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00:07 Let's start with a word of prayer. Lord, we ask that this morning that you speak to us things of your spirit, things of
00:15 the kingdom. Help us understand what it means to be anointed by you by the Holy Spirit. Help us understand what it means
00:21 to be your disciples um and transform us. We ask for Jesus sake. Amen.
00:29 Last week we talked about King Saul um anointed as king
00:35 didn't quite measure up because his heart was somewhere else. His heart is always on himself looking to glorify
00:42 himself looking what looking out for the number one himself and and he was
00:47 rejected as king uh very sad and disobedience today we look at this
00:53 counterfoil the person who we'll be studying for the next few months King David the one on whom so much is written
00:60 in history is not another person history where so much has been written about and and for very good reasons he's the
01:06 Lord's anointed he is the greatest king who ever lived in the land of Israel. Uh
01:11 even the if you look at the flag of Israel today you have got the star the star of what? Star of David. Uh he
01:18 united all the tribes. Uh he defeated uh a lot of the times the Philistines. He
01:24 brought the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem. He captured Jerusalem from the Jezeobites to be you know the the
01:30 the capital of Zion. So there's a lot about him that we we need to learn about
01:36 because we can apply those lessons in our lives. So this morning we're going to go back in history and look at how
01:42 God chooses this servant. And perhaps we can apply that lesson to our own lives as he chooses us. Um there are three
01:49 lessons in the passage today, very simple ones. One, there's no future in despair because God always has already
01:56 chosen. Number two, when God chooses, character is everything. Number three, God always empowers those he chooses.
02:02 First of all, there's no despair because God already has uh chosen in the when the word of the Lord came to Samuel,
02:09 this is um 15, the last chapter, I regret to have made Saul king, he has
02:14 turned back from following me, has not performed my commands. Saul was angry. Samuel was angry and he cried to the
02:22 Lord all night. There must be a reason where when you reject one king, Samuel
02:28 goes home and cries get upset all night. Why does he do that? Well, he does that
02:34 because Samuel is the son of Hannah. And if you look at Hannah, uh when David
02:40 Adams preached to us a couple of weeks ago, this is Hannah's prayer. And Hannah's prayer talks about the Lord's
02:46 anointed. The bows of the mighty are broken. The feeble bind on strength.
02:52 Those who are full were full have hired themselves out for bread. But those who are hungry have ceased to hunger. The
02:59 Lord makes poor and rich. He brings low and he exalts. He raises up the poor from the dust. He lifts the needy from
03:06 the ash sheep. The Lord will judge the ends of the earth. He will give strength to his king and exalt the horn of his
03:13 anointed. Hannah prays and looks forward in her prayer for a special king. anoint
03:19 one anointed by God who would come not like the usual imperialistic kings who
03:24 would basically take land for himself take servants for himself a king who would lift up the needy the poor and be
03:32 the kind of servant of the people that really uh is in God's mind and when Saul
03:39 failed to live up and accrude power and wealth for himself rather than the people this whole vision of this
03:46 fantastic king coming and ruling the nation falls to the ground and Samuel is upset.
03:52 In fact, uh he is so upset he goes on to the next chapter and chapter one says
03:58 chapter 16 verse one, the Lord said to Samuel, "How long will you grieve over Saul?" Next chapter, he's still
04:04 grieving. He's still upset. He's still emotionally turning it over. Where do we
04:09 go wrong? Why did Saul go wrong? Since I've rejected him from being king over Israel, fill your horn with oil and go,
04:16 I will send you to Bethlehem. to Jesse the battlemite for I have provided for myself king among his sons. You know
04:23 Robin Williams recently died. Very sad because he's a man who who made so many
04:29 of us laugh uh in we laughed at all sorts of situations in life. He's able to find something funny whether it's in
04:36 your marriage, whether in your divorce, whether it's in your any kind of life. But he said this a couple of months
04:42 before he died. Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem. He
04:47 recognized that that there is a temporary problem. Depression and anxiety and unhappiness in his life is
04:54 temporary. But but suicide is a permanent solution. That was the only solution. The trouble is that's not
05:00 right because the Lord said, "I have provided for myself a king." There's
05:06 nothing wrong in grieving. Nothing wrong in being sad when the there's a loss of
05:11 your vision. But you don't go on green forever because in this world, the Lord
05:17 has already chosen a king for himself. God's got it covered. Um, if you look at
05:23 this whole Montre Basar crisis in our in our state, we're having, you know, the
05:28 Pakatan say they they want his wife to be Montre Basar. The king wants somebody else besides uh uh Aziza. Mahhata says
05:37 you should stick with one. Hadi says it shouldn't be a woman. This fellow wants his job again. the last one
05:44 all wondering you know what's going to happen and sometime you wake up in the morning oh my god what's happened to this state what's going to happen to us
05:50 but God's got it covered because if you look at what he has done right from he's already planned from Judah will come
05:56 Salmon who will marry Rahab who will have give birth to Boaz who will marry Ruth and Oed down to Jesse and he's
06:03 going to he's already got David planned centuries before so there there's no
06:09 room for despair whenever you lose some of your vision. If you look in the land of Iran, you thought this is a terrible
06:16 place where there is uh authoritarian rule. In 1974 at the Luzon conference,
06:22 it was only 500 Christians in the land of Iran. Did you know that? Only 500 in
06:28 1974. In a recent in interview uh with uh Sam Yagnaza who works within Iran, he
06:35 said, "For the past 30 years, more Iranians have come to Christ than in the past 1,300 years." It may sound like
06:44 despair, but God has already chosen his people. God has already got his king.
