1 sam 22:1-5
Who is your captain?
• Everyone has a leader. Someone or something is leading you. I want Jesus to lead you. I want Jesus to be your leader and the focus of your life. Every decision through the hands of Jesus
• Great story - David is on the run from Saul, just did the crazy dance, and now he is hiding in a cave, while he is hiding in the cave- he writes some psalms, he cries out to God, and then some 400 people who need help show up. David becomes their leader. David trusts God for direction. God gives him Direction. We’ve talked about this- David is not the eternal King- Jesus is.
• Interesting parallels here- David in a cave, Jesus in a tomb. Weary come to David. Weary come to Jesus. David will of the Father. Jesus will of the Father. Salvation in David. Salvation in JC
• They are looking for a leader. They need help. distressed, in Debt, and Discontented.
• Distress- Compressed, Lying in pain. Life is overwhelming, too much. Cant seem to get there
• Debt- Owe everyone. Can’t manage your life. Day late and a dollar short. Slave to lender
• Discontented- Unable to be satisfied. Nothing tastes good. Nothing fills up or takes away
• Does this resonate with Anyone? Does this sound familiar? WHO WILL LED ME FROM PAIN?
• Who Is your captain? Its either you, someone else, or Jesus. Who is it?
• Easy to find out- who tells you what to do and how to do it? Who is running the show?
Many people who are not Christians- and many who proclaim to be Christian FOLLOW:
1. Outside influence is their captain- Not JESUS
• For many people outside the church (sadly those inside the church as well) They are led by influences on TV, Movies, News organizations, Books, magazines. Celebrities and online
• 1 Thessalonians 5:21 Test all things; hold fast what is good. (But people don’t test-consume)
• IF this person has some sort of national following- they must be correct. Numbers equal truth.
• Dr Phil. Judge Judy. The View. Jimmy Kimmel. Jon Stewart. Dr. Oz. Trevor Noah. Rachel Maddow. Rush Limbaugh. Steven Crowder. Sean Hannity. Kelly Ripa. Oprah. Etc etc.
• People watch these shows and take what they say as truth, because- famous!
• People watch award shows and Television dramas and movies. Netflix and Prime and Youtube. Filling their minds with ideas from the world teaching them to be like the world
• 1 John 2:16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. ( This is everything that the world offers)
• Typically- these influences are filled with anti-Christ rhetoric. Mockery of Christians. Promotion of Sexual immorality. Racial division. Celebration of Abortion. Celebration of Sin. Accumulation of wealth and stuff- if you find yourself saying “I was watching this program” Or “this movie”
• The message is clear- You don’t need God. You don’t need restraint. We will tell you what to believe and destroy you if you don’t agree. Sex. Drugs. Indulgence. Destruction. SELFISH
• Sadly- Many so called followers of Christ spend more time ingesting these influences than the word of God and these influencers are their leader. The world is their god and their captain.
2. Their own ideas are their captain- Not JESUS
• You can read a lot of books. Millions of them. You can go to school and get an education.
• There’s two types of education- quantifiable and non-quantifiable.
• If you’re getting training on math and medical care, there’s not a lot of room for discussion
• But what happens is- people go to a school, or read a book and take on ideas from them
• they think that their ideas are true because they believe them. Your belief doesn’t equal truth.
• Col 2:8 Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.
• Education is- I went to learn from someone else what they believed and they awarded me a degree to prove that I learned what they wanted me to learn. I now think like they want.
• I’m not against education- education is great- but not education is equal. Hitler educated peeps
• The problem is- people get an idea in their head and that becomes their captain. “I believe”
3. Their desires are their captain- Not JESUS
• You have outside influence, ideas in your head that aren’t from God- you are going to be a slave to your desires- Base instincts- A subconscious urge, behavior, or intuition directed by primeval, animalistic, self-serving, and/or ignoble motivations.
• I thes 5: 4 that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, 5 not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God;
• People who don’t follow God can’t control their flesh- They follow instinct
• Hey- food- eat. Lust- follow. Advertisement-buy. Laziness, anger, follow their feelings.
• People have desires. For companionship. Intimacy. Food. Money. Stuff. Power. Things.
• DESIRE them- Need Them. So they make decisions to GET THEM. The WORK and COERCE
• Desire becomes their leader. If and when your decisions are made based on what you WANT
• The word of God is either ignored or unaware in these minds- Just follow the flesh.
Here’s what’s happening in the story we’re in though-
• David displays the strongest sense of a God centered leader for Israel which we should espouse
• V 3 Then David went from there to Mizpah of Moab; and he said to the king of Moab, “Please let my father and mother come here with you, till I know what God will do for me.”
• Till I know what God will do for me- I’m not doing anything or going anywhere until God does it
• Follows very closely to what Pastor Crystal was preaching wed. God must be speaking
• IF you’re not following God- He’s not your captain. David’s captain was YHWH not HIMSELF
• Here’s what David DIDN’T do- didn’t tell the people- How you have been working has been working for you. Don’t follow me. Follow yourselves. You’ve got what it takes inside of you.
• NO- He says- Watch this- The path out of your distress, discontent and debt is DEPENDENCE
• JESUS made this Clear- the PATH to SUCCESS is SELF DENIAL and SUBMISSION to GOD
• Matthew 16:24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.
• Read the Gospels- Jesus demanded total and complete submission. Follow me. Leave behind. Hate anything else. Obey the commands. Leave your life. Die to self. All or nothing.
• Jesus says- If I’m going to be your captain- you have to let me lead you. You don’t lead me.
• David had actually been in the cave of Adullam. In the cave- he learned submission to God
• He wrote a couple psalms in there- psalm 142 and 57
• Psa 142: 5 I cried out to You, O Lord: I said, “You are my refuge, My portion in the land of the living.
• Psalm 57: 1 And in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge, Until these calamities have passed by.
• The distressed, discontented, bankrupt people were looking for a captain- and they found one in David- but David’s captain was YHWH. David was submitted to God! He was following HIM
• David said during this episode- “Till I know what God will do for me” Total complete submission
What does it mean to you: YOU must make a choice on who you want your captain to be
• Your plans. Your ideas. Your desires. The ways of this world. Or to follow Jesus alone.
• If you are not a follower of Jesus- its pretty easy- start following him if you want eternal life.
• If you ARE a follower of Jesus- Follow HIM. Don’t follow the world, your ideas, your desires. NO
• Psalm 25:12 Who is the man that fears the Lord? Him shall He teach in the way He chooses.
• John 5:30 I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.
• David Submitted to the Father. Jesus Submitted to the father. In EVERYTHING-
• How do you do that? How do you maintain being fully submitted?
• Stop loving the things of this world
• 1 John 2:15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. (What are you filling your mind and time with?)
• Quit being a spiritual fornicator!
• James 4:4 Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. ( Do you just attend Church and put on an act? You love the friends out there)
• Have one Master!
• Matthew 6:24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. (Do you love your money more than God? Do you love your stuff?)
• Have the Mind of Christ
• 1 Corinthians 2:16 For “who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
• Your thoughts should be consumed with having the mind of Christ- Submission, obedience, praise, worship, service, forgiveness, truth, love, restraint, God honoring decisions
• Have the Word in your heart
• Psalm 119:11 Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You.
• Study this Bible and know what God wants from you and when the decisions of your life come up- LIVE BY THE WORD. Do what you don’t agree with because you want to follow GOD
• Have the Holy Spirit
• The ONLY Way to have the HS is to be saved from your sin and receive the Spirit of God
• John 16: 13 However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.
• Romans 8:5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.
