The Importance of Prayer In Making a Decision

II Samuel 2.1-7

David learned the hard way this truth of God, "Pray and seek direction from the LORD before heading out."

He had failed before by leaning on his own understanding. Remember?
1 Samuel 27:1-3 But David thought to himself, “One of these days I will be destroyed by the hand of Saul. The best thing I can do is to escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will give up searching for me anywhere in Israel, and I will slip out of his hand.” So David and the six hundred men with him left and went over to Achish son of Maok king of Gath. David and his men settled in Gath with Achish. Each man had his family with him, and David had his two wives: Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail of Carmel, the widow of Nabal.

It brought about temporary relief from Saul but with long term consequences that almost got David killed. It brought severe suffering to his men and their families as well as his family. Their families were kidnapped and had to be rescued. That decision put David in the enemy's camp.

Now, back on track, even after the opposition to David becoming King over Israel is out of the way, he pauses, prays and waits to hear from the LORD. He already had been anointed a decade before by Samuel. He is the rightful heir to the throne, but I love the way David waits upon the LORD for the go ahead to claim what is rightfully his.

He is showing wisdom, self restraint and putting God's Kingdom first.

He honored the grieving period for Saul and entered into it himself.

His move back to the Israel is an example of how we ought to be before any move or major decision.

1. Pausing is Necessary In Decision Making v.1
In the course of time
It came about afterwards

Never make a major decision in times of distress or in times of highly charged emotional swings, in times of anger and frustration or when you are exhausted. Interesting isn't it how we are tempted, sometimes sorely, to do just that!

In the course of time= Achar
after the following part, behind (of place), hinder, afterwards (of time)
behind (of place)
after that
hinder part

David didn't jump out ahead of the LORD.
How easy this is to do. We need to grow spiritually where we understand the timing of the LORD in our lives. Honoring His timing translates into waiting, pausing before heading out, even when we know what He wants.

David didn't lean on his own understanding.
He had experience, a bad experience in this area.
He sought the LORD to see if it was right to reenter the boundaries of the nation. He didn't seek Him in leaving but he has grown through suffering and is seeking Him on the way back in.

David knew the LORD was looking down from heaven and saw what he could not see. Moreover the LORD saw the hearts of the people. He sees everything.
In this time of information explosion we can easily lean on Google or our iPhones rather than seeking the LORD. Herein is a difference between knowledge and wisdom. We need to seek the LORD for wisdom to use the knowledge we have received from Him.

David didn't go with his own inclinations. He went to the LORD. He paused, honoring God, showing his men his devotion to his LORD.

David is letting the LORD bring him into the kingdom. He is not forcing it, rather is surrendered to God's time frame. He was a lot further along than many Christians. We so often want to know when and how and the LORD seldom tells us that! "How long O LORD?" is not answered in the Psalms. In Revelation the answer is: Wait a little longer.


2. Praying Is Key In Making A Decision. v.1a

He asked specific questions.

He had learned the truth of the song firsthand:
Oh what peace we often forfeit, Oh what needless pain we bear
All because we do not carry everything to God in prayer!

He even asked for the specific city.
We ought to be free to ask God for specifics and then expect a reply.

Now this is not like that idiot on TV who said, "When you ask God for a Rolls Royce be sure and tell him what color you want!"

Looking to heaven rather than looking at our circumstances.

Don't be afraid to get specific with the LORD. He is a God of details. He delights in taking us into His confidence.
Proverbs 3:32 For the Lord detests the perverse but takes the upright into His confidence.

Isn't that wonderful?!!! Don't you want a prayer life like that? Many times people tell us things in confidence. Lawyers, Doctors have patient/client confidentiality, but imagine being taken into the LORD's confidence, where He confides in you His plans! It is glorious!

He did this for David.
He will do this for you.
This is a benefit of walking in the light as He is in the light.
1 John 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin.
Psalm 119:105 Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light on my path.
The Word of God has told us so many things and sheds light on our light ad momentary problems.
His Spirit leads us.

