1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:03,600 You have never sung that before, to your knowledge. 2 00:00:03,600 --> 00:00:05,600 Did you lift your hand? 3 00:00:05,600 --> 00:00:21,360 I thought a lot of you have not sung those songs, we know. 4 00:00:21,360 --> 00:00:24,680 I can remember though as a youngster singing that in our little church in Kansas. 5 00:00:24,680 --> 00:00:29,760 It's called Blessed Quietness, but we didn't sing it quietly. 6 00:00:29,760 --> 00:00:34,160 Back then we had no air conditioning and the windows were open in the summer and you hoped 7 00:00:34,160 --> 00:00:35,160 for a little breeze. 8 00:00:35,160 --> 00:00:40,880 And as we sang that song, I think it must have gone over half of the town. 9 00:00:40,880 --> 00:00:45,320 We had a real singing church and we enjoyed singing Blessed Quietness. 10 00:00:45,320 --> 00:00:49,480 Well, my goodness, I find myself reminiscing. 11 00:00:49,480 --> 00:00:52,680 That's a sign I'm getting older. 12 00:00:52,680 --> 00:00:56,160 I find myself reminiscing the warm around John. 13 00:00:56,160 --> 00:01:00,840 So I don't know, there must be something to that. 14 00:01:00,840 --> 00:01:06,920 Well, let's open our Bibles now before John gets too old over there and turn to 2 Samuel 15 00:01:06,920 --> 00:01:13,120 chapter 1. 16 00:01:13,120 --> 00:01:19,640 If there is a payday someday, I probably will get paid. 17 00:01:19,640 --> 00:01:22,720 That's what I figured. 18 00:01:22,720 --> 00:01:29,240 2 Samuel. 19 00:01:29,240 --> 00:01:35,520 Now it came about after the death of Saul when David had returned from the slaughter 20 00:01:35,520 --> 00:01:41,720 of the Amalekites, that David remained two days in Ziklag. 21 00:01:41,720 --> 00:01:48,600 And it happened on the third day that behold a man came out of the camp from Saul with 22 00:01:48,600 --> 00:01:52,180 his clothes torn and dust on his head. 23 00:01:52,180 --> 00:01:58,940 And it came about when he came to David that he fell to the ground and prostrated himself. 24 00:01:58,940 --> 00:02:01,960 David said to him, from where do you come? 25 00:02:01,960 --> 00:02:07,200 And he said to him, I have escaped from the camp of Israel. 26 00:02:07,200 --> 00:02:10,160 And David said to him, how did things go? 27 00:02:10,160 --> 00:02:12,160 Please tell me. 28 00:02:12,160 --> 00:02:15,580 And he said, the people have fled from the battle. 29 00:02:15,580 --> 00:02:19,600 And also many of the people have fallen and are dead. 30 00:02:19,600 --> 00:02:27,200 And Saul and Jonathan, his son, are dead also. 31 00:02:27,200 --> 00:02:32,760 I suppose that all of us here tonight who were old enough to remember the incident remember 32 00:02:32,760 --> 00:02:37,000 when President Kennedy was assassinated. 33 00:02:37,000 --> 00:02:43,440 We can remember the time, we can remember the place, we can even perhaps remember the 34 00:02:43,440 --> 00:02:50,240 person that told us the tragic news of the death of the leader. 35 00:02:50,240 --> 00:02:56,300 David learns in Ziklag that the king is dead. 36 00:02:56,300 --> 00:03:06,880 And suddenly his whole future is immediately before him when up to this point it had seemed 37 00:03:06,880 --> 00:03:11,080 so distant. 38 00:03:11,080 --> 00:03:18,320 Perhaps it would be good for us to back up just a little bit and to remember what happened. 39 00:03:18,320 --> 00:03:25,440 The Philistines, you recall, had moved north along the coastline apparently to position 40 00:03:25,440 --> 00:03:34,400 themselves for battle at the Valley of Megiddo, the Valley of Jezreel it is also called. 41 00:03:34,400 --> 00:03:42,160 They wanted to fight Israel in that large immense valley so that they would have the 42 00:03:42,160 --> 00:03:50,200 advantage with the particular weapons of warfare that they had perfected at that time. 43 00:03:50,200 --> 00:03:55,560 Saul and his men gathered for battle as well and Saul was absolutely terrified because 44 00:03:55,560 --> 00:04:02,960 he knew that the weapons that Israel had could not match what the Philistines had available. 45 00:04:02,960 --> 00:04:11,520 The Lord did not answer Saul when he sought the Lord trying to decide what to do because 46 00:04:11,520 --> 00:04:19,760 Saul had been rejected and now the time of his judgment had come. 47 00:04:19,760 --> 00:04:23,800 Therefore he said something that I suppose earlier in his life he thought he would never 48 00:04:23,800 --> 00:04:27,040 have done. 49 00:04:27,040 --> 00:04:35,440 You know thus it is with the back slider, the one who is disobedient to the Lord over 50 00:04:35,440 --> 00:04:38,560 an extended period of time. 51 00:04:38,560 --> 00:04:45,640 Things happen in the life that earlier would have been thought impossible. 52 00:04:45,640 --> 00:04:58,120 In Saul's case he asked where he might find a witch or more literally a spirit medium, 53 00:04:58,120 --> 00:05:02,640 someone who had contact with evil spirits so that he might know what the outcome of 54 00:05:02,640 --> 00:05:03,640 the battle would be. 55 00:05:03,640 --> 00:05:07,640 You see there is an example of what we talked about this morning. 56 00:05:07,640 --> 00:05:12,480 He thought he would be better off if he could know what the future held. 57 00:05:12,480 --> 00:05:15,200 He felt that that was how he could find out. 58 00:05:15,200 --> 00:05:23,400 Later Saul had removed all of such people from the land of Israel. 59 00:05:23,400 --> 00:05:28,240 There was one woman who apparently escaped that dragnet. 60 00:05:28,240 --> 00:05:31,440 She lived at Endor. 61 00:05:31,440 --> 00:05:36,980 Saul and some of his other leaders went to Endor to meet with her one night. 62 00:05:36,980 --> 00:05:42,160 He disguised himself so that she would not know who he was. 63 00:05:42,160 --> 00:05:46,800 They went in and asked her to bring up whomever he wished. 64 00:05:46,800 --> 00:05:48,920 She said, who do you wish? 65 00:05:48,920 --> 00:05:52,680 He said Samuel. 66 00:05:52,680 --> 00:05:59,440 The text seems to indicate that almost immediately Samuel appeared. 67 00:05:59,440 --> 00:06:04,600 Samuel had died of course previously. 