The Before The After

“The Before the After”

1 Chronicles 18:1-4

(1) Now after this it came to pass, that David smote the Philistines, and subdued them, and took Gath and her towns out of the hand of the Philistines. (2) And he smote Moab; and the Moabites became David’s servants, [and] brought gifts. (3) And David smote Hadarezer king of Zobah unto Hamath, as he went to stablish his dominion by the river Euphrates. (4) And David took from him a thousand chariots, and seven thousand horsemen, and twenty thousand footmen: David also houghed all the chariot [horses], but reserved of them an hundred chariots.

I. After this…How many are looking for an “after this” moment?

A. Look at your neighbor and tell them, After this; tell them hold on, don’t lose hope, don’t throw in the towel, don't give up, don't flip the switch off yet. Tell them, there's something beyond this. This is not the end. This is just a temporary inconvenience. This is just a hallway. This is the in between place. This is just the valley between two mountains. This is where weeping may endure for a night, but joy [cometh] in the morning.

1. This is just the “valley of the shadow of death”. Where “weapons are formed but don’t prosper”. Where the oven is heated 7 times but can’t burn you. Where there is a den of lions that have lost their appetite. Where a whale may consume you but not digest you.

B. After this is also called in the meanwhile. It is the intervening period of time. It is the, for now, for the moment, for the present, for the time being, for the meantime, or a temporary place. It is the time before something happens, but it also means at the same time.

1. It’s the place where Abraham is taking Isaac up one side of the mountain to offer him as a sacrifice while on the other side a ram is making his way up to get caught in the bushes to replace Isaac. It’s the place where you are about to use the last bit of flour for you and your son before you starve to death while God is sending the man of God over to your house to finish off the natural cause from here on out they are going to be eating from the supernatural.

2. After Elijah calls down fire from heaven, and after his servant see’s the little cloud, the Bible says: And it came to pass in the meanwhile that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. The great rain came after the mean while. The great blessing came after the meanwhile. In the meanwhile, there was dark clouds and winds. The winds of adversity, the winds of pain …hurt …brokenness …setbacks; are blowing in your life right now, and the dark clouds are obscuring the sunlight. You are in the meanwhile. You’re in the place of testing, of waiting, of uncertainty, of not knowing; that valley of testing and trusting.

C. Jesus said, “In this world you will have tribulation” being a Christian does not exempt you from a trouble free life, the sun will rise on the evil and on the good, and …rain on the just and on the unjust. There is no guarantee you’ll never hear the word “cancer” or “terminal”. That you’ll never cry over wayward children. That you’ll never be lied on, or that you’ll never lose someone you love, or there won’t be times when you feel like quitting.

1. But He did promise an After This. He promised us that he would be with us, through it all. The Bible says, Ps 34:19 Many [are] the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all. Isa 43:2 When thou passest through the waters, I [will be] with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.

2. If you will not give in to fear and doubt. If you will keep on walking through the fire. If you will keep on praising God in the midnight hour. If you will hold onto his word in the face of every contrary and negative report. You will come to after this. “This” can come in the form of a Dr. report, sickness, passing of a loved one, I don’ know what “This” is to you today, all I know is “THIS” is not where you want to be and you are ready for “After This”. The other side to this storm where there are no darks clouds.

D. What happened after this? From my text The Bible said: David smote and subdued the Philistines. Subdued, Bring down, beat down, brought under subjection, make mincemeat, wipe the floor, smash, or any other synonym you want to use; well let me give you one more, humiliated. David smote them, and David humiliated them.