0:02 Thank you, worship team, for the uplift uplifting lyrics. And you have to excuse my throat today. I am almost there, but if I cough spontaneously, I'm past the contagious stage, but there might be a dry cough here and there. Let's just pray and ask the Lord. That wouldn't be the case so that there would be no distractions in the study tonight.
0:20 But I'm so eager. I wasn't able to fellowship Sunday after the service. I kinda had to go through the secret passage, route, the pastoral, tunnel, and, and go home and rest. But, for some reason, because I wasn't here after the service, I felt like I wasn't at church, because church is more than a sermon. It's more than singing three fast songs and two slow songs.
0:44 It's about the people. It's about mending our lives together in the spirit and building our lives upon the foundation of the word. Would you join with me as we pray over the scriptures, as we open our our bibles together? Lord Jesus, we are blessed that you have given us Maranatha Bible Church. We are blessed.
1:06 We thank you for the miraculous things that you've done in such a short amount of time. There is no doubt that you are indeed the source of all the blessings that we have enjoyed and witnessed. And we thank you for the ultimate blessing in Jesus, but also we And we ask, Lord, that as we unpack this passage of scripture, that there would indeed be an impartation, the impartation that you have in mind, that you had in mind when you authored these words. And, Lord, let it have its full effect in us, not just as a church, but individually, Lord. Apart from these meetings, let there be a translation of true power and wisdom and love.
2:04 We give you everything. Lord, we pray that you open our minds, that you loosen the tongue that will deliver this message and this study, and, Lord, may we be mutually edified and may you receive all the glory. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Second Samuel chapter three.
2:22 In case we have forgotten, we are still in the same chapter in this book, and this is our third time in this chapter, and it will be the final time before we move on Because being the lengthy chapter that it is, chapter three will demand from us more time and attention. But if if we are patient and if we give the necessary attention to these verses, then we will not be disappointed with the discipline of meditation. Right? We wanna see all that God has to say. And even when we think we're doing all that we can, there's still yet more to know in the very verses that we try to cover completely.
3:07 So as we come to second Samuel chapter three, scroll down with your finger with me to verse 31. That is where we stopped and that is where we will continue. And if you take a quick glance, what you'll see is that the rest of our study in this chapter will only cover eight verses. And in these eight verses is really one scene, one main idea, and it is David, who is the main subject of our study in the past few weeks and will be for the next few months. David mourning the death of a particular person, namely Abner, the son of Ner.
3:44 Now as a recap, Abner was the commander of Saul's army who then was the mastermind of raising up one of Saul's sons, Ishbosheth, to be a rival king to the Davidic dynasty, and won the affinity of a majority of the tribes, keeping David at just being the king over the tribe of Judah. Now after several years have gone by, Abner desires now to move over and put his allegiance with David and attempts to do so. But within that attempt and with that small spark of peace, it was quickly snuffed out by Joab, who is the commander not of Saul's army, but of David's army, who with cold blooded intention murders Abner, takes his life away from him as an act of vengeance because Abner in self defense, in an act of war, in a context of battle, kills Joab's brother Asahel. I hope we're all in line here. Right?
4:53 Now what we are left with is after David has heard the news of Abner's death, we will now see what will transpire. Because apart from the obvious reason why this is so atrocious, the death of Abner by the hands of someone in David's camp has potential ramifications for the development of David's government in Israel. Is that understood? This is is not going to look good for David's reputation as he is attempting to win the hearts of the nation so that they would recognize him as who he truly is, the called one of God to be king. Now David has been trusting God up to this point.
5:35 He's not trying to coerce or or manipulate or set up campaigns to try to win votes. He's completely resting in the Lord. But what happens here naturally causes a grief and concern in David because someone from his own ranks did something evil. And how is this gonna look in the eyes of the people of Israel who have heard that David was to be anointed king and who know and their hearts believe he was supposed to be king. Well, that's what we're gonna see.
6:00 And let's read the first four verses together in verse 31. Then David said to Joab and to all the people who were with him, tear your clothes and put on sackcloth and mourn before Abner. And King David followed the bier. They buried Abner at Hebron, and the king lifted up his voice and wept at the grave of Abner, and all the people wept. And the king lamented for Abner saying, should Abner die as a fool dies?
6:32 Your hands were not bound, your feet were not fettered. As one falls before the wicked, you have fallen. And all the people wept again over him. Now let's take this verse by verse. When we go to verse 31, we have to understand that this was not the initial reaction of David when hearing the news of Abner's death.
6:54 The initial response is here in verse 28 to verse 29. Look what he says. Afterward, when David heard of it, he said, I and my kingdom are forever guiltless before the Lord, for the blood of Abner, the son of Ner, May it fall upon the head of Joab and upon all his father's house. And may the house of Joab never be without one who has a discharge, or is leprous, or holds a spindle, or falls by the sword, or who lacks bread. Intense.
