Episode Transcript
[00:00:05] Speaker A: Amen. Amen. Well, good morning, church. Happy Thanksgiving.
I hope you had a good one.
[00:00:12] Speaker B: I know many of us might be.
[00:00:13] Speaker A: Coming in today with heavy hearts after that Ohio State game, but just know that heaven wept with you yesterday and good will triumph in the end. But hey, can we just take a moment and celebrate how amazing last Sunday was? Student takeover Sunday.
Emily Srail. You're amazing and gifted and called and thank you for sharing your gifts. And, church, is there anything better than seeing God just raise up, equip call and stir the passion of the next.
[00:00:56] Speaker B: Generation for his name and his glory?
[00:00:58] Speaker A: Is there anything better than seeing that happen in our church? What an amazing gift. And today I want to share with you this idea of being built different. But before we do, let me say.
[00:01:09] Speaker B: A prayer for us.
[00:01:10] Speaker A: Father, thank you for this time. Lord, I pray that you would just be at work in us and you would change us and transform us as.
[00:01:18] Speaker B: We think about the wonder and the majesty of Christ.
[00:01:21] Speaker A: Father, bless us as we look at your word today, Lord, and help us to leave here with a heart that wants to worship and honor you in a new way. And we ask this in Jesus name.
[00:01:32] Speaker B: Amen.
[00:01:33] Speaker A: Well, my name is Chet. I am the West Campus pastor, and I'm glad to be with you today. I've never thought that I would be that guy that's obnoxious about showing pics of his family and talking about all the time, but I've become that's. Those are my think. I think they're worthy of a round of applause here.
That's Emmy. She's four.
[00:01:58] Speaker B: Abby's, two.
[00:01:59] Speaker A: And that's Teddy.
[00:02:00] Speaker B: He's eight weeks.
[00:02:04] Speaker A: In that I couldn't find one with all five of know this whole kind of family of five things new.
[00:02:09] Speaker B: So we're still working on the pictures.
[00:02:11] Speaker A: Catching up, but it's been a fun and joyful time for our family. And if I hadn't had the chance to meet you, I'd love to meet you, shake your hand on Main Street. But today we're going to talk about being built different. And have you ever noticed something that is built different? Several years ago, my cousin, he wanted to buy a couple of things off me, and I was like, well, instead of just giving me some money, would you build me a dining room table? And at the time, we didn't have one and we were moving into a new house, and I was like, this is going to be a lot cheaper for me than if I let Ali go pick one know? So I was like, hey, can you just build me one? And he's got some carpentry skills, and so he said, yeah, that sounds good. So several weeks later, he came back and he's like, the table is ready. Can I drop it off? Yeah, come drop it off. And it was beautiful. He did an amazing job. Not only is it beautiful, this thing could withstand being hit by a car.
It's not going anywhere. You're not going to damage this thing. It's probably going to be around for several hundred years because it's built different. A lot of the furniture that we have at our house is kind of Ikea or Amazon, no offense to them, but a stiff wind will break them.
This table, it's built different. The things that are built different, they have different value and different use. And have you ever met someone that you thought, man, they're kind of built different.
And maybe it was their determination, maybe it was their joy, their happiness, maybe it was their wisdom or their inner strength, but just something about them you're like, man, this person, there's something different about them that's admirable and good. I remember when I was in my early twenty s, I became friends with this guy named Nate and we became fast friends and we hung out all the time. And you know those friends that are always up for an adventure? Like they're just that certain type of friend where you just have fun, you stretch your limits. This is kind of what it was like hanging out with him. And we had great times and great memories. And one day he came up to me and he's like, hey Chad, I'm going to go in the Navy and.
[00:04:30] Speaker B: I'm become a Navy Seal. And I was like, whoa dude, that's crazy.
[00:04:36] Speaker A: And then I kind of stepped back and I thought about it. I was like, but you know what?
[00:04:39] Speaker B: If anyone can do it, I think it's you.
[00:04:42] Speaker A: Just because he was different. He was adventurous and athletic and had a very high tolerance for risk and all these kind of things. And sure enough, church, he went in.
