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Source: https://www.sermonindex.net/speakers/stanley-wells/david/
The book of the Acts plays chapter 13. Acts chapter 13. I want to read one verse from this chapter. Acts chapter 13. Acts chapter 13. That's verse number 36. The subject for a few minutes as we commence this session is David.
I've just been thinking about this verse and this more or summarizes his history. For David after he had served his own generation by the will of God fell on sleep and was laid onto his fathers and saw corruption.
When we're here there's three statements I want you to think about in this verse. You see he served his own generation, not another one or the previous one. He had timely service for the God of heaven.
He did it in the will of God. That's his trust. And he fell on sleep. His triumph in the end. Now I want to read some basic verses from the Old Testament. We're starting please in 1st Samuel. 1st Samuel chapter 16.
And we'll read briefly and most know the context. Look at verse number 11 of 1st Samuel chapter 16. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Are there here all thy children? And he said, There remaineth yet the youngest.
And behold, he keepeth the sheep. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Send and fetch him, for he will not sit. We will not sit down till he come hither. Look at verse 12. He sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy and with all of a beautiful countenance and goodly to look to.
The Lord said, Arise, anoint him, for this is he. Next reference, chapter 17. Chapter 17. Look at verse 50. So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone and smote the Philistine and slew him.
But there was no sword in the hand of David. 2nd Samuel for the next reference, chapter 5 please. Look at verse number 3. These are key verses in his history. 2nd Samuel 5 and 3. So all the elders of Israel came to the king to Hebron.
And King David made a league with them in Hebron before the Lord. And they anointed David king over all Israel. David was 30 years old when he began to reign. And he reigned 40 years. The last reference, same book, chapter 23.
2nd Samuel please, chapter 23, verse 1. Now these be the last words of David. He's coming to the end of life. David, the son of Jesse, said, The man who was raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel said, The Spirit of the Lord speak by me, and his word was in my tongue.
The God of Israel said, The rock of Israel speak to me. He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God. He shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds, as the tender grass springing out of the earth, by clear shining after rain.
Listen to verse 5. Although my house be not so with God, yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered that all things ensure. For this is all my salvation, and all my desire, although he made it not to grow.
I'll read one more in Psalm 78. Psalm 78 please. This is David. Tremendous words here. Verse 7, verse 70 of Psalm 78. He chose David also his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds, from following the ewes great with young.
He brought them to feed Jacob's people, and Israel his inheritance. Look at verse 72. So he fed them according to the integrity of his heart, and guided them by the skillfulness of his hands. The Lord will bless what our brethren have been telling us already, when we commence the conference.
I want to speak a few words on this man David. There's only one David in all the Bible. There are likely many Davids here today, more than one anyways. The Spirit of God refers to him in 28 books of the Holy Bible.
Really in the history books of the Old Testament, he's a role model. Statements occur again and again. He walked after the ways of David, his father. We have heard of some of the kings of Judah and Israel already today, but every one of them didn't follow David.
He's a role model. We want to learn simple lessons for a few minutes this afternoon about David. And so that you can take away with you what's on my heart right now, I have four simple thoughts to build on.
Number one, I want to think of David as a shepherd. That's where we read 1 Samuel chapter 16. Then I want to refer to him, David, as a soldier. That's chapter 17. I read you the bottom line of that great conflict with Goliath.
Then I want to talk about David as a sovereign. He reigned for 40 years. I read you 2 Samuel chapter 5 of his third anointing. That's the background to Psalm 133, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity, and then the metaphors and so on.
The background is 2 Samuel chapter 5, when the 12 tribes of Israel gathered and crowned him and anointed him king. Then I want to talk about him as David, the sweet psalmist, the singer. Simple. David, the shepherd, his obscurity.
So we'll see in a minute. David, the soldier, his ability. David, the sovereign, his integrity. I read it to you, Psalm 78. David, the singer, his honesty. Now that will sum up 40 years of his reign and 70 years in this life.
Now, in view of all that we have heard at this conference, even today, we have a real burden on our hearts for the testimonies of the Lord's people that gather in any country of the world. This year alone, we have had the privilege and honor of being in several countries, and the same trend is seen, as our brethren have referred to already today.
So we're very concerned that we have younger married couples coming on, and younger sisters, and younger brethren, and we need to encourage you, and we need to instruct you. And I take it that David is one of the outstanding examples.
