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Hello and welcome to the
Middletown Baptist Church Podcast,

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where we are proclaiming the
truth to the world.

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My name is Pastor Josh, and I
want to thank you for listening to

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this podcast.

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I hope that this podcast can
be a blessing to you and strengthen

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you in the word of God.

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Now come along, let's look
into the Bible and see what God has

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for us here today.

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Let's go ahead and continue
our study here in First Samuel.

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So if you have your Bibles,
turn with me to 1st Samuel, chapter

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14, 1 Samuel, chapter 14.

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Last week we looked at 1st
Samuel, chapter 13, and that was

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all about Saul's decline into
a life of destruction through pride,

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through fear.

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And that fear brought anxiety.

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And he.

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He acted not in patience as
the Lord had called him to act in,

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but he acted in, in haste and
made a decision in his own wisdom

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and his own strength.

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And we know how that always
turns out.

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And as that turned out, Samuel
shows up to see Saul and obviously

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tells him that he did wrong.

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And then through that, he told
him that he had lost the blessing

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of having the kingdom in his family.

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And that seems somewhat harsh
to, to see Saul make that decision.

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Then immediately God punishes
Saul and his family.

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But as we well know, that
there's certain parts of Scripture

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that we can see and that we
can read, but ultimately, we don't

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know what's going on in the
heart of Saul.

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What and, and what we see is
that leading up to this point, Saul,

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his heart has been turning
away from the Lord.

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And then in first Samuel,
chapter 14, we're going to see that

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it continues to turn away, but
we're going to see a contrast between

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the heart of saul in chapter
13 and the heart of his son Jonathan.

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And so if, if Saul was a man
of fear and insecurity, Jonathan

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was a man of faith.

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And finding that faith in the
Lord brought him strength and brought

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him courage and brought him
victory and fruitfulness.

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And that's what we really see
in our Christian life.

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We want fruitfulness, but to
have fruitfulness, there must be

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faith that's sown into our life.

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And that faith is seen and
demonstrated through obedience.

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And so in First Samuel,
chapter 14, we see that there is

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the Philistine camp that's set
up away from the camp of the Israelites.

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And Saul is waiting there with
all these people.

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And Jonathan really sees an
opportunity to gain a victory for

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the Lord.

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And so that's what we're going
to study here this evening.

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So first Samuel, chapter 14,
verse one.

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It says, now it came to pass
upon a Day that Jonathan, the son

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of Saul, said unto the young
man that bear his armor, come and

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let us go over to the
Philistines garrison that is on the

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other side.

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But he told not his father.

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So we stop there and we see a
couple things.

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One, we see Jonathan having
the initiative to make a decision

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to go against the enemy.

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And we know through the rest
of the story that God leads Jonathan

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to do this.

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And the victory comes through
the Lord.

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He does not tell his father.

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And it doesn't really tell us
why he left that away from his father,

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other than the fact that maybe
he thought that his father wouldn't

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come with him, or maybe he
just trusted in the Lord to do it

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on his own.

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But he tells his armor bearer,
come with me.

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And who is the armor bearer?

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Well, we know that every
officer in the Israelite army would

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have had someone there
carrying the armor.

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And so this would have been
like his assistant.

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This would have been someone
that he was very familiar with.

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And so he encourages the armor
bearer to come with him.

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And we're going to see that
the armor bearer does agree to do

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that.

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And so they go over to the
Philistine camp.

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We're going to see that story
play out here now.

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And what we're going to see is
that Jonathan is moving and he's

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trusting in the Lord to do a work.

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And oftentimes in our life, we could.

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We could wrestle with those
two things that we talked about last

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week, passiveness and patience.

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A lot of times we look at
inactivity as patience, and sometimes

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we do need to stay inactive.

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We.

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We do need to be waiting, and
we do need to wait upon the Lord.

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But oftentimes we need to move
as the Lord moves us.

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And so in this case, we see
Jonathan making a move, verse 2,

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and Saul terried in the
uttermost part of Gibeah under a

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pomegranate tree, which is in Migron.

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And the people that were with
him were about 600 men.

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So we see a contrast between
Jonathan and his dad, Saul.

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Jonathan's ready to go.

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He's looking at the enemy.

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He sees God working, and he
says, I'm going to go and I'm going

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to fight against the
Philistines, even if it's just me

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and my armor bearer.

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And then we see Saul, he's got
600 men and he's sitting under the

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pomegranate tree, just having
a good time, relaxing when he should

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be moving, when he should be
acting upon what God has called them

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to do.

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And so he's sitting under a
pomegranate tree, and he's leading

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600 men just to hold there
with him.

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And.

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And we see how a decision that
Jonathan makes impacts the armor

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bearer and how ultimately will
impact a bunch of people.

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And we see how the inactive
nature of Saul and his passiveness

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affects other men around him.

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And, and we see a description
of some of the men that are with

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him.

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And verse three sounds
somewhat strange to be in this passage,

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but.

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And random.

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It lists a few different
people here.

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But I do believe that there's
a point to the list of the people

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that are here, verse three.

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And Ahayah, the son of Ahitub,
Iabad's brother, the son of Phineas,

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the son of Eli, the Lord's
priest in Shiloh, wearing an ephed.

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And the people knew not that
Jonathan was gone.

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Now, I read through verse
three and I. I read through it quite

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a few times and I thought
about why, why were these specific

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people picked out and why was
and in any way Ichabod, the Ichabod's

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brother mentioned?

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And Ichabod's mentioned and
the son of Phineas.

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And if you guys remember the
story in First Samuel, you had a

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guy that was the priest named
Eli, and he had two sons that were

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not obedient to God, one of
them being Phineas.

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And then he has a son named Ichabod.

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And remember, the mom named
the son Ichabod because of the fact

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that that word means that the
glory of God has left.

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And so authors, different
people that write commentaries, believe

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that possibly Ichabod's name
was mentioned in this verse because

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of the fact that it's
symbolizing the fact that the glory

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of God has left Saul at this
point, and it's indicating his disobedience.

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And so that possibly could be
the case.

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But nonetheless, those people
are mentioned there.

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And then we see verse four,
and between the passages by which

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Jonathan sought to go over
into the Philistines garrison, there

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was a sharp rock on one side
and a sharp rock on the other side.

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And the name of the one was
Boz, and the name of the other was

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Sena.

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And so he goes, he takes
action, and as he's moving this way,

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he finds this place that would
have been advantageous for a battle.

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It would have been
advantageous for a few people fighting

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a bunch of people because it
would have narrowed down the battle

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to basically hand to hand
combat, one on one, right there in

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this narrow gap.

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And that's what we're going to
see Jonathan do here in, in this

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scenario.

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And so he doesn't tell his father.

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Saul was sitting under a pond
McGrana tree.

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He was indicated there as
being one who was living in passiveness

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and living in disobedience.

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And Jonathan, Jonathan finds
this strategic position and he's

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going to make a move.

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So let's look at verse number five.

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It says the forefront of the
one was situated northward against

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McMash and the other southward
over against Gibeah.

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So the setting for the battle
takes place.

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But Jonathan's also going to
use some discernment, and he's actually

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going to make a plan.

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And the plan is essentially this.

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We're going to see how the
Philistines react to us.

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We're going to make ourselves
known to the Philistines.

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And depending on how the
Philistines respond is how we'll

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respond.

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And so we see Jonathan making
a decision here, a strategic decision

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to kind of see a test, give
them a test.

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And so verse six, and Jonathan
said to the young man that bears

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armor, come and let us go over
into the garrison of these uncircumcised.

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It may be that the Lord will
work for us.

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And I love that phrase there.

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He says, we're going to go and
God's going to work for us.

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We're going to go and God's
going to work ahead.

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He's taking action by faith
that God is going to give him the

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victory.

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He doesn't know how that
victory is essentially going to play

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out.

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He doesn't know all the details.

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He doesn't know how the end
will look.

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But he believes in faith that
God will do his work, that God will

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give them the victory.

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And that's really what faith is.

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You know, oftentimes we think
about that word faith, and we think

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about, well, faith is trusting
in something that we can see or trusting

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in something that makes sense.

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But really what we see in this
case and what we see throughout all

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of Scripture is that faith is
taking a step of.

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Of.

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Of trust in something that we
don't evidently see yet.

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We're trusting that God's
going to keep his word.

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We're trusting that God is
going to come to pass.

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Everything that he has said
that will come to pass.

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And so he says in that verse,
verse six, it may be that the Lord

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will work for us, and there is
no restraint to the Lord to save

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by many or by few.

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I love how he says that,
because basically what he says is

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this.

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God will give us a victory
over a few.

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God can give us a victory over
great numbers.

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Don't mean anything to God.

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And you think about all the
stories in Scripture where God's

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people were under matched,
they were under numbered, they were

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under equipped when it came to
the swords and chariots and horses.

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But God gives them the victory
not because of their strength, not

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because of their numbers, not
because of their technology, but

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because that they are his
people and that he is more powerful

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than any enemy that we might face.

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And that's a lesson that we
can all take with us.

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At the end of verse six,
Jonathan says this.

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We're going to go.

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God's going to work.

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God can give us the victory
above anybody that we fight because

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he trusts that God will keep
his word.

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And that's what we should do
in our own lives.

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When we're coming to a
situation that might not make sense,

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or when we're coming to a
situation that doesn't align with

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our way of thinking, or it
doesn't align with the numbers, or

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it doesn't align with what
ultimately people think is a good

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idea, we can come to that and
say, if God's called us to do it,

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he's going to get us through it.

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And that's what we see exactly
happening in this passage.

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In verse seven, it says this,
that his arm rear said unto him,

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do all that is in thine heart
turn thee.

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Behold, I am with thee
according to thy heart.

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So we see that Jonathan's
boldness for the Lord, Jonathan's

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faith is contagious to his
armor bearer.

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I mean, his armor bearer had
every right and every choice to leave

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at that point, saying,
jonathan, you can go to the Philistines.

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It's two verse hundreds, maybe
even thousands.

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We don't want to do this.

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I don't want to do this.

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I think we should leave.

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But no, Jonathan's faith and
his boldness for the Lord is contagious.

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And so in contrast, we see
Saul holding back there with 600

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men under a pomegranate tree,
thinking that something else is going

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to happen in, in his timing,
in his way.

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And then we see Jonathan
leading one.

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And we're going to see what
two people that are faithful to the

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Lord can do.

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And a lot of times what we can
see is that it's not always about

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numbers.

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And a lot of times today what
we see is that people gauge God working

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00:10:41,690 --> 00:10:42,890
through numbers.

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00:10:42,890 --> 00:10:46,330
And sometimes God does work
with a mass amount of people.

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00:10:46,810 --> 00:10:50,690
Sometimes where we find God
working is where we see a bunch of

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00:10:50,690 --> 00:10:51,690
people congregated.

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00:10:51,690 --> 00:10:54,420
But sometimes we see in
scripture that it's not always about

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00:10:54,420 --> 00:10:54,900
the crowd.

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00:10:54,900 --> 00:10:56,180
It's not always about the masses.

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00:10:56,180 --> 00:10:58,500
Sometimes it's about the ones
that are not the majority.

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00:10:59,140 --> 00:11:02,540
And for example, in the Book
of Judges, we saw the, the story

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00:11:02,540 --> 00:11:03,260
of Gideon, right?

