> 00:25.980 in the book of First Samuel. 00:26.640 --> 00:30.560 And if you think about it, Envy is just a major sin 00:30.560 --> 00:33.760 that probably everybody deals with from time to time. 00:34.040 --> 00:36.360 And Envy is what causes the wicked 00:36.840 --> 00:39.240 to hate and persecute the righteous. 00:39.520 --> 00:40.860 We see this all throughout the New Testament. 00:41.060 --> 00:44.260 For example, in Matthew 27, 18, it says, 00:44.960 --> 00:48.160 for he knew that for Envy they had delivered him. 00:48.280 --> 00:52.040 Talking about Pontius Pilate knew that it was Envy 00:52.040 --> 00:56.300 that led the Jews to wanna kill and crucify Jesus. 00:56.660 --> 00:58.860 Same thing in Mark 15, 10, for he knew 00:58.860 --> 01:02.080 that the chief priests had delivered him for Envy. 01:02.660 --> 01:05.380 Acts chapter seven, verse nine, the patriarchs 01:05.380 --> 01:08.940 moved with Envy, sold Joseph into Egypt, 01:09.240 --> 01:10.120 but God was with them. 01:10.220 --> 01:12.940 So why did they wanna murder their brother? 01:13.160 --> 01:15.840 They ultimately ended up selling him into slavery, 01:16.080 --> 01:17.700 human trafficking their own brother. 01:18.220 --> 01:20.340 The Bible says they were moved by Envy. 01:20.960 --> 01:24.060 Acts chapter 13, 45, when the Jews saw the multitudes, 01:24.440 --> 01:28.080 they were filled with Envy and spake against those things 01:28.080 --> 01:31.100 which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming. 01:31.360 --> 01:34.080 So the apostle Paul shows up, preaches, 01:34.460 --> 01:35.500 people are getting saved, 01:35.900 --> 01:37.360 they're hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ. 01:37.700 --> 01:39.900 And then when the Jews see the big crowds, 01:40.480 --> 01:41.480 they're envious. 01:41.740 --> 01:43.220 They wish they had those big crowds. 01:43.520 --> 01:46.100 They wish they could pack out the synagogue like that. 01:46.260 --> 01:49.500 And so they end up contradicting and blaspheming. 01:49.920 --> 01:50.800 But here's the thing, 01:50.900 --> 01:54.840 it's not even just unsaved people or non-Christians 01:54.840 --> 01:57.140 that can become consumed with Envy 01:57.140 --> 01:59.340 that would cause them to persecute and hate the righteous, 01:59.840 --> 02:02.080 but even Christians and even preachers 02:02.080 --> 02:03.420 could be filled with Envy 02:03.420 --> 02:06.120 because it says in Philippians chapter one, verse 15, 02:06.480 --> 02:10.240 some indeed preach Christ even of Envy and strife, 02:10.620 --> 02:11.880 and some also of good will. 02:11.980 --> 02:13.960 So there are even Christian preachers 02:13.960 --> 02:15.180 that are actually saved 02:15.180 --> 02:17.220 and actually preaching the gospel of Christ, 02:17.220 --> 02:19.340 but they are filled with Envy. 02:20.000 --> 02:23.400 And of course Saul, he is a man of God. 02:23.660 --> 02:26.220 He is someone who was picked by God 02:26.220 --> 02:28.520 because of his humble attitude. 02:28.840 --> 02:31.840 He's a godly man, and he was saved. 02:31.960 --> 02:33.000 Obviously he's in heaven, 02:33.280 --> 02:37.160 but yet he ended up going down an extremely dark path 02:37.660 --> 02:40.580 and ultimately destroying his life completely 02:41.280 --> 02:44.880 and dying in a very shameful way. 02:46.020 --> 02:47.220 And what does the Bible say? 02:47.320 --> 02:49.200 Thou shalt not covet, right? 02:49.320 --> 02:50.760 And this is telling us not to envy. 02:50.940 --> 02:52.400 This is one of the Ten Commandments. 02:52.940 --> 02:54.040 Thou shalt not covet. 02:54.180 --> 02:57.080 It's wrong to want something that belongs to other people, 02:57.540 --> 02:59.060 to wish you were someone else 02:59.060 --> 03:01.020 instead of the person that God made you, 03:01.380 --> 03:03.000 wanting good people to fail, 03:03.340 --> 03:05.560 wanting to tear them down to lift yourself up. 03:06.020 --> 03:08.920 This is covetous, this is Envy, it's wicked. 03:09.440 --> 03:10.600 For the sake of Christ, 03:10.600 --> 03:13.480 we should want every godly Christian 03:14.060 --> 03:17.300 to be blessed and to succeed and to thrive. 03:17.540 --> 03:19.020 And it should make us feel good 03:19.020 --> 03:22.280 to see godly Christians succeeding, thriving. 03:22.600 --> 03:23.780 It should make us feel good 03:23.780 --> 03:26.240 to see people achieving great things for God 03:26.240 --> 03:28.200 and doing greater things than we are for God 03:28.720 --> 03:31.760 because at the end of the day, it's for the cause of Christ. 03:31.900 --> 03:32.240 But you know what? 03:32.340 --> 03:35.640 Human nature just wants to go all taunia-harding 03:35.640 --> 03:37.860 on those that are superior to us. 03:38.380 --> 03:39.760 Take them down a notch 03:39.760 --> 03:41.320 so that we can win the gold 03:41.740 --> 03:43.440 and only people in my generation 03:43.440 --> 03:44.640 probably know what that means. 03:45.080 --> 03:46.760 But if you would, let's take a look 03:46.760 --> 03:48.900 at 1 Samuel chapter 18. 03:49.100 --> 03:50.040 We just read chapter 19. 03:50.220 --> 03:51.640 Let's back up to chapter 18. 03:53.260 --> 03:56.060 And the Bible says in 1 Samuel 18.6, 03:56.200 --> 03:57.540 it came to pass as they came 03:58.000 --> 03:59.820 when David was returned from the slaughter 03:59.820 --> 04:00.700 of the Philistines. 04:00.800 --> 04:02.520 This is after David killed Goliath. 04:03.160 --> 04:04.580 How many Philistines did he kill? 04:04.800 --> 04:06.040 One singular, Goliath. 04:06.460 --> 04:09.200 That the women came out of all the cities of Israel 04:09.200 --> 04:11.580 singing and dancing to meet King Saul 04:11.580 --> 04:14.680 with tablets, with joy, and with instruments of music. 04:15.440 --> 04:17.720 And the women answered one another as they played 04:17.720 --> 04:20.240 and said, Saul hath slain his thousands 04:20.720 --> 04:22.720 and David his 10,000s. 04:22.740 --> 04:24.560 Now look, neither of these things are true. 04:24.760 --> 04:28.040 I guarantee you that Saul has not personally killed 04:28.040 --> 04:29.220 1,000 Philistines. 04:29.460 --> 04:33.460 And we know David has certainly not killed 10,000 Philistines. 04:33.640 --> 04:35.400 And so this is just a song. 04:35.780 --> 04:38.080 Songs could be exaggerating. 04:38.080 --> 04:39.160 It's just a fun song. 04:39.300 --> 04:39.900 They're just singing. 04:40.240 --> 04:41.440 They're just excited and whatever. 04:41.780 --> 04:43.700 But he really doesn't like the fact 04:44.080 --> 04:46.880 that even though he's getting praised more than he deserved 04:46.880 --> 04:49.700 because no, he did not kill thousands, okay? 04:50.160 --> 04:53.360 Even though he's maybe being exalted more highly 04:53.360 --> 04:54.760 than he really even should be, 04:54.840 --> 04:56.040 because it's just a fun song, 04:56.860 --> 05:00.120 he's just upset that someone else has the preeminence, 05:00.140 --> 05:02.340 that someone else gets even more credit 05:02.340 --> 05:05.280 that they're saying, well, David is even greater than 05:05.280 --> 05:08.400 Saul and so this really bothers him. 05:08.440 --> 05:11.160 It says in verse eight, Saul was very rough. 05:11.320 --> 05:12.180 He's filled with wrath. 05:12.820 --> 05:14.700 And the saying displeased him and he said, 05:14.960 --> 05:17.440 David has scribed unto David 10,000s 05:17.440 --> 05:19.480 and to me they have ascribed but thousands 05:19.480 --> 05:21.940 and what can he have more but the kingdom 05:21.940 --> 05:25.360 and Saul eyed David from that day forward. 05:25.480 --> 05:26.940 So everything's cool up to this point. 05:27.300 --> 05:29.460 Now he's got his eye on David. 05:29.940 --> 05:31.120 He's nervous about him. 05:31.180 --> 05:33.780 He's upset that David is a threat to his kingdom. 05:33.780 --> 05:36.600 But here's the big point that I wanna make here 05:37.140 --> 05:40.200 is that before this even happened, 05:40.580 --> 05:42.500 God had already told him he's gonna lose the kingdom 05:42.500 --> 05:43.180 to someone else. 05:44.040 --> 05:45.240 So why would he just be like, 05:45.460 --> 05:47.060 oh, well what can he have more than the kingdom? 05:47.160 --> 05:49.260 It's like, bro, you're already gonna lose the kingdom. 05:49.760 --> 05:51.260 This has already been told you by God. 05:51.380 --> 05:52.940 Now back up your wood to chapter 13. 05:54.400 --> 05:57.040 And so I wanna make three points about this this morning 05:57.040 --> 05:58.540 about Saul's envy of David 05:58.540 --> 06:00.780 and the first point that I wanna make is this. 06:00.780 --> 06:04.660 Number one, before the wicked start persecuting the righteous, 06:05.180 --> 06:08.040 they develop their own personal problem with God. 06:08.860 --> 06:11.760 So it really has nothing to do with a problem 06:11.760 --> 06:13.200 between the wicked and the righteous. 06:13.800 --> 06:16.040 What it is that the wicked man develops 06:16.040 --> 06:18.420 his own personal problem with God 06:18.420 --> 06:21.240 and then this leads him to persecute the righteous. 06:21.760 --> 06:23.480 But you gotta get the order straight here. 06:23.780 --> 06:26.540 It seems like, oh, Saul just started envying David. 06:26.700 --> 06:29.020 No, no, no, Saul already had a personal problem 06:29.020 --> 06:31.000 with God long before this, 06:31.240 --> 06:34.340 which is why he even has this wicked covetous attitude. 06:34.600 --> 06:37.500 Look at verse 14 of chapter 13. 06:38.640 --> 06:41.720 But now the kingdom, thy kingdom shall not continue. 06:42.760 --> 06:45.660 So look, whether there's a David or there's not a David, 06:46.320 --> 06:47.800 your kingdom's not gonna continue. 06:49.340 --> 06:53.060 The Lord has sought him, God's looking for, 06:53.480 --> 06:55.760 God has looked for, God has found. 