THE ANGELS SAID, FEAR NOT, FOR BEHOLD, I BRING YOU GOOD TIDINGS OF GREAT JOY WHICH WILL BE TO ALL PEOPLE. FOR UNTO YOU IS BORN THIS DAY IN THE CITY OF DAVID A SAVIOR WHICH IS CHRIST THE LORD. MAN, THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD IS HOW THAT JESUS CHRIST CAME INTO THIS WORLD TO DIE FOR MEN AND WOMEN JUST LIKE ME AND YOU. MAN, WHAT A STORY THAT IS TO TELL! you sell i can witness nobody's tell what jesus did for you payment well i don't know the whole bible you don't have to know the whole bible to tell the greatest story a man you just tell me how that jesus christ came into this world because he loved you and he loved me how low you may have i'll be honest with you i don't ever want to get over what the lord did for me but i'm afraid today you pray for us this morning uh... have As we're going back to 1 Samuel, you can turn to 1 Samuel, in the book of chapter number 9, or chapter 10, or chapter 11, I'm not sure which one this morning the Lord wants me to preach. I've been praying all through Sunday school, and even since I got up this morning, and I just... I know nobody else is ever that way, and so you know so let's go the Lord in prayer and you pray that's the Lord God to give your preacher the discernment he needs this morning we preach the message that he'd have us to preach let's go with the Lord in prayer. Father I love you Lord I thank you God for this day Lord I know that God before the foundation of the world was ever formed that God would you look down through the span of time And Lord, you've seen this crowd of people gathered together, Lord, such as we are today. And Lord, you know the hearts and minds of everyone that's here. Lord, I don't. And Lord, you know what you've touched my heart about, God, Lord, this week, Lord. And Lord, I know that these messages, Lord, are to be preached today, but Lord, I don't know which one you want now and which one you want tonight. But Lord, I'm asking you this morning, God, for clarity. Lord, I pray the Spirit of God, Lord, would speak to my heart. Lord, I pray that, God, that, Lord, that you would open my ears to hear what the Spirit hath to say unto the churches this morning. Lord, I pray, God, that you would have your way and your will in this service. Lord, I didn't come, Lord, to get out. Lord, I come to get in. Lord, it is the greatest story ever told, and, God, sometimes we need to be reminded of what Jesus did for us. Lord, I love you, and, Lord, I thank you today for all that you've done. Lord, I thank you for what you're going to do. Thank you for clarity, Lord, this morning. In Jesus' name, I humbly pray, amen. To have your Bibles, stay in I Samuel, all right? If you put you a pen, handkerchief, whatever, stay in I Samuel. I wanna read a verse in Psalms 128 and Romans chapter number 12, but we will come back to I Samuel this morning, okay? But we need an intro of what the Lord has given us try to be a help to you this morning glad that you're here if you're visiting with us now understand this if you've been here more than one time you're not a visitor no more okay we just consider you just part of us alright but if you're visiting with us this morning we're honored that you come to take in service with us I hope and trust that the service is a blessing to you I hope that you leave saying that truly it's been good to be in the house of the Lord this morning but let's read in the book of Psalms let's read chapter 128 verse number one. How to live, if I titled the message this morning, is how to live a fulfilled life or how to live with blessings in your life. But I'm going to end with this. Why are you hiding among the stuff? Now let's begin in verse number one, Psalms 128. The Bible says this, Blessed is everyone that feareth the Lord, that walketh in his way. You say, Preacher, I'm not blessed. I don't feel blessed. I'm not talking materialistic. So often in our lives when we use the word blessed or blessings, we think of materialistic things. And those things are good. But understand this, materialistic things is not the only blessings from the Lord. We have peace, we have comfort, we have consolation, we have joy, we have the fruits of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, meekness, temperance, faith, gentleness, goodness, faith against such, there is no law. Are we living in a blessed life of the Lord? You say, well, I don't know. Well, I can't answer that, but I do know this, Brother Wesley, there's days in my life that I'm not, and there's moments in my life, and sometimes there's even weeks and months in my life, and I look back and I say, well, what happened? What happened? I used to be there, but then we can sum it up as this, and this verse here answers it clearly. Listen to what he said. Blessed is everyone that feareth the Lord, that walketh in his ways. Not your ways, not my ways, not the church's ways, not the world's ways, but blessed is he, is everyone that feareth the Lord, that walketh in his ways. Now go to Romans chapter number 12. So often in our life we don't live in the blessings of God because we're living in a state of confusion. All throughout my ministry and all throughout my life I have asked this question, but at the same time I have done my best to try to help others answer this question in their life. Well, what is God's will for me? You see, God's will for us is walking in His way. But so often in our life, we say, well, I just don't know the will of God for my life. Well, let me say this to you, if it's outside the confines of that Bible, it's not God's will. Amen? And I'm thankful that I didn't come from a broken home, but I have dealt with a marriage situation in the past, and you know, there is broken homes, and there's homes that have divorced, And man, God can still be honored in that family, and God can still use those people. But understand