253
00:11:03,260 --> 00:11:06,300
Gideon had all these men, and
eventually God paired it down to

254
00:11:06,300 --> 00:11:09,060
just 300 and they went in and
had that great victory.

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00:11:09,220 --> 00:11:12,580
And we see other instances
where God would allow a smaller group

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00:11:12,660 --> 00:11:14,260
to have victory over a larger group.

257
00:11:14,260 --> 00:11:17,180
And so that's exactly what is
happening here with Jonathan and

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00:11:17,180 --> 00:11:18,180
the armor bearer.

259
00:11:18,660 --> 00:11:22,660
So let's look at what happens
here in verse number eight and nine,

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00:11:22,660 --> 00:11:27,500
because I think this is so
amazing how God just works this out

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00:11:27,900 --> 00:11:31,940
with, with Jonathan's faith
and, and with his bold proposal.

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00:11:31,940 --> 00:11:34,820
He comes into the situation
and he says, God's going to work

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00:11:34,820 --> 00:11:35,260
for us.

264
00:11:35,340 --> 00:11:36,700
I'm going to trust in him.

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00:11:36,780 --> 00:11:39,060
I'm going to believe that he
is going to work ahead of us.

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00:11:39,060 --> 00:11:42,860
And we're going to see that
his faith is, is, is, is rewarded.

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00:11:42,860 --> 00:11:43,860
God rewards his faith.

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00:11:43,860 --> 00:11:46,380
And the Bible says that in
Hebrews, chapter 11.

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Impossible to please God.

270
00:11:48,630 --> 00:11:50,390
It's impossible to please God
without faith.

271
00:11:50,390 --> 00:11:52,870
He's a rewarder of them that
diligently seek him.

272
00:11:52,870 --> 00:11:56,790
And I truly believe that God
is a rewarder of those that diligently

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00:11:56,790 --> 00:11:57,270
seek Him.

274
00:11:57,270 --> 00:11:59,790
Now, he doesn't reward us
necessarily in the way that we always

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00:11:59,790 --> 00:12:03,550
expect or that we want, but
God always rewards those that have

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00:12:03,550 --> 00:12:03,910
faith.

277
00:12:03,910 --> 00:12:06,670
And so he rewards Jonathan for
his faith.

278
00:12:06,670 --> 00:12:09,910
And so verse 8 then said
Jonathan, behold, we will pass over

279
00:12:09,910 --> 00:12:12,950
unto these men and we will
discover ourselves unto them.

280
00:12:13,840 --> 00:12:17,840
So Jonathan is not only
working in a unique way in the fact

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00:12:17,840 --> 00:12:22,000
that he doesn't have the
numbers, but he's also going to act

282
00:12:22,000 --> 00:12:25,040
in a very unique way in the
fact that he does something that

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00:12:25,040 --> 00:12:26,960
most people would say is not a
wise decision.

284
00:12:27,600 --> 00:12:31,160
We would, we would say maybe
if they're going in with underutilized

285
00:12:31,160 --> 00:12:34,400
amount of numbers, maybe they
should come in and surprise them.

286
00:12:34,560 --> 00:12:36,600
Maybe they should come in in
the middle of the night like maybe

287
00:12:36,600 --> 00:12:38,080
we've seen other people do in
the past.

288
00:12:38,570 --> 00:12:40,930
Come in in the middle of the
night and shock them, surprise them.

289
00:12:40,930 --> 00:12:44,650
But no, Jonathan says, we're
going to not be what, what maybe

290
00:12:44,650 --> 00:12:45,850
think people think we should be.

291
00:12:45,930 --> 00:12:48,810
We're going to come in and
just boldly proclaim that we're here.

292
00:12:49,130 --> 00:12:52,690
And, and so this is a really,
really unique way to come into the

293
00:12:52,690 --> 00:12:52,930
battle.

294
00:12:52,930 --> 00:12:55,490
But he says, we're going to go
and we're going to make ourselves

295
00:12:55,490 --> 00:12:56,330
known unto them.

296
00:12:56,330 --> 00:12:56,970
Verse 9.

297
00:12:56,970 --> 00:13:00,610
If they say thus unto us,
Terry, until we come to you, meaning,

298
00:13:00,610 --> 00:13:03,930
wait, we're coming to you,
then we will stand still in our place,

299
00:13:03,930 --> 00:13:06,490
and we will not go up unto
them mean, meaning we'll let them

300
00:13:06,490 --> 00:13:07,090
come to us.

301
00:13:08,050 --> 00:13:09,570
But verse 10.

302
00:13:09,570 --> 00:13:14,050
But if they say thus, come up
unto us, meaning come up to us, come

303
00:13:14,050 --> 00:13:17,410
to us, then we will go up, for
the Lord hath delivered them into

304
00:13:17,410 --> 00:13:20,890
our hand, and this shall be a
sign unto us, meaning if they say,

305
00:13:20,890 --> 00:13:25,130
come to us, that's our ticket
to go in and work for the Lord and

306
00:13:25,130 --> 00:13:25,970
get a victory.

307
00:13:26,530 --> 00:13:28,810
And so Jonathan proposes this test.

308
00:13:28,810 --> 00:13:32,130
And so Jonathan believes that
God would take his.

309
00:13:32,850 --> 00:13:33,250
His.

310
00:13:33,730 --> 00:13:36,810
His strength and that he's
putting forward and then multiply

311
00:13:36,810 --> 00:13:37,870
it with strength.

312
00:13:37,870 --> 00:13:39,750
And we know that God's
strength is infinite.

313
00:13:39,750 --> 00:13:42,630
Our strength runs out, but
God's strength is infinite.

314
00:13:42,630 --> 00:13:44,430
And he said, this will be
assigned to us.

315
00:13:44,670 --> 00:13:47,230
And so Jonathan, the way that
you can think about it this way is

316
00:13:47,230 --> 00:13:49,390
that Jonathan was prompted by faith.

317
00:13:50,110 --> 00:13:51,550
He moves by faith.

318
00:13:51,790 --> 00:13:54,150
And we know that he's not
demanding God to do this.

319
00:13:54,150 --> 00:13:57,150
We know that he's acting in
faith and he's willing to take one

320
00:13:57,150 --> 00:13:58,110
step at a time.

321
00:13:58,350 --> 00:14:00,270
And he's allowing God to make the.

322
00:14:00,270 --> 00:14:01,350
The ultimate plans here.

323
00:14:01,350 --> 00:14:02,990
He's just taking it one step
at a time.

324
00:14:03,430 --> 00:14:04,630
And really that's what faith is.

325
00:14:04,630 --> 00:14:08,910
Faith is willing to let God do
the work, and we just follow along

326
00:14:08,910 --> 00:14:11,110
and we take one step of faith
at a time.

327
00:14:11,110 --> 00:14:11,910
We don't know the end.

328
00:14:11,910 --> 00:14:14,430
We don't know how it's all
going to come to pass, but we're

329
00:14:14,430 --> 00:14:17,270
trusting in this victory that
God has promised us.

330
00:14:17,270 --> 00:14:20,070
And so we're going to see what
happens here in verse number 11.

331
00:14:20,070 --> 00:14:23,870
Because verse number 11 tells
us really the response of the Philistines,

332
00:14:23,870 --> 00:14:27,390
and ultimately what dictates
what Jonathan and his armor bear

333
00:14:27,390 --> 00:14:27,910
are going to do next.

334
00:14:27,910 --> 00:14:28,630
Verse number 11.

335
00:14:28,920 --> 00:14:31,320
And both of them discover
themselves unto the garrison of the

336
00:14:31,320 --> 00:14:31,760
Philistines.

337
00:14:31,760 --> 00:14:33,800
So they come in and say, hey,
we're here.

338
00:14:34,440 --> 00:14:38,720
And the Philistines said,
behold, the Hebrews come forth out

339
00:14:38,720 --> 00:14:40,440
of their holes where they have
hid themselves.

340
00:14:40,840 --> 00:14:45,240
So this shows you the way that
the Israelites or the Hebrews have

341
00:14:45,240 --> 00:14:48,840
been living up to this point
in fear, hiding in holes.

342
00:14:49,000 --> 00:14:51,080
I mean, they weren't living
boldly for the Lord.

343
00:14:51,080 --> 00:14:53,480
They're not living boldly with
God's plan.

344
00:14:53,480 --> 00:14:56,720
They're not living boldly with
their King Saul, who was supposed

345
00:14:56,720 --> 00:14:58,030
to be their leader.

346
00:14:58,270 --> 00:14:59,630
No, they're living in holes.

347
00:14:59,630 --> 00:15:00,750
And it shows that they're.

348
00:15:00,750 --> 00:15:04,670
They're living in that fear,
they're living in that anxiety, always

349
00:15:04,670 --> 00:15:08,030
thinking that they're going to
be defeated by the Philistines.

350
00:15:08,030 --> 00:15:10,910
And so the Philistines
indicate, hey, this is strange.

351
00:15:10,910 --> 00:15:13,150
They're coming out of their
hiding place against us.

352
00:15:13,630 --> 00:15:18,070
And this just shows how far
Saul had allowed the Israelite people

353
00:15:18,070 --> 00:15:20,550
to spiral into this place of
fear and anxiety.

354
00:15:20,550 --> 00:15:25,350
And what we really see is that
a group of people will follow a leader,

355
00:15:25,430 --> 00:15:26,710
whether it be good or bad.

356
00:15:26,950 --> 00:15:30,990
You know, when we, when we
have someone like Saul who is plagued

357
00:15:30,990 --> 00:15:34,390
by anxiety and fear and
insecurity, what's going to eventually

358
00:15:34,390 --> 00:15:37,870
happen is that the people that
he leads are going to follow in that

359
00:15:37,870 --> 00:15:40,230
suit and be in fear and anxiety.

360
00:15:40,470 --> 00:15:42,870
And, and ultimately that's
what we see happening here.

361
00:15:42,870 --> 00:15:45,870
And then when it's when
Jonathan steps up in faith and eventually

362
00:15:45,870 --> 00:15:48,710
David stepping up in faith,
that the people will have boldness.

363
00:15:48,710 --> 00:15:51,190
I mean, you guys even remember
of the story which we're going to

364
00:15:51,190 --> 00:15:54,830
talk about in, in a few weeks
is going to be the story of, of David,

365
00:15:54,830 --> 00:15:55,070
right?

366
00:15:55,070 --> 00:15:58,430
David goes out into the
battlefield against Goliath, and

367
00:15:58,590 --> 00:16:01,790
nobody in the army was willing
to go out against Goliath except

368
00:16:01,790 --> 00:16:02,270
for David.

369
00:16:02,270 --> 00:16:02,510
Why?

370
00:16:02,510 --> 00:16:03,710
Because he was a man of faith.

371
00:16:04,430 --> 00:16:07,390
And so we see in this case the
difference between faith and fear.

372
00:16:07,550 --> 00:16:11,310
Faith drives people to hide
and to run away from the problems.

373
00:16:11,950 --> 00:16:13,110
And that's what fear does.

374
00:16:13,110 --> 00:16:16,310
And then faith draws people
out into boldness and to confront

375
00:16:16,310 --> 00:16:17,630
the issue at hand.