If assembly testimony will be continued, we need to teach the rising generation among us. See, some of our brethren are telling us that if the Lord doesn't come in the next 10 years, there'll be no assembly fellowship or assembly testimonies.
Now, the Bible don't teach that. There will be testimonies somewhere in the world until the very last step is taken, and the shout is heard, and we will be raptured to the Father's house. And if you want proof of that, just talk to me after the meeting, because that's not the subject before us.
I want to think of this young man. He was a teenager, David the shepherd. Now, to get to the very point, he's the youngest son of eight sons of Jesse. Obviously, the family didn't think too much of him.
He's keeping his father's sheep, and his older brothers come before Samuel, and they're there because they recognize some of them is going to be anointed for the next king in the nation of Israel. But God looks on the heart, not on the outward, as the chapter shows.
There was a moment in the history of Samuel when he saw the young man come in, white, ruddy, of a beautiful countenance. The Lord says to Samuel, arise, this is him. Anoint him to be king. Must have been a tremendous moment for this young man.
I want to point out that as far as the nation is concerned, and the nobility of the nation, they looked on shepherd work as a menial task, worth nothing. With this young man, God was dealing with him in early life, unknown in the area, unknown in the nations of earth.
But God's eye was upon him. So, we learn very simply today that if you're in the younger age group of life, an unknown to others, if you have a desire to honor the Lord Jesus Christ, whether you be a brother or a sister in assembly life, as our brethren have indicated already, God has a great future for you.
But we need to learn the lessons from this young man. He was there tending his father's sheep. The other scriptures that I didn't read show that in all humility and earnestness, he had enemies, the lion and the bear, and all the rest of it.
You know the story. And at a young age, he had a burden on his heart to learn the lessons of shepherd work. Psalm 23, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He was a true shepherd. That's what Psalm 78 says.
He was taken from the leading of the sheep in the backside of the desert. We have come to encourage you here today. You might be known anywhere, but you have had dealings with God alone. And you recognize that the winds of change across our world are blowing strongly.
And God has maybe put a burden on your heart to be a help someday to the people of God. Take encouragement from David. I tell you, he was in obscurity. Nobody knew anything about him. God knew. Let me come to the next point, because I don't want to spend too much time on each one.
But I want to notice David, the soldier. He lived in the nation of Israel at a time when the Philistines had taken over. Saul, the son of Kish, and all his sons, and all the mighty men of the nation of Israel could not do anything to bring Goliath, the giant, down.
But there was a moment in the history of this young man, likely a teenager, as he went down to the valley of Elah and he picked up the five smooth stones and he took one. And at the exact moment, you talk about skill and ability.
Obviously, God directed the stone and it went right to the very point in his anatomy that wasn't covered. And in a second or two, he fell to the ground. The Philistines thought their champion was to stand forever, but God had other plans.
Who did he use? He didn't use the captain of the host, Abner, at the time. He used a youth. And the scripture shows he was there and he took the sword from Goliath and took off his head. I tell you, dear saints of God, that young man had ability that nobody else had.
You all know the story. On one side of the valley of Elah was the enemy. On the other side, the nation of Israel. And there were likely thousands watching that day as the young man went forward to meet the giant.
I'll just take one example. When it was all over, there was a young man there called Jonathan and he fell in love with David. 1 Samuel chapter 18. He loved him as his own soul and he stripped himself of his garments.
Please notice, he didn't give him his sandals. He gave him everything but his sandals, indicating he was prepared to go a certain length. But when it came to the point, he didn't want to leave the palace in Jerusalem.
You see, we're all in a conflict and we can only obtain skill from God by reading his word and by meditating upon it. And I want to say this, that in 2018, there are more tools to help us in Bible study than ever there were before in our generation.
But sadly, older, middle-aged, younger, we're so involved in the materialistic side of life that we have no time to read the Holy Bible. You see, if you're going to be any use in God's assembly, you need to know the Bible.
And there's no shortcuts. You'll have to take time out. Young men say to me, different parts of the world even this year, ah brother, when I get married and settle down, I'll have all the time in the world.
And I've come to tell you, you'll have less time. Now is the time to get involved. And if you're going to develop your spiritual skills, you'll need to take time out to do all you can to read and to learn the word of God and to accompany with maybe older believers, brethren and sisters, where appropriate to learn the truth of God.
I would say it is not a criticism, but I would say that in general terms, in certain parts of the world, our younger friends, they don't know the Bible. I asked a young man just a few weeks ago. He's very friendly.
