I believe that today peer pressure is at an unprecedented level that most of us have not witnessed or had to deal with in our adult lifetime. this peer pressure is especially projected at our children, teenagers, and young adults. it causes many of us to worry about earthly things and puts our focus on being accepted by friends, contemporaries, coworkers, fellow students, and the list goes on. BUT we must set aside our earthly throne, and ensure that we Surrender our will to a heavenly throne.

Matthew 6:31-34, (31) therefore do not worry, saying, ‘what shall we eat?’ or ‘what shall we drink?’ or ‘what shall we wear?’ (V32) for after all these things the pagans seek. for your heavenly father knows that you need all these things. (v33) but seek first the kingdom of god and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. (34) THEREFORE, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

In verse 33, it says, but seek first the kingdom of god and his righteousness. jesus is urging us to seek salvation, and with it would come the full care and provision of god. in spiritual matters, we can fool ourselves and think that we are trusting when actually we are not. it is easy to say that we trust him in things that are a long way off, but there can be no trifling of small or tiny things where faith must bring practical answers. it is easy to have faith for our needs, and to trust him when the sun is shining. but let some things arise which irritate and trouble us, and we soon find whether we have real trust or not. so, things of everyday life are a test of our real faith in god, and he often puts us where we have to trust him for tangible things. if you are not trusting here wholly, when you are placed in such tests you will break down. are you trusting god for everything through the week or only on Sunday’s? are you looking to god’s heavenly throne or are you more worried about your earthly throne? let’s compare the differences by comparing Revelation chapter four and First Samuel chapter twenty four.

Revelation chapter four says, “After these things, I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, “Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this.” (V1) Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne set in heaven, and One sat on the throne. (V2) And He who sat there was like a jasper and a sardius stone in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, in appearance like an emerald. Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and on the thrones, I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white robes; and they had crowns of gold on their heads. (V4) And from the throne proceeded lightnings, thunderings and voices. Seven lamps of fire were burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God. (V5) Before the throne there was a sea of glass, like crystal. And in the midst of the throne, and around the throne, were four living creatures full of eyes in front and in back. (V6) The first living creature was like a lion, the second living creature like a calf, the third living creature had a face like a man, and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle. (V7) The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying: “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!” (v8) Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever, (V9) the twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, (V10) saying: “You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, And by Your will they exist and were created.” (V11)

Now, in this short chapter of eleven verses, the word throne occurs thirteen times with eleven times referring to god’s throne. this is to be seen as the symbol of sovereign rule and authority. Jasper, Sardius and emerald are precious stones. Sardius is a bright ruby red, Emerald is green and Jasper is a stone in a variety of colors.  These describe a MULTICOLORED rainbow, which is to remind us from the time of Noah, and the sign of god’s faithfulness to his word, his promises, and his covenant withNoah.

The thunder described in verse five is not a fury of nature, but the firestorm of righteous fury that is coming from an awesome, powerful god upon our sinful world. we are to keep mindful at all times of a heavenly throne and not on an earthly throne to remind us that god is in control at all times. our wants and desires should be on our need for our lord and savior.

In verse ten, the twenty-four elders cast their crowns before the throne, which symbolizes the fact that they are aware that god alone is responsible for the rewards received, so they show us that we are to divest ourselves of all honor and cast it at the feet of our king of kings! Just as we must have total surrender now! we’ve looked at the throne of heaven where we must continue to be mindful and seek for all our actions that they point to him. all things concerning the future, rests with god, and come from him through Jesus Christ! this vision john is seeing gives us an insight that life’s sorrows and temptations are to be dwarfed by what awaits us. this is preparation of the conflict, failures and persecutions that are and will unfold. this chapter is a witness that in all the changes and chances of the mortal life, and in all variations of ups and downs of the church’s history, god is the church’s refuge; and therefore, the Church will not be moved even though the earth be removed.

