David was running from Jerusalem as his son Absalom staged a coup. He said of God, “Let Him do to me what seems good to Him.” He knew the Lord and that His ways were beyond understanding. Don’t we hunger for Him, for the God who’s past finding out? (1 Peter 4:1-10; 2 Samuel 15:24)

Speaker(s): Pastor Thomas Schaller
Sermon 11904
7:00 PM on 6/17/2020

P. Schaller –

Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! Isn’t God good to us. We’re going to feed from the Spirit tonight for a few
minutes and fellowship together. Pray the Lord will give the thoughts for our message and the
theme is that we are hungry for God. We’re hungry for the infinite. We’re hungry for the Spirit,
the spiritual. We’re hungry for Christ. We’ve lived without Christ and came to church and Christ
saved us and gave us a new heart and spirit and we are hungry for him Psalm. 42. Before we get
into it, let’s take a moment. Sunday is Father’s Day. I’ve been reminding my children of that for
days! P. Renaldo and P. Gary have a plan that Sunday afternoon if you want to temporarily
want to be a dad, they are going to do something in the city in Belair Edison.

You can meet them after the service, and they will tell you what they plan to do. Go meet some young people
and spend a couple hours with them. Graduation is Saturday. P. Baily Norman is our guest
speaker. That will be a good time together. Also, it is I know we are tired of the coronavirus
thing. My daughter Bethany told me one of her clients, her husband golfs with another guy,
very healthy, 70 years old. He got corona and in 3 days he was gone. It’s a real thing. If you are
comfortable coming here and you probably are and now you are not because of what I just
said! I say to the crowd online, take care. I say it to each other, and you know that. God is good
but remind yourself it’s a real thing. We don’t want to lose anybody. And we haven’t God is
saying. What are you talking about? I’m taking care of you.

Yes, Lord, absolutely. Isn’t that good? Are we ready yet? I don’t think we are. I’m not ready. I wonder if I ever will be! Maybe there is something else we should do. Praise the Lord. Amen. 1 Peter 4, we will read 11 verses.
There is a verse I want you to take notice of in 2 Samuel 15. P. Philippe Serradji and the Bible
college folks will do a rap ½ hour after. David is leaving Jerusalem. His son has executed a coup
to take over his kingdom. Absalom is taking over and David is on his way out. What is it like for
you when sometime in your life you are on your way out? What is it like for me when my life
drastically changes in a minute and in a way, I’m on my way out. I never thought it would
happen, but it happened. What would it be like for David to be king and then ousted and on his
way out? How would he handle that? We are being prepared in life by knowing God, not a small
concept of God.

This is God and this is me. The almighty God and I know so little. I know so
little. I didn’t know this would happen to me. I had no idea. I am shocked. I didn’t know God
would do this to me. I can’t believe this happened in my life. I am shocked. I can’t believe. It you
are hungry for the infinite God, you are hungry for God because you’re born again. In our new
heart, you are hungry for God. Because you are believer, a Christian and have the Bible. Many
times we have our boxes of God. Sometimes with a believer and he knows everything. He
knows everything. He has an answer for everything. You sit back and say, I don’t want that kind
of God. I don’t want a God where I can learn about him and sit down and know I have the
whole thing mastered.

I have the whole thing all set up, the program, the whole thing all the
ideas and concepts. There is something more and this is why we worship. We are shocked when
we touch the reality of God. It’s unspeakable. It’s beyond our words. It’s beyond our books,
beyond our lives, even beyond our thoughts. My thoughts are not your thoughts; my ways are
not your ways. That’s an awesome thing. Stay loose, fresh. It says knowledge puffs up. 1 Corinthians
8:1 and it’s connected with idolatry. Knowledge and idolatry go together. But love, this is God. God is love. This is where you live. This is where you and I want to live. Love. We’ll see it in this
story here with David. What happens when your life changes in an hour and it’s totally different
from what you thought?

Disappointment, hurt, pain, suffering, tears, crying, devastated, shocked, unbelievable. This is what David is saying. Vs. 24-25 carry the ark back. David is saying the ark isn’t going with me. This is not about me. The nation of Israel has national worship and the ark is to stay there. I’m leaving. I do not know my future. I don’t know what will happen. Vs. 25. If he gives me favor. vs. 26. If God was to say to me, David, I have no delight in you, – these
are my words, – if he says that to me, I can handle that. I can handle that because I know him. If
it’s over, it’s over. If I’m not coming back, if he has no delight in me, I know who God is. I trust
him. I know him. Vs. 26. Here I am. Here I am. Do you see what this is saying? It’s beautiful.
David does know God and he’s saying, if it doesn’t work out and if God in a way is finished with
me, that’s fine. He knows.

