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All right, amen. First Samuel chapter number 23. So last week we spent a lot of time talking about people that are a grief of mind. Today we're gonna make it a little more specific. And I titled the sermon When Someone Is Gunning For You. And what do we do when somebody is actually coming after us, when someone has us in our sights, like a boss or somebody who maybe is over you or even a wannabe boss for that matter. This will definitely give you the tools you need to deal with that type of a situation. We'll look at how oppressive people gain support because that's really the word that's gonna come up a lot today. When you read this chapter, you read about this group of people that we're gonna focus on this morning, which are the Ziphites, okay? They're referred to as oppressors. And we're gonna take a look at why that is. And before we get started here, I'm just gonna basically give you the main point here. So when you're reading through David's life, especially this stage in his life, you notice that Saul's after him, right? Saul's definitely gunning for him. Saul's coming after him. And what is David doing? Where does this gunning, if you will, where does it take David and his men? Well, it takes them into the wilderness. Various places throughout the nation, they keep having to hide in the wilderness. Do a study on this. You'll see this true throughout the entire Bible. And I mean, you take a look at the devil. Where does he wanna start messing with Jesus? Well, in the wilderness. What you're gonna find is that oppressors will drive you out of your comfort zone, okay? And that's really the bottom line. That's really the basic gist of what you're gonna get out of this, okay? Oppressors drive you out of your comfort zone. That's what we see going on here right out of the gate, right off the bat. Now, we're gonna come back and talk about that at the end of the sermon. But let's get started here and look down at verse number 13. First Samuel chapter 23, verse 13, the Bible says, Then David and his men, which were about 600, arose and departed out of Keilah and went whithersoever they could go. So right off the bat, okay, you see this. They can't just go anywhere they want to. And there's a reason for that. And you're gonna see that here very shortly, okay? So they're going where they can. So when someone's oppressing you, okay, you don't have your freedom, you know? And this is true whether it's at work or whether it's in your family or wherever you may find yourself oppressed or being gunned down by somebody, spiritually speaking, okay, there are certain things you can't say, certain areas you can't go, and that's exactly what we see here, okay? So where do they go? Where they go to the wilderness. Look at the rest of the verse. And it was told Saul that David was escaped from Keilah and he forbear to go with. Now look at verse 14. And David abode in the wilderness in strongholds and remained in a mountain in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him every day, but God delivered him not into his hand, okay? And so what do we see here? Well, we see that they can only go, David and his men, they can only go where they cannot be found out. So they're in hiding, in and out of hiding. We can see that the situation is stressful. They've, you know, David's gone from serving under Saul, you know, fighting for the kingdom of Israel, you know, in Saul's home with his wife and all of these different things. Now he is gone from that lifestyle out to the wilderness. Everything is uncertain. And so we're gonna look at the psychological aspect of this. And the first point this morning is that oppressors turn your rest into stress. We have to understand this. Okay, oppressors, what they do is they turn your rest into stress. Now go to Psalm chapter number 54. Psalm chapter number 54. Now obviously you'll see here at the end that there is a way to prevent them from doing this, even though they are doing this to you. Okay, and we'll get there. But I wanna kind of go over a few things before we get there. So Psalm chapter 54, Psalm chapter 54 is actually written about this same situation here that David is going through, okay? And I want you to keep in mind that as David is writing this, as you're reading the Psalm here, everything he's saying is by the Spirit of God. Everything he's saying is by the Spirit, okay? Meaning this is from the Holy Ghost. This is God's word here. This is obviously true. So this isn't a situation where you have somebody just saying something recorded in the Bible and it's not true, okay? This is from God and it's about the Zephites. And I want you to see this here. Look at verse three. So David says this in the Psalms. He says, for strangers are risen up against me and oppressors seek after my soul. They have not set God before them, selah. And so basically that means that as we read this, we need to pause right there and actually think about what he just said and meditate on this and see what's going on. Well, you just read 1 Samuel chapter 23. We can see that the Zephites, okay? The Zephites, what do they do? They tell King Saul where David's at, and this is recorded in chapter 23. It's also recorded in chapter 26. Now, what I find interesting about this is that the Zephites, who are they? Not just some ordinary people group. They're not heathens. They're actually of the same tribe that David's of when you study this out, okay? They are Israelites indeed, but look at what David and the spirit says about them. For strangers are risen up against me and oppressors seek after my soul. They have not set God before them, okay? Now, I'm not gonna stand up here before you today and say that all of the Zephites were imposters. They weren't saved. The Bible doesn't tell us, but what you have to understand here is that God's people are turning on David, and we'll get to why they did this here in a little bit. Now, keep your place there in