RT Kendall Sermon - When God Says You're Ready

it is such an honor indeed to be with you these weeks in the month of July the greatest honor since we retired 10 years ago to be with you these weeks and I just pray that what I say today will build upon the video we just saw I wonder if there's someone here you need to do what Patrick Rodgers did and then the message in song we just heard fits perfectly with all that I intend to say I do think going back to the book table and signing books helps get rid of them we got rid of all of them last week we have copies of unashamed of his name which dr. Michael Youssef I wrote the foreword to and then last week's message on totally forgiving God now would you open your Bibles to 1 Samuel chapter 16 verse Samuel chapter 16 I'm only going to read one verse and then would you be ready to turn to 2nd Samuel 2 Samuel chapter 23 first of all 1 Samuel 16 verse 13 so Samuel took the Horn of oil and anointed him that is David in the presence of his brothers and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came upon David in power and now in 2 Samuel chapter 23 verse 13 during the harvest time three of the thirty chief men came down to David at the cave of a deulim while a band of Philistines was encamped in the valley of raiffa em at that time David was in the stronghold at the Philistine garrison was at and the Philistine garrison was at Bethlehem David longed for water and said oh that someone would get me a drink of water from the dwell from the well near the gate of Bethlehem so the three mighty men through the Phylis broke through the Philistine lines drew water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem and Garett carried it back to David but he refused to drink it instead he poured out that water before the Lord far be it from me O Lord to do this he said it is not the blood of men who went at the risk of their lives is it not their blood and David would not drink it may God be pleased to bless the reading and the preaching of this is most holy and infallible word brief word of Prayer Heavenly Father we pause to bring before you the dr. Michael in Elizabeth today I believe Michael is preaching in Lebanon may he know your strength and power and may they come back to Atlanta refreshed to face the year to come now I ask for their sprinkling of the blood of Jesus by your Holy Spirit to be upon every mind present everyone who hears this word that their perception of what I say will be received as you intend and upon my tongue that I'll be cleansed but I will say everything you once said nothing you don't want said may this be a timely word they changed someone's life in destiny may this bring great honor and glory to your name in Jesus name Amen what we have in this first part that I read it's when Samuel anointed young David to be king and he'd been chosen from the household of Jesse the last person they thought would be anointed by Samuel but God had said to Samuel do not consider his appearance or his height for I've rejected him the Lord does not look at the things man looks at man looks at the outward appearance but the Lord looks at the heart and David young David the one no one would have thought was selected and we're told that when the horn of oil was poured upon David the Spirit of the Lord came upon David in power now you could derive from that but David was now anointed to be king and surely with the Spirit of God come up coming upon him like that in power he must be ready to be king but the truth is it would be another 20 years before David would be king at the beginning of 1 Samuel verse 1 of chapter 16 the Lord said to Samuel how long will you mourn for Saul a type of yesterday's man since I rejected him as king over Israel fill your horn with all he says 2 Samuel a type of today's man be on your way I'm sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem I've chosen one of his sons tomorrow's man David to be king now an interesting irony King Saul still wore the crown but had forfeited the anointing and yet King David was given the anointing but had no crown which would you rather have the crown without the anointing or the anointing without the crown well David was given the anointing we might have thought that Samuel would say to David oh by the way I almost forgot to tell you it'll be another 20 years before you will be king but there was nothing like that God doesn't tell us everything that's in our future the truth is David wasn't ready to be king number of years ago was my privilege to have dr. Martin lloyd-jones the man who put me in Westminster Chapel as a close friend and he said something today I want to share with you today the greatest word I ever heard him say it's not in any of his books he looked at me and said the worst thing that can happen to a man is to succeed before he's ready what we have in the life of David the man after God's own heart was one who was not going to succeed until he was ready God did David a great favor and you may have thought because the Holy Spirit has come upon you and and we would not doubt that you have an anointing you may think well this means I'm ready to do what God has called me to do not necessarily it could be that you were given a word some years ago and you've been waiting for the day that God would use you and you've cried out how long how long how long and could it be that though you have waited for your time to come you don't know how much longer it will be Victor Hugo said like the trampling of a mighty army so is the force of an idea whose time has come if I could paraphrase that like the force of a mighty army so is ones anointing whose time has come and it may be that you've been gifted and you are anointed and you've got the talent but you're not ready in the case of David there were things that he would need perhaps you couldn't have told him that then perhaps he would have said well I'm quite ready thank you very much I've just been prayed for by the great Samuel he poured all on me the spirit of God's on me well now the earnest of David's anointing he killed Goliath and that was a