7:25 David not only condemns the actions of Joab, David goes beyond that and pronounces a curse upon him and his descendants. Now this is important because he is vocalizing that he is not connected to this this scheme. He is not connected to this plot. He is separate. He knew nothing about it.
7:48 He had nothing to do with it, and he wants to make sure that people are aware that he has no relation to Joab's hatred for this man. Now that may seem righteous. That may seem admirable, but I wanna tell you something today that although David seems to be doing the right thing in in verbalizing this, he is not doing what he's supposed to be doing. In in what way? In other words, what should have David done?
8:20 Consider his position and consider the law of God. What should have David done? Kill Joab. That may sound shocking. Right?
8:36 It may sound shocking because we feel like this is unrelated to the law. It's just a story. It has to do with close relationships and people. We have to understand that there is still the law of God that is supposed to be implemented. And the law is so clear in saying that if someone murders somebody with intent, they are to be killed.
8:58 They are to have their life given for life. That from a judicial standpoint, there should be a reckoning. If you are a murderer, then you should also have your blood shed. Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, life for life. And David does not execute this.
9:16 David does not move forward with such a punishment for this crime. He hesitates. He he he does it he doesn't do more than just give a slap on the wrist, so to speak. But is there a time where David will do it? Does anybody know the answer to that?
9:36 Yes. When? Very good. The answer to when Job will pay for his crime comes many years from this point, and it is found in the book of first Kings chapter two. And I want you to see that with your own eyes in verse five of first Kings chapter two.
9:52 When David is ready to rest with his fathers and his successor, Solomon, his son, is gonna take his place, David gives different instructions to Solomon. One of them being, you gotta deal with Joab. You gotta do something about this man. Now this is hard because because he is a relative, and it's hard because it's also a complicated situation. Job was loyal in so many ways.
10:19 Job stood by David in in many difficult times. But in first Kings chapter two verse five, look what it says. Moreover, David is speaking to Solomon, You also know what Job the son of Zuriya did to me. How he dealt with the two commanders of the armies of Israel, Abner the son of Ner, and Amasa the son of Jether, whom he killed avenging in time of peace for blood that had been shed in war, and putting the blood of war on the belt around his waist and on the sandals on his feet. Act therefore according to your wisdom, but do not let his gray head go down to Sheol in peace.
10:58 This is this is alarming. But the question is, why did David wait so long? We can only speculate. But what we see here from these verses is that because David waited, what happened? What do we see there?
11:21 He killed Abner. Right? But did he kill somebody else? He did. He killed another of one of David's captains down the road after our main text here without justice, without explanation.
11:36 Just because he had this terrible murderous rage, and he was he he solved his problems by removing people from the scene in the most permanent way possible. And here's what we can take out of this. Job was the guilty one in both of these murders, but it makes you wonder what could have been prevented had David had done what he was supposed to do much early on when Abner's situation ensued. Now, this is just one of the many examples from the word of God. One illustration among hundreds, you can say, of how the Bible asks of us to take seriously, hammering the truth that you and I should never delay in our confrontation against sin.
12:24 Whether it's in our own lives or in somebody else's life, you and I do great damage if we delay in our confrontation against sin. And though it's not explicitly clear why David waited to pass judgment on Joab, why he waited for him to pass on from this life and let Solomon kinda deal with it, the timing kinda makes it kinda makes it obvious. And I argue that the reason why David did not execute judgment upon Joab when he should have is because although Joab did something wrong and so evil and cruel, Joab was a really good commander. Joab contributed to much of the success of David and his kingdom. And perhaps, letting go of Joab is not the best plan for me.
13:18 And if you think about it that way, then David, even in his grieving here in chapter three, David is guilty of favoritism. The the kind of favoritism that doesn't deal with sin in a person's life because that person benefits us in in different ways. And though this is an extreme example, you can modernize that. You you can see it in so many ways in our own lives when the church has been called by Jesus to to confront sin and to maintain the purity of the assembly in love, in gentleness, yes, but also as one of the main things that the church is called to do. And here's what's amazing.
14:02 You you see it in different church settings in different ways. Unfortunately, you have many leaders in churches who will not deal with the sin of a person because they are one of the biggest givers in the church. We don't wanna lose his donations. And so they can run amok, they can cause problems, they can be so obviously publicly in the world, and and and leaders will turn a blind eye. Or maybe somebody who occupies a certain position who who exercises a certain gift from within, and if we lose them, we can lose this, this will suffer, and they're blatantly in an ungodliness.
14:36 And so we'll just we'll hush-hush and we won't make a big deal of it and let's just let it pass. Maybe we we can make it more relatable. How many of us have felt the tension of even confronting a brother or sister who is clearly in wrong, serious wrong, compromising wrong. Because we don't want the relationship to be awkward. We don't wanna create tension.