this today, I had a young lady tell me one time, she said, Well, I believe it's God's will for me to leave my husband. I said, Honey, that's wrong. She said, Why do you say that? I said, Because the Bible says, Therefore shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave as his wife, AND THE TWO SHALL BE ONE FLESH AND WHATSOEVER GOD HATH JOINED TOGETHER, LET NO MAN PUT ASUNDER, IT IS NOT GOD'S WILL FOR YOU TO LEAVE YOUR SPOUSE." Okay? See, that's outside the confines of God's Word. Well, I believe it's God's will for me to cheat and steal. No, it's not. Thou shalt not steal. Well, you know, I can make a little more money on this or I can take an advantage of a person. Yeah, you're doing it for great gain, so are you stealing? It's outside the confines of God's Word. But then on the other side of this, we have the part, well, I just don't know what God's will for my life, and I want you young children and young people and even adults, I want you to listen to me this morning. God has a perfect will for your life. Now, there is a, it's not, the word perfect will is biblical. This next word that I use is not a biblical word, but it is used biblically when we speak of it this way. And it's called, some people say, well, there is not one permissive will. Yes, there is a permissive will. You say, what is that permissive will? That's outside of God's perfect will, and it's God not killing you while you're still alive. God's giving you permission to live there, all right? God's, there's a permissive will. So we understand there's a perfect will and a permissive will, but God's plan for our life and for us to be blessed is that we live in the perfect will of God. Well, how do I find it? Well, let's look in Romans chapter number one, or chapter 12, I'm sorry. Notice here, Paul says this, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies, they live in sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God. which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world, but be you transformed by the renewed of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Preacher, how do I find the perfect will of God in my life? Well, I'm glad you asked, because I'm going to show you through the Word of God this morning. Let's look here this morning in verse number 1 of chapter number 12. Let's look at the request that this pastor is writing to this church. And he says, I beseech you therefore brethren. He says, I'm begging you, I'm asking you, I'm writing to you as one that is living in the perfect will of God for his life and one that is living under the blessings of God. He says, I'm imploring you, I'm beseeching you, I'm asking you with all that is in me. to do this one thing. Notice the request that he made. He says, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God. There's the request that ye present. Now understand, in this request that he's making, There's also a responsibility here that's defined to that one that the request is being made. And he said, I'm begging you that you would take responsibility for your life and that you present your bodies. So often in our minds, we love the Lord with our heart. We love the Lord with our mind. We label the Lord with our body. But we never may give our bodies holy and acceptable unto God. We always hold something back, and we're going there this morning. But I'm asking you, and I'm doing my best to preach to you what the Word of God says. He said, I beseech you that you would be responsible in presenting your bodies a living sacrifice. Now, I want you to look at this. Here's the reason why. Why? I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God. It's of the Lord's mercies that we're not consuming. His compassions fail not. They are new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness. Guess what? I used all of God's mercies yesterday. That's why I needed more today. But I look back over my life and I see the times that God's mercies has been invested in me and God's grace has been invested in me and as they sung the song of won't you tell me that story how the King of all glory laid down his life for me I was reminded again of the mercies of God in my life And beloved, you and I have a reason to submit ourselves and present ourselves a living sacrifice because of the mercies of God that He's invested in us. Look at what God's done for you. Look at what He's brought you through. Look at where you are today. You understand it's all because of the mercies of God. I'm not in the funeral home this morning. I'm not in the cancer ward. I'm not having a broken home. And may I say this, if I was dealing with those things, guess what? I would still be experiencing the mercies of God. Just as Dr. Williams' little thing, sometimes God says no. Sometimes God says no. Why? So you can experience the mercies of God. But understand this, the reason that you and I ought to give ourselves whole and acceptable unto the Lord, the reason that you and I ought to take hold of the responsibilities of submitting ourselves unto God as the writer here is requesting is because the mercies of God that has been so real and rich to us in our lives. If your spouse is here this morning, you ought to turn and look at him. You don't know why? It's the mercy of God. If your children's with you this morning, you ought to Look at them. Why? Because it's the mercies of God. You say, well, I come from a broken home. Yeah, but you're in the house of God this morning. Right? You say, I don't have a goodly heritage. It's like I told all those bus kids that I've dealt with all my life. And that I'm praying that God allows us to deal with here. You may not have one, but you can start one. You can start one. Maybe you come from a broken home. Well, guess what? By the mercies of God, you've heard the gospel, got saved by the Lord Jesus Christ, start