David the Victor, Part 3

I'm so glad you're here tonight because I'm glad I'm here tonight because what God has for you is really exciting. The question is how are you doing in your battle against Methegamah? If you're hearing you say what's Methegamah? It's because you weren't here the last two weeks, okay? Methegamah is the dominant city, the dominant city that surrounded Jerusalem that David had to conquer in order to expand the borders of the nation of Israel. The spiritual Methegamah is the dominant sin in your life.

Once David was able to conquer the dominant city he could conquer the surrounding cities but he had to conquer the biggest one first.

We've used 2 Samuel chapter 8 as a springboard to help us understand how to win spiritual battles because we all face issues that we have to overcome and we are the overcomers as the Bible has stated. I had a professor one time in college who used to always walk up to us and say how goes the battle boy? I said good sir. He says are you winning? I said I think so. He said son that's not good enough because the Bible says you've already won.

I'm like okay and then he would say now act like it. I thought wow, better start acting like it then. Because the bottom line is that Christ is the victor. He is the ultimate overcomer and those who believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God they then become overcomers. But the question comes why is it if I'm an overcomer I feel like I'm underachieving and I'm not winning the battles against sin, against Satan, against myself and all of society's pressures. Why is it I can't seem to get the handle on those things in my life as Hebrew says that besetting sin or that sin that so easily besets us, the sin that takes us back, that keeps us from running the race, that keeps us from progressing spiritually.

Why is it I can't seem to get a handle on that sin? Well we're talking about some principles that help you understand that. Principle number one is that the victorious life is always reproduced by obedience.

Can't expect to win if you're disobedient. We saw that last week in first king chapter 2 verses 1 to 4 where David said to his son to show himself a man and he will be successful if he follows the commandments and the statutes of the Lord God of Israel.

We saw also that in the book of Joshua chapter 1 Joshua was told the same thing. You want to be successful Joshua, you want to be prosperous Joshua, then you meditate upon my word, you strive to do all that's written in my word and I will make you successful and I will make you prosperous. In fact at the end of Joshua in Joshua chapter 23 it's the Lord God who said this to the pen of Joshua to help the nation of Israel understand how they would win in the land of Canaan. Be very firm Joshua 23 verse number 6 to keep and do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses so that you may not turn aside from it to the right hand or to the left in order that you may not associate with these nations these which remain among you or mention the name of their gods or make anyone swear by them or serve them or bow down to them but you are to cling to the Lord your God as you have done to this day for the Lord has driven out great and strong nations from before you and as for you no man has stood before you to this day one of you men puts to flight a thousand for the Lord your God is he who fights for you just as he promised you so take diligent heed to yourselves to love the Lord your God for if you ever go back and cling to the rest of these nations these which remain strong strong among you and intermarry with them so that you may associate with them and they with you know with certainty the Lord your God will not continue to drive out these nations from before you but they shall be a snare and a trap to you and a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes until you perish from off this good land which the Lord your God has given you Joshua said you cling to the Lord you do what God says and guess what he's going to move out those enemies for there's one man who goes to battle and a thousand other men flee that's what God does but you intermarry with these nations and you go after their gods and you serve them and you intermingle with them then you know what disgrace and distress and defeat will be your future he made it very clear a victorious life is reproduced by obedience to the Lord God of Israel number two we talked about this last week that victorious life is that which realizes the importance of spiritual discipline it realizes the importance of spiritual discipline because you must ready yourself for the for the battle first timothy 4 7 says train yourself unto godliness the word train is from the word good not so which where we get our english word gymnasium so training is a smelly word it's a it's a sweaty word it's a it's a stinky word because it requires spiritual sweat it requires you to uh be filled with spiritual energy because you must discipline yourself and we said last week it begins with the discipline of silence and the discipline of solitude that when you're alone and quiet you engage in the discipline of scripture and the discipline of supplication that you might understand what god has for you that you might beseech him and look to him christ would tell his disciples pray lest you enter into temptation so during those times of silence and solitude scripture becomes the voice of god to your heart and supplication is my crying out to god beseeching him to give me the strength and the wisdom to do what he says and then we looked at the fact that those spiritual disciplines encounter self-scrutiny and self-examination that lead me ultimately to serve my god so if i'm going to be victorious it's reproduced by obedience and it realizes it realizes the importance of spiritual discipline and then number three