68 00:06:04,600 --> 00:06:07,320 He was the one who had talked with Saul. 69 00:06:07,320 --> 00:06:09,240 He was the one who had anointed Saul. 70 00:06:09,240 --> 00:06:15,160 He was the one that Saul had heard the bad news from, that he had been rejected as king 71 00:06:15,160 --> 00:06:18,320 and someone else, his neighbor, would replace him. 72 00:06:18,320 --> 00:06:22,160 But he wanted to talk to Samuel. 73 00:06:22,160 --> 00:06:27,860 When Samuel appeared there was no one more frightened than the spirit medium. 74 00:06:27,860 --> 00:06:28,900 She was terrified. 75 00:06:28,900 --> 00:06:31,500 She cried out in fear. 76 00:06:31,500 --> 00:06:36,680 She was expecting that there might come, as had apparently often happened, an evil spirit 77 00:06:36,680 --> 00:06:41,360 who would impersonate the dead person. 78 00:06:41,360 --> 00:06:47,600 By the way, that's the only thing that mediums can do. 79 00:06:47,600 --> 00:06:52,220 It is impossible for them to make contact with the dead. 80 00:06:52,220 --> 00:06:56,160 It is impossible for them to do that. 81 00:06:56,160 --> 00:07:02,000 But what they can do, in addition to using a lot of trickery, which many of them do, 82 00:07:02,000 --> 00:07:09,160 some of them can make contact with evil spirits, with demons, who impersonate people who have 83 00:07:09,160 --> 00:07:10,160 died. 84 00:07:10,160 --> 00:07:14,120 Of course, they know things that no one else would know except the one who is trying to 85 00:07:14,120 --> 00:07:15,560 contact the dead person. 86 00:07:15,560 --> 00:07:22,000 They can easily deceive that person who is there trying to find out some information 87 00:07:22,000 --> 00:07:23,000 from the dead. 88 00:07:23,000 --> 00:07:26,280 This is called necromancy. 89 00:07:26,280 --> 00:07:30,680 While Samuel appeared she was terrified and Saul said, what does he look like? 90 00:07:30,680 --> 00:07:32,080 He said thus and thus. 91 00:07:32,080 --> 00:07:36,080 He fell on his face knowing that it was, in fact, Samuel. 92 00:07:36,080 --> 00:07:37,720 Samuel said, why have you brought me up? 93 00:07:37,720 --> 00:07:42,960 Why have you disturbed my rest? 94 00:07:42,960 --> 00:07:46,920 Saul said, well, this and this and this has happened. 95 00:07:46,920 --> 00:07:50,880 I want to know what's going to occur. 96 00:07:50,880 --> 00:07:58,960 So Samuel, in an extended speech recorded back in 1 Samuel, explains what had taken 97 00:07:58,960 --> 00:08:06,760 place, reviews it with Saul, and finally announces to him that he and his sons would die the 98 00:08:06,760 --> 00:08:13,200 next day in battle with the Philistines. 99 00:08:13,200 --> 00:08:15,160 And that was the end of the conversation. 100 00:08:15,160 --> 00:08:22,120 Samuel went back to his place and Saul said he was not going to eat. 101 00:08:22,120 --> 00:08:27,400 He began to mourn, to grieve over what was going to take place. 102 00:08:27,400 --> 00:08:33,880 They finally got him to eat and he left, went out into the night, and how dark was that 103 00:08:33,880 --> 00:08:34,880 night. 104 00:08:34,880 --> 00:08:38,440 And the next day he entered into battle. 105 00:08:38,440 --> 00:08:44,160 They were fighting at Mount Gilboa, which is a mountain some 1,700 feet high on the 106 00:08:44,160 --> 00:08:49,800 south and east side of the Valley of Megiddo. 107 00:08:49,800 --> 00:08:56,620 And it was there that his three sons were first killed in battle. 108 00:08:56,620 --> 00:09:01,760 And then there was an archer for the Philistines who drew his bow and let the arrow fly and 109 00:09:01,760 --> 00:09:05,960 it hit Saul in a vital spot. 110 00:09:05,960 --> 00:09:13,800 The Latin Vulgate translation of the Old Testament says that it hit him in the abdomen, although 111 00:09:13,800 --> 00:09:17,000 I don't think the Hebrew text is quite that clear. 112 00:09:17,000 --> 00:09:25,760 Nonetheless, it was a mortal wound, but Saul was not dying quickly. 113 00:09:25,760 --> 00:09:34,480 He did not want to be captured by the Philistines, lest they would somehow make mockery of him 114 00:09:34,480 --> 00:09:36,880 or torture him. 115 00:09:36,880 --> 00:09:42,360 And so he asked his bodyguard, his sword bearer, to kill him. 116 00:09:42,360 --> 00:09:45,880 The man refused to do it. 117 00:09:45,880 --> 00:09:52,640 And so Saul positioned the sword somehow and leaned into it, fell upon it so that he killed 118 00:09:52,640 --> 00:09:54,520 himself. 119 00:09:54,520 --> 00:09:59,440 And then his bodyguard, seeing what had happened, killed himself. 120 00:09:59,440 --> 00:10:08,160 And thus the king died, a terrible death for a man who had such great possibility, a man 121 00:10:08,160 --> 00:10:14,480 who had so many natural abilities that could have been used for the glory of God, but he 122 00:10:14,480 --> 00:10:21,280 wasted them because of his disobedience, or another way to put it, because of his incomplete 123 00:10:21,280 --> 00:10:23,240 obedience. 124 00:10:23,240 --> 00:10:26,440 He did part of what the Lord said, but not all of it. 125 00:10:26,440 --> 00:10:31,120 And that equals disobedience, doesn't it? 126 00:10:31,120 --> 00:10:33,000 And so the king died. 127 00:10:33,000 --> 00:10:38,760 Now David here in this conversation with the man who came from the camp says to him in 128 00:10:38,760 --> 00:10:44,080 verse 5, How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead? 129 00:10:44,080 --> 00:10:50,320 And the young man who told him said, By chance I happened to be on Mount Gilboa. 130 00:10:50,320 --> 00:10:55,760 And behold, Saul was leaning on his spear, and behold, the chariots and the horsemen 131 00:10:55,760 --> 00:10:58,120 pursued him closely. 132 00:10:58,120 --> 00:11:00,880 And when he looked behind him, he saw me and called to me. 133 00:11:00,880 --> 00:11:01,880 And I said, Here I am. 134 00:11:01,880 --> 00:11:03,320 And he said to me, Who are you? 135 00:11:03,320 --> 00:11:06,320 And I answered, I am an Amalekite. 136 00:11:06,320 --> 00:11:10,440 And he said to me, Please stand beside me and kill me, for agony has seized me, because 137 00:11:10,440 --> 00:11:13,240 my life still lingers in me. 138 00:11:13,240 --> 00:11:17,480 So says this young man, I stood beside him and killed him, because I knew that he could 139 00:11:17,480 --> 00:11:20,080 not live after he had fallen. 