14:59 We don't want it to affect our little web of relationships. When in fact, scripture says that faithful are the wounds of a friend. Right? And so what we see here is a clear example that if we delay, if we turn a blind eye in dealing not just with our own sin, but those that God calls us to be responsible for, then we have to ask ourselves why. And if David was honest here, yeah, he he's verbally slapping Joab on the wrist, but he's being kind of clever.
15:33 He's doing enough to show people that he condemns he condemns what happened, but not enough so that he wouldn't lose what Joab had to offer. He really wanted to keep him. And this is this is a disappointing sight in David's leadership. And because David allowed political motivation to enter in, it eclipse the spiritual standards that he was supposed to live by. And that happens all the time.
16:01 Happens all the time. But if there's any place where we maintain God's righteousness in dealing with people, it has to be the church of Jesus Christ. It has to be. And no matter whether they are relatives, whether they are great contributors in different ways, God's primary call is for us to trust and obey his standard of holiness and righteousness and purity. And I hope you take that to heart, that God give you and I the wisdom to know how to deal with sin promptly, lovingly, carefully, strategically, lest we incur more damage that could have been avoided.
16:41 See, David had just dealt with Joab early on, Amasa could have been spared. So many issues could have been avoided. He dealt with it, but he dealt with it too late. Now we look at that from David's perspective. What do you learn from Joab's perspective in all of this?
16:57 When the fact that judgment came later on, what do you see between this scene and the next scene in first Kings two? Here's what you see. That Joab perhaps thought that because he avoided consequence with Abner's death, could it be that he was emboldened to actually take out Amasa thinking that he would not see consequences either? Very strong possibility. And the picture there is the sinner who's emboldened to continue in their sin because they have evaded, apparently, the consequences of their actions.
17:31 But let Joab be a clear example that no matter what a person may think he gets away with, no matter what kind of status they have in society like Joab did in the kingdom, sin will catch up to you. Sin will come with a with a receipt and say, you owe me this. And that's exactly what happened to Joab. And take comfort. What happened to Joab will happen with every high ranking criminal in society that thinks that they can bury the evidence and thinks that they can pay off people so that they are not reprimanded.
18:04 I want you to think about every corrupt politician that gets away with their evil. There is a day coming where they will have to pay for every single thing that they thought they got away with. And I say amen to that because God is a just God. Now what's incredible is not just the fact that Joab eventually died, it's in the manner that he died that makes us even more scary. Scary in a good way.
18:29 Scary in the fear of God way. Joab did eventually die. Solomon dealt with him. He obeyed his father, and he says we will deal with Joab accordingly. Does anybody know how Joab died though?
18:45 He died in a specific location. And where Joab died is actually if you're still in first Kings chapter two, scroll down to verse 28, and you'll see exactly the location, and it is very telling. It's actually incredible. He eventually hears the news that David called for his execution because of his past crimes. And so he makes a run for it, and as he runs, he heads towards a specific place, and where he goes is here.
19:18 When the news came to Joab, for Joab had supported Adonijah, although he had not supported Absalom, Job fled to the tent of the Lord and caught hold of the horns of the altar. So remember, the tabernacle is the house of God at this time. The tent of meeting, a a a transportable house of worship. The temple was not yet made because Solomon hadn't get to it yet. But here's what Joab does.
19:44 He hears the news. Solomon has the right to come after you, and he's coming after you. He flees to the tenth of the Lord. He goes to the altar of sacrifice where it had the horns on the four corners so that the animal would be strapped down when it was being offered up to the Lord. And he leaps upon two of the horn, and he holds on as though he was holding on for dear life.
20:09 Nothing in the Bible is by accident, and so every single detail warrants us to say why. And my question is, why? Why does Joab do this? Why does he go here? Why does he hold on to the horns of the altar?
20:24 What is he thinking in doing so? Any ideas? I'll give you a hint. The answer is in the bible. It's not it's not just guessing.
20:32 There's an actual answer in the scriptures. Okay. That's a good guess. He was hoping maybe there would be a sacrifice that would be performed on his behalf. That's a very good guess, but not not quite.
20:54 Why would he run to the altar? Okay. There's a picture of receiving forgiveness there because that's what the altar symbolizes, but that's symbolic. I wanna give you the clear reason why Joab went to the altar. You're gonna have to go to your bibles though.
21:10 Exodus 21. Turn the pages of the sacred text to the book of Exodus chapter 21, and I want you to see one verse that gives a clear instruction about the sacredness of the altar. And what was supposed to happen at the altar and what was not supposed to happen at the altar. Exodus 21. You're there.
21:31 Right? Now scroll down to verse 14, and let me read it out loud to you. Exodus 20. I hope you brought your Bibles to Bible study. But if a man willfully attacks another to kill him by cunning, you shall take him from my altar.
21:50 Isn't the Bible awesome? You shall take him from my altar that he may die. In other words, nobody can be killed by the altar. You can't desecrate it in that way. You can't have anybody have their blood spilled here.