Psalm 54. Make sure you can find your way back to 1 Samuel 23 and go to John chapter number 15. John chapter number 15. So oppressors turn your rest into stress, okay? Psalm 54, David describes the Zephites, and obviously Saul's included. Anybody who's against David and his men, he's basically saying that these people are strangers, okay? They are strangers, and one thing that I think of when I read this is that any time that you're going through a situation where somebody's gunning for you, okay, you will see strangers join the cause against you, okay? That is what you were going to find, but it's all big, or I'm sorry, David gives three attributes of these strangers, okay? Number one, we can learn that they're of his people. These are people of the brotherhood. These are people that should have supported him. These are people that should have known better and looked at the situation. Number two, he says they seek my soul, okay? So it's not just that they want to call me names. It's not just that they, you know, want to rebuke me. No, it's they actually want to destroy me, okay? Think about that. God's people, the Zephites, okay, part of the nation of Israel, want to destroy the life of David. That is what he is saying there, and then the last thing, which is the most damning of this all, is that they have not set God before them. Now, why is that important? Well, because a lot of times in, even in a church situation, okay, there are times that we've had this happen here, you know, where people go bad, okay? And one of the things that you'll often hear is they'll say constantly, they'll constantly try to affirm this to you. Well, we're serving God, okay? We're serving God over here. We're on God's side. You know, God is definitely for us, but is that true, okay? And how do you know whether or not that's true? Well, you know based off of their actions. Are they trying to destroy someone's reputation? Are they trying to destroy someone's soul? Are they trying to take someone down that is in the brotherhood, okay? If they are, then what the Bible's telling us is those people aren't acting Christ-like. They're acting like the world. They're acting like strangers. They are actually oppressors and God is not for them. You know based off of that wisdom that they have not set God before their eyes. They are not doing this in the will of God, okay? I think it's just so important that we understand that. Now, how should we treat the brethren? How can I just say what I said? You say, back it up. I'll do that for you. John 15, look at verse number 12. This is Jesus speaking to the disciples here. Look what he says. This is my commandment, okay? We're gonna come back to that. It's important. This is my commandment. Now look at this next part here. That you love one another as I have loved you. And now of course the world and these Christian clowns out here, what they say is, oh, well you have to love everyone in the world. You guys know better than that. I'm not even gonna bother that today, okay? He's saying that you love one another, okay? I mean you love your brother and sister in Christ. That's the application. Look at verse 13. Greater love hath no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends. Did not Jesus give us that example? It's like, come on. This is like basic stuff here. We know this. We understand this, okay? So why is it that so many people get mixed up and take the wrong side of a situation when it comes up? Why is that? Okay, you're gonna see that here in a second. Look at verse 14. He says this, ye, okay, not the world, not everybody in the world, but ye, you disciples, you people I'm talking to right here that are saved, ye are my friends. And look at this next part, these next three words. If ye do whatsoever I command you. Notice he didn't say you are really saved if ye do whatsoever I command you, okay? What are we talking about here? We're talking about fellowship, okay? We're not talking about whether or not a person's saved or lost. We're saying, what Jesus is saying, hey, you know, if you want to be my friend, you're gonna do my commandments. What is the great commandment here that he is talking about? That is to love your neighbor who is your brother or sister in Christ, okay? Now, go to Ephesians chapter number four. Ephesians chapter number four. So when you see a person not doing that, you see somebody who is trying to oppress another person or another people group, okay? So somebody rises up in a church somewhere, okay, a saved church, and they're like, you know what? I think the pastor's this, and these people in the congregation are this, and they're trying to start trouble. They're going around backbiting, calling their friends on the East Coast, calling their friends, you know, on the West Coast, whatever it is, okay, and railing and lying and spreading falsehood, you should know. You should know how to look at that situation and what side of the aisle to be on, okay? And how do you do that? Well, is that right? Is that okay? The obvious answer should be, no, it's not okay. Why is that? Because if you really have this beef and it's really that big of a problem, a conversation and a process needs to happen, okay? You don't just bounce a little, oh, guess what, guess what, guess what, guess what? These people are horrible. You don't do stuff like that. That's not Christ-like, okay? That's acting like a Ziphite. That's acting like a self-seeker, a spoiled, rotten, soy milk slugging brat. That's what it is. It's disgusting. It's terrible, okay? Ephesians chapter number four. Look at verse 32. There's all kinds of these. I could spend weeks on this, but I'm only gonna give you a few more. Verse 32, and be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. I mean, if anybody had an excuse to come after us, it was definitely Jesus. He knows every thought you've ever had, every thought you ever will have, every action you've ever done, every action that you will do. He knows