140 00:11:20,080 --> 00:11:23,800 And I took the crown which was on his head and the bracelet which was on his arm, and 141 00:11:23,800 --> 00:11:27,280 I brought them here to my Lord. 142 00:11:27,280 --> 00:11:30,280 Well now there's a different story, isn't there? 143 00:11:30,280 --> 00:11:35,600 From the lips of this Amalekite, he says that he killed Saul. 144 00:11:35,600 --> 00:11:41,800 He says he came upon Saul mortally wounded, and at Saul's request, he did him in. 145 00:11:41,800 --> 00:11:47,960 And he had the crown and the bracelet from Saul's arm there as proof that his story was 146 00:11:47,960 --> 00:11:48,960 correct. 147 00:11:48,960 --> 00:11:57,800 Now critics of the Bible argue here as an example of the inconsistency of the Bible, 148 00:11:57,800 --> 00:12:07,360 one of the many examples they say where the Bible is in historical error. 149 00:12:07,360 --> 00:12:10,160 That is simply not so. 150 00:12:10,160 --> 00:12:15,280 You can do one of two things without doing harm to Scripture. 151 00:12:15,280 --> 00:12:23,160 You can correlate the two stories, put them together, and usually that's done by saying 152 00:12:23,160 --> 00:12:32,560 that Saul leaned upon his sword and the bodyguard thought he was dead and killed himself, and 153 00:12:32,560 --> 00:12:36,480 this young man came and Saul was not quite dead, so he did him in. 154 00:12:36,480 --> 00:12:40,160 I personally don't think that's what happened. 155 00:12:40,160 --> 00:12:44,680 I think the young man is lying. 156 00:12:44,680 --> 00:12:45,680 That's what I think is happening. 157 00:12:45,680 --> 00:12:48,960 You say, well, why does the Bible record that? 158 00:12:48,960 --> 00:12:54,440 Because the Bible records what happened. 159 00:12:54,440 --> 00:12:57,680 It doesn't mean what the man said that is. 160 00:12:57,680 --> 00:13:01,280 It doesn't mean that all of this actually happened that the young man said. 161 00:13:01,280 --> 00:13:06,040 The Bible truly records here, I think, a lie. 162 00:13:06,040 --> 00:13:10,880 What I want to talk about tonight is three responses to the king's death. 163 00:13:10,880 --> 00:13:15,200 We'll see these in chapter 1 and the first four verses of chapter 2. 164 00:13:15,200 --> 00:13:18,160 We come now to the first response to the king's death. 165 00:13:18,160 --> 00:13:21,280 A story is fabricated. 166 00:13:21,280 --> 00:13:24,960 There's a lying messenger who was, in fact, an Amalekite. 167 00:13:24,960 --> 00:13:29,280 By the way, these were the very people that Saul did not completely destroy in disobedience 168 00:13:29,280 --> 00:13:34,840 in why he lost the kingdom back in 1 Samuel 15. 169 00:13:34,840 --> 00:13:40,760 What apparently was the truth was that this Amalekite was there on the mountains for some 170 00:13:40,760 --> 00:13:48,280 reason and looted the body of Saul before the Philistines got to it. 171 00:13:48,280 --> 00:13:53,400 So he got the crown, he got the bracelet, and then he ran. 172 00:13:53,400 --> 00:13:59,240 And he happened upon David and his party and concocted this story so that he would ingratiate 173 00:13:59,240 --> 00:14:07,320 David to himself, seeking somehow to gain favor with David, you see, and receive a reward 174 00:14:07,320 --> 00:14:12,320 perhaps for what he had done on David's behalf. 175 00:14:12,320 --> 00:14:18,000 Well, he didn't realize how David would respond. 176 00:14:18,000 --> 00:14:23,360 You remember that David had been playing a certain role up to this point. 177 00:14:23,360 --> 00:14:25,320 We talked about that last week. 178 00:14:25,320 --> 00:14:28,560 But David's true heart comes out here. 179 00:14:28,560 --> 00:14:33,520 It says, David took hold of his clothes, he tore them, and so also did all the men who 180 00:14:33,520 --> 00:14:38,320 were with him, and they mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and his son 181 00:14:38,320 --> 00:14:42,440 Jonathan and for the people of the Lord in the house of Israel because they had fallen 182 00:14:42,440 --> 00:14:43,440 with a sword. 183 00:14:43,440 --> 00:14:46,120 And David said to the young man who told him, where are you from? 184 00:14:46,120 --> 00:14:51,080 And he answered, I am the son of an alien in Amalekite. 185 00:14:51,080 --> 00:14:55,720 David said to him, how is it that you are not afraid to stretch out your hand to destroy 186 00:14:55,720 --> 00:14:56,720 the Lord's anointed? 187 00:14:56,720 --> 00:15:02,000 Now remember, David had at least two opportunities to do that himself. 188 00:15:02,000 --> 00:15:04,840 And he refused to do it out of fear of the Lord. 189 00:15:04,840 --> 00:15:08,000 He would not touch the Lord's anointed. 190 00:15:08,000 --> 00:15:10,880 And David called one of the young men and said, go cut him down. 191 00:15:10,880 --> 00:15:13,440 And so the man went and killed him with the sword. 192 00:15:13,440 --> 00:15:17,000 And so the Amalekite got what he deserved. 193 00:15:17,000 --> 00:15:19,960 He was killed because of his lie. 194 00:15:19,960 --> 00:15:24,480 Now David, of course, did not know it was a lie at this point. 195 00:15:24,480 --> 00:15:30,040 He took the man at his word and undoubtedly later found out the truth. 196 00:15:30,040 --> 00:15:35,720 But the young man by his lying tongue brought upon himself just judgment. 197 00:15:35,720 --> 00:15:44,360 If there's anything to be learned from this, it is, may God deliver us from lying tongues. 198 00:15:44,360 --> 00:15:51,440 May God help us from fabricating stories that we think will gain us advantage with someone 199 00:15:51,440 --> 00:15:54,080 else. 200 00:15:54,080 --> 00:16:01,640 May God help us from taking some of the truth perhaps and then turning it just a little 201 00:16:01,640 --> 00:16:09,080 bit and adding a color here or there so that we create a picture which is to our favor 202 00:16:09,080 --> 00:16:15,120 but which does not accurately represent what happened. 