3. Waiting for the LORD Is Necessary.

Sometimes He gives us the go ahead right away.

Abraham tried to help God out and go way ahead and created a conflict that is going on among his descendants to this day!

Sometimes the waiting is rough.

But it is always wise!!!

Think of these scriptures about waiting with a promise:
* Isaiah 40:31 Yet those who wait for the LordWill gain new strength;They will mount up with wings like eagles,They will run and not get tired,They will walk and not become weary.
*Psalm 27:14 Wait for the Lord;Be strong and let your heart take courage;Yes, wait for the Lord.
*Psalm 25:3 Indeed, none of those who wait for You will be ashamed.
*Psalm 33:20 Our soul waits for the Lord;He is our help and our shield.
Perhaps David wrote this during this time of the establishment of his rule:
*Psalm 40:1-3 I waited patiently for the Lord;And He inclined to me and heard my cry. He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay,And He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God;Many will see and fearAnd will trust in the Lord.
There are many more promises about waiting.

We are waiting ultimately for Christ to come.
2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.

When I was young I was impressed with the spectacular. As I get closer to eternity I am struck by those who have reflected the faithfulness of God in their lives. The people who have been dealt the toughest blows in life and remain firm in their faith, unmoved and at peace touch my heart deeply.

Among the miracles it has been my privilege to see it is these folks who stay with in my mind and heart. I admire their faith and trust in the LORD.

Prayer is so important in making a decision. When we couple it with the Word of God He will show us what to do, where to go.

I will wait, wait, wait on the LORD.
I will wait, wait, wait on the LORD.
Learn my lessons well
In His Timing He will tell me
Where to go, What to do, What to say!

A Wonderful Love

II Samuel 1:26 I grieve for you, Jonathan my brother; you were very dear to me. Your love for me was wonderful, more wonderful than that of women.


The fruit of the Spirit is love. His Spirit in our hearts produces love.
Jesus spoke about our love for one another as being the thing by which all men would know we are His disciples. It is God's plan for us to have His love growing in an increasing measure in our hearts.

In I Corinthians 13, Paul, the apostle, describes what love is.

Jesus demonstrated God's love for us. As God's Son He laid down His life for us to save us from our sins. He became the sacrifice for our sins.

Then we have all kinds of wonderful examples of that self sacrificing love in the Word of God. The relationship that existed between David and Saul's son Jonathan stands as a wonderful example of the love we ought to have for one another.

This morning we are going to look at this picture in God's Word of His love between two of His people, David, son of Jesse and Jonathan, Saul's son.

1. Brotherly Love
How good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell together in unity.
Psalm 133.1

The word friend in Hebrew is from the root word, raah, which means:
to pasture, tend, graze, feed, to shepherd, teacher,
of people as flock
shepherd, shepherdess

True friends watch over our souls... warn us about danger.
They nourish our minds and hearts.
They care about us.
They speak to our hearts.

Included in this wonderful love is that of Philadelphia.


2.A Love More Wonderful
to be pleasant, be beautiful, be sweet, be delightful, be lovely

Love here means:
human love for human object
of man toward man
of man toward himself
between man and woman love of wife towards her husband.
sexual desire
God's love to His people

There was great risk of personal danger in this relationship between Jonathan and David. Saul hated David and was trying to kill him. Jonathan was Saul's oldest son. Saul would look at this as treason. Jonathan was under a higher law of love.

Saul expressed concern and anger about this relationship.
1 Samuel 20:27-31 But the next day, the second day of the month, David’s place was empty again. Then Saul said to his son Jonathan, “Why hasn’t the son of Jesse come to the meal, either yesterday or today?” Jonathan answered, “David earnestly asked me for permission to go to Bethlehem. He said, ‘Let me go, because our family is observing a sacrifice in the town and my brother has ordered me to be there. If I have found favor in your eyes, let me get away to see my brothers.’ That is why he has not come to the king’s table.” Saul’s anger flared up at Jonathan and he said to him, “You son of a perverse and rebellious woman! Don’t I know that you have sided with the son of Jesse to your own shame and to the shame of the mother who bore you? As long as the son of Jesse lives on this earth, neither you nor your kingdom will be established. Now send someone to bring him to me, for he must die!”