In concerning keeping our focus on Thy will be done, we must look and concentrate with single-mindedness on the heavenly throne. when we worry about that next promotion, pay raise, or other secular desires, we fix our attention on our earthly throne, which takes our focus off the heavenly throne. you cannot serve two masters. if you think you’ve seen this description of revelation chapter four before, then you probably have because it is in the book of EZEKIEL, chapter one. The old testament once again gives us revelation we read about in the new testament. Now, let us look at how we typically seek our own throne instead of god’s throne in our lives. Through Saul and David’s lives as Saul is once again seeking to kill David. let us see how david shows us how to seek god’s heavenly throne, while Saul seeks his earthly throne. Let us look at 1 SAMUEL 24:1-13. (v1) “Now it happened, when Saul had returned from following the Philistines that it was told him, saying, “Take note! David is in the Wilderness of En Gedi.” (v2) Then Saul took three thousand chosen men from all Israel, and went to seek David and his men on the Rocks of the Wild Goats. (v3) So he came to the sheepfolds by the road, where there was a cave; and Saul went in to attend to his needs. (David and his men were staying in the recesses of the cave.) (4) Then the men of David said to him, “This is the day of which the Lord said to you, ‘Behold, I will deliver your enemy into your hand that you may do to him as it seems good to you.’” And David arose and secretly cut off a corner of Saul’s robe. (v5) Now it happened afterward that David’s heart troubled him because he had cut Saul’s robe. (v6) And he said to his men, “The Lord forbid that I should do this thing to my master, the Lord’s anointed, to stretch out my hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the Lord.” (v7) So David rebuked his men with these words, and did not allow them to rise against Saul. And Saul got up from the cave and went on his way. (v8) David also arose afterward, went out of the cave, and called out to Saul, saying, “My lord the king!” And when Saul looked behind him, David stooped with his face to the earth, and bowed down. (v9) And David said to Saul: “Why do you listen to the words of men who say, ‘Indeed David seeks your harm’? (10) Look, this day your eyes have seen that the Lord delivered you today into my hand in the cave, and some urged me to kill you. But my eye spared you, and I said, ‘I will not stretch out my hand against my lord, for he is the Lord’s anointed.’ (11) Moreover, my father, see! Yes, see the corner of your robe in my hand! For in that I cut off the corner of your robe, and did not kill you, know and see that there is neither evil nor rebellion in my hand, and I have not sinned against you. Yet you hunt my life to take it. (12) Let the Lord judge between you and me, and let the Lord avenge me on you. But my hand shall not be against you. (13) As the proverb of the ancients says, ‘Wickedness proceeds from the wicked.’ But my hand shall not be against you.” now, think of your children whether young kids, teenagers, young adults or grown adults.  they are surrounded by peer pressure all day, every day at school, playgrounds or even at work. Think of job when his friends were surrounding him with peer pressure, yet he never veered from his stance to remain in the lord and remain steadfast that he did not sin against god.

David is here standing on principle. the right thing! it is true, especially today, that the right thing to do is not always the popular thing to do, and the popular thing to do is not always the right thing to do, but we must seek to always do the right thing no matter how unpopular we are perceived by others.

David seeks the throne of revelation four, not an earthly throne of selfishness, he seeks god’s way! let us not seek instant gratification, rather instead, let us surrender our will and remember Matthew 6:10, “thy kingdom come, thy will be done, in earth as it is in heaven.” let us remember it is “thy will be done, not my will be done!”

DAVID HEARD MANY VOICES TELLING HIM WHAT TO DO…the men of David were urging him to kill saul. but DAVID WAS CONSCIENCE STRICKEN IN HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH OTHERs and the fact that he had touched Saul’s robe and cut a piece from it. David REBUKED HIS MEN by reminding them that Saul was the lord’s anointed and that judgment and removal of Saul had to be left to the lord.

