[0:00] This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alfred, Georgia. It is our prayer that you will be blessed by the preaching of God's Word.
[0:14] Well, take your Bibles, if you would, and go with me to 2 Samuel chapter 8. 2 Samuel chapter 8. That was a beautiful song, and it sure fits with the passage of Scripture tonight.
[0:24] 2 Samuel chapter 8. We're going to talk about some different reactions to grace that's offered tonight. And we're going to cover three whole chapters, so you might want to grab a seatbelt, and we will walk our way through this.
[0:42] I want you to go with me, and I'm going to scan the chapters and kind of let you underline some things to get the story of what goes on in these three chapters. When I'm studying for you, I don't want to just give you the story, and I don't want to make up a good message that I've even heard great messages preached on this passage.
[1:02] I really want to say what it says, so let's go through it and see if we can do that. In verse 1 it says, And after this it came to pass that David smote the Philistines and subdued them.
[1:14] And so this chapter 8 is about how he kind of gets his kingdom established and how he gets his kingdom set up inside God's will.
[1:25] God's working in his life, and great things are happening. Go with me to verse 6. This is something I would underline if I were you. It's a big deal to me. It's going to be mentioned more than one time in the chapter.
[1:36] David put garrisons in Syria of Damascus, and the Syrians became servants to David and brought gifts. This is what I'd underline, the Lord preserved David whithershoever he went.
[1:47] Everywhere David goes, God is going with him. God is working in his life. God's taking care of him. And by the way, you have that same promise. As you serve God and walk in his word and walk in his will and walk in his way, God's watching over you and God's taking care of you.
[2:05] That ought to be enough to make you excited tonight. Then go down to verse 11 if you would. And David's going everywhere and capturing people and defeating armies and taking back the land that God had given to Abraham.
[2:18] And in verse 11 it says, and David did dedicate unto the Lord the silver and the gold that he dedicated of all nations. You know, David goes out and he begins to prosper, and he has a very different attitude.
[2:33] His attitude is, God's blessing me. I'm giving it to God. God's blessing me. I'm going to honor him. This is just a subline, a small little message here.
[2:44] But how do you handle God's blessings? Did you know that most Christians, the more money they make, the less percentage they give? The smaller giver, the guy who makes 100 bucks, he's more than willing to give God a tithe than 10 percent, maybe give him something more.
[3:02] And as he makes more money, he gives less. But David here is being blessed big time, and he's dedicating it all to God. And before the story's over, he is going to raise literally millions of dollars to build the temple.
[3:15] I ought to learn to be more like that. Go to verse 14. In verse 14, just to underline again, the last part of the verse, and it says, The Lord preserved David whithersoever he went.
[3:26] I love that. Two times, one chapter, God's taking care of David, his man. And he's ruling over all of Israel in verse 15. And so he's got his kingdom set up, and everything's going good.
[3:41] He's put some people into leadership positions. We'll look at that in just a second. So in chapter 9, he realizes, you know, I am here now, and I ran from Saul for years, and I was hiding in caves, and now I've got my position.
[3:55] And he starts to think, I wish I could do something for Jonathan. He was my buddy. Now, most kings are going to kill everybody in the old king's family to make sure they can't take over.
[4:08] But look at chapter 9 in verse 1. And David said, Is there yet any that is left of the house of Saul? That I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake? So you're about to go into one of the most famous stories in the Old Testament, Mephibosheth.
[4:23] And David wants to show him kindness. And Ziba says to him in verse 3, Jonathan does have a son, and he's a cripple. He is lame on his feet.
[4:34] And in verse 5, David sends to Lodabar, a place where everybody's poor, in verse 4. And he sends, and he fetches him, and he brings him to him, and gets introduced to him in verse 6.
[4:47] And then David says to him in verse 7, Don't be afraid. Fear not. I will surely show thee kindness for Jonathan, the father's sake, and I will restore you, your dad and your granddad's land.