all of it, but yet he still said, you know what, I'm gonna go ahead and die for these people anyway so that they can get to heaven. Go to first John chapter number four. Look at verse number 18. First John chapter number four, verse 18. Again, I'm not saying that all the Ziphites aren't saved, okay? Sure, a lot of them probably weren't. I think more often than not, when people act like that, I think more often than not, this is my opinion. I think they're probably not saved, but of course we know that Saul was saved, and so we can get into that another time, okay? But the point is, we don't wanna fall into a position to where we act like the world. This is what the world does, okay? The world has the culture of biting and devouring. You know, I mean, go look at any sport, okay? Especially like the UFC, the Ultimate Fighting Championships, okay? You get a guy at the top who's the champion in any weight division, and for that time that he's got that gold belt, okay, for that entire time, like people are respecting him, he's always got some haters. We get that, we understand that, but the moment that person gets knocked off, okay, the moment that person gets beat, you go look around the internet and how many of those people turned on that guy, okay? That is weak. That is not the mindset. That is not the character that builds a mature Christian, okay? First John chapter four, verse 18. What he says here, look what John says. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casteth out fear because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. He doesn't say he that feareth is not saved. You know, they're not made perfect in love. So one of the things that you'll notice is that when someone's coming after you, if you've done something successful, let's say you go up to somebody and you're like, oh man, I just got this promotion, or I just got this gift, and you can sense like some envy there, okay? That, what that means is there's some element of fear in that person, okay? And that fear is tormenting them. And that torment will make them act in an un-Christ-like manner. That is what that will do. Look at verse 19. So he says, we love him because he first loved us. Verse 20. If a man say, I love God and hateth his brother, he is a liar. Now notice he has a brother, okay? Just kind of like the picture we're reading here in the Old Testament, the Ziphites. David was their brother. Saul was their brother, okay? They didn't handle that situation correctly. So John says, verse 20, if a man say, I love God and hateth his brother, he is a liar. For he that loveth not his brother, whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? So again, okay, the world looks at this. Most of Christianity looks at this and says, well, see, if you hate your brother, then you're not saved. It's not what he's saying, no. He's saying that if you hate your brother, you should not claim that you love God. And that's basically what he means here. You should not claim that you love God. You should not claim that you're serving God. You should not claim that you're this holy, sanctified, set apart type person because you're not. There is something deeper going on that we just can't see, but you know what it is and you need to change. Look at verse 21, it says this. And this commandment have we from him that he who loveth God love his brother also. And of course, who wrote that? Well, that was John. He wrote that in the Gospel of John chapter 15, verse 12. Now go to first Peter chapter number two. First Peter chapter number two. So again, when a person actually loves their brother in Christ, okay, they aren't going to do the things that you're gonna learn about that the Ziphites did to David. They're just not gonna do that, okay. And you're gonna see that. First Peter two, verse 17, honor all men, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king. And of course we could make a whole deal about that, what honor all men actually means. But the point in this verse here is that we are supposed to love the brotherhood as opposed to putting the brotherhood last and the world first, okay. Now go to first Peter chapter number three. First Peter chapter number three. So remember oppressors, what do they do? Why do we need to understand this? Well, they run you out of your comfort zone. That's what they do, okay. If you understand that and you pay attention, I'm gonna teach you how to overcome that. But the first point we're talking about this morning is that oppressors turn your rest into stress. Okay, that is what they do. That is their goal, okay, to turn your rest into stress. To turn your peace into not at ease. Look at first Peter chapter three, verse number eight. So he says, finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another. Love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous. Don't be destructive, okay. Don't be calling people and railing and running your mouth about things you don't even know about, especially if you don't even go to that church. I mean, that's insane. Verse nine, not rendering evil for evil or railing for railing, but contrary wise, blessing, knowing that ye are there unto called, that ye should inherit a blessing. So you're starting to see a pattern here, okay. And I could do this all day. There are so many verses in the Bible about how important the brotherhood is, about how we are supposed to treat one another, whether we get along on the surface or not, okay. What we are not supposed to do is do what the Ziphites and many others actually in Saul are doing to David. And now go back to first Samuel chapter number 23. So this point, oppressors turn your rest into stress. I think the key to understanding this is that when you're in this situation or you're watching a situation like this unfold and you're trying to figure out, okay, what side of the aisle am I gonna go on, okay. I think the key to understanding that, one of the keys is that understanding that if there's any element