Transformation

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God loves us to much to leave us like we are. This is the whole message of the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ.

2 Corinthians 3 NKJV

5 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God,

6 ¶ who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

7 But if the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which glory was passing away,

8 how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious?

9 For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness exceeds much more in glory.

10 For even what was made glorious had no glory in this respect, because of the glory that excels.

11 For if what is passing away was glorious, what remains is much more glorious.

12 ¶ Therefore, since we have such hope, we use great boldness of speech—

13 unlike Moses, who put a veil over his face so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the end of what was passing away.

14 But their minds were blinded. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ.

15 But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart.

16 Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.

17 Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

The purpose of this passage of scripture is to show how much more glorious is the Gospel of Christ than is the Law of Moses. The law could only convict but the gospel can save and transform. The law is harsh while the intent of God is not harsh but can only be realized when viewed through Christ.

To this day many cannot see that the end or intent of the law was aimed at righteousness, not condemnation. What was imperfect became perfect in Christ. What the law could not do was done through Jesus.

Light a veil thrown over a beautiful and amazing object is the blindness which comes to one who attempts to understand God’s love apart from a relationship with Him through His Son.

Yet God has provided for each one of us to be transformed:

From Glory to Glory, as it were, step by step, through removing the veil in Christ and bringing each one on a personal journey, transforming us, changing us, into His image.

In other words transformation is a process ---

* We have been saved

* We are being saved

* We shall be saved

> Spirit – Soul – Body

The First Glory – (The first step in the transformation process)

Transforms seed into a new creation …

* The Blade

Mark 4 KJV

26 And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground;

27 And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how.

28 For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.

The Second Glory –

The seed left rooted in the ground continues to produce –

* The Ear

The Third Glory –

The final stage of transformation is full replication of the seed –

* The Full Corn

> In the Ear

The Three Glories of Transformation

The Blade The Ear The Full Corn In The Ear

30 Fold 60 Fold 100 Fold

Mark 4:20 And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred.

Outer Court Inner Court Holy of Holies

Wilderness Promised Land Holy Land

Deuteronomy 16:16 Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear before the LORD empty:

Three Old Testament Feasts

Feast of Unleavened Bread

Feast of Weeks

Feast of Tabernacles

Three New Testament Feasts

Salvation

Baptism of the Holy Spirit

Full Sonship

Romans 8:19 For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God.

God is Ready

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While many people are waiting on a move of God, God is waiting on a move of people.

Key Scripture: Matthew 7 NKJV

7 ¶ "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

8 "For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

In 605BC King Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylonian army invaded Judah and laid siege to Jerusalem. In their victory they carried away the Temple treasures and many of the promising young men of royal and noble birth. This helped to insure that Jerusalem would continue to follow the dictates of Babylon and pay tribute to the King. Daniel was among those taken to Babylon as a prisoner in 605BC.

In 597BC Judah rebelled against Babylon’s rule and broke their covenant with them. The Babylonian army once again over ran Jerusalem and took away more prisoners, among them the prophet Ezekiel. Ezekiel became a voice to those in captivity in Babylon while Jeremiah was left in Jerusalem to prophesy to those still living in Judah. Both men prophesied that the worst was yet to come.

In 587BC, just ten years later, the Babylonian army once again laid siege to Jerusalem which lasted more than one year. In the end they broke through the defenses, completely destroyed the Temple, laid waste to the city and it’s walls and either killed or carried away almost every Jew who could be found.

We read a song written about the captivity amongst the Psalms describing the humiliation these Jews faced …

Psalms 137 NKJV

1 ¶ By the rivers of Babylon, There we sat down, yea, we wept When we remembered Zion.

2 We hung our harps Upon the willows in the midst of it.

3 For there those who carried us away captive asked of us a song, And those who plundered us requested mirth, Saying, "Sing us one of the songs of Zion!"

4 How shall we sing the LORD’S song In a foreign land?

5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem, Let my right hand forget its skill!