203 00:16:15,120 --> 00:16:22,160 Over and over again in both the Proverbs and in the Psalms, there is the danger of the 204 00:16:22,160 --> 00:16:23,880 lying tongue pointed out. 205 00:16:23,880 --> 00:16:28,560 And even prayers that God would deliver from the lying tongue and would set a seal upon 206 00:16:28,560 --> 00:16:31,400 the lips. 207 00:16:31,400 --> 00:16:38,400 Tonight as the people of God, as those who have followed the one who said, I am the truth, 208 00:16:38,400 --> 00:16:41,760 let's be people of truth. 209 00:16:41,760 --> 00:16:47,120 Let's stop lying to one another if in fact we are by lip or by life. 210 00:16:47,120 --> 00:16:48,460 And let's be truthful. 211 00:16:48,460 --> 00:16:55,240 Let's be honest. 212 00:16:55,240 --> 00:17:00,600 There is a second response to the death of the king that is worth noting and that is 213 00:17:00,600 --> 00:17:02,520 the mourning of David. 214 00:17:02,520 --> 00:17:05,120 A song is composed. 215 00:17:05,120 --> 00:17:10,760 First the story is fabricated, that's dealt with, but then a song is composed. 216 00:17:10,760 --> 00:17:18,440 It is a dirge, a lamentation written by David. 217 00:17:18,440 --> 00:17:24,760 He says that he chanted with lament over Saul and Jonathan his son and he told them to teach 218 00:17:24,760 --> 00:17:28,040 the sons of Judah the song of the bow. 219 00:17:28,040 --> 00:17:32,760 Behold, it is written in the book of Jasher. 220 00:17:32,760 --> 00:17:36,320 The book of Jasher is not an inspired book. 221 00:17:36,320 --> 00:17:41,840 It is mentioned here, it is mentioned also at its earliest occasion in the book of Joshua. 222 00:17:41,840 --> 00:17:48,720 What it seems to have been was a record of some of the historical happenings in Israel. 223 00:17:48,720 --> 00:17:56,720 It was a piece of literature in ancient Israel and the writer of this book, Second Samuel, 224 00:17:56,720 --> 00:18:03,800 whoever he was, inspired by God, drew upon that book of Jasher to write down what was 225 00:18:03,800 --> 00:18:07,480 recorded from David's lament. 226 00:18:07,480 --> 00:18:14,240 It's called the song of the bow and as I say it became a part of the national literature 227 00:18:14,240 --> 00:18:17,240 of Israel. 228 00:18:17,240 --> 00:18:24,760 In verse 19 we find the theme, oh your beauty, oh Israel, is slain on your high places. 229 00:18:24,760 --> 00:18:27,200 How have the mighty fallen? 230 00:18:27,200 --> 00:18:36,380 That is what David is going to talk about or sing about as he writes this lamentation. 231 00:18:36,380 --> 00:18:43,360 He says in verse 20, tell it not in Gath, proclaim it not in the streets of Ashkelon. 232 00:18:43,360 --> 00:18:50,520 Let the daughters of the Philistines, he says, lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, 233 00:18:50,520 --> 00:18:54,000 lest the daughters of the uncircumcised exult. 234 00:18:54,000 --> 00:19:03,120 So David in his mind's eye sees the news getting back to Philistia regarding Saul's death and 235 00:19:03,120 --> 00:19:06,480 he says let them not rejoice. 236 00:19:06,480 --> 00:19:09,600 He says don't tell the news in Gath. 237 00:19:09,600 --> 00:19:10,920 Where was Gath? 238 00:19:10,920 --> 00:19:16,520 Well that's where he had spent some time remember on a couple of occasions. 239 00:19:16,520 --> 00:19:23,840 That's where the mighty champion of the Philistine army, Goliath, was from. 240 00:19:23,840 --> 00:19:27,000 And so he says don't let the news get down there. 241 00:19:27,000 --> 00:19:28,000 Of course it did. 242 00:19:28,000 --> 00:19:35,400 The fact is that the Philistines found the bodies of Saul and his sons on Mount Gilboa. 243 00:19:35,400 --> 00:19:39,360 They cut off the head of Saul. 244 00:19:39,360 --> 00:19:47,440 They took the bodies of the four men and they hung them or nailed them onto the wall of 245 00:19:47,440 --> 00:19:51,680 one of their cities there to make sport of them. 246 00:19:51,680 --> 00:19:57,520 It was a disgraceful action on their part as they mutilated the bodies of these men. 247 00:19:57,520 --> 00:20:03,640 There were some brave men as we'll talk about next week who were from Jabesh Gilead. 248 00:20:03,640 --> 00:20:06,520 They were neither Philistines nor Israelites. 249 00:20:06,520 --> 00:20:09,080 They were kind of in a neutral zone. 250 00:20:09,080 --> 00:20:12,320 They heard about what was happening to the bodies of the men so they went down there 251 00:20:12,320 --> 00:20:16,600 and stole away those bodies and burned them. 252 00:20:16,600 --> 00:20:21,120 And that is one of the few instances you see in the Word of God regarding cremation. 253 00:20:21,120 --> 00:20:23,520 The Jews did not practice that. 254 00:20:23,520 --> 00:20:25,000 They buried bodies. 255 00:20:25,000 --> 00:20:31,560 But apparently these bodies were so badly mutilated and some time had passed since their 256 00:20:31,560 --> 00:20:35,120 death that they felt that the most prudent thing to do was to burn their bodies and they 257 00:20:35,120 --> 00:20:38,920 did but they took the bones and buried those. 258 00:20:38,920 --> 00:20:47,040 Now David in his mind's eye sees Philistia exulting, dancing in the streets over the 259 00:20:47,040 --> 00:20:49,040 death of King Saul. 260 00:20:49,040 --> 00:20:58,520 In verse 21 he looks to the mountains of Gilboa and he says, let not dew or rain be on you 261 00:20:58,520 --> 00:21:08,800 nor fields of offerings for there the shield of the mighty was defiled and it was in gore 262 00:21:08,800 --> 00:21:10,760 and in dust. 263 00:21:10,760 --> 00:21:14,800 He says the shield of Saul not anointed with oil. 264 00:21:14,800 --> 00:21:19,800 Only after a battle a shield was polished with oil and was put in its proper place but 265 00:21:19,800 --> 00:21:28,080 in this case the shield of Saul was covered with his own blood in the dust of the battle 266 00:21:28,080 --> 00:21:31,420 and it was discarded. 