Sunday Evening Worship Service
by Anthony McCool
First Apostolic Church of Knoxville (Knoxville, TN)
Kind: sermon
Scripture: 1 Samuel 21:10-15

Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/anthony-mccool--sunday-evening-worship-service-63
Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page.
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If you have your Bibles, turn with me to the book of 1st Samuel 21 and we'll read verses 10- 15. And if you didn't hear the tremendous Bible study this past Wednesday night, you need to go back and listen to it. Bishop just talked so and taught mightily about telling it not in Gath. And I I told him and I told uh my dad, I said, I had just a divine revelation, a a supernatural experience. Boy, I've got you you built up right now. I believe this is I don't want this to be too much of an apocalyptic speculation and send you off uh uh countering one another or create any confusion. So So please hear me out. I believe if you subject yourself and your family to the word of God that every sol every issue and problem that you're dealing with there is a solution in this book and the the Bible study that I know that's that's far I know that's far out there. Okay. I know that's that's I I don't want to be too heavenly minded that I'm I'm no earthly good, but I believe this book, if you'll if you if you'll get into Bible study and you'll and you'll see the promises in this book, I believe that it'll bring peace to your family, peace to your marriage, peace in your finances. I know that's I know that's wild, but just kind of put that in your your back pocket for another time. 1st Samuel 21 10. And David arose and fled that day for the fear of Saul, and went to Akish, the king of Gath. And the servants of Akish said unto him, "Is not this David, king of the land? Is this is this David? Did they not sing to one another of him in dances, saying, "Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his 10 thousands." Is this not the same guy? And David laid up these words in his heart and was sore afraid of Akish, the king of Gath. And due to this verse 13 it says, "And he changed his behavior before them and feigned himself mad in their hands and scrabbled on the doors of the gate and let spittle fall down his beard." Then said Akish unto his servants, "Lo, you see this man, he's mad. Wherefore then have ye brought him to? Why did you bring me this mad man? I'm busy. I have got stuff to do. Why did you bring him before me? Have I need of a mad man that ye have brought this fellow to play the mad man in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house? I want to minister to you few for a few moments tonight on the topic. There is a method in my madness. There's a method in my madness. Could we pray right now? Heavenly Father, we thank you. We thank you for the outpouring of your spirit and presence throughout the duration of this entire Sunday. Lord, whatever season of life someone came in here this evening with or whatever struggles or obstacles someone might be facing, Lord, our faith is built tonight through your word through the God of the breakthrough that you can make a way when there is no way. And you can turn those tests in our life into testimonies that we look back and say that was a tough season in my life, but that's where God found me and where God made a way. We thank you and we praise you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. There's a method in my madness. We often use phrases without truly understanding or grasping their depth. Consider the famous line from Shakespeare's Hamlet where this title is derived. Though this be madness, yet there's method in it. It wasn't just a casual observation. It was a profound insight to the human condition. This was coined around 1600. in the phrase suggests that even in apparent sanity, there can be a hidden purpose, a calculated strategy. In Shakespeare's play, Hamlet feains madness to investigate his father's death, masking his intentions behind a veiled eccentric behavior. But this concept goes further than beyond Shakespeare's stage. We often find ourselves in situations where the path ahead seems impossible, where the walls begin to close in and desperation grips our hearts. So, we look to the story in a nothing short of a rather bizarre episode in the life of David, which is to say a lot when you read about David, the man after God's own heart, the shepherd boy hero who defeated the mighty giant Goliath, the warrior, the harpest, the king, but now also a fugitive. live driven to the brink. Our text in 1 Samuel isn't just a strange antidote. It's a mirror reflecting the extreme measures we need to take sometimes when our backs are against the wall. It's about nothing short of survival. Yes, it's also about faith. Yes, it's also about courage and the willingness to do what seems utterly crazy to achieve what God has called us to do. Imagine King David, the celebrated hero, the slayer of Goliath, now a man on the run, now a hunted man. King Saul consumed by jealousy relentlessly pursues him. And David is not just facing opposition. He is fighting now for his very survival. Life often throws us into situations where we find ourself on the run, where just a few months earlier or a few years earlier we can point to great successes in our life. Or we can look back at a time where everything seemed to be going just right. And I was checking the boxes in my career pursuit and my goals were being knocked down. But something can strike, some event can take place, and all of the sudden I find myself on the run. Running from debt, running from broken