6 If I do not remember you, Let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth—If I do not exalt Jerusalem Above my chief joy.

Jeremiah prophesied that the Children of Israel would serve the King of Babylon for 70 years before they returned. (Jeremiah 25:11)

The prophet Ezekiel became the voice of God to the Jews who were living as captives in Babylon. Often he would prophesy, teach in pantomime or reveal visions he had, describing God’s view of Israel’s sins. Ezekiel ministered in efforts to get God’s children to change their ways and be ready to participate when the time came to be delivered and restored to their promised land. For example:

* Ezekiel 4 – Ezekiel symbolizes the siege against Jerusalem

> drawing on a tile

> an iron pan between him and the tile siege

> lying on left side for 390 days

> lying on right side for 40 days

> eating food cooked over human dung – (wait God!)

> cook it then over cow dung …

* Ezekiel 5 – shave yourself and divide the hair in thirds …

> a third burn

> a third cut up in pieces

> a third scatter in the wind

* Ezekiel 12 – dig a hole in the wall and remove your stuff …

* Ezekiel 21 – sit around and sigh … sigh loud and long

* Ezekiel 24 – do not mourn over the death of your wife

That’s just some of what God had Ezekiel do in efforts to impact the children of Israel. (Ezekiel = God will strengthen)

If one visits the city of Bagdad today there is a near neighborhood called Keffil by the river which holds the claim to contain the burial spot of this neglected prophet of God. Although he taught the children of Israel to be prepared for their day of deliverance, he did not get to return to his beloved Jerusalem with them.

In all of his teachings none speaks louder today than the admonition contained in the words of his prophecy found in the second half of Ezekiel 36. This is the prophecy which sets up the Ezekiel chapter 37 vision of the valley of dry bones. Lets look now at Ezekiel 36 and hear the word of the Lord for us today as this prophet declares what God was about to do for His children in that day and I believe is ready to do for us in our day as well.

Ezekiel 36 NKJV

33 ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: "On the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will also enable you to dwell in the cities, and the ruins shall be rebuilt.

34 "The desolate land shall be tilled instead of lying desolate in the sight of all who pass by.

35 "So they will say, ‘This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden; and the wasted, desolate, and ruined cities are now fortified and inhabited.’

36 "Then the nations which are left all around you shall know that I, the LORD, have rebuilt the ruined places and planted what was desolate. I, the LORD, have spoken it, and I will do it."

38 "Like a flock offered as holy sacrifices, like the flock at Jerusalem on its feast days, so shall the ruined cities be filled with flocks of men. Then they shall know that I am the LORD."

I purposefully skipped over verse 37, hoping to make a greater impact when I point it out to you. The verses of this particular prophecy begin in verse 16. The prophecy tells of God restoring His children and His lands to a garden of Eden atmosphere, filled with flocks of men who know their God. What a wonderful thing!

God is ready to do this thing but there is something lacking. What is it? It is The prayerful participation of His children. Verse 37 says:

Ezekiel 36:37 Thus says the Lord GOD: "I will also let the house of Israel inquire of Me to do this for them: I will increase their men like a flock.”

What does this really mean? Lets read it in The New Living Translation to get a more modern understanding of this word.

Ezekiel 36:37 This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am ready to hear Israel’s prayers for these blessings, and I am ready to grant them their requests. (NLT)

That’s the message Ezekiel is still trying to get across to God’s Children today … God is ready --- He is ready to hear your prayer and ready to grant your requests to fulfill the promises He has made you.

Jesus put it this way:

Matthew 6:8 “… your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.” (NKJV)

Matthew 7:7 "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” (NKJV)

John 14:13 "And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” (NKJV)

John 14:14 "If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.” (NKJV)

John 15:7 "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.” (NKJV)

John 15:16 "You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.” (NKJV)

John 16:23 "And in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you.” (NKJV)

John 16:24 "Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.” (NKJV)

James, the son of Mary and Joseph, the half brother of Jesus and the pastor of the first church in Jerusalem, elaborated on the same theme. This is from The New Living Translation:

James 4:2 You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous for what others have, and you can’t possess it, so you fight and quarrel to take it away from them. And yet the reason you don’t have what you want is that you don’t ask God for it.