267 00:21:31,420 --> 00:21:39,520 When we were in Israel several years ago we stood on mount, on the mound called Megiddo 268 00:21:39,520 --> 00:21:47,560 where Solomon's stables have been excavated and looked out over the plain of Jezreel, 269 00:21:47,560 --> 00:21:53,880 this valley of Megiddo that's mentioned here and off in the distance some 10, 12 miles 270 00:21:53,880 --> 00:22:02,120 we could see mount Gilboa and our guide pointed out to us that the mountain was bare. 271 00:22:02,120 --> 00:22:07,080 I don't know whether this is accurate or whether this is a nice story for the tourists. 272 00:22:07,080 --> 00:22:11,080 For a while you begin to wonder from some of the things you hear over there but he did 273 00:22:11,080 --> 00:22:16,040 point out that it was barren and he related that to what David said on this occasion when 274 00:22:16,040 --> 00:22:23,200 he cursed mount Gilboa and said let nothing grow on it and so the guide said you'll see 275 00:22:23,200 --> 00:22:28,960 that the curse was fulfilled. 276 00:22:28,960 --> 00:22:35,200 From the blood of the slain, from the fat of the mighty, the bow of Jonathan did not 277 00:22:35,200 --> 00:22:38,480 turn back and the sword of Saul did not return empty. 278 00:22:38,480 --> 00:22:45,000 Here he is recounting the previous victories of these two mighty warriors. 279 00:22:45,000 --> 00:22:49,800 They had never turned back from the battle before. 280 00:22:49,800 --> 00:22:57,360 Saul and Jonathan he says, beloved and pleasant in their life and in their death they were 281 00:22:57,360 --> 00:22:59,620 not parted. 282 00:22:59,620 --> 00:23:01,840 They were swifter than eagles. 283 00:23:01,840 --> 00:23:04,560 They were stronger than lions. 284 00:23:04,560 --> 00:23:07,880 And so poetically he describes these two men. 285 00:23:07,880 --> 00:23:14,000 Will you notice here that David not only talks about Jonathan who was his dearest friend 286 00:23:14,000 --> 00:23:21,020 but he talks about Saul who had made himself his bitterest enemy. 287 00:23:21,020 --> 00:23:27,520 There is no resentment, there is no bitterness on the part of David toward the king who is 288 00:23:27,520 --> 00:23:29,120 now dead. 289 00:23:29,120 --> 00:23:32,480 But rather we see here only respect. 290 00:23:32,480 --> 00:23:37,400 And he describes him in these glowing terms as lions and eagles. 291 00:23:37,400 --> 00:23:42,120 The verse 24 he invites Israel to join him in mourning. 292 00:23:42,120 --> 00:23:49,400 He says, oh daughters of Israel, weep, weep over Saul who clothed you luxuriously in scarlet, 293 00:23:49,400 --> 00:23:53,320 who put ornaments of gold on your apparel. 294 00:23:53,320 --> 00:24:00,800 And then verses 25 through 27 he gives a special tribute to Jonathan. 295 00:24:00,800 --> 00:24:05,240 Now you put yourself back there and listen to David say these words, will you? 296 00:24:05,240 --> 00:24:08,540 They ring with grief. 297 00:24:08,540 --> 00:24:16,080 You can see the tears come down the face of David across his beard and dripping down. 298 00:24:16,080 --> 00:24:21,760 He says, how have the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle? 299 00:24:21,760 --> 00:24:25,780 Jonathan is slain on your high places. 300 00:24:25,780 --> 00:24:30,780 I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan. 301 00:24:30,780 --> 00:24:33,440 You have been very pleasant to me. 302 00:24:33,440 --> 00:24:39,120 Your love to me was more wonderful than the love of women. 303 00:24:39,120 --> 00:24:46,640 What he means by that is that the kind of relationship that he enjoyed with Jonathan 304 00:24:46,640 --> 00:24:53,520 was as far as he concerned more fulfilling than the normal kind of romantic love with 305 00:24:53,520 --> 00:24:56,280 his wives. 306 00:24:56,280 --> 00:25:03,400 He is not talking about anything here that is in the least way unchaste or impure. 307 00:25:03,400 --> 00:25:13,880 He is simply expressing the depth of his heart's love for Jonathan, the love that they shared 308 00:25:13,880 --> 00:25:16,680 together for each other. 309 00:25:16,680 --> 00:25:24,960 And he says, how have the mighty fallen and the weapons of war perished? 310 00:25:24,960 --> 00:25:30,480 There is nothing improper about mourning, dear people. 311 00:25:30,480 --> 00:25:34,280 God made us with tear ducts. 312 00:25:34,280 --> 00:25:39,240 God made us so that we feel we grieve. 313 00:25:39,240 --> 00:25:44,720 Don't ever be ashamed when you sorrow. 314 00:25:44,720 --> 00:25:46,720 That is a part of human experience. 315 00:25:46,720 --> 00:25:56,920 It is a natural expression of the human emotions that God has built into us. 316 00:25:56,920 --> 00:26:03,720 I have seen occasions when people have lost loved ones who were believers. 317 00:26:03,720 --> 00:26:06,000 Both of them were believers. 318 00:26:06,000 --> 00:26:12,840 The person held up well all during those first days of shock and decision making and through 319 00:26:12,840 --> 00:26:14,880 the funeral. 320 00:26:14,880 --> 00:26:18,160 Everyone marveled at what was taking place and the grace of God. 321 00:26:18,160 --> 00:26:21,600 Indeed, it was the grace of God. 322 00:26:21,600 --> 00:26:27,200 But later there came the breaking of the emotions, the loneliness, the sense of loss began to 323 00:26:27,200 --> 00:26:28,200 set in. 324 00:26:28,200 --> 00:26:32,920 Did that person become unspiritual? 325 00:26:32,920 --> 00:26:39,480 Did the grace of God somehow ultimately fail that person after the funeral was done? 326 00:26:39,480 --> 00:26:41,560 No, not at all. 327 00:26:41,560 --> 00:26:42,560 Not at all. 328 00:26:42,560 --> 00:26:47,480 It was simply the healthy release of emotion. 329 00:26:47,480 --> 00:26:52,320 Someway those emotions have to come out. 330 00:26:52,320 --> 00:26:58,200 If they don't come out then they will come out later in the life in some way. 331 00:26:58,200 --> 00:27:03,880 I have found that true in my life as I have related to some of you before. 332 00:27:03,880 --> 00:27:08,400 In the death of my father as a child I did not understand what was taking place at eight 333 00:27:08,400 --> 00:27:09,400 years of age. 334 00:27:09,400 --> 00:27:20,360 It took me twenty years, twenty years before I began to be able to express my grief, my 335 00:27:20,360 --> 00:27:27,360 anger, and to feel all the emotions that I really should have felt back then. 336 00:27:27,360 --> 00:27:31,360 But as a child I did not. 337 00:27:31,360 --> 00:27:35,200 It may be that there are some of you here tonight that have been trying to hold back 338 00:27:35,200 --> 00:27:38,400 and suppress feelings of grief. 