relationships, a health crisis, spiritual stagnation. In desperation, David seeks refuge in Gath. That right there is crazy enough. Everybody remember where Goliath was from? Goliath of. And now David is going to the place to find protection from the very homeland of the giant Goliath. Think David probably get a warm welcome when he go there. He defeated their, you know, their their giant on the battlefield. Cut his head off and they sang and celebrated him. You you think that's a great place for you to go for David to go and find refuge in the Philistine city, the very home of Goliath. The irony of going back to the lion's den, if you will, to find protections. But sometimes those solutions that God calls us to can seem counterintuitive. And we might consider a drastic career change, a a difficult conversation or a financial risk that seems utterly insane to everyone else around us. And David is recognized. And you can even read the anticipation when you read this particular narrative about David. It's almost like he he went unidentified or unnoticed for a little bit, but then he got somebody's attention. You know how it is when you you're at the airport or somewhere and you see somebody you see somebody famous and you're not a 100% sure if that's the right person or not. And you're like, I I've seen that person somewhere before. And you you start kind of Google searching them and you're like, hey, maybe that maybe that is him. May maybe that is her from that reality show that you binge watch that nobody else knows who it is. Just you, Sister Ashley. Um, I'll pay for that one later. But that's kind of how it how it was when D like is that No, that can't be David. F first off, David wouldn't be in Gath. That that is David. That is David. I remember how he how he walked. His beard's a little long and that why would why would they hey that's the King David. Somebody tell tell them that King David is here. The Philistines remember the songs. Saul has slain his thousands and David his 10,000. Fear grips him and David begins to realize the gravity of his situation. There are moments in our lives when things catch up with us. Maybe our past catches up with us or previous mistakes or previous lack of disciplines catch up with us and maybe our fears begin to materialize and we come to the acknowledgment that we are in deep trouble. the credit card bill comes due, if you will. It could be in the form of a health diagnosis. It could be a financial collapse. It could be the exposure of the accumulation of a lot of different decisions. maybe not inherently sinful or inherently wrong, but all of these things just come at us at once where we have that moment in our life where if I don't do something right now, I'm not going to make it. David, the mighty king, the warrior, we now find him in a very vulnerable position. He's exposed and the weight of expectation, the memory of his past triumphs, it only amplifies his present danger. We too often carry the weight of expectations from others, from family, from society and the expectations we place on ourselves. These expectations can become crushing burdens when we face our moment of crisis to say, "Hey, I need help. Hey, I made a mistake. Hey, I I made some poor decisions." But what do we see David do? It says he feigns insanity. He says if I have a calling on my life, this is the Davidic bloodline from which the Messiah would come. I I have a calling on my life. There's a a kingdom dependent upon me. But in this present moment though in my past I was the young boy who was so faithful watching watching my father's sheep. Uh I was so brave and courageous to step out onto the battlefield. People threw me up on their shoulders and they sang songs about Saul killing his thousands. But King David killed his 10 thousands. But now I'm a hunted man in the very place where the giant came from. And if I don't do something in this very moment to get me out of this situation, they're going to take my life. I don't think David had many friends there. So David resorts to acting crazy. It says he feigns madness. He He starts to ride on the doors. And it says he lets spit just run down his beer. This this is King David now. The the harpist, the the great warrior who they wrote songs about and the book of Psalms and all these poetic verses. This is King David. But to get out of this particular situation, he's got to act a little bit crazy. And this wasn't just some odd behavior. It was complete and utter humiliation. It was the stripping away of his dignity. David, the mighty warrior, humbled himself. The only way I'm going to get out of this situation is if I act and do something crazy. I'm going to do whatever it takes to survive in this moment. David understood that his only chance of survival lay in convincing his enemies that he was no threat. Madness was his disguise. Madness was his shield. Sometimes the only way we're going to be able to break free from a destructive pattern or escape a dangerous situation is we're going to have to do something that seems utterly irrational. We're going to have to do something that seems like to this world and to society that is absolutely madness, absolute craziness. Sometimes your family's not going to understand it. Sometimes the people you work with aren't going to understand it. But God calls you to a certain season in your life or the obstacles of life come crushing around you. And the only way you're going to get out of them is if you change your behavior and do something absolutely crazy. King as a Aish disgusted by David's behavior says, "I've got enough mad men in this kingdom." He said, "Am I