[00:04:53] Speaker B: And he did it.
[00:04:54] Speaker A: I became a pastor.
Many would say these are similar paths.
He's lean, trained, and dangerous. I'm fat, happy, and spiritual, but there's a lot of similarities there. But I knew this guy is built different.
And we need people in the world that are built different. We need people that see the world.
[00:05:20] Speaker B: Differently, that see themselves differently, that ultimately see God differently.
[00:05:26] Speaker A: And because of that they live differently.
[00:05:31] Speaker B: And we need that.
[00:05:32] Speaker A: And today I believe that God is in the process of building each and.
[00:05:38] Speaker B: Every one of us into something different.
[00:05:41] Speaker A: I believe today that part of God's agenda in your life and my life is to make us more of who he wants us to be, who he's called and gifted us to be, and not stay stuck in some of the brokenness and dysfunction that's alive in us. So I believe God wants to build us different. And we're going to look at a story that I think is going to help us to see this and understand it. And it's a story in one Samuel chapter 14. And I'm going to begin reading to you at verse one. This is one of my favorite stories in all of scripture. And here's how it goes. It says this one day, Jonathan, the.
[00:06:23] Speaker B: Son of Saul, said to the young man who carried his armor, come, let.
[00:06:28] Speaker A: Us go over to the Philistine garrison.
[00:06:30] Speaker B: On the other side.
[00:06:31] Speaker A: But he did not tell his father. Saul was staying in the outskirts of Gibia, in the Pomegranate cave at Migron. The people who are with him were about 600 men, including Ahajaj, the son of Ahitub Ichabod's, brother, son of Phineas, son of Eli, the priest of Lord in Shiloh. When you come across biblical names, just say it with confidence and keep going. No one knows the difference.
And they were wearing and the people did not know that Jonathan had gone. Now, let me just pause there for a moment. I want to tell you a little bit about Jonathan and Saul. These are two very important characters in this story. And Jonathan is a prince.
[00:07:11] Speaker B: He is the son of Saul.
[00:07:12] Speaker A: Saul is the first king of Israel. So Saul had been granted this incredible privilege to be the leader of God's people, which up to this point, there had never been a king before. And Saul got this opportunity, got this privilege and this responsibility. And as we have seen in the book of first Sam, if you were to follow his story, you would see that Saul's leadership, everything about him, has begun to deteriorate.
He's kind of becoming more egocentric, he's leading more out of fear than faith. He's drawing more and more disconnected from God. And he is forfeiting in many ways, the opportunity, the privilege, and the responsibility that God has given him. So his path isn't looking too good. And Jonathan is his son. He's the heir to the throne. And in many ways, Jonathan is a lot different than Saul. Everything that you kind of get the sense Saul isn't Jonathan is Jonathan's the kind of guy that you're like? I want him on the throne because.
[00:08:29] Speaker B: He'S noble, he's courageous, he's selfless, he.
[00:08:36] Speaker A: Sort of inspires loyalty at the soul level with the people around him. He has a heart of faith. He's everything that you would hope. And as you see these lies playing out, you see Saul deteriorating and you see Jonathan rising to be this powerful man of God. But one of the things that I find most interesting about Jonathan, and one of the things that I think made him different is that although Jonathan was.
[00:09:07] Speaker B: The heir to the throne, he didn't seem to care about it at all.
[00:09:13] Speaker A: That although he was the next in line. And if we've all heard stories of royal families and all these types of things and you know how ugly it can get and all the cutthroat things that can happen and these type of dynamics, and yet Jonathan does not seem.
[00:09:30] Speaker B: Driven by any of that.
[00:09:33] Speaker A: He does not seem driven by those typical trappings of power and prestige and.
[00:09:39] Speaker B: Glory that comes from man.
[00:09:42] Speaker A: Jonathan seems to be a guy that's.
[00:09:44] Speaker B: Built a little bit different.
He's in pursuit, I would say, of a different throne, not the throne of Israel.
[00:09:53] Speaker A: And in fact, it gets so clear that several chapters later, when Jonathan realizes that God has raised up David to.