He's his last year at university. He has a great future and he wants to honor the Lord in his life. And I didn't know anything about him. And I said to him, brother, so do you read the Bible? And I listened to his answer.
He said, brother, the only time I get to read the Bible is going from my home to my place of business or the university. And I listened to it on the recorder of the automobile. I said to him, brother, that's good, but it's not good enough.
If you have a burden in your heart to be out to the people of God, you'll need to take time out to spend time alone. All these other things are secondary. There's such an appeal in our day, sport or whatever it may be.
Dear young friend today, God needs you. The assembly needs you, but you need to be equipped and have spiritual ability. That's Paul to Timothy. Neglect not the gift that is in thee by the putting on of the presbytery, the hands of the presbytery and so on.
They couldn't impart gift, but they could recognize it. Wherever we go, we're looking for younger people, young married couples, young men, young women that have an interest in the word of God. Defend their interest and develop their skills.
We're just talking there at lunchtime. Dear saints of God, listen, we can teach you the Bible, but we can't teach you conviction. That's the Holy Spirit of God to do it. Now I'm speaking from experience.
The older folk here would remember my dad. He was an honored servant of the Lord. When I was saved in my early twenties, I used to go to listen to him and others. And I would say to myself, what is he talking about?
He doesn't know what life's all about. He's from an older generation. Now listen to this. As we got a little older and married and had a family and got down to the Bible, I found out as I went on that I was teaching exactly the same things that he taught.
See that's Abraham and Isaac. The Philistines, they filled the wells of Abraham with earth. But the younger man, Isaac, re-dug the same wells and called them by the same names. And it's a picture of conviction.
I want to ask you younger folk, what do you think of the older generation? A young man told me here recently, in this very country of the U .S., I says, Stan, what you have taught us and what you practiced over the generations and the older folk, that's good for them.
But if you're going to win the younger people today, you have to change your tactics and your methods. What an honor and a privilege to tell the dear young men, we don't need to change our methods. We need to change the man.
Here's a statement I made. In Matthew chapter 28, in the commission given in the mountain in Galilee, the Lord said to his own, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you, that has never been withdrawn.
I was saying to the brethren here, we had an opportunity to talk to some of our younger men who are taking responsibility and they're driving us the wrong way to the left, as we say. I asked them kindly, if you men are right, are we seeing more people saved than the assemblies?
Are we enjoying more of the Lord's presence? Are we developing in our spiritual experience? And they all hung their head. I've come today to appeal to you. God's ways are always right. We've heard that already today.
I want to endorse it. There's no other way to be happy in Jesus today, but to trust and obey. Let me just say this before I leave that. As long as David was in the background, everything was okay. But whenever he came to the front and was winning battles for the Lord and for Saul, and whenever the woman of Israel sang, Saul has slain his thousands, David is tens of thousands, the green-eyed monster appeared.
You see, the older man was jealous of the younger man for he didn't have his ability. It's exactly the same thing with Joseph, exactly the same thing with Daniel and on and on it goes. Oh, I have noticed that some of our beloved brethren, as God began to develop them and their gift exceeded others, that then older men couldn't stand it.
We're all in this together, brethren, and we need help from one another, whatever age group you're in. One day, David was anointed king in Jerusalem. Judah and Benjamin anointed him. Where I read, the 10 other tribes anointed him.
And for 30 years, for 40 years, from 30 years of age to 70, he went on and he was a mighty sovereign. I want to pause a minute. I want to talk for a minute of his triumph. God used that young man in his 30s to expand the borders of the nation of Israel that never known it before.
He was mighty as he sat on the throne. Here's the other side. He had trials. You see, young friend, if you never had trials in your life, I want to tell you, keep living for they're going to come. I thought of that.
So brother Jim read those requests for prayer. I tell you that some of those dear people, they never thought it would happen, but that's God's ways with his people. You think of the trials of this man, David, he lost four sons.
Now I understand that part of it was his doing. Must have been a tremendous day. Second Samuel 18, when he heard of the news of his boy Absalom. Oh Absalom, my son, my son Absalom, would God, I had died for thee.
Oh Absalom, my son, my son. People ask, why did he pray? It's likely that he knew that his boy had left for eternity without a knowledge of his sins forgiven. Allow my house be not so with God. That's the household, the family.
Let me just touch on another point. The tragedies that came his way. Now I won't go over the negative, but you know about it. He was guilty of adultery and murder by proxy. And both of those on the dispensation of the law demanded the death of the guilty person.