1 Samuel 20:16-17, 42 So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, “May the Lord call David’s enemies to account.” And Jonathan had David reaffirm his oath out of love for him, because he loved him as he loved himself. Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, for we have sworn friendship with each other in the name of the Lord, saying, ‘The Lord is witness between you and me, and between your descendants and my descendants forever.’” Then David left, and Jonathan went back to the town.

This love was one of protection and wanting God's perfect will in one another's lives. Jonathan, by his love for David, was giving up his right to the throne of Israel. Jesus left heaven, His throne, to die on a cross for us. So we ought to give up our "rights" for one another. We are bond servants of the LORD Jesus Christ. We are our own.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.

Amazingly even before, far before Jesus came from heaven to earth, Jonathan and David got it! Their love for one another is what Christ desires for His church.

I pray we can grow in this love, strengthening the Body of Christ, building each other up.

Another facet of this love is

3. Being One In Spirit
1 Samuel 18:1-4 After David had finished talking with Saul, Jonathan became one in spirit with David, and he loved him as himself. From that day Saul kept David with him and did not let him return home to his family. And Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself. Jonathan took off the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his tunic, and even his sword, his bow and his belt.

The early church experienced this phenomena.
Acts 4:32 All the believers were one in heart and mind.

This results in a laying down our lives for each other, serving each other with joy. The most "devout" atheist cannot argue with this. How do you criticize love unless there is a Judas among us?
John 12:4-6 But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.” He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.
To those Jesus says about His Church, "Leave her alone. She is doing a beautiful thing."

1 Corinthians 1:10 I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought.

There are people we are compatible with.
This sense and experience can come to whole body of believers as it did in the church at Jerusalem in the first century. One heart, one mind, one spirit
Overlooking our differences, majoring on our common calling in Christ.

4. This Kind of Love Assures A Broken Heart For The One Who Gives It

C.S. Lewis
“To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable.”

David mourned the loss of a very close friend who from all appearances was closer to him than any of his 7 brothers.
I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan: David's mourning for Jonathan makes more sense to us. Jonathan was David's deep friend and partner in serving God.
Your love to me was wonderful, surpassing the love of women: We remember that David's own experience of love with women was not according to God's will. His multiple marriages kept him from God's ideal: one man and one woman in a one-flesh relationship.
They had a deep, godly love for each other - but not a sexual love. Our present world has a hard time believing that love can be deep and real without it having a sexual aspect.

5. Heartbroken but Changed
So the plans David and Jonathan made never came to full fruition. ..they planned to work together. Jonathan died a young man as a result of his father's sin. Yes, our sin can effect our children.

David, who had endured a decade of hell being hunted by Saul was now without his arch enemy but he was also without his dear close friend and brother.

God can use pain and loneliness in your life to soften your heart and make you more like Him. Experiences of emotional pain can result in us being more like Jesus.

A wonderful love is born many times out of pain. So it is with each child born into this world. So it is with each child of God in His Kingdom.

David went onto to become Israel's most beloved King. The trials and suffering he went through gave him a tender heart. They made him sensitive to all in need. They have a way of killing the ugliness in our hearts and in its place giving us something wonderfully Christlike.


I Thessalonians4.9 Now about your love for one another we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other. 10 And in fact, you do love all of God’s family throughout Macedonia. Yet we urge you, brothers and sisters, to do so more and more,
I Thessalonians 3.12 May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you. 13 May He strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all His holy ones.

