Sunday Morning Worship Service

get your bibles we're going to go right to first samuel chapter number 18. first samuel chapter number 18 as you are turning there allow me to give honor to our pastor our bishop pastor anthony all of our leaders today i'm thankful for what god is doing here at first apostolic church we are continuing to grow continuing to progress i want to reach this city with the gospel of jesus christ don't you i want to reach this city amen first samuel chapter number 18 beginning at verse number 10 we're going to read one verse verse number 10. it came to pass on tomorrow that the evil spirit from god came upon saul and he prophesied in the midst of the house that david played with his hand as at other times and there was a javelin in saul's hand i'm going to read from the new king james version the same text and it happened the next day that the distressing spirit from god came upon saul and as he prophesied inside the house so david played music with his hand as at other times and there was a spear in saul's hand a harp in the hand of david and a spear in the hand of saul this morning i'd like to minister to you for just a few moments on spears and harps spears and harps one more time would you help me pray today father we thank you for your spirit we that we feel here today we thank you for the wonderful things that you have been doing here among us but god i pray now and she would minister to those that are in this room and those who might be tuning in online let the word of god go forth and speak and minister to those in need in jesus name we pray and everybody said amen why don't you clap your hands one more time today now i really want you to give him a praise right now come on somebody lift him up we don't want no golf claps in here we don't want no millie mouth parades but somebody lift up your voice now come on clap your hands all ye people hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah you can be seated in the name of the lord spears and harps i'm going to lay some some foundation here and give you some background so i hope you'll extend me some grace as we get to our point today spears and harps saul was the first king of israel israel demanded a king and the lord saul fit that saul could be this man he could be a good king he was handsome there was none like him in all of israel he stood taller than any of the people his stature was one that was strong and confident saul was a man that people could look to as a leader in king when samuel the prophet was sent to anoint another king later one of david's brothers was tall and muscular leading samuel to believe that he too could be a good replacement for saul therefore saul must have been a very stout figure he was a he could have been a great mole of a man to be worthy of such a position as being the king of israel yet saul's physical prowess only hid the childlike boy that was on the inside after saul was anointed by samuel the prophet in first samuel 10 the prophet told him that god would turn him into another man he wasn't going to be a new man he was going to be another man and not only that saul would be given another heart but we must not confuse this as if god worked a new spirit in heart and saw as he would in new testament believers through the holy ghost this was simply the imparting of courage and bravery for a man who was a tall picture of manliness for when samuel announced that saul would be in fact the first king of israel saul hid himself among the stuff the scripture says they had to run and fetch for saul because of his lack of confidence not because he was some humble man somewhere listen to me now somewhere in the corridors of this statuesque man was a man full of insecurity he may have looked larger than life to all of israel but on the inside he was just a little man in my study of king saul i found a trend that i want to share with you today in the biography given throughout 1st samuel in chapter 1 of 2nd samuel there are 10 references that saul is found with a spear in his hand 10 references of saul holding a spear throwing a spear laying with a spear or dying with a spear at times in the king james version it's translated javelin but strong's concordant defines that the correct usage should in fact be spear everywhere saul went he had that spear the first instance where saul is found with his spears right after a major event in his life in first samuel 13 saul and jonathan were in battle with the philistines but when the philistines were being smitten they mustered some courage in the hebrews they were fighting against the hebrews and the hebrews and saul became very afraid they hid themselves in caves and thickets and rocks and pits and high places and all the people following saul were trembling saul waited seven days for samuel the prophet to come so when samuel didn't arrive at the time saul thought samuel should arrive saul decided to become a priest which he wasn't anointed to do on the priests were to be the priests of levi were to be offering sacrifices so as soon as saul had done that which he shouldn't have done guess who arrived samuel the prophet samuel pronounced saul wouldn't be king of israel for much longer due to his disobedience can i tell you this today it's not in my notes but i feel in my spirit god didn't need saul to be a priest or a prophet he needed him to be obedient he didn't need saul to be a priest or a prophet he needed him to be obedient and so when he couldn't be obedient the lord found him a man after his own heart which would be david not only had the philistines at this time taken out of israel every blacksmith who had made swords and spears for the armies of israel the philistines took them knowing that they could defeat israel if they had no sword but i want you to look at this in first samuel 13 22 so it came to pass in the day of battle that there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of the people of any of the people that were with saul and jonathan but with saul and jonathan his son was there found meaning all of israel all the armies all the soldiers of israel did not have a sword or a spear but there was a spear in the hand of saul this is the first place brothers and sisters where we find saul with a spear no one but he and jonathan had a spear in israel listen to i know i'm going slow but we'll go somewhere i promise you just stay with me the kingdom was being taken away from saul his army is being defeated