[5:00] You've got to think of what old Mephibosheth's thinking when he gets called to come. It's like, Oh, no. He found me. He's going to kill me. My life's over. I'm in big trouble. But instead of that, he comes in, and David promises him, I'm going to be good to you.
[5:15] In verse 8, he bows down. And truthfully, he's probably just saying what anybody would say to a king, but it's a pretty good picture of what I ought to say to my king.
[5:26] He said, What is thou servant that thou shouldest look upon such a dead dog as I am? Hey, I'm a nobody. I can't believe you'd think about me, David, and I'm sure glad that you will do that.
[5:37] And so David sets up Ziba to work for Mephibosheth to till his land in verse 10 and to bring all the stuff to him and to take care of him. So Mephibosheth received the grace.
[5:50] We'll look at that in just a minute. In chapter 10, David moves on to another guy. And David, I think he's probably on a roll. He's like, I've been good on Mephibosheth. He accepted it.
[6:01] This is great. And so he decides in chapter 10 that he would be good. Look at verse 1. It came to pass after this, after he was good to Mephibosheth, that the king of the children of Amnon died, and Hanun, his son, reigned in his stead.
[6:16] And David said, I will show kindness unto Hanun, the son of Nahash, as his father showed kindness unto me, probably while David was in the wilderness. And David sent to comfort him.
[6:27] But when David's guys got over there, David's guys go and speak to the other guys, and they say, hey, David wants to be good to you. He wants to know what he could do for you. He wants to be a blessing to you.
[6:39] You know, he liked your dad, and your dad was good to him. And he wants to be a blessing. But in verse 3, the princes of the children said, David, to Hanun, do you think that David does honor your father?
[6:53] Do you think David really sent people here to comfort you? Do you think David sent his servants here to search the city, to spy out the city, and to overthrow it? So David's really here sending these men to be spies.
[7:08] And in just a little while, he'll send an army when he figures out how, and he will destroy us. So Hanun and his group got together, and they said, we've got to embarrass these guys.
[7:19] We're just going to let David know we don't appreciate this one bit. And so in verse 4, they shaved off half of their beards, and they cut off their garments to the middle of their rear end and sent them away.
[7:33] Now, you've got to understand, these guys had real beards, not the kind of beard that Trent has, not the kind of beard. It's more like David Maddox. If you all know him, he comes to church on a Sunday morning.
[7:44] It's like woolly booger. It's like, don't trim it. Don't just let her go, buddy. And every so often is why, about once a year, he does a little trim job. Well, these beards are very long, and they're very bushy.
[7:56] They don't cut the sides. I'll show you that in the Bible. In a minute, and so to embarrass them, they shave half their face and leave the rest of the beard there, and then they cut their clothes off and send them out with their rear showing.
[8:08] Humiliating. Embarrassing. And as soon as they did that, the guys send word to David in verse 5, and David said, they're very embarrassed.
[8:19] And he told them, he said, well, y'all stay in Jericho until your beards are grown back out. I don't know how long they're going to be there. What, a year? Got to get a beard all the way back out to woolly booger stage? But they stay.
[8:30] And the children of Ammon saw that they stank. They knew now David is mad. And so they hire some soldiers to fight with them. They hire the Syrians of Zobah, and they hire these guys to fight with them.
[8:44] And David heard it, and he sends Joab, his general, with the whole army to go and fight. And they go and fight against the Syrians, and they're going to win. I love what it says in verse 12.
[8:56] Go into line verse 12. In verse 12, he says, be of good courage, and let us play the men for our people. Hey, guys, we're going to war.
[9:06] Remember, everybody man up and just get out here and act like things are going to go good. Let's risk our lives. Let's take a chance for our people, and let's fight. And then he said, and God will do whatever seems good to him.
[9:20] I could preach forever on that one verse for a missionary. I could preach forever. In fact, I used to preach forever on it. I'm not sure if it's as applicable as I like to make it. But do you realize this?
