Sunday Evening Worship Service

i'm going to let you move to your seats [Music] i will give all as one preacher said all the protocols of those that i don't know to call but i've got to say one more time thank you pastor whitley for divine word this morning the first apostolic church [Music] [Applause] i got in the vehicle with bishop mccool to run a quick errand after sunday school and brother whitley bishop looked at me he said said what he preached today he said that's what i meant to say the last time i preached wow incredible god is mightily blessing first apostolic church with mighty word with mighty worship and with many wonderful opportunities to minister and i do want to again though it's a bit redundant keep everyone aware next sunday morning and next sunday night is a very special couple of services pastor steve smith from memphis tennessee will be ministering to us as we celebrate 64 years here in the city of knoxville and i'm excited that god has blessed us to be where we are but we're not satisfied with where we are we're content that on his time frame and in his will but we continue and plan to continue working in the kingdom until jesus comes so you be please be with us next sunday morning next sunday night as we celebrate 64 years here in the city of knoxville i would call your attention to the book of first samuel the 24th chapter first samuel 24. you're not necessarily supposed to give public apologies but i have to at least give a little confession uh i don't know i don't i don't see sister underwood here tonight but if if if she's not here she will uh there she is sister underwood i know you told me not to apologize because you know how to get even but i gotta i just got to tell you what my honoree did the other day uh in this world that we're so attached to uh uh looking at every text message and every bulletin that comes across the telephone devices that we carry our smartphones uh i was at the barber shop and they had that thing around my neck and that skirt thing over you had to keep all the hair off of you and the guy was cutting my hair and my phone buzzed and i i didn't even look at it i i i couldn't answer my phone couldn't talk on the phone so i just uh hung on to it and so as soon as i got out of the barber shop i looked and sister underwood had called me and she was needing some information uh about the location of a church for some friends of theirs that were in another city and so i told sister underwood i said sister underwood i'm sorry i couldn't answer my phone earlier a man had pulled a razor on me and before i could explain she was ready to start praying for home brother mccool hey can i call somebody do we need to pray i said i'm just kidding i was in the barber's chair and i said i'm sorry she said don't apologize i i you don't know me i apologize i'll get even so i've been watching my back from sister underwood ever since then but isn't it good to fellowship together with god's people any uh if i got somebody needs to pray for me i know she's got my back she'll pray for me if i just and i know you're the same way so i need your prayers tonight as we get into the word of the lord first samuel 24 we're going to begin reading at verse number one it came to pass when saul was returned from following the philistines that was told him saying behold david is in the wilderness wilderness of injudi then saul took three thousand chosen men out of all israel and went to seek david and his men upon the rocks of the wild goats and he came to the sheep coats by the way where was a cave saul went in to cover his feet david and his men remained in the sides of the cave and the men of david said unto him behold the day which the lord said unto thee behold i will deliver thine enemy into thine hand that thou mayest do to him as it shall seem good unto thee notice this that thou mayest do good thou mayest do to him as thou as it shall seem good unto thee then david arose and he cut off the skirt of saul's robe privately came to pass afterward that david's heart smote him because he had cut off saul's skirt and he said unto his men the lord forbid that i should do this thing unto my master the lord's anointed to stretch forth mine hand against him seeing he is the anointed of the lord so david stayed his servants with these words and suffered them not to rise against saul but saul rose up out of the cave and went on his way i want to preach to you on this subject tonight a prayer from a cave vengeance or victory let's pray savior i love you god i'm grateful for your word and i thank you that you have so mightily blessed us today and tonight now god i pray that your word would once again speak to our hearts lord that we would be in your will and do what you'd have us to do and say what you'd have us to say god let us receive your word mightily in your name we do pray amen and amen the passage of scripture that i read you're hearing i preached from on the broadcast some three years ago and in study this past week i was reminded of the circumstances found in this text and i went back and began reviewing some things that i'd studied and it became more real to me and i felt the lord leading me to revisit this passage for it recounts the events of king saul's jealous pursuit of david i preached a message recently about that but to give details and a brief overview of what had happened in this instance we recall that david as a representative of saul and at saul's bidding had miraculously defeated goliath the giant this victory had led rather than celebration to saul having a deep dark abyss of unfounded suspicion jealousy and a desire for vengeance it has been said that unfounded suspicion is the signature of incompetence this suspicious spirit which rose and saul would reach a boiling point to a