[00:10:01] Speaker B: Be the next king of Israel, he's not threatened by it. In fact, he says, you will be king and I will be at your side. Isn't that incredible?
[00:10:11] Speaker A: That is some radical humility, especially in the ancient world. And this is Jonathan. And part of the reason he's built different church is because he is after a different throne.
[00:10:22] Speaker B: And here's what I believe about you and me today.
[00:10:24] Speaker A: Whether we know it or not, all.
[00:10:25] Speaker B: Of us are after some throne.
[00:10:28] Speaker A: And here's what a throne is. It's that place where we look to find significance, happiness, meaning, security, all those things where we're looking in our life. And we're saying, if I get that or if I get to this place, then I'll have what I want, my life will be fulfilled, everything will be good. And in your throne, it can be a person. It can even be the idea of a person. Maybe there is a time in our life where maybe some of us are there. We're like, When I get married, life's going to be perfect.
And then you got married and you're like, why did I ever think that?
Now I know no one knows what I'm saying on that one, but maybe it's a goal in our career, but it can be all these types of things. But here's what I want you to know.
[00:11:15] Speaker B: The throne that you're after will dictate a lot about your life.
And part of the greatness of Jonathan, I believe, is he was driven in a different way. He was after a different throne. The glory of man did not compare to him, to the glory of God, and his goal was something different.
[00:11:37] Speaker A: Now the story goes on. So Jonathan is here and there's this stalemate that's happening. And Jonathan tells his armor bearer, let's go to the other side, and here's what happens. So, verse four. Within the passes by which Jonathan sought.
[00:11:51] Speaker B: To go over to the Philistine garrison.
[00:11:53] Speaker A: There is a rocky crag on one side and a rocky crag on the other. So just imagine an army on one cliff and another army on another cliff. And neither wants to go down those cliffs and then go up another one, because that's not a very good fighting position. You're going to be very vulnerable going down and up the cliff. So everybody's kind of staying there. And Jonathan says, let's go down the.
[00:12:17] Speaker B: Cliff and to the other side.
[00:12:19] Speaker A: Jonathan said to the young man who carried his armor, come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised. It may be that the Lord will.
[00:12:30] Speaker B: Work for us I love that line.
[00:12:32] Speaker A: It might be that the Lord will work for us. If you got a copy of scripture.
[00:12:37] Speaker B: Underline that, it might be, it also might not be.
[00:12:40] Speaker A: For nothing can hinder the Lord from saving by many or by few. And his armor bearer said to him.
[00:12:46] Speaker B: Do all that's in your heart, do as you wish, for I'm with you heart and soul. Isn't that a great response?
[00:12:54] Speaker A: That is not the response of some.
[00:12:57] Speaker B: Cold military or royal formality. That is a response of a brother. That is a response from deep and true loyalty.
[00:13:08] Speaker A: So they go and they work on this plan, and you can read through it, but I just want to skip to the end of it. And so eventually they go and the Philistines call them up and it says this verse 14. At the first strike which Jonathan as armor bear made, they killed about 20 men within, as it were, a half.
[00:13:26] Speaker B: A furrow's length and an acre of land.
[00:13:28] Speaker A: There was panic in the camp, in the field, among all the people, the.
[00:13:31] Speaker B: Garrisone, and even the raiders trembled. The earth quaked, and it became a very great panic.
[00:13:38] Speaker A: Now, let's talk about all that's happened.
[00:13:41] Speaker B: Here for a minute.
[00:13:42] Speaker A: Jonathan was built different.
If you read the context of the story. Here's what happens. The Philistines, they are the ancient enemies of the Israelites and they invade the land, they invade Israel, and they completely outnumber Israel. But they not only outnumber them, they also have far greater weapon technology.
We learned in First Samuel that there's only two people in the Israelite army that have swords, jonathan and Saul, the king and the prince.
[00:14:17] Speaker B: They're the only ones with swords, which.
[00:14:19] Speaker A: Means everyone else is fighting with sticks and stones. Their fists, I don't know. But the philistines. Guess what?