06:50 God has already got his church uh going. In fact, there's another uh uh interview by Homo Sharat on the 30th of September
06:58 2013. There he estimates that over 1 million believers there are now people
07:03 who are dissatisfied with this sort of theocratic regime are now turning. And if you talk to Iranian students in this
07:09 country, they will tell you of the great dissatisfaction and they're seeking after Jesus. We have this great
07:16 treasure, Paul says, in jars of clay to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted
07:23 in every way. We're not crushed. We're perplexed but not driven to despair. Persecuted but not forsaken. Struck down
07:30 but not destroyed. Have wondered why there are not enough teachers in church, not enough preachers in church, not
07:36 enough pastors in church. It looks bad all the time. The reason why it looks
07:41 bad is Paul says because we have this jars of clay. Jars of clay are important. You know why? You you put the
07:47 valuable stuff in the clay. That stuff in the clay pot. The jars of clay break easily. But the treasure in the pot is
07:55 indestructible. So now we come to Oh, it doesn't work. Can I have the next
08:01 slide, please? This has died. Can I have the next slide, please?
08:11 May next slide. Oh, can someone put a new battery here?
08:22 Trouble with technology. Okay, I got a backup iPad.
08:48 Okay, my next point is that when God chooses character is everything. All
08:54 right, next slide. Samuel says,
09:01 "How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me." And the Lord said, "Take a hepher with you and say, I've come to
09:07 sacrifice to the Lord. Invite Jesse to do the sacrifice. I will show you what to do, and you will anoint for me him
09:15 whom I declare to you." And Samuel did what the Lord commanded and came to Bethlehem. And basically what happened
09:21 is that um you know, I've already chosen another king. that's not going to be good news to Saul's ears. Take uh this
09:30 uh uh so so I I'm going to get you to anoint this king. And Samuel says, "How can I go? I mean, if if Saul finds up,
09:37 he's going to kill me because he's still king." And God doesn't say, "Hey, don't worry. You're bulletproof." You know, he
09:43 he says this, "Uh, take a hea, which is a cow that's not given birth yet. Take a
09:49 hea go to sacrifice to the Lord. invite Jackie Jesse for the sacrifice and I'll
09:55 show you what to do. So God gives him a cover story. God doesn't tell him he's bulletproof. God understands. Next
10:01 slide. Is there a next slide?
10:06 Oh my goodness. This is bad. Uh okay. Elders of the city came to meet him
10:13 trembling. Do you come peaceibly? And he says peaceibly I have come to sacrifice
10:18 the Lord. Sac uh consecrate yourself. come with me to the sacrifice. And he consecrated Jesse and his sons and
10:26 invited them to the sacrifice. All right? So basically when he comes to the
10:31 to Bethlehem, the people are frightened. You know why? Because the judge goes the the the prophet goes from town to town
10:38 to execute judgment on sinners and basically criminals to judge. If he
10:44 comes to town, means go some big case maybe Oscar ptorius or something's happening. So people get very upset, you
10:50 know, okay, uh, do you come here to judge someone? No, I've come here peaceibly. I've come here to consecrate,
10:56 uh, to sacrifice to the Lord. So he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice. Next
11:02 slide. Now, I think you have to turn to your Bibles because this is not working out.
11:11 All right, there's nothing. Can you have the backup computer, please? There's a Mac standing by.
11:18 Use the Mac. It stands by. Don't use this anymore. Thanks. Anyway, guys, open your Bible, please.
11:24 Verse six. When they came, he looked at Eliab and
11:30 thought, "Surely the Lord's anointed is before him."