time that saul even tried to thrust david through with a javelin david had been forced to flee to the wilderness dividing and weakening israel we find in first samuel 23 david and those loyal to him would now as they fled for their lives from not the philistines but instead their own brothers saul and some of his most elite warriors in one instance david was in the wilderness at sephora he was hiding in the woods in another instance in that same chapter he and his men flee to the wilderness of mana now in our text we find david and his cohorts near the sheep coats david was likely familiar with the sheep coats and at a nearby cave in the wilderness of injudi it was rough terrain for the bible tells us that saul was seeking david and his men up on the rocks of the wild goats while goats don't look for flat land they are in rough terrain and they are adept at climbing the cliffs and the mountains of that area the sheep coats of which the scripture speaks were covered pens in the wilderness where the shepherds would take their sheep to graze and then would herd them to the sheep coat pens if you've ever visited an animal pen especially a sheep's pen you will find that it's not a real pleasant place it was a place with the stench of sheep excrement and feces along with flies and mud just not a beautiful place to find yourself next to but here's david the once proud defender of israel and some of the elite warriors who were loyal to him now hiding among the sheep coat and in a nearby cave the darkness of a musty cave as their temporary abode being forced to hide in such unsanitary gloomy conditions from their own king it was likely propagating anger [Music] self-pity and in man's eyes justifiable revenge not much of a reward for david's loyalty and all of his victories how sad it is when god gives special victories to his people and a jealous spirit causes division and weakens the might of god's people collectively now saul has been called home from his pursuit of david because the philistines felt emboldened to attack israel during this dissension within the kingdom you see when we fight amongst our amongst ourselves the enemy is more likely to see us in a weakened state and to attack at every turn so now after pursuing the philistines the bible says that saul is now returning to his pursuit and his obsession with david somebody told him go to where the wild goats are go to in jedi go to where the sheep coats are that david was an old shepherd by trade he knows all about that country go and look for him in that area so he picks out his elite warriors and they again begin their pursuit of david david hides in the cave and i submit to you it was not by chance that saul just as a temporary respite decided to cover his feet in the cave instead i believe god had ordained it to be so because god was answering a prayer of david psalms 142 gives us details of david's prayer psalms 142 says a prayer when he was in the cave did you know god can answer prayers when you're in a cave did you know god can answer prayers when you seem to be in the most dire of circumstances did you know god can hear your plea if you've been doing what you've been called to do when things look gloomy things smell bad things look ugly and things look desperate god can hear your prayer in a cave it said a prayer when he was in the cave i cried unto the lord with my voice with my voice unto the lord did i make my supplication i poured out my complaint before him god will even listen to you whine a little bit every once in a while i showed before him my trouble david laid it out david had been praying said god i did all this stuff i defeated goliath by your help i've been loyal to saul and look what it's got me look where i am i'm praying in a cave when my spirit was overwhelmed within me then thou knewest my path in the way wherein i walked have they privately laid a snare for me i know saul's have to get me i looked on my right hand and beheld but there was no man that would know me refuge failed me no man cared for my soul i cried unto thee o lord i said thou art my refuge and my portion in the land of the living attend unto my cry for i am brought very low deliver me from my persecutors for they are stronger than i bring my soul out of prison that i may praise thy name the righteous shall compass me about for doubt shall deal bountifully with me remember the details of that prayer remember what david has said and then zoom back in the presence to now david probably even trembling in the sides of the cave with excitement and fear at the same time to see the very soul that he has been afraid of come and in an unguarded moment lay down and cover his feet david's men begin whispering in his ear god's answered your prayer look david there's saul look that's him yeah yeah that's him i know it's dim in here this is a dingy but god has answered your prayer in the cave and his men began to encourage him saying you know what you can do whatever you want to whatever you see good now stop for a moment put yourself in david sandals think about what you would do with such an opportunity if you ask god in the depths of your despair to deliver you from your enemy and your enemy comes in and lays down unprotected before you when god unmistakably answers a prayer what do you do with your answer do you look for victory or do you look for revenge think about it just a minute am i looking for a victory from god or am i looking to fulfill my personal vengeance am i looking to satisfy a human hunger to find revenge in an answered prayer put yourself in david's position we heard his prayer he feels mistreated he feels neglected he feels betrayed and ostracized by his own king he said i'm brought very low now the opportunity for ultimate revenge has arrived it appears in his