His wish, my command is a gospel sermon message preached by Pastor Sonny O. Wogu.
Text: "David was then in the stronghold, and the garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem. And David said with longing, “Oh, that someone would give me a drink of the water from the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate!” So the three mighty men broke through the camp of the Philistines, drew water from the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate, and took it and brought it to David. Nevertheless, he would not drink it, but poured it out to the Lord. And he said, “Far be it from me, O Lord, that I should do this! Is this not the blood of the men who went in jeopardy of their lives?” Therefore he would not drink it. These things were done by the three mighty men." — 2 Samuel 23:14-17 [NKJV]
His Wish, My Command
David merely expressed his desire, his longing for the water from the well of Bethlehem in the bible text; he didn't make a demand, not expect those men to put their life on the line to give him that water. It was just nostalgia, an emotional expression, over that water from his hometown, Bethlehem, which at that point in time, was occupied by the philistine, the enemies of God's people. A lot of things would have gone through David's mind. I don't know whether you have been in a situation of distress when you begin to think of the past. David would have thought, how did we get to this sorry pass? David remembered how he was, fighting against the Philistines, dedicated to the cause of the people of Israel, to King Saul. But here was David at that point in time being chased from one place to the other by Saul the King who felt threatened by David's presence. It was so bad that the enemies have taken hold of Bethlehem, and David looked back and began to remember with nostalgia how he enjoyed water from the well in Bethlehem, he expressed that desire. That was all that happened.
But the three mighty men of David, when they heard the desire of this their leader, this anointed one by God, the king in waiting; his wish was their command. They literally put their life on the line and they went and got that water for David. This man we are committed to David who was despised by Saul but anointed by God.
I don't know where you are in life right now; are you committed to the anointed one Jesus Christ, despised by the world, talk down by the world; everything the wall is doing is to put Jesus down. In their music, their mode of dressing, they are language, they are trying to put Jesus down.
Are you committed to this Jesus? These men were committed to David notwithstanding that he was despised.
When they brought that water, David looked at it, David no longer sore water in that vessel, he saw the blood of those men, David could not drink the water; it was a sacrifice they handed over to him to drink, and he said No! I won't drink does sacrifice; I will also sacrifice it to my Lord. He poured that water out to the Lord as a sacrifice.
Why are we here talking about what David did thousands of years ago? We are not here to just look at a historical account of David and his mighty men. We are taking how a bearing from the word of God in Romans 15:4. "For whatever things were written before we are written for our learning, that we through the patients and comfort of the scriptures might have hope". We are looking at the scriptures today so that we will learn. It is the mirror through which we see ourselves.
I want you to put yourself where those men were, see yourself as one of those three mighty men of David; a mighty man, a mighty woman. Can God count on you to be a mighty saint? The question is
The question is, what can we learn from those mighty men? 18 Bible Verses about Walking in Dominion and Authority
Three Lessons to Benefit Us from these Mighty Men of David
The first thing we could see; is that the wish of David was their command.
Our master's wish, our master's desire should be our command. Our Lord, the author and finisher of our faith, His desire should be our command.
Let us look at those things that these men have taught us through their behaviour. Let us ask ourselves what are those desires of our King of kings? What are those things we can say, are His heartbeat? The first thing is His desire to save Souls.
In the book of John 3:16, the word of God makes it clear, "For God so loved the world, that he gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life".
It is clear that God so much loved the lost soul that He was ready to sacrifice His Son. If that is His desire, that should also be our desire, that should drive us, that should be our portion.
Again in 1st Timothy 2:3-4. "For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; who desires all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth". It is the desire of God that all men should be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.
If the desire of god is that all men should be saved, that should be our command. David wished, longing for the water, from the well at the gate of Bethlehem, and those three mighty men put their lives on the line to get that water.
The word of God is true and tells us that the desire of our Father is that all men should be saved. What are we doing to that effect?
Are we running with that passion, are we running in earnest to ensure that all men are truly saved, or have we relaxed in our comfort zones minding our businesses?
How many people have you consciously shared the gospel with this year? How many people have been brought to the knowledge of this truth through you? Have you so much as inconvenienced yourself to share the gospel? Talk less about putting your life on the line. These men put their lives on the line.
Many of us can't even share the gospel with our colleagues. We hear them talk down on Christ, we hear them make a mockery of God and God's people, we hear them mock men of God and we laugh because we don't want to be identified with their object of mockery.
These men identify with the anointed one, so much so that they were ready to put their lives on the line. Many of us, our colleagues at our workplaces don't even know that we are born again, it is that bad.
His wish your command? His desire your command? That is the question you are supposed to ask yourself.
Another thing we will learn from the men; is unity. The desire of our King of kings is that we should be united. Those men run with the wish of their King-in-waiting because he was anointed. What of our own King of kings, what are we doing with His own desire? His desire is that we should be united.