22:10 And so if somebody flees here, they are to be removed from the altar so that they can be put to death properly. Here's what Joab's thinking. If I hold on tight enough to the altar, they can't kill me here. So I'm gonna stay here as long as possible and make sure that I let them know that God's law says I'm safe in this area. Where did Joab kill Abner?
22:38 Where did Joab kill Abner? At the gate of where? The city of refuge where Abner should have been what? Safe. And Joab attempts to flee to a place with unique boundaries where he thought he would be what?
22:52 Safe. Whatever a man sows that he will also reap. When Joab killed Abner where he was supposed to be safe according to the law of God, he pronounced his own judgment. And when he thought that he could be safe in the house of God by the altar of God, the same way that was not regarded for Abner, it was not regarded for him. God is very specific, and he holds every detail in his record.
23:26 He does not forget anything. I mean, so much so, one of the scariest verses for me, and we can be all scared together, is when Jesus says that every word, every single word that is spoken will be taken up into judgment. Every word. Think about that. And so the Lord is very, very meticulous.
23:46 He's very careful. He's very he's not general. He's very very very specific. And when it came to Joab, he reaped exactly what he sowed. And I find that fascinating about God.
24:00 I thank God for the blood of Jesus Christ. Knowing this law, Joab attempts to take refuge in the house of God, but that that is not accounted for by Solomon and he is killed where he thought he would have refuge. Let's come back to first Samuel, rather second Samuel chapter three. Let's go to verse 32. We're in verse 31 that time.
24:24 We read here, they buried Abner at Hebron, and the king lifted up his voice and wept. At the grave of Abner and all the people wept, and the king lamented for Abner, saying, should Abner die as a fool dies, your hands were not bound, your feet were not fettered, as one falls before the wicked, you have fallen. Now this is familiar because now David writes an elegy. Right? He recites it and he proclaims it publicly.
24:47 He's done this before with who? Saul and Jonathan. Much shorter, but he's he he has a goal with it and the point is clear. What he is trying to tell people from his own heart is that I believe that Abner was innocent. Abner did not deserve to die in this way, though he died as a fool.
25:08 Fool meaning that a sinner who invites death because of his sinful ways. He did die as a fool, but he was not a criminal. Your hands were not bound. You weren't imprisoned. Your feet were not fettered.
25:19 You didn't deserve this. You weren't awaiting some kind of trial here. You were deceived, and you fell as a victim before wicked men. This is what he's trying to proclaim. This is what he's trying to communicate to his audience.
25:33 And as much as what David is saying is true, should Abra die as a fool dies, he did not deserve to die the way a sinner deserves to die because of what they bring into their lives and the way that they walk. At the same time, I argue that though what David is saying is valid, Abner did die foolishly. He did. Where did Abner die again? City Of Refuge.
26:00 Right? That is the only mention between Abner and the City Of Refuge, and it is quite tragic that that is so. Because Abner's relationship with the City Of Refuge should have been much different than what it was according to what we read a couple of weeks ago. The foolishness of Abner is that he refused to flee to the City of Refuge the moment that he committed an accidental killing. His duty according to the law was to waste no time and to make his way towards one of those cities and to take refuge there until he was declared innocent, until the high priest died atoning for his departure into his normal life.
26:52 And he did not do that. And that is sad because it's a picture of something. When God gave his law to the Israelites about how they were to understand the city of refuge, He he gave it with a certain urgency, and I want you to see that. Go to Numbers chapter 35 verse 15. There's a powerful word that the Lord uses about the man slayer who does accidentally murder somebody.
27:20 And in numbers thirty five fifteen, we see it so clear. God says these six cities shall be for refuge for the people of Israel and for the stranger and for the sojourner among them that anyone who kills any person without a tenth may what? Flee there. Three times in this chapter, in the portion where it speaks about the city of refuge, God says if somebody does this, they are to flee to the city of refuge. Now that word flee is the very same word used when Joseph fled the scene after Potiphar's wife attempted to sleep with him.
28:07 When she grabbed a hold of his garment, he fled that room. Now when you understand that connection, it's hard to imagine that when God here says that the manslayer must flee, that it's a casual stroll or something that you put in your calendar for a future time. It's urgent. It's immediate. It's top priority.
28:30 Even though it interrupts your schedule or your family life or whatever the case may be, you are to make this your top ambition immediately. Flee there. Run there. Escape as soon as possible. That's God's tone when it comes to the cities of refuge.
28:49 And we know what the cities of refuge represent, Christ. Salvation in Jesus Christ. And that is why we we we try by God's help whenever we proclaim the gospel from this pulpit, that we proclaim it with urgency. Jesus is not a suggestion for your life. He's the only solution.
29:11 He is salvation. You and I have to understand that when we present this truth, it's it's breaking news. Flee to Jesus. Run to Jesus. It's not just good news.