a good home. I mean, as I said a while ago, sometimes we get so dull to the story how that Jesus Christ came into this world, died on the cross, arose from the grave, sent us at the right time of the Father so that you and I might have life and might have it more abundantly. You know kind of what the attitude and the mindset of it in the house of God this morning? Well I've been thankful all week, God, now you bless me. You say, I'm just being honest with you, that's the atmosphere in the house of God at 708 South Main Street this morning. Lord, I've been thankful all week, now you bless me this morning." Well, why are we not thankful this morning? Where's the joy of being able to be in the house of God today? I see Miss Gay and I'm reminded of her and I'm thankful that she's here this morning. And I recall the times that she puts on there, I'd love to be there. I'd love to be there. I'd love to be there. I'm sure Brother David this morning would love not to be sick and be at the house of God. And look, we get to be here. We didn't have to come. We got to come. And guess what? I didn't have to go through no armed guard. We don't have armed guards stationed on the outside. We don't have a lookout saying, well, if they're coming in, watch them there to come tell us whether or not if the enemy's coming to arrest us because we're worshiping God this morning. Listen, church, we live under the mercies of God and so often they're forgotten. We have great mercies that's been shed upon us. And because of the mercies of God, you and I ought to present our bodies a living sacrifice. Notice the responsibility. You say, well, notice here the request that we present a living sacrifice. You want to know why we don't want to present our bodies a living sacrifice? First of all, number one, a sacrifice costs something. That's why it's called a sacrifice. It costs something. It's not an offering. It's a sacrifice. You offer the sacrifice. But sometimes the offering is given out of what you got. Out of the blessings. A sacrifice is given that you can't do away with. It costs you something. It's a cost. Not only is it a cost, but it's a cross. Jesus said this, if any man Well, come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily. You know what, Brother Ray? I have never seen, and I've not seen too many, but I've never read in history, I've never read in the Word of God, I've never there looked at pictures and seen people who were on a cross happy about it. You say, is the Christian life a drudge? I'm just trying to get you to the perfect will of God for your life. And understand this morning, sometimes we don't want to offer ourselves a living sacrifice because it'll cost us something. It may cost us our friends. It may cost us our family. It may cost us some finances. But not only that, a sacrifice is a casualty. A casualty. It's dead. It has no life anymore. When they presented the sacrifice there upon the altar, it was a dead animal. It had been slain. And when that animal had been slain, it lost all of its rights. It lost all of its desires. It lost all of its faculties. It lost all of its choices. And that's why we don't want to present our bodies a living sacrifice. And I'm going somewhere this morning. Not only this, let's look at, and this is not a word of mental capacity, okay? Let's look at the retarding. And the word retard means to delay. You have retarding brakes on diesel engines, it's jake brakes, okay? It retards the engines, okay? It's not a mental capacity that we're discussing this morning. We're using the word retarding as delay. Understand this today, we are in a mess in our Christian circles and in our churches and in our own individual lives because we are in a state of confusion because we cannot find the will of God for our lives. There's some of you that have been sitting in here that you've been saved for years. And if you were asked, not if I asked, but if you were asked this morning, what is the perfect will of God for your life? You'd say, I don't know. If I asked you this morning, are you as an individual living in the perfect will of God for your life? What would your answer be? Let's go back and look. Understand this, God's got a destiny for you. Go back to 1 Samuel chapter number 9. We preached the other day on looking for a donkey and finding a destiny. And God's got a destiny for you. And I'm not talking about heaven. You're saved, you're destined to go to heaven, okay? But God's got a perfect plan for your life and a perfect position and a perfect place for you and a perfect will. Do you really believe that? Well, we're just minions in God's army. Is that how we live our life? No. We have been bought with a price. We have been given the greatest gift that anybody could ever receive. And God has blessed you and I with more than we could ever imagine. And God's got a purpose for us. Now let's look this morning. Look what God's done for you. First of all, let's go back to Romans chapter number 9, and I'm not going to go back and preach Romans 8 about looking for a donkey but finding the destiny. But my first point, I want you to understand this today. Everybody listen to me. Your donkeys have been found. You got that? I got good news today, the donkeys have been found. You say, what do you mean, preacher? That that you've been pursuing all your life, God will take care of, if you'll just find his will. We're gonna say God will change you. See, we spend all of our life in pursuit of donkeys, trying to find a donkey. Trying to find that beast of burden. Trying to find that thing that will give us some self-fulfillment. But guess what? God's already found it. Your donkey has been found. And God's got a greater destiny for you. Now we see here this morning, what was his destiny? Well, we know this. They wanted a king. We know this. First of all, about this