[00:14:27] Speaker B: They have swords and they have chariots.
[00:14:30] Speaker A: There's an old saying, don't bring a.
[00:14:31] Speaker B: Knife to a gunfight.
[00:14:33] Speaker A: I've never been to a knife or a gunfight, but that sounds true to me.
And the Israelites are going into this battle and they're outmanned and they're outgunned. And so the complete army of Israel, guess what they do? They do what we would all do. They dig a hole in the ground and they go into it and they get into the fetal position and they cry.
And they're just paralyzed in indecision and fear because they're looking at this situation and they're saying, this is complete. We have no chance here. There's no way this ends well for us.
[00:15:16] Speaker B: And they're stuck and they don't know what to do.
And they're completely consumed with fear.
But notice there is one person who sees it a little bit different, isn't there?
There's one person who says, I see everything that you see.
[00:15:37] Speaker A: I see that we're outnumbered. I see that we're outmatched.
[00:15:41] Speaker B: But I also see some other things here.
[00:15:46] Speaker A: And I also see that something has to be done. And Jonathan was built different. He saw this situation different.
Everyone else, all they could see was all the reasons why they cannot do anything, why there was no hope and.
[00:16:02] Speaker B: There was no chance, and Jonathan saw something different.
[00:16:06] Speaker A: I think that I get the sense that Jonathan had a low tolerance for.
[00:16:13] Speaker B: Dysfunction, for being controlled by fear and being stuck in life.
[00:16:21] Speaker A: I get the sense that Jonathan could only take so much of that he could only take so much dysfunction and fear before he said, you know what? I don't care. Anything is better than this.
I can't stay in this moment anymore. And so whether I die or not.
[00:16:42] Speaker B: I'm trying something new today.
[00:16:46] Speaker A: And Church, I want to say that when you and I get to those.
[00:16:50] Speaker B: Points, those points where you're sick and tired of being sick and tired, sometimes those are the most holy moments in.
[00:16:59] Speaker A: Our life, church and they don't feel like a gift from God.
[00:17:03] Speaker B: But I'll tell you what, sometimes they are.
[00:17:06] Speaker A: Somebody called these moments the Popeye moments. Remember Popeye the sailor man? He got to that moment in the episode, this is all I can stand, and I can't stands no more. And then it was game on, right? And there comes moments in our life, Church, where God needs to lead us into those moments. We got to say, all right, this is all I can stand.
I cannot live another day and let this addiction keep ruining my marriage and my life.
[00:17:39] Speaker B: I got to try something.
[00:17:41] Speaker A: I can't live another day with being this apart from my wife or my husband and our marriage being where it's at. We've got to go and we've got.
[00:17:51] Speaker B: To get help, Church. We need those moments where we say.
[00:17:56] Speaker A: My tolerance for this broken reality is.
[00:18:00] Speaker B: Done, and it's time to take a step forward.
[00:18:05] Speaker A: And honestly, Church, sometimes one of the.
[00:18:08] Speaker B: Things that holds us back in life is we get way too comfortable in dysfunction.
We get way too comfortable and unhealthy.
[00:18:20] Speaker A: Normal things, things become normal to us that should not be normal.
And part of God's grace are those days where you wake up like Jonathan and you're like, yeah, this is ugly. But you know what's?
[00:18:34] Speaker B: Even uglier staying put right here. Because just maybe, just maybe, there's a grace of God in this situation.
[00:18:46] Speaker A: Church, can I tell you that sometimes.
[00:18:48] Speaker B: God's grace comes disguised as problems in our life?
[00:18:52] Speaker A: You're like, how can that be God's grace?
[00:18:55] Speaker B: Look, sometimes it comes disguised that way.
[00:18:58] Speaker A: Sometimes God's moments that are going to truly transform you and me, they come disguised as overwhelming circumstances.
They come disguised as those moments where we want to do what the Israelites do, and we just want to hide and retreat and avoid and numb the pain and numb the fear.