339 00:27:38,400 --> 00:27:41,120 That is not a healthy thing to do. 340 00:27:41,120 --> 00:27:43,440 Allow them to be released. 341 00:27:43,440 --> 00:27:48,200 But remember this, that though we sorrow, that as believers in Jesus Christ we do not 342 00:27:48,200 --> 00:27:51,120 sorrow as those who have no hope. 343 00:27:51,120 --> 00:28:01,680 We shed tears because we are human beings, but our tears are undergirded within with 344 00:28:01,680 --> 00:28:10,520 a sense of the hope that God has placed within us because of Jesus Christ. 345 00:28:10,520 --> 00:28:16,600 We sorrow, but we do not sorrow as those who have no hope, as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 346 00:28:16,600 --> 00:28:18,840 4.13. 347 00:28:18,840 --> 00:28:21,720 David hears sorrows. 348 00:28:21,720 --> 00:28:22,720 He weeps. 349 00:28:22,720 --> 00:28:30,400 He laments the death of his beloved spiritual brother, Jonathan. 350 00:28:30,400 --> 00:28:34,280 But he does not despair. 351 00:28:34,280 --> 00:28:37,120 He does not weep to the point of having no hope. 352 00:28:37,120 --> 00:28:40,880 That is not a part of this. 353 00:28:40,880 --> 00:28:44,600 So that is the second reaction to the death of the king. 354 00:28:44,600 --> 00:28:47,680 The first was a story is fabricated. 355 00:28:47,680 --> 00:28:54,600 Now a song is composed, but finally we see in our text that a sovereign is anointed. 356 00:28:54,600 --> 00:28:56,600 Now once before David was anointed. 357 00:28:56,600 --> 00:28:58,080 It was private. 358 00:28:58,080 --> 00:29:05,600 It was just with his family back in Bethlehem before this whole thing with Saul even began. 359 00:29:05,600 --> 00:29:08,720 It was back when he was still shepherding sheep. 360 00:29:08,720 --> 00:29:19,040 It was before Goliath was killed when he was a kid, just a teenager, back some 14 years 361 00:29:19,040 --> 00:29:27,440 ago, perhaps 15 years ago from this time that we are looking at in 2 Samuel. 362 00:29:27,440 --> 00:29:31,360 But it says it came about afterwards that David inquired of the Lord, saying, Shall 363 00:29:31,360 --> 00:29:34,840 I go up to one of the cities of Judah? 364 00:29:34,840 --> 00:29:37,040 And the Lord said to him, Go up. 365 00:29:37,040 --> 00:29:38,360 David said, Where shall I go up? 366 00:29:38,360 --> 00:29:40,460 And he said to Hebron. 367 00:29:40,460 --> 00:29:46,960 So David went up there and his two wives also, Hinnom the Jezreelitess and Abigael the widow 368 00:29:46,960 --> 00:29:50,080 of Nabal the Carmelite. 369 00:29:50,080 --> 00:29:54,160 And David brought up his men who were with him, each with his household, and they lived 370 00:29:54,160 --> 00:29:56,920 in the cities of Hebron. 371 00:29:56,920 --> 00:30:03,880 And the men of Judah came and there anointed David king over the house of Judah. 372 00:30:03,880 --> 00:30:08,440 So this is when David was 30 years of age, as you can read a few verses later on here 373 00:30:08,440 --> 00:30:10,160 in the text. 374 00:30:10,160 --> 00:30:17,400 At this time he was anointed king over Judah, not over the whole nation of Israel, but just 375 00:30:17,400 --> 00:30:18,400 over Judah. 376 00:30:18,400 --> 00:30:21,180 And it happened in the city of Hebron. 377 00:30:21,180 --> 00:30:29,200 And from that city for the next seven and a half years he reigned as king of the people. 378 00:30:29,200 --> 00:30:33,640 Imagine the kind of change that took place in his life. 379 00:30:33,640 --> 00:30:40,900 One night he's a criminal, the next day he's the king of the nation. 380 00:30:40,900 --> 00:30:49,040 For more than 10 years he had been a fugitive running from Saul from cave to Philistine 381 00:30:49,040 --> 00:30:54,000 City out into the wilderness trying to keep his life together. 382 00:30:54,000 --> 00:30:59,760 And now suddenly instead of being a fugitive he is the sovereign of the people. 383 00:30:59,760 --> 00:31:02,720 Quite a change for this man. 384 00:31:02,720 --> 00:31:07,600 The sovereign is anointed and here it is a public anointing setting him apart. 385 00:31:07,600 --> 00:31:12,960 Now David could have pressed the issue at this point and demanded to be the king of 386 00:31:12,960 --> 00:31:18,860 all the people and have a public anointing for all the tribes of Israel. 387 00:31:18,860 --> 00:31:25,920 But there's a problem as we shall see on another week for there was still a son of Saul who 388 00:31:25,920 --> 00:31:28,700 lived. 389 00:31:28,700 --> 00:31:35,160 And rather than force the issue at this time and perhaps create civil war, David waited 390 00:31:35,160 --> 00:31:38,740 upon God for God's timing. 391 00:31:38,740 --> 00:31:44,120 I'm impressed by the fact that this man who just before this had been living a lie down 392 00:31:44,120 --> 00:31:53,900 in Philistia, living in Ziklag you remember, and who then turned to the Lord begins to 393 00:31:53,900 --> 00:31:55,320 inquire of the Lord. 394 00:31:55,320 --> 00:31:57,080 Do you notice that in verse 1? 395 00:31:57,080 --> 00:32:00,360 He said, Lord shall I go up to Judah? 396 00:32:00,360 --> 00:32:01,360 Yes. 397 00:32:01,360 --> 00:32:04,640 Where shall I go? 398 00:32:04,640 --> 00:32:05,640 To Hebron. 399 00:32:05,640 --> 00:32:13,240 Hebron was a city, it is a city, located some 20 or 25 miles south of Jerusalem. 400 00:32:13,240 --> 00:32:18,680 So the Lord said go up there. 401 00:32:18,680 --> 00:32:25,480 So we see David again living in dependence upon God, humbling himself before the Lord, 402 00:32:25,480 --> 00:32:30,440 being willing to wait upon God for his timing. 403 00:32:30,440 --> 00:32:34,360 What a good lesson that is for you and me. 404 00:32:34,360 --> 00:32:42,440 You and I are called by the Lord to reign in life with Jesus Christ. 405 00:32:42,440 --> 00:32:46,340 To reign in life, Romans chapter 5. 406 00:32:46,340 --> 00:32:49,020 What a great thought that is. 407 00:32:49,020 --> 00:32:55,920 We are to be kings in life, in this world. 