06:55.940 --> 06:58.120 Here's the thing, he sought him a man after his own heart 06:58.120 --> 07:00.680 and the Lord has commanded him to be captain over his people 07:00.680 --> 07:04.500 because thou has not kept that which the Lord commanded thee. 07:04.600 --> 07:08.020 So again, it's not important who the replacement even is. 07:08.380 --> 07:10.520 It's just your kingdom's not gonna continue 07:10.520 --> 07:13.660 because you disobeyed the commandment of God. 07:13.820 --> 07:16.020 And so again, the first point of the sermon is this, 07:16.320 --> 07:18.660 wicked people persecute the righteous, 07:18.900 --> 07:20.200 but long before that, 07:20.400 --> 07:22.800 they developed their own personal problem with God. 07:23.320 --> 07:25.380 Whether they're saved or unsaved isn't the issue 07:25.380 --> 07:28.500 because even saved people can get backslidden 07:29.000 --> 07:31.140 and can start living an ungodly life. 07:31.400 --> 07:32.940 They develop a personal problem with God 07:32.940 --> 07:35.880 and then they start taking it out on the people of God. 07:36.360 --> 07:39.160 It leads them to become covetous, envious, et cetera. 07:40.280 --> 07:41.680 So what did Saul do here? 07:41.780 --> 07:44.700 Well, he offered the sacrifice, Samuel showed up late 07:45.360 --> 07:47.460 and Saul offered a sacrifice. 07:47.620 --> 07:48.820 He wasn't allowed to do that. 07:49.140 --> 07:51.300 And so he says your kingdom's not gonna continue. 07:51.440 --> 07:52.460 Go to chapter 15. 07:53.060 --> 07:55.540 Couple chapters later, chapter 15, verse 28. 07:56.320 --> 07:58.840 And this is where Saul makes his second big blunder, 07:59.380 --> 08:01.660 second major step of disobedience to God. 08:02.080 --> 08:04.900 When God tells him to kill all the Amalekites 08:04.900 --> 08:07.880 and Saul fails to kill all the Amalekites, 08:08.060 --> 08:09.360 he leaves one guy alive. 08:09.920 --> 08:12.880 And God said, kill them all and he didn't obey. 08:13.320 --> 08:14.820 And so it says in verse 28, 08:15.160 --> 08:17.760 Samuel said unto him, the Lord hath rent. 08:18.040 --> 08:20.780 Rent is an old word for torn, okay? 08:20.780 --> 08:22.900 So it's saying like he tore it away. 08:23.460 --> 08:26.280 The Lord hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day 08:26.280 --> 08:28.220 and hath given it to a neighbor of thine 08:28.220 --> 08:30.240 that is better than thou. 08:30.440 --> 08:32.600 And this is obviously what's upsetting to Saul. 08:32.980 --> 08:34.300 How can anybody be better than me? 08:34.440 --> 08:35.260 I'm the greatest or whatever. 08:35.440 --> 08:36.780 That's a stupid attitude. 08:37.780 --> 08:40.020 I'm not the greatest, you're not the greatest. 08:40.420 --> 08:42.820 We're all supposed to just be humbly serving God 08:42.820 --> 08:43.880 in the best of our ability. 08:44.380 --> 08:45.640 But when you're a Christian 08:45.640 --> 08:49.140 and you develop a personal problem with God 08:49.140 --> 08:51.960 and you get back slidden and you're breaking commandments 08:51.960 --> 08:53.580 and you're not walking with God 08:53.580 --> 08:55.960 and you're in the flesh and you're not walking in spirit, 08:56.240 --> 08:58.520 that's what leads to you envying 08:58.520 --> 09:01.980 and then ultimately fighting with good people. 09:02.760 --> 09:04.580 That's what, it all starts with your personal problem 09:04.580 --> 09:04.780 with God. 09:05.060 --> 09:07.380 Think about Cain and Abel, okay? 09:07.740 --> 09:11.440 Cain murdered Abel, but it really started as just a problem 09:11.440 --> 09:12.440 between God and Cain. 09:12.560 --> 09:14.320 I mean, God tells him to bring a certain offering 09:14.320 --> 09:15.780 and he doesn't bring the offering 09:15.780 --> 09:16.620 that he's supposed to bring. 09:16.920 --> 09:18.120 What does that have to do with Abel? 09:18.500 --> 09:21.820 The fact that he fails to do what God told him to do 09:21.820 --> 09:23.280 and then next thing you know, 09:23.360 --> 09:24.900 the Bible says in Genesis 4, 8, 09:25.420 --> 09:27.440 and Cain talked with Abel, his brother, 09:27.860 --> 09:29.680 and it came to pass when they were in the field 09:29.680 --> 09:32.300 that Cain rose up against Abel, his brother in slum. 09:32.760 --> 09:35.260 So he then gets in an argument with Abel 09:35.260 --> 09:36.620 and murders Abel, 09:36.640 --> 09:39.000 but it started out being a personal problem 09:39.000 --> 09:40.180 between him and God. 09:40.540 --> 09:42.080 That's how it always starts, okay? 09:42.500 --> 09:44.020 Here's another example and of course 09:44.020 --> 09:45.460 in the New Testament it says 09:46.060 --> 09:47.460 that Cain hated Abel. 09:47.460 --> 09:47.880 Why? 09:48.220 --> 09:49.620 Because his own works were evil 09:49.620 --> 09:50.920 and his brothers were righteous. 09:51.400 --> 09:53.520 Marvel not my brother and if the world hates you. 09:53.940 --> 09:55.380 So of course it is no Marvel 09:55.380 --> 09:58.540 when the world hates you when you're serving God 09:58.540 --> 10:00.680 because Cain hated Abel, that's how it's always been, 10:01.120 --> 10:04.120 but it can sometimes be marvelous or wondrous to us 10:04.120 --> 10:07.240 when we even see saved Christians go down this road 10:07.240 --> 10:09.740 that Saul went down and where even they, 10:09.880 --> 10:11.760 because they have a problem with God, 10:12.180 --> 10:14.480 end up taking that out on God's people 10:14.480 --> 10:15.800 and persecuting the righteous 10:15.800 --> 10:17.380 because their own works are evil 10:17.380 --> 10:18.300 and their brothers are righteous. 10:19.200 --> 10:20.480 Go to Matthew 21. 10:20.780 --> 10:21.860 I want you to look at this one. 10:21.900 --> 10:23.500 I want you to actually turn here, Matthew 21. 10:23.900 --> 10:25.780 You know, the Pharisees and Sadducees 10:25.780 --> 10:27.760 were messed up and had a problem with God 10:27.760 --> 10:28.980 before Jesus even came along. 10:30.260 --> 10:32.560 You know, yeah, they're persecuting Jesus. 10:32.940 --> 10:34.160 They envied Jesus. 10:34.540 --> 10:37.120 They end up crucifying him because of envy. 10:37.620 --> 10:39.060 They're always out to get him. 10:39.600 --> 10:40.720 Why did they hate him? 10:40.880 --> 10:42.600 Why did they envy Jesus? 10:42.960 --> 10:45.200 Well, here's that they already had a problem with God 10:45.200 --> 10:46.600 before Jesus even came along. 10:47.080 --> 10:49.540 Because look what the Bible says in Matthew 21, verse 32. 10:50.100 --> 10:52.360 It says, for John, this is John the Baptist 10:52.360 --> 10:54.000 who came before Jesus. 10:54.120 --> 10:55.960 He's the forerunner of Jesus Christ. 10:56.300 --> 10:58.200 He started his ministry about six months earlier 10:58.200 --> 11:01.480 and it says, John came unto you in the way of righteousness 11:01.940 --> 11:04.180 and ye believed him not, 11:04.920 --> 11:06.740 but the publicans and harlots believed him. 11:07.280 --> 11:09.340 And ye, when ye had seen it, 11:09.660 --> 11:12.720 repented not afterward that you might believe him. 11:12.820 --> 11:14.780 And by the way, I think it's a great verse 11:14.780 --> 11:16.240 that you should underline in your Bible, 11:16.520 --> 11:17.900 know where it is, know where to find it, 11:18.180 --> 11:20.340 because it's really good at defining repentance 11:20.340 --> 11:21.840 with respect to salvation. 11:22.320 --> 11:24.060 Because this is what repentance is 11:24.060 --> 11:25.060 when it regards salvation. 11:25.400 --> 11:27.020 It's not turning over a new leaf, 11:27.320 --> 11:28.640 turning from your sins, 11:28.920 --> 11:30.160 you're gonna clean up your life 11:30.160 --> 11:32.400 or be willing to change, be willing to quit sinning. 11:32.640 --> 11:32.880 No, no, no. 11:33.140 --> 11:35.600 This is the repentance with regard to salvation. 11:35.980 --> 11:38.440 You know, when you don't believe in Jesus 11:38.860 --> 11:40.340 and then you change your mind later 11:40.340 --> 11:41.280 and you believe in Jesus 11:41.280 --> 11:44.020 and you turn from whatever false religion, 11:44.020 --> 11:47.860 stupid Pharisee, Sadducee, Buddhist, Hindu, Catholic, 11:48.100 --> 11:48.680 whatever religion, 11:48.900 --> 11:52.020 and you turn to the actual gospel of Jesus Christ. 11:52.280 --> 11:54.600 That's the repentance when it comes to salvation. 11:55.260 --> 11:58.180 They didn't repent afterward that they might believe. 11:58.240 --> 11:59.840 He's not saying, hey, you weren't willing 11:59.840 --> 12:00.540 to give up drinking. 12:00.940 --> 12:01.700 That's not what he's saying. 12:01.920 --> 12:04.980 He's saying, you saw other people believing in Jesus, 12:05.240 --> 12:06.080 you didn't believe in him, 12:06.520 --> 12:07.680 you should have changed your mind 12:07.680 --> 12:08.980 and said, hey, we're gonna believe in Jesus. 12:09.280 --> 12:10.300 That's what the verse is about. 12:10.640 --> 12:12.420 It's a great verse, underline it, learn it. 12:12.640 --> 12:13.560 But what I wanna point out 12:13.560 --> 12:15.900 is that these people are already rejecting 12:16.360 --> 12:18.560 the Bible preaching of John the Baptist 12:18.560 --> 12:20.780 before Jesus ever came on the scene. 12:21.320 --> 12:23.700 And so again, it's not really a personal problem 12:23.700 --> 12:24.940 between them and Jesus. 12:25.120 --> 12:27.540 It's not really a personal problem with Joseph. 12:27.900 --> 12:30.080 It's not a personal problem with Abel. 12:30.260 --> 12:32.120 It's not a, look, it's a problem with God. 12:32.960 --> 12:34.600 Because if you love God, 12:34.940 --> 12:36.760 you're gonna love the children of God. 12:37.320 --> 12:39.240 And when you have a problem with God, 12:39.580 --> 12:41.480 you're gonna have a problem with the children of God 12:41.480 --> 12:43.700 and you're gonna end up persecuting the righteous 12:43.700 --> 12:46.340 because your works are evil and theirs are righteous 12:46.340 --> 12:47.880 and you don't like the fact 12:47.880 --> 12:49.620 that they're doing better than you 12:49.620 --> 12:52.100 because of envy and covetousness 12:52.100 --> 12:53.860 and it's in the Ten Commandments for a reason 12:53.860 --> 12:56.420 because the big sin that happens all the time. 12:57.580 --> 12:59.060 So point number one is that 12:59.060 --> 13:02.680 before the wicked start persecuting the righteous. 13:02.820 --> 13:03.780 When I say the wicked, you know, 13:03.820 --> 13:05.300 that could be a saved person 13:05.300 --> 13:07.140 who's super backslidden and not right with God 13:07.140 --> 13:08.740 or it could be an unsafe person. 13:08.780 --> 13:09.980 It really isn't relevant. 