376
00:16:17,630 --> 00:16:19,430
And that's exactly what we're
going to see here.

377
00:16:19,430 --> 00:16:23,340
So verse 12 tells us what the,
what the Philistines did.

378
00:16:23,340 --> 00:16:26,140
And the men of the garrison
answered Jonathan and his armor bearer

379
00:16:26,140 --> 00:16:28,580
and said, come up to us, all right?

380
00:16:28,580 --> 00:16:29,740
There's their invitation.

381
00:16:30,220 --> 00:16:30,620
All right.

382
00:16:30,620 --> 00:16:33,180
Remember, Jonathan said, if
they said we'll come to you.

383
00:16:33,180 --> 00:16:35,140
We'll just wait and see what happens.

384
00:16:35,140 --> 00:16:38,740
If they say, you come to us,
that's our, that's our ticket.

385
00:16:38,740 --> 00:16:39,820
That's our welcome.

386
00:16:39,820 --> 00:16:40,860
We're going to go in.

387
00:16:41,100 --> 00:16:44,740
And that's exactly what they
do and say, come up unto us and we

388
00:16:44,740 --> 00:16:45,900
will show you a thing.

389
00:16:46,620 --> 00:16:50,080
Basically, this is, you know,
the Philistine way of what we would

390
00:16:50,080 --> 00:16:51,000
say is talking trash.

391
00:16:51,000 --> 00:16:53,640
They said, hey, come down here
and we're going to show you something.

392
00:16:53,640 --> 00:16:55,320
We're going to show you what
it means to really fight.

393
00:16:55,320 --> 00:16:56,360
We're the Philistines.

394
00:16:56,440 --> 00:16:58,160
We've got the, we've got the
true power.

395
00:16:58,160 --> 00:16:59,400
We've got the true victory.

396
00:16:59,880 --> 00:17:03,400
And, and this is really follow
suit to the way the Philistines act.

397
00:17:03,400 --> 00:17:06,920
I mean, even Goliath mocked
the, the Israelites and mocked their

398
00:17:06,920 --> 00:17:07,320
God.

399
00:17:08,040 --> 00:17:11,240
And so Jonathan said to his
armor bearer, come up after me.

400
00:17:11,240 --> 00:17:11,840
Here we go.

401
00:17:11,840 --> 00:17:12,760
Come up after me.

402
00:17:12,760 --> 00:17:15,560
For the Lord hath delivered
them into the hand of Israel.

403
00:17:15,990 --> 00:17:21,270
Now, the end of verse 12, we
see Jonathan exercising faith, right?

404
00:17:21,270 --> 00:17:23,030
Because they haven't had the
victory yet.

405
00:17:23,030 --> 00:17:24,710
I mean, literally, they
haven't had the victory.

406
00:17:24,710 --> 00:17:26,310
They're about to go into the battle.

407
00:17:26,390 --> 00:17:29,190
But because of Jonathan's
belief in the Lord, he already says,

408
00:17:29,190 --> 00:17:30,390
hey, we've got the battle.

409
00:17:30,790 --> 00:17:32,950
And what, what, what kind of
faith is that?

410
00:17:32,950 --> 00:17:33,230
That's.

411
00:17:33,230 --> 00:17:34,310
That's amazing faith.

412
00:17:34,550 --> 00:17:36,270
I think for me, sometimes I struggle.

413
00:17:36,270 --> 00:17:39,710
I. I look at a situation and I
say, okay, Lord, I'm gonna do this,

414
00:17:39,710 --> 00:17:41,350
but I don't know how it's
going to turn out.

415
00:17:41,970 --> 00:17:44,410
And if I, if I would be
transparent with you here this evening,

416
00:17:44,410 --> 00:17:47,130
which I try to be transparent
as much as I can be, there's a lot

417
00:17:47,130 --> 00:17:49,010
of times in my life that I'm
going through the motions.

418
00:17:49,010 --> 00:17:51,570
I know God calls me to do
this, but the whole time I'm going,

419
00:17:51,570 --> 00:17:52,610
lord, I don't know.

420
00:17:52,610 --> 00:17:54,130
I'm not sure if this is going
to work.

421
00:17:54,210 --> 00:17:56,370
I'm pretty sure I'm going to
fall on my face and it's not going

422
00:17:56,370 --> 00:17:57,010
to be a success.

423
00:17:57,329 --> 00:17:59,410
I know that this is going to
be a failure because I'm looking

424
00:17:59,410 --> 00:18:00,690
at it from my perspective.

425
00:18:00,850 --> 00:18:02,610
I'm looking at it from my
human perspective.

426
00:18:02,610 --> 00:18:03,890
It doesn't add up for me.

427
00:18:04,050 --> 00:18:05,850
And so willingly I'm doing it.

428
00:18:05,850 --> 00:18:08,210
But I'm kind of like the
fellow in the New Testament that

429
00:18:08,210 --> 00:18:09,970
says, lord, I believe, but
help my unbelief.

430
00:18:10,440 --> 00:18:12,360
And, and I'm not saying that's
a bad thing.

431
00:18:12,360 --> 00:18:15,080
I mean, better than just
turning away from what God tells

432
00:18:15,080 --> 00:18:15,320
us.

433
00:18:15,560 --> 00:18:18,800
But it would be better if we
had the type of faith that Jonathan

434
00:18:18,800 --> 00:18:21,320
has that says, okay, Lord,
you're going to give us the victory.

435
00:18:21,320 --> 00:18:24,080
We're going in and we're going
to trust in you before we even go

436
00:18:24,080 --> 00:18:24,840
into the battle.

437
00:18:25,320 --> 00:18:26,360
And I think that's.

438
00:18:26,360 --> 00:18:28,920
That's an indication of a
testimony of prayer.

439
00:18:29,080 --> 00:18:32,120
That's an indication of
someone who is walking with the Lord.

440
00:18:32,200 --> 00:18:34,960
If I'm walking with the Lord
and I'm prayed up and I'm going into

441
00:18:34,960 --> 00:18:37,170
a situation, I'm going to be
ready to say, you know what?

442
00:18:37,170 --> 00:18:39,450
I've done everything that I
possibly can to trust in the Lord.

443
00:18:39,450 --> 00:18:42,210
Now the Lord takes over, and
as the Lord takes over, he gives

444
00:18:42,210 --> 00:18:43,010
us the victory.

445
00:18:43,170 --> 00:18:45,730
And so that's what's going to
happen in, in this case.

446
00:18:45,810 --> 00:18:46,770
So verse 13.

447
00:18:47,490 --> 00:18:51,130
And Jonathan climbed up onto
his hands and upon his feet and his

448
00:18:51,130 --> 00:18:52,370
armor bearer after him.

449
00:18:52,370 --> 00:18:55,810
And they fell before Jonathan
and his armor bearer slew after him.

450
00:18:56,690 --> 00:19:00,490
And so at this point in time,
Jonathan, he climbs up on his hands

451
00:19:00,490 --> 00:19:03,700
and his knees with his armor
bearer after him and a difficult

452
00:19:03,700 --> 00:19:04,980
climb up on one of these rocks.

453
00:19:04,980 --> 00:19:05,700
But they do that.

454
00:19:05,700 --> 00:19:09,220
And ultimately what we see is
that the battle comes in.

455
00:19:09,460 --> 00:19:09,940
They're.

456
00:19:09,940 --> 00:19:11,060
They're going to be fighting.

457
00:19:11,220 --> 00:19:14,940
And he knew that God was going
to use him to fight, but ultimately

458
00:19:14,940 --> 00:19:18,180
God was going to extend his
power upon the situation.

459
00:19:18,980 --> 00:19:22,060
And so I think this is
interesting too, because when we're

460
00:19:22,060 --> 00:19:25,340
in a situation that we're
exercising faith, we don't just lay

461
00:19:25,340 --> 00:19:26,260
down our sword.

462
00:19:26,980 --> 00:19:29,340
You know, a lot of times we
think that there's a phrase, and

463
00:19:29,340 --> 00:19:33,030
I know what we mean by it, and
I don't think it's necessarily wrong

464
00:19:33,030 --> 00:19:35,670
when we say it, but there's
some, probably some negative implications

465
00:19:35,670 --> 00:19:36,190
with it.

466
00:19:36,190 --> 00:19:39,390
But we say let go and let God,
and we say, okay, I'm going to trust

467
00:19:39,390 --> 00:19:41,310
God and I'm just going to put
everything down and I'm just going

468
00:19:41,310 --> 00:19:42,590
to wait for it all to transpire.

469
00:19:42,670 --> 00:19:45,230
But that's not always what we
see when we see actions of faith.

470
00:19:45,230 --> 00:19:48,430
We see people trusting in the
Lord and then acting in that faith.

471
00:19:48,430 --> 00:19:51,030
So Jonathan could have thrown
his sword aside and said, okay, Lord,

472
00:19:51,030 --> 00:19:51,950
where's the victory?

473
00:19:52,110 --> 00:19:53,750
But no, Jonathan had the sword.

474
00:19:53,750 --> 00:19:57,310
And Jonathan went into battle
trusting that as he was acting, God

475
00:19:57,310 --> 00:19:58,510
was acting for him.

476
00:19:58,600 --> 00:20:01,230
And, and I think that's
something too, in our life that there

477
00:20:01,230 --> 00:20:03,510
might be times where we come
to the end of our rope and we can't

478
00:20:03,510 --> 00:20:03,910
do anything.

479
00:20:03,910 --> 00:20:05,550
And that's, of course, when
God steps in.

480
00:20:05,710 --> 00:20:09,950
But in many cases, God wants
us to do the work, and he will then

481
00:20:09,950 --> 00:20:12,190
intercede for us in the midst
of the battle.

482
00:20:12,430 --> 00:20:15,870
And so Jonathan knew that the
battle was the Lord's, but he acted

483
00:20:15,870 --> 00:20:16,270
in it.

484
00:20:16,350 --> 00:20:21,510
And we see in verse number 14,
and in the first slaughter which

485
00:20:21,510 --> 00:20:25,440
Jonathan and his armor bearer
made was about 20 men within, as

486
00:20:25,440 --> 00:20:28,840
it were, a half acre of land
which a yoke of oxen might plow.

487
00:20:29,320 --> 00:20:33,240
And so we see that as he is
fighting there, he.

488
00:20:33,240 --> 00:20:36,280
He and his armor bearers slay
20 men, which doesn't seem like a

489
00:20:36,280 --> 00:20:39,160
lot, but we're going to see
that that has a huge impact to those

490
00:20:39,160 --> 00:20:40,280
that are the Philistines.

491
00:20:40,359 --> 00:20:43,480
And they see this happening,
verse 15, and there was a trembling

492
00:20:43,480 --> 00:20:44,200
in the host.

493
00:20:45,080 --> 00:20:48,880
And so what's happening here
is that as Jonathan and the armor

494
00:20:48,880 --> 00:20:51,880
bearer are fighting, it seems
that the Philistines had some sort

495
00:20:51,880 --> 00:20:54,680
of confusion, they had some
sort of a fear.

496
00:20:54,680 --> 00:20:58,520
And many commentators believe
that this was the work of God in

497
00:20:58,520 --> 00:20:58,960
the midst.

