2 Samuel chapter 1, verse number 1. It came even to pass on the third day that, behold, a man came out of the camp from Saul with his clothes wren and earth upon his head. And so it was when he came to David that he fell to the earth and did obeisance. And David said to him, From whence comest thou? And he said unto him, Out of the camp of Israel am I escaped. And David said unto him, How went the matter? I pray thee, tell me. And he answered, That the people are fled from the battle, and many of the people also were fallen and dead. And Saul and Jonathan, his son, are dead also. And David said unto the young man that told him, How knowest thou that Saul and Jonathan, his son, be dead? And the young man that told him said, As I happened by chance upon Mount Gilboa, behold, Saul leaned upon his spear, and lo, the chariots and horsemen followed hard after him. And when he looked behind him, he saw me and called unto me, and I answered, Here am I. And he said unto me, Who art thou? And I answered him, I am an Amalepicot. And he said unto me again, stand I pray thee upon me and slay me for anguish has come upon me because my life is yet whole in me. So I stood upon him and slew him because I was sure that he could not live after that he was fallen. And I took the crown that was upon his head and the bracelet that was on his arm and it brought him hither unto my Lord. Then David took hold on his clothes and rent them and likewise all the men that were with him. And they mourned, and wept, and fasted until evening for Saul, and for Jonathan his son, and for the people of the Lord, and for the house of Israel, because they were fallen by the sword. Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Lord, we thank you, my Heavenly Father, for this day. Father, I just thank you for loving me. And Father, I want to thank you for your faithfulness to me, Lord. And God, I ask that you'd help us tonight, Lord. Father, we know that without you, we can do nothing. I ask, Heavenly Father, that you'd touch us, that you'd give us liberty to preach tonight, Lord. Father, I ask that you'd bring back to my mind, Lord, the things that you've shown me, Lord. I ask that you'd guide my tongue, give me the very words that you'd have to be spoken tonight, Father. And I ask you, Heavenly Father, that you would just take the truth of your word and touch the hearts of your people, that thy perfect will be done in each and every heart and life that's here. For it's in Jesus' name we pray, amen. Now, here's what we're gonna have to do. I'm gonna give you a quick summary of 1 Samuel, just to kind of give you some background of what's taking place. God has anointed Saul to be king. And so here's his king, and God tells him to go down to the Amalekites and to utterly destroy all that they have, to spare them not, just destroy everything. And in chapter 15, 1 Samuel, here's what Saul does. He saves King Agag. He saves their king and the best of the livestock. the sheep and their herd, he saves and keeps for himself. And so because of that, God is angry. He rejects him. And so he tells Samuel, the prophet, hey, I'm going to raise up another king. And I'm just putting this in my words, so to speak. And so he tells him, I want you to go down to the house of Jesse, and you're going to find there one that I want you to anoint that's going to be the next king. And he goes down, and that's where he anoints David. And so when Saul finds out that David's going to be king, that he's anointed, Saul wants to kill him. And so we spend some time that David is fleeing from Saul, he's hiding from him. Saul wants to kill him, but David won't touch him because it's God's man. And so over the course of time, Saul and the armies of Israel, they've gone to fight the Philistines. During this time, David and his men, they went to fight the Amalekites. Remember at Ziklag, while they're gone, the Amalekites come down, they take all the men, their wives, their children, they take everything and they flee. And so David and his men have gone to Amalek, to Amalekites, and they fought them to get their stuff back. Saul and Israel, they went to fight the Philistines. Now, look at chapter 31 of 1 Samuel, just right there on the opposite page. Look at verse number 3. And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers hid him, and he was sore wounded of the archers. Then Saul said unto his armor-bearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith, lest his uncircumcised come, and thrust me through, and abuse me. But his armor-bearer would not, for he was sore afraid. Therefore Saul took a sword, and fell upon it. And when his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he fell likewise upon his sword, and died with him. So here's what has actually happened. Saul is afraid. He's wounded. The archers have hit him. He does not want the enemy to get him and abuse him, to torture him, so to speak. And so he tells his armor, I want you to kill me. And he refuses to do it, and so Saul takes his own life. Now, when we get to 2 Samuel chapter 1, that's not the story that's told David. Here's what we're going to do tonight, My heart for this is toward the young people. And so, young people, it is very important that you follow with me. And when I make the application, it's going to make sense to you. But we're going to look at the man in the deceiving, this Amal Mekat, his motive for the deception, and then his method. And then I'm going to give you the application from it, and we'll be done. But here's, what do we know about this man that has come to deceive David? Here's what we know from