grasp and at first glance it even would appear that god has ordained it to be so but wait just a minute down in the deep recesses of david's heart the shepherd turned giant killer turned mighty warrior there's a voice there's a conscience there's a reverential respect and a love that says touch not god's anointed don't put your hands on god's anointed maybe he had recalled first chronicles the 16th chapter verse 21 and 22 said he suffered no man to do them wrong yeah he reproved kings for their sakes saying touch not mine anointed and do my prophets no harm let me tell you god will sometimes answer your prayers with opportunity but you've got to make the choice whether you're going to get vengeance or victory i said it comes down god will answer your prayer but sometimes god's given you a choice whether i'm going to take vengeance or i'm going to get ultimate victory listen there's a difference in revenge and winning [Applause] let me say that again there's a difference in revenge and winning vengeance defined is punishment inflicted or retribution exacted for an injury or a wrong revenge means the action of inflicting hurt or harm on someone for an injury or wrong suffered at their hands the desire to inflict retribution the punishment inflicted on someone as vengeance for a wrong or a criminal act oh but the definition of winning means to be successful or victorious let me tell you god lo let me have a spirit of revenge god let me have a spirit of winning i want to win in you just because i have opportunity to feed my personal human desires god take that away from me and say i want to win in your kingdom there's a bigger picture we have than meeting our personal desires [Applause] if david had cut saul's throat he would have fulfilled his personal vengeance and retribution but it is likely that an escalation of the hostilities would have ensued this would not have ended the conflict or brought a win to david or god's people instead deeper divisions of conflict would have caused factions of separation and disunion civil war would have likely escalated and a weakening of god's people would have been the likely results let me ask you in this house tonight please don't raise your hand but have you ever been done wrong has someone ever wronged you has someone ever mistreated you has ever someone ever spoken ill of you has someone ever lied on you or cheated you how do i act i want to get the opportunity to get even do you feel like god has given you vindication but you can give the individual who calls you your pain what you feel they deserve after all old testament law said this in exodus an eye for an eye tooth for tooth a hand for a hand a foot for a foot a burning for burning a wound for a wound stripes for stripes that's bible yeah a preacher preach it i like that kind of preaching give it back to him be not afraid hit his eye no that's not what the bible says but you know what jesus said about that passage and matthew i didn't even give this to you folks upstairs in matthew 5 38 jesus said you have heard that has been said an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth but i say unto you whoa this is jesus talking i love jesus he's my savior jesus jesus jesus jesus jesus jesus jesus jesus whew we've been dancing about that tonight jesus said i know it's been said an eye for an eye and a tooth for truth but i say unto you that you resist not evil don't fight against somebody that's doing evil to you but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek turn to him the other also no jesus don't say that down in verse 44 he said love your enemies somebody hear me tonight we need a fresh baptism of forgiveness and say i will not take vengeance i want to win i'm not looking for revenge i want to win there's a bigger picture here it's more than my personal satisfaction to get the last word in come on let's let's get real where we live how many times we walked away and said man if i had one more shot you know what i'd say we've rehearsed it in our mind we we've practiced it if i can get one more shot at him if i can talk to her one more time i'm going to give him a piece of my mind don't do it you can't afford to lose anything roman said recompense to no man evil for evil provide things honest in the sight of men that term recompense means to compensate to repay to reimburse don't reimburse somebody else's evil for with evil if it be possible as much as life in you live peaceably with all men i know all you holy folks that don't ever go through instagram and facebook don't have a clue what this is about but for the rest of us uh you that sometimes girl tell me you haven't stopped and watched the videos of confrontations on airplanes when folks are arguing about whether they should mask up or not and when listen we're living in a world that folks want to give evil for evil folks are looking for confrontation at every turn listen we've got a bigger picture we're soul winners we're soul winners if it be possible as much as life in you what's down inside you are you looking for confrontation are you looking for an opportunity to witness live peaceably with all men not just the folks sitting on the pew beside you but out there in that world there's some hurting people if you give them a little bit of love you may be able to win them to the lord [Applause] dearly beloved verse 19 avenge not yourselves but rather give place unto wrath for it is written vengeance is mine i will repay saith the lord don't read that passage with some glacier well god's going to get them therefore if thou an enemy hunger feed him feed him i wouldn't spit on him if he was on fire therefore find enemy hunger feed him if he thirsts give him drink for in doing so thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head now what