What To Do When Your Back Is Against The Wall

1 Samuel 30:6 David was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him; each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the Lord his God.


greatly -with force
distressed
to bind, be distressed, be in distress, be cramped, be narrow, be scant, be in straits, make narrow, cause distress, besiege

found strength
Outline of Biblical Usage:
to strengthen, prevail, harden, be strong, become strong, be courageous, be firm, grow firm, be resolute, be sore, grow strong, be secure
to press, be urgent, to grow stout, grow rigid, to be severe, be grievous
to restore to strength, sustain, encourage, make bold, encourage, to support
to repair, to have or take or keep hold of, retain, to hold, contain, to withstand
to hold strongly with



Last week we looked at David's failure of faith. This morning we look at his faith and spirit restored. It came through a horrible trial. Different than we think, isn't it? We think God if You will display your power people will believe, those who had believed will put their hope back in You. Oft times it is excruciating pain that the LORD works through, when we turn to Him for help.

It is always interesting to me how a crisis can bring us back to our spiritual senses. This time it was kidnapping and a death threat by his own men! This seemed to wake David up for the need of prayer. Even in depression a crisis can help shake us out.

The turn of events here is incredible!
David was being trained in what it means to be a leader in God's kingdom. His heart was being broken to the point where he realized all he had was God!

I love that phrase, "All he had was God." That is the biggest understatement one can make! If you have Him you have everything! If you do not have Him you have nothing!

I am thankful for those times of need in my life when the LORD shows me All I have is Him. Who do I have in heaven but You? They usually are far from pleasant times but they do put life and eternal life into perspective. Those moments when all human help fails ad when your back is against the wall can be times of wonderful fellowship with Jesus, the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings! (Philippians 3.10-12)

So what do you do if your back is against the wall?
Perhaps it is a relationship, or a financial setback, maybe a threat or when people are disappointed in you to a point of bringing you to despair. Maybe it is in over commitment or a wrong commitment. It can be from exhaustion or where the floods have come in to trapping you. It can be in people opposing you from doing God's will. You may be exhausted from weeping like David and his men were.
There are a number of situations where you can have this feeling or it can be described as having your back against the wall. No where to turn.

First...
1. Do Not Look for Human Help
When we reach the end of our hoarded resources...

David had learned his lesson. No more reliance on human help.
Psalm 60:11 Give us aid against the enemy, for human help is worthless.
Human help is unreliable.
Human help is severely limited.
Human help is sometimes fickle.
Human help is not always available. No one works 24-7

Those who depend on human help are always ultimately disappointed. We expect too much from people if we expect them to come through for us all the time. We all fall short. No One understands like Jesus.

We are not to be isolationists! But there are times when we must stand alone, all alone.
2 Timothy 4:16-18 At my first defense, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them. But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. And I was delivered from the lion’s mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

When our back is against the wall we often have to keep our mouths shut. We have to look to the LORD only.

David remembered the LORD in the time of his affliction. He didn't allow the negative comments and the criticisms or even the possibility of being stoned to pull him into despair. He found strength in the LORD! We need to do the same.

The next thing follows naturally... If we aren't going to get human help we must

2. Pray
David sought out Abitthiar the Priest. He had him bring the ephod. David was talking to heaven. He was inquiring of God.
First I believe he praised Him! Look at the Psalms. In the midst of disaster he give thanks. Psalm 57

He prayed. Had he done this before he could have avoided this whole nasty chapter. He thought to himself... now he understood where that got him!
We are like that at times. We learn our lessons the hard way.

If David had prayed silently rather than thinking to himself:
One day Saul is going to get me
The best I can do is...
Our best is nit worth comparing with God's!

Oh what needless pain we bear all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer!


3. Find out what God's Will is. v.7
Ask the LORD outright.
Come boldly.
Expect an answer.


4. Let Him Strengthen You v.8
He will.
Waiting is the key.
Isaiah 40.31
Psalm 27.14

The circumstances had not changed but the Word he received from the LORD changed him! That is often who God wants to change... you, your heart.
David's heart had peace. God was giving him strength.

