Dealing With Spear Throwers

Dealing With Spear Throwers

PPT 1 Message Title

In John 14:2 Jesus said, "I go to prepare a place for you."

That verse primarily concerns heaven, but I want to take the thought of a prepared place and alter it slightly to say that not only does God prepare a place for us, but He also prepares us for that place.

In other words God has to prepare things in the world, and things inside of us to fulfill His plans.

He has to get His ducks in a row outside of us, and inside of us.

What does that have to do with spear throwers? Everything as you will see.

Lets read a story from the life of David, just after the killing of Goliath.

PPT 2-4 Text

1Sa 18:6 And it happened as they were coming, when David returned from killing the Philistine, that the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with joy and with musical instruments.

1Sa 18:7 And the women sang as they played, and said, "Saul has slain his thousands, And David his ten thousands."

1Sa 18:8 Then Saul became very angry, for this saying displeased him; and he said, "They have ascribed to David ten thousands, but to me they have ascribed thousands. Now what more can he have but the kingdom?"

1Sa 18:9 And Saul looked at David with suspicion from that day on.

1Sa 18:10 Now it came about on the next day that an evil spirit from God came mightily upon Saul, and he raved in the midst of the house, while David was playing [the harp] with his hand, as usual; and a spear [was] in Saul's hand.

1Sa 18:11 And Saul hurled the spear for he thought, "I will pin David to the wall." But David escaped from his presence twice.

Everyone has been a spear thrower at one time or another in their life.

Maybe not actual spears, but word spears.

We use words to wound the reputation, and image that others have of someone we are angry with.

There are many verses in the bible that speak of verbal spear throwers but here are just a couple:

PPT 5 text

Ps 140:3 They sharpen their tongues as a serpent; Poison of a viper is under their lips. Selah.

Ro 3:13 "THEIR THROAT IS AN OPEN GRAVE, WITH THEIR TONGUES THEY KEEP DECEIVING," "THE POISON OF ASPS IS UNDER THEIR LIPS";

James 3:8 But no one can tame the tongue; [it is] a restless evil [and] full of deadly poison.

So this morning I want to talk about dealing with spear throwers. Why God not only allows them but also has a very important place for them in your life.

I am going to read a portion of a book, I read as young Christian many years ago. It is perhaps my favorite Christian book outside of the bible. It is foundational to who I am, and how I was shaped at the earliest parts of my Christian walk. Foundations are the hidden parts of us that determine the overall strength of our spiritual house.

Let me tell you a little bit about this book, and why it was written.

Written to counter abusive, and authoritarian leaders who have caused much pain to the people who have sat under their ministries.

To be honest I am not sure why I read it as a young Christian, I could not relate to that type of leader, though I have been a pastor for most of my Christian walk, I have sat under the ministry of 6 different pastors, and none of them would I ever consider to be abusive or overly authoritarian. They were all kind, gentle, caring, and faithful shepherds. But many people have been wounded in the house of God, by shepherds, deacons, lay leaders, and others in authority. Gene Edwards wrote the book, "A Tale of Three Kings" in response to people he had met whose lives had been devastated by bad leaders.

(Sad to say there are people in this world who think that way about me, though I have made a conscious effort to never be that kind of leader.)

This is one of the easiest Christian books you will ever read, and yet one of the most profound. As I said it is called, A Tale of Three Kings, and it deals with Saul, David, and Absalom. For today's message we will only deal with a portion concerning Saul and David, and you will see how accurately it goes along with the bible passage we read from 1st Samuel.

Read pages 11 - 20 (6 minutes, average reading speed)

So the message Gene Edwards has in his book for those who have been under the harsh, authoritarian, spear throwing administration of a King Saul, is simply this: God uses the Saul in others to kill the Saul in us.