Ralph Douglas West - God's Choice of the Unlikely

[Music] hi I'm pastor Ralph Douglas Wes pastor the church without walls and I'm so excited that you've joined us today our heart is to us you lost souls to Christ and power believers to our spiritual maturity and I'm thrilled to share that heart with you today through the life transforming power of the Word of God I also want to invite you to get a daily encouragement by signing in for my free devotional at Ralph Douglas West org now let's hear today's message be it courage God's choice of the unlikely if it was not a cold day it must have felt like December 39 degrees cold misty foggy for Samuel that particular day while he had been pining over King saw he had norm solve all of his kingly life he met him at age 30 in the junk heap that he hid in before Samuel told him to come out you're God's choice 42 years King Saul would reign and Samuel would be prophet Pastoral Council and advisor to him but now he wept was he weeping because of his failed prophetic ministry was Samuel weeping because the lack of prophetic fulfillment or some misstep in his ministry no he wept because he loved King Saul and he saw promise in a person unfulfilled he grieved as he reflected upon that very moment in chapter 13 of for Samuel where he had to say to King Saul in rebuking terms you know you you should not have done that you wear because King saw life mimicked a sinkhole that swallows whole houses and parts of streets underground because of the lack of liquid that dissipates in the dry season and there's no replacing and now that which is above is too heavy to be sustained but that which is below and he wept inconsolably he wept for King saw because he knew that the words that none of us want to say about a fine leader God had rejected him the rejection had dogged the steps of Kings saw from the very beginning it was never God's intention for democracy Israel was filled Craddock Allah governed but the people wanted a king and so God is so kind at that times he'll give you what you want even when he knows what you want is not best for you [Applause] while you weeping I rejected saw turn loose of your prophetic pacifier nurse at that breast no longer I'm sending you on a specific mission with detailed instructions get your flask of Horn olive ignored it oil pack up and go to Jesse's house in Bethlehem if I have provided for myself a king everything about that statement alarmed Samuel go to Jesse's house who is Jesse you said that like I supposed nowhere although he's related in this Ruth all bad story I don't know it then you're asking me to go to Bethlehem now you know geographically I can't get the Bethlehem from Rama without going through Gibeah and if Saul gets word especially the way he's been behaving lately I may have heavenly authority but he has earthly military and there's nothing to prevent him from executing this unjust judgment upon me God says well I figured that out loud do you have some reluctance so you know according to Leviticus you can go and make a sacrifice so take this cow and March it with you these 10 miles south of Rama and you go on and offer sacrifice the way you do it have a big church service and invite everybody to come hear you preach one of your last sermons and make sure that Jesse and his sons are in attendance about that time a sacrifice that never sound so good to the prophet Samuel when it gets to the outskirts he's met by the elders in the City Council and their eyes widen when they see the prophet Samuel because they had read the local paper the Bethlehem Chronicles and that was a featured article in the political session that there had been a falling out between King Saul and prophet Samuel this was big headline news nothing fake about this and they wanted to know one thing if you read and I'm round verse five and six now he says I just want to know if you come in peace and they say y'all come in peace I kind of have a church service and those elders were so glad to see that sacrifice they didn't know what to do he put on the liturgical worship and invited the people and it didn't take long to see Jesse and he be identified and his handsome sons Eliab comes here and Sammy said this is the easiest prophetic appointment I've ever had I know who the king is Eliab six-five is 240 pounds he's athletic he's agile his charismatic is conversational he's handsome that's it and God said don't you move too fast that's what got you in trouble the first time paying attention to outward appearances I told you in verse one that I've made a choice of who I want to be the king the Hebrew that word choice um you have it are provided for myself the king it really means I see the one that I want to be my king I see and so the the word that's operative in the story is verses one through thirteen is the word to see it's based on seeing God sees now Samuel sees but he sees the same way that in previous chapters Israel saw when they looked at Saul as a prospect of king they described him that he was head and shoulders above everybody else it spoke of his height it said nothing about his character and all of us better be aware that we might want to start with character before we start looking at constructions [Applause] it must have been heartbreaking for the Prophet that day that here God says not him not him not him everybody fits the criteria what we mean yeah I know but but you you still have your sights on the superficial you know what happened when we did that in the past you had to rebuke the king and then you had to distance yourself from the king and now you have no associations with the king now he's living in rejection because of his rebellion you don't want to repeat the same process you don't want to start weeping again unconsolable do you know is it not the one we live in a culture that's based off of externals I've seen this would man they meet a woman and they sighs completely up by her externals they just forget that age brings about change and alterations and then suddenly they want to get a slip foreign exchange I mean men are not only guilty this women off to they size up their future by some external frame and they forget he too changes in many ways changes faster than she changes physiques fail virility falters sometime even earning capita dissipates if you build your relationships on what you can see only you might not last for the future character makes the difference characters that part of you that nobody sees it's who you are you in the private period I used to hear my pastors say that characters who you are in the private when no one sees you and it is said period we live on externals in this country we're in the basketball season now and we're predicting who's going to make it to the Conference Finals and then to the championship fans of basketball have all these stories and so when you see Golden State Warriors your mind could almost automatically go back to young Steph Curry the son of Dale curry was one of the best shooters himself in the basketball game a graduate of Virginia Tech when Dale curry moved to Charlotte North Carolina Steph Curry went to a private high school a Christian high school he showed promise at school to the championships upon graduation interestingly he wanted to go to the University of North Carolina but that was a dead end no well if you can't get into UNC then certainly can get in the state no they all tried to get him into Virginia Tech and they said no we'll let him come as a walk-on but not as a player you see they they saw him his appearance