RECRUITS FOR THE KING 1 Samuel 22:2 Baby dedication

Intro: In the Book of Isa Ch. 55 the Lord makes this statement –

⁸“My thoughts are completely different from yours,” says the LORD. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could ever imagine. ⁹For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.

A)Now if you have walked w/ the Lord any period of time you have found that verse to be true

1) The way that God chooses to work in our lives is beyond anything that that we could ever imagine !!!

B) And I think that the arena where that is Proved to be true the most is in the arena of service / the vessels that God chooses to work in & to work thru

1) We see that through out the pages of Scripture / throughout the Annals of Church History & in the Church today

We find it to be especially true in the life of the man we have been studying about – David

A)Called by God as a little Shepherd boy to be Israel’s next King – We have seen God use him incredible ways / Goliath / Battles /

B) Seen King Saul grow Jealous – Chase David from the Kingdom – Now He is a Fugitive & an Outcast

1) BECAUSE Saul is endeavoring to hold on to that which is no longer his and to keep it by force

C) But this is all a part of the Lord’s Process in training David to become Israel’s greatest King

1) Principal of God - That there is always a Gap between the Promise of God & the Performance of that Promise - / The Gap is for Preparation

D) During that time we find that His ways of training are beyond anything we could ever imagine / His ways higher / thoughts higher than ours

In our study last time we noted that David had a little lapse of faith and ran to the world – seeking Comfort / Friendship/ Refuge – Didn’t find it

A)Escaped to the cave of Adullam: This was David’s place of refuge. He couldn’t go to his house, he couldn’t go to the palace,

B)He couldn’t go to Samuel, he couldn’t go to Jonathan, he couldn’t go to the house of the Lord,

1) But he could go to a humble cave and find refuge.

C) A Cave can be a good place for God to work in our lives/ recall Elijah running in fear Jezebel / wanted to die in the desert / ends up in a cave

1) Fire / Earthquake / windstorm – God wasn’t in it / Then the Lord spoke thru a still small voice –

D) Sometimes God needs to get us into a cave type of setting – before we are still enough to hear his voice – laid off Job / Sickness / Heavy trial

1) We think at first it is the end of us – that we are doomed – but we find that God is not seeking to end our lives but to reroute them

E) Doug Martin – Accountant for a Big firm – 6 figures / set life was good

Over worked stressed / Down sized – lay off / severance – Church

1) Painting walls / serving coffee - / Any help here ? Can’t afford - Comes a board - doing books / Pastor – first funeral / Couples retreat / Jails

Doug would say – God’s ways are far beyond anything I could ever imagine.

Well God brings David to this Cave & it is there that God is going to meet the needs in David’s life

A)David find in a cave what he was searching for in the World

B)The name Adullam means refuge, but the cave wasn’t to be David’s refuge. /

1) But It was in the cave that David found that the Lord wanted to be David’s refuge in this time of discouragement.

C) David in Ch.21 was seeking companionship in Gath the world but didn’t find it / He goes to this cave & the Lord brings it to Him

1) Jesus already has what we are looking for. – Disciples fishing loaves & the fish already there.

D)It is at this point that Others come to David at the cave of Adullam

First, V.1 David’s family came to him.

A)This is a precious gift from God, because previously all David had was trouble and persecution from his father and his brothers.

B) Now, they join him at Adullam cave.- It seems that they finally came to recognize God’s hand upon David.

1) What a Blessing this must have been to David to see their Friendly faces

C) But then we see in verse 2 How God was going to do in David’s life what He could never imagine

V 2 And every one that was in distress, & every one that was in debt & every one that was discontented, gathered themselves to him; & he became a captain over them: & there were with him about 400 men.

These men were the most UNLIKELY candidates to be the mighty men of God in David's army

A)YET God raised them up and used them to establish the Kingdom of Israel & bring it to the zenith of it's glory by using these men to destroy the enemies of Israel

B) But they started in distress..... in debt..... discontented

C) DISTRESS- Under pressure/ under stress / In DEBT – those who couldn’t pay their bills

1) discontented: Those who were in Bitterness of soul –

Here was this group of people who had tired of Saul’s reign over them

A)Samuel warned what a King would do to them 1Sam.8

This will be the behavior of the king who will reign over you: He will take your sons & use them for his army ¹³He will take your daughters to be to serve in his Palace He will take from your fields & from your resources/ from your flocks / from your servants & use them for his own purposes

B) That was part of the reason why they came to David in Distress/ Debt & Discontent -.