if i'm going to be victorious i must refuse to love myself revelation chapter 12 verse number 11 those saints who overcame the antichrist or should i say who will overcome the antichrist in the tribulation do so by the blood of the lamb by the word of their testimony because they did not love their life even unto death they were willing to give their lives away their lives weren't important to them the apostle paul had that same mindset in the book of acts acts chapter 20 it says in verse number 21 paul says i went from house to house solemnly testifying to both jews and greeks of repentance towards god and faith in our lord jesus christ now behold down the spirit i'm on my way to jerusalem not knowing what will happen to me there except that the holy spirit solemnly testifies to me in every city saying that bonds and afflictions await me he says i'm going to jerusalem i don't know what's going to happen except i know this one thing for sure the holy spirit has testified that bonds and affliction await me so i can be assured that i'll be in prison and that i will be i know that paul says and then he says this but i do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself in order that i may finish my course and the ministry which i received from the lord jesus christ in other words he says you know what it's okay because i don't think anything is great about my life i don't consider it that great anyway that's why he said for me to live as and to die is gain if you don't have that perspective guess what you will go down to defeat if you love your life you're not going to overcome sin because sin feeds your pride sin feeds your self-love sin feeds you personally so if you love your life you'll engage in sin if you don't love your life at all and you live a life of self-denial and surrender and submission even unto death you'll be victorious and then number four and this is the only one we're going to cover tonight and we'll finish the rest of next week there's the method to my madness i wouldn't call it madness necessarily but there's a method to what i'm doing and that is this if you're going to be victorious you must always remember the lord you must always remember the lord and this is so good you're going to be so glad you came tonight because think about it how many of you remember the lord today when you got up and you heard the results of the election or before you went to bed last night and you got the results of the election i'm not the kind of guy that watches tv and i watch tv but i just don't watch the polls i watch football games but uh i don't watch the polls and what's happening so i'm going to the grocery store and i'm going to my son's baseball practice and i'm doing other things and so my little phone gives me all the updates as to what's happening so it tells me that president obama was re-elected so that's how i found out okay the question is when you heard it did you remember the lord when you went to bed did you remember the lord when you woke up this morning and went through the day did you remember the lord how often did you remember the lord today you see i have the most incredible ministry in all the world because my ministry doesn't require me to be creative did you know that my ministry in the church as a pastor does not require me to be creative because i'm not a very creative person anyway my ministry requires me to be repetitive repetitive that's it i don't have to be creative i got to be repetitive peter he wasn't very creative but he was extremely repetitive listen to what he says this is so good he says therefore i shall always be ready to remind you he says of these things what things well the things in verses 1 to 11 the riches we have in christ our redemption in christ the rewards we receive from christ our responsibility to christ i'm going to always remind you of these things he says even though you already know them what a great job i'm just going to remind you of things you already know so when you come to church i'm not here to be creative and think of new ideas and newfangled ways to present the gospel i'm going to say to you everything you already know and you say well why do we come that's why you come because you forget you forget see remember this those of you who forget remember this your mind never forgets anything did you know that your mind it never forgets anything once you learn something it's stored right there you might not recall it but it's there the brain is an incredible instrument created by god and so what we need to do is be reminded peter knows that i'm going to remind you he says the things you already know and have been established in the truth which is present with you and consider it right as long as i am in this earthy dwelling to stir you up by way of reminder in other words i'm going to remind you of what you already know so much so i'm going to continue to stir up your minds so you don't forget what a great job and then he says knowing that the lane aside of my earthly dwelling is imminent in other words i'm going to die i'm soon going to die so if i'm going to die what's the best thing i can do for you be repetitive help you remember remember what all the redemption and all the riches and all the rewards and all of your responsibility and everything that's in scripture i'm going to help you remember it before i die and he says as also our lord jesus christ has made clear to me in other words christ made clear to me i'm going to die remember back in john 21 he says peter you're going to die you're going to stretch forth your hands and you're going to be crucified you're going to die for me so peter says the lord's already told me i'm going to die so before i die i'm just going to keep telling the same thing over and over and over again and then he says this and i will also be diligent that at any time after my departure you may be