[9:31] These guys are going out to war. They don't know if they're going to win or if they're not going to win, but they know this. I'm going to go out encouraged. I'm going to go out, and I'm going to do the best I can. I'm going to try to accomplish something great, and I'll just leave the rest of it in the hands of God, and we'll see what happens.
[9:44] And they win the battle, and they come to tell David. And then they come to attack David. And before the end of the chapter, David will slaughter them, and they will all be his servants.
[9:56] Interesting thing. Three chapters. Three things happen. One, David sets up his kingdom. We'll look at that. He gets everything under control, and he's trying to do the good stuff. And so then he goes to Mephibosheth, and he said, hey, Mephibosheth, I want to help you.
[10:08] I want to be a blessing to you. I want to be kind to you. And Mephibosheth says, thank you so much. And comes in. He lives at his table. He eats at his table. All of his dad's stuff is returned to him.
[10:20] He is blessed beyond measure. He should be dead, but he is alive, and he's given a chance. Next chapter, David says, well, that worked good. I'll go be a nice guy to somebody else.
[10:30] And he goes to try to be a nice guy to him, and that guy said, you can drop dead. I don't appreciate you coming over here, and war will ensue. I'll tell you this before we go through the passage of Scripture now because we're going to go back through it and kind of look at it and think about it a second.
[10:45] But can you imagine this? The God of heaven offered grace. The God of heaven offered goodness and kindness, and we accepted it. Most of us in this room said, man, I don't deserve this.
[10:56] I'm like a dead dog. I ought to go to hell. I can't believe God would save me. I have sinned against the holy God, and he has shown mercy and kindness to me, and he saved me when I didn't deserve it. I love him, and I praise him.
[11:08] But there are other people, kind of like the next guy, that when God offers them salvation, and when God offers them grace, and God offers them this, they're like, I don't like you.
[11:18] I don't want you. I hate you. Get out of here. And before the story's over, they too will be serving, bowing the knee and acknowledging that he is king and he is God.
[11:30] Father, I pray that you would help these truths to sink into our hearts tonight, and I pray that you'd help us to understand your sweetness and your kindness and your grace, but I also pray you'd help us understand how you judge rebellion, and how you judge us when we stand against you, and how we must accept you as our king and you as our ruler, and follow you and honor you with our lives.
[11:53] I'll give you praise for it all. In Jesus' name, amen. First thing, David goes to war to get back the land God promised Abraham. I don't want to take a lot of time in chapter 8, but I want you to understand something.
[12:07] Did you know Israel's going to get their land back? Did you know that all through the Bible, the story keeps being told, and so you should kind of catch on to this. We're in Samuel. In the book of Genesis, God says, I'm going to make you a great nation.
[12:21] I'm going to bless you. I'm going to do great things with you. Hey, you're going to have children like the sand on the seashore, like the stars in the sky. I've got big plans for you and your family, and Abraham, you're going to bless the world, and those who pick on you and those who curse you, I'm going to curse them, and those that bless you, I'm going to bless them, and he gave him this land, and then he sends them out, and the nation starts to grow, and Abraham only has one son that counts for the story, Isaac, and then Isaac has his two boys, Jacob and Esau, and Jacob becomes the leader, and Jacob has his 12 sons, and they become the people that make the tribe, and God repeats the promise.
[12:59] And the time you get to Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, God's laying out all the things he's going to do with these Jewish people. And I know in 2016, we're like, I don't know that God has that big a plan for Israel, but you can't read the Bible without seeing he had a big plan, and he has a big plan, and he keeps on doing big stuff for them.
[13:19] And then in Joshua, they take over all this land that God had given them, and they get the country, and they possess the country. And then God's raising up kings. He has the judges, and he brings in Saul, and now David's there.