13:10.960 --> 13:13.520 Before that, they have their own problem with God. 13:13.980 --> 13:15.320 But point number two is this, 13:15.660 --> 13:19.760 is that we should never strive to harm someone's marriage 13:19.760 --> 13:22.540 or to drive a wedge between married people. 13:22.640 --> 13:24.580 And this is what sometimes envious people will do. 13:25.020 --> 13:26.340 They'll go after someone's marriage 13:26.340 --> 13:27.980 and try to destroy their marriage 13:27.980 --> 13:29.280 and try to hurt their marriage. 13:29.400 --> 13:30.960 And look what Saul does 13:30.960 --> 13:34.400 because if we look at First Samuel chapter 18 verse 20, 13:35.260 --> 13:37.560 and this is where we started out in chapter 19, 13:37.700 --> 13:39.740 we're gonna back up a little bit to chapter 18 13:39.740 --> 13:40.640 verse 20, it says, 13:40.940 --> 13:45.340 and Michael Saul's daughter loved David 13:45.940 --> 13:47.200 and they told Saul, 13:47.340 --> 13:48.620 and I want you to pay attention to this 13:48.620 --> 13:50.980 and the thing pleased him. 13:51.400 --> 13:55.380 So was there a time when Saul had an attitude of, 13:55.660 --> 13:58.840 hey, it's good that Michael loves David. 13:59.460 --> 14:00.560 Now look at weddings, 14:00.960 --> 14:03.420 we will say if anyone know of any reason 14:03.420 --> 14:05.040 why these two should not be joined together 14:05.040 --> 14:06.940 in holy matrimony, speak now 14:06.940 --> 14:10.620 or forever, shut up, right? 14:10.920 --> 14:12.900 Speak now or forever, hold your peace. 14:14.400 --> 14:19.220 The time to raise objections is before they are married 14:20.100 --> 14:21.520 because once they are married, 14:21.760 --> 14:24.780 what God has joined together led a man put us under. 14:25.620 --> 14:28.600 And so here's the thing, Saul is for this union. 14:29.240 --> 14:31.880 Saul hears that Michael loves David 14:31.880 --> 14:34.060 and it pleased him well. 14:34.340 --> 14:35.700 Look at the end of verse 27. 14:35.700 --> 14:39.660 It says, Saul gave him Michael his daughter to wife. 14:40.640 --> 14:43.180 So look, not only did it please him well 14:43.180 --> 14:45.260 but he gave her away in marriage. 14:45.760 --> 14:47.840 He says, okay, you're gonna marry David now. 14:48.020 --> 14:50.900 This is not something where she ran off and eloped 14:50.900 --> 14:53.240 and is going against her parents' wishes or something. 14:53.400 --> 14:54.940 I mean, Saul is for this union. 14:55.100 --> 14:56.220 Am I right or am I right? 14:56.320 --> 14:57.120 It's right there in front of you. 14:57.400 --> 14:58.500 Look at verse 28. 14:59.700 --> 15:02.220 So he gave her to him as a wife 15:02.220 --> 15:03.440 but then in verse 28 it says, 15:03.440 --> 15:06.440 and Saul saw and knew that the Lord was with David 15:06.440 --> 15:09.300 and that Michael, Saul's daughter, loved him 15:09.300 --> 15:11.740 and Saul was yet the more afraid of David 15:11.740 --> 15:14.140 and Saul became David's enemy continually. 15:14.460 --> 15:14.600 What? 15:15.940 --> 15:17.760 So it's like you're giving your daughter 15:17.760 --> 15:20.780 to this guy in marriage, it pleases you well 15:20.780 --> 15:24.780 but then you start seeing that God's blessing David 15:25.140 --> 15:26.740 and that David's got a great marriage 15:26.740 --> 15:27.780 and his wife loves him 15:27.780 --> 15:30.580 and now you're scared that somehow 15:30.580 --> 15:32.180 he's gonna outdo you, 15:32.180 --> 15:33.400 he's gonna become the king, 15:33.720 --> 15:35.220 he's gonna take over or whatever 15:35.220 --> 15:39.000 and now you just become an enemy continually to David. 15:39.080 --> 15:40.300 This doesn't make any sense, right? 15:40.740 --> 15:42.960 You know, if you were for it before they got married 15:42.960 --> 15:44.760 you need to just shut up afterward 15:44.760 --> 15:48.340 and just be cool and not have a bad attitude 15:48.340 --> 15:49.400 about people's marriage. 15:49.520 --> 15:53.760 There's no reason to ever be going to people 15:53.760 --> 15:56.440 and trying to get them to split from their spouse 15:57.060 --> 15:58.520 because when God is joined together 15:58.520 --> 15:59.480 let not man put a thunder. 15:59.980 --> 16:01.620 And there's no reason, and here's the thing. 16:01.620 --> 16:04.980 If you have negative feelings towards someone, 16:05.120 --> 16:07.860 if you feel that someone's a bad person 16:08.460 --> 16:10.780 there's no sense in going to that person's spouse 16:10.780 --> 16:12.740 and telling them, hey I just want you to know 16:12.740 --> 16:14.100 what a bad person your wife is, 16:14.160 --> 16:15.600 I want you to know what a bad person your husband is 16:15.600 --> 16:17.280 because they're stuck with that person. 16:17.780 --> 16:20.060 So what good would it do to tell them that, right? 16:20.160 --> 16:21.420 Like if you're married to someone bad 16:21.420 --> 16:22.660 and someone comes and tells you that, 16:22.800 --> 16:23.700 how is that helpful? 16:24.360 --> 16:25.880 Because you're with that person 16:26.340 --> 16:28.340 but what it is they're trying to drive a wedge 16:28.340 --> 16:31.660 and trying to destroy your marriage as a way to hurt you. 16:32.500 --> 16:34.720 So they will try to sow discord. 16:34.880 --> 16:36.680 And you know the Bible says God hates those 16:36.680 --> 16:39.020 who sow discord among brethren. 16:39.600 --> 16:42.280 How much more would God hate the fact 16:42.280 --> 16:44.220 that you're sowing discord between a husband and wife? 16:44.520 --> 16:46.540 Because the Bible says that God hates putting away. 16:46.980 --> 16:47.740 God hates divorce. 16:47.920 --> 16:48.820 I mean that's what the Bible says. 16:49.880 --> 16:51.540 Look at chapter 19 verse 11. 16:51.980 --> 16:55.480 Chapter 19 verse 11 it says Saul also sent messengers 16:55.480 --> 16:57.640 under David's house to watch him 16:57.640 --> 16:59.780 and to slay him in the morning, right? 16:59.900 --> 17:01.940 So he's gonna murder David now. 17:02.600 --> 17:04.360 That's the level that Saul has gotten to. 17:05.040 --> 17:07.460 And Michael, David's wife told him saying, 17:07.780 --> 17:09.700 if thou save not thy life tonight, 17:10.180 --> 17:11.560 tomorrow thou shalt be saved. 17:11.660 --> 17:14.060 So actually David's wife is helping him out here. 17:14.520 --> 17:17.040 She loves David, she helps him out 17:17.680 --> 17:19.480 and then he's gonna be able to escape 17:19.480 --> 17:21.140 because Saul's planning on murdering him. 17:21.140 --> 17:24.500 So Michael let David down through a window. 17:26.220 --> 17:28.900 And he went and fled and escaped. 17:29.420 --> 17:32.360 And Michael took an image and laid it in the bed 17:32.360 --> 17:34.700 and put a pillow of goat's hair for his bolster 17:34.700 --> 17:36.100 and covered it with a cloth. 17:36.680 --> 17:38.080 You know, and maybe you did this when you were a kid 17:38.080 --> 17:39.940 or something, you know, you sneak out 17:39.940 --> 17:41.620 and you make a little shape of a person 17:41.620 --> 17:43.140 under the covers or something like that. 17:43.360 --> 17:45.720 Or you do it as a prank or a joke or something. 17:46.920 --> 17:49.360 So when Saul sent messengers to take David, 17:49.360 --> 17:51.960 it says in verse 14, she said, he's sick 17:51.960 --> 17:53.700 and she kind of can point to the bed like, 17:53.920 --> 17:56.240 oh, he's sick, he's over there in bed 17:56.240 --> 17:59.600 and they see like a lump of like a mannequin 17:59.600 --> 18:02.420 or something in the bed underneath and so forth. 18:03.060 --> 18:05.500 Look at verse 15 and Saul sent the messengers again 18:05.500 --> 18:08.180 to see David saying, bring him up to me in the bed 18:08.180 --> 18:09.840 that I made something like, I don't care if he's sick, 18:09.940 --> 18:11.200 I'll kill him in the sick bed. 18:12.120 --> 18:13.620 We're not trying to hang out with them, 18:13.680 --> 18:14.480 we're trying to kill him. 18:15.320 --> 18:17.860 It's like, oh, he's sick, he's in bed 18:17.860 --> 18:19.740 and you know, they think it's there 18:19.740 --> 18:20.940 but it's really just a mannequin. 18:21.640 --> 18:23.560 And then it says in verse 16, 18:23.820 --> 18:24.880 and when the messengers were come in, 18:24.960 --> 18:26.460 behold, there was an image in the bed 18:27.000 --> 18:29.540 with a pillow of goat's hair for his bolster. 18:30.640 --> 18:34.380 Now, here's the thing, Michael helped out David, 18:34.500 --> 18:37.140 she loves her husband, she helps him out. 18:37.600 --> 18:39.480 And by the way, here's some good advice for you. 18:40.400 --> 18:43.380 Never side with your parents against your spouse. 18:44.220 --> 18:48.200 And look, I am 100% for honoring your father and mother. 18:48.620 --> 18:49.680 That is super important. 18:50.100 --> 18:53.760 We should always strive to be at peace with all men 18:53.760 --> 18:55.820 and especially to honor our father and mother. 18:56.260 --> 18:58.740 But here's the thing, there comes a time 18:58.740 --> 19:02.500 when you leave father and mother and cleave onto your wife 19:02.500 --> 19:04.640 and if it comes a point where your parents 19:04.640 --> 19:06.460 are trying to destroy your marriage 19:06.460 --> 19:08.880 or your parents are criticizing your spouse 19:08.880 --> 19:10.860 and things, you know, sometimes you need to back off 19:10.860 --> 19:14.800 from your parents and side with your spouse in that situation. 19:14.980 --> 19:17.220 You never side with parents against spouse 19:17.220 --> 19:19.220 because let's face it, you are gonna be with your spouse 19:19.220 --> 19:20.400 for the rest of your life. 19:20.960 --> 19:23.340 You know, that is your most important human relationship. 19:23.760 --> 19:24.480 That is your commitment. 19:24.760 --> 19:27.080 And although the Bible does speak strongly 19:27.080 --> 19:28.060 about honoring your parents, 19:28.540 --> 19:30.180 you know, your commitment to your spouse 19:30.180 --> 19:31.920 is an even greater commitment. 