* God knows what we need before we ask.

* But He wants us to ask anyway.

* He is ready to hear our requests and …

* He is ready to act on our behalf and do what He has already determined He is willing do for us.

* Ask God to help and His plan will come to pass in your life.

* Ask and receive that your joy might be full.

The Great Exchange

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Key Passage: Psalms 30 NKJV

1 ¶ I will extol You, O LORD, for You have lifted me up, And have not let my foes rejoice over me.

2 O LORD my God, I cried out to You, And You healed me.

3 O LORD, You brought my soul up from the grave; You have kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.

4 Sing praise to the LORD, You saints of His, And give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name.

5 For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life; Weeping may endure for a night, But joy comes in the morning.

6 ¶ Now in my prosperity I said, "I shall never be moved."

7 LORD, by Your favor You have made my mountain stand strong; You hid Your face, and I was troubled.

8 I cried out to You, O LORD; And to the LORD I made supplication:

9 "What profit is there in my blood, When I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise You? Will it declare Your truth?

10 Hear, O LORD, and have mercy on me; LORD, be my helper!"

11 You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; You have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness,

12 To the end that my glory may sing praise to You and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks to You forever.

It is often at the place of our greatest failure that we realize our greatest hope.

It is called the bottom of the barrel principle. (When we are at the bottom of the barrel of life there is no way to go but up!)

Joshua 7 – The Story of Achan

Joshua 7 NKJV

24 Then Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, the silver, the garment, the wedge of gold, his sons, his daughters, his oxen, his donkeys, his sheep, his tent, and all that he had, and they brought them to the Valley of Achor.

25 And Joshua said, "Why have you troubled us? The LORD will trouble you this day." So all Israel stoned him with stones; and they burned them with fire after they had stoned them with stones.

26 Then they raised over him a great heap of stones, still there to this day. So the LORD turned from the fierceness of His anger. Therefore the name of that place has been called the Valley of Achor to this day.

God wanted the Children of Israel to dedicate all the spoils of Jericho, the first city conquered in their promised land, to Him. God wanted the first city --- all the gold, all the silver and all the vessels of bronze and iron --- to be given into the treasury of His house. They could have the spoils of all of the other the cities in Canaan, but the first belonged to God.

When God claims something, it becomes consecrated to Him. When man takes something consecrated to God to use for himself, it becomes accursed.

* Consecrated

Joshua 6:19 "But all the silver and gold, and vessels of bronze and iron, are consecrated to the LORD; they shall come into the treasury of the LORD."

* Accursed

Joshua 7:1 ¶ But the children of Israel committed a trespass regarding the accursed things, for Achan the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed things; so the anger of the LORD burned against the children of Israel.

Achan coveted and took what belonged to God for himself.

Now remember the Old Testament is the New Testament concealed and the New Testament is the Old Testament revealed.

The lesson God is teaching us from this story is a revelation of His plan for mankind.

Achan was of the Tribe of Judah, a trusted servant of the Lord, perhaps a member of the Praise Team of Israel, among those who went first to battle, maybe he even played one of those horns or led others in the shout that brought down the walls of Jericho.

I don’t think he actually went in to Jericho specifically intending to keep whatever he found and fancied, but nonetheless, presented with the temptation, he coveted, stole from God, and sinned.

Joshua 22:20 ‘Did not Achan the son of Zerah commit a trespass in the accursed thing, and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel? And that man did not perish alone in his iniquity.’"

Achan’s sin did not only cause a rift between him and God, but angered God with the whole nation and brought about division and destruction to everyone whom God had included in His plan.

You see it is the same story told over and over in the bible in different ways. It is the story of Adam who sinned and caused sin to fall upon all mankind and separated them from God’s plan.