[00:19:19] Speaker B: But yet those are the moments, Church, that we cannot waste, that we cannot wish away, but that we need to take a step. And Jonathan saw it differently. Jonathan also saw himself differently.
[00:19:35] Speaker A: There is this powerful contrast between Jonathan.
[00:19:38] Speaker B: And Saul in these verses and really in much of First Samuel, it's a.
[00:19:44] Speaker A: Book about contrasts of leaders. Saul and Jonathan. Saul and David.
[00:19:49] Speaker B: Many others.
[00:19:51] Speaker A: And in this story, every time we see Saul, you get the sense that Saul sees leadership as a buffer to keep him from harm and danger and hard work.
Have you ever known someone who understands leadership that way? They're like, hey, I'm the leader. That means I get to live off the fruits of everyone else. You know what I'm talking about? And Saul seems to kind of understand leadership that way. Jonathan seems to understand leadership, that his role.
[00:20:26] Speaker B: Means he's the first one in and the last one out.
[00:20:30] Speaker A: Jonathan understands his role that God has made me a prince. That means if there's going to be courage today, the courage has to start.
[00:20:39] Speaker B: In my own heart.
[00:20:41] Speaker A: If this battle is going to be won, then I've got to be the first one in.
And that my position, means that God.
[00:20:52] Speaker B: Has put me here to serve and God has put me here to lead by example.
That's how Jonathan understood leadership.
[00:21:02] Speaker A: And don't you think that's the right.
[00:21:03] Speaker B: Way to understand it? Church and wherever God has given you influence, friends, if you're a parent, God has given you influence.
[00:21:13] Speaker A: If you're a manager, if you're a coach, if you're a teacher, they're all different areas of our life, friends. God has given us influence and we.
[00:21:21] Speaker B: Have to see that we are there to serve, we are there to go first.
[00:21:29] Speaker A: That if we want things to be changed in our family. It doesn't start with chewing everyone else out. It starts with looking in the mirror.
[00:21:38] Speaker B: And asking for God's help to be a different man or a different woman.
[00:21:42] Speaker A: Church, parents, if you want your kids to grow up and have a passionate faith for Christ, guess how you do that?
[00:21:52] Speaker B: Have a passionate faith for Christ yourself.
Because the most powerful leadership is always by example.
[00:22:03] Speaker A: Things are taught a lot more than they're taught. And what's amazing church is, whether you realize it or not, the things that we look at in our world, in our families and our work and we're discontent with or we're upset about, guess what? Maybe you're seeing that because God wants.
[00:22:19] Speaker B: You to be the change agent.
[00:22:24] Speaker A: I know it's so much easier just to look around and say, well, Lord, I'm just surrounded by knuckleheads and no one just can quite seem to get it right. But you know what we really need to do?
[00:22:36] Speaker B: We need to look in the mirror and say, lord, let me be the change that I want to see.
[00:22:40] Speaker A: God, let me go first and help me to have the courage and the.
[00:22:45] Speaker B: Strength and the integrity to do it. And I believe that's how Jonathan led.
[00:22:51] Speaker A: And church, I'll tell you what, it.
[00:22:53] Speaker B: Worked all of a sudden, this terrified army is filled with courage.
[00:22:59] Speaker A: What happened?
[00:23:00] Speaker B: They saw him go first.
[00:23:02] Speaker A: All of a sudden, this bleak situation.
[00:23:05] Speaker B: Is no longer bleak. What happened? He went first.
[00:23:09] Speaker A: And there's situations in our life where maybe God is saying, hey, I want you to take up the mantle of responsibility.
I want you to take up the mantle of courage and action and go.
[00:23:23] Speaker B: First, and I will meet you there. And then most importantly, Jonathan saw God differently.
He saw God differently.
Jonathan said, hey, I got this idea.
God might help us if we do this.
[00:23:44] Speaker A: Do you ever notice in life there's.
[00:23:45] Speaker B: Always two stories going on? Within every story in your life, there are two stories going on within every story of your life, there is a story of fear, and there is a story of faith. Have you seen that?
[00:24:00] Speaker A: And you can hear it in Jonathan here. It might be that the Lord will.