remarkable feat and yet though it was in a sense the best thing that ever happened to David killing Goliath it was also the worst thing that ever happened to David because in a few days the ladies singing and dancing with tambourine said Saul has slain his thousands and David his tens of thousands you know people can be so insensitive they didn't realize there was the king with a big ego and he said they credited David with tens of thousands but me with only thousands what more can he get in the kingdom and from that time on Saul kept a jealous eye on David and if only Samuel had said to David you've been anointed but it will be another 20 years before you are going to wear the crown and you're going to spend the next 20 years running from King Saul to stay alive that wouldn't have blessed David but that is exactly what David would be doing now the question is if David wasn't ready to be king what did he need and I want to show five things that needed to take place in David's life before he could be king it could be there others but here are five things and just maybe someone here needs this word as you're waiting for your time to come could it be that what David needed to learn you need to learn the first was being thankful learning gratitude remembering to say thank you lord have you any idea how much God loves gratitude and over the next 20 years David B would be writing Psalms we part of our scripture and you can see how he developed thanks to God come before him give him thanks come before his presence with Thanksgiving oh thanks be to God give thanks to the Lord this was something David was learning and I'm asking you again as I hinted at last week how much do you thank God do you count your blessings some years ago we were going through the book of Philippians at Westminster Chapel and when we got to chapter 4 verse 6 as I preached on this verse where Paul said do not be anxious about anything but in everything by prayer and petition with Thanksgiving present your requests to God something happened to me as I preached I wish it would happen all the time but it happened then I was so gripped by what I was reading and I was convicted it was as though as I spoke my whole life came before me and I thought of one event after another for which I had not even thought to thank God for although if you had asked me I was of course I'm thankful and I felt so convicted I thought Lord let me get through this sermon when I get back to the vestry I'm going to fall on my knees and I'm going to repeat and something's going to happen and I could hardly wait till the sermon was over and went back into the vestry and I said Lord Lord I'm so sorry from this moment on I'm going to be a thankful man it was as though thinks big things for one thing the Lord said RT you know you're from Kentucky and yeah the Lord throws that up to me once in a while and said here I put you in Westminster Chapel have you ever thanked me well will Lord you know I'm thankful he saw you didn't tell me I'm very thankful but you didn't tell me and I could go on and on and that day I made a vow that was over 20 years ago it was a vow that I've kept I keep a journal I can tell you where I was April the 3rd 1987 two o'clock in the afternoon it's just something I do and I go through my journal every day and go over the items of the day before and I thank the Lord for everything you know how long it takes about 15 seconds but I've done it every day now for years when jesus healed the ten lepers one came back and said thank you and Jesus first comment was aware the nine God loves gratitude he hates in gratitude gratitude must be taught and this was something that David was learning and he became a thankful man as I said last week thankful people live longer medical psychologists have brought that out the second thing David needed to learn was the meaning of the word mercy when you look at the life of David and how day after day he escaped Saul who was determined to kill him King Saul was so obsessed with David he was more worried about David the threat of David then he wants the Philistines the enemy of Israel this is how far jealousy can go be careful be careful when you find yourself being jealous if you're consumed with it not a good sign this is the way yesterday's man was consumed with trying to get rid of David but David would keep escaping King Saul and I began to realize it was the Lord's mercy the Lord's mercy and have you stopped to thank him for his mercy did you know Hebrews 4:16 let us come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may receive mercy the first thing you ask for you say well that's for non-christians oh no Hebrews 4:16 is to Christians granted the way you're converted you say God be merciful to me a sinner but never do we outgrow the need of Mercy we come and ask him for mercy and what makes Mercy Mercy is that there's nothing you can do to deserve it God can give mercy or withhold it and be just either way when you realize when you're asking for mercy you have no bargaining power you have nothing to give in exchange some years ago Louise and I were driving in Miami Beach and on Collins Avenue if you've been there that's the street where for many miles is one luxurious hotel after another right on the ocean and one evening we were driving in front of the Fontainebleau on Collins Avenue going 35 miles per hour we came to a traffic light it was grainy turn yellow before I knew it it turned red and we were going 35 miles by just went on through but in my rearview mirror there was a blue light going on and off on an office oh and I pulled over and your first approach usually is to act like you can't imagine why you were stopped but the officer was looking like this and I knew he knew that I knew what I did I said look I hope you won't give me a ticket he said why well I'd appreciate it for one thing he said you know sir you went right through that red light right through that red light and you're asking me not to give you a ticket give me one reason well I think where we live the light stays yellow just a little longer event Hill and he was