I was at a conference recently in another country and somebody asked me this very question, why did God allow David to go through this experience and preserve his life? Well, between Psalm 32 and Psalm 51, there's 12 months and he covered it.
This is David I'm talking about. And he didn't prosper till the day came when he made a frank confession and God forgave him and restored him. That's the sovereignty of God. I can't explain that. Now let me just point out to you this point.
See, we have brethren and they're teaching us that whenever you go through experiences similar to what David went through and you're in leadership or in the Lord's work, as we call it, you're fitted better than those who have never been that way before.
Now the Bible's against that. All you have to do is read 1 Timothy chapter 3 and Titus chapter 1 and that word is an imperative must. I tell you, the standard's high. And I suggested at this conference, when this came up, I said, now brethren, it's likely that David wasn't the same man after he was restored to the throne as he was before it.
And this brother was very arrogant and he said, prove it. I suggested to them, there's no record that before David's fall that he ever numbered the people. You see, according to Exodus chapter 30, it's an order to number the people, but there's a way to do it through the half shackle of the sanctuary.
But even old Joab that knew so little told them one day, David, you're wrong, man. You're going to number the people. You think now that this is the greatest army in the world and you're depending on men.
And he numbered the people. And you all know at the end of 2 Samuel, what happened? The pestilence came and David was really disturbed. I want to suggest to you, brethren, and please, if I'm wrong, you beloved brethren that know the Bible better than I do, please adjust me.
I would like to suggest to you that God is a forgiving God and God can restore a brother to his, first of all, to the Lord and then to his spouse and then to his family and then to the assembly. But he's marked.
He has got a deficiency for the public place. Dear brethren, it would break your very heart. We have livered with dear men in earlier years in different parts of the world, and that's where they are today.
Preserve me, O God, for in thee do I put my trust. David, the shepherd, his obscurity. David, the soldier, his ability. David, the sovereign, his integrity. God's a forgiving God. We'll just spend a minute now before it's time to stop.
David, the singer. Seventy-three Psalms are attributed to his pen. I read you from one of them. These be the last words of David. First Kings chapter two of his nineteen sons. There was only one sat at his bedside when he was dying.
That was Solomon. He said to his family and to all of us, he said, now the time has come for me to leave this life. And as he looks over life, he's learning certain things. Number one, the only thing that will count on this side of eternity is to have salvation.
He has made an everlasting covenant with me, ordered in all things ensure this is all my salvation. We're home to heaven. He's there tonight. How do you know? His name appears in Hebrews chapter 11. For example, the most important thing, this is not a gospel meeting, but the most important thing, if you're sitting here without the Lord Jesus in view of what we have heard, is to know your sins forgiven and to have heaven as your eternal home.
Tell you another thing he learned. He learned this, that if I'm going to be effective in the service of God, we need to have righteous leadership. That's what he's saying. Those that take responsibility and leadership must be just ruling in the fear of God.
Be it the family, be at the assembly, be at the secular world, be at the business place. I tell you, it took him a long time to learn that. Dear brethren, in some quarters, we have two standards. Some beloved brethren, God bless them, they have one standard for their own family and another standard for everybody else.
That's respect of persons. Tell you another wee thing. I didn't read it because the time's limited. You know what he learned at the end of life? He can't do everything himself. This is the chapter that tells of the mighty man of David.
36 of them, 37 of them. He learned in early life, he can't do it alone. Dear brethren, can we learn the lesson? I have to learn it too. There's not a brother or sister or a pair anywhere that can do everything themselves.
We need one another in the service of God. Reverently speaking, the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God with all the attributes of deity in perfect manhood, we have as example. He chose 12 men, Matthias number 12, not Paul the and he trained them to do his work.
The Lord stir our hearts today. The man was honest. God help us to serve our own generation in the will of God. And when the last step is taken, it'll be home in heaven. My time's gone, up the step. When you think of David, will we apply the message to all of us?
Whatever age group you're in. He had 19 sons, so he knew all about married life. And one daughter, by the way, David the shepherd. His obscurity, that's where he started. David, the soldier, his ability.
There wasn't a man could handle what he did that day at the Palaia Vila. David, the sovereign. He led them with the integrity of his heart and the ability of his hands. David, David, the singer, his honesty.
God help us as the conference continues. And if the Lord be not come, the years go on. We need help from God and we want to see the assemblies preserved and kept until Jesus comes. That's it. Thank you very much.