Here I am and if he doesn’t have delight in me, that’s fine. I’m not the point. I know him. I will fall into his hand’s any day. I know he’s for me. If my life ends, that’s his business… he knows who I am and where I am. My God is big. My God is great. By the way, when this similar thing not exactly but with Saul got into trouble, he’s neurotic and nervous. He says pray for me that these things will not be happening. Pull out your rabbit foot and hope for
your lucky charms. David doesn’t act like that. When it happens to Job, he went down on his
face and his theology wasn’t so sophisticated but he’s learning. He said naked I came out of the
womb and naked will I return. Blessed be the name of the Lord. He makes his way. My main
point here is that you and I may have suffering in our lives.

1 Peter 4:1, the way I understand this, Jesus suffered in the flesh, but his mind was this way. If God has no pleasure in me, he knows me. Here I am and I will trust him though he slay me. I can believe him. I know who he is. He’s
better than any man can ever be. Better than any god of this world. He is the infinite, Almighty,
loving, gracious powerful, wise God. His ways are different. If Jesus suffered in the flesh, he had
a mind where he was able to suffer and able to believe even when things were not going his
way. Even in a world against him. We are hungry not for knowledge but for love. We want to
learn about love. Love suffers well. Love can trust when it’s bad. Love believes when it’s bad.
Love is able to minister and serve even when things are not so good.

This actually is how we think this way and overcome our selfishness, which is really the concept up here in our screen is that my God – and I want to say my Christian God – many believers feel my God is going to
answer all my prayers and I’ll have all the money I need, and he’ll heal me of all my diseases,
and I have a Bible verse for all of it. We learn those verses but my God is the infinite God whose
ways are past knowing. Oh the depths of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past finding out in vs. 33. This is good.
Something to think about. 1 Peter 4:1 this word “sin” is meaning that. We could also say with a
little bit of liberty he has ceased from self. Leave me alone and I gravitate inwardly. Leave me
alone and I protect myself. Leave me alone and my life is about me.

Then I suffer and I come to God in my heart and I say look Job did help me understand, teach me, Job 23. I esteem your word more than my necessities in vs. 12. Teach me that a man must not live by bread alone, but
by every Word comes out of God’s mouth. Here’s a good thing about the Word of God. We
have an objective word and the subjective. This is like another level of the Word. It ministers to me. The Word. It’s a rhema. It’s life. The Word opens my heart and my mind. The Word. He
esteems his Word more than his name. Here is the Christian God who is kind of small. We’ll say
the name of God. The Christian says in Jesus’ name. In his name. They say prayers in his name
and in the name of God. There is great value in that.

My Word is above my name. This means to me that there is something more than just saying his name. It’s the content of the person. It’s his character, his Word. Heaven and earth will pass away, but you can’t put this book in little boxes. It’s the revelation of his person and not just the black marks on the pages. It’s the actual
reality that blows our mind. It gives us an understanding, so we are speechless. How any times
in the gospel Jesus would give an answer and there was silence. He could silence a group of
people even adversaries because of the reality of what he was saying. When I gave an answer,
everyone was quiet. I need to get quiet by understanding who he is. Be ready to hear when we
go into the house of God, Ecclesiates 5:2. Be careful how you hear. You may hear in a selfish way. Be
careful to hear in a spirit of faith and say God I have faith in you. You are God and help me to
understand what that means. Vs. 2.

Like I’m going to live the rest of my time and got my drinking buddies and go out and do that and we go off and do something else and I live the rest of my time in the flesh to the lusts of men. That’s how I might live. I could live like that because this self-life does that. And I believe in God. But my God is so small and boring and so dull and
some rote mechanical operation that there is nothing but flesh. It’s not anointed. It’s not a
revelation or an insight. It’s not feeding me. It’s not building me up. This is what happens to us
as people. Sometimes when we are in fellowship and this is so beautiful, we listen, we
experience, we edify, we laugh, we talk, we are encouraged. When two or three are gathered in
my name, there I am in the midst. That’s where we get fed. Then we got out to these areas with
60 or 80 young guys playing basketball and doing crafts and stuff.

I was watching our people ministering and it was so precious to see faith and love and good words and edification and just one or two with one or two people and it multiplied and it’s a ministry of content. The Quakers
used to say if you have one man who has been touched by Almighty God, the neighbors within
10 miles know about it. Who he is at the big auction…how he goes happily to the church. The
world isn’t perfect, and his world is not. How about this one: when David is dethroned, what
did he say? If God does not have pleasure in me, we could say anymore, I know who God is.
And if he doesn’t, I’m not asking you to pray for me. I’m not asking you to change God’s mind. I
know the infinite God and his ways are amazing.