Here in this story of Achan, we see that God would not let His children go into the Promised Land, our present day heavenly eternity with God, before they dealt with sin.

Just as Eve put forth her hand and partook of what God had consecrated to Himself, (the tree of the knowledge of good and evil), Achan partook of something which belonged to God.

In today’s terms we all, from time to time, are presented with temptations and even though we may not actually be going around looking for things to steal or partake of in defiance to God, nonetheless we all sin and fall short of the expectations and commandments of God. (Romans 3:23)

What is the course for one who sins? The only payment for sin is death. In Eve’s day it was the sacrifice of some animal. In Achan’s day it was his own life. In our day it is the blood of Jesus.

Joshua is a type and shadow image of Jesus. He was the leader and it was to him and through him that God spoke. Seeing the defeat of the Children of God, Joshua interceded and was ultimately told to get up off his face and engage himself in the process of remedy. God did not want to see His Children continue to live in defeat. God wanted to get rid of the sin and get on with His plan.

Joshua 7:18 … man by man …

Every man came before Joshua, man by man, just as every person comes before Christ, individual by individual. He sees the sin and applies the remedy.

Joshua 7:26 Then they raised over him a great heap of stones, still there to this day. So the LORD turned from the fierceness of His anger. Therefore the name of that place has been called the Valley of Achor to this day.

We read in Joshua 7 that Achan was brought to the valley of Achor and killed there. Then the Lord turned the fierceness of His anger from the Children of Israel. The name of that place has been called the Valley of Achor to this day.

Achor = Trouble; or to cause or stir up trouble.

When we sin, whether by keeping something for ourselves that belongs to the treasury of God or by disobeying the Word of God in some other way, it has the potential to cost us but not only us, it can also cost others and even the whole Body of Christ as well. These sins must be dealt with.

How?

Following the Bible pattern, we must come before Jesus personally and present ourselves to him, confessing our sin to Him remembering that without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins.

Jesus will judge us, as only He can, and then He will step off the bench as Judge and take our place as the condemned and give His life for our sin. This is known as the Great Exchange.

Jesus takes your place and you go free.

There is another Great Exchange spoken of in the bible in reference to the story of Achan.

From the time of Achan and for the generations who followed, the Valley of Achor became a proverb for those who caused trouble, those who failed and as a result were found lying at the bottom of the barrel of life … guilty, condemned and worthy of death.

However, God in His infinite mercy, following His plan of reconciliation, salvation and restoration, spoke through prophecy first by Isaiah and then through Hosea.

Isaiah 65:10 Sharon shall be a fold of flocks, And the Valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down, For My people who have sought Me.

Sincerely seeking God in the time of trouble will make all the difference. The wages of sin is death but there is a gift of life for all who will call upon His name. (Romans 6:23 & 10:13) Furthermore:

Hosea 2:15 I will give her her vineyards from there, And the Valley of Achor as a door of hope; She shall sing there, As in the days of her youth, As in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt.

You see, God never intended for our failures to remain failures. He never considered that we would go to the bottom of the barrel of life and remain there. Our trouble can be turned into hope of a better tomorrow.

Often the place of our greatest failure becomes the place of God’s greatest hope in us.

How do your turn your Valley of Trouble into your Valley of Hope?

Bring it all to Jesus. Confess your failures to Him and He will pardon.

God has turned your mourning into dancing … put off your sackcloth and be girded with gladness … (Psalms 30)

Isaiah 53 NKJV

4 ¶ Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted.

5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.

6 All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

Call upon the Lord in your Valley of Trouble and let Him turn your trouble into hope. He will lift you up out of the miry clay and set your feet on a rock and put a new song in your heart.

Call upon Him now! He alone can save.