408 00:32:55,920 --> 00:33:04,040 Not the kings who force their opinions on others and make demands of servants, but kings 409 00:33:04,040 --> 00:33:12,080 who reign in humility with Jesus Christ and who know the anointing of God upon the life 410 00:33:12,080 --> 00:33:16,280 because they are willing to wait upon Him. 411 00:33:16,280 --> 00:33:23,880 If you would reign in life as a sovereign with Jesus Christ, then you and I must do 412 00:33:23,880 --> 00:33:25,600 what David did. 413 00:33:25,600 --> 00:33:33,600 We must learn to inquire of the Lord in His word and learn to wait patiently upon Him 414 00:33:33,600 --> 00:33:38,300 for His time, His way. 415 00:33:38,300 --> 00:33:39,880 So often we do it otherwise. 416 00:33:39,880 --> 00:33:45,840 We say, now Lord, here's the goal and here's how we're going to get there, now bless it. 417 00:33:45,840 --> 00:33:48,240 Don't we do that? 418 00:33:48,240 --> 00:33:54,040 We give God our plans and say, now God, you surely have to bless this, don't you? 419 00:33:54,040 --> 00:33:57,640 Of course the answer is no, He doesn't. 420 00:33:57,640 --> 00:34:00,440 He doesn't have to bless that. 421 00:34:00,440 --> 00:34:04,840 Nothing wrong with setting objectives out there and having goals, but they must always 422 00:34:04,840 --> 00:34:09,240 be with the understanding, now Lord, if there's something here that doesn't please you or 423 00:34:09,240 --> 00:34:13,200 if we've messed this up in some way, you correct it. 424 00:34:13,200 --> 00:34:19,980 As you and I learn to live humbly that way and to be the sovereigns God has called us 425 00:34:19,980 --> 00:34:26,680 to be, but to be the kind of sovereigns that inquire of Him and wait upon Him for His timing 426 00:34:26,680 --> 00:34:33,960 and His way in our lives, then we will know the anointing of God as David knew it in his 427 00:34:33,960 --> 00:34:36,000 day. 428 00:34:36,000 --> 00:34:37,640 Let's be that kind of people. 429 00:34:37,640 --> 00:34:44,320 Well, the third reaction to the death of the king was the sovereign is anointed. 430 00:34:44,320 --> 00:34:47,600 God's purpose goes on. 431 00:34:47,600 --> 00:34:52,280 And this is somewhat a parallel to the Lord Jesus Christ. 432 00:34:52,280 --> 00:34:57,240 Remember David had been privately anointed before this. 433 00:34:57,240 --> 00:35:05,040 God had established him as the king, and yet it was not something that was publicly recognized 434 00:35:05,040 --> 00:35:14,120 until this point when he's 30 years of age, maybe 15 years later. 435 00:35:14,120 --> 00:35:18,200 God's time had to be observed. 436 00:35:18,200 --> 00:35:20,640 God's time was when Saul had died. 437 00:35:20,640 --> 00:35:24,400 Saul was the people's king. 438 00:35:24,400 --> 00:35:29,980 David was the Lord's king. 439 00:35:29,980 --> 00:35:35,440 There will come a day when the people's king will reign in this world. 440 00:35:35,440 --> 00:35:37,760 His spirit has been around for 2,000 years. 441 00:35:37,760 --> 00:35:43,000 It's called in the Bible the spirit of antichrist. 442 00:35:43,000 --> 00:35:47,960 That spirit of antichrist will someday be personified in a person who will bear that 443 00:35:47,960 --> 00:35:51,320 name, the antichrist. 444 00:35:51,320 --> 00:35:57,920 The Bible seems to indicate that he is going to reign over the Western culture, Western 445 00:35:57,920 --> 00:36:08,080 society, the revived Roman Empire over Europe and those associated with Europe, probably 446 00:36:08,080 --> 00:36:12,560 the United States too. 447 00:36:12,560 --> 00:36:16,600 Antichrist will be man's king. 448 00:36:16,600 --> 00:36:22,840 When man's king is dealt with as he will be, then God is going to establish his son 449 00:36:22,840 --> 00:36:24,720 and publicly anoint him. 450 00:36:24,720 --> 00:36:28,720 Now, he's already been anointed privately, so to speak, as the king. 451 00:36:28,720 --> 00:36:35,760 As the Lord says back in Psalm 2, I have set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. 452 00:36:35,760 --> 00:36:42,600 Jesus has already privately, so to speak, been anointed to be the king. 453 00:36:42,600 --> 00:36:50,000 Publicly he will be proclaimed anointed king after man's king has been dealt with. 454 00:36:50,000 --> 00:36:54,360 A parallel here to the Lord Jesus Christ. 455 00:36:54,360 --> 00:36:59,680 So may these instructions from God's word give us direction for this week and guidance 456 00:36:59,680 --> 00:37:03,200 in our lives as we walk with God. 457 00:37:03,200 --> 00:37:07,520 Remember that David was not a perfect man by any means. 458 00:37:07,520 --> 00:37:09,160 We see him lying. 459 00:37:09,160 --> 00:37:15,160 We see him involved in things that he should not have been involved in at times. 460 00:37:15,160 --> 00:37:19,440 In that respect, he was no different than you and I are today. 461 00:37:19,440 --> 00:37:27,080 And David was a man who learned his lessons and he was a man who, when he fell and sinned, 462 00:37:27,080 --> 00:37:31,560 repented and came back to the Lord and then walked with God. 463 00:37:31,560 --> 00:37:37,920 He was a man who with his whole heart inquired after the Lord and sought him and who in humility 464 00:37:37,920 --> 00:37:40,360 trusted the Lord. 465 00:37:40,360 --> 00:37:43,540 Therefore he was a man after God's own heart. 466 00:37:43,540 --> 00:37:50,000 And I trust that that is the position that we're in, that we are men and women after 467 00:37:50,000 --> 00:37:51,760 the Lord's heart. 468 00:37:51,760 --> 00:37:53,760 Let's pray. 469 00:37:53,760 --> 00:38:00,360 Lord, I know that there are many of us tonight who share that desire. 470 00:38:00,360 --> 00:38:04,720 We want to be a people after your own heart. 471 00:38:04,720 --> 00:38:10,680 A people who like David would be anointed in life. 472 00:38:10,680 --> 00:38:17,200 Because we know what it is to inquire of you and to wait upon you. 473 00:38:17,200 --> 00:38:23,200 Lord, make that a reality. 