they're trembling and the philistines had taken away the blacksmith and here saw holding the only spear in israel remember this this would become saul's security he knew the kingdom was not going to be his for much longer his confidence is waning his strength in himself and in his calling is beginning to fade quickly listen people who are insecure will begin to find anything they can cling to they will find something to hold on to like a regret guilt or shame they will hide behind their spear because the spear gives them false confidence and courage they'll cling to a grudge they'll cling to an offense anything that they can grab to make themselves feel better it makes them feel secure makes them feel safe but it's not going to be long before the life of saul begins to distort what's in his hand and first samuel 17 is the story of david and goliath we all know that story don't we when saul hears that there's a young man willing to take on this defying giant he calls for david david tells saul that his god is able to help him overcome this giant as he had done previously with a bear and a lion but as soon as david is to go fight this giant what does saul want to do he wants to put his armor in the hands of david why because insecure people don't think other people can do what they can't i'm going to say it again because i don't think you heard me insecure people don't think other people can do what they can't saul doesn't trust that god is going to give david the victory so just in case take my spear take my armor this helps me surely it will help you too but david declines to take saul's armor david is confident not in a spear he even says that god would deliver his people out not with a sword or a spear we know what happens listen to him i know i'm going slow but please just wait just wait david kills the giant gets the glory and israel dances and sings saul has killed his thousands but david has tens of thousands and what does this do to insecure small saul we see him begin to distort his spear we go to chapter number 18 of first samuel saul was very angry displeased and he said they have ascribed to david ten thousands and to me they have ascribed only thousands now what more can he have but the kingdom so saul i david from that day forward and it happened on the next day that an evil spirit a distressing spirit from god came upon saul let me just can i just say this to you when you harness jealousy you're going to entertain some evil spirits when you begin to harbor those feelings of envy you are inviting dark spirits into your life and happen the next day this evil spirit comes and saul he begins to prophesy like a madman in the house so david played the music with his hand as it other times but the writer makes sure we know there's also a spear in saul's hand sp saul was going to keep that spear in his hand at all times there was comfort in the spear it's going to protect him it would help him keep things in order but listen to me david was worshiping with a harp as saul gripped a spear there are some who can't worship while others do because they have hurts and wounds and insecurities and so they hold on to the spear while others worship you rob god of his rightful worship and you rob yourself of healing [Applause] instead of glorying in the triumphs of others you opt for the comfort of a spear you don't understand how they can come up front and worship so freely you don't know how they can come and have so much joy it's because you're holding on to a spear as they begin to strum their harp look at what happens here verse 11 and saw her hurled the spear for he thought i will pin david to the wall but david evaded him twice and what happens now saul was afraid of david because the lord was with him and had departed from saul now kind of just interject here for a moment david is not saul's problem david is not saul's problem saul's issue is that he needs to let go of the spear and so we project our issues onto somebody else we we we begin to project our offenses and our hurts and our insecurities upon somebody else and they become the target for our spear and we begin to cast it at others are you hearing me today there are some unhappy marriages because of spears a spouse holds on to their insecurities and former hurts and how they deal with those things is that they begin to cast their spear in the direction of their spouse and children we need to have god heal us today we need to release the pain of jealousy envy pride wounds regrets and insecurities rather than let go there are too many they tighten their grip on anger and jealousy and hurts i've seen saints come to god and an altar and a service just like that get healing and only to pick up their spear of jealousy on the way out the door like a coat on a coat rack can't leave it there i got to take it with me makai tell you this you can't truly worship until you let go of this beer amen you can't truly find relief until you've let go of the spear david was brought in to soothe saul's troubled mind and spirit but he can't he can't get it while gripping the spear you know what happens he throws the spirit david but david's not the only target of saul's spear he even begins to throw it at his own son because god forbid somebody else see the good in other people as well god forbid that you would have freedom and joy while i don't and so we've seen it happen we've seen even parents begin to make enemies of their children oh jesus help us right now or we begin to make our brothers and sisters in christ our enemies oh you're there why are they having so much blessing why are they having so much freedom there must be something going on here they must they must have some type of something going on here somebody's going to feel my wrath can i tell you anger is not the answer to wounds lashing out in anger is not going to help your lack of self-confidence so you hurl insults you remind others of their mistakes and you bring up other people's past brothers and sisters we need to drop the spear and get some healing today i know we're not shouting i know we're not running the aisles right now but somebody needs to come to an altar today and leave some stuff behind there's some people in this room you've been harboring these things in your heart you have no freedom it keeps you up at night it robs you of of clear thinking you need to come and get rid of that stuff tonight you need to remove the spear and pick up a harp today what