so short of mad men that you bring this one before me?" He wants David gone. God can use the most unlikely means to deliver us. He can use our craziness and our willingness to step outside the norm to confound our enemies and open doors of escape. David then escapes and he is free. He had to abandon his dignity. He had to act like a madman. Sometimes survival comes at a cost. Sometimes we're going to have to get out of our comfort zone and stop pretending to be so prideful and stoic and we're going to have to change our behavior a little bit to get what God has called us to do. Or maybe there's some goals or aspirations in your life or some things that you've set forth for your family or yourself, but you've just been going through the motions of dignity, and I'm just going to keep doing what I've always been doing. Meanwhile, God's calling you to step out and change your behavior a little bit and get a little bit mad in the head and do something a little bit crazy. for God to offer his refuge. We We're going to have to sacrifice our pride. We're going to have to sacrifice our comfort. Sometimes we're going to have to sac sacrifice our reputation to get to the other side. David's act was in a sense an act of faith. He believed that this insane behavior would work. He trusted that God could use even the humiliating act to protect him. Faith isn't always logical. David the king to be humbled himself to the point of degradation. He was willing to lose faith to save his life. He was willing to lose faith to save the nation of Israel. He had a calling upon his life. Humility is the key to unlocking God's power in our lives. It's when we are at our weakest. It's when we are at our most vulnerable that we are most open to God's grace. David's act was bold. It was risky. It could have backfired, but he was willing to take that risk. God is calling you to be bold. God is calling you to step out. God is calling you to do some things that are not going to make sense to those around you, to your family, to those you work with. As I mentioned earlier, he's calling you to step out to make the difference. Sometimes we're going to have to do crazy things in order to survive. In late 2012, Joseé Salvador Alvaringa, an experienced fisherman, set out on a one-day fishing trip off the coast of Mexico. A severe storm blew him far off course. It disabled the boat's engine and communication equipment. He was stranded in the Pacific Ocean with limited supplies and no way to contact anyone. He survived 438 days a drift at sea. He endured scorching sun, relentless storms, and near starvation. To stay alive, he ate raw fish, birds, and even jellyfish that he caught with his bare hands. He drank rainwater, and when that wasn't available, he even had to resort from the blood of other creatures that he caught. Oh, that's disgusting. That's That's gross. You could have cut that particular part out. He battled loneliness and despair, clinging to the hope of rescue. You You'll do some crazy stuff when you're desperate. You'll do some crazy stuff if you get it in your mind that I I've got to survive at all cost. And against all odds, he eventually washed ashore on a remote atoll in the Marshall Islands, thousands of miles from where he began. His survival would be a testament to his resilience, his resourcefulness, and sheer determination to live. The mental and physical strength needed to stay alive with no resources is amazing. His story highlights the incredible capacity of the human spirit to endure even the most extreme circumstances. What are you willing to do for your family? What are you willing to do so your marriage survives? What are you willing to do for your community and what God is calling to you to do? Can we somehow grasp that desperation of doing whatever it takes? David Gogggins, former Navy Seal, ultramarathon runner and ultradistant cyclist, came from an abusive and disadvantaged background. He struggled with obesity and faced numerous physical and mental challenges. But he came up with a diet of eating a banana in the morning and then protein powder for lunch and then a grilled chicken breast and rice. And he ate that every single day and ran so many miles till he hit his goal weight in order to be in the Navy. He's now a writer and you can find him online. But he popularized the 40% rule which suggests that when your mind tells you you're done, you're only 40% of the way to your actual limit. He transformed his body and mind. His friends called him crazy. His his family called him insane. And at first they told him that he would never be able to do it. He became an elite athlete and completed some of the world's toughest and endurance races and developed an unparalleled level of mental toughness. His crazy approach isn't for everyone. He says when if you start watching him his one of his main tagline is nobody cares, work harder. And if you're not able to handle that, if you want to be just kind of kind of massaged along and and kind of nudged along with, he he says, "That's that's not for me." But he says, "I I'm looking for people who want a radical a radical change in their lives and are willing to do whatever it takes to get to that goal in your finances." We've all heard Dave Ramsey. He says when you're in financial debt and you're paying your way out, he said you need to eat beans and rice and rice and beans. Talking about you don't need to spend one more dime on something that you can't afford, especially food. He you need to live as cheap as possible. He said, "If you if you're going to see the inside of a restaurant, then you need to be working in it in order to