[13:33] And interesting, in David, in chapter 8, you're like, what in the world, why does God tell us about so many wars? Why does it come up here that he's going over, and he's beating up these people, and he's beating up those people, and he's beating up those people?
[13:46] But if you study it out, you'd find out that he's just taken over all the land, and even goes a little bit further than what God said today, what God had told Abraham that they were going to have.
[13:56] So in verse 1, After this, it came to pass that David smote the Philistines. He fought all the old enemies of God's people, and he won Israel's land back. He fought all the old enemies of Israel and won Israel's land back.
[14:10] Before I leave that thought so I can move on, you do know you're in the minor prophets. You remember Obadiah? You remember what Obadiah said? Five times in two verses, you will possess your land. You will possess your land.
[14:21] You will possess your land. So it's a Bible truth if you're a Bible believer, and you're going to take care of what it says. It's interesting that God takes care of David no matter where he goes.
[14:32] That's in verse 6 and in verse 14. We looked at that just a second ago. It's interesting that as God took care of David, David took care of God. It's interesting as God took care of David, David recognized, I win, I fight, God blesses me, God protects me, and I recognize that, and he dedicates it all.
[14:51] Verse 11, he dedicates it to the Lord. Look at it. The Bible says that in 2 Samuel 8 and verse 11, Before I move on, I really wish you'd realize this.
[15:10] Do you know who's blessing you? Do you know who's giving you the air you breathe? Do you know who's giving you the victories you're enjoying? Do you know who's giving you the success you're enjoying? Do you know who's giving you the health you have?
[15:20] You should recognize that the great God of heaven is protecting you too. And if you do recognize that, you should become a giver. And giving starts with tithing, and you start saying, Man, I'm going to bless God because God's blessed me.
[15:33] I'm going to give to God, and God's blessed me. David's battles earned him a reputation. Look at 2 Samuel 8 and verse 13. And David got him a name.
[15:45] David got him a name when he returned from smiting of the Syrians in the Valley of Salt. Big 18,000 men. So, first thing I want you to look at.
[15:56] It's a theme throughout the Bible. Israel is getting her land back. Now, for some of you with a newer theology that thinks the church replaced Israel, that would be awful impossible if you ever read your Old Testament.
[16:11] If you ever read your Old Testament, you realize God has a plan for the nation of Israel. Mark her down. She'll get that land back. No matter what the politicians say.
[16:23] No matter what the peace accords say. No matter what presidents say. That'll happen. Now, go with me to 2 Samuel 8, 15. Next, David strengthened the kingdom. In chapter 8 and verse 15, David reigned over all Israel, and he executed judgment.
[16:40] God's given him all the country now. He's leading right and good. His government's known for making good decisions and treating people justly. And then he chooses the right people for the right jobs.
[16:51] And I'm not even going to go through that with you. 2 Samuel 8, 16 and 17. He picks all these people out and he delegates. This is for all of us. Any good leader doesn't try to do everything himself.
[17:02] Doesn't have his hand in everything. Doesn't make all the decisions. If you'll read it, he's got Joab, Jehoshaphat, Zadok, Ahimelech, Ahimelech, Sariah, and Benaiah. And they're all doing a work.
[17:13] The key to good government. Picking the right leaders and delegating and allowing them to develop their gifts. Now, go with me to the next chapter. 2 Samuel 9. David wants to help Jonathan's children.
[17:26] You do remember that Jonathan is Saul's son. Saul is the king. Jonathan's to be the next king. David comes along and plays a harp at the king's house.
[17:38] And David becomes an armor bearer for the king. And David ends up killing Goliath. And in the time all that's going on, David and Jonathan became best buddies. Here's the king's son dressed in fine clothes and driving the nicest car and having the nicest electronics possible.
[17:56] And here's a shepherd boy smells like sheep. Been working outside. He's sweating. He's sunburned. And they became best friends. And Jonathan realized as all this was going on, as daddy was trying to kill David, Jonathan said, I know God has big plans for you.