19:32.240 --> 19:33.700 And so it has to trump that. 19:34.120 --> 19:36.400 And so, you know, she did the right thing here 19:36.940 --> 19:40.020 by saving David, even though Saul's trying to kill her. 19:40.020 --> 19:42.860 And so I don't think we can really criticize her for this 19:42.860 --> 19:45.000 because I think what she did is a good thing here. 19:45.160 --> 19:48.060 She lets David out the window, puts the mannequin, 19:48.320 --> 19:49.100 oh, he's sick. 19:49.360 --> 19:50.800 You know, I believe she did the right thing here, 19:50.900 --> 19:54.240 saving her husband's life when dad is trying to kill her. 19:54.900 --> 19:56.160 Now I've heard some people say, 19:56.660 --> 19:58.780 yeah, but you know, why didn't she go with him? 19:59.340 --> 20:01.560 You know, because this is gonna end up 20:01.560 --> 20:04.580 with a destroyed marriage between my call and David. 20:04.840 --> 20:05.620 So some people would say, 20:05.640 --> 20:06.980 well, she should have gone with him. 20:07.040 --> 20:07.900 Why didn't she go with him? 20:07.900 --> 20:09.900 I think that in her defense, 20:10.340 --> 20:13.000 that she needed to stay behind at this time 20:13.000 --> 20:16.000 because of the fact that she has to put the mannequin 20:16.000 --> 20:19.060 in the bed and do all this and say that he's sick 20:19.060 --> 20:20.820 in order to give him time to get away. 20:21.200 --> 20:23.240 Whereas if they kind of just both went out the window, 20:23.580 --> 20:25.640 first of all, she's the one letting him down out the window. 20:25.880 --> 20:28.220 So mechanically, I don't know what they had in the room. 20:28.520 --> 20:30.900 It might've been necessary that somebody be at the top, 20:31.160 --> 20:33.680 you know, helping him repel down the wall or whatever. 20:34.200 --> 20:37.660 But also just the fact that she continues the ruse 20:37.660 --> 20:40.220 for a while in order to get David a chance 20:40.220 --> 20:40.820 to get out of there. 20:41.180 --> 20:44.500 So I disagree that she could have necessarily just left 20:44.500 --> 20:46.500 right at this moment, but I will say this, 20:46.640 --> 20:50.240 as the weeks and the months and the years wear on, 20:50.800 --> 20:52.820 I do think that she could have gone 20:53.180 --> 20:54.600 to be with her husband, David, 20:54.920 --> 20:57.060 and that where there's a will, there's a way, 20:57.520 --> 20:58.560 and that she could have found, 20:58.640 --> 20:59.960 she's obviously a smart girl. 21:00.260 --> 21:01.880 She's obviously a resourceful girl. 21:02.240 --> 21:04.160 She knows how to act in a crisis. 21:04.440 --> 21:06.240 I'm pretty sure that if she really wanted to, 21:06.240 --> 21:07.800 yeah, she could have been out there 21:07.800 --> 21:10.080 living in the wilderness with David, 21:10.200 --> 21:11.900 and she kind of took the easy path. 21:12.080 --> 21:14.160 Yeah, she did the right thing by saving her husband's life, 21:14.160 --> 21:16.160 but she does kind of take the easy path 21:16.160 --> 21:19.500 of staying home in the fancy house, fancy food, 21:19.500 --> 21:21.540 instead of kind of being a fugitive with David. 21:21.840 --> 21:24.000 I would expect my wife to just kind of be a Bonnie 21:24.000 --> 21:27.780 and Clyde kind of a fugitive with me if it came to that. 21:28.160 --> 21:29.720 You know, I'm not saying that we would ever do that, 21:29.740 --> 21:31.560 but I'm saying we definitely wouldn't rob the banks 21:31.560 --> 21:33.380 or whatever they did, stagecoaches, 21:33.540 --> 21:34.640 or I don't remember that story, 21:34.640 --> 21:36.520 but the point is, you know, 21:36.740 --> 21:40.900 you'd expect your wife to follow you with or so ever you go, 21:41.160 --> 21:43.540 and so I do think that if it would have been important 21:43.540 --> 21:45.360 to her at some point, yeah, 21:45.420 --> 21:48.900 she could have put forth more effort to get out there 21:48.900 --> 21:49.880 and be with her husband, 21:50.260 --> 21:52.580 and maybe to stand up to her dad a little more, 21:52.820 --> 21:54.680 because when her dad calls her out on this, 21:54.880 --> 21:57.520 she lies to her dad about why she did it. 21:57.780 --> 22:00.060 Look what the Bible says in 1 Samuel, 1917, 22:00.760 --> 22:01.760 and Saul said to Michael, 22:02.280 --> 22:04.280 why hast thou deceived me so 22:04.280 --> 22:07.340 and sent away my enemy that he is escaped? 22:07.540 --> 22:08.660 You know, the right answer would be, 22:09.060 --> 22:12.060 I love my husband and I saved his life 22:12.060 --> 22:15.060 because you're a murderer trying to murder my husband 22:15.060 --> 22:18.040 and it was your idea for us to get married 22:18.040 --> 22:20.360 and you're the one who gave me to him in marriage 22:20.760 --> 22:22.040 and what God has joined together, 22:22.160 --> 22:23.280 letting a man put his son under. 22:23.700 --> 22:24.820 David's your faithful servant 22:24.820 --> 22:26.840 because Jonathan has these conversations with his dad. 22:27.760 --> 22:29.460 I mean, we read the chapter before the service. 22:29.460 --> 22:31.840 You know, at the beginning of chapter 19, 22:32.020 --> 22:34.540 Jonathan is going to Saul and explained to him, 22:34.700 --> 22:38.380 you're wrong, you need to stop persecuting David, et cetera. 22:39.300 --> 22:40.940 But instead of telling the truth 22:40.940 --> 22:44.120 and saying he's my husband, I'm loyal to him, 22:44.420 --> 22:46.560 I love him, it's still death to us part, 22:47.140 --> 22:50.200 thou shalt not kill, don't murder David, you're wrong. 22:50.440 --> 22:51.740 Okay, here's what she says. 22:51.880 --> 22:54.440 She says, well, he said unto me, 22:54.560 --> 22:55.980 let me go, why should I kill thee? 22:57.260 --> 23:00.140 So basically, she's basically lying to her dad 23:00.140 --> 23:01.840 and saying that her husband's abusive. 23:02.860 --> 23:06.220 You know, it's like, oh, I was being abused and you know. 23:06.400 --> 23:09.060 And here's the thing, people will lie about stuff like this. 23:09.220 --> 23:12.320 Unfortunately, and she's basically lying to her parents. 23:12.440 --> 23:13.580 I wonder if this has ever happened 23:13.580 --> 23:14.400 in the history of mankind. 23:14.900 --> 23:17.140 Someone lies to their parents about their spouse 23:17.800 --> 23:20.740 to try to make themselves look good to their parent. 23:21.980 --> 23:24.180 Instead of having a confrontation with their parents, 23:24.180 --> 23:26.820 it's, oh, let me just lie and tell a story 23:26.820 --> 23:28.480 that makes me look like the victim, 23:28.920 --> 23:30.240 that makes me look good, 23:30.420 --> 23:32.160 and that makes my spouse look like the bad guy. 23:32.720 --> 23:34.020 Now, here's the thing, obviously this is, 23:34.080 --> 23:35.420 you could say, well, you're stretching it, 23:35.460 --> 23:36.500 that's not the exact situation. 23:36.980 --> 23:38.260 Yeah, but here is the situation. 23:38.700 --> 23:40.080 She is lying to her dad. 23:41.140 --> 23:44.220 She is accusing David of doing something wicked 23:44.220 --> 23:45.880 and of being evil and abusive, 23:46.360 --> 23:49.120 because I'm pretty sure that we would all agree 23:49.120 --> 23:50.980 that a husband, you know, 23:51.140 --> 23:53.700 threatening to murder his wife is pretty extreme. 23:53.700 --> 23:56.660 You know, and she's basically lying and saying, 23:56.780 --> 23:59.180 oh, he threatened to kill me. 23:59.460 --> 24:02.400 He's mean, he's bad, he's abusive, 24:02.400 --> 24:06.080 so that dad, daddy will be on her side, 24:06.240 --> 24:08.780 you know, as opposed to understanding 24:08.780 --> 24:10.000 what's really going on here. 24:10.160 --> 24:12.000 And so she basically lies to her dad 24:12.000 --> 24:14.700 and claims that her husband is abusing her, right? 24:16.280 --> 24:19.520 Now let's fast forward to 1 Samuel, chapter 25. 24:19.720 --> 24:21.800 Flip over to 1 Samuel, chapter 25. 24:24.720 --> 24:27.460 And in 1 Samuel, chapter 25, we see the end result. 24:27.640 --> 24:29.600 And obviously, you know, there's a lot of time going by 24:29.600 --> 24:32.320 between chapter 19 and chapter 25. 24:32.500 --> 24:36.960 So this is later, but it's given in like a, you know, 24:37.120 --> 24:40.740 past perfect type of a construction, grammatically. 24:41.060 --> 24:42.920 So we don't really know when this happened 24:42.920 --> 24:44.840 because it says in chapter 25, verse 44, 24:45.260 --> 24:49.620 Saul had given Mike, Kyle, his daughter, you know? 24:49.680 --> 24:50.920 So it's like, when did that happen? 24:51.040 --> 24:51.680 We don't really know. 24:51.680 --> 24:52.300 So the Bible doesn't tell. 24:52.420 --> 24:55.840 Sometime before chapter 25, at some point in the story, 24:56.540 --> 24:59.720 Saul had given Mike, Kyle, his daughter, David's wife, 24:59.920 --> 25:03.760 to Faltai, the son of Leish, which was of Gallim. 25:04.220 --> 25:07.260 And so what we see here is a parent, 25:08.300 --> 25:12.440 basically helping his daughter get a new husband, right? 25:12.600 --> 25:14.400 And this is wicked in the sight of God. 25:15.080 --> 25:16.960 And look, let me just say this right now, 25:17.380 --> 25:20.340 in-laws who cheerlead the divorces 25:20.340 --> 25:21.620 of their children are wicked. 25:22.120 --> 25:23.740 And this is super common. 25:24.440 --> 25:25.680 I mean, it's extremely common. 25:25.880 --> 25:29.100 I bet if we were just look at all divorces in the world, 25:29.600 --> 25:32.180 what percentage of divorces the in-laws 25:32.660 --> 25:33.880 are cheerleading the divorce? 25:34.080 --> 25:34.980 The parents are cheerleading. 25:35.020 --> 25:36.660 And you know, this is the proverbial 25:37.140 --> 25:39.060 going home to mom and dad. 25:39.600 --> 25:40.900 You know, the wife leaves her husband, 25:41.040 --> 25:42.940 goes home to mom and dad or whatever. 25:43.100 --> 25:45.320 And sometimes it'll be the son's parents 25:45.320 --> 25:47.360 that are even cheerleading the divorce. 25:48.520 --> 25:51.820 And so you should never be participating 25:52.240 --> 25:54.260 in your daughter divorcing her husband 25:54.260 --> 25:58.020 or participating in your son divorcing his wife. 25:58.740 --> 26:00.040 Well, you don't understand. 26:00.720 --> 26:02.000 He said this horrible thing. 