of oppression, I'm sorry, or any element of them just gunning after somebody and not trying to help that person the proper way, the way that the Bible says the Matthew 18, you know, in all the verses that we just read, if there's none of that, that is missing, then look, you already know what side of the aisle you need to go on, whether it's popular or whether it's unpopular, okay. We're not supposed to be a people that just goes with what's in season, okay. No, sometimes we have to preach things that are out of season or unpopular as well. Now, what we're gonna look at here is there's actually a good thing, okay, there's a good thing about somebody gunning for you. It basically, you think of it like a boiling pot, okay, like you're boiling meat on bones, okay. What rises to the surface? Well, it's the scum, okay. The scum rises to the surface. So that's kind of a benefit and something you're gonna see here. So 1 Samuel 23, look at verse 16. So it says this, Jonathan, Saul's son arose and went to David into the wood and strengthened his hand in God. Obviously, thank God for people like that. Look at verse 17, and he said unto him, fear not for the hand of Saul my father shall not find thee. Now shall be king over Israel and I shall be next unto thee and that also Saul my father knoweth. Okay, so we don't have time to really develop this, but the word has already gotten out. Samuel had already made the prophecy, already anointed David, you know, prior to this, and Saul's been told like, your disobedience has cost you and cost your family the throne. You will not sit on the throne any longer. It's coming to an end. Saul knows this and of course, the envy has set in deep in his heart. Verse 18, and they too made a covenant before the Lord and David abode in the wood and Jonathan went to his house. We'll cover that another time, but what I want you to see is you've got David and his about 600 men, the Bible says, you've got Jonathan on David's side, okay? Now it seems like there's another number of people, another group of people, and most of them are against David, and I want you to see this here. Look at verse 19, okay? What do you do when you are not safe even around your own people? Okay, look at verse 19. Then came up the Ziphites to Saul to Gibeah, saying, doth not David hide himself with us in strongholds in the wood, in the hill of Hakluh, which is on the south of Jeshaman? So what's going on here, okay? Well, what's going on here is these people, these Ziphites see an opportunity for self-elevation, for self-glory, okay? And they are so ignorant because they have not set God before them. Remember David has wrote that in spirit. Because of that, they're not acting wisely, okay? This is not a wise thing that they have done here, okay? And it's actually exposing them. And in that process, it's giving us a very valuable lesson, okay? When someone is coming after you and people rise up and you're in the right, okay? Let's say you're in the right, and yeah, you could make the case, yeah, well, there's some element I did that got this person mad, whatever, that's probably true. But nonetheless, in this situation, we know that King Saul is wrong and David, who is not king yet, is right. But yet you have this entire people group, the Ziphites, okay? I bet there's more Ziphites than there are David and his men plus Jonathan, okay? And why is that gonna be a problem? Well, because like I've said before, people tend to want to follow the crowd, people or sheeple. Most people, when they see a large crowd going one way, they're more inclined to follow that, but it's not always correct, okay? Politicians know this. This is one of the things that conservatives are worried about, about Ms. Taylor Swift. They're like, well, she's gonna, you know, she could possibly sway a certain percentage of the vote. Okay, look, the world understands this, but we don't care about that. Look at verse 20. Now therefore, O king, come down according to all the desire of thy soul to come down, and our part shall be to deliver him into the king's hand. Saul said, look at this, blessed be ye of the Lord, for you have compassion on who? On me, on me. Blessed be ye of the Lord, okay? Think about this, okay? You're watching a situation unfold, let's say in a church somewhere. Hey, this is not gonna happen here. We've got a completely different crowd, but you know, let's say you're watching this unfold, okay, somewhere else online. You're observing some kind of a beef in another church, okay, somebody has risen up and they're making these claims or what have you, okay? Is it about them? Okay, are they very quick to be like, oh, thank you for supporting, bless you. You know, you're definitely of God, you're somebody I could trust, okay? Are they acting like Saul? If so, that should be a red flag. You should be like, hmm, wait a second here. Something is not right. Plus we know that when we read Psalm chapter 54, okay, David gives us three attributes here. He says, hey, the strangers have risen up against me. Wait a second, how are they strangers if they're the people of the Israel? Well, their actions are making them basically fall into the category of a stranger, okay? They're acting like strangers. That's what he means, okay? So they're strangers. They're also what? They're oppressors and they're seeking his soul. That's what he said. They're seeking my life. They're trying to destroy me, okay? So is that element there, okay? And then last but not least, we understand what David says. What does he say? He says they have not set God before them, okay? Why is that important? Well, because this is the attitude of most people like the Ziphites, most people like Saul. They love to throw out that religious language to throw you off track. They're hoping to just throw this big net out there and grab as much support as possible because they know that most people aren't able to think correctly. They're not able to look at these types of situations as