Far too often God is wanting to bless us and we are like Jacob, wrestling with the LORD, fighting His will. Let Him do the work within you. Surrender the urgent and "must have" to Him and His will.

In the Day of Distress, when your back is against the wall, encourage yourself in the LORD!

All is well in the heart of the one who has the Word of the LORD.
Do not let your heart be troubled.
Wait for the LORD.
He will strengthen you.
He will be will you.



5. Get Back in the Battle to Win! vs.16-20

David recovered ever thing and everyone.

Then he shared the spoils!

We are more than conquerors!

Let's go!!!

Avoiding Being Pressured Into A Bad Decision

I Samuel 27.1

David's situation was serious.
These were tough times in the Kingdom of God. We are facing them today.

He had some very close calls. A few times he shook hands with death.

His thinking was partly correct but it was devoid of a taking into account God's intervention and power. He had temporarily forgotten what God had done. He forgot the Promises of God. We get into trouble in our thinking when we come to that place. We need to be continually immersed in God's Word, His Promises. Those who are stand firm. Those who are not struggle.

The place where he left for was an arch enemy of Israel. He ended up in the enemy's camp! Focusing in on our problems apart from the LORD can do that. It can land us in the worst of places.

David ended being correct on how Saul would respond but the ends does not justify the means.

G. Campbell Morgan wrote, " And who can wonder at, or blame him? Long and weary indeed had been the period of suffering." Yet he was wrong.
Zwi Gafni, "There has been enough blood shed already. Enough. I'm tired of the fighting."

He was going through some depression. The Psalms he wrote during this time:
Psalm 10:1 Why, Lord, do you stand far off?Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?
Psalm 13:1-2 How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever?How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and day after day have sorrow in my heart?How long will my enemy triumph over me?
Psalm 22:1-2 My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish? My God, I cry out by day, but You do not answer, by night, but I find no rest.

David was anxious, felt his prayers were not getting through, felt God was far away and
was suffering from insomnia. All signs of depression.

There were reasons for David's depression.
Saul was being eaten alive with jealousy of him and was trying to kill him.
The whole army of Israel was under commands of Saul, particularly the elite forces to hunt him down.
There were traitors, like Doeg, ready to betray David into Saul's hands.
A whole town he rescued was going to give him and his men over if he remained.
1 Samuel 23:14 David stayed in the wilderness strongholds and in the hills of the Desert of Ziph. Day after day Saul searched for him, but God did not give David into his hands.

To avoid making David's mistake we must ask for wisdom, trust in the LORD, be willing to wait for direction from Him, think and ask God to open our eyes.

We can tell when we are being pressured into a bad decision. We have an uneasy feeling in our heart and mind. We can see people who are doing the pressuring being mad at us if we do not choose their way (these folks are generally pretty crafty and also may have deep sin they are struggling with in their own lives). This can especially happen when we are in a transitional place.

When a man is in a false position, no matter how strenuously he may desire to be true to the Divine Purpose, he is inevitably in grave danger of violating some fundamental principle of his loyalty. Here he is with Goliath's people, the ones as a younger man he had fought against.

1. Do Not Lean On Your Understanding.
The China Inland Mission would have been launched if Hudson Taylor would have made it according to money... And that is true of many mission movements.

Trusting the LORD is relatively easy when there is no pressure... Lots of advice come from those who do not understand this... More about that in a moment.

Do not rely on your wit.
Do not try to assess tense situations without God. Proverbs 16.3
Do not make major decisions under pressure.
Do not listen to the crowd.

Remember that when you worn out, afraid and under stress major decisions need to be avoided.

In his heart
1 Samuel 27:1 And David said in his heart, “Now I shall perish someday by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape to the land of the Philistines; and Saul will despair of me, to seek me anymore in any part of Israel. So I shall escape out of his hand.”
The guarding of our hearts includes bringing everything to God in prayer. David failed to do this. He came up with plan out of fear. It resulted in much anguish, causing him to sin. It brought idolatry back to Israel.