[00:24:07] Speaker B: Help us, for nothing can hinder the Lord from saving by many or by few. That's the story of faith.
Jonathan could have easily focused on the story of fear.
[00:24:21] Speaker A: It might be that I ate bad.
[00:24:23] Speaker B: Avocado toast this morning, and this idea.
[00:24:26] Speaker A: Seems good to me, and we're going to go up there and we're going to get killed.
It might be that the Lord will help us, but what do you say? He's saying, I don't have any guarantees.
I don't know. Samuel the prophet telling me, I don't know. It might be that I'm wrong on all this.
There are two stories going on.
[00:24:45] Speaker B: But notice this. What does Jonathan key in on the story of faith?
[00:24:52] Speaker A: I know you and I, you're facing.
[00:24:54] Speaker B: Situations in your life, and there's two stories. There's one of fear and there's one of faith. Now, here's what's tricky. The one of fear almost always seems like it makes more sense.
[00:25:08] Speaker A: The one of fear, it seems more logical in our minds, right? Jonathan, you and your armor bearer. Look, I know you guys are great warriors, but you're outmatched. You're out good. You're out of your mind. Amen.
These are not good. ODS. This is not no colonel is going to sign off on this military strategy here. This is terrible.
[00:25:29] Speaker B: But yet faith is the wisest thing you can ever cling to.
It is never unwise to cling to faith to say, you know what? I think god is so good, and, man, this situation is bad, but I think he is so good that he's.
[00:25:53] Speaker A: Going to meet me and he's going to help me. And I wonder church, I wonder how we're living today. I wonder if we're nurturing the story.
[00:26:01] Speaker B: Of fear, or we're nurturing the story of faith.
[00:26:04] Speaker A: And I wonder what would happen in our life if we just kind of stopped nurturing that story of fear and we started nurturing the story of faith, and we started praying and expecting God to hear us, and we started acting as if we were not orphans, but we were sons and daughters of God. And we started taking steps that are courageous and God glorifying and not self protecting.
[00:26:27] Speaker B: I wonder how our lives would change.
I think we would be built a little bit different. And he says, you know what? I think God might help us.
And if God helps us, we've got overwhelming numbers.
The Lord can save by many or by few.
Church, god in you is a majority. I don't care what you're facing.
[00:26:58] Speaker A: God with you is more numbers than the Philistines. I don't care how many they have. I don't care what they're carrying.
[00:27:08] Speaker B: Christ in you is more.
[00:27:11] Speaker A: And Jonathan?
[00:27:13] Speaker B: He saw God differently. Now notice this, he takes a step of faith and then did you catch.
[00:27:19] Speaker A: What happens at the end?
[00:27:21] Speaker B: A great panic breaks loose and it's.
[00:27:26] Speaker A: Everywhere and it's all in the Philistine camp. The people that are fighting, they're panicking and confused.
The camp is panicked and confused. It's just chaos. It's disorder. And these two guys are single handedly destroying this army and this panic is wreaking havoc. And what do you think happened there? Do we think that that was just coincidence or do we think that that.
[00:27:54] Speaker B: Was God honoring their step of faith.
[00:27:58] Speaker A: And God meeting them and helping them? Now here's how I think we would all love it to work in our life. We'd love to kind of have the idea of what God wants us to do. We would love the panic to break out and then say, now I'll go.
[00:28:12] Speaker B: Up the rocky crag.
[00:28:14] Speaker A: Wouldn't that be nice? Lord, just give me that guarantee.
Let me know it's all going to work out exactly as it should.
[00:28:23] Speaker B: Let me see it first and then I'll have faith. But I will tell you, a life of faith doesn't work that way.
You take the step, you trust, you honor Him. When it's not easy, you open your hands, you open your heart and then God meets you. And church, he will always meet you in better ways than you can think or expect.
God is so good, even the smallest ounce of faith, he will honor in great ways because that is the goodness of his heart. And Church, maybe what your life needs and what my life needs is not more stuff, is not easier circumstances, is not all these things to be solved that we want to be solved. Maybe what we need is an ounce of faith today.