26:02.220 --> 26:03.040 Oh, what did he say? 26:03.460 --> 26:04.480 Why should I kill thee? 26:04.580 --> 26:05.560 Let me go, why should I kill thee? 26:05.600 --> 26:06.120 Is that what he said? 26:07.300 --> 26:08.200 Because last time I checked, 26:08.380 --> 26:10.380 David did not say, let me go, why should I kill thee? 26:11.040 --> 26:13.400 But that's what Mike Hall told her dad that he said. 26:13.800 --> 26:15.480 She's like, well, David said, 26:16.100 --> 26:19.140 you know, let me go, why should I kill thee? 26:19.440 --> 26:20.780 Oh, you poor baby. 26:21.320 --> 26:23.080 Let's get you married off to fowl tie. 26:23.800 --> 26:26.240 Let's get you a husband that's gonna treat you right. 26:26.620 --> 26:29.040 Let's get you a good husband and whatever. 26:29.960 --> 26:31.340 And so what does the Bible say? 26:31.760 --> 26:35.060 It says for this cause shall a man leave father and mother 26:35.060 --> 26:37.320 and shall cleave to his wife 26:37.320 --> 26:38.760 and they twain shall be one flesh. 26:39.160 --> 26:40.700 Wherefore they are no more twain. 26:41.280 --> 26:43.280 You'll think of them as two separate people. 26:43.900 --> 26:45.900 They are now one flesh 26:45.900 --> 26:47.980 and what therefore God has joined together, 26:48.060 --> 26:49.580 let not man put asunder. 26:50.640 --> 26:52.700 And you know, you'll hear these parents also, 26:52.900 --> 26:55.420 you'll hear these dads with all this bluster like, 26:55.700 --> 26:58.600 if I ever find out that my son-in-law 26:58.600 --> 27:00.660 is treating my daughter-in-law a certain way, 27:01.080 --> 27:03.260 you know, then I'm just gonna go there 27:03.260 --> 27:05.260 and I'm just gonna kick his butt or whatever. 27:05.820 --> 27:06.960 You know, we've all heard that, right? 27:08.340 --> 27:08.620 Right. 27:09.360 --> 27:11.480 Folks, that's not biblical or spiritual. 27:11.480 --> 27:12.740 That's carnal and wrong. 27:13.780 --> 27:15.500 And by the way, just in general, 27:16.160 --> 27:18.420 whenever you're one of these people just talking about 27:18.420 --> 27:20.460 you're just gonna kick everybody's butt and everything. 27:21.040 --> 27:24.660 That is juvenile, stupid, carnal, foolish, 27:25.160 --> 27:27.840 going around being all macho, trying to sound tough. 27:27.960 --> 27:28.980 And you know, you're trying to sound tough, 27:29.060 --> 27:31.400 but you know what, I'm sorry, being violent isn't cool. 27:32.160 --> 27:34.500 There's nothing cool about violence. 27:35.000 --> 27:37.500 Hey, I'm just gonna go beat the whatever out of you 27:37.500 --> 27:39.480 and I'm gonna beat, I could beat up all of y'all 27:39.480 --> 27:44.240 and you know, if my son-in-law doesn't treat my daughter right 27:44.240 --> 27:45.840 then I'm just gonna bust in there. 27:45.920 --> 27:49.320 It's like, why don't you shut up and stay out of 27:49.320 --> 27:51.500 your daughter's marriage because he is the king 27:51.500 --> 27:52.800 of that castle and you're not. 27:53.520 --> 27:55.640 And you know what, when your daughter grows up 27:55.640 --> 27:58.520 and gets married to a man, he's the boss, not you. 27:59.220 --> 28:01.000 And you should not go there and you serp 28:01.000 --> 28:02.380 the authority of the husband. 28:02.620 --> 28:03.980 And it's just, it's so dumb too 28:03.980 --> 28:06.320 when it's a hypothetical and you just get up 28:06.320 --> 28:07.580 and all this talk about how you're gonna 28:07.580 --> 28:08.400 kick everybody's butt. 28:08.400 --> 28:10.420 I'm sorry, but last time I checked, 28:10.800 --> 28:12.380 Christians are not supposed to be brawlers, 28:12.700 --> 28:14.580 Christians are not supposed to be strikers 28:15.120 --> 28:17.920 and we are supposed to not be busy bodies 28:17.920 --> 28:19.580 in other men's matters. 28:20.700 --> 28:24.460 And I'm telling you, all this bluster is just ego 28:24.900 --> 28:26.580 and it's junior high level stuff 28:26.580 --> 28:28.460 and it's wrong and it's sin 28:28.460 --> 28:30.200 and you're never gonna find it in the Bible 28:30.200 --> 28:34.220 being prescribed of, hey, I'm gonna go kick your butt 28:34.220 --> 28:36.580 because I don't like the way you're treating my daughter. 28:36.760 --> 28:37.640 You know what, here's the thing. 28:37.640 --> 28:39.820 If you gave your daughter to this man, 28:40.780 --> 28:44.580 you're entrusting her to him, she's his responsibility 28:45.260 --> 28:48.780 and you need to let him run his own house 28:48.780 --> 28:49.960 and be the king of his own castle. 28:50.220 --> 28:52.900 And first of all, as we see, what she's telling you 28:52.900 --> 28:54.600 about him may or may not even be true 28:54.600 --> 28:56.220 because Mike all lied about David. 28:57.220 --> 28:58.980 And oh, he threatened to kill me. 28:59.480 --> 29:01.900 That never happened, you know? 29:02.060 --> 29:03.360 And so here's the thing. 29:03.940 --> 29:06.380 It's almost like a coveting of your daughter. 29:06.920 --> 29:08.800 You know, thou shalt not covet, right? 29:09.240 --> 29:10.520 Coveting is when you desire something 29:10.520 --> 29:11.180 that belongs to someone else. 29:11.440 --> 29:15.420 So if I give my daughter to a man in marriage, right? 29:15.900 --> 29:17.720 So now she doesn't belong to me anymore. 29:17.820 --> 29:18.740 She's not part of my family. 29:18.820 --> 29:19.680 She doesn't live in my house. 29:19.780 --> 29:21.780 She's not under my authority or my protection anymore. 29:22.100 --> 29:23.840 She's now under his authority and protection. 29:24.440 --> 29:29.140 If I want her back from her husband, that is coveting. 29:29.880 --> 29:31.020 How is that not coveting? 29:31.920 --> 29:34.780 Because I want something that now belongs to someone else. 29:35.540 --> 29:36.900 You know, and the Bible says, 29:37.200 --> 29:39.540 thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, right? 29:39.900 --> 29:42.680 Don't covet his ox, his ass, his house, 29:42.900 --> 29:44.600 anything that is thy neighbor's. 29:45.100 --> 29:47.640 Well, that would include the fact that his wife, 29:47.800 --> 29:49.460 that was your daughter and now you want her back. 29:49.840 --> 29:52.040 Bro, sorry, she belongs to him now. 29:52.500 --> 29:55.200 You could love her, pray for her, help them, 29:55.440 --> 29:57.420 but always be helping them in such a way 29:57.420 --> 30:00.300 that you are strengthening and confirming 30:00.300 --> 30:02.460 and bolstering the institution of marriage, 30:02.460 --> 30:04.600 not coming in and usurping authority 30:05.360 --> 30:06.460 and overthrowing authority. 30:06.660 --> 30:07.180 It's just wrong. 30:08.620 --> 30:11.360 And let me say this, obviously the Bible teaches, 30:11.580 --> 30:13.420 I just did a sermon on this a couple of months ago 30:13.420 --> 30:16.720 in St. Louis, Missouri at St. Pads Baptist in St. Louis. 30:17.200 --> 30:19.840 But I did a sermon on this where I talked about, 30:19.940 --> 30:21.900 I think it was like 27 times or something 30:21.900 --> 30:22.780 that the Bible mentioned, 30:22.960 --> 30:25.280 like the father giving the daughter in marriage, 30:25.360 --> 30:26.580 because the Bible's really clear, 30:26.900 --> 30:28.040 Old Testament, New Testament, 30:28.600 --> 30:31.540 that basically the father does have the right, 30:31.540 --> 30:35.860 the parents have the right to veto a suitor for their daughter. 30:36.660 --> 30:38.820 That if their daughter's gonna marry a really rotten guy 30:38.820 --> 30:40.600 and they say, no, we're gonna veto this, 30:40.960 --> 30:43.780 that they have the option to not give her in marriage 30:43.780 --> 30:45.680 and to utterly refuse to give her. 30:46.480 --> 30:47.960 People don't believe that anymore, unfortunately, 30:48.120 --> 30:49.100 but it's what the Bible teaches. 30:49.480 --> 30:51.260 But here's the thing, if my daughter, 30:51.380 --> 30:54.420 let's just say that my daughter were to just defy me. 30:55.360 --> 30:56.260 Like I didn't give her away, 30:56.320 --> 30:58.320 I wasn't like Saul where Saul's like, 30:58.420 --> 30:59.580 yeah, this pleases me well. 30:59.940 --> 31:00.960 Yeah, here you go, David. 31:00.960 --> 31:01.720 Here's my daughter. 31:01.940 --> 31:04.200 If I did not give my daughter away in marriage, 31:04.500 --> 31:07.160 but my daughter just defied me 31:07.160 --> 31:09.240 and married someone that I don't approve of, 31:09.520 --> 31:13.160 I would still never seek to harm that marriage 31:13.160 --> 31:16.760 or help her leave him in any way for any reason. 31:16.920 --> 31:18.880 I would not interfere at that point. 31:19.500 --> 31:21.660 And so here's the thing, obviously as parents, 31:22.040 --> 31:26.000 yeah, we have to criticize a suitor that's the wrong suitor 31:26.000 --> 31:29.020 if we're gonna say like, hey, do not marry this guy. 31:29.020 --> 31:32.960 This guy is malas cosas, bad news. 31:33.580 --> 31:34.620 Don't marry him. 31:35.420 --> 31:37.300 I disapprove, I forbid you. 31:37.680 --> 31:39.020 You're not allowed to date this guy. 31:39.200 --> 31:39.760 You're not allowed to talk. 31:40.000 --> 31:40.960 Obviously we as parents, 31:41.200 --> 31:42.500 we're gonna be in those situations 31:42.500 --> 31:44.240 where we have to say those things. 31:44.960 --> 31:47.680 And where we have to say, no, you're not dating David. 31:48.000 --> 31:49.400 You're not gonna marry David or whatever. 31:49.780 --> 31:51.040 We're gonna be in those situations. 31:51.340 --> 31:52.700 And that's the right thing to do as a parent. 31:52.800 --> 31:54.380 We can't just go like, yeah, just date whoever. 31:54.780 --> 31:57.080 Bro's wearing eyeliner and has long hair. 31:57.080 --> 31:58.380 It's just like, go for it. 31:58.980 --> 31:59.960 What time are you gonna be home? 32:00.560 --> 32:02.440 No, obviously that's not what we're gonna do as parents. 32:02.640 --> 32:05.600 It's our job to guard and protect 32:05.600 --> 32:07.480 the virtue of our daughters. 32:07.860 --> 32:10.480 And so yeah, if there's a rotten guy trying to date our daughter, 32:10.560 --> 32:12.020 we have every right to forbid it. 32:12.280 --> 32:14.200 And we're gonna be telling her why. 32:14.340 --> 32:15.040 We're gonna be explaining her. 32:15.300 --> 32:16.480 This is what's wrong with this guy. 32:16.700 --> 32:17.780 These are the red flags. 32:17.960 --> 32:19.040 Don't ignore these red flags. 32:19.120 --> 32:19.580 But here's the thing, 32:19.880 --> 32:23.460 if my daughter were to go out and marry such a guy anyway, 32:23.880 --> 32:29.100 then I would never be criticizing him to her again. 