There were about four hundred men with david. men that have pledged their lives to protect him. talk about peer pressure. we must STAND UP AGAINST THE CROWD! we must instruct our children and grandchildren to stand up for what is right in god’s sight! we can’t just tell them ONCE; we must seek to share god’s word with them daily. DAVID DIDN’T KILL SAUL WHEN IT WAS EASILY WITHIN HIS OPPORTUNITY TO DO SO. so this TEACHES US TO SHOW MERCY and seek god’s will! we must do this for ourselves and others who are falsely accused even when the crowd shouts otherwise. the crowd shouted crucify against a guiltless Christ. we may stand alone upon god’s word, but stand we must. and we must teach our children to do the same. peer pressure is against them every minute of every day, but we must instill into them through daily scripture and prayer at home to remain focused on god’s heavenly throne. DAVID WRESTLED WITH THE LIES WITHIN SAUL. even though saul was falsely accusing david, he stood strong with the lord and showed saul the piece of his robe letting saul know that he could have taken his life. this was proof that david was not saul’s enemy. DAVID TOOk COMFORT IN THE LORD’S JUDGMENT. DAVID LEFT JUDGEMENT TO THE LORD! SAUL WANTED TO PROTECT HIS THRONE ON EARTH as well as his ego. are we not like this many times? our pride seeks our earthly throne.

DAVID WANTED TO PROTECT THE THRONE OF HEAVEN.

ULTIMATELY, OUR THRONE IS NOT FOR US TO PROTECT. OUR THRONE IS TO BE SURRENDERED CONTINUALLY to god’s throne. we are a REBELLIOUS SINNER that should be GETTING ON HIS KNEES SURRENDERING DAILY, which directs us HOW WE NEED TO be focused on Christ and not ourselves.

The Holy Spirit convicted Saul in verses 16 and 17. David had finished speaking and Saul lifted up his voice saying to David, “you are more righteous than I, for you have dealt with me, while i have dealt wickedly with you.” so, our work is to tell others of the gospel, but it is the Holy Spirit that will transform them. it may not always happen right away, and we may not see it when it happens. how many times have you been convicted after an argument or an encounter with some one where you later felt you could have handled it better? in 1 Samuel 24:18, Saul admits to David that David did good to Saul, and the lord had delivered Saul into David’s hands and David did not impose his will, but God’s will!

I believe god was testing David as well to ensure David’s heart was fully with god. David proved himself by exercising his faith. he had a promise from god. killing Saul would have been a sin. sin is a thing which comes to startle us and to teach us to resist the temptations to carry them out. David shows us how to give good for evil to the one that was delivering evil for good. as Christains, we are not to be overcome by evil, but to overcome evil with good. even when men wrong us, god will right us in the final judgment day. we must see the difference here that many people sigh their sins, but they do not truly repent of them. here in 1 Samuel 24, we see that Saul was convinced of David’s innocence, and yet Saul was not converted or REPENTANT. he remained ashamed in his envy of David in a selfish root of bitterness. malice

often seems dead in us when it is only sleeping within us, and will revive itself. we must give praise to god when he has delivered us through our repentance and surrender, knowing it is an evidence of his love.

We must always be seeking god’s will even if it doesn’t benefit us, but our opponent. here’s a recent example.  i read where a female high school graduate named Mimi Harris was playing volleyball in a tournament with her club team when the final point came down to a bad call. her team won, but Mimi knew the ball fell in, not out, so she told the referee what happened. the referee reversed the call, and her team lost. her team was celebrating full of joy, but when they saw the reversal, some of her teammates were not happy. she never regretted the decision she made to do the right thing, and eventually her teammates were supportive of her decision. she was awarded a better business bureau ethics scholarship, and a college volleyball scholarship to Alabama state. we may never see a reward for standing faithfully on the truth of god’s throne, but we are to stand upon it none the less. god’s timing, not our’s…again god’s will not my will, which always reminds me of Isaiah 55:8-9, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways,” says the lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