I’m trusting in him. If we can live knowing Jesus in the good times and difficult times, there is a testimony… do you still love God when you are beat to death? Do you still love God when your life is a mess? Do you still love God….vs. 3. That’s when we were running around ….if we had lived that way in our past life, wasn’t that
enough to show what we are and where life would take us? Vs. 3. When you ran with your old
friends and did all they did smoking weed and getting drunk, wasn’t that enough time to bring
in the will of the Gentiles? Wouldn’t you see what it was by that time when you lived in that
period? That means the selfishness I lived in was enough for me to realize I am hungry for the
infinite. I’m hungry for God. Anybody got another message?

I went to high school, a huge high school with all kinds of stuff going on and never did anyone tell me about Jesus Christ. No teacher, no student, no coach, no friend. I never heard his name mentioned in that school. What was the fruit of it? Just me and my sins destroying me. Making me more selfish than ever.
More of just a miserable person. It produced in me a hunger. I don’t know what life is about. I
don’t know what is going on. Who can tell me? Vs. 4. They can’t believe that you left their
group. That happened to me in college. We had about 200 guys in the dorm and we were living
the same way, real dumb and empty and foolish people. One guy died in the shower from
overdosing…I’m out of there. They spoke evil of me. He got some religion. He’s a nut. He’s a
Jesus freak.

P. David Moore went to the same school the year after I left. He said I heard about
you. You were a crazy guy that went to Maine and you were a Jesus freak. David Moore got
saved and listen to this connection. He picks up a hitchhiker and tells him about Jesus. That’s P
Brian Lange. He was on his way to Utah to go skiing. David Moore told him about Jesus, and it
stuck in him when he was skiing in Utah. We ended up here. Who did it? An infinite Almighty
God who knows better than you and I know. If you leave your sin and find his name and nature
and Word, it will change us, and our life will be fruitful. They think it’s strange that you run not
with them. I like that phrase. Run with them off the cliff. Vs. 5-7 Be wise. Have gravity. Be
serious. Vs. 8.

Above everything have charity. This is the love that you have. It comes to you
from God. It fills your heart. I don’t know the answer to that question, but I love you. I don’t
know what will happen in the future, but God loves you. I’m trusting in God. He’s kind, loving
and he will take care of me. I will trust him. We are made for the infinite. We all have the same
kind of blood in principle. We all live in our flesh. He gave us the seasons and made us with a
capacity to know the unknown God. In him we live and move and have our being. Turn to him
and trust in him. He said to them in Athens and some cleaved and some said it’s foolish and
some said we’ll hear you again of this matter. Vs. 9.

Love will cover a lot of sins. Say that with me. Love will cover a lot of sins. Turn to your neighbor. Love will cover all your sins. Love will cover a whole mess of sins. Love will cover a multitude of sins. Love, God’s love is where we are
living. Vs. 9-10 now we have a gift. Let me finish with this. I’ve been long tonight but it’s good. I
used to think I was a peasant in this life, and I had nothing, and nobody owed me anything and I
was lower and lower. I was a nobody in this life. That’s how I thought in a way of myself. Then I
got saved and realized I am some royalty. I’ll put here a big crown. I lived like in exile. I was a
king in exile. Like I didn’t have anything, but I was a king. I know what it is to be a king. I can feel
it in my heart. I know what it is to have authority, to be loved, to have a place, to have a throne.
I know what that is.

When you become a believer, God puts a crown on you. He says you are king. Often, we feel like we are a king in exile. What are you hungry for? A throne, the purpose, people, a place, for God’s will and this is why Jesus came. He said I am the gift you are looking for. I am that kingdom. I made you a king. I am the one that is missing. We live like a king in exile. That happened to Napoleon Bonaparte. He was stripped on an island and died there.
Brought to nothing. I am bought to nothing, but I have a hunger in my heart for what I believe
in and made to have. My message tonight is there is no way you and I could ever find it in any
satisfying way. The only way we could find it is by the Holy Spirit showing it to us and revealing
who Christ is. For us to understand and believe that kingdom is the pearl of great price, the
treasure buried in the field.

I was in that high school in Rome, New York. I was a peasant with nothing. You start to sniff it out. I know I’m not made to go to the grave. I know I’m made to sit on a throne. We know it with each other. We know it in our hearts, and we seek it and we do find it.

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