29:28 It calls for a response upon hearing it, whether it's your first time or the thousandth time if you have not answered the 909 times before. Flee there. That's God's heartbeat. And this is what we see here. There's a hint here that the moment the gospel is is in contact with a sinner, everything else needs to be dropped in your life.
29:51 That's what Jesus did with those three who came up to him and says, I wanna follow you. And they had all these other ideas. Well, I gotta bury my father, and and can I do this first? And he's like, you don't understand what it means to follow me. You need to drop everything and understand that if if you don't do this now, there may never be a chance for you to do it again.
30:09 We don't understand it that way. We kind of we kind of just you know, you'd I think you need this. No. You do need this, and you need it now. I want you to now put yourself in the sandals of an Israelite of this time.
30:22 K? I want you to imagine now you're you're there in ancient Israel in your home, and on a random afternoon, a sibling, brother or sister runs through the door, huffing and puffing, and tells you, I was at work today, was cutting a tree, and the tree fell upon another employee, and that guy is a goner. He's dead. And, I just just clocked myself out of work and I came home. What are you doing later on?
30:51 You guys you wanna hang out? Do you have any plans tonight? Now imagine you're that Israelite hearing this and you know the law of God. How ridiculous does that sound? What do you mean do you wanna do something tonight?
31:09 You need to get out of here. You you forget the meal. I'm not making you anything. You need to run to the city of Refuge. Where's the nearest one?
31:19 Get there right away. Yeah. Yeah. I get it. I know God said it.
31:22 But listen, I can just I can do it two weeks from now. I got plans with my buddies. We're going on a camping trip this weekend. So listen, do you wanna do something tonight or not? Look at that.
31:32 What does that translate? Here here's a word for that. Foolish. Reckless. What's the matter with you?
31:42 And yet, if we see it in that context, how much more in understanding salvation in Jesus Christ? What are you waiting for exactly? Because that Israelite who would delay like Abner delayed had to understand that at any moment the avenger could come and take your life from you, like it did with Joab. That at any moment, despite your plan, despite the peace and the mending and the networking and all the things that you're doing, just like Abner with David, everything can be taken from you in a moment. This is not something to risk with.
32:14 This is nothing to tamper with, play around with. Listen to me. If you're a person in here that does not know if you're saved, get saved. Amen. Like, put your trust in Jesus tonight.
32:26 Don't delay for next bible study. Don't even delay for your Taco Bell later on tonight. Give your life to Jesus tonight. Surrender to his lordship. Surrender to his provision of salvation through his blood on that cross on your behalf.
32:44 There is no reason to wait. There's no reason to delay. And there are many things about the city of refuge that points so clearly to Jesus Christ, and some people expressed two weeks ago how they were blessed by seeing just one parallel. The one parallel of the city of refuge. You can have series on the cities of refuge and how it points to Jesus.
33:03 Remember the parallel? That there were six cities we just read and they were strategically placed around the land of Israel so that why? No matter where somebody was across the land, they would have easy access to one of those cities and be safe and find refuge. And that is a picture of this, that no matter where you are, no matter how far you think you are, salvation is available for you. No matter where.
33:31 No matter how far you think you are from holiness, from perfection, all have fallen short of the glory of God. And here's the beauty about it. God can save you. God can save you now. Not when you inch yourself closer to the standard of what you think is good.
33:48 Now it can all change. But there's more. I mean, I I'm so passionate about this subject. Let's just stay here a little bit. We'll come back to second Samuel.
33:57 What did we just read in numbers thirty five fifteen? Let's see if anybody noticed another prophetic hint to the gospel in just this one verse. These six cities shall be for refuge for the people of Israel and for the stranger and for the sojourner among them, that anyone who kills any person without a tent may flee there. Anybody else notice the gospel truth in there? Beautiful.
34:19 Did you hear it? Let's read it again. These six cities shall be for the refuge for the people of Israel and for the stranger and for the soldier among them. Did you catch it? The cities of refuge did not discriminate.
34:36 It was not just for the Jews, not just for the chosen people of God. It was not for the elect among all the nations. If you were a sojourn, if you were a Gentile, if you were traveling by, the cities of refuge were for you as well. Jew and Gentile have salvation in Jesus Christ. All nations, all tribes, all tongues have available to the same grace that is found in him.
34:59 And so you see it so obviously here that anybody, no matter where they are, no matter how far they think they are, no matter their background, ethnicity, culture, they can come and be safe in these cities. And I think to myself, this is glorious. But here's what's so true. I mean, we can spend the rest of this Bible study talking about these things, but I wanna finish this chapter. Let me add one more thing.
35:23 Whenever you see a type or shadow of Jesus in the Old Testament, you will find similarities. You will find differences. But no matter how things may seem so close to the person and work of Christ, what we believe, what we see so obviously, what we sing about is that Jesus is always the greater than. Always. So you see him in David, but he's greater than David.