11:36 And the Lord said to Samuel, "Don't look on his appearance
11:43 or the height of his stature because I have rejected him." For the Lord sees
11:48 not as a man sees, the Lord looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. And so therefore, you want
11:56 me to test this again? It's not working. All right. Okay.
12:04 All right. So um see so he brings up all these seven children of of um Samuel of
12:13 of uh of Jesse and the first one comes he must be a tall strapping handsome
12:21 guy kind of fell as all the youth want to be you know big and with muscles and again first thing Samuel thinks tall big
12:29 strapping handsome fellow you know this is the guy for me and you know what he's making the same mistake again, tall guy,
12:36 strong guy. He's got to be a leader. In those days, uh you you have to be very
12:42 big and strong to be a leader. Uh this is William Wallace who won uh from
12:48 Scottish leader. His sword is 5'6. Imagine how tall you got to be to hold a
12:54 sword that's 5'6. You got to be at least 6'5, isn't it? I mean, huge fellow. Uh
12:60 and and and the thing is that we tend to make decisions and you think God makes decisions same way as we make decisions
13:07 uh based on outward appearance. And he looks at Eliab big tall strapping guy. He's the one going to fight the battle against Philistines. He's the one who's
13:14 going to be king. Uh but he again he makes a mistake because looking from the outward uh uh features basically
13:20 misdirection, isn't it? Um this is Ed Milliban who is basically leader of the Labor Party in in in England. problem
13:28 with him. He looks very geeky, isn't it? And so therefore, they say he can never be prime minister because if you look at him, he can't be a prime minister. All
13:34 right? So we we tend to judge from outward appearance uh people. Uh let me
13:40 ask all the single men here, if you seen these two girls, will you
13:45 think they'll be good people to marry? Put your hands up.
13:50 Don't be shy. I mean, they look the most adorable young ladies you've ever seen in your
13:57 life. But do you realize they're actually killers? They killed their friend because they
14:03 didn't like her. They want to be friends with her anymore. You can't judge a book by its cover. It's misdirection. And
14:09 that's the common mistake that we we make. I ask all the girls, put your hands up now. All right. All the girls
14:15 here, which would make a better husband, the tall, dark, and handsome one or the shorter one? Anyone?
14:23 Wrong, Danny. We must have some counseling afterwards.
14:30 All right. They actually did a study and to um Nick
14:36 Ne's journal of biological psychology to show when they actually interviewed a whole bunch of women, they like the
14:43 taller men for short-term relationships, but long-term relationships, the shorter man is
14:49 preferred. Which man will provide a happier marriage? When women marry the
14:57 handsomemer man or the uglier man? Studies show that if you marry an uglier
15:02 man, you're going to have a happier marriage. So, it's it's not the outside appearance, it's always the inside. Um,
15:10 this is a famous family from China, isn't it? He he got married to this beautiful girl and all the three
15:16 childrens who popped out were less than beautiful. In fact, they were they were actually quite hideous and he got very
15:22 upset and he sued his wife because actually she looked like uh this before
15:29 plastic surgery. So, so again you can't you can change your outside appearance but we can't change what your
15:35 genetically are. And so therefore what he did was he called uh uh Abinad made
15:40 him pass before Lord neither has the Lord chosen this one and Jesse made Shamba pass by and said neither has the
15:46 Lord chose this one. Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. Samuel said to Jesse, "The Lord has not chosen
15:52 these." There's a reason why you choose seven. I mean, you say seven. And this Jewish
15:58 number for what? Completion. The game's over. It's finished. Time's up. There is
16:04 nobody. And Samuel said to Jesse, "Are all your sons here?
16:11 There yet remains the youngest?" The word youngest in Hebrew is hakatan,
16:17 which means the pipsque, the runt of the litter, the one that's inconsequential. That one I don't consider as a son.
16:23 What's he doing? He's like a servant. He's looking after the sheep. And to his surprise, Samuel said to him,
16:31 "Send and get him, for we will not sit down until he comes." And he sent and
16:36 brought him in, and he was ruddy and beautiful eyes and was handsome. And the Lord said to him, "Arise, anoint him,
16:42 for this is he." And then you can see people's mouths drop all the way to the floor. You know, the pipsqueak, the one
16:47 who's inconsequential, the run of the litter, the one who he can't even carry
16:53 a 5'6 sword. He's the one whom God chooses. I I mean, God chooses all the
16:59 strangers of people. You got a strong Esau. He chooses a slimy Jacob. You've
17:05 got the two women, Leah, which is ugly and crossey and beautiful, Rachel. And
17:10 yet he ch who is the ancestor of David and Jesus?
17:15 Anybody know? It's Leah the crosseyed ugly one.