they unfold and properly choose the right side. And Saul, verse 21, blessed be ye of the Lord. Now, is that a true statement? Is what Saul said true? It's true that he said this because the Bible records it, but he is in error here. Saul is wrong. The Lord is not up in heaven like, oh yeah, good job, Ziphites. You guys are good to go. You're great. Thanks for turning over David who's a man after my own heart, okay? That's not happening. That is definitely not the case. So what do we have here? We've got a small group of people here that are supporting truth, that are supporting David. We have a larger group of people over here that are supporting the king. What in the world does that mean? What that means is that people judge based on a position rather than their own cognition, okay? Remember this, look, I'm telling you this is true. Most people, unfortunately, look, I'm just saying this, most people make a judgment. They will render a decision. They will decide what side of the aisle they're going to go on based off of a position rather than their own cognition, rather than using the brain that God has given them and evaluating and saying, hey, wait a second here. Why are you going after, what's the charge here against David? What crime has he committed? How has he violated the word of God? Is this how God would deal with this? Is this how we're instructed to handle this type of situation? Okay, none of that's going on. They're just like, ooh, David's here, guess what? This is our time to shine. Hey Saul, buddy, guess what, man? Guess what, dude? He's with us. We're gonna hand him over to you, right? And they're just soaking up those words. Saul's like, oh, bless be to the Lord. I'll bet they were just like, oh, yeah, this feels so good, okay? We're gonna win because Saul's king and we are good to go. Now keep your place there but go to Proverbs chapter number two. Proverbs chapter number two. This will be true in every organization that you find yourself in. This is true in family. This is true at work, okay? You get yourself into a situation where the boss is trying to oppress you. He doesn't like you. He's coming after you. Whatever the case is, okay, you're gonna find that people will take his side sometimes over you if they don't know you very well, okay? And we'll get into how to deal with that but the reason why is because these suck-ups, I like to call them, these Ziphites, these people, they are self-seekers. They want glory, okay? And they don't wanna work for that glory. They don't wanna take the hard route. They don't wanna put their hands to work to achieve that. They wanna do it a sleazy way. They wanna do it the fast way. They have the disease of now. Give it to me now, okay? That is what they're looking for and so when you find yourself in this position, you just need to understand, okay, you're not gonna win the battle of trying to convince everyone to be on your side, okay? You're gonna have to just do what the Bible tells you and you're gonna have to act like a Christian. You're gonna have to follow the principles that are given to us, okay? And just know that guess what? They're not going to, okay? They aren't going to follow them. The people at work aren't gonna follow them. Of course, they're probably not following God anyways, okay? And let's say in a church setting somewhere, okay? When you understand that there is a process on how to deal with beef, how to deal when people don't get along, okay, and you understand what that process is and you don't see that, you see a violation of that, then you know, okay, wait a second here. What's this person's problem? Why do they keep wanting glory? Why do they keep making videos? Why do they keep making phone calls and accusations? And then you can be like, oh, okay, Psalm 54, there's three attributes, okay? What are they? Well, they are people that are referred to as strangers, okay, they're acting like strangers instead of the children of God. They have not set God before them and of course they're oppressing, they're trying to destroy instead of heal. Now, Proverbs chapter two, look at verse number one. So he says, my son, if, very important, if thou wilt receive my words and hide my commandments with thee, okay? Jump down to verse number nine, remember if, okay? Anytime you see that word, okay, if, just understand that there's something you need to meet, a criteria you need to meet, something you need to believe, something you need to do in order to get the then, okay? If, then. So he says, if thou wilt receive my words and hide my commandments with thee, look at verse nine, then shalt thou understand righteousness and judgment and equity, yea, every good path. So what do we have here? Well, we know that most people make a decision based on a position rather than their own cognition, okay? Most people are gonna be like, well, this person has more followers than you do, so therefore they are right. This person has more people voting for them than this person, so this person is right. This person's been here longer, so, you know, and the list goes on and on and on, okay? I'm telling you, this is a huge killer to the Christian, okay, is just making a poor judgment based off of a position rather than thinking, rather than looking at the situation and not being the type of person that's like, well, I can just equally support both, okay? You know, sometimes that's the case, but not very likely, okay? Usually they're, in this situation, somebody is definitely wrong and we know it's Saul and we know it's the Ziphites. The question is, what do we do about it, okay? So verse nine, he says, then shall thou understand righteousness. What does he mean then? Well, if you receive God's words and you hide them in your heart and you do his commandments and you follow these things, okay, we're not talking about salvation, but he says, if you do these things, what are you going to get? Well, you're gonna get an understanding. You're gonna understand