498
00:20:58,960 --> 00:21:02,240
As Jonathan's fighting and as
the armor bearers fighting, that

499
00:21:02,240 --> 00:21:06,080
God is working in there, and
he's allowing them to feel this fear

500
00:21:06,080 --> 00:21:07,280
and trembling in the field.

501
00:21:07,280 --> 00:21:10,320
And among all the people, the
garrisons and the spoilers, they

502
00:21:10,320 --> 00:21:11,880
also trembled in the earthquake.

503
00:21:12,360 --> 00:21:15,400
So obviously that's an
indication that God is at work.

504
00:21:15,400 --> 00:21:18,570
And so as Jonathan is
fighting, so God is fighting.

505
00:21:18,570 --> 00:21:20,610
So it was a very great trembling.

506
00:21:21,170 --> 00:21:22,690
And so it didn't matter.

507
00:21:22,690 --> 00:21:24,690
The Philistines had more people.

508
00:21:25,170 --> 00:21:27,490
It didn't matter that they had
better weapons.

509
00:21:28,050 --> 00:21:31,170
Obviously, God was more
powerful than the Philistines, weapons

510
00:21:31,170 --> 00:21:32,210
and their numbers.

511
00:21:32,210 --> 00:21:33,850
And that's the same thing for
us today.

512
00:21:33,850 --> 00:21:36,450
I mean, God is more powerful
than the enemies that we face.

513
00:21:36,690 --> 00:21:40,530
God is more powerful than any
addiction that we might face, any

514
00:21:40,530 --> 00:21:44,290
fear that we might face, any
enemy from the outside or within.

515
00:21:44,530 --> 00:21:45,810
God is more powerful.

516
00:21:46,240 --> 00:21:48,120
And so we don't look at it
like, well, you know what?

517
00:21:48,120 --> 00:21:49,600
I don't have the strength to
overcome this.

518
00:21:50,000 --> 00:21:52,760
Well, the reality is, is that
in many cases, and probably most

519
00:21:52,760 --> 00:21:55,160
cases, we don't have the
strength to overcome these things

520
00:21:55,160 --> 00:21:55,680
in our life.

521
00:21:55,680 --> 00:21:59,320
But what we do know is that
God's strength is more powerful than

522
00:21:59,320 --> 00:22:02,080
any, any enemy that we might
face in our life.

523
00:22:02,080 --> 00:22:05,080
And that's exactly what we see
happening in this passage.

524
00:22:05,080 --> 00:22:07,640
So verse 16, and the watchmen
of Saul.

525
00:22:07,640 --> 00:22:11,880
So remember, Saul and his
people are kind of sitting up in

526
00:22:11,880 --> 00:22:16,240
a camp, and they can see the
Philistines, they can see those enemies

527
00:22:16,240 --> 00:22:17,120
across the way.

528
00:22:17,120 --> 00:22:19,080
And it says that verse 16.

529
00:22:19,080 --> 00:22:22,200
And the watchmen of Saul and
Gibeah Benjamin looked, and behold,

530
00:22:22,200 --> 00:22:23,480
the multitude melted away.

531
00:22:23,480 --> 00:22:27,520
So he's looking, and all of a
sudden he sees the Philistines begin

532
00:22:27,520 --> 00:22:28,560
to scatter.

533
00:22:28,800 --> 00:22:32,480
He sees the Philistines begin
to tremble, and he sees the Philistines,

534
00:22:32,640 --> 00:22:34,040
actually some of them dying.

535
00:22:34,040 --> 00:22:35,680
And there's a question here.

536
00:22:35,760 --> 00:22:38,240
He says, they see them melting
away, and they went on beating down

537
00:22:38,240 --> 00:22:38,640
one another.

538
00:22:38,640 --> 00:22:40,400
And so they're actually
fighting against each other.

539
00:22:41,080 --> 00:22:45,680
And so the reality is, is that
God has confounded the enemy beyond

540
00:22:45,680 --> 00:22:46,680
what they could expect.

541
00:22:46,760 --> 00:22:47,400
Verse 17.

542
00:22:47,400 --> 00:22:50,520
Then Saul Then said Saul into
the people that were with him.

543
00:22:50,520 --> 00:22:54,000
Number now and see who was
gone from us, Meaning who left?

544
00:22:54,000 --> 00:22:54,840
Who's doing this?

545
00:22:55,240 --> 00:22:56,120
It's not us.

546
00:22:56,200 --> 00:22:57,560
It's not me, son.

547
00:22:57,720 --> 00:22:59,080
I, I who who left.

548
00:22:59,480 --> 00:23:02,880
And when they had numbered,
behold Jonathan and his armor bearer

549
00:23:02,880 --> 00:23:03,560
were not there.

550
00:23:04,600 --> 00:23:08,360
And so and Saul said unto
Ahaya, bring hither the ark of God.

551
00:23:08,380 --> 00:23:12,290
And for the ark of God was at
that time with the children of Israel.

552
00:23:12,770 --> 00:23:16,850
And so this is an interesting
thing that Saul does here.

553
00:23:17,410 --> 00:23:17,730
As.

554
00:23:17,730 --> 00:23:21,570
As the watchmen of Israel are
watching this huge army of the Philistines

555
00:23:21,810 --> 00:23:25,810
begin to melt away, they start
figuring out who's actually doing

556
00:23:25,810 --> 00:23:26,010
this.

557
00:23:26,010 --> 00:23:29,690
And obviously, Saul is going
to make a decision here.

558
00:23:29,690 --> 00:23:33,170
And the decision that he has
is to bring the ark of God to their

559
00:23:33,170 --> 00:23:33,650
midst.

560
00:23:34,380 --> 00:23:35,580
And Saul is.

561
00:23:35,660 --> 00:23:38,220
I believe that Saul was trying
to do some kind of spiritual.

562
00:23:38,220 --> 00:23:40,340
Like he was jumping, trying to
jump on the bandwagon.

563
00:23:40,340 --> 00:23:40,620
He.

564
00:23:40,700 --> 00:23:42,260
He sees the Philistines being defeated.

565
00:23:42,260 --> 00:23:43,380
He goes, oh, let's bring the
ark in.

566
00:23:43,380 --> 00:23:43,660
Let's.

567
00:23:43,660 --> 00:23:45,100
Let's make this a spiritual experience.

568
00:23:45,180 --> 00:23:45,580
Let's.

569
00:23:45,580 --> 00:23:47,420
Let's jump on this and let's
have the victory.

570
00:23:47,420 --> 00:23:50,140
And there is a time and a
place to.

571
00:23:50,220 --> 00:23:53,180
To have that moment of
religious experience.

572
00:23:53,180 --> 00:23:56,100
But at the same time, what
Saul should have done is said, hey,

573
00:23:56,100 --> 00:23:56,860
they're on the move.

574
00:23:56,860 --> 00:23:57,540
Let's go get them.

575
00:23:57,540 --> 00:23:57,980
Let's go.

576
00:23:58,140 --> 00:23:58,460
But.

577
00:23:58,460 --> 00:23:59,660
But he doesn't in this case.

578
00:23:59,660 --> 00:24:01,420
And so he brings this ark here.

579
00:24:01,930 --> 00:24:03,490
And what.

580
00:24:03,490 --> 00:24:04,570
What happens next is.

581
00:24:04,570 --> 00:24:06,130
Is also very interesting.

582
00:24:06,130 --> 00:24:06,650
Verse 19.

583
00:24:06,650 --> 00:24:10,250
And it came to pass while Saul
talked unto the priest that the noise

584
00:24:10,250 --> 00:24:12,970
that was in the host of the
Philistines went on and increased.

585
00:24:12,970 --> 00:24:15,290
And Saul said unto the priest,
withdraw thine hand.

586
00:24:16,010 --> 00:24:21,050
So what's happening here
basically, is that Saul goes to the

587
00:24:21,530 --> 00:24:23,610
priest and there would have
been these.

588
00:24:23,690 --> 00:24:25,930
Basically there would have
been like, this pouch on the front

589
00:24:25,930 --> 00:24:29,100
of the priest garments, and
there would have been two stones

590
00:24:29,100 --> 00:24:30,140
inside of the pouch.

591
00:24:30,540 --> 00:24:31,580
And it would have been.

592
00:24:31,980 --> 00:24:34,260
They basically would reach
down in the pouch and they would

593
00:24:34,260 --> 00:24:37,780
ask God to say yes or no,
basically, should we go into battle?

594
00:24:37,780 --> 00:24:38,740
Should we not go into battle?

595
00:24:38,740 --> 00:24:39,580
And then there would be.

596
00:24:39,660 --> 00:24:41,940
Most commentators believe that
there would have been a dark stone

597
00:24:41,940 --> 00:24:42,660
and a light stone.

598
00:24:42,660 --> 00:24:45,020
And like, let's say the dark
stone was yes, the light stone was

599
00:24:45,020 --> 00:24:45,340
no.

600
00:24:45,580 --> 00:24:48,500
And so there's like reaching
in the pouch and trying to see what

601
00:24:48,500 --> 00:24:49,260
God would say.

602
00:24:49,260 --> 00:24:53,460
And ultimately what we see
here is that it kept saying, no,

603
00:24:53,460 --> 00:24:54,180
don't go, don't go.

604
00:24:54,180 --> 00:24:56,970
And Saul said unto Ahaya,
bring hither the ark of God.

605
00:24:56,970 --> 00:24:59,210
For the ark was at that time
in the children of Israel.

606
00:24:59,210 --> 00:25:00,810
And then eventually he says,
withdraw thine hand.

607
00:25:00,810 --> 00:25:03,250
And Saul and all the people
that were with him assembled themselves

608
00:25:03,330 --> 00:25:04,290
and they came to battle.

609
00:25:04,290 --> 00:25:06,490
And behold, every man's sword
was against his fellow.

610
00:25:06,490 --> 00:25:07,850
So they're fighting against
each other.

611
00:25:07,850 --> 00:25:09,890
And there was a very great discomfiture.

612
00:25:10,210 --> 00:25:12,450
Moreover, the Hebrews that
were with the Philistines before

613
00:25:12,450 --> 00:25:12,890
that time.

614
00:25:12,890 --> 00:25:15,050
So what we see here actually
is very interesting.

615
00:25:15,050 --> 00:25:18,930
In verse 21 that there were
actually Hebrews that were joining

616
00:25:18,930 --> 00:25:20,850
in with the Philistines prior
to this.

617
00:25:20,930 --> 00:25:22,690
So these would be like the compromisers.

618
00:25:22,770 --> 00:25:25,010
These would be the one that
had sold themselves out and were

619
00:25:25,010 --> 00:25:28,210
basically slaves or servants
to the Philistines.

620
00:25:28,770 --> 00:25:31,290
And they see all this
happening and they actually turn

621
00:25:31,290 --> 00:25:33,450
and start fighting with the Hebrews.

622
00:25:33,450 --> 00:25:34,570
They start fighting for the.

623
00:25:34,570 --> 00:25:36,290
The quote, unquote, right side.

624
00:25:36,530 --> 00:25:38,930
So moreover, the Hebrews that
were with the Philistines before

625
00:25:38,930 --> 00:25:41,370
that time, which went up with
them into the camp from the country,

626
00:25:41,370 --> 00:25:44,810
round about even, they also
turned to be with the Israelites

627
00:25:44,810 --> 00:25:46,170
that were with Saul and Jonathan.