[00:29:16] Speaker A: Maybe what we need today is just something in our heart that is going to just trust Christ in a deeper way. And that trust is going to evidence itself in a new action, in a new step. And as we take it, we're going.
[00:29:31] Speaker B: To find God's help on the other side of it. And that's what happens. And it catalyzes the whole army, church, the whole army is now inspired. Faith is inspiring.
Maybe there's something going on in your family today. And if you show up with some new faith, you might shift the atmosphere.
[00:29:54] Speaker A: Maybe you're going through some tough stuff, but if you show up with some.
[00:29:57] Speaker B: New faith, it might shift the atmosphere. And Jonathan did that and a great victory was being won. Now, I have to tell you the end of this story and I wish it ended here.
I wish it ended at this moment and it was know, bubbles and sunshine and all that good stuff.
[00:30:20] Speaker A: But the Bible tells real stories about.
[00:30:23] Speaker B: Real people and real events here. And so here's how the story ends.
[00:30:27] Speaker A: So Jonathan leads this great victory and they're whooping the Philistines and God is delivering them. And then Saul decides to issue this.
[00:30:40] Speaker B: Really, really dumb order.
[00:30:42] Speaker A: He said, hey, for all those who are fighting today, you cannot eat any food.
Like, okay, so you're going to tell the army to go fight fasted.
[00:30:55] Speaker B: Sounds genius.
[00:30:57] Speaker A: And it's dumb. It makes no that or Saul issues that order. And Jonathan doesn't hear it because he's initiated this whole thing. He's out fighting and he sees some honey and he takes some honey and he eats it.
[00:31:13] Speaker B: He breaks the order.
And as the battle ends, Saul finds out. Here's how the story ends. They're all standing around and Saul's deciding.
[00:31:24] Speaker A: Should I kill Jonathan for eating some honey in the midst of this battle. Is that the most ridiculous ending you've ever heard?
The whole army is like, Saul, are you serious?
We were all hiding in the cave.
This is the guy who led the way. This is the guy who risked it all. This is the guy who showed us what faith looked like. And now you're thinking about killing him?
[00:31:51] Speaker B: What is going on?
[00:31:52] Speaker A: You know there's that saying, no good deed goes unpunished.
This is Jonathan's lot and church.
[00:31:59] Speaker B: He doesn't get the honor, he doesn't get the glory, he doesn't get the thanks.
He gets to end in this ugly and bizarre and messed up ending. And as his story goes on, church, I wish I could tell you that it gets brighter, but it doesn't really get any brighter.
[00:32:24] Speaker A: Jonathan actually ends up dying in battle.
[00:32:28] Speaker B: Next to Saul, who again, just goes from bad to worse.
And that's the end of Jonathan.
[00:32:37] Speaker A: This amazing, bold man of faith. He never gets the glory and he.
[00:32:42] Speaker B: Never gets the throne.
[00:32:45] Speaker A: He never becomes the king of Israel.
And you can look at every list.
[00:32:52] Speaker B: In the scriptures and you can look.
[00:32:55] Speaker A: At all the lists of the king.
[00:32:56] Speaker B: Of Israel and you'll see Saul, but you'll never see Jonathan. He never got it. Died in battle next to his dad.
[00:33:04] Speaker A: And as I think and reflect on.
[00:33:05] Speaker B: The story of Jonathan, it made me wonder, was his life a tragedy?
[00:33:11] Speaker A: Because here's this guy, so much potential, so much nobility, so much beauty and strength of soul, so much faith.
Was his life a. Tragedy.
The way it went from this battle.
[00:33:25] Speaker B: To the end, was it all a tragedy?
And I thought, well, it depended on what throne he was after.
And you know, a lot about your life depends on what throne you're after.
He didn't get the throne of Israel. Church, but I think he got a better throne.
[00:33:47] Speaker A: I think he got there's this beautiful.
[00:33:49] Speaker B: Scene in Revelation, chapter four, and there is the throne there, and on that throne, it says, sits the one who was, the one who is, and the one who is to come.