able to call these things to mind in other words i'm going to remind you so much that when i'm dead and gone you're going to be able to remember all the things i reminded you of and then he says in second peter chapter three verse number one this is now beloved the second letter i'm writing to you in which i am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder that you should remember the words spoken beforehand by the holy prophets and the commandment of the lord and savior spoken by your apostles and what do you say you need to remember about the return of the lord so he tells him now get this this is rich so before peter dies his wife is crucified and for three days he is with his wife as she hangs on a cross and he says the same phrase over and over and over again and it is this remember the lord remember the lord remember the lord what a ministry and the reason that ministry is so powerful is because we don't remember much about the lord we forget that's why every week when you come we repeat what we talked about last week it's because for the most part we don't think about the things we learned last week and because there's six days in between sunday services or wednesday services we've got to be reminded of what we took what we talked about last week but peter understood the importance of remembering well here's the key to your victory remember the lord remember what he said and remember what he did this past sunday we took the lord's table the lord says this do in what remembrance of me don't forget me don't forget what i did don't forget why i did it and don't forget who i did it for but if we didn't have the communion table and celebrate it once a month some churches do it every sunday we'd forget about that great monumental sacrifice on our behalf we need to remember the lord now i'm gonna spend some time here 30 minutes to be exact as to why this is so crucial so if you got your bible turn back with me if you would to do run deuteronomy chapter 4 deuteronomy chapter 4 it will understand this a little bit more because israel's biggest problem was that they didn't remember they kept forgetting what god said they kept forgetting what god did why do you think god stood at the passover not just to foreshadow what was going to happen but that israel would remember the sacrifice of the lamb and the redemption of the people of israel out of egyptian bondage you can't forget what god did can't forget it and so the lord god set up all these ceremonies all the set up the tabernacle to remember that they would understand and not forget that's why as a parent your ministry is not to be creative it's to be repetitive because you keep telling your kids the same thing over and over and over again and what do they say ah i forgot no no they didn't forget there was something more important to them than your words and that's exactly our problem with the lord there is something more important to us than the words of god there's something more important to us than the work of god there's something more important to us than the will of god or the way of god something takes priority over our lives oh we don't forget we just look at something else is more important than what god has already said so we have to go back and be reminded once again so the book of deuteronomy fourth chapter fourth verse god says but you who held fast to the lord your god are alive today every one of you see i have taught you statutes and judgments just as the lord my god commanded me that you should do thus in the land where you are entering to possess it so keep and do them for that is your wisdom and your understanding in the peoples who will hear all these statutes and say surely this great nation is a wise and understanding to people for what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the lord our god whenever we call upon him and what great nation is there that its statutes and judgments are righteous as the whole law which i was sitting before you only give heed to yourselves and keep your soul diligently lest you forget the things which your eyes have seen lest you depart from your heart all the days of your life but make them known to your sons and your grandsons remember the day you stood before the lord your god at horrib when the lord said to me assemble the people to me that i may let them hear my words that they may learn to fear me all the days they live on the earth and they and that they may teach their children teach your children remind your children help them to remember everything that we have done because if you forget it will cost you dearly and so again in deuteronomy chapter 6 the lord god says verse 10 then it should come about when the lord your god brings you into the land which you which he swore to your fathers abraham isaac and jacob to give you great and splendid cities which you did not build and houses full of all good things which you did not fill and hewn cisterns which you did not dig vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant and you shall eat and be satisfied then watch yourselves lest you forget the lord who brought you from the land of egypt out of the house of slavery in other words prosperity has a built-in curse there's nothing wrong with being prosperous but if it causes you to forget all that god did when he redeemed you and brought you forth it will cost you because you are to fear him only and worship him only and serve him only so in deuteronomy chapter 8 all the commandments verse 1 that i am commanding you today you shall be careful to do that you may live and multiply and go in and possess the land which the lord swore to give to your forefathers there it is again a victorious life is reproduced by obedience and then he says and you shall remember all the way which the lord your god has led you into both of us these 40 years that he might humble you testing