king, we know, as I said, that he went looking for donkeys, but he found a destiny. Now let's look at the mercies of God. Remember, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, and let's look at the mercies of God in this young man's life. Not only has his donkeys been found, but I want you to see this this morning. Look in chapter 9, verse number 15. And I'm talking about the mercies of God in mine and your life. Now the Lord had told Samuel in his ear a day before Saul came saying. You say, what is one of those mercies in my life? He's called a man of God. He's called a man of God. Sometime or another in your life, do you realize that God sent a man of God into your life to tell you the greatest story that you had ever told and let you know that your doggies has been found and that God's got a greater destiny for you? Not only was they a man of God, but there was a message that man of God had. And guess what? That message was from the Lord. Do you remember that? Do you remember the men of God, and I'm not talking about this man of God, but all throughout your life, the men of God, that God has let cross your path and that you might hear the greatest story ever told? Man, do you realize these people in this world that's never heard it one time and we've heard it thousands? The mercy of God? That God allowed us to hear the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. That God has allowed us to have men of God in our life to deliver to us the message of God, not the message of man. And understand this, this message that Samuel delivered unto Saul was a message of the Lord. And thank God for some men of God in our life that preached the whole counsel of the Word of God to us. That didn't say, 1, 2, 3, repeat after me. That didn't say, A, B, C, and you shall be. But He preached the Word of God to us. And there's no confusion about our salvation. There's no confusion about where we're going eternally. But God had enough mercy and enough care, or God had enough care and love for us that He used mercy in our life to put a man of God in there when we was a drunkard. Put a man of God in our life when we was a lost church member. Put a man of God in our life when we came from another country. Why? That we might hear the greatest story ever told? Sis, do you realize the mercy of God in your life? Allowed him to come, and allowed her to come. Become citizens of the United States of America, and you got to hear the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And you get to live in freedom, and you get to get an education. Thank God for Grandma there, but you don't have to go back to where Grandma was living. You realize the mercy of God? So often we forget of the goodness of God, but the mercies of God sending us a man and God sending us a message. But not only that, think about this. Look at the manifestation of God in our lives. Look in verse chapter number 10. Verse number 1, Then Samuel took a vial of oil and poured it upon his head, and kissed him, and said, Is it not because the Lord hath anointed thee to be captain over his inheritance? First of all, I want you to see the manifestation of God in this man's life by his choosing. And listen, I'm not Calvinist by no stretch form or imagination, all right? But Jesus did say this, you've not chosen me, but I've chosen you that you should go forth and bear much fruit. Amen? Thank God that he chose me to play on his team. Yes, he's chosen everybody else, whosoever will come and play, but thank God for the mercies of God in my life and his manifestation that he chose me to be part of his team. You ever thought about that? Notice the choosing. It is because the Lord hath anointed thee to be captain over his inheritance. God's got a purpose for your life. God's got a plan. Not only the choosing, look at this in verse number 6. We see the changing. And the Spirit of the Lord will come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them. Look, here's salvation. And shalt be turned into another man. Brother Bobby? What was you before you got saved? Is he one today? I asked Brother Bobby what he was before he got saved. He said a drunken sinner. I asked Miss Joan what he was today. Was he still one? She said no. You know why? Because it was a manifestation of the Spirit of God came into his life one day and changed him. Made him a new creature. Old things were passed away and behold, all things were become new. Made him a different man. Where was you? Before God changed your life. What were you before God made you a new man or a new woman? I'm just talking about the mercies of God. Oh, I deserve it. Really? No, you deserve to be in hell. There's none righteous. No, not one. There's none that doeth good. All seek their own, not the things which are Christ Jesus. None of us deserve it. It's the mercies of God that we are the way we are. Paul said, by the grace of God, I am what I am. Not only the manifestation of the mercy in His changing, but notice this. Notice here, the manifestation in His creating. And I know, I don't just use that verse, and all this happened at one time, understand. And it was so that, look in verse number nine, and it was so that when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, God gave him what? Another heart. Boy, y'all see salvation in these verses? That God changed him because he heard a message from the man of God, the man of God preached a message to him, and when he was obedient to the message of God, the manifestation of the Spirit of God came upon him, made him a new creature, put him on a different path, gave him a new destiny. Why? Well, one day he went looking for some donkeys. That's it. And God changed this man's life. You say, man, God done that for me. I'd serve him all my days. Really? Let's take a look in verse number 22. And I wondered why the Lord put this in