Tabernacle Baptist Church

Have you ever been shown kindness? The power of kindness is amazing. Maybe it was just someone keeping their word in doing something for you that you really did not expect them to do. Or have you ever been shown kindness when you did not think you deserved it? We call that grace and there is nothing more powerful than grace. Kindness is when someone does something for you just because they want to bless you. Be kind always!

As believers, we will see a lot of parallels in our own journey of sanctification and we can learn some valuable lessons just as David did. In these chapters, we will break up the story into 6 major parts: The Good times, The Hardship, The Fugitive, The Wavering, The Darkness, and finally, The Restoration.

1 Samuel 17 is one of the most famous chapters in all of the Bible because it contains maybe the most well-known story. The story of David and Goliath. This text is just a further illustration of God’s power and David’s heart that reflected his passion for and faith in God. David felt righteous indignation and clearly, he knew that the battle belonged to the LORD and He would certainly give him the victory. David showed faith in God when he was convinced that if no one else was going to step up to defend God’s honor he would. You can share in His victory for all of eternity if you would but place your faith in Him for the forgiveness of sin. So when trusting in Him completely, Christ can give you the courage needed to face any challenge for His Glory. 

In 1 Samuel 16, David is anointed by Samuel as the new king of Israel. This unexpected selection sets in motion a life of incredible ups and downs in the life of David. The story of David unfolds the way it does and is recorded in so much Biblical text because of David’s connection to Jesus. In this series, we will examine the life of David and learn what God has for us from His story, but also we will look at each passage in the larger meta-narrative of Scripture and see how it connects to Jesus. The things of the heart that God sees might be overlooked by the world but God sees them.  He sees you.  Know today that God takes the humble, overlooked, and forgotten things of this world and turns them into something beautiful for His Glory.

As citizens of Heaven, we need humble leaders leading humble congregations to resist the devil, to stand firm in their fight, and to trust God. 1- My Call as your Leader is to Shepherd with Integrity (vs. 1-4)2- Clothe Yourselves with Humility (vs. 5-6)3- Watch Out for The Devil and Resist Him (vs. 8-9)

As citizens of Heaven, we trust God with our lives and therefore exhibit Christ-like courage when suffering for Him.

1- Don’t be surprised when suffering comes… Instead, rejoice (vs. 12-16)

2- Take courage, suffering reminds believers that this world will be judged by God (vs. 17-18)

3- Take courage in suffering by trusting in the sovereign plan of God (vs. 19)

In service to the suffering, God has given the gift of prayer and us (the Church).

1- Preparing Yourself to Serve the Suffering (vs. 7)

2- Serving the Suffering through Hospitality (vs. 8)

3- Serving the Suffering with Your Gifts (vs. 10-11)

As Citizens of Heaven, we arm ourselves with the resolve of Christ in suffering justly for doing good and therefore we live differently than the world.

1- Arm yourself with the resolve of Christ (v. 1): be willing to suffer rather than give into sin.

2- To Arm yourself with Christ is to make war against earthly desires (v. 2-3): Peter talks about sensuality, lusts, drunkenness, carousing, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries.

3- Don’t be surprised when the world slanders you, God is your Judge and theirs. (v. 4-6): The world won’t understand when you depart from them to pursue Christ, so don’t worry about it.

We can endure suffering because we have been preserved by the blood of Christ to be presented to the Father in glory.

1- Suffering for Good (vs. 17)

2- Jesus Suffered for the Unrighteous (18-20): He suffered once for all, was empowered by the Spirit, and will deliver His people

3- Jesus will Subject all things to His Judgement (vs. 21-22)

Why do good? To have the opportunity to share the message of Christ.

Why do we share? Because Christ is Lord of your life.

Why is Christ Lord of your life? Because you fear God more than you fear man.

So, as citizens of Heaven, we do good, even under persecution, so as to have an opportunity to share our faith.