17:21 If you look at the life of Gideon, Gideon says, "Please, oh Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the
17:26 weakest in mana. Say, I am the least in my father's house." God always chooses
17:32 the weakest. God in Corinthians, Paul says, God chooses what is foolish, the world, to shame the wise. God chooses
17:39 what is weak in the world to shame the strong. God chooses what is low and despised in the world. Even things that
17:44 are not to bring things uh to bring to nothing things that are so that no human being might boast in the presence of
17:50 God. He chooses people of low caliber so that his glory will be shown. So
17:56 therefore what counts when he chooses uh David is basically character, his heart,
18:02 his humility, his honesty. Let's let's um this u very famous soldier retired
18:09 just about a couple of months ago and he was giving a u address to the graduates
18:15 of University of Texas and he's an Admiral William McCraven. He was the Navy Seal for 36 years and the one in
18:23 charge of the operation to bring down Osama bin Laden and he tells of Navy
18:29 Seal training which is very very difficult. Um they have about 150 people
18:35 for 6 months and they go through basically hell for 6 months. At that time uh uh was uh you actually have them
18:42 divided into groups and and what they do in these groups is that they go into this boat and they go against the
18:49 current outside of California. Huge currents and they all divide in groups of seven men and he was among the giants
18:57 because a very tall man but you know what he talked about another crew. He's called the Munchkin crew. This is a crew
19:04 of seven people in the Navy Seals who were not regular guys. There were Indian-American, Korean-American, you
19:12 know, they're all foreigners as it were, naturalized. Only two white guys were there. Nobody was over 5'5.
19:20 And yet, time after time, they rode the hardest, won all the prizes, swam the
19:26 hardest, did all the best. They called them the Munchkin crew. when he couldn't work out how guys with a tiny little two flippers in their legs could actually
19:33 swim faster than all the big guys. And then he he concluded in his speech,
19:39 if you want to be a world beater, one who someone who changes people's lives, it's not the size of flippers that
19:45 matter, it's not your educational standard that matters, not the size of your wallet that matters, it's the size
19:51 of your heart. So these guys, the Munchkin crew, beat everybody else in
19:57 the Navy Seals because they had a heart. There's nothing that they wouldn't do
20:03 even though they were short. And none of them were bigger than 5'5 and they became the best warriors in the world.
20:08 And see, when God chooses people, this is what he chooses. He chooses based on the size of their heart. Now this is in
20:14 verse chapter 13. But your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart.
20:21 What counts is the size of your heart this morning. If you want to be someone who's going to be used by God to change
20:27 the world. You're going to man to have a large a big heart. And there's no bigger
20:32 heart than the one who wants to beat after God. You have what does it mean to
20:38 be a man after God's own heart. The difference between Saul and the David is
20:44 that Saul God David wants what God wants. You want to look in your life and
20:49 see whether you are a man who's after God's own heart. Do you want what God
20:55 wants? Saul only wanted what he wants. Uh Saul was a king from the outside, but
20:60 David was a king from the inside. In his heart, he wanted to be like God. He wanted what God wanted. David trusted
21:07 God. He This is what he says. The Lord delivered me from the paws of the lion, the paws of the bear, and they will
21:14 deliver uh uh from the hand of this Philistine. This is when he's facing Goliath. It didn't blink because he knew
21:22 the Lord will deliver him. The Lord is my strength and my shield. In him, my heart trusts and I'm help. My heart
21:27 exalts with my song. I give thanks to him. Compare this to Saul. Saul says to Samuel, "I have sinned. I violated the
21:34 Lord's command. I was afraid of people, so I gave in to them." He's more afraid of the people and God.
21:39 That's the difference. He trusted God. David seeks to honor God by building a
21:44 temple. God says, "No, you spread too you you you you spilled too much blood." Saul, after his victory against
21:52 Amalachites, builds a tower to himself, a monument to himself.
21:58 David really loves God. Saul says, "They have brought them from the Amalachites for the people spared the best of the
22:05 sheep and oxen to sacrifice to the Lord your God." You see, God has never been
22:10 his God. It's your God. David says, "As a deer pants for the flowing stream, so
22:15 pants my soul for you, oh God." Can you see the difference in his heart? Uh, one
22:21 thing I have asked of the Lord that I will seek after that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my
22:27 life to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire of his temple. You know what he wants to do? He wants to go to
22:33 church. He wants to go to a temple. He wants to gaze. You know what gaze is?
22:39 You look and you look and you're transfixed and there's unspoken awe and
22:45 admiration and glory there. That's what he wants to do. A day in your courts is better than 10 outside. Can we say that
22:53 of ourselves? That's the underpinning difference between David and Saul.