[18:12] And I am willing to step down and let you be that guy. And I'll be second to you. That was a tremendously unusual thing that Jonathan was willing to give up his position and let David be the king.
[18:25] But he said he would. And Jonathan said, by the way, when you get to be a big shot, we know what kings do. Don't kill my family, all right? Promise me you won't kill my family. Promise me, David said.
[18:36] I promise you, if I ever get to be king, I will take care of your family. And I'll bless him. So now David said, man, I love Jonathan. And Jonathan died. You remember? They were fighting.
[18:46] And Jonathan and Saul both died. There's nobody remind David of his promise. There's nobody there saying, David, do you remember? You got a reminder on your telephone that told you you're supposed to remember Jonathan.
[18:58] None of that's going on. David just wants to show his love. And so in chapter 9 and verse 2, he asked Ziba, the servant of Saul, his ex-enemy, is there anybody left in Saul's family?
[19:13] Is there anybody left in my buddy Jonathan's family that I could be kind to? I know kings aren't kind, and I know kings don't do nice stuff, but I want to show him the kindness of God.
[19:24] Look at verse 3 if you would. And the king said, is there not yet any of the houses all that I may show the kindness of God unto him? That's a pretty beautiful statement.
[19:36] But can I just stop here a second? You that follow some of the newer theology that goes around, you've got this idea that God's some harsh God that chose to burn a bunch of people in hell and save a few people, and you've come up with some pretty, honestly, some pretty wicked theology that makes God look horrible.
[19:52] But if you read the Bible, you'll find he's a wonderful God. The kindness of God. He said, I'm going to show the kindness of God. I'm going to be kind, because God is kind.
[20:02] He's full of loving kindness, he's full of mercy, and he's full of grace. And so Ziba says, yeah, Jonathan had a boy named Mephibosheth. And Mephibosheth's lame.
[20:13] He's a cripple. And they dropped him. And all the story, and in verse 5, David sent and he fetched him. He said, bring the boy to me. And they bring him in. Now Mephibosheth knows, I don't deserve any kindness.
[20:27] What's the king want with me? Is this just a trick to get me in? And so in 2 Samuel chapter 9 and verse 6, Mephibosheth falls on his face before David.
[20:39] The son of a king, the grandson of a king, falls on his face before David and honors him and reverences him. And he says, hey, I'm your servant.
[20:51] And I'm here. And David shows love to Mephibosheth. Not because he liked Mephibosheth. Not because he knows Mephibosheth.
[21:02] He shows him love. Because he loved Jonathan. Look at 2 Samuel 9, 7. And David said unto him, fear not, for I will surely show thee kindness for Jonathan, your daddy's sake.
[21:18] I'm going to give you all your land back. But I'm doing it because I loved your dad. I'm doing it because I loved your dad. Mephibosheth knows I don't deserve to be loved.
[21:31] I don't deserve to be loved. I only deserve to be a servant. I deserve to be dead. In 2 Samuel 9, in verse 8, he bows down again. And he said, what is your servant that you would look upon him, a dead dog like me?
[21:46] And David says, well, I'm going to tell Ziba to take care of you. And you get to eat at my table. You eat my food, live in my house, and get honored like a king. And I'll have Ziba keep making money for you on the side and bringing you his money.
[21:59] And you get to keep enjoying the benefits of being a king's son. Look at 2 Samuel 9, 13. So Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem, for he did continually eat at the king's table, but he was crippled in both feet.
[22:16] Here's some lessons to consider and think about. Think of the goodness and the grace of God. I don't think that's necessarily why the passage was written.
[22:26] I don't think that that's necessarily why God put it in there, but it sure is a beautiful picture of it. In the story, the love started in the heart of the king. And when you got saved, the love started in the heart of the king.
[22:41] For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believed in him should not perish, but have everlasting love. He gave to us.