verse number eight and verse number 13. He is an Amalekite. Now all through the Bible, you know what those were? They were God's enemy. They're the ones that when Israel, remember when Moses was standing on the mount and Aaron and her holding his hands up and Josh was down the valley fighting? That's who they were fighting, the Amalekites. They were the people, as I just mentioned, that went to Ziklag and just took all David's stuff. And so this man that is coming to David, he is the enemy. You need to understand that he is the enemy and he has a knowledge of who David is. Why is he bringing David a crown? Because he knows that David is to be the new king. Why else would he bring the crown to him? He's bringing the crown and Saul's bracelet. He knows that David's gonna be the king. He knows where to find David. We don't read where he wandered around for 30 days. I mean, within three days after the battle, it says on the pass on the third day, this man's coming into the camp. He knows where to find David. He knows that David desires to be the king. David's tired of running and hiding from Saul. David wants to be king. God's will for his life is to be king. So the enemy knows all this stuff about David. What does David know about the enemy? He don't know anything. Notice what he's telling him, verse 13. And David said to the young man, told him, whence art thou? In other words, who are you? The enemy knows all this stuff about David, but David knows he doesn't know anything about the enemy. Here's what I want you to grasp and hang on to this truth here. The enemy is coming to David and he's going to give David something that he desires. David wants to be king. That is the next step of his life. He's anointed king. When Saul dies, he's gonna be king. It is natural for him. That is the next step. There's the enemy coming. He's presenting to David something that in David's heart, he wants. Y'all following with me so far? That is the next phase of David's life. Why is this man, why is the enemy coming to David and saying, hey, here's the crown and the bracelet? What is his motive for doing that? Look at chapter 4, verse number 10. And I won't read the whole story when David's... Verse number 10. Here's the enemy coming to David, giving him what he desires in his heart, and what's he wanting? He's wanting to profit from it. He wants something in return for what he's given David. He wants to use David for his own personal benefit. Do you think an Amalekite really cares who the king of Israel is? I mean, think about it. They're the enemy. He doesn't care if Saul's king. He doesn't care if David's king. His whole motive for this is he wants to profit from it. He wants something for himself out of this. Whether it be financial, whether it be thinking David might give him a position, whatever it may be, he is coming to David because he wants a reward. Notice this. The enemy, this Amalekite, is going to prey on David's ignorance. The battle's over. It's been three days. David doesn't know anything. David doesn't have a cell phone that Fox News pops up breaking news. They don't sit at home at night and just run across the bottom of the sea of the battle. Saul's been defeated in battle. They don't have that. They have to wait till they hear news. And it didn't travel very fast. So the enemy knows that David is ignorant of everything that's taken place. The enemy's going to pretend to care about the things David cares about. When he shows up to David, how's he dressed? Look at verse number two. And it came to pass on the third day that, behold, a man came out of the camp of Saul with his clothes rent and earth upon his head. Now, when David and... Here's what they did. When they were sorrowful, bad news, They would rend their garments, they would tear them, and they would put dirt on their head. You're thinking, why? I don't know. I'm glad we don't do it today, or most of it would be dressed in rags and be a hole in the backyard size of a Volkswagen. I mean, it's just what they did then. We don't do that now. But he shows up to David, and he tells him, and his clothes are in, he's got earth on his head. And when David and his men find, what did they do? They rend their clothes. He shows up to David. He's the enemy. But when he comes to David, you know what? He's giving the appearance of, hey, I'm upset about this just like you are. You're grieved. You're grieved over what happened to Saul, and I am too. He gives the appearance that he's fighting the enemy. Notice what he says in the latter part of verse three. When David said, whence comest thou? He said, out of the camp of Israel am I escaped. The implication is that he just came from the battle. He's preying on David's ignorance and he's trying to look like that he's just a good old guy. Why lie? I mean, here's what he's telling David, that I killed the king. Why? If you're wanting a reward for giving David the crown, why do you have to tell the lie? Why could he have just came into the camp, said, David, here, I believe this belongs to you, and gives him the crown? Why does he want to go through this big lie? He could have got a reward without it. He don't even know what's happened to Saul. He's just ran across him. He has to tell David something. And so he comes up with this story trying to portray that he's a man of character. Here's Saul that called to him, and I submitted to Saul. I did what he asked me to do. Hey, I was in battle with him. I mean, even when he comes to David, he does obeisance to him. By the story he's telling, here's what he's trying to do, is show David, hey, I'm a good guy. I'm a good guy, and I'm trying to help. I did what I was asked to do. And here's the crown. It belongs to you. Now, here's the application I want you to understand from this. Young people, here's what I want you to lay hold of. There are things in life that you desire and it is natural for you to desire them. To be loved, to have a future spouse. There's not one young person that are sitting here that at some point in your life you don't want somebody to look across the table from you and just look in your eyes and say, I love you, I'd like to spend my life with you. That is natural. That is just a natural desire. It is a natural desire for you to want to have a friend. To have somebody that you can just allow into your life to be close to, to help share your burdens and help encourage you. That is natural. Marriage, all those things, that is for many of us, that is the next phase of your life. That is the next step. It is natural for you to desire that. To be appreciated. Young or old, there's everybody like somebody say, man, I just really appreciate what you're doing. That is it. We desire to hear those things. But here's my question. How do you know if it's real or not? Here's this enemy coming to David. He's telling David what David desires. He's going to give David what he desires. But his motive is he wants something in return from him. When people tell you they appreciate you, do they really or they want something in return? If I tell Brother Brian, Brother Brian, I appreciate you, your work on the van rail, sacrificing your Saturdays, going to visit those kids, getting up early on Sunday morning and run the van to pick them up, I really appreciate you doing that. Is that real because I really appreciate it or am I telling that for a reward? Am I telling him that because I want to make sure that my Saturdays are furry and I don't have to get up early on Sunday morning and come out here? Y'all follow what I'm saying? Sometimes what you're hearing is not the true motive. Here's my question. How do you know it's just not the enemy giving you what you desire and he's really setting you up so he can take something from you? How do you know it's just not part of a plan of deception? Girls, how do you know when there's just some guy that seems to be interested in everything that you're interested in? I mean, he just comes across, he's just a good guy. How do you know when he says, I love you, that he really does, or he's just wanting to profit from you? How do you know he's telling you what's true? Or is he just telling you because he knows that's what you want to hear? And so I'm going to tell you that and then I'm going to profit from it later. Boys, how do you know this? Flip the scenario. How do you know some young girl said, man, I love you. I've been watching you my whole life and you're just now noticing me. How do you know it's real? They're just not trying to set you up to profit off you. This person that you're wanting to have is a friend. And they're saying all the right things. Is it really somebody that is wanting to be your friend or are they just wanting to profit off of you? To help themselves at your expense? Guys, there are people and their lives have been destroyed because they have let somebody that they thought was a good person and really they were the enemy. and they have listened to them. They have listened and they have told them exactly what they wanted to hear for the sole purpose that they want to profit from it. And their lives have been destroyed. Did this Amalekite profit from David? Notice, look at chapter 1 verse number 13. And David said unto the young man that told him, Whence art thou? And he said, I am the son of a stranger, an Amalekite. And David said unto him, How ist thou not afraid to stretch forth thine hand to destroy the Lord's anointed? And David called one of the young men and said, Go near and fall upon him. And he smote him that he died. Here's the enemy. He comes to David thinking, I'm going to give you what you desire, and I'm going to profit from it. Didn't work out that way for him, did it? Now David was ignorant. David didn't know even who this man was. What was the sign that made David realize this is the enemy? This is not somebody that I can trust. Look at the latter part of verse 14. How was I not afraid to stretch forth thine hand to destroy the Lord's anointed? He watched how he treated anointed things, and here's what he realized. He's not what he says he is. Young people, you know how you're going to be able to make sure in life that you don't get yoked up with somebody, with the enemy that's telling you what you desire to hear for the purpose that they can profit off you? You know how you're going to make sure that you don't get in an unequal yoke? You watch what people do with anointed things. Now, there are some things that God has anointed, that he has set apart. The first thing you think of, and I'm not gonna give you scripturally, is Jesus. He's the anointed one. The person that is coming to you and they're telling you all the right things and they're looking the part, let me ask you this, what have they done with Jesus? What have they done with him? Is it wise for a believer to get yoked up with somebody that is lost? It's for an unbeliever. Can two walk together except they be agreed? Young people, let me tell you this. Save people, marry saved people. Save people, have saved friends. Now, you may have some acquaintances that aren't, but the people that you're closest to, that you allow in your inner circle, so to speak, they better be saved people. Evil communications