22:59 When was the last time you asked him to fill your heart
23:05 with love for him? Or do we want to be like Saul? And what
23:10 Saul did was he kept God at a distance. God, it's okay. You bless my army, bless
23:16 my family, but don't come near me because that's all I want.
23:23 David's response to sin exposes his heart. I know my
23:29 transgression and my sin is ever before me. This is after he sinned with Bath Sheba. He did horrible things. But he
23:34 said, "For I know my transgressions, my sin is ever before me. Against you and you only I have sinned and done what is
23:40 evil in your eyes, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment." He doesn't put blame and
23:46 shift blame elsewhere. He's not selfdeceived. He says, "My sin is ever before me. Against you and you I have
23:53 sinned." He there's a relationship of which a relationship is strained or broken.
23:58 That's what he feels. He mourns. Look, when I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away by my groaning all day long.
24:06 For your hand was heavy upon me day and night. My strength were exhausted as in a summer drought. When he sins against
24:12 God, that's how he feels when we sin against God. Is that how we feel or do do we feel like Saul? It's okay. You
24:19 know, you you you this is what Saul says. Saul said to Samuel, "I've sinned. I transgressed the commandments of the
24:25 Lord." He said all the right things uh and and and your words because I feared the people. I obeyed their voice. He
24:32 gives excuses. And then he said, "I I have sinned yet honor me now before the
24:37 elders of my people." This is only interesting. See, David sinned out of weakness. Saul sinned out of disregard
24:44 for God. When David sinned, it hurt him. It hurt him because it hurt God. Saul's sin is
24:52 just worried about his butt, his self-pity. We are a generation that's called the MI
24:57 generation. All we want is me. What we can be called the Saul generation. I I'm
25:04 sorry I've sinned, but you must honor me. That's all he's interested in that that God should honor him, not the fact
25:10 that he actually sinned. We are the MI generation because we're what gets us excited. This was in a New York's best
25:17 uh selling list for for months and months and months. The prayer of Jabz, you know why? Let me read to you the
25:22 prayer of Jabz. Jabz called upon the Lord of Israel saying, "Oh, that you bless me at large my border, your hand
25:29 might be with me so that you keep me from harm that it may not bring me pain."
25:34 We are a me generation. So we talk about miracles and and healing ministries and
25:40 power evangelism and all that, but we don't talk about suffering. We don't talk about servantthood. We don't talk
25:46 about hearts and all that is okay. The miracles are okay. The healing is okay. But you know what they are? They are
25:52 misdirection because they're misdirection because they don't reveal the heart. Uh look at
25:58 him. If you have a heart of for God, you have heart for people. David departed from there and escaped to the cave of
26:03 Adelam. When his brothers and all his father's house heard it, they went down to him. And everyone who was in
26:10 distress, everyone who was in depth, everyone who was bitter in soul gathered to him. And he became commander over
26:15 them. And there were with him 400 men. He's the one where you got a problem,
26:20 you go to him. You got a problem with your household, you go to him. You're sick, you go to him. He gathers people and he looks out for them. If David can
26:28 have our sins, we can have his heart. He's not perfect, but we certainly can have his heart.
26:35 He's humble. Uh Psalm 78 says he chose David as his servant and took him from the sheep holes. He's honest with
26:42 upright heart. He shepherded them and guided them with a skiful hand. So character is everything. And finally,
26:50 God always empowers those he chooses. If he chooses you, he will always empower
26:56 you. Then Samuel took the horn from the uh took the horn of oil, anointed him in
27:01 the midst of his brothers, and the spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward, and Samuel rose
27:08 up and went to Rama. Now the spirit of the Lord departed from Saul and a harmful spirit from the Lord tormented
27:15 him. So the one chosen is David. He and
27:20 what Samuel did was anointed him with oil and the spirit of God rushed very exciting that rushed upon uh David. At
27:28 the same time the spirit of God you know leaves one and rushed rush out of one
27:34 and rush onto the other. Gives you the the verses are put side by side. And if you really don't, if you are Saul and if
27:41 you really don't want God's spirit, if you really don't have a heart for God, then God leaves you and it's not empty.
27:49 Your heart never remains empty. You know, it's always filled with something else. If you don't fill your heart with
27:54 the spirit of God, you're going to be filled with an evil spirit uh which the Lord allowed to come to torment him. Um,
28:03 was David intrinsically better than his brothers or Saul? I mean, Saul sinned,
28:10 but so did David. David had sex with someone else's wife. David killed
28:18 her husband. Was he intrinsically better? No.