[22:52] God loved us when we didn't deserve it. God came to us. We love him because he first loved us. His love for Mephibosheth was actually not even based on Mephibosheth.
[23:06] It was based on another. It was based on Jonathan that he loved. What's beautiful in the story, similar to what happens to me, by the way, you know that we are accepted in the beloved.
[23:19] We're accepted in Jesus. Everything we have is in Jesus. And so even before God, everything you have and everything you are and all that you are, that's because of Jesus. Mephibosheth could be back in his back room watching TV, checking out, surfing on the cable channels there in his room, but he'd have to be thinking, I didn't get this because David knew me.
[23:39] I didn't get this because David loved me. I got this because David loved my daddy. He pardoned him, forgave him all of his sins, forgave him all the stuff.
[23:49] He should have killed him, but he didn't. And he brought him to live with him in the palace and to eat at his table. And he met all of his needs. Now, the one thing that kind of messes up the story is he was still lame.
[24:02] And when you and I get to the table of the king, we won't be crippled. Say amen. He's going to fix you and prepare you. 1 Corinthians chapter 15, he's going to change your body. Here's another thing I think you ought to notice.
[24:14] Notice the attitude that we ought to have when we know we got grace. I think old Mephibosheth shows that. He called himself a dead dog. He was humbling himself and saying, I don't deserve this.
[24:26] None of us should ever think we deserve God's salvation. Every one of us should be able to sing amazing grace from our hearts and say, I can't believe he loved me. I can't believe he saved me.
[24:38] I can't believe he died for me. He is wonderful. Another thing old Mephibosheth said is, I'm a servant. I'm just here to serve you. I am your servant.
[24:49] And he enjoyed the goodness of the king. Let me give you another one I think of when I read the story. How do I treat my friends? Is this story pretty? David is awful good to Mephibosheth because of Jonathan who's dead.
[25:05] Jonathan's not there to remind him. You remember what you promised me, buddy? Why don't you do what you promised me? He's not there. But you know, you live in a day and time when there's almost no loyalty, no loyalty, no true friendship, no true respect.
[25:18] His friend's not there asking him for anything. He's dead. But David loved Jonathan and David made Jonathan a promise. How quickly do I get offended and walk away from my friends?
[25:34] That's probably destroying more churches everywhere. Church members, they get mad. It hadn't happened here, praise God, but church members can get mad and feelings hurt and people walk away. How has that affected me even in a church because I didn't understand how to be a friend?
[25:50] David was a friend. I think somebody could have come and said, David, you remember that promise you made Jonathan? He could have said, I'm the king now and you have no right to talk to me. David didn't do that.
[26:02] Is it possible that you and I should work on being a friend more? Is it possible you and I should have more of a David attitude? And there's a picture of loyalty. He didn't have to honor his word, but he did.
[26:13] And he ran the risk of Saul's family rising up against him, but he still loved a lame, undeserving man. By the way, the story's going to happen. You know, it won't be long until David messes up with Bathsheba and David's going to get kicked out of his kingdom a little bit later on because of the mess up.
[26:27] Absalom, one of his sons, is going to end up kicking him out of his kingdom. And on Mephibosheth and Zeba, that guy's going to really mess things up. But David's like, hey, I'm just going to do what's right and treat my friend.
[26:39] Last story tonight. 2 Samuel chapter 10. Here's a guy who rejects the kindness. Here's a guy who rejects the kindness. In 2 Samuel chapter 10, verse 1, as I read this, I kept saying, Lord, help me know what we ought to look at.
[26:54] Help me know what we ought to be thinking about. And I thought to myself, Mephibosheth is such a picture of who I ought to be. I ought to love God and be thankful to him. Amen. I ought to realize I don't deserve it.
[27:04] But the very next thing, it's like, in the very next chapter, if you look at it, 2 Samuel 10, 1, it says, and it came to pass after this. So after that, all got through happening and David saw, man, it was sweet.