you to know what was in your heart whether you would keep his commandments or not remember these last 40 years in what the lord god did verse 11 beware lest you forget the lord your god by not keeping his commandments and his ordinances and his statutes which i am commanding you today lest when you have eaten and are satisfied and have built good houses and lived in them and when your herds and your flocks multiply and your silver and gold multiply and all that you have multiplies then your heart becomes proud and you forget the lord your god who brought you out from the land of egypt out of the house of slavery he says very simply be diligent be careful remember because what's going to happen is that now that you're on the threshold of obtaining the inheritance that i promised i am going to go before you and you're going to receive all these blessings and the warning is when you receive them you'll forget about me now think about that in your own life when you are poor and wondering where the next paycheck is going to come from you are more a lot more in tune with with prayer and seeking god's will and dependent upon him but when you're living on easy street and you got all kinds of money coming in you're not so often on your knees dependent upon the lord you've forgotten about the lord because you become self-sufficient you'll be able to do things on your own and god warns us beware if you don't remember you'll forget so you must remember my words you must remember my work that's why the bible says in psalm 77 11 i will remember the works of the lord psalm 105 verse number five remember his marvelous works which he has done don't forget so in psalm 119 verse number 61 it says psalm 119 verse number 16 i'm sorry says i shall delight in thy statutes i shall not forget thy word in other words the psalmist says when i delight in what god says i remember what god says so i will delight in the statutes of god so i don't forget all that god has said that's why in the book of ecclesiastes he says remember now your creator in the days of your youth remember him while you're young don't forget him while you're young you must follow him and serve him that's why over in proverbs chapter three it says my son do not forget my teaching but let your heart keep my commandments for length of days and years of life and peace they will add to you do not let kindness and truth leave you bind them around your neck write them on the tablet of your heart so you will find favor and good repute in the sight of god and man in other words remember what i said don't forget do whatever you got to do to remember time around your heart bind them in your heart keep them close to your heart why because if you forget you're in trouble if you remember you're going to find good repute in the sight of god and man your life will be long and filled with quality if you remember the words that i've taught you and then even in the new testament in fact before i go there hosea chapter four verse number six god says my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge because you have rejected knowledge i also will reject you from being my priest since you have forgotten the law of your god i will also forget your children my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge see the problem is the book of jeremiah jeremiah 2 32 can a virgin forget her ornaments or bride her attire yet my people have forgotten me days without number i mean think of a bride in the day she's married does she forget her ornaments should we get a dress even she remembers what she wore what she looked like but my people they have forgotten about me days without number they've gone days months years and not remembered me they've forgotten that over jeremiah 13 jeremiah 13 it says this verse 25 this is your lot the portion measured to you from me declares the lord because you have forgotten me and trusted in falsehood so i myself have also stripped your skirts off over your face that your shame may be seen as for your adulteries and your lustful names the lewdness of your prostitution on the hills in the field i have seen your abominations woe to you jerusalem how long will you remain unclean in other words you have believed that which is not true you have forgotten what i have said and you have started to believe that which is untrue and then it says over in chapter 18 book of jeremiah jeremiah chapter 18 verse number 15 for my people have forgotten me they burn incense to worthless gods and they have stumbled from their ways from the ancient paths to walk and bypass not on the highway to make their land of desolation and an object of perpetual hissing everyone who passes by it will be astonished and shake his head like an east wind i will scatter them before the enemy i will show them my back and not my face in the day of their calamity you forgot me you don't remember you forgot what i said you forgot what i did and therefore you are not on a smooth highway but you're off on the bypass struggling because you did not remember and then in jeremiah 23 says this verse 25 i have heard what the saying i had a dream i had a dream how long is there anything in the hearts of the prophets who prophesy falsehood even these prophets of the deception of their own heart who intend to make my people forget my name by their dreams which they relate to one another just as their fathers forgot my name because of bail this is so important why because how many times your preachers say you know what god god god god spoke to me in a dream really oh yeah god spoke to me a dream and i want to tell you what he said to me and everybody in the audience is on the edge of their chair saying wow god spoke to him in a dream no god says god says that's just like worshiping bail that's idolatry why because what they're saying is that they're you forget me because you follow prophets who