35:46 He's the greater David. He's the greater Samson. He's the greater Moses. And that is true for the city of refuge. As much as there are so much things that parallel with Christ, Jesus is the greater city of refuge.
35:59 Hebrews six eighteen tells us that he is the city of refuge in a very clear way when you understand the language of fleeing there. But let me ask you this, how is Jesus the greater city of refuge? Anybody know? How is Jesus the greater city of refuge? Did you hear it?
36:20 Did you hear it? This is where you get mutually encouraged. The city of refuge was for those who were innocent. So those who unintentionally murdered, those who accidentally killed someone. If you were found guilty upon trial, you you could not have residence in these unique boundaries.
36:46 You had to be expelled and you were left to the vengeance of a relative. Jesus is the greater city of refuge because he is not just refuge for those who accidentally sinned, but those who intentionally sinned, those who have transgressed, who those who deliberately broke God's law. The gates of his salvation are made available even for them. That's why he's greater. Exciting?
37:13 Yes. Amen? I hope so. Some of us have lived so long in the city of refuge we've forgotten how glorious it is. Yes.
37:24 Not not for unintentional, not for accidental, for deliberate, willful, perverted, steaming, wicked men and women. He saves. He says, you can come and receive safety in my blood. I rejoice in that. This book is supernatural.
37:44 This is not an ordinary classroom tonight. This book is supernatural. And so we come back to second Samuel now. And so, yes, Abner, why did he die as a fool? He didn't deserve it, but there was some element of foolishness in him.
38:01 Now verse 35, what do we see? Then all the people I want you to pay attention as I read these three verses what reoccurs. Then all the people came to persuade David to eat bread while it was yet day. But David swore saying, God do so to me and more also if I taste bread or anything else till the sun goes down. And all the people took notice of it and it pleased them as everything that the king did pleased all the people.
38:28 So all the people and all Israel understood that day that it had not been the king's will to put to death Abner, the son of Ner. What phrase reappears over and over? Very good. Four times in three verses, we see that for some reason the Holy Spirit wants to bring to our attention about all the people. And I believe the reason why he is trying to draw our attention to this is to communicate to us that the actions and the attitude of David had made a great impression on those who observed him, had made a great impression.
39:08 And in his king case as the king of Judah, David's audience was the nation of Israel. Talking about millions of people. Now here's the point, David did not have to honor Abner in the way he did, but it was very wise for him to do so. Not that what his grief was not genuine. That's not the case.
39:31 It was very genuine, but strategically, what he is doing here is dispelling all rumors, all potential divisive theories that would bring hindrance to the advancement and development of his kingdom. And here is the lesson for all of us. Though we may not be kings as David was a king, though we may not be queens, though we may not have high positions, each of us has a calling like David had a calling. K? Every I don't care what you believe about yourself.
40:05 I don't care what level of self esteem you may have. According to this book, God has deposited gifts and he has works that he has prepared beforehand that you should walk in them. Whether that's on a great platform or a hidden platform, it's true nonetheless. And here's what's important to understand about that. The effectiveness of our individual callings is greatly dependent upon our conduct as citizens of the kingdom that we wanna see advance.
40:32 The effectiveness of our individual callings in the advancement of the kingdom of God is greatly dependent upon our conduct as citizens who represent that kingdom. I I know what people mean when they say, I don't care what people think. Right? Have you heard it? I mean, I've said it.
40:49 Have you said it? I don't care what people think. I understand what you mean by that, but some people have a different motive in saying that. And we have to we have to understand there's a fine line with with convincing ourselves and even telling others, I don't care what people think. Now if what you mean by saying that is that in your pursuit of righteousness and obedience to God's word, you are not concerned about the repercussions or about the ramifications of your decisions, you're not concerned about criticism or punishment or anything that's taken away from you, then we applaud that kind of attitude.
41:23 But if what you mean by saying I don't care what people think about me is that you believe that people should tolerate your unsanctified personality, you're wrong. K? That's not godly. Because the scripture is loaded with the admonition that you and I should care what people think as ambassadors of Jesus Christ. That we should be very careful in how we portray ourselves since we are tied to and we represent a king and a kingdom, a culture, a heavenly one.
41:57 And so we have to understand what David is doing here is righteous. He's making sure that he is blameless. And he puts great effort in making sure that he is without reproach. Here's what's amazing. There are many things that David gives completely to God.
42:15 There are many things that he says, God, I trust you. I'm not even gonna be able to participate in this. I completely leave it to you. But when it came to his behavior, he put great energy into that. He made great strides to ensure that there was no confusion about his convictions.
42:34 And you and I, as I said earlier, we may not have high positions in this world. Okay? But according to the scriptures identification of you as a child of God, we are royal. We are royal. Yeah.