628
00:25:46,170 --> 00:25:50,030
So we see Saul and Jonathan in
two different ways.

629
00:25:50,030 --> 00:25:53,190
We see Jonathan stirring the
hearts of the people in the battle.

630
00:25:53,190 --> 00:25:56,430
And then we see what happens
is that Saul, he.

631
00:25:56,430 --> 00:25:58,550
He does not stir the heart of
the people into battle.

632
00:25:58,550 --> 00:26:00,910
I mean, eventually he gets to
the battle, but he should have been

633
00:26:00,910 --> 00:26:02,470
the one that was fighting like Jonathan.

634
00:26:02,790 --> 00:26:06,950
And this shows how we as
believers can miss the boat if we're

635
00:26:07,030 --> 00:26:09,910
sitting back and feeling
comfortable about what we have and

636
00:26:09,990 --> 00:26:11,590
we don't want to make a move
for the Lord.

637
00:26:11,590 --> 00:26:15,990
And so we see verse 22, it
says, likewise, all the men of Israel

638
00:26:16,600 --> 00:26:19,200
which had hid themselves in
Mount Ephraim when they heard that

639
00:26:19,200 --> 00:26:23,320
the Philistines fled, even
they also followed hard after them

640
00:26:23,320 --> 00:26:23,840
in battle.

641
00:26:23,840 --> 00:26:27,240
So the Lord saved Israel that
day, and the battle passed over into

642
00:26:27,240 --> 00:26:28,040
Beth Haven.

643
00:26:29,000 --> 00:26:32,200
So what we can see here, long
story short, is this.

644
00:26:33,320 --> 00:26:38,400
Saul was the leader of Israel,
but it took him a long time to start

645
00:26:38,400 --> 00:26:38,920
leading.

646
00:26:39,160 --> 00:26:43,690
It was Jonathan who took the
initiative, and eventually he follows

647
00:26:43,690 --> 00:26:44,810
God into battle.

648
00:26:44,810 --> 00:26:46,610
But it took for his son to be
the leader.

649
00:26:46,610 --> 00:26:48,450
It took for his son to take
the initiative.

650
00:26:48,690 --> 00:26:50,010
And really, it was not that.

651
00:26:50,010 --> 00:26:51,410
It should not have been that way.

652
00:26:51,410 --> 00:26:55,570
Saul should have been the one
leading Jonathan, but instead, Jonathan

653
00:26:55,570 --> 00:26:58,930
led his father into battle,
for in a good way.

654
00:26:59,250 --> 00:26:59,610
And.

655
00:26:59,610 --> 00:27:03,450
And we see that at this point
in time, there were many people that

656
00:27:03,450 --> 00:27:05,970
were either living with the
Philistines or they were in hiding.

657
00:27:06,450 --> 00:27:10,130
And it seems that many of the
people had the same insecure heart

658
00:27:10,130 --> 00:27:13,520
that Saul had, that maybe
God's not winning, maybe we need

659
00:27:13,520 --> 00:27:14,600
to join the other side.

660
00:27:15,240 --> 00:27:17,920
And that would speak to those
that have compromised themselves

661
00:27:17,920 --> 00:27:20,520
and have turned to the ways of
the world to say, well, you know

662
00:27:20,520 --> 00:27:20,680
what?

663
00:27:20,680 --> 00:27:22,440
It seems like the world is winning.

664
00:27:22,440 --> 00:27:24,120
It seems like the Philistines
are winning.

665
00:27:24,120 --> 00:27:27,080
It seems like my better route
is just to go that way.

666
00:27:27,400 --> 00:27:30,520
But it took for the power of
God to be working through Jonathan

667
00:27:30,520 --> 00:27:33,640
for them to see this and to
turn away from those wicked ways

668
00:27:33,640 --> 00:27:36,440
and turn ultimately to the
power of God.

669
00:27:37,010 --> 00:27:40,730
And they only came out when
Israel was winning and the victory

670
00:27:40,730 --> 00:27:41,330
was assured.

671
00:27:41,330 --> 00:27:43,170
So these people are moving
late on the.

672
00:27:43,250 --> 00:27:44,090
On the game here.

673
00:27:44,090 --> 00:27:47,250
And so God, I believe, really
uses Jonathan here.

674
00:27:47,650 --> 00:27:49,050
It wasn't Jonathan's victory.

675
00:27:49,050 --> 00:27:50,010
It was God's victory.

676
00:27:50,010 --> 00:27:51,170
Because we see that at the.

677
00:27:51,410 --> 00:27:53,330
At the end of this passage,
verse 23.

678
00:27:53,650 --> 00:27:57,770
So the Lord saved Israel that
day, and the battle passed over unto

679
00:27:57,770 --> 00:27:58,530
Beth Haven.

680
00:27:58,850 --> 00:28:01,890
And so it doesn't say Jonathan
saved Israel, even though it.

681
00:28:01,890 --> 00:28:04,040
In our perspective, it could
have been.

682
00:28:04,360 --> 00:28:06,360
It says, no, the Lord saved Israel.

683
00:28:06,680 --> 00:28:10,280
And so God uses Jonathan to do
his work.

684
00:28:10,600 --> 00:28:14,280
And so God was waiting on
someone to take the step of boldness,

685
00:28:14,280 --> 00:28:16,600
to take a step of faith,
because the victory had already been

686
00:28:16,600 --> 00:28:17,400
promised to them.

687
00:28:17,880 --> 00:28:21,520
And so we're going to see next
week, when we come back to this passage

688
00:28:21,520 --> 00:28:25,320
of Scripture, that Saul, he
takes credit for this and he makes

689
00:28:25,320 --> 00:28:30,150
this, and he jumps ahead and
he basically says, we gotta keep

690
00:28:30,150 --> 00:28:32,270
fighting and no one can eat
till we get done.

691
00:28:32,430 --> 00:28:34,670
You know, killing these Philistines.

692
00:28:34,670 --> 00:28:35,230
Like what?

693
00:28:35,470 --> 00:28:37,350
And he tries to make it like a
spiritual thing.

694
00:28:37,350 --> 00:28:39,910
He says, we're all gonna fast
as we're battle.

695
00:28:39,910 --> 00:28:40,190
And.

696
00:28:40,190 --> 00:28:46,430
And he makes an unwise
decision to refrain.

697
00:28:47,150 --> 00:28:47,870
To have his.

698
00:28:47,870 --> 00:28:52,030
His army refrain from eating,
making it like a spiritual experience.

699
00:28:52,350 --> 00:28:55,070
But what ends up happening is
all of his people end up getting

700
00:28:55,070 --> 00:28:56,830
super weak because they don't
have any nourishment.

701
00:28:57,110 --> 00:28:59,710
And we see that he just makes
a decision outside of the realm of

702
00:28:59,710 --> 00:28:59,950
God.

703
00:28:59,950 --> 00:29:00,510
And it just.

704
00:29:00,510 --> 00:29:04,990
He's trying to do a physical,
external, religious show that has

705
00:29:04,990 --> 00:29:06,150
no internal meaning.

706
00:29:06,150 --> 00:29:09,230
And eventually what we see
happening in that regard is that

707
00:29:09,230 --> 00:29:12,070
it actually causes it to be
more devastating for the people.

708
00:29:12,070 --> 00:29:14,950
And they're led into sin
because they get to a place where

709
00:29:14,950 --> 00:29:17,390
they're starving so much that
he finally tells them that they can

710
00:29:17,390 --> 00:29:20,790
eat, and they go eat a bunch
of food that's not clean.

711
00:29:21,190 --> 00:29:22,430
You know, they don't.

712
00:29:22,430 --> 00:29:23,230
They don't bleed the meat.

713
00:29:23,230 --> 00:29:24,630
They don't do the sacrifices, right?

714
00:29:24,900 --> 00:29:27,020
And he actually leads his
whole people into sin.

715
00:29:27,020 --> 00:29:29,940
And we're going to see how
that transpires next week.

716
00:29:29,940 --> 00:29:33,100
But what I want us to do is I
want to kind of summarize these thoughts

717
00:29:33,100 --> 00:29:36,580
that we've been looking at
here in this first 23 verses.

718
00:29:36,660 --> 00:29:39,620
And essentially what we see is
that Jonathan moves in faith.

719
00:29:40,820 --> 00:29:43,780
And because of Jonathan's
faith, he made decisions that were

720
00:29:43,780 --> 00:29:45,700
not what we would say.

721
00:29:46,340 --> 00:29:46,740
What.

722
00:29:46,820 --> 00:29:50,660
What many people would say if
they're looking at from a human perspective,

723
00:29:51,070 --> 00:29:54,070
is that they would not be
Decisions that were wise from the

724
00:29:54,070 --> 00:29:54,990
human perspective.

725
00:29:54,990 --> 00:29:57,310
He went against the numbers.

726
00:29:57,790 --> 00:30:01,950
He went against normal tactics
of the day by telling them that he

727
00:30:01,950 --> 00:30:02,430
was there.

728
00:30:02,830 --> 00:30:07,070
And he went ahead outside of
what many people would think was

729
00:30:07,070 --> 00:30:07,870
a wise decision.

730
00:30:07,950 --> 00:30:11,350
But we know that when we're
walking in the will of God, we know

731
00:30:11,350 --> 00:30:14,070
that when we're following him
in faith, that's the wisest decision

732
00:30:14,070 --> 00:30:15,150
that we can ever make.

733
00:30:15,230 --> 00:30:19,360
And so we in many cases might
be making decisions that people are

734
00:30:19,360 --> 00:30:24,040
confused with or maybe even
come against and maybe even question.

735
00:30:24,120 --> 00:30:27,240
But ultimately, if we're
following God and, and we're trusting

736
00:30:27,240 --> 00:30:29,000
in His Word, it's the right decision.

737
00:30:29,640 --> 00:30:32,799
And, and we have to believe
that what God says He will do.

738
00:30:32,799 --> 00:30:35,280
And we talk about having
confident expectation.

739
00:30:35,280 --> 00:30:36,600
We talk about having hope.

740
00:30:36,760 --> 00:30:39,240
And biblical hope is that
confident expectation.

741
00:30:39,400 --> 00:30:42,200
So what Jonathan says is, I
don't care if the Philistines are

742
00:30:42,200 --> 00:30:43,080
outnumbering us.

743
00:30:43,290 --> 00:30:44,730
I don't care if they have more weapons.

744
00:30:44,730 --> 00:30:46,330
I don't care if they have more horses.

745
00:30:46,330 --> 00:30:48,970
I don't care if what we're
doing here doesn't seem right.

746
00:30:48,970 --> 00:30:51,490
God's leading me to do this,
and so I'm going to believe that

747
00:30:51,490 --> 00:30:52,650
he's going to give me the victory.

748
00:30:52,810 --> 00:30:57,330
And some of the key verses
that I think will give us the picture

749
00:30:57,330 --> 00:30:59,130
of that type of faith is verse 12.

750
00:30:59,690 --> 00:31:02,730
He says, Come up after me, for
the Lord hath delivered them into

751
00:31:02,730 --> 00:31:03,770
the hand of Israel.