said i had a dream i had a dream really what was your dream well let me tell you what my dream was this is what god said oh wow and all of a sudden they don't forget they forget what god really did say and they remember only what the man's dream said and the lord god says that is like worshiping bail that's falsehood that's out of the pit of hell so those tv preachers who said god spoke to me i had a dream turn them off don't watch them don't give your money don't give them the time a day because it's like worshiping bail it's idolatry it's right from the pit of hell and that's what causes us to forget what god said because they turn us away from the truth of the word to believe their own words and that's wrong and that's why jesus said the gospel of john remember the word that i said to you a slave is not greater than his master if they persecuted me they will also persecute you if they kept my word they will keep yours also christ says remember this a slave is not greater than his master who's a slave we are who's the master christ is if they persecuted me and they will persecute you so if it came to the master it goes to the slave as well therefore if you remember that when you stand strong for christ and you're persecuted because you remembered the lord you'll be able to stand strong not cower into the fear of man or it might say to you because you remember that you're a slave and christ is the master if they persecuted him certainly they will persecute you and because you remember the lord you stand strong and then over in the book of jude verse 5 now i desire to remind you though you know all things once for all that the lord after saving the people out of the land of egypt subsequently destroyed those who did not believe wow and angels who did not keep their own domain but abandoned their proper abode he has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day just as sodom and gomorah and the cities around them since they in the same way as these and those in gross immorality and went after strange flesh are exhibited as an example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire god says remember what took place long ago don't forget don't forget about what took place in the nation of israel when they didn't believe and they apostatized the faith don't forget about those angels who left their first abode who were cast out of heaven because they wanted to rule in heaven and don't forget sodom and gomorah our country's forgot about sodom and gomorah don't forget about sodom and gomorah because they are facing eternal torment because of their lustful homosexual lifestyles don't forget and then he says verse 17 but you beloved ought to remember the words that were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our lord jesus christ that they were saying to you in the last time there shall be mockers following after their own ungodly lust these are the ones who cause divisions worldly minded devoid of the spirit but you beloved building yourselves up on your most holy faith praying in the holy spirit keep yourselves in the love of god waiting anxiously for the mercy of our lord jesus christ to eternal life but you got to remember what the apostle said it's a constant reminder don't forget don't forget don't forget if you want to live a victorious life you must remember the lord and all that he said this is crucial listen to these words in the book of revelation familiar words to you revelation two verse number one to the angel of the church in ephesus right the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand the one who walks among the seven golden lampstands says this i know your deeds your toil and perseverance that you cannot endure evil men and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles and they are not and you found them to be false and you have perseverance and you have perseverance and have endured for my name's sake and not grow weary but i have this against you you have left your first love you know it's one thing for god to say he's for you it's another thing for god to say he's against you you don't want to get there you don't got to say you know i have this against you you've been strong against false teachers i admire you for that that's a good thing but i do have this one thing against you you've left your first love and this what's the very next word remember from where you fall see the reason your worship is dull the reason your worship is boring is because you left your first love and you've got to go back and repeat the first deeds you got to remember where it all began and how it all began you got to remember those early days when you're when the spirit of god was was fresh upon you and and you were vibrant for the kingdom of god and you were sharing christ with the people and you couldn't wait to hear what the word of the lord had to say you couldn't wait to pray you got to go back and repeat the first deeds you got to remember the way it was you forgot see you left your first love and then he says to the church of sardis we know about the church of ephesus because we've talked about that on several occasions but how about the church of sardis and to the angel verse chapter three verse number one of the church and sardis right he who has the seven spirits of god and the seven stars says this i know your deeds that you have a name that you are alive but you are dead that is the evangelical church today they have a name they're very popular everybody knows about them they're on tv thousands of people go there they have a name in the community they have a name you're alive you have everything on the surface but you have nothing of substance it's all shallow you have a name yes that you are alive and everybody says wow have you been to that church wow that church is all alive that church is on fire that church is exciting they're alive and christ says yeah but my assessment is you're dead how can we be dead there's so many people here how can we be dead there's so many people singing here how can we be dead there's so many people jumping up and down the aisles here how can we possibly be dead god says you're alive so you think you have a name so you think but you are dead he says this wake up strengthen the things that remain which are about to die for i have not found your deeds completed in the sight of my god verse three here it is remember therefore what you have received and heard and keep it and repent if therefore you will not wake up i will come like a thief and you will not know at what hour i will come upon you but you have a few people in sardis who have not soiled their garments they will walk with me in white for they are worthy you see even in the dead church there are people who are alive spiritually who haven't soiled their garments soiled garments speak of impurity unrighteousness white garments speak of salvation and that's why he goes on to say these words they will walk with me in white for they are worthy he overcomes shall thus be clothed in white garments and i will not erase his name from the book of life and i will confess his name before my father and before his angels he who has an ear let him hear what the spirit says to the churches there are few of you in sardis who have not soiled their garments you have white garments and if you're an overcomer i will clothe you in white raiment but those of you have yet to complete your works in other words those of you who think you're perfect but you're not because in my eyes you're incomplete because you haven't repented of your sin you haven't given your life to me remember this is what you must do you must hear the word you must believe the word but hearing it and believing is not enough you gotta do what i say that's always the mark of true conversion someone who does what god's word says back in the church of ephesus he says remember from where you've fallen repent and repeat your first deeds he says this or else i'm coming to you and we will remove your lampstand out of its place unless you repent they did not and the church of ephesus is no more simply because they did not remember from where they have fallen they did not repeat their first deeds and they did not repent of their sin they didn't remember and god came in judgment 1 peter 4 17 the judgment's going to begin let it begin in the house of god and the church of ephesus is no more simply because they did not remember you see we cannot afford to forget that's why paul says to timothy in second timothy 2 verse number 8 remember jesus christ the son of david risen from the dead which is my gospel why would the apostle paul have to tell a pastor to remember jesus christ because he like everybody else so easily forgets listen carefully about the divinity and the humanity of their god because of his divinity he is supernatural because of his humanity he is sympathetic and because he is sympathetic and supernatural through his sympathy he enables you to have the power to accomplish that which you need to do so he says timothy listen you better not forget about jesus because you can't function without him you can't not only is he our gospel he is everything to our life he can sympathize with every weakness you encounter every heartache you face he can sympathize with that and he is supernatural so that he could provide for you the strength and everything you need to overcome whatever difficulty you face don't forget jesus christ remember him timothy why because when you remember christ number one there's always comfort number two there's always courage number three there's always commitment that's a byproduct of the courage in the comfort and then there is always a conquest but the conquest is only available because there's a commitment the commitment is only there because there's courage and the courage is only there because of the comfort that christ gives because you did not forget him let me show it to you psalm 119 psalm 119 verse number 52 i have remembered thine ordinances from of old the lord and comfort myself that's where it begins why do we remember the lord why do we remember his word because when i remember them i'm comforted see that isn't that good well if i'm gonna be a conqueror then i must first of all be comforted by the comfort that comes through the word of god verse number 76 of 119 oh may thy loving kindness comfort me according to thy word to thy servant the delights of remembering center around number one comfort number two commitment psalm 119 55 says this oh lord i remember thy name in the night and keep thy law when i remember i'm comforted what i remember because i'm comforted i am now committed to doing what you say and then psalm 119 61 the cords of the wicked have encircled me but i have not forgotten thy law in other words because i'm comforted and because i'm committed i have the courage when the cords of the wicked encompass me and then over in psalm 119 141 says this i am small and despised yet i do not forget thy precepts and then over in 153 it says look upon my affliction and rescue me for i do not forget thy law when there's affliction rescue me lord because i'm committed not to forgetting your law so when there's comfort there's commitment when there's commitment there's courage and when there's courage there is always conquest you win you cannot be defeated why because you remember everything that jesus said the words that he gave the work that he accomplished this day this week this year remember the lord let's pray father we thank you lord for your word the joy we have in studying your word we are grateful that you brought us together this evening truly you are a great god and you alone are worthy of praise give us a great night in our service for the king in jesus name amen