1) These men came to David that way, but they didn’t stay that way.

C) God would use David to make this ragtag group of renegades into the kind of men described in 1 Chronicles 12:8: Mighty men of valor, men trained for battle, who could handle the shield and spear, whose faces were like the faces of lions, and were as swift as gazelles on the mountains. .

D) Men who would do Great Exploits- They killed Giants / they killed 800 men single handedly in Battle

So these men came & gathered around David & He became captain over them:

A)Note : This was not a mob. This was a team that needed a leader, and David became captain over them. 2 Important Principles of God

B) 1^st Principle of God: God doesn’t work through mobs He works through called and anointed men and women,

C)When an ark had to be built, God didn’t call 400 men. When Israel needed deliverance from Egypt, God didn’t call a committee.

1) Over & over again in the Scriptures, God’s work is led by a called & anointed man.

D) 2^nd Principle He also calls others to stand w/& support those men & Woman!!! God rarely calls that man or woman to work alone

E) David needed these 400 men, even if he never thought he did before.

1) They are just as called & anointed as David is, but they are called & anointed to follow & support David/ & he is called & anointed to lead them.

Now we can see some interesting parallels in this story that apply to our lives

A)God has ordained His Son Jesus Christ to reign as king over the earth and He has ANOINTED His Son to reign as king

B) BUT - Satan is still ruling in the affairs of the world/ he is the source of all the evil / & suffering in the World today

1)2Co 4:4 the god of this world/ Eph 2:2 the prince of the power of the air

C) This world is held in his evil grip

1) He is doing his best to hold on to the world and to keep Jesus, the rightful King, from taking the kingdom

D) In a sense, he tries to keep Jesus in the position of EXILE and OUTCAST in the affairs of this world

1) BUT - Jesus is currently gathering men & women unto Himself

Men & women who like this group are In Distress/ In debt & Discontented

A)Men & women who have tired of Satan’s rule in this world

B)The mighty men & women of Christ Kingdom are for the most part distressed when they look at the conditions of the world today,

1) Crime Clock

C) There have been more than 38 million abortions in the twenty-six  years since the U.S. Supreme Court legalized unrestricted abortion

1) Distressed that there are close to 1 million kids abused every yr. –that’s Actual cases – not just reported – How many go unreported

D) It is distressing when you consider that over 500,000 people in this country have died of Aids / At least 900,000 who are currently infected

1) And that there are 40,000 new cases of HIV infections each yr./ But Promiscuity & Homosexual lifestyles are still promoted by our media /

E)The more that you know about the state of affairs in our country the more distressed you become

And The men & women that Christ Calls to be a part of his kingdom are also in debt

A)We OWE God our very existence/ we have been breathing HIS air and drinking HIS water with seldom a thank you

B)BUT - Greater than that , we have sinned against God/ our sins have accumulated a DEBT that we could NOT pay

1) But God loved us so much that He sent His Only Begotten Son to PAY for OUR debt... to REDEEM US from OUR sins

C) We were slaves to sin – being ruled over by Satan & our own lust

1) BUT - Jesus Christ paid the RANSOM PRICE and made us Free!!!

D) I OWE Jesus all that I am - He paid the debt that I could NOT pay......... That debt drove me to Jesus

QUOTE: Spurgeon "Jesus want to enlist you poor debtor....take you out of the debtors prison and introduce you to the Kings table. Bankrupt debtors make good soldiers for the King"

Those men that were gathered to David were not only distressed and in Debt ..... They were discontented

A)discontentment can be bad/ There are some people that are always discontent with EVERYTHING

B)They are NEVER pleased /It is either too hot or too cold/ It is either too cloudy or too sunny/ It is either too bland or too spicy

BUT There is a discontentment that is GOOD

A)discontentment has led to a lot of progress in society

B)A man was discontented with riding a horse driven wagon, and as a result invented the automobile

1) It was discontentment with beating the dust out of rugs that led to the invention of the vacuum cleaner

C) And discontentment with sin can drive a person to Jesus

1) there comes a time when a person weighs the benefits of the sin in their life & they come to realize that below the surface they are empty

D) That The EMPTINESS of life without God drives them to enlist in the army of Jesus

Even today, now that I know Jesus, discontentment with sin creates a greater dependency upon the Lord.......