didn't impress him and I said we were going 35 miles per hour he said the speed limit is 25 now he could arrest me for something he hadn't even stopped me for he said give me one reason why I shouldn't give you a ticket I said no reason I'm just asking for mercy he let me go I never will forget how I felt but that's the way it is and you just realize it's by the Lord's mercies that we're not consumed and David had to get this as part of his vocabulary so we read about it in the Psalms surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life the mercies of the Lord endure forever and this became a part of his life and yet who would have dreamed that one day David would need that word oh how he would need it when at the height of his glory his king one day I wish it never happened but I read it every year in my Bible reading plan I thought no please David don't do it he saw a beautiful woman washing herself he asked about her well your majesty she's married and her husband is one of your soldiers but David did the unthinkable committed adultery then he got caught and he tried to cover up by killing Uriah and then Nathan the Prophet came to him and Psalm 51 it starts out first word have mercy on me O Lord David would need that word could it be someone here needs that word you have sinned horribly and you're so sorry don't excuse it don't defend it don't say well here's what happened if only you don't don't just say have mercy and God is rich in mercy but this is part of David's preparation just because he was given the anointing by Samuel didn't mean he was ready to be king gratitude learning the meaning of the word mercy the third he needed to develop a sensitivity to the Holy Spirit and this comes out in 1 Samuel chapter 24 when David had an opportunity to get rid of King Saul and his followers to David this is the moment and David could have killed him David said well no let's not do that but let's just have a little bit of fun we'll just give up and cut off a piece of his robe and I think most people say well that's a harmless thing to do not going to hurt anything but you know what we read in one same of 24 that right after that when David cut off a piece of Saul's robe he was conscience-stricken most people say well that shouldn't bother you but it bothered David he said the Lord forbid that I should do such a thing you see David was hearing a beat of a drum that those around him did not hear and it could be that God wants you to know one of his ways that you develop a sensitivity to the Holy Spirit because the Holy Spirit is a very very sensitive person he's likened to a dove in the New Testament John the Baptist when I saw the Dove come down and rest on Jesus I knew that he was the one that would be God's Messiah and the Dove came down the Dove is a very shy sensitive bird I told the story here four or five years ago a British couple was set by their denomination to Israel to be missionaries and right after they were given a home to live in near Jerusalem they notice that it dove had come to live in the eve of the roof of their house and they were so excited it was like a seal of God on their the in Israel but they noticed that every time they would slam a door the Dove would fly away every time that we get into an argument with each other and start shouting the Dove would fly away one day Sandi said to Bernice how do you feel about the dub well she said it's like a seal of God and our being here but have you noticed that every time we slam a door the Dove flies away have you noticed every time we get into an argument with each other the Dove flies away she said I'm so afraid he's going to fly away and not come back he looked at her and said either the Dove adjust to us or we adjust to the Dove they did that just to keep a bird in the eve of the roof of the house but the Holy Spirit is more sensitive than that and David was learning this and when you develop a sensitivity to the holy spirit's ways when you can almost sense that if I finish this sentence I will grieve the Lord if I lose my temper in traffic or in a supermarket I will cause the Dove just to fly away doesn't leave you completely but the sense of his presence and that was what David was feeling and so this was part of his preparation have you come to know the ways of God and the ways of the Spirit that you can sense when you are about to grieve him the good news is when you grieve the Holy Spirit you don't lose your salvation because Ephesians 4:30 says grieve not the Holy Spirit of God whereby you are sealed unto the day of redemption nothing could be clearer than that but when you grieve him the sense of his presence lifts David did not want to lose that it was part of his preparation but though there was a fourth thing David would need and that is to come to the place that utterly and totally he didn't do one thing that would compromise the situation and try to rush the moment when he could be king because he was given another opportunity his follower says David today God has delivered your enemy into your hands 1 Samuel 26 now let me pin him to the ground I won't even have to do it twice and your king this time there was no cutting of Saul's robe David simply said we're not going to do this at all don't destroy him as surely as the Lord lives the Lord Himself will strike him either his time will come when he will die but the Lord forbid that I should lay a hand upon him David didn't want to do anything that would try to hasten something happening and I know what it is to want to see God working you think you know I could say this and I can promote myself I can get this invitation I will get this exaltation when immediately you know if you do it you will never know what it would have been like if you just waited for God to do it I'm afraid to take an invitation I don't hint for invitations I'm scared that I'll get invited and then I'll go not knowing whether the Lord was in it or not and so you may want that promotion that advancement that invitation somebody to recognize you David had to learn not to raise a little finger to hasten the time to come