42:49 You're not a church goer, a royal priesthood. That's what Peter says in first Peter two nine. You're a chosen race, a royal priesthood. You're what? A holy nation, a people of my own possession.
43:03 Like, what a glorious way of of crowning us undeserving sinners. If if we were just saved and that's all the bible says about us in the new testament, I'm happy with that. But a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of God's possession. Later on, we are what? Ambassadors of Jesus Christ.
43:23 Rather before first Peter. But with the great reward of being crowned with such titles listen, with every reward comes responsibility. And what's amazing about what Peter says there is that when you just look a couple of verses after that, you understand that this title isn't just it's not just like poetry, like, it's not something that we we just say to each other, we memorize. I'm a royal priesthood. No.
43:45 No. No. No. It has it has real implications in how we conduct ourselves. So after he says you're a royal priesthood, after he says you're a holy nation and all these wonderful things, in verse 12, that's first Peter two nine and ten and verse 12.
43:58 Just listen. You don't have to turn to listen to what Peter says. Keep your conduct among the gentiles honorable. If you're a royal priesthood, if you're a holy nation, well, keep your conduct among the gentiles honorable so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation. Now that would have meant a lot to the early church, and it will mean a lot to Christians in the West very soon, if not already.
44:31 There was already a list of strange accusations going around in the culture during the times of Peter in the early church. Very weird, slanderous comments and rumors about Christians, followers of the way. Let me give you a few. They practice cannibalism. They eat his blood, drink his drink his blood, eat his what is this?
44:58 They they practice this is what they were saying. They break up families. When people join this, it just shatters families. They don't honor the emperor. They don't acknowledge Caesar.
45:10 They don't acknowledge Nero. They don't acknowledge these men. They're rebels. You know, they have these things called these love feasts. You know what they do there?
45:18 They perform orgies. They're sexually strange people. They're immoral. This is what was swirling around in the culture, in the unbelieving world, in the offices of that day about Christians. And Peter comes in and he gives these instructions and he says, this is what God says about you.
45:38 You're a royal priesthood. You're a holy nation. All these wonderful things. But let me take it further. Prove them wrong.
45:46 Prove them wrong. Like, let them encounter you, and as they encounter you, let your conduct contradict what they've heard from other people. Mess with their thinking in a holy way. Cause them to be conflicted. And Peter didn't just want the the people to stop saying bad things.
46:03 He says, it can be so impressionable that on the day of visitation, they can glorify God. In other words, they can they can actually be saved because you walk honorably among them as the people that God calls you to be. Now I want you to think about that in David's situation. What does David do? This murder of Abner could have easily caused the different tribes to to come up with ideas that David was behind all of this.
46:33 If there was any tribe who would have built that theory up, it would have been the tribe of Benjamin. But even the tribe of Benjamin could not come up with anything. Nobody can bring up any accusation, any slander, anything of the sort because David's attitude in this public space would have directly fought against all these fierce concepts that would have tried to smeared him as a true man of God. And that is encouraging. That is encouraging.
47:01 He was blameless from head to toe. And there was many things that David put his complete trust in as I said earlier. But he made the conscious effort of pursuing blamelessness. And what's encouraging about that is that he did it in a sense, yes, for God, but also for his kingdom. We do it for God's kingdom by the help of the Holy Spirit.
47:24 By the help of the Holy Spirit, he will help us be honorable people, be honest people. And listen, I'm gonna end it here. This is where it gets hard. This is where this is where we go. Thank you for the Holy Spirit.
47:38 Because as believers, the high standard of it is much more than just making sure that we're blameless. More than that, God through his word in the new testament even calls us to be intentional, to be offensive in the sense of moving forward, not always being defensive, but moving forward and actually making things happen as that royal priest and holy nation. So let me give you one example. Go to Romans chapter 12 and and notice this. This is this is just one example of how, as believers, we go the extra mile.
48:15 We go the extra mile. In Romans twelve eighteen, when I was thinking about David when he said all people all people all people, the connection came to Romans twelve eighteen, another kind of all men, but in a different context. Look what he says to believers in Romans twelve eighteen. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Isn't that wonderful?
48:46 It's wonderful in theory, but it's very hard in practicality. And get I love this. God is so realistic. Look what he says. So far as it depends on you.
48:57 If it's possible, make it happen. The reason is because peace in relationships is a two way thing. I could be a peaceful person, but if you're not a peaceful person, this can this isn't gonna work. But look at where the burden is. The burden is on the believer to ensure that you are the initiator and you are the manager of your relationships.
49:17 So that if there's any tension or friction, you would deal with that immediately. So that even with your enemies, there can be some kind of level of peace and understanding. That's our calling among many other things. Right? That's how we pursue blamelessness.
49:30 That's how we pursue a certain conduct that can dismantle false ideas of who we are as those who wear the badge of Jesus Christ. And I wanna end it here. I'm really ending it here. David went the extra mile. I mean, you could say he went the extra mile by doing all of this, but this was just this is what he should have done.