752
00:31:04,330 --> 00:31:04,690
He.

753
00:31:04,690 --> 00:31:06,970
He had confidence that God had
given him the victory.

754
00:31:06,970 --> 00:31:11,680
I mean, we could even go back
to the verse that, that he mentioned.

755
00:31:11,680 --> 00:31:14,760
He basically says, this, God's
gonna do his work.

756
00:31:15,240 --> 00:31:15,960
God's going.

757
00:31:15,960 --> 00:31:17,240
He says, God may.

758
00:31:18,520 --> 00:31:19,360
He says that the.

759
00:31:19,360 --> 00:31:21,080
May the Lord will work it out
for us.

760
00:31:21,080 --> 00:31:22,560
For there is no restraint to
the Lord.

761
00:31:22,560 --> 00:31:23,320
This is verse six.

762
00:31:23,320 --> 00:31:26,320
There is no restraint to the
Lord to save by many or by few, meaning

763
00:31:26,320 --> 00:31:26,600
this.

764
00:31:26,680 --> 00:31:28,040
I don't care what we're against.

765
00:31:28,600 --> 00:31:30,600
God is more powerful than the numbers.

766
00:31:31,080 --> 00:31:31,520
I've.

767
00:31:31,520 --> 00:31:35,480
I've often sat down at a table
looking at the numbers, either for

768
00:31:35,480 --> 00:31:38,310
the church or for my own
family and looking at things and

769
00:31:38,310 --> 00:31:39,870
going, I don't know how this
is going to add up.

770
00:31:39,950 --> 00:31:43,190
I remember those days when we
started out in Christian ministry

771
00:31:43,190 --> 00:31:47,230
in Florida, and I would look
at my salary and I would look at

772
00:31:47,230 --> 00:31:49,750
what we needed to have, and I
would say, I don't know how this

773
00:31:49,750 --> 00:31:50,430
is going to work.

774
00:31:51,150 --> 00:31:54,110
And it really shouldn't have
worked when you look at the numbers.

775
00:31:54,510 --> 00:31:58,550
But God worked it out in such
a way that he would provide for us

776
00:31:58,550 --> 00:31:59,710
in creative ways.

777
00:32:00,430 --> 00:32:01,590
Same thing goes for the Church.

778
00:32:01,590 --> 00:32:03,870
I mean, there's been times,
frankly that we've looked at the

779
00:32:03,870 --> 00:32:05,750
numbers and through the year
and we're going, I don't know how

780
00:32:05,750 --> 00:32:06,430
we're going to make it.

781
00:32:06,430 --> 00:32:07,230
Giving's been down.

782
00:32:07,230 --> 00:32:08,270
I don't know how we're going
to provide.

783
00:32:08,350 --> 00:32:09,410
I don't do this.

784
00:32:09,410 --> 00:32:12,370
And every time God comes
through and provides, because if

785
00:32:12,370 --> 00:32:14,970
he is working, it doesn't
matter what the numbers are.

786
00:32:14,970 --> 00:32:16,490
He's going to do what he needs
to do.

787
00:32:16,490 --> 00:32:19,090
And even if he doesn't give us
the numbers that we expect, he'll

788
00:32:19,090 --> 00:32:22,490
always provide for us in the
ways that he provides for us in.

789
00:32:22,490 --> 00:32:25,410
Because the Bible says that he
will supply all of our needs, not

790
00:32:25,410 --> 00:32:26,730
all of our wants, but all of
our needs.

791
00:32:26,730 --> 00:32:29,690
And so Jonathan goes into
battle saying this, I know God's

792
00:32:29,690 --> 00:32:30,490
going to deliver me.

793
00:32:30,570 --> 00:32:32,330
I know he's going to give me
the victory.

794
00:32:32,330 --> 00:32:34,170
I know that he's given Israel
the victory.

795
00:32:34,250 --> 00:32:35,930
And we see that in verse 23.

796
00:32:35,930 --> 00:32:37,770
So the Lord saved Israel that day.

797
00:32:38,410 --> 00:32:40,170
And it's that faith that saves.

798
00:32:40,170 --> 00:32:41,530
It always is faith that saves.

799
00:32:41,530 --> 00:32:42,490
It's never works.

800
00:32:42,490 --> 00:32:45,370
It was never Jonathan's works
that saved the people of Israel.

801
00:32:45,850 --> 00:32:48,730
It was not, it was not
Jonathan's works that saved himself.

802
00:32:48,810 --> 00:32:51,210
It was not Jonathan's works
that gave him the victory.

803
00:32:51,210 --> 00:32:52,770
It started all with the faith.

804
00:32:52,770 --> 00:32:55,490
Even prior to the battle, it
was his belief that God would do

805
00:32:55,490 --> 00:32:56,490
what he said he would do.

806
00:32:57,050 --> 00:33:00,210
And we, and we look at Hebrews
chapter 11 and we see story after

807
00:33:00,210 --> 00:33:03,170
story of individuals that
didn't know what the outcome would

808
00:33:03,170 --> 00:33:05,130
be, but they trusted that God
would handle it.

809
00:33:05,130 --> 00:33:06,990
They trusted that God would do it.

810
00:33:07,310 --> 00:33:10,590
And so again, it's impossible
to please God without faith.

811
00:33:10,590 --> 00:33:14,950
And so you see really two men
that are contrasted against each

812
00:33:14,950 --> 00:33:15,190
other.

813
00:33:15,190 --> 00:33:17,870
It's Saul, man with really
little faith.

814
00:33:17,950 --> 00:33:20,950
I mean, there's a few glimpses
of Saul with his faith throughout

815
00:33:20,950 --> 00:33:25,150
his life, but very few times
in which he exercises faith.

816
00:33:25,230 --> 00:33:28,470
It's usually he exercises out
of fear and anxiety and he just makes

817
00:33:28,470 --> 00:33:31,830
a rash decision or he makes a
decision that doesn't align up with

818
00:33:31,830 --> 00:33:32,750
what God's word does.

819
00:33:32,970 --> 00:33:36,690
We saw that last chapter with
the fact that he made that sacrifice

820
00:33:36,690 --> 00:33:38,250
when he shouldn't have made
the sacrifice.

821
00:33:38,650 --> 00:33:41,330
Now we saw here in this
chapter by him just holding back

822
00:33:41,330 --> 00:33:44,250
from going to battle, which
he, he was just wasting time sitting

823
00:33:44,250 --> 00:33:45,610
under the pomegranate tree.

824
00:33:46,490 --> 00:33:51,890
And then we're going to see in
a few passages ahead, well, even

825
00:33:51,890 --> 00:33:55,890
next week, he makes this, this
oath that basically he condemns his

826
00:33:55,890 --> 00:33:56,250
son.

827
00:33:56,250 --> 00:33:58,770
He says the next person who
eats is going to die.

828
00:33:58,770 --> 00:34:01,530
And then his son didn't hear
the oath, and his son eats some honey.

829
00:34:01,530 --> 00:34:05,320
And now he's got himself in a
situation that he's going to curse

830
00:34:05,320 --> 00:34:06,320
his own son to death.

831
00:34:06,800 --> 00:34:08,160
That's a terrible decision.

832
00:34:08,160 --> 00:34:11,200
Then we're going to see that
he makes a decision not to kill all

833
00:34:11,200 --> 00:34:14,560
the people that God calls him
to kill and take out all the leaders.

834
00:34:14,560 --> 00:34:17,600
He thinks that he can figure
out his own way with the Amalekites,

835
00:34:17,600 --> 00:34:18,960
and that comes back to haunt him.

836
00:34:19,040 --> 00:34:22,520
And so we know over and over
again, Saul is just not a man of

837
00:34:22,520 --> 00:34:22,840
faith.

838
00:34:22,840 --> 00:34:24,800
He's a man of the flesh.

839
00:34:25,360 --> 00:34:26,560
And really, that's the.

840
00:34:26,560 --> 00:34:27,600
That's the contrast.

841
00:34:27,600 --> 00:34:28,400
At the end of the day.

842
00:34:28,480 --> 00:34:30,960
Are we going to work in faith
and follow the spirit?

843
00:34:30,960 --> 00:34:34,710
Are we going to work in the
flesh and follow what we feel is

844
00:34:34,710 --> 00:34:35,590
the right way to go?

845
00:34:36,230 --> 00:34:40,310
And we'll study more about
that as we continue on with Saul.

846
00:34:40,710 --> 00:34:41,910
I know Saul is.

847
00:34:42,070 --> 00:34:43,510
Is considered to be.

848
00:34:44,950 --> 00:34:47,510
He's considered to be a king
who was.

849
00:34:47,510 --> 00:34:48,710
Who is not leading his.

850
00:34:49,190 --> 00:34:49,830
His people.

851
00:34:49,830 --> 00:34:54,470
Well, David's going to come
along, and David certainly is known

852
00:34:54,470 --> 00:34:56,950
to be a better king, even
though David is not perfect.

853
00:34:57,430 --> 00:34:59,910
And I was having a discussion with.

854
00:35:00,740 --> 00:35:02,180
Actually, I think it was Micah recently.

855
00:35:02,980 --> 00:35:03,300
The.

856
00:35:03,300 --> 00:35:04,500
We watched the movie David.

857
00:35:04,500 --> 00:35:07,460
So the cartoon one that just
came out, and he was asking questions

858
00:35:07,460 --> 00:35:08,660
about Saul and David.

859
00:35:08,660 --> 00:35:10,460
He's like, david was a better
king, wasn't he?

860
00:35:10,460 --> 00:35:11,860
I was like, yeah, he was a
better king.

861
00:35:11,940 --> 00:35:14,140
And he goes, yeah, he didn't
do as much bad as Saul.

862
00:35:14,140 --> 00:35:16,740
And I'm like, well, actually,
no, David did a lot of bad things.

863
00:35:17,060 --> 00:35:20,620
It wasn't that David was
better than Saul in the fact that

864
00:35:20,620 --> 00:35:22,100
he just did less bad things.

865
00:35:22,340 --> 00:35:25,100
The difference was that David
was a man after God's own heart.

866
00:35:25,100 --> 00:35:28,620
As we saw a few chapters ago,
where Saul was not a man after God's

867
00:35:28,620 --> 00:35:28,860
own heart.

868
00:35:28,860 --> 00:35:31,180
Saul was a man after his own
heart or the people's heart.

869
00:35:31,500 --> 00:35:34,300
And so again, we look at this,
and it's not a matter of performance.

870
00:35:35,260 --> 00:35:38,460
It's not a matter of that
David was just a better person.

871
00:35:38,940 --> 00:35:41,860
It was the fact that David had
a real relationship with God.

872
00:35:41,860 --> 00:35:45,180
And we see Saul, his
relationship with God is very shallow.

873
00:35:45,180 --> 00:35:47,020
And in many cases, it's disobedient.

874
00:35:47,180 --> 00:35:49,420
And we see that's what Saul's
issue was.

875
00:35:49,820 --> 00:35:52,380
And so we always think about
that even in our own life.

876
00:35:52,890 --> 00:35:55,250
You know, I don't look at
someone in the church and say, well,

877
00:35:55,250 --> 00:35:57,050
you're a good Christian
because you're a good person.

878
00:35:58,090 --> 00:35:58,490
Or.