happens it just keeps going and keeps it keeps getting worse in chapter 22 in chapter 26 there's other references to saul i know i'm going slow i'm going somewhere please just please stay with me okay chapter 22 saul's found under a tree with what in his hand a spear in chapter 26 we find david is hiding out as if that saul and his men are still there chasing after david but as saul and his men wear out they decide to camp out for the evening and what is found right by the head of saul his spear so david and abishai came to the people by night and behold saul lay sleeping with a trench and a spear stuck in the ground at his bolster but abner and the people lay around about him then abhishe said this to david god has delivered your enemy into thine hand this day now therefore let me smite him i pray thee with what with the spear let me just take it out of the ground and smite him let me just stick it right through him right to the ground david here's our chance to destroy us all now we find somebody wanting to use saul's spear against him but you know what david says no no no no no i i'm not going to use their weaknesses against them i'm not going to use their hurts against them i'm not going to wound them with their own mistakes oh no i want you to hear me please hear me please don't try to hurt someone with their own weaknesses it's not your right to try to use what they have as a weapon of destruction because you know what happens you have eternal consequences david said i'm not going to strike the lord's anointing no no no this is deeper than that i'm not i'm not going to lash back at him using his own weapon no way does david have the right to do so probably maybe he might be justified to do that but david says i'm not using his hurts against him i'm not going to use that until that's not my place it's not our place to return evil for evil but do you know what they said about me do you know what they did you know what they posted you know do you have a spear in your hand or do you have a harp are you hearing me today david showed mercy and kindness to saul he refused to kill saul with his own spear well i know what they've done i know i know what they've done don't take the low road don't take the low road take the high road put a put a harp in your hand today put a hand put a put a put a harp in your hand and lay down the spear it's not it's not going to pay off by trying to fight fire with fire listen to me i'm going i'm going somewhere i promise david was a man of war but he learned to fight the right enemy brothers and sisters the devil is trying to destroy churches by churches fighting themselves and he's used politics [Music] politics has become the spear of the day that if you don't see it my way you and i are not enemies your brother across the room is not your enemy that sister across the sanctuary is not your enemy but do you know how they voted i don't care are they in christ and is christ in them brothers and sisters we don't need to fight each other we are not we we don't fight each other we have a real enemy and i can i tell you this as well it's not the world it's the devil is our enemy it's the it's the spirit of this age is our enemy and if we're constantly fighting each other we will be divided and we will fall someone say amen whether you agree with it or not [Applause] we don't need to fight each other over absolute nonsense things that have no eternal reward whatsoever we should rejoice with those who rejoice we should weep with those who weep we shouldn't fight with somebody just because they don't see it the same way as we do david learned how to fight the right enemy saul my lord have mercy think about what saul could have done with david david brought in the greatest victory of that era and instead of exalting him and pushing him out front and clapping him behind him instead he threw a spear it's a shame listen to me now it is an absolute shame that if somebody has some type of spiritual blessing that she would get jealous over that or if somebody is promoted or somebody gets a new position or somebody well they don't deserve that will do you with that attitude you won't [Applause] instead of rallying the armies to go and fight the philistines saul began to fight his own people he turned against listen to me look what happens here look at the progression go read the story of saul he wants to fight david then he turns on his own son and then he goes and kills the priests of knob when you don't get your way you'll fight your family and before long you'll start fighting the pastors isn't it amazing go read the story the book end of saul's demise saul refuses to kill the amalekites all the way through refuses to do that blames it on blames it on his own people his own his own choice and decision he refuses to destroy the amalekites but then he goes to knob and kills all the priests when you don't kill what god has told you to kill [Music] before long you'll find the church and start trying to throw spears at it why can't i do this and why can't i do that why can't i live this way oh oh oh my oh my david fought the right enemies but david was also a man of harmony he was a sweet psalmist of israel while saul's spirit was anguished with an evil spirit gripping tightly his spear david was strumming the harp of harmony and tranquility can i tell you the harp brings pleasure while the spear brings pain the harp soothes and the spear slays the heart thrills while the spear kills any brute can throw a spear but it takes the trained to strum the soothing sounds of a harp there was melody in one heart and murder in another in saul's distressed he reached for a spear in david's distressed he reached for a harp listen to me i'm almost done you want to get ready ashley go ahead i have no idea what you're going to sing but get ready history records some heathen armies had a cruel custom of dipping their spears into poison so the death of their victims would be more cruel and heartless listen to me for a second i know some people in so-called christian churches who are very fond of throwing poison spears spears poisoned with criticism and hatred can i tell you something being critical is not a gift of the spirit i'm going to say it again criticism is not a gift of the spirit that's right negativity is not a sign of spiritual discernment having a sour look on your face is not a requirement of holiness something's going to go wrong today i could just feel it there's