was part of his preparation but the last thing I want to mention and I wanted to dwell largely on this it has to do with that story in 2nd Samuel chapter 23 when I was at Westminster Chapel we preached through the life of David took a year and you know this passage that I read today I barely touched on because I didn't know how it fit in it fitted in it is not a part of the chronology of the life of David it's later it's it's after his life is finished he's already King and now we're having this told and I've been mystified about this verse how could it be that David wanted this water from Bethlehem and then when he gets it he pours it out what was the meaning and it's just very recently that I've had a breakthrough I think I know what it means first of all the reason that it's not a part of the chronology of the life of David but rather at the end of his life I believe it shows what was David's most difficult lesson to learn could it be that you are having to learn as I speak a very difficult lesson and you're being tested to the hilt can't imagine what yours would be but here's what David's was he had to come to the place that he put God before his most loyal followers not easy to do when people are around you love you they adore you they would do anything in the world for you but the question is would you give them priority or would it be the honor of God that would come first and in the case of David here's what happened he was at the cave of a deulim but not far from Bethlehem you see he was brought up in Bethlehem that was home and he was thirsty one day and he knew how close he was to Bethlehem and he was saying oh I would love water from that well near the gate and his mistake was telling it he could have the thought but he said out loud oh that someone would get me a drink of water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem he should have known his followers are going to do it they're going to move heaven and earth to get there for him and then when they do it and they bring the water back he pours it out why well let's look at this request as I said he shouldn't have mentioned it he knew they were going to try to do something it teaches you to be careful what you say I've had to learn in the ministry you know even the most thorough we call it in Britain a throwaway comment people hang on to every word I was in a church in London a year or so ago and just happened to mention that I love Indian food and I should have known but next day this lovely Indian couple brought me onion bhajis chicken tikka masala brinjal bajji pillow rice enough feed me for a week and I didn't dream that they would do that it's just taught me a lesson watch what you say because people they want to make make you happy they want to please you and so here was David saying oh that someone would get me a drink of water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem it was a natural request it was a nostalgic request because when David was at the cave of a deulim he was so low he was so depressed and Harry was right near home and so it was a Gnostic thing just to have a taste of the water it was a naive request because as I said he should have known they would try to do and they did and then they broke through the gate went past the Philistine garrison and as they're coming back they're looking at each other and say well we did it we did it can't wait to see the look on David's face when we bring him this water from the well of Bethlehem and they were so excited and then they come with the water guess what David this is it this is what you wanted suddenly David is convicted he said far be it from me Oh Lord this time he says it to the Lord he should have said it the first time just to the Lord not where he could be heard far be it for me O Lord to do this is it not the blood of men who went at the risk of their lives David knew that what he asked them to do was not something God was in he knew they loved him but he knew it was something he shouldn't have done and they were so loyal to him and he was so grateful to them but now he was facing the test would he show before God and the angels who he loved most these men who loved him and who he wanted to please or by taking that water would be affirming what they did when they could have risked their lives and he knew in his heart that this was a moment he had to show that he put God above his most loyal followers and so picture this he's holding this glass of water of the well of Bethlehem will he please them and thrill them as he drinks it but knowing that God is watching him what will he do with that water and He pours it out they couldn't understand it but was the hardest test of all to show that he loved God more than these men who loved him so much could it be you have always wanted to be a pleaser of people and especially of those who love you so much but God says you've got to put me even before them I close with a question that I ask every week do you know for sure if you were to die today would you go to heaven do you and if you were to stand before God and you will and he were to ask you and he might why should I let you into my heaven what would your answer be it's the most important question anybody can put to you I want you to know that I've got one hope of going to heaven my answer is because Jesus died for me on the cross if that would not have been your answer I want to give you a prayer to pray right now you don't need to say it out loud but if you would like to pray this prayer you'd be following in the steps of the beloved man we watched on the video how he received Jesus Christ into his life you need to pray this prayer right now in your heart God will see you Lord Jesus Christ I need you I want you I'm sorry for my sins wash away my sins by your blood I know I cannot save myself I'm asking for mercy I welcome your Holy Spirit into my heart as best as I know how I give you my life

Channel: RT Kendall

Views: 26,859

Rating: 4.8052435 out of 5

Keywords: rt kendall, christian, sermon

Id: _WMAs-yIZiU

Length: 37min 6sec (2226 seconds)

Published: Wed Nov 20 2013