[00:34:03] Speaker A: And there comes these moments in the scene where these majestic, powerful, heavenly creatures shout out, holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty. And at that moment, there's these people.
[00:34:15] Speaker B: Circling the throne and they fall on.
[00:34:17] Speaker A: Their face and they cast their crown.
[00:34:19] Speaker B: Before him and they say, Worthy is God.
I believe Jonathan was living for that throne.
[00:34:27] Speaker A: I believe Jonathan did not get the.
[00:34:29] Speaker B: Glory from men, but I believe he got the glory that comes from God.
[00:34:33] Speaker A: I believe Jonathan got the privilege to say, you know what? I live my life for the one.
[00:34:40] Speaker B: Who gave his life for me.
[00:34:43] Speaker A: I live for the throne that no one could see, but I saw it.
No one knew the values that it brought to my life, but I knew them. No one knew how glorious it would.
[00:34:55] Speaker B: Be, but I anticipated it by faith.
[00:34:59] Speaker A: And I lived for that throne. Church, I don't believe Jonathan's life was a tragedy because I think he lived.
[00:35:05] Speaker B: For a different throne.
[00:35:06] Speaker A: And, Church, so many things in our life, when you're living for a different.
[00:35:10] Speaker B: Throne, they look different.
[00:35:14] Speaker A: And can I tell you that when I think about Jonathan, it also helps.
[00:35:18] Speaker B: Me to see some things about Jesus Christ.
[00:35:22] Speaker A: Because in many ways, Jonathan was a type of Christ.
[00:35:27] Speaker B: He was a shadow of Christ. He was a preview of Christ.
[00:35:31] Speaker A: Jonathan was royal, so was Christ.
Christ was a royal prince, but he didn't see his position as a place.
[00:35:40] Speaker B: To shield himself from danger.
[00:35:42] Speaker A: But he saw his position as a.
[00:35:44] Speaker B: Place to serve you and me.
[00:35:47] Speaker A: Paul says he left heaven and he.
[00:35:51] Speaker B: Came to be a servant to each of us.
[00:35:55] Speaker A: Jonathan risked his life in this important battle.
[00:35:59] Speaker B: Jesus Christ gave his life and the battle that matters most, the one that defeats sin, evil and death.
[00:36:09] Speaker A: Jonathan went into the battle and he had his armor bearer with him. But when Christ faced the most decisive battle, none of his armor bearers were with him.
[00:36:19] Speaker B: They all forsook him and fled, but he went anyway.
[00:36:25] Speaker A: Christ went into the battle knowing that he would not find the help of God, but knowing that he would experience the wrath of God. For you and me, Church, jonathan is cool, but Christ is greater. Christ is the real Jonathan that has rescued you and me today.
And Church, Jonathan didn't get the glory that he deserved from people. But I want to end today and I want to invite you and invite me to give Christ the glory that he deserves. Jonathan didn't get it. It came from the Lord in time. But today, can we end today? And can we give Christ the glory that he deserves? If he has forgiven you today and you're like man, my spirit is at peace. There's things in my past, but they don't ruin me anymore because Christ has forgiven me.
[00:37:20] Speaker B: Would you give Him thanks today?
[00:37:22] Speaker A: If Christ met you when you were lost and you were hurting and you were alone and no one cared for you, but he came and found you?
[00:37:31] Speaker B: Would you give Him thanks today?
[00:37:33] Speaker A: If he redeemed and rescued you from painful life circumstances, addiction, would you give Him glory today? Jonathan didn't get his glory, but can we give Christ His due today? Can we honor him? Can we worship him? The great Captain of our souls? Would you pray with me? Father? We love you.
We acknowledge that you are holy and good and majestic.
Father, like those in Revelation we just today, this morning we want to end by just saying you are worthy. All glory and praise be to Your name. And Father, in worshipping You, I pray that you would transform us in the depths of our soul. And Father, may we give you the glory that is due Your name.
May we pursue the throne that ultimately matters. And we thank you for the beauty and majesty of who you are. In Jesus name, amen.