righteousness. That means you're going to understand righteous people. So somebody pops up and gives you a phone call, hey, you know, someone says a reprobate. Well, you know, I think he might be a reprobate. We're not sure, but we think possibly this person might be a reprobate, okay? You now understanding this can be like, wait a second, okay? You're probably not following God in your personal life. You're probably the type of person that comes to church and puts a mask on right before you walk in the door and act like it, okay? Because you're trying to destroy this person. You're acting like a stranger. Oh wait, that's right. You have not set God before you. I don't have to troubleshoot this anymore. I already know where you stand. I already understand you, okay? And then you know that they don't understand judgment nor do they understand equity. And they are not on, what does that say? The last two words of that verse, verse nine. What does it say? Good path, they are not on the good path. The things that they are doing are incorrect. They are wrong. They are in error. They are not godly. In fact, they are satanic. That is what they are. John 15, verse 12, okay? You don't have to turn there. I'm just gonna read it for you because we already read it. This is my commandment that you love one another as I also have loved you. When someone does not do that, when that is not someone's mentality, like I need to help this person, okay? You should know that person is not only not following the commandments of God, that person is a modern day Ziphite. That person is a modern day self seeker trying to get glory. That is what you have got to understand. Go to James chapter number two. James chapter number two. James chapter two, look at verse one. So he says, my brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory with what? With respect of persons, okay? So how do you wind up on the right side of any situation that you're in where someone is gunning for you, okay? Well, you look at the three aspects of Psalm 54. I'm gonna keep repeating this because it's so, so important. Are they acting like a stranger, okay? Are they oppressing? Are they trying to destroy a person, okay? If so, then what do you know? You know they have not set God before them. You are dealing with somebody who is using a position to make their decision over their own cognition. Very, very important to understand. Now, I'm gonna have you guys go to Matthew chapter number five and we're close to being done here. I know that everybody can smell that soup and it smells good and that's what you're really thinking about. You know, I don't care about those ziffites. I want some soup. I want my crackers and I want those cupcakes. Or is that just me? It could just be me, okay? We'll get there. We'll get there. So again, so far, what have we learned today? Oppressors drive you out of your comfort zone. That's what they do. They drive you out of your comfort zone. They try to move you. And so what can we look at that and say? Well, they're trying to control my life. They're trying to control the way I feel. I go to work and I've just got this knot in my stomach or I'm going to this family event and my intestines are just twisted up and I just don't feel good and I just feel horrible. What have they done? They have turned your rest into stress. And of course, we know that people make decisions based off of a person's position rather than their own cognition. So what in the world are we going to do with this? Well, we see that, you know, if you know the life of David, okay, he learns, him and his men, they learn to get comfortable in the wilderness. They just kind of realize, okay, this is just how it is for a season. God's taking care of David. But man, you know, it gets to a point to where guess what? David does the unthinkable. David actually goes and says, well, if you can't beat him, join him. And he goes and joins the Philistine army. You know, he actually goes and does that. Okay, and that's the pitfall that you and I need to make sure and watch out for. Because this, when someone's gunning for you, it could be a long time before you find that peace. It could be a long time before God delivers you from that person or at least it could seem that way. You know, you're in a good job. You got a family to take care of. You got a boss or you got a team leader. You got somebody coming after you. You know, it may not be like, oh, I could just throw my hat in the locker and just walk out. You know, you may not be in that position. You've got to figure out a way to function in that toxic environment. That's what we're going to learn next, okay? And that's where David, I mean, he did great for a while, but man, you know, this oppressor Saul drove him to the edge and he made that mistake of going over there. You know, and obviously God used that for good and we can look at that another day. But we're almost done here, okay? Let's look at the main thing that we're going to do to overcome this, okay? Matthew 5, look at verse 38. So Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says this. You have heard that it's been said, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. Again, you know, I picked a lot of passages this morning that a lot of people just really, just grossly misinterpret. And they'll say, well, the way you preach about the alphabet community, you're violating the Sermon on the Mount. That's what these clowns out here had told me one time. And it's like, no, Jesus is getting these people ready to leave this whole idea of physical kingdom of Israel coming back to the spiritual kingdom of Israel. Yeah, he's saying, hey, look, Rome's in charge. You can't even follow all the law the way that I gave it to you originally anyways. So in preparation for the future, you guys are going to be dispersed among many different governments, but you're still part of my kingdom. And I'm going to show you how to apply these types of principles in that