32:30.360 --> 32:32.660 I'm not gonna be six months after they're married, 32:32.840 --> 32:34.260 a year after they're married, two years after they're married. 32:34.560 --> 32:36.080 You know, oh, your husband's trash. 32:36.400 --> 32:36.960 He's rotten. 32:37.460 --> 32:38.200 I was right. 32:38.800 --> 32:40.000 You shouldn't have married him. 32:40.260 --> 32:40.900 Told you so. 32:41.100 --> 32:41.240 Why? 32:41.340 --> 32:42.440 Because that's not helpful at that point. 32:43.900 --> 32:45.580 Once the damage is done, 32:46.960 --> 32:48.160 there's nothing you can do about it 32:48.160 --> 32:48.940 because marriage is permanent. 32:49.140 --> 32:51.200 So if I warn anybody, 32:51.380 --> 32:52.380 and let's say it wasn't my daughter, 32:52.380 --> 32:54.320 if I just warned a person and I said, 32:54.360 --> 32:55.800 hey, I don't think you should marry that person. 32:56.600 --> 32:57.760 And then they got married. 32:58.200 --> 33:01.680 I'm not gonna then later continue to criticize that person 33:01.680 --> 33:03.560 and say, see, I told ya. 33:05.340 --> 33:06.900 You know, at that point, you know what? 33:07.260 --> 33:08.140 It's too late. 33:08.500 --> 33:08.980 It's over. 33:09.580 --> 33:12.940 Once they're married, there's no reason for criticism. 33:13.580 --> 33:15.560 Criticism would be ungodly at that point 33:15.560 --> 33:18.280 because you're trying to part asunder 33:18.280 --> 33:19.700 that which God has joined together. 33:19.800 --> 33:21.300 And I hope everybody understands what I'm saying, 33:22.160 --> 33:25.600 but you know, the Bible says not to do this. 33:25.700 --> 33:26.320 And here's the thing. 33:26.600 --> 33:29.020 That would be if a daughter just defied her parents 33:29.020 --> 33:30.340 and married someone that they didn't like. 33:30.660 --> 33:33.560 They still shouldn't be like, oh, come home to us, baby. 33:34.000 --> 33:35.380 Oh, he said, let me go. 33:35.500 --> 33:36.300 Why should I kill thee? 33:36.660 --> 33:37.320 Come on home. 33:37.480 --> 33:38.020 That's abuse. 33:38.320 --> 33:38.800 You know, whatever. 33:39.120 --> 33:40.120 Here's the thing about that 33:40.120 --> 33:43.160 is that how much more if you gave her away in marriage? 33:44.300 --> 33:46.460 How much more if you approved of the union? 33:47.220 --> 33:49.080 Now all of a sudden you just change your mind? 33:49.780 --> 33:51.260 That's not the way life works. 33:52.960 --> 33:54.580 And so this is one of the tactics 33:54.580 --> 33:57.360 of those that are envious, you know? 33:57.680 --> 33:59.840 And again, it's a perfect parallel 33:59.840 --> 34:01.080 with covetousness and envy 34:01.080 --> 34:04.340 because Saul envies David and now he's like, 34:04.380 --> 34:05.760 well, you're not gonna have Michael. 34:06.220 --> 34:08.360 I'm gonna have my, I'm taking Michael back 34:08.780 --> 34:09.880 to be on my side. 34:09.940 --> 34:11.060 She's gonna team up with me 34:11.060 --> 34:13.180 and then he's gonna marry her off to some guy 34:13.180 --> 34:14.140 that's on his team. 34:14.320 --> 34:15.920 This is not right, my friend. 34:17.000 --> 34:19.000 But now the third point is this, 34:19.700 --> 34:22.280 envying the righteous will ultimately cause you 34:22.280 --> 34:24.980 to self-destruct while God continues 34:24.980 --> 34:27.160 to protect and bless the righteous. 34:28.180 --> 34:29.700 That's the way this is gonna go down. 34:30.400 --> 34:32.200 You know, you get all disgruntled 34:32.200 --> 34:33.760 and bitter and backslidden 34:33.760 --> 34:36.340 and so you're just gonna go persecute the righteous, 34:36.680 --> 34:39.620 take him down a notch because misery loves company 34:39.620 --> 34:41.760 and so I'm gonna drag you down with me. 34:42.100 --> 34:42.960 You know what, no you're not 34:42.960 --> 34:44.160 because at the end of the day, 34:44.160 --> 34:46.260 you will end up self-destructing 34:46.760 --> 34:48.340 and the person who's right with God 34:48.340 --> 34:50.540 is gonna continue to be protected and blessed by God. 34:50.720 --> 34:51.880 That's how this is gonna go down. 34:52.860 --> 34:54.000 So three points this morning, 34:54.520 --> 34:56.580 we said point number one is that 34:56.580 --> 34:59.380 people who persecute the righteous, 34:59.720 --> 35:01.780 they already had their own personal problem with God. 35:01.880 --> 35:04.060 It's not about you, it's not about the Christians 35:04.060 --> 35:04.940 that they're persecuting. 35:05.340 --> 35:07.640 It's their own problem with God spiritually. 35:07.980 --> 35:10.720 Number two we saw that, you know, 35:10.860 --> 35:12.860 this can, one of the ways that this will play out 35:12.860 --> 35:16.160 is people seeking to destroy the marriage or family life 35:16.700 --> 35:17.840 of the person that they envy 35:18.380 --> 35:20.520 and so they're gonna try to tear apart that marriage 35:20.520 --> 35:23.340 and it's like when you want people to get divorced, 35:23.500 --> 35:24.700 something is wrong with your heart. 35:25.480 --> 35:26.420 I don't care the situation. 35:26.760 --> 35:29.960 Look, we've had people that we've thrown out of our church 35:29.960 --> 35:32.200 and then later we hear about them getting divorced 35:32.200 --> 35:34.660 and I am always sad about it. 35:34.780 --> 35:37.460 I'm never like, yeah, you know, burn, baby, burn. 35:37.800 --> 35:39.500 Look, if we throw somebody out 35:40.000 --> 35:42.400 and they're obviously under the curse of God, 35:42.400 --> 35:43.500 they're under the judgment of God 35:43.500 --> 35:44.860 because they've been church disciplined 35:44.860 --> 35:47.180 and you know, whatever we bind on earth 35:47.180 --> 35:48.100 will be bound in heaven 35:48.100 --> 35:50.220 and you know, them that are without God, 35:50.460 --> 35:51.240 judges and all that. 35:51.500 --> 35:52.840 But you know what, whenever I hear about 35:52.840 --> 35:54.220 their marriage crashing and burning, 35:54.640 --> 35:56.540 I'm like Ezekiel falling on my knees 35:56.540 --> 35:58.400 and being like, God, this punishment is too much. 35:59.640 --> 36:01.540 Have mercy on these people, Lord, 36:01.840 --> 36:04.040 because look, that is horrible. 36:04.300 --> 36:05.820 I don't wish that on my enemies. 36:06.040 --> 36:06.840 I don't wish that on anyone. 36:08.280 --> 36:10.160 You know, I don't wanna see anybody's marriage 36:10.160 --> 36:11.900 crash and burn, anybody get divorced. 36:11.900 --> 36:14.460 Other people have left our church on bad terms 36:14.460 --> 36:16.500 and look, in the last two years, 36:16.860 --> 36:18.740 a bunch of people have left our church 36:19.220 --> 36:20.900 and their marriages have crashed and burned. 36:21.460 --> 36:22.820 Just, it just has happened. 36:23.120 --> 36:25.380 And you know what, every single one of those people, 36:25.740 --> 36:27.380 I want their marriage to be fixed 36:27.380 --> 36:28.560 and for them to be reconciled 36:28.940 --> 36:30.800 and I've even reached out to some people 36:30.800 --> 36:33.020 and offered to help and everything 36:33.020 --> 36:35.240 and because I just feel so bad about it. 36:35.560 --> 36:37.120 Like just, because I just feel bad 36:37.120 --> 36:38.420 when anybody's wife leaves them. 36:38.720 --> 36:40.160 Even if they're a bad person, 36:40.160 --> 36:42.500 I'm just like, wow, that's just horrible 36:42.500 --> 36:45.440 because I can't really think of anything much worse 36:45.440 --> 36:47.000 than that than to have your wife leave you. 36:47.140 --> 36:48.660 It's one of the worst things that could happen to you. 36:49.060 --> 36:51.000 And I've been through a lot of bad stuff in my life 36:51.000 --> 36:52.020 but I've never been through that. 36:52.520 --> 36:55.020 And so I can just thank God and praise God every day 36:55.020 --> 36:57.380 that I have a great marriage, I have a great wife, 36:57.720 --> 36:58.840 my wife isn't leaving me. 36:58.940 --> 36:59.540 So it's just like, 36:59.620 --> 37:01.120 that's always something to be thankful for 37:01.120 --> 37:03.280 when you see other people that are going through this. 37:04.540 --> 37:07.160 And so to sit there and be cheerleading 37:07.160 --> 37:09.160 the demise of someone else's marriage 37:09.160 --> 37:11.920 to want to rip apart a husband and wife. 37:12.320 --> 37:14.360 This is an envious, covetous, 37:14.640 --> 37:15.980 backslidden, wicked person. 37:16.120 --> 37:17.120 It's a King Saul move. 37:17.760 --> 37:19.740 And that's what we saw with Michael and David. 37:20.320 --> 37:22.660 He didn't just try to destroy their marriage. 37:22.880 --> 37:24.980 He did successfully destroy their marriage 37:24.980 --> 37:28.240 and he ended up marrying her off to another dude. 37:28.620 --> 37:31.000 And then of course later David's gonna get her back. 37:31.260 --> 37:33.060 Obviously that's a total train wreck 37:33.680 --> 37:35.540 because the Bible even talks about like 37:35.540 --> 37:38.380 once she's been divorced and married to another man 37:38.380 --> 37:40.760 and obviously David didn't divorce her 37:40.760 --> 37:43.220 because it was like a weird situation. 37:43.460 --> 37:44.660 But at the end of the day though, 37:45.160 --> 37:47.900 obviously this is a train wreck when she comes home 37:47.900 --> 37:50.740 and her and David end up never having any kids together. 37:51.800 --> 37:53.640 Newsflash, it's cause they're not being physical 37:53.640 --> 37:56.340 because they just have such a horrible relationship 37:56.800 --> 37:58.380 then David's got other wives. 37:58.640 --> 38:00.740 And so David's just like nuts to you. 38:00.860 --> 38:03.300 And so this is not a happily ever after ever 38:03.920 --> 38:06.120 in this story, you know? 38:06.120 --> 38:07.860 And part of it is because of Saul. 38:08.400 --> 38:10.620 I mean, not even really part of it. 38:10.700 --> 38:12.220 I would say it is because of Saul. 38:12.420 --> 38:13.780 I mean if Saul hadn't persecuted David, 38:14.200 --> 38:16.720 I don't see why David and Michael couldn't have just 38:16.720 --> 38:18.320 been happily married for the rest of their lives. 