CPR

Characteristics of David’s Heart After God

Calling & Compassion, Praise & Passion, Resolve & Restoration

Sermon for Golden Triangle Church on the Rock

Beaumont, TX

Sunday, February 10, 2008

Pastor Kenneth Bent

A) Introduction:

Last month Dr. Hammonds gave a message centered around the life of David as a man after God’s own heart.

The Scripture says of David:

Acts 13:22 "And when God had removed Saul, He raised up for them David as king, to whom also He gave testimony and said, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will.”

The name David means “Beloved.”

David’s life is a type of Christ:

- The “Beloved” son from Bethlehem

- David a shepherd / Christ the Good Shepherd

- Humble service before he was exalted to Kingship

- Victory over Goliath after 40 days of fighting / Christ’s victory over the temptation of the devil came after 40 days.

- David experienced 3 anointings and functioned as a prophet, priest and King / Christ anointed and is our Prophet, Priest and King

David’s life is an example to believers:

1 ¶ Now these are the last words of David. Thus says David the son of Jesse; Thus says the man raised up on high, The anointed of the God of Jacob, And the sweet psalmist of Israel:

2 "The Spirit of the LORD spoke by me, And His word was on my tongue.

- David was raised up by God, believers are raised up

o Progressive Growth:

§ Shepherd Boy

§ Lion & Bear Killer

§ Giant Killer

§ Ruling and Reigning

- David Anointed by God, Believers are anointed

- David given a Word from the Lord, Believers are given a Word

David’s heart after God is an example to us.

A heart after God is a heart that values what God values.

A heart after God is a heart full of:

§ Motivation to do His will

§ Love for God

§ Worship of God

§ Love for people

B) But the heart of man has problems!

- Hard heart

o Romans 2:5 But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed.

o Hebrews 3:8 do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the desert,

o John 12:40 "He has blinded their eyes and deadened their hearts, so they can neither see with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts, nor turn— and I would heal them."

- Deceitfully wicked

o Jeremiah 17:9 "The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?

- Doesn’t seek God

o Romans 3:10 “There is no one righteous, not even one;

11 there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God.”

- Our Hearts have a tendency to grow cold, hard, irregular, weary

- We SIN!

- Even as Christians we battle lack of motivation, being noncommittal, impatient, unloving and hardness : Speaking of the last days,

o Matthew 24:12 says Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold

o

C) Jesus wants our hearts

- To Flow

o John 7:38 “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." 39 By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive.”

- To live in abundance of life

o John 10:10 “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”

- To spring up in joy - (JOY IS YOUR BUCKET)

o Isaiah 12:3 “WITH JOY you will draw water from the wells of salvation.”

When you come to Christ, you will leave your water bucket behind – the things that used to satisfy you will no longer satisfy the thirsting of your soul.

o John 4:13 Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

o John 4: 28 The woman then left her waterpot, went her way into the city, and said to the men, 29 "Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?"

D) When our heart has problems, sometimes we need CPR!!!

- by CPR I mean applying Biblical principles to your life – characteristics like those in David’s life, a man after God’s heart.

- Characteristics Like:

- “C” – Calling and Compassion

- “P” – Praise and Passion

- “R” – Resolve and Restoration

To Help Remember these Points, I have enlisted a DUMMY.

(bring out CPR Dummy)

(Interview Shawn – on saving lives, ABC’s of CPR – Airway, Breathing, Circulation, and the paddles)

In the words of the crash dummy commercials… “You can learn a lot from a dummy.”

- Bad choices and sin can get you into trouble!

- Sin makes you act like a dummy

- Sin takes you farther than you want to go, keeps you longer than you wanted to stay, and costs you more than you can pay

- Sin tells you just to lie there and do nothing

- Sin makes everybody stay “CLEAR” of you

- Who was it that said “Some Hollywood stars get more Rehab than a CPR dummy.”

- Getting CPR can save your life and so can “spiritual CPR.”

- CPR is not just for Dummys and ‘Dead Beats.’

- Giving spiritual CPR can save someone else’s life.