474 00:38:23,200 --> 00:38:30,040 Take that from the desire shelf in our lives and get it down where we live. 475 00:38:30,040 --> 00:38:37,680 And this week as we live before people who do not know you, I pray that they will be 476 00:38:37,680 --> 00:38:43,360 able to sense that there's something different about us. 477 00:38:43,360 --> 00:38:51,000 That we are in truth a people who know the Lord and walk with him. 478 00:38:51,000 --> 00:38:59,920 As people around us observe us being able to reign in life, I ask that you will give 479 00:38:59,920 --> 00:39:11,240 to them a heart's desire to know what it is that gives our life direction and purpose. 480 00:39:11,240 --> 00:39:20,000 And establish this week for many of us contacts with people who need Jesus. 481 00:39:20,000 --> 00:39:25,760 And enable us, I pray, to build a bridge into their lives so that we might share him with 482 00:39:25,760 --> 00:39:29,360 them. 483 00:39:29,360 --> 00:39:33,940 To that end and to the end that we may walk with you as a people after your own heart. 484 00:39:33,940 --> 00:39:38,280 We ask your blessing upon us as we go tonight. 485 00:39:38,280 --> 00:39:40,280 In Jesus' name, amen. 486 00:39:40,280 --> 00:39:45,860 Well, dear people, thank you for being here coming out on this winter evening. 487 00:39:45,860 --> 00:39:48,860 God bless you for that. 488 00:39:48,860 --> 00:39:59,840 Let's pray for one another this week and gather for a marvelous prayer meeting on Friday night. 489 00:39:59,840 --> 00:40:05,280 Mask. 490 00:40:05,280 --> 00:40:09,120 Transformed is being changed from the inside out. 491 00:40:09,120 --> 00:40:11,200 Conformed is external. 492 00:40:11,200 --> 00:40:15,080 Transformed is internal with an external result. 493 00:40:15,080 --> 00:40:19,000 The word is metamorphi...oh my. 494 00:40:19,000 --> 00:40:24,920 And you may remember an English word that is a direct transliteration of that, namely, 495 00:40:24,920 --> 00:40:29,400 and I've seen it on several of your lips already, metamorphosis. 496 00:40:29,400 --> 00:40:31,780 Metamorphosis. 497 00:40:31,780 --> 00:40:39,920 And I remember one of the books that my oldest kids read when they were very small children. 498 00:40:39,920 --> 00:40:44,480 It was a book entitled Metamorphosis. 499 00:40:44,480 --> 00:40:47,920 And it was the story of Sid. 500 00:40:47,920 --> 00:40:54,240 Sid was a worm, an ugly little caterpillar. 501 00:40:54,240 --> 00:40:59,940 And it's said that one day Sid got a great idea. 502 00:40:59,940 --> 00:41:06,680 As he was groveling along in the dirt, he went on up this plant that he came to and 503 00:41:06,680 --> 00:41:14,080 he went out on a branch here and he secreted a kind of translucent fluid on that branch 504 00:41:14,080 --> 00:41:20,200 and he made a kind of a sticky button there and he turned his posterior anatomy around 505 00:41:20,200 --> 00:41:27,560 and hooked it on that button and then he shaped himself into a J like this and he proceeded 506 00:41:27,560 --> 00:41:35,600 to build a house around himself as he wove those threads of the house and finally completely 507 00:41:35,600 --> 00:41:42,360 incarcerated himself inside of that building that he had made and everything was very, 508 00:41:42,360 --> 00:41:44,280 very still. 509 00:41:44,280 --> 00:41:49,680 And you would have thought that Sid had worked himself to death. 510 00:41:49,680 --> 00:41:51,240 But not really. 511 00:41:51,240 --> 00:41:54,240 Something was going on on the inside. 512 00:41:54,240 --> 00:42:00,160 And after a period of time, Sid let you know what was going on because he raised the blinds 513 00:42:00,160 --> 00:42:05,800 on his house and you could look through these translucent windows and you could see beautiful 514 00:42:05,800 --> 00:42:07,280 colors in there. 515 00:42:07,280 --> 00:42:14,920 And then all of a sudden one day a tremendous eruption took place in Sid's house and it 516 00:42:14,920 --> 00:42:23,840 just jerked all over that branch and finally out of one side came this great, big, beautiful, 517 00:42:23,840 --> 00:42:28,000 multicolored wing that he stretched out. 518 00:42:28,000 --> 00:42:33,520 And then from the other side came another one just like it. 519 00:42:33,520 --> 00:42:39,960 And then Sid began to wiggle and try to get the rest of it off. 520 00:42:39,960 --> 00:42:46,300 Now you don't want to interrupt him in the process because if you interrupt that process 521 00:42:46,300 --> 00:42:55,960 and you pull it off, you will maim him for life because there is a process of metamorphosis 522 00:42:55,960 --> 00:42:59,480 through which he must go. 523 00:42:59,480 --> 00:43:05,600 And after he has gone through the process and he has shaken off the rest of that, then 524 00:43:05,600 --> 00:43:13,920 he stretches his wings out and he becomes aware of a new power that he has that he never 525 00:43:13,920 --> 00:43:18,120 had before when he crawled up that limb. 526 00:43:18,120 --> 00:43:20,520 And this is flight power. 527 00:43:20,520 --> 00:43:27,520 And so now instead of crawling down that branch and groveling back in the dirt again, he takes 528 00:43:27,520 --> 00:43:36,480 off with flight power and he flits from flower to flower enjoying the sweet nectar of God's 529 00:43:36,480 --> 00:43:42,520 great, big, wonderful creation. 530 00:43:42,520 --> 00:43:50,400 And that is precisely what Paul says happens to a believer that will do what he is talking 531 00:43:50,400 --> 00:43:53,040 about here. 532 00:43:53,040 --> 00:44:04,640 If any man be in Christ, behold a new creation. 533 00:44:04,640 --> 00:44:14,440 All things have become new to that one. 534 00:44:14,440 --> 00:44:26,880 But we all with unveiled face steadfastly looking at, beholding as in a mirror the glory of 535 00:44:26,880 --> 00:44:37,520 the Lord in Jesus Christ are being transformed, are being metamorphosed from glory to glory. 536 00:44:37,520 --> 00:44:40,720 And you could add in 10,000 more glories there. 537 00:44:40,720 --> 00:44:46,800 He gave you enough to make you find out it doesn't happen like that. 538 00:44:46,800 --> 00:44:52,280 It's from glory to glory to glory to glory to glory. 539 00:44:52,280 --> 00:44:54,600 And what's the end goal? 540 00:44:54,600 --> 00:45:11,440 Just likeness into the same image as that which I look at.