879
00:35:58,490 --> 00:36:00,890
Or you're seeing blessings in
your life because you're just so

880
00:36:00,890 --> 00:36:01,530
talented.

881
00:36:02,010 --> 00:36:04,770
The Bible very clearly tells
us that every good thing that we

882
00:36:04,770 --> 00:36:05,410
receive from God.

883
00:36:05,410 --> 00:36:06,410
This is the book of James.

884
00:36:06,410 --> 00:36:07,290
James, chapter one.

885
00:36:07,370 --> 00:36:09,930
Every good gift and every
perfect gift comes down from God.

886
00:36:10,250 --> 00:36:13,290
And so everything that we have
in our life that is good is not because

887
00:36:13,290 --> 00:36:13,770
of me.

888
00:36:13,850 --> 00:36:14,890
It's not because of you.

889
00:36:14,890 --> 00:36:16,850
It's not because of our, our skills.

890
00:36:16,850 --> 00:36:18,170
It's not because of our experience.

891
00:36:18,410 --> 00:36:20,560
It's not because every
blessing that we have in our life

892
00:36:20,560 --> 00:36:21,480
comes from God.

893
00:36:21,880 --> 00:36:24,720
And that's what we have to
understand is that our growth doesn't

894
00:36:24,720 --> 00:36:26,280
come from just being a good person.

895
00:36:26,600 --> 00:36:29,280
Our blessings that we have
with our family and our friends and

896
00:36:29,280 --> 00:36:31,560
our church is not just because
we deserve it.

897
00:36:31,640 --> 00:36:33,880
It's everything that we get is
a gift of grace.

898
00:36:34,120 --> 00:36:35,440
And we have to thank the Lord.

899
00:36:35,440 --> 00:36:38,560
And every blessing that we
have is because of our relationship

900
00:36:38,560 --> 00:36:39,080
with Him.

901
00:36:39,720 --> 00:36:40,760
He is the vine.

902
00:36:40,760 --> 00:36:41,800
We are the branches.

903
00:36:41,880 --> 00:36:44,240
You can't have the branches
without the vine, okay?

904
00:36:44,240 --> 00:36:45,160
Because they would die.

905
00:36:45,450 --> 00:36:47,730
So it's the vine that brings
life to the branches.

906
00:36:47,730 --> 00:36:50,850
And so we, as the branches,
have to tap into the vine so that

907
00:36:50,850 --> 00:36:55,090
we can understand the
blessings and the fruit that we hopefully

908
00:36:55,090 --> 00:36:55,610
desire.

909
00:36:55,610 --> 00:36:58,810
And so we see Saul fruitless,
we see Jonathan fruitful.

910
00:36:58,970 --> 00:37:02,490
Really, the test of the
fruitfulness was not their action

911
00:37:02,810 --> 00:37:05,930
as much as it was the faith
that drove the action for Jonathan.

912
00:37:06,250 --> 00:37:08,810
So if we want fruit in our
life, and I hope that we do.

913
00:37:09,290 --> 00:37:10,090
You say fruit.

914
00:37:10,090 --> 00:37:10,810
What are you talking about?

915
00:37:10,810 --> 00:37:12,700
Like, I, you got an apple tree or.

916
00:37:12,860 --> 00:37:14,860
No, I'm not talking about,
like, literal fruit.

917
00:37:15,420 --> 00:37:17,100
I'm talking about biblical fruit.

918
00:37:17,100 --> 00:37:20,380
Fruit meaning the blessings
that we see working through us.

919
00:37:21,020 --> 00:37:24,300
But if we want to be fruitful
Christians, we can't be Christians

920
00:37:24,300 --> 00:37:28,220
that are all about ourselves,
because then the, then the, the fruit

921
00:37:28,220 --> 00:37:31,180
would be man made fruit, and
it'd be fruit that's rotten.

922
00:37:31,180 --> 00:37:33,020
It'd be fruit that isn't lasting.

923
00:37:33,260 --> 00:37:35,660
So the fruit that we want to
see from God, the Bible speaks of

924
00:37:35,660 --> 00:37:36,260
that fruitfulness.

925
00:37:36,260 --> 00:37:41,590
And First Corinthians, chapter
three, it doesn't say that the fruit

926
00:37:41,590 --> 00:37:42,470
comes from man.

927
00:37:42,470 --> 00:37:47,390
It says, there are some that
water, there's some that plant, but

928
00:37:47,390 --> 00:37:48,870
it's God who gives the increase.

929
00:37:48,950 --> 00:37:50,470
It's God who gives the fruit.

930
00:37:51,110 --> 00:37:55,070
And so we can sow the seed, we
can water the seed, but ultimately,

931
00:37:55,070 --> 00:37:56,750
it's the power of God that
gives us that fruit.

932
00:37:56,750 --> 00:38:00,150
And so for Jonathan, it was
the power of God that gave him that

933
00:38:00,150 --> 00:38:00,630
victory.

934
00:38:01,110 --> 00:38:03,990
And really, as we saw in that
passage, it wasn't his victory.

935
00:38:03,990 --> 00:38:05,430
It Was the Lord saving Israel?

936
00:38:06,040 --> 00:38:10,280
And I love the fact that when
we take a step in faith, God works

937
00:38:10,280 --> 00:38:12,520
ahead of us, God works around us.

938
00:38:13,080 --> 00:38:18,800
I know that there's been times
in my ministry and in my life that

939
00:38:18,800 --> 00:38:25,760
I have felt so inadequate and
I have felt so concerned that I'm

940
00:38:25,760 --> 00:38:26,360
not enough.

941
00:38:27,800 --> 00:38:31,200
And I was talking to somebody
one time, I was actually talking

942
00:38:31,200 --> 00:38:34,580
to a pastor friend of mine,
and he says, what.

943
00:38:34,580 --> 00:38:35,540
What are you struggling with?

944
00:38:35,540 --> 00:38:36,500
I said, you know, I'm just.

945
00:38:36,500 --> 00:38:37,100
I'm struggling.

946
00:38:37,100 --> 00:38:37,820
I'm going to fail.

947
00:38:37,820 --> 00:38:39,180
And he was like, okay.

948
00:38:39,420 --> 00:38:41,060
And I said, you know, I. I'm struggling.

949
00:38:41,060 --> 00:38:43,020
I. I feel like I'm going to
let the Lord down.

950
00:38:43,900 --> 00:38:48,500
And, and, you know, he looked
at me and he said, I didn't know

951
00:38:48,500 --> 00:38:49,420
you were holding him up.

952
00:38:49,580 --> 00:38:51,020
And I was like, oh, that's a
good point.

953
00:38:51,260 --> 00:38:52,460
Because I was like, you know what?

954
00:38:53,260 --> 00:38:53,660
I.

955
00:38:53,660 --> 00:38:54,020
We.

956
00:38:54,020 --> 00:38:58,180
We put that burden upon
ourselves to kind of be the one that's

957
00:38:58,180 --> 00:38:59,980
way, like, holding all the
weight on us.

958
00:38:59,980 --> 00:39:00,940
But what does the Bible say?

959
00:39:00,940 --> 00:39:02,140
Cast our care upon him.

960
00:39:02,660 --> 00:39:03,460
He cares for you.

961
00:39:04,340 --> 00:39:05,380
So we don't have to.

962
00:39:05,380 --> 00:39:08,900
We don't have to hold all that
weight thinking that we're performative.

963
00:39:08,900 --> 00:39:11,940
All we have to say is just,
lord, I'm giving it all over to you.

964
00:39:11,940 --> 00:39:12,980
That's all I can do.

965
00:39:13,060 --> 00:39:14,020
I'm broken.

966
00:39:14,260 --> 00:39:14,900
I am.

967
00:39:15,380 --> 00:39:16,260
That's the most.

968
00:39:16,260 --> 00:39:17,940
I don't know about you guys,
but the most.

969
00:39:20,820 --> 00:39:21,940
I, I would say this.

970
00:39:22,420 --> 00:39:24,540
I'm gonna get a little
emotional here, but probably the

971
00:39:24,540 --> 00:39:31,430
most freeing comfort that I've
ever experienced in my life was when

972
00:39:31,430 --> 00:39:33,230
I looked at the Lord and I
said, I can't do it any.

973
00:39:33,230 --> 00:39:34,030
I can't do this.

974
00:39:34,670 --> 00:39:35,270
I can't.

975
00:39:35,270 --> 00:39:36,430
I can't control this.

976
00:39:36,670 --> 00:39:37,510
It's out of my.

977
00:39:37,510 --> 00:39:38,550
It's out of my hands.

978
00:39:38,550 --> 00:39:39,110
I'm lost.

979
00:39:39,110 --> 00:39:40,270
I'm at the end of my rope.

980
00:39:40,430 --> 00:39:45,950
That's really when I felt the
presence of God come in and start

981
00:39:45,950 --> 00:39:46,590
to guide.

982
00:39:46,830 --> 00:39:49,030
Because when we think we've
got it under control, we in some

983
00:39:49,030 --> 00:39:52,310
ways are trying to manipulate
a situation to make it seem like

984
00:39:52,310 --> 00:39:54,350
we've got it, but really we
don't have it.

985
00:39:54,730 --> 00:39:55,850
It's God who has it.

986
00:39:55,930 --> 00:39:56,450
And when.

987
00:39:56,450 --> 00:39:56,810
When.

988
00:39:56,810 --> 00:39:59,050
Sometimes it takes a drastic situation.

989
00:39:59,610 --> 00:40:03,130
Sometimes it takes what some
people call rock bottom, or sometimes

990
00:40:03,130 --> 00:40:04,890
we just need to be awake.

991
00:40:05,050 --> 00:40:07,490
Something, maybe life
threatening comes in our life and,

992
00:40:07,490 --> 00:40:07,810
and.

993
00:40:07,810 --> 00:40:08,090
And.

994
00:40:08,090 --> 00:40:11,130
Or someone that we love and it
really wakes us up to what really

995
00:40:11,130 --> 00:40:11,930
matters in life.

996
00:40:12,490 --> 00:40:13,650
And I can tell you there was.

997
00:40:13,650 --> 00:40:17,930
There was one experience in my
life that it's hard to explain other

998
00:40:17,930 --> 00:40:21,210
than the fact that I realized
in that moment what matters and what

999
00:40:21,210 --> 00:40:21,930
doesn't matter.

1000
00:40:22,640 --> 00:40:25,600
And for many years of my life,
there were things that I thought

1001
00:40:25,600 --> 00:40:26,640
mattered so much.

1002
00:40:27,280 --> 00:40:30,560
And when God woke me up in
that moment, he illuminated my eyes

1003
00:40:30,560 --> 00:40:33,280
to the fact that all the
things that I've been spending time

1004
00:40:33,280 --> 00:40:35,800
on stressing about really
don't mean anything in the grand

1005
00:40:35,800 --> 00:40:36,720
scheme of eternity.

1006
00:40:36,800 --> 00:40:38,600
There's certain things that
do, and there's certain things that

1007
00:40:38,600 --> 00:40:38,840
don't.

1008
00:40:38,840 --> 00:40:42,200
And we can't allow ourselves
to get so burdened with the things

1009
00:40:42,200 --> 00:40:45,080
that don't matter for eternity
and forget about all the things that

1010
00:40:45,080 --> 00:40:46,320
do matter for eternity.