corrupt good manners. Who you run with, the pastor says it all the time, is who you're going to be in a few years. You want to make sure that you're... Don't be somebody's reward. Don't be somebody's victim. Here's what you need to do. Imagine, how do they treat anointing things? What have they done with Christ? And if they are an unbeliever, don't get mixed up with them. Leave them alone. How about the man of God? Contrary to what a lot of people think, you need a pastor. That's how God set it up. God has placed somebody in your life to watch for your soul. That's how he set it up. That's how it's supposed to be. When somebody comes to you and you think, that's the person. They're saying all the right things. They're saying they love me. They're saying they want to be my friend. Whatever it may be, they're saying everything. They look the part. Watch how they interact with the man of God. Do they respect and honor him? Do they listen to his message? Do they mock and ridicule him? See, all these things, these are telltale signs to you to see how they're handling anointed things to let you know if this is somebody that you need to listen to, somebody you need to be involved with. If somebody's not respectful for the office of the pastor, let me tell you, leave them alone. If that person thinks the preacher's just meddling, hey, nobody's going to tell me what to do and how to live my life, get away from them. Why? Because they will profit off you, and they will destroy you. How about the altar? The altar is a place that's just been set apart for us to do business with God. Hey, it was on the altar that God saved my soul. It is on the altar that I have to come and repent and get right with God. It was on the altar that I surrendered my life for service. It's on the altar right over here where I dedicated my children to the Lord when they were babies. It's where I come to find help in my time of need. The altar is something special. If you want to keep from getting an unequal yoke, watch what people do with the altar. Do they use it? Girls, I would be very hesitant about getting involved with a man who never went to the altar. Because here's what that tells me. Either God is not speaking to him, or he's unwilling to repent. Guys, I'd do the same thing. You find yourself that special woman and she's telling you everything you want to hear and you watch her life and she never goes to the altar. She's never got nothing to repent of. She never goes to the altar. God's never speaking to her heart and challenging her life. Get away from her. Do they belittle it? You know there's a lot of people that just make fun of the altar. Somebody belittles a place that's been set apart for God's people to do business with God, get away from them. Watch how people interact with anointed things. And that's your safeguard to keep from being deceived. How about the church? Now we understand the church is a body of believers, but here's a place that's been set aside for us to come and worship God. Somebody comes to you and they're saying, hey, you're the one for me. You're the one that I want to spend my life with. Hey, me and you are going to be best friends. Just fill in the blank with whatever you're desiring. And they're telling you everything you want to hear. And they're looking the part. Watch what they do with the house of God. Are they faithful to it? When the doors are open, are they there? Do you want to be with someone that's unfaithful to the house of God? Here's how this works. Your actions reveal what has your heart. You're unfaithful to the house of God. Here's what everybody knows. Something else has your heart. Now, why would you want a husband that something besides God has his heart? Because whatever has his heart, guess what he's going to do? He's going to instill his love in the hearts of your children. And it's going to get their heart. Why would you want a home lockout? Meanwhile, why would you want a wife that doesn't want to go to church? I'm telling you, watch what people do. How they handle anointed things. Why would you want a friend that's trying to get you to miss church instead of be faithful to it? I mean, if the church is something that's anointed, that God has set apart, and you've got somebody that you think is your best friend, but they're continuing to say, hey, let's not go to prayer tonight. Hey, let's skip church. Let's do this instead of that. Get away from them. Because they are going to lead you astray. Not only are they a faithful church, do they support it? Listen, it's great to be faithful. It's required in Seward's letter by any man faithful. But if all anybody in this church ever did was come in here and sit on the pews on Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday, what would we have? We'd have a church like 90% of them around here. Watch what people do if they're involved. I was thinking last night, we had school last night. I don't know, I think we had 30 something people here. And here's one else, we had a lot of our young people, but we had a lot of adults. And here's what the message was being sent to our young people, those adults being there. By their example, here's what they're telling these young people, what's going on here is important. What's going on here is worthy of my time. They're showing those young people that they're interested in the things of God. Here's what they're doing. They're supporting the work of the church. Guys, you don't want to marry some woman that in your heart is you want to be involved in the things of God. Girls the same way. Your heart, you want to be involved in