28:24 But one thing he did have, if you look, he had both of them have the Holy Spirit, right? Both of them were equally
28:31 empowered. But what he did was he was able to make the right decisions that
28:36 that that basically followed his heart deep inside. He loved God. Now you think
28:42 the Holy Spirit comes in and overpowers you. You got this idea from wrong
28:47 theology you get from some churches. When the Holy Spirit comes in, you're like the Highlander. They chop off somebody's head and all the power comes
28:53 to you and you're you're like shaking and then you fall to the ground. and you're slain in the spirit and then the Holy Spirit takes over and makes you a
28:59 good guy and makes you make all the correct decisions. He doesn't do that. He doesn't do that because both David
29:06 and Saul had the Holy Spirit. Why did one fail and why didn't the other one fail? Because the Holy Spirit comes in
29:13 not to overpower but to empower to allow you to make the decision and carry out
29:19 those decisions. It's like uh these nowadays you don't have the strength to
29:24 lift a 100 pound cow or to fight a battle like a superhuman. So now they
29:29 devised these suits where you actually put them on. They don't tell you what to
29:35 do but they enable you to do what? For example, you could lift up 100 kilograms
29:41 just like that. Why? Because they allow you to. But you who has to make the decision? You still have to make a
29:46 decision. So in your heart you make the decision. The Holy Spirit allows that to happen. So that when David meets
29:51 Goliath, he's going to make a decision. Do you meet Goliath or you run away? He makes
29:57 the decision, but the Holy Spirit empowers him to think about the pebbles, to think about something else. Right? So
30:03 that's the difference between the two of them. So when the spirit comes, everybody thinks I'm empowered by the
30:08 Holy Spirit. Life will be good. I'll be walking around and people will be slain right and right before before me. I'll be able to heal. You know, when spirit
30:15 comes, comes testing. As soon as the spirit comes, he he he works for Saul.
30:21 Saul persecutes him for the next 10 years of his life, chasing him, trying to kill him. Uh he then meets Goliath.
30:27 Huge trial. Imagine just became a Christian and then suddenly Goliath comes in front of you. Huge, isn't it?
30:33 So you you realize whenever you get the Holy Spirit, trouble comes. Uh Jesus Christ, the first thing that happens
30:41 when he gets baptized, you know what happens after he gets baptized? Anyone know? There's a huge John John the
30:47 Baptist brings him out river Jordan. He gets baptized. Skies open. You read that
30:53 in Mark chapter one and a huge voice comes out. This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased right and Holy
30:60 Spirit comes upon him. Next thing sent into the wilderness for testing. See the
31:05 Holy Spirit comes and when it comes you get tested. You don't get tested. You
31:11 know the purpose is that so you go through testing. If you ask anybody who's got any degree of character,
31:17 you'll find that they something would happen in their life some and usually it's something bad a terrible trial or
31:24 difficulty or loss and then they gain character because they they overcome that in their life. So the Holy Spirit
31:31 comes there always is trial and testing. How do you develop their heart character
31:36 in your life? Well, Paul says not not only that but we rejoice in our suffering knowing that suffering
31:41 produces endurance. Endurance produces character and character produces hope.
31:47 See the Holy Spirit comes in whenever comes in rushes upon you then immediately you're tested because the
31:52 testing produces hope. You know pastor Rama prayed about the difficulties in this country where racism is coming
31:59 again and every day you read newspaper you kind of fail to be depressed. It would seem as if the national character
32:06 is basically what? Racism and and bigotry and narrowmindedness and
32:11 religious intolerance. The basic fabric of this society is breaking down. If you read the papers day in and day out, it
32:17 is heartbreaking. And we're looking for something to give us hope in this country, isn't it?
32:23 Otherwise, a lot of people will leave. And and and couple of weeks ago, a video
32:28 came out. How many watched this video from Malay online? Put your hands up. You haven't watched it, you should get
32:35 on there and watch it. What they did in this video was that they interviewed
32:40 normal ordinary Malaysians and as they were sitting in front of the camera then
32:46 they offered them money. You know I want you to say these words all Malays are lazy.
32:51 All Chinese are greedy and say all these racist epiats you were asked to say
32:57 offered money to. Do you know almost every single one of these ordinary
33:02 Malaysians in this video turned the offer down and Ambiga as well as uh Mahati's own
33:09 daughter Marina Mahhati said you know what if that's what the average Malaysian is there is still hope for
33:16 this country because the character of the people are tested that the hope of the nation rests not on the character of
33:23 his leaders actually rests on the character of the average Joe blow the average guy who is not racist rather
33:31 than the the characteristics of the leaders who are prancing up and down and and putting up their racial
33:36 characteristics and their and their credentials. There's hope for this nation, isn't it? When you see something like that, of course, you've got this
33:43 fellow Kyrie says, "Okay, it's all on camera, so therefore nobody will say they're racist on camera, right?" But he
33:49 makes a point. What if you are tested? What if instead of offering you money
33:54 they said if you unless you say I you know all malays are lazy I'm going to kill you and if the people actually
34:01 responded no I'm still not going to do that then the character is proven and they give you hope for the nation that's
34:07 why endurance gives you character character gives you
34:12 hope finally this is I'm going to conclude my
34:18 sermon by giving you a shot back into history. This is a picture of Galilee.