1011
00:40:46,640 --> 00:40:49,680
And for Saul, he was so caught
up on people's opinion of him.

1012
00:40:50,040 --> 00:40:53,240
Saul was caught up on whether
or not the people would agree with

1013
00:40:53,240 --> 00:40:54,120
his decisions.

1014
00:40:54,440 --> 00:40:56,880
Saul was all about his own comfort.

1015
00:40:56,880 --> 00:40:59,400
And then we see Jonathan
saying, we're just going to go.

1016
00:40:59,800 --> 00:41:01,160
Let's go see what happens.

1017
00:41:01,320 --> 00:41:02,440
This is what matters.

1018
00:41:02,760 --> 00:41:05,040
And so I hope that that's
something that you can do, take a

1019
00:41:05,040 --> 00:41:07,480
step of faith in some capacity.

1020
00:41:07,480 --> 00:41:10,600
I don't know where that's at
in your life.

1021
00:41:11,720 --> 00:41:13,960
For all of us, we have to
exercise faith daily.

1022
00:41:14,760 --> 00:41:18,250
I don't know where your
stretch of faith is right now.

1023
00:41:18,730 --> 00:41:19,890
For me, I know where it is.

1024
00:41:19,890 --> 00:41:21,930
I'm thinking of something
right this very second that I'm thinking,

1025
00:41:21,930 --> 00:41:24,770
okay, Lord, give me the
strength to have faith, to trust

1026
00:41:24,770 --> 00:41:25,450
in you in this.

1027
00:41:25,690 --> 00:41:30,770
But all of us have some degree
of a leap of faith right now, a step

1028
00:41:30,770 --> 00:41:31,370
of faith.

1029
00:41:31,930 --> 00:41:34,970
There's a book out there
called the Experiencing God.

1030
00:41:35,610 --> 00:41:36,410
And he.

1031
00:41:36,410 --> 00:41:40,530
He calls that decision the
crisis of faith, which basically,

1032
00:41:40,530 --> 00:41:43,610
like, there is this pinch
point that we really have to put

1033
00:41:44,060 --> 00:41:47,620
the rubber to the road, and we
have to say, this is really me making

1034
00:41:47,620 --> 00:41:49,820
a decision, a crisis belief moment.

1035
00:41:49,980 --> 00:41:52,580
And sometimes that's a
difficult thing because it's easy

1036
00:41:52,580 --> 00:41:55,420
for me to exercise faith when
my whole freezer is full and my.

1037
00:41:55,500 --> 00:41:57,900
My refrigerator's full and I
got my.

1038
00:41:57,900 --> 00:41:58,860
My third free.

1039
00:41:58,860 --> 00:42:00,940
My fridge and my garage is full.

1040
00:42:01,100 --> 00:42:04,260
And that's easy for me to
think, oh, give us this day our daily

1041
00:42:04,260 --> 00:42:04,540
bread.

1042
00:42:04,540 --> 00:42:06,180
And I'm thinking, well, you
know what?

1043
00:42:06,180 --> 00:42:06,900
It's just a real struggle.

1044
00:42:06,900 --> 00:42:07,740
It's really not a struggle.

1045
00:42:07,740 --> 00:42:08,140
We don't.

1046
00:42:08,140 --> 00:42:09,020
I don't struggle with that.

1047
00:42:09,020 --> 00:42:10,380
I know where my next meal is coming.

1048
00:42:10,380 --> 00:42:12,140
I know where my next 10 meals
are coming from.

1049
00:42:12,140 --> 00:42:12,540
Probably.

1050
00:42:13,590 --> 00:42:14,910
That's not really exercising faith.

1051
00:42:14,910 --> 00:42:16,030
Well, with exercise, faith is.

1052
00:42:16,030 --> 00:42:17,110
I've got nothing in the fridge.

1053
00:42:17,110 --> 00:42:18,430
I got nothing in the freezer.

1054
00:42:18,430 --> 00:42:21,630
I don't know what's going to
come my next meal that's exercising

1055
00:42:21,630 --> 00:42:21,990
faith.

1056
00:42:21,990 --> 00:42:24,150
Now, I'm not saying that
that's what we all should do.

1057
00:42:24,310 --> 00:42:26,390
I'm not saying we should go
throw away all of our food in our

1058
00:42:26,390 --> 00:42:26,790
fridges.

1059
00:42:26,790 --> 00:42:28,710
I'm saying we're greatly
blessed in our country.

1060
00:42:29,030 --> 00:42:29,590
We're good.

1061
00:42:29,670 --> 00:42:30,950
And many times the.

1062
00:42:31,270 --> 00:42:35,150
The nature of all the abundant
material blessings in our life make

1063
00:42:35,150 --> 00:42:38,630
us so numb to the fact that we
should be tested in our face of.

1064
00:42:39,270 --> 00:42:41,990
And sometimes God has to allow
us to be tested in other areas of

1065
00:42:41,990 --> 00:42:43,830
our life when we have so much
material things.

1066
00:42:43,910 --> 00:42:45,910
And sometimes God takes those
material things away.

1067
00:42:46,070 --> 00:42:47,710
Sometimes God takes the
physical away.

1068
00:42:47,710 --> 00:42:50,510
Sometimes God gives us a
spiritual struggle that we have to

1069
00:42:50,510 --> 00:42:53,630
really come down the line and
say, lord, I have to really believe

1070
00:42:53,630 --> 00:42:58,190
in you for this, and I don't
want you to go through a trial to

1071
00:42:58,190 --> 00:42:58,710
see that.

1072
00:42:59,510 --> 00:43:02,590
But nevertheless, it's not
what I want, it's what happens.

1073
00:43:02,590 --> 00:43:05,430
And sometimes we do have to go
through those trials, those tests,

1074
00:43:05,940 --> 00:43:07,620
so that we can see that true faith.

1075
00:43:07,940 --> 00:43:12,900
And so we don't want
necessarily to go through pain in

1076
00:43:12,900 --> 00:43:15,700
our life, even though
sometimes we see in the New Testament,

1077
00:43:15,700 --> 00:43:18,660
there's guys that say things
that I wrestle with.

1078
00:43:18,900 --> 00:43:22,300
Count it all, joy when you
fall into diverse temptations, you

1079
00:43:22,300 --> 00:43:24,820
know, and there's guys that
say, I, I look forward.

1080
00:43:24,980 --> 00:43:27,300
Paul talks about I glory in my infirmities.

1081
00:43:28,020 --> 00:43:30,420
And I don't know if I'm
completely there yet.

1082
00:43:30,420 --> 00:43:32,180
I want to be there, but I'm
not there yet.

1083
00:43:32,590 --> 00:43:34,670
I certainly struggle with my infirmities.

1084
00:43:35,070 --> 00:43:37,870
But what the Bible says is
that at some point in time, as we

1085
00:43:37,870 --> 00:43:40,750
mature, we see our weaknesses
as God's strength in our life.

1086
00:43:40,830 --> 00:43:42,230
And that's when we can cling
to him.

1087
00:43:42,230 --> 00:43:45,830
So we'll stop there and we'll
come back next week looking at the

1088
00:43:45,830 --> 00:43:50,110
end of 1st Samuel, chapter 14,
Saul and the decisions that he makes

1089
00:43:50,110 --> 00:43:52,110
that he leads other people
into sin with.

1090
00:43:52,190 --> 00:43:56,430
And hopefully it could be a
lesson for us in the life of Saul

1091
00:43:56,430 --> 00:43:57,590
not to do things right.

1092
00:43:57,590 --> 00:44:00,510
We know there's things in the
Bible that are prescriptive, like

1093
00:44:00,510 --> 00:44:02,550
we should do those things,
like, I think we should act like

1094
00:44:02,550 --> 00:44:03,470
Jonathan bold.

1095
00:44:04,760 --> 00:44:08,840
But also there's things that
are, are, are descriptive or warnings,

1096
00:44:09,080 --> 00:44:12,880
you know, like I, I try to
tell people, you know, the book,

1097
00:44:12,880 --> 00:44:14,200
the Book of Hosea.

1098
00:44:15,160 --> 00:44:16,760
You know anything about the
Book of Hosea?

1099
00:44:16,760 --> 00:44:17,080
I don't.

1100
00:44:17,080 --> 00:44:21,160
I, I would not coach young men
to follow the book of Isaiah or,

1101
00:44:21,160 --> 00:44:23,280
excuse me, Hosea when it comes
to marriage.

1102
00:44:23,280 --> 00:44:26,560
Okay, that was a descriptive
passage to talk about something else.

1103
00:44:26,560 --> 00:44:26,920
Okay.

1104
00:44:26,920 --> 00:44:30,560
If you know about Hosea God
called Hosea to marry a prostitute

1105
00:44:30,560 --> 00:44:33,520
and go through a life of pain
and struggles with that whole decision.

1106
00:44:34,080 --> 00:44:36,760
I'm not saying that that's
something that we all should do.

1107
00:44:36,760 --> 00:44:39,760
Okay, so we have to understand
when we're reading the Life of Saul,

1108
00:44:39,760 --> 00:44:41,680
it's not about following
Saul's example.

1109
00:44:41,680 --> 00:44:44,640
It's actually warning
ourselves against the description

1110
00:44:44,640 --> 00:44:48,680
of what Saul did in his life
so that we can avoid those pitfalls

1111
00:44:48,680 --> 00:44:49,520
that he fell into.

1112
00:44:50,240 --> 00:44:54,280
And we're going to see him
spiral worse and worse to the fact

1113
00:44:54,280 --> 00:44:58,730
that, like, he gets so deviant
in the fact that he wants to kill

1114
00:44:58,730 --> 00:45:01,770
David that he's willing to
chase him all over the known world

1115
00:45:01,930 --> 00:45:02,650
to get him.

1116
00:45:02,650 --> 00:45:06,130
And it becomes becomes an
obsession, really, which we'll talk

1117
00:45:06,130 --> 00:45:06,650
about later.

1118
00:45:07,450 --> 00:45:10,090
Thank you again for listening
to the Middletown Baptist Church

1119
00:45:10,090 --> 00:45:10,730
podcast.

1120
00:45:10,970 --> 00:45:13,290
I hope that this sermon has
been a blessing for you.

1121
00:45:14,010 --> 00:45:16,210
You would like to find out
more information about our church

1122
00:45:16,210 --> 00:45:19,690
or this sermon, you can find
us at middletownbaptistchurch.org

1123
00:45:20,010 --> 00:45:22,110
or find us on Facebook or YouTube.

1124
00:45:22,180 --> 00:45:22,660
YouTube.

1125
00:45:23,300 --> 00:45:27,860
You can also email me directly
at Josh Massaro at middletownbaptistchurch.

1126
00:45:27,860 --> 00:45:28,260
Com.

1127
00:45:28,660 --> 00:45:30,420
If you've enjoyed this podcast.

1128
00:45:30,580 --> 00:45:35,060
Please subscribe and follow
along for future podcast and updates.

1129
00:45:35,700 --> 00:45:36,660
Thank you so much.

1130
00:45:36,740 --> 00:45:37,540
God bless.

1131
00:45:37,780 --> 00:45:39,140
Have a wonderful day.