Second Samuel, Chapter 23. I have a feeling some are not
here tonight because they come from a long way and they're
planning to be there tomorrow. But Bible study must go on.
Amen. And we've been getting, let me
just say this, we've been getting so many encouraging
emails of people finding out about this ministry by doing one
simple thing. They go on YouTube, they search
up a chapter and first or Second Samuel, and we show up and and
we get encouraging messages from people across the world.
And so we are blessed to be here together in person, and we are
blessed by those who watch every single week, tuning in live and
watching later. We hope you're blessed tonight
as we come to verse eight of this chapter, verse eight in
this chapter. And today you and I are coming
to a very invigorating portion of this chapter because a brief
glance at it will show that in the last 32 verses of this
chapter, God, the Holy Spirit consecrated it to give us a
catalog of God's mighty men assigned to David David's mighty
men. And as we look at these texts,
we might think and be tempted that there's not much value in
these verses with names that we've never heard before and and
the exploits of some of these men.
I mean, what does that have to do with you and I?
But anytime you come to, and I hope you know this by now,
anytime you come to any portion of Scripture and that thought
arises, shoot it down. Disregarded completely, no
matter how obscure or difficult a verse or verses may be.
God has given us this for our instruction.
And the Holy Spirit had in mind the sanctification of the Saints
when He gave us this historical report thousands of years ago.
And I believe the best way to approach the theme of the
exhortations and the encouragements found in the set
of verses is to see how this present text connects with the
preceding one. What did we study last time we
were together? Well, look at back the first
verse of of chapter 23. Now these are the last words of
David and the 1st 7 verses are technically a Psalm, the last
Psalm of David. And so right from the beginning
we understand what we are entering into.
The Holy Spirit at the end of this book is wanting us to
contemplate the last things pertaining to David's life and
David's reign. The last things, some debate.
If this is the last words of David, we know it's not the last
words, but it's the last Psalm song Public addressed that David
gave through a hymn. And is it coincidental that with
the last words of David, the meditation of the final
concluding moments of his Kingdom, we are introduced to a
review of the services of his servants?
It's not an accident. It's actually a nudge.
It's actually kind of a foreshadowing.
It's a reminder, you and I, if you want an overarching theme
for what this chapter is about, at least in this part, is that
in the same way that the end of this church age, the end of
Christ, work through his people on the earth, we too can expect
an evaluation and commendation from our king.
Every battle that you have fought, every trial that you
have endured will one day be surfaced before the throne of
Christ and will be highlighted by the King himself.
It will be tested with fire. And so there is a day coming for
every single blood bot Christian who wears the uniform of grace
and the righteousness of Christ to stand before their commander.
And this commander will look at your gifts, your context, your
opportunities, and through your faithfulness or lack of
faithfulness, it will determine the reward that we will enjoy
and the life to come. And so this, this portion, this,
these passages are perfectly aligned with the idea of our
meditation on David as king and the last things pertaining to
him. Because at the end of it all,
when all is said and done, there will be your name called, my
name called, and Christ will review what we've done on this
earth for His name and for us. That's exciting, I hope.
For others, that's terrifying. But I hope that what you will
hear today will inspire you to fight.
The good fight will inspire you to remain faithful until the
end, will inspire you to remember that this brief
existence of yours, it all of us is leading to one thing.
All roads lead to the judgment seat of Christ.
The judgment seat of Christ is not the judgment for
unbelievers. That's the great White throne
judgment. I hope you don't show up to that
one. The judgment seat of Christ is
for Christians, and we'll not determine whether we have
eternal life that's been determined at the cross.
It will determine our reward that we will enjoy when Christ
rules and reigns on the earth. How do we divide this?
I I won't read through the rest of the chapter, especially with
these tongue twisting names. Okay, I know you might enjoy
that, but I will not be able to do that today.
But I believe the best way to approach it is to look at it the
way the author divides it. It seems as though with this
list of 30 something men you have a division of ranks.
You have a first rank, you have a second rank and you have a
third rank. You have these different
classes. The first rank makes up of three
men. The three they're called.
The second class can arguably be about two men who were chief
among the 30 but were closely associated with the top three.
And the last class of men deal with a series of names.
And we don't necessarily have their a personal conquest
ascribed to each, but they still make up of the the 30 men of the
final class. Mighty men still, but of a
different caliber. And so that's what we're going
to do. Let's look at each of these
ranks. And here's the goal that you and
I want to accomplish. What is it about these men that
qualify them to be mighty? What is it about these men that
gave them the honor to be crowned with such monumental
praise and acknowledgement? Because the physical realities
of these soldiers and this army parallels with the reality that
you and I endure in this life as soldiers of Christ.
So that's what we're going to draw from these actual soldiers
in the flesh. What do they have to teach us
about us being good soldiers in the Spirit?
And so we read in verse 8. These are the names of the
mighty of the mighty man whom David had.
Joseph Bass. Hebeth he Takimonite, he was
chief of the three. He wielded his spear against
800, whom he killed at one time, and next to him among the three
mighty man, was Eliezer, the son of Dodo, son of Aho.
High he was with David when they defied the Philistines, who were
gathered there for battle, and the men of Israel withdrew.
He rose and struck down the Philistines until his hand was
weary, and his hand clung to the sword.
And the Lord brought about a great victory that day, and the
men returned after him, only to strip the slain.
And next to him was Shama the son of Ahi, the Hara, right?