situation, okay? So he says, you've heard that it has been said, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. He's not discrediting the law. He's preparing them for the future for the times in which we are living in. Verse 39, but I say unto you that you resist not evil, but whosoever shall smite thee on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. Now he's not saying if someone's throwing a wild hook at you that you're just like, okay, and then you turn the other one. When someone's throwing a punch, a hook at you, they're trying to knock you unconscious and stomp your brains out, okay? You have the right to defend yourself, okay? And the reason why I get excited talking about this is because week after week, people are always saying, you know, I come down there, I'm going to beat you up. So our inbox is full of this, full of people. I'm coming down there Wednesday night, I'm knocking you out. I'm coming down, you can't fight back because you're a Christian, blah, blah, blah. I will fight back and I'm not going to let you do that. Okay, he's talking about a slap, an insult, okay? Now if somebody slaps you, and I know a brother got slapped over, you know, at your foundation a few years ago, and he did turn the other cheek, okay? Because he could discern, this guy's not trying to knock me out. He's just upset, okay? And the fact that he didn't retaliate shows you his maturity level and it actually wound up getting that guy even more upset than he was before he slapped him, okay? So there's some wisdom in this that we need to understand. He's not saying, oh yeah, you know, someone throws a round kick at you, just, well, I guess I'm getting knocked out and today's, you know, my last day, it's over. He's not saying that, okay? Just turn the other cheek, okay? In that type of situation. There's a big principle here, look at verse 40. And if any man will sue thee at the law and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also. And I'll be the first to admit, you know, these things, they're not natural to us. We don't want to follow this. Like, you're gonna sue me? I'm gonna sue you 10 times better, you know? That's how we want to act, okay? Look at verse 41. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain, okay? All of these culminate into what I like to just call the extra mile principle, okay? Here's an example. I've been in situations before. I had this guy, I had this wannabe boss. We'll just call him, we'll call him Jake, okay? We'll call him that. He was a wannabe boss. This guy was lazy, very, very like intellectually smart. Like he could quote to you, you know, things he read in all these books and knew all these facts and stuff, you know, but extremely lazy, okay? And I got myself into a position where I was like, I'm sick of this guy, man. I cannot get away from him because I'm working for the government and this is your partner. There's just nothing you can do about it, okay? He's there, it's a great job. I can't leave, this guy is toxic. I'm like, man, what am I gonna do? I start brainstorming. I start thinking about some of the principles I learned in the military and I'll say, oh, that's it. This guy's my partner. He has to be with me. I'm like, okay, so you know what I started doing? I started taking this guy and trying to work him until he literally died. I would make him skip lunch and this is not cool, but I would be like, hey, you know, the boss told us like, we're not getting lunch today and then we're gonna go home early and then when I get time to go home early because we didn't take lunch, I'd be like, this is too important, we gotta stay and I would just keep doing that to him, doing that to him. So finally, one day the boss has pulled me in the office and they're like, dude, you're gonna get us in big time trouble here doing this, but we love you. Like, they did. They're like, we see what you're doing. We're gonna get you away from this guy, okay? They're like, this dude just came to us like crying. He's literally bawling his eyes out, you know, and it's just terrible. Now it's kind of a goofy situation, but I applied these principles. I was like, you know, you wanna sit here and act like my boss? Okay, cool. And I just drug him through the mud. Another guy at one time, you know, new guy came in, just know it all. I know everything and he had had some relationships with a lot of people outside and so he kind of came in with this big wave and oh, you better not get him mad even though he's new because he knows this person, knows that person. All right, all right, no problem. I took him and I worked him until he literally just about passed out. I tried to stop him from going to take water breaks. Like, I literally broke him, you know? And that's literally what you're gonna have to do sometimes in this situation. You don't have to be kind of a jerk like me. This was way back in the day, okay? I would take these things to the hardcore extreme, but if you've got somebody and they give you a job description, okay, and then you get some team leader or some boss come in and they start adding to that. Don't get mad. Take what they have added into you and you need to think in your mind and just sit down, go to the bathroom, go take a walk, do whatever you have to do to be comfortable with what they have added into you, whether it's right or wrong, and then try to think of a way to add more unto that. And I'm telling you, this is hard, but if you can be comfortable in doing that, guess what? Then the oppressor is no longer turning your rest into stress. You have now flipped the script and you've turned that back on them. That is what you have done, okay? And I believe that is one of the main things that he is teaching us to do. Look at verse 42. He says, give to him that asketh thee and from him that would borrow of thee, turn not thou away. I was talking with somebody like, I think it was last week or the week before, and they do some volunteer work at Birds of Prey, and