that means is being kind to someone who knows you have the right to be ugly to them many times is much more condemning and opens the door for an opportunity to love them and minister to them in a greater way be not overcome of evil but overcome evil with good adam clark stated concerning verse 19 that says dearly beloved avenge not yourselves he said ye are the children of god and he loves you and because he loves you he will permit nothing to be done to you that he will not turn to your advantage never take the execution of the law into your own hands rather suffer injuries the son of man has come not to destroy men's lives but to save be of that same spirit when he was reviled he reviled not again it is the part of a noble mind to bear up under unmerited disgrace little minds are litigious and quarrelsome you looked at me twice i'm suing you buddy the statement give place unto wrath comes from greek dote topan t or ghee leave room for civil magistrates to do his duty he holds the sword for this purpose if he is unfaithful to the trust reposed in him by the stake leave the matter to god who is the righteous judge for by avenging yourselves you take your calls both out of the hands of the civil magistrate and out of the hands of god he goes on to state i believe this is to be the meaning of give place to wrath punishment the penalty which the law properly executed will in its time inflict for instead here's what jesus taught remember who he's talking to right now jesus is talking to impetuous peter loyal to a fault that if rebuked he'll go from wanting his hands and feet and his whole body to be washed to pulling swords cutting off high priest ears to cursing by the fire of sinners he was up and down so emotional then peter came and said lord he was pressing the lord how oft shall my brother sin against me and i forgive him till seven times understand what peter was really asking here peter was asking for a number before he could take revenge seven sound like you know some folks say that's god's perfect number so i peter said hey seven ah after that i ought to be able to let him have it he was wanting jesus to give him a definitive number not really how oft he ought to forgive he really wanted to answer when i can stop forgiving is what he's asking for how many times do i forgive before i stop forgiving jesus said unto him i say not unto thee until seven times but until seventy times seven almost an infinite number for his multiplication therefore is the kingdom of heaven like unto a certain king which would take account of his servants and when he had begun to reckon one was brought unto him which owed him ten thousand talents but for as much as he had not to pay his lord commanded him to be sold his wife and children all that he had and payment be made the servant therefore fell down and worshiped him saying lord have patience with me i will pay the all then the lord of the servant was moved with compassion have you got any compassion in you and loosed him and forgave him the debt the same servant went out and found one of his fellow servants which owed him a hundred pence now we're close to what he had owed and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat saying pay me that thou owest and his fellow servant fell down at his feet and besought him saying have patience with me and i will pay the all and he would not but went and cast him into prison till he should pay the debt so when his fellow servants saw what was done they were very sorry and came and told unto the lord all that was done then his lord after that he had called him said unto him oh thou wicked servant i forgave thee all that debt because thou desirest me should not thou also have had compassion on thy fellow servant even as i had pity on thee and his lord was wrought and delivered him into the tormentors till he should pay all that was due unto him so likewise shall my heavenly father do also unto you if ye from your hearts forgive not everyone his brother their trespasses how sad it is when those who have been forgiven of so much are so reluctant for you to forgive even the smallest of things in others it's real easy for us to become sanctimonious for us to become super pious and blot out our thoughts of what we really were and what god really forgave us for doing before you get to looking down your nose at anybody else that walks through those doors before you get to seeing folks in the eyes of humanity and say there's no hope for them there's you better remember where you were you better go back and look at your lineage you bet somebody hear me tonight before i start looking down my nose and condemning everything that walks through the door oh god save by your grace i wouldn't be standing here i know what my bloodline really is i know the ugly i know what i was personally god i know the miracles that you wrought to even allow me to be in this place oh god give me a forgiving spirit lord i want to win i don't want vengeance i want to be victorious hallelujah hallelujah stand with me brethren if a man be overtaken in a fault ye that are spiritual restore such a one in the spirit of meekness considering thyself lest thou also be tempted so what did david do verse 8 of first samuel 24 david also arose afterward and went out of the cave somebody in this house didn't get out of the cave god's answered your prayer get out of the cave and he cried after saul saying my lord the king and when saul looked behind him david stooped with his face to the earth and bowed down the world don't tell you to do that you better watch him look out now you're about to have a confrontation bow up buck up show him how manly you are show show him just how tough you really are david he called him my lord the king sadly i fear that many of us would not have been