This is more than a wish for our own King of kings. It is an agonizing prayer, He prayed earnestly that we should be united.
In the book of John 17. We will look at a few verses to see how He prayed for us to be united; inverse 11 of June 17, "Now on I am no longer in this world, but those are in the world (making reference to us), and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through your name those whom you have given me, that they may be one, as we are one, (that they may be united as I am united with you)". Verse 21 of that same John 17, "Today all may be one; as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us that the world may believe that you sent me".
Verse 23-24, "I in them, and you in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that you have sent me, and have loved them, as you have loved me. Father, I desire that day also, whom you gave me, maybe with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which you have given me: for you love me before the foundation of the world". Agonizing prayer by Jesus Christ for us, that we should be united.
Psalm 133:1, the word of God tells us, "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for Brethren to Dwell together in unity".
The beauty of unity how good and pleasant it will be for us to dwell together in unity. Jesus knows that if we are not united, we cannot be victorious, but once we are united, nothing can stop us. A familiar story we know in Genesis 11:6-7. "And and the Lord said; indeed, the people are one, and they have all one language; and this is what they begin to do: and now nothing that they proposed to do would be withheld from them. Go to, let us go down, and there, confuse their language, that they may not understand one another's speech".
Here was God, He saw that the men of the world were united, but their unity was for an evil purpose; they wanted to defy God; building the tower of Babel.
But God himself knew that if they remained united, even He could do nothing against them. Their unity was to help them accomplish their purpose.
And God the Father called God the Son and God the Holy Spirit and said; come let us go, the only way we can stop them is to keep them disunited if they remain united, we can't even stop them. Could you imagine that? That is the power of unity. God has to scatter their language, they could not understand each other, then we are at each other's throats and that was it; because their purpose was evil.
Look at all the backgrounds of the mighty men of David, you will see they came from different backgrounds, but they were United in purpose.
Some of the mighty men of David, were Hittites, from Israel, they came from different backgrounds, but when they were in their master's business, they were united. That was why they were successful.
How united are we as a Church? How united are we as God's people? We are so divided. We are supposed to be the light of the world.
When the world sees us, what do they see? They see nepotism, discrimination, and tribalism, they see disunity even in the Church. We can't succeed like that, we must be united, and we must know that we have one master, one Lord, one Saviour.
Do you know your brother in Christ is closer to you than your blood brother who is not a Christian, do you know that is what it ought to be? Do you know your sister in Christ should be closer to you than your blood sister that is not a child of God?
Many of us don't know; they will be saying, `What is this man talking about?` It is because we don't understand who we are in the first place.
The mighty men of David; came not just from different backgrounds but they came with different baggage. They were men in distress, men in debt, and some of them were on the wanted men list, but when they came together and united their story changed.
History recorded that day we are mighty men of David, men of valour, their unity closed every rank and there was nothing to see but their valour. That is how God wants it to be, come as you are, but when you come in and you accept Jesus, and He is our master leading us, everything will fade into insignificance. That is what we should learn.
The third thing we are to learn; is holiness. Our holiness was not just a wish, it was a command. We can't say we are doing it because maybe we are not sure.
1st Peter 1:14-16, "As obedient children not conforming yourselves to the former lusts as in your ignorance: But as He who called you is holy, you also be only in all your conduct; because it is written; be holy; for I am holy". God has said it; be holy for I am holy. That is the word of God for us, a command that we should be holy.
Many people don't want to hear about holiness. No! You have to be holy because God is Holy.
If you tell any average Christian about victory, being victorious, we are ready to take that, everybody wants to be victorious. But when you talk about holiness; they want to keep it outside.
Victory and holiness go together. 1st John 5:4, "For whatever is born of God overcomes the world: and this is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith".
Whatever is born of God, if you are born of God, you must be like God and overcome the world, we must be like the one that has given birth to us. We must carry his DNA.
If you say somebody is your father and they carry out a DNA test, they will be able to establish whether that person is your father or not. Because you must carry the man's DNA. If you don't, then you have failed the paternity test. We cannot claim to be children of God, and not carry the DNA of God. The DNA of God is the DNA of holiness. The secret of God's mighty men of David was that they said no to themselves and laid their lives on the line. The question is, what about you and I? Matthew 16:25, "For Whoever desires to save his life will lose it: but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it". You must be ready to put your life on the line.