38:19.460 --> 38:21.180 Obviously that's speculation on my part. 38:22.100 --> 38:25.540 But thirdly we said that if you go down this road 38:26.160 --> 38:28.080 of just envying the righteous 38:28.080 --> 38:29.900 and wanting to tear down good people, 38:30.480 --> 38:32.480 what's gonna happen is you're just gonna self-destruct 38:33.080 --> 38:35.680 and then they're gonna continue to be blessed by God. 38:35.680 --> 38:37.560 Look at first Samuel chapter 16 38:38.280 --> 38:41.280 and we're gonna see how Saul is the one 38:41.720 --> 38:43.300 who ends up self-destructing. 38:43.360 --> 38:45.480 He's the one who's miserable and upset. 38:45.900 --> 38:48.100 It says in first Samuel 16, 14, 38:50.220 --> 38:52.720 but the spirit of the Lord, first Samuel 16, 14, 38:52.820 --> 38:54.380 the spirit of the Lord departed from Saul 38:55.020 --> 38:57.180 and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him. 38:57.280 --> 38:59.120 Now this is not obviously talking about 38:59.120 --> 39:01.960 the New Testament phenomenon of being indwelled 39:01.960 --> 39:02.680 by the Holy Spirit. 39:02.680 --> 39:06.200 In the New Testament, all believers are permanently 39:06.760 --> 39:07.880 indwelled by the Holy Spirit. 39:08.140 --> 39:09.660 That did not exist in the Old Testament. 39:10.020 --> 39:11.820 This is talking about the spirit of the Lord 39:11.820 --> 39:13.420 coming upon someone temporarily 39:14.160 --> 39:15.760 so that they could do great works for God. 39:16.040 --> 39:17.920 That still exists in the New Testament as well, 39:18.180 --> 39:19.960 being filled with the spirit. 39:20.180 --> 39:21.700 The fullness of the spirit, 39:21.840 --> 39:23.300 the baptism of the Holy Ghost, 39:23.840 --> 39:27.300 that is different than the permanent indwelling. 39:27.820 --> 39:31.580 So this has nothing to do with Saul's salvation 39:32.420 --> 39:36.700 it's just that he is no longer filled with the spirit of God. 39:36.860 --> 39:39.080 And here's the thing, we could be saved Christians 39:39.080 --> 39:40.560 and if we get backslidden, 39:40.920 --> 39:42.700 we're no longer gonna be filled with the Holy Spirit. 39:43.400 --> 39:45.260 We still have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, 39:45.580 --> 39:47.120 but we don't have the fullness of the Holy Spirit. 39:47.680 --> 39:48.500 In the Old Testament, 39:48.500 --> 39:50.100 nobody had the permanent indwelling 39:50.100 --> 39:52.180 so the indwelling is just not on the table. 39:52.560 --> 39:54.940 It's only the fullness that we're talking about. 39:55.620 --> 39:57.940 And so spirit of the Lord departed from Saul 39:58.360 --> 39:59.240 and look at this, 39:59.240 --> 40:01.720 an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him 40:01.720 --> 40:03.760 and Saul served and sent him behold now, 40:04.120 --> 40:06.520 an evil spirit from God troubled thee. 40:06.800 --> 40:09.080 Now look, obviously this is not talking about being demon 40:09.080 --> 40:11.480 possessed, no Christian, no saved person 40:11.920 --> 40:14.860 can be, ever has been or ever will be demon possessed. 40:15.800 --> 40:17.620 So Saul is not demon possessed, 40:18.400 --> 40:20.140 but Saul is troubled. 40:20.300 --> 40:21.800 There's a difference between being possessed 40:22.460 --> 40:24.880 and just being troubled, right? 40:25.180 --> 40:26.920 Being harassed, afflicted, 40:26.920 --> 40:29.740 another word for troubled would be tormented, 40:30.400 --> 40:31.700 afflicted, things like that. 40:32.000 --> 40:35.800 So he is being tormented and afflicted mentally 40:36.420 --> 40:38.180 as a punishment for his sins. 40:38.720 --> 40:40.420 God is actually afflicting him mentally. 40:41.660 --> 40:43.000 And so what does this look like? 40:44.080 --> 40:48.820 Just mental torment, paranoia, murderous fits of rage, 40:49.120 --> 40:51.720 that's what we're gonna see in Saul as a result of this. 40:52.960 --> 40:55.520 And so God will sometimes punish people 40:55.520 --> 40:56.540 by making them go crazy. 40:57.120 --> 40:59.080 And this is probably the worst punishment I could think of. 40:59.360 --> 41:01.480 I would rather lose any part of my body, 41:01.560 --> 41:03.780 and I mean any part of my body, than my mind. 41:04.680 --> 41:05.900 Losing your mind would be the worst. 41:06.320 --> 41:07.860 And look, God punished Nebuchadnezzar 41:08.340 --> 41:10.100 by making him temporarily go crazy. 41:10.400 --> 41:11.940 And I know some people disagree with me on this, 41:12.000 --> 41:13.400 but I do believe that Nebuchadnezzar 41:13.400 --> 41:14.660 is saved and in heaven. 41:15.160 --> 41:19.320 And the thing is that he went crazy for like seven years 41:19.320 --> 41:21.820 and he's outside eating grass like an ox and everything. 41:22.240 --> 41:24.320 So that's a bad punishment 41:24.800 --> 41:25.940 when you go nuts. 41:26.420 --> 41:28.900 And Saul is kind of going nuts at times 41:29.560 --> 41:31.900 because he's being troubled by this evil spirit from the Lord. 41:32.300 --> 41:33.940 Now look at 1 Samuel 19, 41:34.360 --> 41:35.600 and this is 1 Samuel 19. 41:36.320 --> 41:38.680 So he already had his own personal problem with God 41:38.680 --> 41:39.800 back in chapter 16, 41:40.400 --> 41:44.400 but then obviously it becomes about persecuting David. 41:44.700 --> 41:47.120 And he takes out all of his frustration 41:47.580 --> 41:49.060 and anger toward God 41:49.060 --> 41:51.080 and he takes it out on the man of God. 41:51.180 --> 41:53.000 He takes it out on God's people. 41:53.000 --> 41:55.080 He takes it out on a righteous man, David. 41:55.640 --> 41:59.540 And so by chapter 19, his rage is directed at David. 41:59.960 --> 42:01.280 It says in verse nine, 42:01.860 --> 42:04.660 and the evil spirit from the Lord was upon Saul 42:05.240 --> 42:08.180 as he sat in his house with his javelin in his hand 42:08.180 --> 42:10.040 and David played with his hand 42:10.040 --> 42:12.280 and Saul sought to smite David 42:12.280 --> 42:14.100 even to the wall with the javelin, 42:14.380 --> 42:16.520 but he slipped away out of Saul's presence 42:16.520 --> 42:18.440 and he smote the javelin into the wall 42:18.440 --> 42:19.900 and David fled and escaped that night. 42:20.280 --> 42:22.320 You know, many are the afflictions of the righteous, 42:22.320 --> 42:23.960 but out of them all the Lord delivers them. 42:24.540 --> 42:25.880 You know, so yeah, we as Christians, 42:26.060 --> 42:27.100 we're going to get persecuted. 42:27.680 --> 42:29.420 We're going to get javelins thrown at us. 42:29.640 --> 42:30.700 People are going to rage 42:30.700 --> 42:33.320 and people are going to try to destroy relationships. 42:33.520 --> 42:34.980 Sometimes they're even going to succeed 42:34.980 --> 42:36.460 in destroying relationships, right? 42:36.600 --> 42:38.580 Because I mean, Saul succeeded 42:38.580 --> 42:40.720 in destroying the relationship of David and Michael. 42:41.060 --> 42:41.920 And what does the Bible say? 42:42.280 --> 42:44.280 A whisperer separated chief friends. 42:45.180 --> 42:48.680 You know, sometimes the haters will succeed 42:49.220 --> 42:50.720 at destroying relationships. 42:50.720 --> 42:53.300 They're definitely going to try to destroy relationships. 42:53.440 --> 42:55.860 They're definitely going to persecute us and go after us, 42:55.860 --> 42:58.800 but at the end of the day, we are going to be okay. 42:59.220 --> 43:00.140 We're going to be blessed. 43:00.900 --> 43:02.540 Many are the afflictions of the righteous, 43:02.780 --> 43:05.240 but out of them all the Lord delivers them. 43:06.300 --> 43:10.760 And so it's Saul that ends up actually getting 43:12.100 --> 43:14.580 impaled with a sharp object, not David. 43:15.180 --> 43:16.020 David escapes. 43:16.680 --> 43:18.180 David lives to be an old man. 43:18.180 --> 43:22.260 He dies of natural causes in his bed as an old man, 43:22.500 --> 43:24.300 you know, and he's fine. 43:25.340 --> 43:26.900 He gets everything Saul wanted. 43:27.040 --> 43:27.840 I mean, what did Saul want? 43:27.980 --> 43:29.200 Saul just really wanted more than anything 43:29.200 --> 43:31.620 for his son to continue on his throne after him. 43:31.640 --> 43:32.980 He just really wanted Jonathan on the throne. 43:33.200 --> 43:33.680 Well, guess what? 43:33.840 --> 43:36.860 David gets that because David gets Solomon on the throne 43:36.860 --> 43:38.620 and he gets to see it while he's still alive. 43:38.800 --> 43:41.440 He gets to see Solomon and the Lord is with Solomon 43:41.440 --> 43:42.880 and Solomon's on that throne. 43:42.940 --> 43:44.000 And he gets what he wants. 43:44.000 --> 43:48.320 Whereas, you know, he's trying to impale David. 43:48.640 --> 43:49.660 He's the one that's going to get impaled. 43:49.820 --> 43:51.500 He's the one who's going to fall on the sword. 43:52.780 --> 43:54.440 And even though he falls on a sword, 43:55.020 --> 43:56.840 people lie about it and tell the story 43:56.840 --> 43:58.060 as he fell on a spear. 43:58.600 --> 44:00.080 And so, you know, at the end of the day, 44:00.140 --> 44:01.180 what goes around comes around. 44:02.220 --> 44:04.300 You know, you dig a pit, you're going to fall there in. 44:04.720 --> 44:06.680 You roll a stone, it's going to roll back on you. 44:07.900 --> 44:11.120 And so the conclusion is this, 44:11.740 --> 44:13.440 work on your own walk with God 44:13.440 --> 44:15.160 and be the best Christian that you can be. 44:17.000 --> 44:18.900 And if someone else does better, rejoice. 44:20.280 --> 44:22.980 If someone preaches a better sermon than you, rejoice. 44:23.820 --> 44:25.500 I would love nothing more than to hear 44:25.500 --> 44:26.960 a better sermon than my sermon. 44:27.700 --> 44:29.420 Why would I want to listen to sermons that are inferior? 44:30.780 --> 44:32.080 Why would I want, why would I want, 44:32.240 --> 44:34.300 look, I would never want to be the best preacher 44:34.300 --> 44:36.160 in the world because then that would just mean 44:36.160 --> 44:37.520 that all these other sermons are inferior. 44:38.080 --> 44:40.380 I want great preaching to be happening all over the world. 44:40.380 --> 44:43.580 So I wish that every preacher would be better than me. 44:43.880 --> 44:45.740 Every preacher would preach a better sermon 44:45.740 --> 44:47.320 on the whole planet, that'd be awesome. 44:47.620 --> 44:48.980 Because then the world would just be filled 44:48.980 --> 44:49.640 with great preaching. 