Saul acknowledged in verse 20 that David would surely be king and the kingdom would be established in David’s hands. today, our children and grandchildren face the attacks of the crowds through cell phones, social media, texts and other instant forms of attack against them. we must be more diligent in our leadership of them today because they face more then what many of us had to endure in the days of no video, social media, cell phones, and no internet. we had peer pressure from the world around us, but i truly believe our children and grandchildren are facing a fiercerZ group of Satan’s spawn of worldly followers than we had to deal with in our day. we must stand firm by daily refreshing and teaching our children god’s word. it is not enough to just drop them off at Sunday School for an hour once a week. we must put in as much time training them in the word as the world does in attacking them. my wife and i are close friends with the radio show host Delilah. i sit on the board of her non-profit foundation point hope. she has given birth to three children, three step children as well as adopted several other children. last count, I believe was 18 children total, my wife and I have visited her home several times. even though she can afford anything she wants, she does not have a television in her home. she has a barn of animals on her property as well as several gardens that the children partake in caring for. no television at all in her home. now that’s saying something right there of keeping the satanic world from being broadcast into the home. OF COURSE, there are still many ways for Satan to attack our families, but she and her husband Paul are showing leadership. now, can you picture yourself watching your children or grandchildren, and choosing to remove the television from your homes for good? I know many people today that have turned off watching or listening to news programs due to the bitterness of lies and distortions coming from the media. in addition to the peer pressure of our families today, we have false churches leading way too many into the arms of Satan. the Apostle Paul wrote about this inPhilippians 3:18-19, for many walk of whom i often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose – God – is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things.

Now, think about these words from the late pastor and theologian J. Vernon McGee. His study stated, unfortunately , today the hardest people to reach with the gospel are church members. those who are in a church and have rejected Christ and god’s word. although they are in church, they are actually against god. they have come to believe that being a christian means to be nice boys and girls. they play at church. it’s a game for them. they seek to be sweet and to keep their noses clean. they live a life that on the surface is very sedate and comfortable. they don’t want anyone coming in and telling them they are lost sinners who need to be saved and obedient to god. so, to be in ministry today is not easy if you are to stand for the word of god. you have to love the word of god before it will ever become meaningful to you. another way I’ve heard it said is “no one drifts into holiness, it is a pattern of life” like anything else in life, We understand the need for discipline and training. We know that in order to do anything well we have to practice, the same way, we set our alarms to go to the gym, or to go on a run, or to stop and pick up coffee or breakfast, we must set time aside as a priority to practice our spiritual disciplines as well.
Discipline and training are not negative words. All it means is thpractice and practice. The same is true in our spiritual walk as well. once we repent and surrender our lives, god’s heavenly throne requires prayer, biblical study and worship as disciplines.  the EARLIEST church founders knew that these were things we need to make a priority and a focus for god’s heavenly throne. In the same way, we set our alarms to go to the gym, or to go on a run, or to stop and pick up coffee or breakfast, we must set time aside as a priority to practice our spiritual disciplines as well.at we have set it as a priority and have given it our focus. A deep spirituality is not created by accident or chance. It is developed through careful practice, study, and discipline. Set aside some time each day, and block out all distractions, and train yourself and your children for godliness. all fathers and mothers, grandparents, aunt’s and uncle’s are needed in positions of biblical leadership for our children.

As Christians, we must pick up the role of biblical leadership and train our children to understand we give up our earthly throne in order to focus on god’s heavenly throne. this is the direction that our attention and leadership should be focused on each day. we must seek the throne set in heaven as REVEALED to us in john’s vision in revelation four versus the self-centered Saul of First Samuel twenty-four. let us stand strong in godly leadership as David did when men or the world are telling us that evil is good, and good is evil. We must understand that whoever fights the hardest for the next generation will win. when we follow David’s example, then you will understand that, “once you pick up the burden of christian leadership, you can never put it down again as long as you live. whether you are a new christian or a lifelong christian, we all must remain focused on god’s heavenly throne.”

It’s hard to get into shape spiritually if you only work out on Sundays!