the things of God. You want to serve God and give your life to it. What's going to happen if you get yoked up with somebody who don't really care? All he wants to do is come to church and go home. What's that going to do to you spiritually? It's going to destroy you. Yoke up with people that have a desire to serve God, that want to support the work of the Lord, that are faithful to the church and involved in everything that goes on. The scriptures. Watch what they do with the word of God. This person that's coming to you and saying all the right things and telling you exactly what you want to hear, do they read the Bible? Do they respect the Word of God? Do they recognize that it's God's Word and it's not just another book? Do you want to be with somebody that has a very limited knowledge of the Word of God? Ladies, I hope when you get married you want to have a godly home. I hope that is desire of your heart that you won't have a godly home. If you're going to have that, here's what you've got to have. You've got to have a godly husband. Do you know how a young man is going to know how to be godly? By the Word of God. The man that doesn't read his Bible and has no knowledge of the Word of God, how's he going to lead your home in the right direction? He's not going to be able to. Man, you're going to go off to work one day and you're going to leave your precious children with your wife hoping that she's going to instill scriptural principles in their heart to make decisions. Teach them the Word of God. If she doesn't know anything, can she do that? These are things you need to think about. Do you want to be with somebody that doesn't obey the Word of God? I mean, do you want to have a friend who just willingly disobeys the Word of God? He steals and he knows the Bible says he shouldn't steal. Here's what you'd say. No, I don't want to have a friend that's going to steal and do those things. Well, the Bible says come out from among them and be separate. The man that knows to separate and refuse to do it, is he any different than the man that knows not to steal and steals? Young people, you've got to be wise because the enemy has a target on your back, and he knows more about you. You're not even paying any attention to him. But he's knowing everything about you, and he's going to come to you, and he's going to look the part, and he's going to look like he's interested in the things you're interested in, and he's going to promise you, want to give you the desires of your heart. And the whole time, you know what he's wanting to do? He's wanting to profit from you. Your safeguard is watching how they handle anointed things. When this Amalekite told David, I slew the king, and David says, what? Let me just read it. Verse 14, how was not thou afraid to stretch forth thine hand to destroy the Lord's anointed? You know why he destroyed Saul? No fear of God, no reverence for God-appointed authority. And when David recognized how he handled anointed things, what did David do? He got him out of his life. He killed him. Young people, here's what I want to tell you tonight. Let me say this too. Let me tell you something else that's anointing that you need to watch. How they interact with the saints. The person that you're wanting to Be your best friend or marry whoever it may be. How they interact with God's people. Do they like being around God's people or does it make them uncomfortable. Here's what everybody always says as far as your family. Bring them around the family and let us see what we think. Here's what they're wanting to do. They're wanting to see how they interact. Here's what a man said to me one time. We was talking about the church, and he said, blood's thicker than water. In other words, here's what he's saying. Hey, your physical family comes first. Here's what I told him. Blood is thicker than water, but you're looking at the wrong blood. You know what? You're my family. Now, is every family perfect? No. Does family have problems? Yes. Does every family have that one that just grates on your nerves and just Makes you crazy sometimes. Absolutely. But you know what? Nobody talks about family. You can say what you want to and you can think how you feel, but nobody else talks about family. You need to watch when you get around these people, watch how they interact with your family. We're your family. I have physical family that have never even met my children. They know absolutely nothing about them. But y'all have seen them four or five times a week for the past 20 years. Listen, this church is a family. And if you're thinking about yoking up with somebody and they don't like your family, get away from them. Get rid of them. Here's all I'm saying tonight. Young people, I don't want to see the enemy profit from you. I don't. And they're going to come to you, and they're going to promise you what your heart desires. And you're just desiring something? That's natural. Was it not natural for David to desire to be king? That's the next step of his life. The enemy knows that, and the enemy's coming. And your safeguard to keep from being deceived is to watch. Watch how they interact with anointed things, because that's going to truly reveal to you what kind of person they really are. Let's bow our heads tonight. Somebody wants to come to the minute. I don't know if God spoke to your heart tonight. Here's all I wanted to do tonight was I want to warn our young people. I don't want to see them victims. I want to see God make champions out of them. If God spoke to your heart in any way that you need to come pray, you come do business with God.