44:50.600 --> 44:53.180 You know, if someone's more blessed and successful, 44:53.480 --> 44:57.160 rejoice because the cause of Christ is everything. 44:58.320 --> 45:01.160 He must increase and we must decrease. 45:01.860 --> 45:03.260 And so at the end of the day, 45:03.440 --> 45:07.200 we should want whatever is best for the cause of Christ. 45:08.700 --> 45:11.780 But see, Baxlyn, Carnal, people, they don't get this. 45:11.920 --> 45:12.620 They don't understand this. 45:12.900 --> 45:14.620 They don't know what it means to be a team player. 45:15.120 --> 45:17.480 And so they will lash out at people 45:17.480 --> 45:19.180 that are doing more soul winning, 45:19.700 --> 45:22.580 getting more salvations, preaching better sermons. 45:22.860 --> 45:22.980 Why? 45:23.120 --> 45:25.540 Because they're like, well, I got to take them down a notch 45:26.300 --> 45:29.000 so that I can be in that top spot 45:29.000 --> 45:30.920 and it's a super wicked attitude. 45:31.080 --> 45:32.160 I mean, look, and at the end of the day, 45:32.200 --> 45:32.960 you're only hurting yourself 45:32.960 --> 45:34.960 because what does the Bible say about David? 45:35.340 --> 45:38.520 It says the Lord was with him and was departed from Saul. 45:39.240 --> 45:40.380 First Samuel, 1812. 45:40.840 --> 45:43.740 Verse 14, David behaved himself wisely in all his ways, 45:44.060 --> 45:44.860 the Lord was with him. 45:45.720 --> 45:49.100 1828, Saul saw and knew that the Lord was with David. 45:49.380 --> 45:52.460 Second Samuel, 510, David went on and grew great 45:52.460 --> 45:54.200 and the Lord God of hosts was with him. 45:54.540 --> 45:55.840 First Chronicles, 11, nine. 45:56.160 --> 45:58.160 So David waxed greater and greater 45:58.580 --> 45:59.980 for the Lord of hosts was with him. 46:01.840 --> 46:03.000 At the end of the day, 46:03.680 --> 46:05.180 you can do great things for God 46:05.180 --> 46:06.400 in the face of persecution. 46:07.380 --> 46:10.140 And if you're backslidden, if you're not right with God, 46:10.500 --> 46:13.620 you're just this disgruntled, disillusioned, whatever. 46:14.260 --> 46:14.560 You know what? 46:14.620 --> 46:15.840 You need to get right with God 46:15.840 --> 46:18.800 because you're gonna end up destroying yourself. 46:19.340 --> 46:22.180 That bitterness will eat you up like a cancer 46:22.180 --> 46:23.320 and it's gonna destroy, 46:23.420 --> 46:25.580 it's not gonna destroy some soul winning pastor. 46:26.120 --> 46:28.220 It's not gonna destroy some great man of God 46:28.680 --> 46:30.240 because you're a pathetic loser 46:30.640 --> 46:31.700 who doesn't have the guts 46:31.700 --> 46:33.100 to stand up for what the Bible says 46:33.100 --> 46:36.280 and then you don't like it that someone else is. 46:36.580 --> 46:38.040 And by the way, let me tell you something. 46:38.360 --> 46:39.460 Some of the people that have become 46:39.460 --> 46:41.540 the biggest haters of our church over the years 46:41.540 --> 46:43.940 are people whose wives don't respect them. 46:45.480 --> 46:47.380 You know, their wives don't obey, 46:47.680 --> 46:49.000 their wives don't respect them, 46:49.420 --> 46:51.400 they don't know how to get their wife under control. 46:51.920 --> 46:54.660 And so this kind of preaching against feminism 46:54.660 --> 46:57.440 and preaching on male authority enrages them 46:58.340 --> 47:00.380 because of the fact that they are living 47:00.840 --> 47:02.280 the opposite reality 47:02.280 --> 47:04.740 and they are covening another man's wife. 47:05.540 --> 47:08.240 They are envying the fact that other people 47:08.240 --> 47:11.260 are able to actually be the boss in their marriage. 47:11.420 --> 47:13.640 And so then they wanna tear us all down and say, 47:13.880 --> 47:14.900 well, you're not being the boss, 47:15.060 --> 47:16.540 you're just bad, you're just mean. 47:16.740 --> 47:19.060 You know, they wanna find some way to rationalize 47:19.060 --> 47:23.120 why it's better for them to be this slob 47:23.580 --> 47:24.860 whose wife won't obey him. 47:26.560 --> 47:27.920 You know, and it's like, look, 47:27.920 --> 47:30.580 obviously I'm not victim blaming here. 47:31.020 --> 47:33.540 You know, if somebody's wife is refusing to obey them 47:33.540 --> 47:36.280 and somebody's wife is refusing to submit, 47:36.620 --> 47:38.940 obviously she's wrong, she's in sin. 47:39.280 --> 47:41.260 And I'm not saying that it's always the husband's fault 47:41.260 --> 47:42.780 because it isn't always the husband's fault 47:42.780 --> 47:44.740 because sometimes a great husband 47:44.740 --> 47:45.920 can just have a bad wife 47:45.920 --> 47:47.620 and a great wife can have a bad husband. 47:47.940 --> 47:48.640 That's just life. 47:48.760 --> 47:50.760 Unfortunately, it's just the way the world works. 47:51.940 --> 47:53.900 But you know, I will start blaming him though, 47:54.120 --> 47:56.580 when he starts to just change the doctrine 47:58.300 --> 48:00.980 or start hating and persecuting those 48:00.980 --> 48:03.120 who are being blessed in that area. 48:04.700 --> 48:06.860 Because then at that point, it's just covetousness, 48:07.080 --> 48:08.140 it's envy, it's wicked. 48:08.800 --> 48:09.780 And at the end of the day, 48:09.880 --> 48:11.180 you're only gonna destroy yourself. 48:11.960 --> 48:13.320 Many are the afflictions of the righteous 48:13.320 --> 48:14.780 out of them all the Lord delivers them. 48:14.900 --> 48:17.060 And you know what, we as Christians, 48:17.220 --> 48:18.620 I believe this from the bottom of my heart, 48:18.760 --> 48:19.260 we're invincible. 48:21.480 --> 48:25.160 We are, you know, people will sometimes say this, 48:25.360 --> 48:26.220 like, hey, when you're young 48:26.220 --> 48:27.080 you feel like you're invincible. 48:27.080 --> 48:28.340 I still feel like I'm invincible. 48:28.920 --> 48:30.060 You know, and I'm 45. 48:30.920 --> 48:32.340 And why do I feel like I'm invincible? 48:32.540 --> 48:34.200 Because of God before us who can be against us. 48:34.880 --> 48:36.880 You know, God always gives us the victory. 48:38.000 --> 48:40.400 You know, if you look at the etymology word invincible, 48:40.860 --> 48:43.240 it means it's impossible to conquer you. 48:43.420 --> 48:44.740 It's impossible to defeat you. 48:45.340 --> 48:46.660 What does the Bible say? 48:46.980 --> 48:48.900 God always giveeth us the victory. 48:49.480 --> 48:50.880 That's called being invincible. 48:51.680 --> 48:53.620 Okay, and here's the thing about that 48:53.620 --> 48:57.220 is that the only person who can really destroy us 48:57.220 --> 48:58.360 is we can destroy ourselves. 48:59.540 --> 49:01.300 Now I can definitely destroy myself. 49:01.540 --> 49:02.840 I could definitely ruin my own life. 49:03.140 --> 49:04.500 I could definitely ruin my own ministry. 49:04.800 --> 49:05.700 I could ruin the church. 49:05.960 --> 49:06.860 I could ruin myself. 49:07.340 --> 49:11.280 You know, but nobody externally can destroy us 49:11.780 --> 49:13.560 because of God's for us who can be against us. 49:13.620 --> 49:18.000 It's when we personally choose to get away from God 49:18.460 --> 49:21.540 and get back slidden, disobey commandments, 49:22.060 --> 49:24.060 change the doctrine to be popular 49:24.060 --> 49:25.700 or to take someone down a notch, 49:25.980 --> 49:27.680 because you'll have people who believe like us, 49:27.920 --> 49:29.240 but then out of spite for us, 49:29.280 --> 49:30.060 they'll change the doctrine 49:30.060 --> 49:31.500 just to be the opposite of what we're saying. 49:32.180 --> 49:34.780 You know, it's sort of like politics. 49:35.500 --> 49:36.840 You know, if you're a Republican, 49:37.140 --> 49:38.800 everything Obama did is bad. 49:39.140 --> 49:41.100 Everything Biden did is bad because you're a Republican. 49:41.480 --> 49:43.880 And then if you're Democrat, everything Trump does is bad. 49:44.600 --> 49:46.980 Even when they do the exact same thing. 49:48.460 --> 49:50.320 When your guy does it, it's good. 49:50.700 --> 49:53.060 When the other guy does it, it's bad, right? 49:53.340 --> 49:55.420 So it's sort of like, you know, the old IFP, 49:55.700 --> 49:58.860 when their guy, Kevin Nguyen in Mexico City, 49:59.260 --> 50:02.420 when he smashes a Mary's idol, it's epic. 50:03.440 --> 50:06.640 When Kevin Nguyen smashes it, it's awesome. 50:07.260 --> 50:09.920 But then when a guy from the new IFP, Jonathan Shelley, 50:10.060 --> 50:13.240 when he smashes a Mary statue, he's bad. 50:14.680 --> 50:16.480 It's just envy, covetousness. 50:17.060 --> 50:18.700 You know, that's what it does to you. 50:19.520 --> 50:19.920 Okay? 50:20.560 --> 50:22.960 And so we need to worry about ourselves 50:24.160 --> 50:26.600 and take heed unto ourselves and live forgotten. 50:26.740 --> 50:27.040 You know what? 50:27.140 --> 50:29.100 One of the qualifications for being a pastor is this. 50:29.560 --> 50:30.880 To be a lover of good men. 50:31.560 --> 50:33.120 To be a lover of good men. 50:33.280 --> 50:35.620 Not someone who envies and hates good men 50:35.620 --> 50:37.160 because they're better and I want to be the best. 50:37.260 --> 50:38.340 I got to be the greatest, you know? 50:38.580 --> 50:42.060 It's like, no, hey, a lover of good men. 50:43.100 --> 50:46.100 We should all love the brotherhood. 50:46.340 --> 50:47.080 Love the brotherhood. 50:47.120 --> 50:47.920 Let's bow to the board of prayer. 50:47.920 --> 50:49.980 Father, we thank you so much for your word. 50:50.360 --> 50:52.340 And thank you for this example in the life of Saul. 50:52.540 --> 50:55.560 Lord, help us never to let the green-eyed monster 50:55.560 --> 50:59.800 of jealousy, envy, take over our hearts and lives. 51:00.080 --> 51:03.100 Lord, help us to just remember that key commandment. 51:03.260 --> 51:04.600 Thou shalt not covet. 51:05.500 --> 51:07.260 Thy neighbor's wife does not covet. 51:07.460 --> 51:07.960 Thy neighbor's house. 51:08.260 --> 51:10.420 Help us not to covet or envy 51:10.980 --> 51:12.580 or have those kind of wicked thoughts 51:12.580 --> 51:14.300 toward good, godly people. 51:14.480 --> 51:16.940 And Lord, if people are superior to us, Lord, 51:17.420 --> 51:21.100 let us rejoice and rally behind them and support them. 51:21.540 --> 51:22.520 And in Jesus' name we pray, amen.