achieve." He said, "You're going to get you're crazy." When you when you hear some of the testimonies that people that call in, their family calls them nuts. Their family calls them crazy. Why Why can't y'all go out and hang out with us anymore? Why Why can't you go to this restaurant with us now? And why can't you do this and why can't you do that? because they're getting their disciplines back put in place with their finances and are not going to be in debt to a creditor. He said you got to you got to get crazy in order to achieve those goals. There's great testimonies across this house of those who worked multiple jobs and finished off their schooling or or went to schooling later in their life with their education. entrepreneurs who did one thing and it didn't work out how I thought it would, but they but they didn't quit and they had to sacrifice and they started another business and and that wasn't it. But they but they learned from that and they they they they kept going with it. They they they kept p pounding the pavement and and they kept trying and they they kept working and they they had to sacrifice at times and uh maybe at one point they were in a nice house and uh they were they were entrepreneurial and then they they had to move into an apartment and they did this and they did that and oh what are they doing? They're just they're just crazy. Yeah. And now you look at them here and man, it must be nice to have what they have. Well, if you if you want what they have, it's going to take a a couple things to to get off a little bit in your mind. It's going to take some things that aren't going to make sense to to to everybody else. uh it's going to it's going to not make sense to the rest of those around you. But most important, what crazy thing are you willing to do to rekindle that fire in the relationship with God? What are you willing to do for your family to be in God's house? You look through the lids of your Bible. Noah, crazy, right? Abraham, he's mad. Moses mad. Jesus washing his disciples feet, suffering and enduring the pain of humanity. A little bit mad. Musicians and singers come I believe God's calling someone tonight that's in a present situation where the walls have closed in and the report is all but finalized and you're in that urgency, that moment that's like something has to change. No, there's there's not a time for a threemonth uh uh plan to be put in place in in this moment. There there there's not time to just kind of walk my way out of there. I mean, there's got to be a change right now. David's descent into madness was not a sign of weakness, but an act of desperate faith. It teaches us that sometimes the most insane actions can be the most effective, the most liberating, and the most God- ordained. So I ask you this question tonight. What mad thing, what crazy thing is God calling you to do? What is the risk that you're willing to take? What's the sacrifice as Pastor Mcool preached about this morning? What sacrifice are you willing to make for yourself and for your family? I would tell you tonight, don't be afraid to act mad and embrace the madness of faith. God can use even your most humiliating moments for his glory. And he's tonight saying, "Go forth and be crazy for the glory of God." We we've explored David's crazy act of figning madness, a a desperate measure for survival, but look at the profound irony of his refuge. And as I mentioned earlier, it can't be understated enough or overstated enough. He fled to Gath, the hometown of Goliath, the very giant he had slain. He found shelter in the shadow of his greatest triumph and his greatest enemy. That seems absolutely insane. But God does not counsel us on what he has planned for us. He works in ways that defy human understanding. And when you see the complete outcome and read the entire narrative, then you can only say that God had a hand in this. Consider the parallel in the life of Jesus, the son of God. For when his life was in danger, he, Mary, and Joseph fled to Egypt. Egypt was the place where they had festivals and hols and celebrations over the deliverance from that place of bondage, that place of oppression where God miraculously delivered his people. But now we see Jesus having to go to Egypt to find refuge. So I submit to you this evening, that place that you're in tonight where by all accounts it's Gath, by all accounts it's Egypt, I believe God has his hand on you. And I believe the things that might not make sense to this world, stand with me, and make sense to the things around you. That God is calling somebody to step out tonight to say that, "Hey, I I'm ready to offer you protection. I'm I'm ready to make a way when there seems to be no way. I'm ready to be as Micah the prophet said, he's the God who breaks." Perhaps you're facing a situation that feels just as contradictory. Maybe you're in your Gath or your Egypt, a place where your past haunts you, where your dreams seem impossible, where you feel surrounded by your enemies. David and Jesus, their stories are a testament to God's power that he can transform the worst of circumstances into the greatest of opportunities. So, are you willing to trust God's crazy plan tonight? Is somebody in this house willing to act a little mad to achieve the goals that you've set out for yourself? to achieve what God has called you to do. Maybe you come here tonight and failure rings loud in your ear. Failure oh in a relationship or or failure in the workplace or everything not going as completely as it was planned. God is calling you tonight to to to to let down a bit of your pride and and and let humility flow from