34:25 In Galilee is a great place of great religious learning more so than the
34:31 people of Judea. Actually, the people of Judea were very prejudiced against the people of Judea. Lots of synagogues,
34:37 lots of places where the population were uh uh were were basically schooled in
34:43 the Torah. In fact, you've got all these uh Toras, all these synagogues and
34:48 schools. When you were about three to four years old, the age of the preschoolers in this country, you'd be
34:55 sent off to uh bet she which is basically a elementary school where
35:00 you'll be learned, you will be taught Hebrew, you'll be taught how to read and
35:07 memorize large tracks of the Torah. Once you finish that, like primary
35:13 school, you go to secondary school. And not everybody went. A very few went to secondary school. Secondary school is
35:18 called Bet Midrash. In Met Midash, you don't only study the Torah, you study the prophets and the writings and you
35:25 learn how to interpret, you learn how to make application to daily lives and their whole they're really immersed in
35:32 scripture. So uh but the rest of them who do wouldn't go will go back and learn to be uh uh uh farmers, carpenters
35:38 and all that. But the rest of them who went to secondary school to bet Midash would be totally schooled in this. And
35:43 out of all these people, a very very very small minority, very small minority
35:49 would then at the end of Bet Midash would choose to follow a rabbi. They
35:55 have a famous rabbi. Uh and then they'll go to the rabbi and say, "Hey, Rabbi,
36:00 Rama, can I be your student?" Rama look at
36:05 you. This guy not tall enough, not handsome enough. uh and most times you
36:11 know you know sometimes he'll say yes most times he'll say no even then very few would get to follow Rama around uh
36:18 but they would follow not learning a whole issue of theology
36:24 or the Bible but how to apply it if Rama went to the mountain you go to the
36:30 mountain the same thing as Jesus if Jesus went to the mountain you go to the mountain Jesus fed 5,000 they were right
36:36 there they they followed Jesus this is the 12 disciples. All right? So they were like that. So
36:43 you were called the Talmudine. Talmudin were this elite few that will fix themselves to rabbi and they would then
36:50 learn how the Bible is applied in daily life. There's no point going to the university studying all about it in
36:56 order to make a grade or make a teacher happy. They went to rabbi school in
37:02 order to become the rabbi because then when they graduate they will be the rabbi and everybody else will go to
37:08 them. But the interesting thing when Jesus came you know what he didn't wait
37:13 for people to come and ask him can can we be your students he went to Peter and
37:20 Andrew you know what he said come follow me now that is astounding isn't it only
37:28 the best of the best of the best can actually go to rabbi and ask to follow rabbi
37:35 and if the rabbi accepted you it mean you had what it took you You had the training, you had the acumen, you had
37:40 the ability and you were going to make it. But very few were able to make it. Here you actually have turned around
37:46 when when God turns around. Jesus turns around. He didn't look for the best of the best. In fact, he looked for the
37:51 worst. Some are tax collectors. Some were fishermen. He looked for the worst to make the best
37:58 out of the best. He looked for ordinary people and he called them the talmadeim.
38:06 So when we come to New Testament concept of disciplehip, it is actually that exclusive group of people who basically
38:12 follow Jesus wherever he goes to learn how he lives the Bible in their lives. And that's what we're called to be when
38:20 he walks on water. Guess what Peter said? I also want to walk on water. And
38:26 he's actually jumped on the water and he started walking on the water until he saw the waves and he he collapsed a wee bit. But that's was correct because a
38:33 talmadin follows the rabbi because he wants and is going to be a rabbi one day. When we come to New Testament
38:39 concept, we've lost that. You know that we are called by our Lord Jesus Christ.
38:45 We are the talmadine. We are the best of the best. Not because we're best of the
38:50 best, but God calls us to be the best of the best. We're the worst of the worst.
38:56 But we're called to be the best of the best because when God calls us like a rabbi calls you, he he he knows that
39:02 you've got what it takes. That you're able to make it. You're able to to to
39:08 grow to be like him. You're going to be a rabbi. You're going to be a Jesus. When Jesus calls us,
39:15 he chooses you. And he knows you got to have the character. He knows you to put his spirit into you that you are going
39:21 to walk and you're going to be like him. You're going to walk on water as well. That's what he's called you to do.