this lady was like, I'm gonna tell you a story about Birds of Prey, and I'm working and I hear this, I'm like, I don't wanna hear any stories, but I was just telling the guys on Friday about, you were talking about how to win friends and influence people, we're talking about how to learn to care about what people are talking about, even if it doesn't sound appealing. And I'm glad I did that, because she had told me, she's like, do you know that the only bird that will attack the eagles is the crow? And I was like, no, I didn't know that. I just thought, I called them dumpster ducks. I just thought they hung out in dumpsters and stuff. She's like, no, crows are actually very smart, but do you know what's special about the eagle? And I was like, no. She's like, well one, they can pick up like a fully grown, I think she said fully grown like a goat or fox or something like that. I was like, that's pretty scary, considering some kids weigh less than that. She's like, yeah, this could be a reason why sometimes kids go missing, but she says that the crow, what that bird will do is it'll annoy the eagle and it'll hop on its back and just peck at its neck. And I was like, okay, what does it do, turn around and just tear them apart? She's like, no, it doesn't even respond. What it does is it flies higher and higher and higher until the oxygen level is no longer to be able to be maintained by the crow because they can only fly at a certain elevation and basically what happens is the crow basically gets started with oxygen and falls off and sometimes dies. And she says, that's how life is sometimes with dealing with people. And I thought to myself like, wow, that's kinda interesting, that's kinda cool. That's kind of like what Jesus is saying here in Matthew chapter number five. Don't let these people, don't let them show. Don't let it show from you, is what I'm trying to say. Don't let it show from you that they're bothering you. Do what they say, do what they ask, if it's appropriate, obviously, okay? And try to do a little bit more. Do the extra mile. They say, hey, you know, I don't, you got somebody that throws all this work on your desk, you've already got your own work done, the boss is giving you some extra tasks, you know, extra tasks, but you've got this other clown over here who's a zip fight, okay, who you know is gonna dime drop you, who you know is a suck up and he wants you to do some work, you know, maybe a couple times try that out and try to do that and not take glory because guess what, God has your back. Now, you are no longer the zip fight, you're no longer the person acting like a stranger, acting like the world, you're no longer the person trying to destroy that person's life, you're just taking what he's given you and you're rolling with it, you're now comfortable because you've already made up your mind, hey, I'm gonna apply these principles that Jesus taught me and that person's not gonna be able to control me because I'm okay with this, I'm okay with going to the wilderness, I'm okay with staying in the wilderness because I know that when David got uncomfortable in the wilderness, he wouldn't join the enemy and I don't want that because that's just gonna take me back to being a zip fight, we're better than that and see what happens, observe the results, you will see that that person, God will either remove that person from your life, God will destroy that person possibly or who knows what'll happen, you know, the boss will be like, oh, whoa, wait a second, the light bulb might just go off and be like, wait a second, I get the picture now, you're the one doing all this work and this person and they might actually turn on that person, I've seen it all, I've seen all of those situations happen just by the extra mile principle, just by following that and I know I've talked about this in the past but I think we need these reminders, okay, because the Bible says that in the last days that people are gonna become lovers of their own selves and so you're just gonna see an increase in selfishness in people wanting to literally destroy you, you guys know the script, when people find out that you come to the church, you know, sometimes they're gonna be like, oh, that's pretty harsh, you must be a hater and I don't like that and that's not very nice and so they might try to come after you and try to keep it a secret, okay, how do you deal with it? Well, you deal with it by following these principles, you deal with it by understanding their psychology, what they're trying to do, they're trying to control you, they wanna drive you into the world of this, they want to get you out of your comfort zone but you don't let them, okay, oppressors, what do they do? They drive you out of your comfort zone, they turn your rest into stress but here's the thing, if you love them, only if you love them, okay, and when you're okay with the fact that you know what, sometimes a lot of people, they're just gonna side with them, they're just gonna take their side like the Ziphites because they have not set God before them, I just think that's so valuable to see and understand because then you can look at any situation and you can use those tools to audit that situation and you know what side you're gonna stand on because we wanna stand on the side that God would stand on, we don't wanna be like Saul and his team where they're just like, oh, you guys are blessed just because you support me, they know. We wanna be blessed because we support him, because we support the truth that God has set forth and given us, so hopefully that helps, makes sense and I know I said that I was gonna wrap it up a few minutes ago so we could eat, I lied, forgive me, let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer, thank you so much Lord for this church, for everything that you do for us, I just pray that you bless that food that we're about to eat to our bodies and bring us back again safely tonight, in Jesus' name I pray, amen. Amen.