HEROES #3: THE FUGITIVE AND THE PRINCE
INTRO TO TOPIC: Review series on heroes.
Although Jesus is the world’s greatest superhero, God is calling every one of us to be heroes as well. Last week we took a look at the life of David. His victory over the giant Goliath is an example for us as to how we can overcome the giant troubles and problems in our lives.
KEY TEXT: Daniel 11:32b.
“But the people who know their God will be strong and carry out great exploits.”
THE BIG IDEA: The friendship of David and Jonathan is an example for us for the kind of friendships that God wants us to have with other Christians. To be a hero means to be a good friend.
ILLUSTRATION:
Even heroes need friends. Batman had Robin. Huck Finn had Tom Sawyer. Frodo had Sam. The ‘Lone Ranger’ had Tonto! Even Jesus sent His disciples out two by two.
TEXT:
“Two people can accomplish more than twice as much as one; they get a better return for their labor. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But people who are alone when they fall are in real trouble. And on a cold night, two under the same blanket can gain warmth from each other. But how can one be warm alone? A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.” (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12).
ILLUSTRATE: Have two people come up and stand back to back and have someone else be the enemy. And show the third person as JESUS!
BIBLE STORY:
“Now when he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. Saul took him that day, and would not let him go home to his father’s house anymore. Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul. And Jonathan took off the robe that was on him and gave it to David, with his armor, even to his sword and his bow and his belt.” (1 Samuel 18:1-4).
• David and Jonathan’s was an unlikely friendship – Jonathan a prince, David a fugitive
• Jonathan had nothing to gain from this friendship. In fact, by helping David, he was ensuring that he would never be the next king. He preferred David before himself.
• David and Jonathan loved each other with God’s love. They loved God & each other.
• They made a covenant – there was a commitment and faithfulness to their friendship.
“1 Now Saul spoke to Jonathan his son and to all his servants, that they should kill David; but Jonathan, Saul’s son, delighted greatly in David. 2 So Jonathan told David, saying, "My father Saul seeks to kill you. Therefore please be on your guard until morning, and stay in a secret place and hide. 3 And I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are, and I will speak with my father about you. Then what I observe, I will tell you." 4 Thus Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father, and said to him, "Let not the king sin against his servant, against David, because he has not sinned against you, and because his works have been very good toward you. 5 For he took his life in his hands and killed the Philistine, and the Lord brought about a great deliverance for all Israel. You saw it and rejoiced. Why then will you sin against innocent blood, to kill David without a cause?" 6 So Saul heeded the voice of Jonathan, and Saul swore, "As the Lord lives, he shall not be killed.” (1 Samuel 19:1-6).
WHAT DO WE LEARN FROM THEIR FRIENDSHIP?
• David was in danger from Jon’s dad Saul, but Jon stood up for him.
• When our friends are in trouble, we need to step in and help them out. (For example, if you have a friend who engages in a self-destructive habit or addiction, say something!)
• The Bible says, “Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.” (Eph. 4:29).
• The Bible also says, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue.” (Prov. 18:21).
• Jonathan was a hero because he was a good friend to David.
• Remember from our first week: “Heroes are made when you make a choice.”
“As soon as the lad had gone, David arose from a place toward the south, fell on his face to the ground, and bowed down three times. And they kissed one another; and they wept together, but David more so.” (1 Samuel 20:41).
• They respected each other.
• They loved one another and showed their affection for one another.
• They cried with one another.
• God calls us to “Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.”
• Sometime’s when a friend is going through a hard time, we don’t have the wisdom to know how to counsel them, but we can sit down and cry with them.
“And David stayed in strongholds in the wilderness, and remained in the mountains in the Wilderness of Ziph. Saul sought him every day, but God did not deliver him into his hand. So David saw that Saul had come out to seek his life. And David was in the Wilderness of Ziph in a forest. Then Jonathan, Saul’s son, arose and went to David in the woods and strengthened his hand in God. And he said to him, "Do not fear, for the hand of Saul my father shall not find you. You shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next to you. Even my father Saul knows that.” (1 Samuel 23:14-17).
• Jonathan was the prince, living in the palace, and David was a fugitive, on the run.
• Jonathan strengthened David’s hand in the Lord - this made him a hero.
• As Christians, we need to encourage one another in the Lord. We can do this by praying with and for each other, and encouraging each other with God’s Word.
• Jonathan encouraged David with his destiny in God: “You shall be king!”
• We need to encourage each other with the truths from God’s Word: “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” (Jer. 29:11).
• The New Testament is full of ‘one anothers’ – how God wants us to treat one another: Love one another, forgive one another, accept one another, etc. “So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.” (1 Thess. 5:11).
CLOSING STORY: "A BROTHER LIKE THAT" (from Chicken Soup for the Soul)
A friend of mine named Paul received an automobile from his brother as a Christmas present. On Christmas Eve when Paul came out of his office, a street urchin was walking around the shiny new car, admiring it. "Is this your car, Mister?" he asked.
Paul nodded. "My brother gave it to me for Christmas." The boy was astounded. "You mean your brother gave it to you and it didn’t cost you nothing? Boy, I wish..." He hesitated.
Of course Paul knew what he was going to wish for. He was going to wish he had a brother like that. But what the lad said jarred Paul all the way down to his heels.
"I wish," the boy went on, "that I could be a brother like that."
Paul looked at the boy in astonishment, then impulsively he added, "Would you like to take a ride in my automobile?"
"Oh yes, I’d love that."
After a short ride, the boy turned and with his eyes aglow, said, "Mister, would you mind driving in front of my house?"
Paul smiled a little. He thought he knew what the lad wanted. He wanted to show his neighbors that he could ride home in a big automobile. But Paul was wrong again. "Will you stop where those two steps are?" the boy asked.
He ran up the steps. Then in a little while Paul heard him coming back, but he was not coming fast. He was carrying his little crippled brother. He sat him down on the bottom step, then sort of squeezed up against him and pointed to the car.
"There she is, Buddy, just like I told you upstairs. His brother gave it to him for Christmas and it didn’t cost him a cent. And some day I’m gonna give you one just like it... then you can see for yourself all the pretty things in the Christmas windows that I’ve been trying to tell you about."
Paul got out and lifted the lad to the front seat of his car. The shining-eyed older brother climbed in beside him and the three of them began a memorable holiday ride.
That Christmas Eve, Paul learned what Jesus meant when he had said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive."
• Being a hero means instead of looking for someone to be our friend, we are looking to be a friend to someone else.
• We all NEED a good friend, but it starts by BEING a good friend!
• “A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born to help in a time of need.” (Prov. 17:17).
• “A man who has friends must himself be friendly, But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” (Prov. 18:24).
PRAYER: And challenge for all of us to BE good friends to others.
Beausejour Community Church Website: www.beausejourchurch.ca
Pastor Chris Jordan’s Blog: http://thelandofpromise.blogspot.com/