Take a cure from this true story that happened long ago in North Korea, when communism was taking hold of that nation. They came to a Church like this with their guns and said everybody should renounce Christ or else they would all be killed. They took away their portrait of Jesus that was hung on the wall, place it at the centre of the floor and line up the pastors and everyone: They said, "Pastor, your renunciation should be spitting on that portrait, and then we will allow you to live". The pastor looked at his pretty wife, and his children, he didn't want to die. He spat, and they kept him on standby. The assistant pastor saw the pastor standing, and he asked himself, `am I the one to die?` so he too spat and all the pastors and ministers followed suit. The elders said, "If the pastors didn't stand for Jesus, are they the ones to stand?" All the members followed suit and spat on the portrait turning it into a puddle of saliva. When it got to the turn of the last person, a 12-year-old girl, she knelt down, carry the portrait, the whole saliva poured on her, she held it close to her breast, she looked at those soldiers, she said, "You can kill me, I will not deny my Lord". She was the only one that was ready to lay down our life.
They took her to one side, and they now address the rest of the crowd, they said, "All of you, will be the ones to die, because the way you just denied this your Saviour, that is the way you will deny communism with the slightest pressure. But this girl, we will keep her and continue to talk to her, because if she now accepts communism, we are sure she will not deny it easily". Do you know they shot and killed all those men?
Brethren, if you are not ready to lay down your life, you will lose it. If you are ready to lay it down, you will gain it. Don't be smart by half, if you are a fool, be a fool for Christ, and then you will be true.
Many of us are not ready to resist sin, we are not ready to resist lust, and we are not ready to resist anything that is not of God that will temper with our lives.
Yes, Jesus has imputed his righteousness in you, it is not your righteousness that He looks at, he looks at the righteousness of Jesus, but you also must do something, you resist the devil because the word of God says, you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you, you don't go looking at pornography materials, and you think you will come out unscathed, it will defile you, it will pollute you, it will make you filthy, you must resist the devil, you don't go close cultivating a relationship with the opposite gender that is not your spouse, you are playing with fire, you must flee from lust, you must flee from temptation.
That is what you have to do, Jesus will not do that for you, there are things for you to do. You don't take your bath in the morning and go from house to house gossiping, you must bridle your tongue.
The one you cannot do, He will do for you, the one you can do, He will not do for you. When Jesus came to the tomb of Lazarus, what did he say? He said; roll out the stone, they could do that, they had to roll it out, and then He did the one He had to do.
He spoke the word, `Lazarus, come forth', when Lazarus came forth, what did He say? Lose the grave clothes, untie him, they could do that.
Don't think because God has saved you that He will do everything for you and you become a vegetable, you must show that you have bought into it. You know when you go to any financial house for a loan, you will need money but they want you to buy into that project you want to take money for, they will instruct you, to get your own equity contribution, it may be 20%, 25%, you must go and get that one yourself, they can't give you 100% of what you are looking for, you know why? They want you to be interested in the success of that project, your own money must be there, and theirs might be a larger amount, that's the way it works.
God wants you to be interested in the success of the project of your soul, and your eternity, so there are things you must do. Don't just relax and say God has saved me so I'm just saved.
Whether you pour filth on me, you swim in pornography, you fornicate, commit adultery, you say I have been saved, I'm always saved. I will not lose my salvation and you just wallow in sin, it doesn't work like that. Anybody that tells you that is deceiving you, beware; let the enemy deceive you, and be careful of what the enemy may want to do to you.
You may be here and you are playing Church, you do not have a relationship with God, I want you to hear His heartbeat, I want you to hear His word.
Isaiah 1:18, says, "Come now, and let us reason together: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow: though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool".
That is what the word of God is saying; in other words, don't be intimidated by the extent of your sin, nor buy the extent you have gone into sin, no matter how terrible, He said, "come", Him with who nothing is impossible, He said, "I will clean you up, you will be as white as snow, you will be pure, I will ensure that".
A - Acknowledge that you are a sinner, that you cannot help yourself. That's where to start. Romans 3:23; the word of God makes it clear that we all have sinned and have come short of the glory of God. So as long as you are born of a woman into this world; you came into this world in sin. You might be a good person, you might be self-righteous, but you are a sinner or the same, acknowledge that.
B - Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. Acts 16:31.
C - Confess your sins to Him and confess Him as your Lord, don't be proud. Romans 10:9, "If you shall confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus Christ, and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved".
D - Don't procrastinate, Proverbs 27:1, "Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for you don't know what tomorrow will bring". It is as simple as that. That is where to start. When you start there, then you hold unto Him, you will now see Him perfect His will in your life.
Prayer: Quickly talk to God in prayer, where have you found yourself? John 4:6, the Bible says, God will help the humble but will resist the proud, don't be proud before Him, He will help you; but if you are proud before Him, He will resist you. Can you talk to Him? He is willing to meet you at the point of your need, what is it you want to cleanse? What is it you want to take away? Tell Him to make your decision permanent, and pray that prayer from your heart, if you do, He will lift a weight off you, and you will leave here with His peace and joy. Don't waste this opportunity; you may never have it again.
A message delivered by Pastor Sonny O. Wogu, APICR 33/PICP Rivers 5.
COMMENTS