39:26 That's the big vision. But the problem is you struggle. You know, my goodness, should should I go? Should I not? Uh uh
39:34 uh you know, because we're either becoming like David or becoming like Saul. On one hand, if I follow God and
39:41 be a talidine, uh you know, uh uh I I'm going to glorify God. Yeah, that's fine.
39:48 I'd rather go the other way where I'm going to have my own things. I'm I'm going to have my own happiness.
39:56 I got to choose. Right? There was an interesting sermon given many years ago by one of the very famous early American
40:04 revivalist. His name was Jonathan Edwards. And he says God's purpose of life, you
40:11 know, all of us are created, we all created to be the taline. We're all created to glorify God. All right? But
40:20 there's two things. You can glorify God because he's perfect. He's wonderful. He's great.
40:27 But not feel anything. To glorify God, you actually got to feel something. He
40:32 says, "The glory of God therefore consists of creatures admiring and
40:37 rejoicing and exalting in the manifestations of his beauty and no point coming to church and singing the
40:44 song." Yeah, God is great. Go. Oh, so what? So what? Doesn't affect my heart.
40:49 When your heart gets engaged and the and the and the theology goes from here to here,
40:54 then God is glorified. If you stand there say, "Yeah, God is one. God is great. God is all powerful. Jesus died
41:01 on the cross for me." It doesn't glorify God because it doesn't come down to the heart. John Piper says these words,
41:08 God's purpose for my life is that I should have passion for God's glory and that and that I have passion in my joy
41:15 for that glory and that two passions two are one passion. You know, three years ago, we had a who's got talent
41:24 competition here and there were two girls where I saw Joanne will remember they're both maybe her students.
41:32 One of them had a very expensive Jo-Ann type violin
41:37 and she played the notes perfectly and everything was in sync and you know she
41:42 was concentrating on the words and and the violin and the motions and all that
41:50 but she didn't win. Another one,
41:55 another girl I remember her name was Denise. And she played and you could see as she played, I don't think she's as
42:02 perfect as the other one. I don't know. I'm not a violinist. But there was a smile, there was an enjoyment, there was
42:07 joy, you know, she and her cheap little violin, not the $5,000 one were one.
42:15 And that's what God is like with us when we play that violin. And the one
42:21 who uh the one who enjoys it is the one that glorifies the one who wrote the music. And the one who writes the music
42:28 for us today is God. There's only one song that resonates in
42:36 our heart and that's a song of Jesus Christ. And this morning God is calling us all to be talin to follow him to be
42:42 like him in every area of our lives where at work at school at our marriages in our home. It's not going to be easy
42:49 task. But do you know it's not a decision between God's glory or my happiness. You
42:57 can have both because if you choose my happiness then you don't get God's glory. If you choose God's glory you
43:02 actually get my happiness because that's true joy.
43:11 You can choose today to follow the life of Robin Williams
43:19 who found a reason to laugh at everything under the sun and it was good
43:25 and we all laughed together with him. But deep inside he was crying. Deep
43:32 inside there wasn't a permanent solution to his pain. He looked to a solution in drugs,
43:38 in pills, in doctors and psychiatrists. He looked in fame and money.
43:45 And you know, to get true joy, you must have meaning. You can't just laugh at
43:50 something because it's funny. You got to laugh at something because it's real.
43:56 And I put Robin Williams, and he ended his life, a sad, tragic life. A man who
44:01 made us laugh but was crying inside. Or we or we can have a life of the
44:07 Talmudine, the people who who live after God's own heart. This morning
44:15 the challenge, you know, these folk, do you know all 12 of them,
44:20 they were all martyed. They lived through difficult lives. But there was great joy because joy
44:27 comes when you have meaning. All the world today, we're looking for authenticity. We're looking for meaning,
44:34 isn't it? You have you look at the the Islamic caliphate in in Iraq in in 3
44:40 months from 10,000 we've gone to 30,000 people. Even Malaysians go there to fight. You know why? Because we're all
44:46 looking for a cause deeper and bigger than ourselves. Something to give our lives to although they may be mistaken
44:53 because you know why? There's a DNA inside us that that makes us search for
44:58 the deeper joy. And this morning I want to challenge all of us to really look in
45:03 our lives. Are you like Saul? The Saul generation that looks after me and if I look after me I will get my happiness
45:10 then you're mistaken. We ought to be like the David generation where we look
45:15 into his heart enjoying him and we really enjoy him. We get the joy
45:20 ourselves and then this nation, our families, this
45:27 world will have hope.
45:33 Let's sing this last song together.