is six to a hundred and six to three pounds and all of the best coaches in the game said he can't compete this is what we do I'm expert at this and we see that he can't he doesn't have the muscular tone he doesn't have the speed and energy he just can't compete with these big players his high school coach made a call to Davidson College and he said oh yeah I know I know Steph he said sit him down he sound like and I like what I see I like his character I like his behavior I like what I see many of us remember when he made the cover of Sports Illustrated who is this young Steph Curry then all of us remember that big NCAA championship game Georgetown the highest got their foot on the neck of Davidson because I mean oh look College like that has any business being in that game you see their undersides of demand and they have down about 30 points of more I remember this and and they put in Steph Curry six two hundred six to three pounds and people that don't know the game got excited to see this little redhead green I not supposed to be a baller like this take the game over ten points 20 points 30-plus points the rest is history the best shooter in the NBA overlooked because he didn't look like he should be able to play be careful of appearance I'm going somewhere the coach Davidson said the opposite he said I like what I see I'm not looking at 6 to 1 6 to 3 I'm not looking at tall nation and complexion agility or speed I'm looking at something that we don't talk about I'm looking at behavior and attitude and leadership and character I'm looking at something that we don't see character who you are when nobody's looking well you can get away with whatever you want to get away with and you choose to do what's right that's character Steph Curry got this multi-million dollar contract and that's why you get in that game I don't like when people tell children who desire that well you know this is good and to be representative of you 99% of me thinking about no community it's the money it ain't nothing wrong with saying more of us would be happy if we would just tell the truth it's the money that's why you have agents but character can shape money - if you let character get involved in it if you are Christian by the way Steph Curry's a Christian not in name only but confessional I like that that he's unapologetic about being a Christian that people that know him know him to be a Christian he had a contract with Nike millions of hundreds of millions of dollars he could have made he said great and he said acts on the one I'm aware of them may I write a verse of scripture on the bottom of the shoe they said no we can't see that and he said no I can't see it either a less prodigious company Under Armour on the rise but certainly don't have the muscle that Nike has said hey if you sign with us you don't just have to put the scripture location you could write the whole script out he said I can see that you're looking but you're not listening I can see that the reality is his character shape the way that he managed even is financial resources one of the ways that we really determine our depth of Christianity and spirituality is how we manage our financial resources not just how we give to God but how you save how you invest how you put back into yourself how you redevelop community preach pastor West I don't hear you shouting now that many of you in here that God has financially wonderfully blessed and it's good but the car you drive and the house you live in and all that but God never gives to us just to keep it for ourselves as always to make things better in the world where we live in it's a tool you want more give some of it away give some room he saw it I'm through now are these all the signs you have just to say yeah that's it I mean that does he live that's the best I got and a bit of dab and Shama I mean that's it I mean what else you want he said well I was ready to anoint but God said wrong one and he told me he chose from your house a king is it another one somewhere [Applause] he said yeah but he's outside watching sheep [Applause] don't you think he needs to be what he's watching she let me give you something here God has a way of camouflaging you until it's time to present you don't ever forget that some of y'all insecure obscurity now and you think that God has forgotten you where God is just camouflaging it sometimes camouflage is for your protection there are times where God came expose you too soon because people might abort his purposeful plan so he keeps you in camouflage until the stage has been set right God everybody else out the way so nobody what's confused about God's choice everybody had to be gone nobody competes with this do you have somebody else yeah I got one more but he outside with the Sheep camouflage [Applause] like these insects in nature the stick insect that camouflages itself it looks exactly like a stick or to look like the orchard mantis that can release colors that blends a difficulty into the flowered orchards the rock spider that can hide amidst the rock with its venomous bite in camouflage God can put you in similar situations that's what I need David walks in smelling like sheep and said how can I help you I'm watching sheep God said that's what I mean see somebody that sees the need to watch over my people annoyed that boy with all no wonder he said the Lord is master no wonder he said that God can camouflage you and some of you are angry and get out of shape upset that God has not exposed to you at a certain time stay in the camouflage he got the clearest page to make sure witty lets you there everybody on the stand you are in the right place [Applause] you're in the right place now let me sit down and tell you so David now is anointed is king and his anointing as King reminds us but some things that we all never forget it reminds us that that one man's frustration never never stops the plans of God just because Saul didn't do it didn't mean that God had run out of options God always got somebody on the back 40 that he can bring up on the front line all you need to do is be ready be doing what God called you to do some of you the Lord want to call you but you're not in the right place be in a place of service so that when God start looking for a replacement he knows your name that's a word that I tell preachers that is right your sermons out right out line even with ain't nobody asking you to preach just get in the habit of writing out your little sermon write out your outline read your Bible because one day somebody's gonna need a preacher and God's gonna say I got some when they wouldn't pass through with a wetland charge they were serving me by preparing themselves without a witness but let me tell you something else don't forget that God can choose you from the strangest places he went down the Bethlehem that for him waiting the capital Bethlehem was not a cosmopolitan it was not metropolis it's just a backwater village and all the reason why we know it because we see somebody else from that town have a good thing you know what I'm going down David come on in here let me out no David but you see David is the lesser David he's a little David he's just setting the stage on the world's prop to get another David hold the stage greater David his name is Jesus the Lord he's gonna say the real King has come now the power of Jesus name [Applause]

Channel: ralphdouglaswest

Views: 22,481

Rating: 4.8211384 out of 5

Keywords: Church Service

Id: -pT4xTdDsyM

Length: 28min 0sec (1680 seconds)

Published: Thu Jun 14 2018