E) We need C P R

C

- Calling – from the Lord

o 1 Samuel 16:13 So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him (David) in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the LORD came upon David in power.

o Philippians 3:14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

- Compassion – for people

o 1 Samuel 22:2 All those who were in distress or in debt or discontented gathered around him, and he became their leader. About four hundred men were with him.

o Matthew 14:14 And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion

P

- Passion

– for God’s presence

o 1 Chronicles 13:3 Let us bring the ark of our God back to us, for we did not inquire of it during the reign of Saul."

- to fight and win

o 1 Samuel 17:28 Now Eliab his oldest brother heard when he spoke to the men; and Eliab’s anger was aroused against David, and he said, "Why did you come down here? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your pride and the insolence of your heart, for you have come down to see the battle." 29 And David said, "What have I done now? IS THERE NOT A CAUSE?”

David was angry that Goliath was insulting the God of heaven.

What battle? - they really hadn’t fought at all for 40 days!!! Goliath was just coming out each day and taunting them!! It took a DAVID and his heart after God to break the pantomime warfare and take the battle to the enemy!

- Praise

– David wrote many of the Psalms, was called “the sweet Psalmist.” He was a man of praise and worship unto the Lord.

o Nehemiah 12:46 For in the days of David and Asaph of old there were chiefs of the singers, and songs of praise and thanksgiving to God.

R

- Resolve –

§ To Keep going in spite of being chased by Saul for years

§ To get back in the fight – after the Amalekites stole everything and after all his followers wanted to stone him.

1 Sam. 30:6 “David was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him; each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the LORD his God.”

- Restoration – The story of Mephibosheth

§ David made a covenant with his friend Jonathan – the son of Saul – to look after his family

§ Jonathan later died in a fight

§ Mephibosheth was lame in his feet because of a fall.

· 2 Samuel 4:4 And Jonathan, Saul’s son, had a son that was lame of his feet. He was five years old when the tidings came of Saul and Jonathan out of Jezreel, and his nurse took him up, and fled: and it came to pass, as she made haste to flee, that he fell, and became lame. And his name was Mephibosheth.

§ WE TOO WERE ONCE ROYALTY BUT THROUGH A FALL LOST OUR RELATIONSHIP TO OUR HEAVENLY KING.

§ DAVID RESTORED MEPHIBOSHETH TO EAT AT THE KING’S TABLE BY HONORING HIS COVENANT WITH JONATHAN

§ WE TOO WERE RESTORED BY OUR GREATER DAVID WHEN HE HONORED THE COVENANT HE MADE.

· 2 Samuel 9:6 Now when Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, was come unto David, he fell on his face, and did reverence. And David said, Mephibosheth. And he answered, Behold thy servant!

2 Samuel 9:10 …Mephibosheth shall eat bread always at my table….

§ WE, THOUGH ONCE MADE LAME THROUGH THE SIN OF THE FALL, ARE NOW BROUGHT NEAR TO EAT AT THE KING’S TABLE BY THE COMPASSION AND GRACE OF OUR HEAVENLY DAVID, JESUS CHRIST.

§ REACH OUT AND RESTORE PEOPLE BECAUSE YOU HAVE BEEN RESTORED!

· Galatians 6:1 ¶ EVEN if a man should be detected in some sin, my brothers, the spiritual ones among you should quietly set him back on the right path, not with any feeling of superiority but being yourselves on guard against temptation.

WHAT ABOUT YOU TODAY?

WILL YOU ALLOW GOD TO GIVE YOU SOME CPR TODAY – THE CHARACTERISTICS OF DAVID’S HEART AFTER GOD?

Remind yourself of your great and high CALLING as a believer in Christ.

Have COMPASSION on those who are struggling. Be a person who gives PRAISE to the Lord. Be PASSIONATE for God and His purposes. Stand with RESOLVE in your heart to keep on going and growing even in the midst of difficult trials and difficult people.

Finally, be a person of RESTORATION – be restored, and reach out and restore through the love of Jesus.