you to say, "God, I I need you to make a way right now in this moment. I I need you to show up for myself and my family. Oh, I wonder if somebody tonight would surrender their fear and surrender their doubt." And even if you find yourself in Gat or you find yourself in Egypt, I wonder if acknowledgment of your madness that you could come give God praise. Oh, when there's no music even going or or nobody's singing and say, "I'm going to get a little bit undignified in this moment. I'm going to act a little bit crazy. Oh, nobody else around me's jumping. Nobody else around me's leaping for joy or shouting. But I'm going to I'm going to get a little bit crazy. I'm going to get a little bit mad. God's got something in store for me. I've got a covenantal promise over my life. And I just believe tonight when you begin to do that over your family or I believe you begin to do that for yourself. I believe the enemy begins to say, "I I can't use this person. This person's like Job. I can't use this person. This perfect person's going to praise when I've taken everything away from them. Hey, could we could we I want to transition one second here. Could we do that song? The God of a breakthrough. Could we do this that song? The God Are were we able to do that? I want to do that song. The God of a breakthrough. He is the God who is able to break. And I wonder if somebody under the sound of my voice is sick and tired, as they say, of being sick and tired. I'm tired of dealing with the same old things. I'm tired of dealing with the same old doubts. I'm tired of dealing with the same old fear. But I come under the authority of the name of Jesus Christ and his presence. And I'm committed to getting a little bit mad. Things are going to be different on my watch. I'm starting Monday morning just a little bit different. I'm doing it for my family. I'm doing it for my my my church. And I'm going to sacrifice in every way possible. [Music] Breakthrough in my heart, breakthrough in my mind, breakthrough in my spirit, breakthrough in my soul, breakthrough in my weakness, breakthrough in my struggle. You are the God. You are the God of the breakthrough in my worship. Breakthrough in my praise. Breakthrough when I lift and glorify your name. Breakthrough when I dance. Breakthrough when I shout. You are the God. You are the God of the >> I don't think that I can use that person. >> I don't think I'm going to be able to use that person. The enemy is going to say, "Get him out of my sight. Get her out of my sight. She's She's too committed. He's too committed. I take everything away from them. They're still giving God praise. Those people are crazy. Get him out of my sight. >> You are the God of the breakthrough. Breakthrough. >> When you begin to praise God, >> it shifts your focus. >> When you begin to praise God, it silences all fears and doubts. When you begin to praise God, it breaks the negativity. Some people are speaking negativity in their own life. That's what's truly crazy. When you've got the Holy Ghost inside of you, when you're empowered by Jesus Christ and then you get around your family and roast this person or get around your family or your friends and talk negative about this and about that, my God, you got the Holy Ghost. My God, you've got the power of almighty God inside you. I wonder if somebody be crazy and it's countercultural to maybe get around your family, get around your workplace and say, "My God, it's a good day. My God, God's going to do something great today." And get that negative junk out of your life. When you begin to praise God, it says he renews your strength. When you begin to praise God, it creates an atmosphere not just for yourself, but those around you for miracles to take place. When you begin to praise God, it confirms his sovereignty in your situation. When you begin to praise God, it unlocks joy and peace. When you begin to praise God, it binds the enemy that's in front of you. When you begin to praise God, it also inspires others. So, with all that being said, if you didn't get nothing else out of the sermon, I wonder if somebody across this house would begin to praise God. And I believe something's going to be unlocked. Breakthrough in my heart, breakthrough in my mind, breakthrough in my spirit, breakthrough in my soul, breakthrough in my weakness, breakthrough in my struggle. You are the God. You are the God of the breakthrough in the world. >> I don't know if you're crazy yet. There's still some people that are dignified in the house. >> There's still some people who are a little bit buttoned up in the house. You're going to have to get crazy. How bad do you want it? How bad do you want it? How bad do you want it? I'm not living like this anymore. I'm not going through the motions anymore. I need you to do something tonight, God. Oh, I need you to do something in my worship. Breakthrough in my praise. Breakthrough in my lifting. Glorify your name. Break through when I dance. Breakthrough when I shout. You are the God. You are the God of breakthrough. >> Breakthrough. Breakthrough. Breakthrough. >> Breakthrough. >> Breakthrough. Breakthrough. >> Breakthrough. >> Breakthrough. >> You are the God. >> You are the God. You are the God of the breakthrough. my weakness. Break through my struggle. >> Breakrough in my worship. >> Break through my pain. >> Break through. >> Break through. >> Breakthrough. >> You are the God. >> You are the God of the >> breakthrough. Breakthrough. >> Breakthrough. >> Breakthrough. >> Breakthrough. >> You are the God. >> You are the God. >> You are the God of the breakthrough. You are the God of the breakthrough.