[27:16] And on Mephibosheth was sitting at his table and David's sitting there at the table realizing, I loved a guy I shouldn't have loved. I loved an enemy. I brought him into my table. I'm a good guy. I'm doing the right thing.
[27:27] And so then he offers kindness to this other guy, Hanan, in chapter 10 and verse 1. Chapter 10 and verse 2, he said, I will show kindness unto Hanan, the son of Nahash.
[27:40] His father was nice to me and I'm going to comfort him. David is going to try to take care of a man. They're natural enemies because they're the sons of Lot.
[27:52] So they don't really get along with Israel. So there's a natural animosity going on there. But old David says, you know what? He was good to me when I was running from Saul and I'm going to be good back to him.
[28:02] But when he went to be good, the young men and the staff that worked with David, they said, this is just a ruse. He's just trying to take advantage of us. He's just trying to spy out our city.
[28:14] He's just trying to figure out how to fight us, which is a common story in the Old Testament. You remember, we're going to get the Boam brothers coming up later on in the Bible.
[28:24] You know what's going to happen? They're going to say, Solomon, he had a lot of taxes. The old men are going to say, lower the taxes. And he's going to say, what are you young guys thinking? The young guys are going to say, no, let's double the taxes.
[28:35] Let's just tell him, bless God, we're taking advantage of these people. And the kingdom split. So now, David's guys are there. They see the offer of kindness and they react poorly.
[28:50] It could be a young king thinking of his advisors. It could be a picture of how people reject Jesus and try to imagine him as having ulterior motives. All my life, I've been sharing the gospel with people.
[29:03] Good news. And I can tell people, God loves you. He wants to save you. He wants to give you a new life. And people look at me like, that's crazy. God's just trying to get me to do a bunch of junk.
[29:14] He's just trying to get me to follow rules. He's just trying to rob me and take away my good life. If I ever get to be a Christian, I'll give up living. That's basically their attitude. That's kind of what's going on here. Yeah.
[29:26] We know what David's really trying to do. He's not trying to be good to you. He's trying to ruin you. That's what you may run into when you go out sharing the gospel. So they insulted David and his men and they shaved their beards and cut off their clothing to the rear end.
[29:40] 2 Samuel 10, verse 4, shaved off, cut to the rear end. And the guys were really embarrassed. In verse 5, these are warriors.
[29:53] These are ambassadors. These are men sent from the king with good news and good tidings and good words. And they embarrassed them.
[30:06] You know, you can get over the clothes getting cut off at the rear, but these guys, their beards are a big deal to them. Their beards are a really big deal. Robert's shaking his head.
[30:18] Their beards are a really big deal. In Leviticus chapter 19, in verse 27, they were told, don't mar the corners of your beard. So they didn't shave even the corners. No tremors.
[30:29] Allowed. No tremors allowed. Leviticus chapter 21, in verse 5, they shall not make baldness upon their head, neither shall they shave off the corner of their beard. And they're not to make any cuttings in their flesh.
[30:42] So these guys got beards. And can you imagine if your beard was all the beard you'd ever had? Some willy booger men in this church. And some of your beard would probably be nearly to your waist.
[30:54] And all of a sudden, they're in that city and their beard gets cut off and they can't go home. Because their beard's cut off and they're embarrassed. And these guys realize we have made a mistake.
[31:07] And so they get ready to defend themselves in verse 6. They hire soldiers. They go into defense mode trying to explain themselves, trying to defend themselves. They make one mistake and they're never willing to see what they've done and ask for forgiveness.
[31:21] Even if they had just said we were really dumb to do this, David. Please have mercy on us. Maybe it had been different but they didn't do that. After they shaved their beards, after they cut their clothes off, they hired another army.
[31:34] Isn't that how people do that reject Jesus? Isn't that how you do when you know you're wrong and God's dealing with you and convicting you and all of a sudden instead of admitting it, you come up with a hundred reasons.