here. Here, they gathered the people together. Samuel had caused them to come by tribes, called them to come by families. Let's look in verse number 20. And when Samuel had caused all the tribes of Israel to come near, the tribe of Benjamin was taken. When he had caused the tribe of Benjamin to come near by their families, the family of Matre was taken. And Saul, the son of Kish, was taken. And when they sought him, he could not be found. Therefore they inquired of the Lord further, If the man should yet come hither? And the Lord answered, Behold, he hath hid himself among the stuff." You say, preacher, what's your message this morning? What stuff are you hiding behind, keeping you out of the will of God for your life? What you hiding behind? You know you're not surrendered. You know that you've not presented your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God. The greatest destiny saw a hand, and he was hiding among the stuff when it came time. They had to go find him. I mean, Samuel came to present Him as King to the whole nation, and I mean, the greatest day! And they looked around and they couldn't find Him. God's perfect will for His life, and He couldn't be found. And where did they find Him? He's hiding among the stones. What stuff is it in your life that you're hiding with? Notice he didn't give specific details about what the stuff was. Because I'm just going to go ahead and tell you the stuff in your life ain't always the same stuff that's in my life. And the stuff in my wife's life is not always the same stuff that's in my daughter's life. But every one of us is hiding among the stuff when it comes to the perfect will of God for our life. And that is submitting ourselves wholly and acceptable unto Him. Where are you? Where's Saul? Where is he? God's anointed him to be king. We've seen God's mercies in his life. We've seen God's purpose for him. It's been revealed to him, but where is Saul? What is it in your life this morning? What stuff is in there that's keeping you from being found in the perfect will of God? We've all got it. What is it? I know what mine was. You know what's so bad about that stuff, Mr. Ray? Let me say this to you. There's a perfect will of God in position, okay? But there's also a perfect will of God in your personal walk. Remember, blessed is the man that walketh in the way of the Lord. And it's so such a struggle for me to stay in that perfect walk. And Brother Leo, it's not always gross sin. It's not alcohol. It's not adultery. It's not dope. It's not cussing. It's not this. But as I sat there this morning in my study, and I sat there yesterday, and I said, Lord, what's that stuff in my life? He began to pinpoint it. And my position hadn't changed. I'm still your pastor, and guess what? That's the perfect will of God for my life, in my position. I know that, okay? Because you can rest assured, if I didn't know it, I wouldn't be here. There's not enough money that you could have paid me. And I'll be honest with you, there's not enough money for you to pay me to leave. For me to go somewhere else. Why? Because it's the perfect will of God. My donkeys have been found. Are you listening to me? But as I sat there this morning, I was reminded of the stuff And I was reminded of the fears of the past that kept me from surrendering to the perfect will of God for my life. And guess what I was called to preach? What is it in your life? What is that stuff that's keeping you from presenting your body a living sacrifice? Some it's fear. Well, I just don't know how the Lord's going to do that. Sometimes it's fear of losing your fame. Sometimes it's fear of losing your fortune. What is it? What is that stuff that's keeping you out of the will of God? Oh, what I'm saved he was to." And we're going to see, he yielded. Let me say this, we're going to see as we go into this study, this is the launching pad of this study of Saul and David, because we'll see the difference in these two men's lives. One never fully accepted the will of God for his life. One was never surrendered because he was selfish. And one was fully surrendered and never exalted himself to any position, but let God exalt him in due time. I want to be that one after God's own heart. I don't want to be the one hiding behind the stuff. What stuff is it in your life that's keeping you out of the perfect will of God? I want Miss Evelyn to come play something softly this morning. The Holy Ghost doesn't put his finger on it in your life. I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies, they live in sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world, but be you transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. What are you hiding with? The Lord knows where you're at. God's got a destiny for you. And may I say this, there's a people that needs you just as there was a people that needed Saul that day. And guess what? This church needs you, and this community needs you, and your family needs you. But if you're hiding among the stuff, you cannot carry out the perfect will of God for your life. We're standing all over the house. But why should I surrender? Because of the mercies of God. Why should I lay it aside? There's some of you considering coming right now, but you know what? That stuff's keeping you. That stuff. What is that stuff? Stuff. Could be a job. Could be a family member. Could be finances. Could be a habit. Could be an addiction. Could be a weight or a sin. That's why it's stuff. Let me tell you something, young people. The greatest thing you'll ever do in your life is live in the perfect will of God. There's not an accolade, there's not an award, there's not a degree, there's not a piece of paper, there's not amount of money that will bring to you the fulfillment and the satisfaction of living in the perfect will of God. What's that stuff you're hiding with?