A)A greater desire to see the coming of God's Kingdom

B) God is working in these last days in much the same way that He was working in David’s Day – He is calling Men & women to join His team

1) To be a part of a Generation of people – that want to make a difference for Jesus Christ in this world / Be a part of a different Kingdom

C)God took these men and GOD MADE OF THEM an army of mighty men & He is wanting to do the same today

1)For the most part, all of us would disqualify ourselves from God's service

But God uses very UNLIKELY people to do His work

When God wanted to do a radical work in West Covina & who does He call? A Mexican street fighter who can't even speak good English

A)A man who was so murderous in Viet Nam that the marines were fearful of him and discharged him- Raul Ries

B) God wanted to stir up the city of Downey and who does he call?

1)A young man that was one of the biggest drug dealers in the city

Jeff Johnson

C) God wanted to stir up San Diego and who does He call?

1) A young man who fried his mind on acid-He was walking around in a stupor thinking that half his brain was blown away

D) God healed him and raised him up and used him to touch San Diego and the world- Mike Macintosh

E) God wanted to reach Riverside, and who does He use?

A ex-hippie that forgets where his socks are in the morning

F) Yet this last summer at Anaheim Stadium some 15,000 people came forward to receive Christ as Savior after this guy spoke Greg Laurie

God wants to reach North County/ Your work place / Your Neighborhood - Who will he use?

A)The distressed ....... The discontented ........ The DEBTORS

YOU & Me

B) All God wants is an OPEN and WILLING heart

1) You CAN'T say: "I'm too YOUNG"........ Jeremiah tried that excuse

You CAN'T say: "I'm too OLD"......... Moses tried that excuse

C) You CAN'T say: "My life is a mess"....... David's army was made up of 400 losers

1)All we can do is GATHER AROUND JESUS Christ & Tell Him:

"Lord, I'm distressed "

D) Tell Him: "Lord, I'm discontented with the way things are.... In my life and in the world around me.... I want to give my life to you"

1) Tell Him: "Lord, I am a debtor to You... I owe You my life"

How did God turn this Ragtag group of RENEGADES into this Mighty army – who would help establish the Kingdom – Note _ things / Parallel

A)#___They had tired of Saul’s reign over them – they saw the way the kingdom was going & they didn’t like it

B) Have you tired of the reign of Satan in this world & in your own life ?

1) Have you recognized this is part of the reason that you are in debt spiritually Distressed & Discontented

C) #__ They believed David was God’s anointed King who had the right to rule over them

1) They believed that Saul was a Usurper who should no longer have

authority over them / Could say they were converted from Saul to David

D) Again the Parallel is clear - Have you believed on the Lord Jesus & recognized that He is God’s anointed King

1) Have you come to understand that Satan is a Usurper who comes to Kill to Rob & to Destroy – But Jesus has come … life .. abundantly

E) Have you been converted from Satan to Christ ?

#___ They not only believed they decided – Their belief led to action – they came to David & took their stand w/ David

A)They too became enemies of the current Kingdom & outcast in their world – living for the kingdom to come / rather than the one they were in

B) Again the parallel is clear – It is one thing to believe in the coming Kingdom of Christ – it is another to take your stand for Him

1) Identify yourself w/ Him – go on record to announce that you are his follower

C) Knowing that when you take your stand w/ Christ it means that you are taking a stand against the system of this world /

1) No longer living for self – no longer captain of your own destiny / now you are desiring that Christ would be a Captain of your ship / life

D) They were submitted to David & their submission men that they were willing to Wait on God’s timing to Carry out His plan & purpose