[31:45] More reasons than seven wise men could ever give an answer to. That's kind of what our pride does. It makes us refuse to see our problem and to continue down the same path to destruction.
[31:58] So David declares war in chapters 10 and verse 7 and he sends Joab and the mighty men. He sends the army and they go and they fight and they end up destroying them.
[32:11] Chapter 10 and verse 12 I again remind you. Joab says, guys, I don't know how the war is going to go and this is a lot harder war than probably any of us could ever imagine because these guys are going to be fighting with swords and knives and spears and really close combat fighting and he said, just go play the men.
[32:29] Just go be of good courage and let's see what God will do. That's the way all of us need to live and serve. Can I say to everyone of you missionaries real quickly, you know where you're going, I don't know if you're going to have any souls saved or not.
[32:44] I don't know if you're going to get a church going or not. I don't know if God's going to let bad stuff happen to you or not. That's not your end of the equation. You just get encouraged and excited and go do something for God. You just go play the man and then we'll wait and see what God wants to do.
[32:57] There are a hundred times you'll stand up and preach and you'll preach only to your wife, you'll preach only to your kids, you'll be the only people, just you, and you'll be like, nobody's interested. That's okay, you just play the man.
[33:08] You just be encouraged and you just do your job and you wait on God and let's see what God will do. Just a real quick word of testimony. You know, I never knew, I had no idea what God would do.
[33:22] In fact, just when I went to Peru, all I thought was, my life's over, my ministry's over, no one will ever hear about me, I'll never be used of God, I'll never do anything big, I'll just go win a few of these little brown people to Christ.
[33:34] And I just stood up and did the best I knew how to do and God moved in and did stuff. That's what's going to happen with you. That's what's going to happen with you. So the next part, the last part of the chapter, there's a war and they finally make peace in verse 19 and they have to serve.
[33:48] Let me give you some lessons and I'll be through. Lessons that we can learn from this. Two stories of grace and kindness offered. One accepted the grace and the kindness and the other, even though he didn't deserve it, he was at the mercy of the other but he still accepted.
[34:04] The other rejected the grace, made good excuses. They're trying to take advantage of us. They're not really being friendly. Their rebellion spurred more rebellion than ended up in their failing and losing.
[34:18] That's what happens when you stand against God. That's what happens when you want to live your own life. And here's what every one of us need to remember and everybody you know, every knee will bow.
[34:29] Some will bow now and some will bow later but every knee will bow. That's the reaction that happens when we preach. You know, the best friends you'll have on the mission field for you guys and the best friends any missionary or Sunday school teacher here are going to be the people that accept the grace.
[34:46] They're like excited to hear all the stories. They're excited to learn about the Bible and they sit on the end of their seat and they're excited to listen. But others, they're going to reject. They're going to get mad. They're going to embarrass you.
[34:58] They're going to cut your clothes off to the middle of your backside. They're going to shave half your beard off. They're going to make fun of you. They're going to say ugly things but that's okay because you're God's man. You're going to do what you're supposed to do.
[35:09] Some admit their need and yield. Others are too proud and stand against the offered kindness. One enjoys the benefits of grace and the other enjoys the consequences of rebellion.
[35:20] As we give out the gospel we can expect these reactions. I want to be God's man. I don't know how many times in Peru rough stuff happened.
[35:33] People made fun of us. People mocked the ministry and people said ugly things but I knew that some were going to reject it. You've got to know they're going to reject it. A good majority are going to reject it but you keep sharing the gospel.
[35:47] You say people aren't always nice to me so when have they ever been nice to anybody? We tell people about our sweet God and we witness to them about Jesus. Thanks. This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alfred, Georgia.
[36:05] For more information log on to www.visionbaptist.com where you can find our service times location contact information and more audio and video recordings.
[36:17] works. So you will give you thanks.
[36:32] You