going to be something that church service i don't like today and i will find it sounds like you got a spear in your hand too many poise and their spears with ill will and misrepresentation lying and false accusation when such poison spears are being thrown at us what should our attitude be shall we stand our ground and reason that we are not here to be trodden upon and then take up our spears and fling them back jesus said when men revile you and persecute you and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake he said rejoice rejoice and be exceeding glad in other words play the harp there would not be the trouble in our homes if we knew how to play the harp when the spear is flung [Music] david said the lord saveth not with sword and spear for the battle is the lord's if you're a child of god it is not your responsibility to defend yourself your sacred task is to play the harp and to return good for evil and let the lord avenge you i'll tell you what i'm going to do i'm going to post me a passive aggressive post and they'll get the idea will we all we really get is your bad attitude all we get is your poor spirit yeah you'll get it you'll they'll get this when i post it oh yeah we'll get it we'll get it we'll just see your spirit [Music] again there was war with the philistines saul and his son were in the battle the philistine archers struck saul and jonathan wounding saul and killing jonathan the archers wounded saul and he didn't want the philistines to abuse his body so he wanted his armor bearer to kill him when the young man refused to do it saul fell on his sword but first samuel i'm sorry second samuel chapter number one us really look at this account a little closer it says when a man comes to give the news to david david says how do you know that saul and jonathan are dead the young man that told him said as i happened by trance upon mount gilboa behold saul leaned upon his spear because if you live by the spear you will surely die by the spear i've seen it too many times those who have wounds and hurts and insecurities they hold on to them use them against others and before long it doesn't destroy the others it kills them they never get over some offense so they never forgive that person that wronged them they never forget the pain so they just hold on to it until it kills them the spear never kills your enemy it only destroys the one who holds on to it stand with me today i know we're not shouting but i believe the spirit of the lord is ministering to somebody's heart right now i'm afraid we've learned how to shout with a spear in our hand i'm afraid we've learned how to let the beat rock and i love it rocking guys but if the spear is still in your hand when you walk out those doors the shouting was for naught [Music] if you hold on to that because you just don't know you just don't know you're right i don't know but i do know this if you live by the grudge he'll die by the grudge if you live by the jealousy you're going to die by the jealousy but you don't have to you don't have to die by the spear you don't have to lean upon that spear and your last dying breath you don't have to live with anger and jealousy and offenses or those regrets you don't have to clutch that spear to your dying day you don't have to hang on to unforgiveness and bitterness jealousy is not is not the spear that you want to hang on to but i want to tell you about one who wants your spirit this morning as jesus was hanging on the cross in his last moments in the flesh as his life departed from him something took place for you and me john 19 34 but one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side and forthwith came blood and water christ took the spear so you wouldn't have to he took the pain of the spear so you wouldn't need to i've come to let you know it's time to let go of it let the insecurities go let the offense go let the hurt go let the pain go let the regrets go let the unforgiveness go we're going to have to stop throwing our spears if we're going to get comfortable in heaven because there are no spears in heaven john the beloved apostle tells us that he had a vision of the celestial city and as he viewed all those filling the upper chamber of god he recognized something and i heard a voice from heaven as of the voice of many waters and as the voice of a great thunder and i heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps you and i brothers and sisters will be able to join that company but we won't be able to unless we let go of the spirits in our hands the harpers in heaven express the harmony of heaven and the melody of eternity there are people who bury their spears and bury them in the hearts of others but i want you to bury your spear in the empty tomb of jesus christ today he took the spear so we don't have to die by it don't you close your eyes for a moment there's somebody in this room maybe multiple people in this in this sanctuary you've been holding on to that thing you just don't know how to let go of it i've come to tell you christ wants to take that spear out of your hand today he wants to he wants to relieve you of that grudge he wants to relieve you of that pain he wants to relieve you of that guilt and that shame but you can't pick it up on the way outside the door to leave here to go to lunch today you're going to have to bury it right here and take up a heart take up a heart forgiveness take up a heart of mercy take up a harp of grace so you can find some healing in your life is there anybody today is there anybody who would be so brave and so bold to leave the confines of their seat and come to an altar would you come to an altar today and say you know this is some things i've got to let go of things that happened to me years ago people don't even know about i'm leaving it behind today i'm going to lay that spear down before it kills me i'm going to lay it down i'm going to pick up a heart of forgiveness i'm going to pick up a heart of grace and there's a i want to walk out of here with a melody i'm going to walk out of here with a song my lips of freedom and joy and rest and peace come on wonder there'll be somebody lift up your hands look up your heart there are some people in this room you're afraid you're afraid of acknowledging this but the lord has come to heal the lord has come to heal the lord has come to set you free and to give you relief and refreed today come on pray come on call out call out to the lord call out to the lord