It seems that he forgot temporarily about how the LORD enabled Him to defeat Goliath. Interesting the Philistines didn't forget! Nearly 10 years had passed. We must remember or we will fall into despair.

2. Never Settle For The "Best Thing" When It Is A Bad Thing.
The decision by David had him in enemy territory, wiping out whole towns and worried that the Philistines would find out. He had to lie. He had to make it sound like he was fighting against Israel. He had to wipe out whole towns lest word got back to the Philistines of what he was up to. This resulted in the deaths of innocent women and children.

When we lean on our own understanding we severely limit our options.
Psalm 27.14

As we said there is no record of David praying here.
Where is the ephod? Why not a discussion with the son of Ahimilech?
We cannot back up what he is doing with scripture.

How different from this account a few chapters earlier: I Samuel 23.1-14

I wonder what God's plan would have been.

3. Never Let The Means Justify The Ends In God's Kingdom.

Just because this worked (v.4) does not mean it was right.
Just because churches have large numbers of people coming do not mean God is blessing them.
Just because people have a lot of money does not mean God is blessing them.
Just because we have not had another terrorist attack does not mean God is pleased with America.

4. Look To The LORD. Seek His Face Always.

Pray about everything.
Ask God for wisdom.
Do your Homework. We don't disengage our brains when we follow Christ.
We do trust Him explicitly, even when it does not make sense.
Yet at your Word...
Luke 5:5 Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”
Luke 5:5 And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net.

Tahgba

John 6:5-7 When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do. Philip answered him, “It would take more than half a year’s wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!”
Neither made sense but on both occasions they had the instructions of the LORD Jesus.
Feeding of the 5,000
Letting down of the nets John 21 very similar to Luke 5 in Capernaum...


We are human.
We are subject to sin in our thinking..." The renewal of our minds"
This was part of David having blood on his own hands.(vs. 8-12)
God forgives.
We are to aim for perfection (good reasons for that!)

Let's take the life lessons from David. Let's be on our guard. Let's not be pressured into a bad decision.

Ephesians 5:15-17 Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.

A Tribute To Pastor Chuck Smith

Early this morning, a servant of God, a dear man, Chuck Smith, went to be with the LORD. Although we only spoke personally a few times he had such an enormous on my life and ministry.

From the way he handled his money and oversaw the church's to the practice of going through the whole Bible with his congregation I learned from him and had reinforced what I had been taught in my growing up years.

Both he and I grew up in the church. I so related to his early struggles in ministry. I listened to his tapes, read his books and heard him speak for a number of years at the East Coast Pastor's Conference.

I often had said that Billy Graham is an example of a evangelist, Bob Pierce, a missionary and Chuck Smith, a pastor.

Only eternity will reveal the influence he has had and will continue to have on the world and the Body of Christ throughout it. From funding the smuggling in of Bibles to China with Brother Andrew in the 1980's to the building of a baptismal site on the Jordan River in Israel to officiating at Corrie Ten Boom's funeral this man quietly went about the work of the Kingdom of God without any fanfare. I was told about all the aforementioned things by others, never hear about them by Chuck.

His wife Kay read a book about Hudson Taylor some years ago and when she finished she said, "Chuck, this is you!" My friend, Bud Smith, who pastored the Evangelical Free church in Burbank, California had Chuck come and speak at his church back in the 1970's when Calvary Chapel was coming into national attention. He was asked the "secret' to his success. He replied, "It is the LORD."

He is in heaven this evening.

Some time ago he said, "Someday you may read in the newspaper that Chuck Smith has died. Don't you believe it! Accurate reporting would say 'Chuck Smith has moved!' Out of a worn out tent into a glorious body like Jesus has. No more groaning, no more pain, no more suffering. Just perfect fellowship with the LORD forever.

The memory of the righteous will be a blessing.