49:53 He should have done for many reasons. But David goes the extra mile, and I wanna prove that to you. I wanna prove it to you in a in a in a obscure text that if we're honest, we would often skip over because we wanna get to the meatier stuff. But when you when you take the time to actually read the bible from cover to cover, you find these gems and you go, no way. Really?
50:16 Right? Here it is. Go to first Chronicles 27. This is our final verse for the night. First Chronicles 27.
50:28 What's happening in first Chronicles 27? We just really have a record of different leaders and administrative things during David's rule and reign, military divisions and leaders of certain tribes. And when you come to verse 16, that's what we really see. We see the names of different representatives of the tribes of Israel during David's dynasty. So we had set up these local governments in the tribes that each tribe would have a civil authority that would in a in a sense represent that people group within the nation of Israel.
51:09 And you look at that and be honest be honest, in the immediate sense, it doesn't seem appealing. Names that are hard to pronounce one after the other, this would tempt us to drift. But as you read and you see these names, and you have a understanding of what we are doing every Friday, the old testament, Scroll down quickly and look at verse 20. For the Ephraimites, Hoshea the son of Azaziah, for the half tribe of Manasseh, Joel the son of Pedahiah. Verse 21, for the half tribe of Manasseh in Gilead, Edo the son of Zechariah, for Benjamin Jaasiel the son of who?
51:51 Abner. Think about this. Years after Abner's death, David goes the extra mile and takes one of Abner's sons and makes him a leader in Israel. That's grace. How much more can you do after what you did in chapter three of calling him a great prince and calling him an admirable man and and honoring him with an elegy and mourning and weeping and not even eating until the sun goes down?
52:30 On top of that, he takes one of Abner's sons and he says, I'm gonna make you a leader over the tribe of Benjamin. I'm gonna recognize you as a leader over the tribe of Benjamin. And we look at that and we see that this is a hint that David wasn't doing what he was doing in chapter three as a political stunt. He wasn't trying to save face. He wasn't caught up with his reputation and just seeming to be righteous and, you know, fake tears.
52:59 It was real. It was real. And the best way to be holy, my brother, my sister, is to be real. Really. If you leave here saying, well, you know, I go to Maranatha Bible Church and they're pretty serious about holiness and they're pretty serious about church discipline.
53:18 I better not mess up. So I'm gonna be chameleon. I'm gonna here I'm gonna speak one way and here I'm gonna speak another way. You're gonna fail, man. You're gonna fail.
53:32 Just be real. Be a real Holy Spirit filled Christian. And this pursuit of blamelessness is effortless. When you actually walk with a consciousness that you wanna please the Lord Jesus Christ, not your elders, not because you wanna maintain your ministry, but you really love the Lord. Your heart is really softened by him.
53:54 And you, like David, understand the grace of God so you can extend it to others. That is the easiest way of being energized for holiness. I look at some people and they like they're just trying so hard to be spiritual, and it's cringe. Stop doing it in the flesh. Stop.
54:19 You're not gonna get it by reading certain books. You're not gonna get it by getting certain terminology there. You're not gonna get it by dressing a certain way or posting certain stuff. You're gonna get it when you really understand who Christ is. And you're gonna get it when you really understand only he can put that desire in your heart and make you the real deal.
54:40 And so what I present to you is simply this, fall in love with Jesus Christ and holiness will be much easier to pursue. This man, David, with a little verse like that in first Chronicles, silences all other arguments about what he did in chapter three being something that was just for his kingdom and his throne and his political agenda wrong. He was the real deal. And only you and I will be truly successful if we're real with God. Lord, we thank you for this bible study.
55:16 We thank you for the rich insights in just eight verses, and we didn't even cover all of them. We thank you, Lord, that your word is so alive and supernatural. Lord, with all that we heard, we end with that final thought. Help us be real. Help us be true.
55:35 Help us be sincere. Thank you, oh, Lord, that you've made it all possible with a power in the person of the Holy Spirit. Thank you, Lord Jesus, that we don't have to strive because your word says in first John five that your commandments are not burdensome. Lord, we just pray for those who really want to be godly, but are struggling of seeing it come about. They feel like they fall back into the flesh.
56:02 They feel like they they can't maintain that consistently in different context. They fall too easily into the pressures of certain crowds. Lord, let tonight be the turning point. Let it change tonight. Lord, by the spirit, do such a work in us that wherever we go, Jesus goes.
56:25 Whoever we're with, Jesus comes with us. Whether in secret or in public, that we have Christ in mind, Christ in our affections, Christ in our meditations, Christ in our planning. Lord, only you can inspire such a thing, and we long for that. Thank you for calling us a royal priesthood. Thank you for calling us a holy nation, a people for your own possession.
56:49 Now, Lord, help us be honorable in all places at all times. We give you glory and thanks. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