so kind in our language david said to saul wherefore heard us thou men's words saying behold david's secret they heard he said king somebody's been lying on me somebody's been telling you stuff why you king don't listen to what man's been saying don't listen to the words of man it's not true i better hurry quit listening to what everybody else is saying about you quit listening to i know she said it i know he said it quit worrying about it you know what you are you know whose you are quit worrying about what they're saying about you don't he said behold this day thine eyes have seen how that the lord hath delivered thee today into mine hands and in the cave and some bid me kill thee but mine i spared thee and i said i will not put forth my hands against my lord for he is the lord's anointed moreover you sorry rascal no notice the kindness in it listen we need to learn to communicate better with each other over my father see you see the skirt thy robe in my hand for in that i cut off the skirt of the robe and kill thee not know thou and see that there is neither evil nor transgression in my mind i have not sinned against thee yet thou huntest my soul to take it he said i've turned this over to god he said the lord judge between me and me whoever's supposed to be king i'm not seeking kingship folks been telling you that's not true he said let the lord choose the lord will make king who he wants to be king and the lord avenged me of thee but my hand shall not be upon thee as saith the proverbs of the ancient wickedness proceedeth from the wicked but my hand shall not be upon thee look if you're talking wicked if you're doing wicked where does wickedness come from wickedness proceedeth from the wicked [Music] i won't read it all but suffice to say when david finished his statement to saul [Music] scripture says in verse 16 [Music] that saul lifted up his voice and wept suddenly the hardness of saul's heart was broken suddenly the jealousy somewhere down in the deep part of saul he realized i'm hearing the voice of someone that's more noble than i am here i have made a horrible mistake my own rebellious spirit opened the door for these things to happen and saul looked at him he said thou are more righteous than i for thou has rewarded me good whereas i have rewarded thee evil and now i showed this day how that thou has dealt well with me for as much as when the lord had delivered me into thy hands thou kills me not for if a man find his enemy will he let him go well away wherefore the lord reward thee good that thou has done unto me and i want you to notice this saul would acknowledge saul would acknowledge after all of his jealousy after all of his accusations after all of the attempts saul would acknowledge he said i know well that thou shalt surely be king [Music] you know what we sing around here we say i'm gonna see a victory i'm gonna see a victory for the battle belongs to you lord i'm gonna see a victory [Music] i'm gonna see a victory for the battle belongs to you lord [Music] the verse one of those verses come on out here praise team one of those verses say you took what the enemy meant for evil and you turned it for good you turned it for good i wonder if there's somebody in this house that you're willing the prayer that you've been praying in a cave that god's given you an opportunity not for revenge not to avenge but to have a win and find a victory i wonder if somebody raised their hands and then step out the aisle and say god i see a victory coming god you're going to give me an opportunity for a victory in my life i've been praying about this thing and you're going to give me a victory hallelujah hallelujah the enemy can't come against you turn it over to the lord let your victory come in jesus name let your victory come in jesus name god's not going to fail yet hallelujah hallelujah [Music] belongs to you [Music] what the foreign meant for evil [Music] [Music] you turn foreign for good you turn it forward [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] lord [Music] please notice the story didn't end when [Music] david walked out of the cave david had to confront the situation let me tell you whatever you need to do to confront the situation it doesn't mean you have to have a confrontation it means you do your part and let god bring the victory when david stepped out david didn't know what was going to happen when he knelt but he put it in god's hand he took it out of his hands and he put it in god's hand look don't worry what saul's going to do to you you just step out of the cave knowing god has answered your prayer you do your part in letting god do the miracle hallelujah hallelujah first apostolic church i love you i thank you for the victories that god gives us please remember we are blessed beyond measure to have our wednesday night bible study with our bishop please be here all the classes that we'll be meeting please remember that and then next sunday morning and sunday night we celebrate our 64th anniversary also remember the following week sunday morning we'll have service as normal but then sunday afternoon beginning at five o'clock there's going to be food fun fellowship and and water slides i heard uh so i don't know if that's i know that's not food and for some it's not fun uh he said you're on your own i would remind everybody when we have a picnic we dress modestly for our picnics like we dress the rest of the time as well so remember that if you bring a guest remind them we drink dress modestly so they will not be embarrassed but we encourage you and look don't eat too much sunday dinner because man they're going to be food trucks here we're going to have a good time of fellowship lord bless you you're dismissed in jesus name greet each other as your personal protocols do allow