The Philistines gathered together at Lehigh or some
translation, say as a troop where there was a plot of ground
full of lentils and the men fled from the Philistines.
But he took his stand in the midst of the plot and defended
it and struck down the Philistines, and the Lord worked
a great victory. I'm curious to know, based on
that simple reading, what stands out to you from these three
chief men, the top three. Any ideas?
And I'll do my best to repeat so help me a little bit by not
making your answer too long, because people tend to say, hey,
we didn't hear the answers of the people at the study.
Can you can you be more clear? So if you want to give a concise
answer that helps me repeat it, yes.
What stands out? Oh, very, very, very good.
They stood alone in their battles.
Yes. Anything else?
The Lord worked through these men?
Absolutely. He brought about a great victory
through the faithfulness of these men.
Yes. Anything else?
Go ahead. So there was many of their
adversaries, yet they still stood and they saw God come
through. Despite the challenging
opposition, their faith remained.
Yes. Anything else of these three?
Mighty. The first three?
Yes. Very similar to David?
Absolutely. In what sense?
Yes. Amen.
Isn't that a wonderful report concerning the followers of
David? They imitated their king, and we
learned that last time we were together, that David's
faithfulness rubbed off on others.
It was contagious, and he inspired others to walk in the
same level of courage that he did.
That's what your faithfulness can do when you're willing to do
something like David and stand alone for God?
Absolutely. Well, why don't we explore this
in greater detail? Shall we not?
Let's look at our first man, mighty man.
We are told here about this man that he is the chief of the
three, the chief of the three. So he's not just among the first
three, he is the chief of the three.
It is believed that he must have been an advisor for the military
as a whole. He was an expert.
He was extremely wise and discerning.
He was somebody that can be counted on, not just with his
mind, but with his skill. And one of the things that are
highlighted concerning his ability is the fact that at one
time, in one specific event, he wielded his spear against not
eight. One against eight is super
impressive. One against 800.
Unusual. Supernatural, to say the least.
And so you look at this man and you see something that is pretty
difficult to match. Pretty difficult to replicate.
Something that is unique even among the mighty and the
faithful. And I think what we can take
from this is to understand. And even in the Kingdom of God
today, there are certain servants of God who have been
gifted by God to to do certain things that are very difficult
to repeat, very difficult to follow in.
I mean, you look at this man and you realize that he does the
work of 1000 men. And when you look at the Kingdom
of God throughout history, the church throughout the ages, you
know this very well. That God and every generation
chooses and raises up certain men to touch many people at the
same time to do work that some, if they live 10 lives, will not
even do a fraction in comparison.
And that is not to say that these men and these women
throughout history were more loved by God.
It is all to say that God and his sovereignty and desiring to
expand his glory, will expand the ability and the gifting of 1
particular person to do a great and mighty work on the earth.
That's what you see here with this first fella.
He he is a mighty man, but he is an exceptional mighty man.
He is a different kind of mighty man, one in the generation kind
of guy. And we know those people.
And some of you can even name those people.
And when you when you understand that, you have to not be
discouraged, but understand that the Lord knows what He's doing
in ascribing to you the gifts that you have and ascribing to
others the gifts that they have. And I've personally learned this
even in this past week. I was meditating on that truth
this morning. And this past week was an
unusual week for me in terms of my schedule of preaching.
There was almost something happening every day where there
was online or in person, and and yesterday I was just laying a
bad thing to myself because my throat is sore even now.
So be gracious to me if I'm not as loud as I usually him.
I thought to myself, how, how did these men of old do it?
If you know a little about church history, if you've read
into George Whitfield and Wesley, you see that these men
preached twice a day, every day for months without stop and no
microphone, no amplification, and they had thousands of people
before them. Here I am and I did A2 extra
meetings and my throat is, is is acting all soft.
And I'm thinking to myself how And I wasn't discouraged.
I just thought to myself, well, just like this man here, God has
enabled certain people to do things that I might not be able
to do, that you might not be able to do, and that shouldn't
squash you. That should just cause you to
rejoice that God in his wisdom knows what to give to whom.
And in the end, God's getting the glory anyway.
That's the whole point. It's not to be in competition
with other preachers or missionaries.
It's to see what the Lord has done, to see what the Lord can
do, and to rejoice in that. We rejoice in this testimony.
And there is a verse that Paul gives that confirms this, this
idea that I'm conveying to you. I want you to see it.
In 2nd Corinthians 10. He speaks to the Corinthians and
he is challenging how they are being influenced by these false
apostles, these false teachers that are boasting themselves and
then boasting themselves, trying to disqualify Paul and notice
what he says. Notice what he says here in
verse 13, he says in 2nd Corinthians 1013.
But we will not boast beyond limits.
But we will boast only with regard to the area of influence
God assigned to us. To reach even to you, what a
humble man Paul understood and Paul's theology, practical
theology. He understood that God
sovereignly determines how each of his servants will serve him
and to what capacity. There are some who have been
gifted by God in a way in which they will have a larger platform
and a wider reach. And there are others who may
have a more limited reach. And that is not to say one is
more special or favored by God. That is merely to say that God
knows exactly what portion of his vineyard you should occupy.
And Paul here is expressing contentment in the extent of his
influence. He's not complaining.
Oh, you have every right to say, Lord, use me to touch as many
people as possible. But as you serve him, trust in
the breath that he is granting to you.
Your job is to determine the excellence of your ministry.
Your job is to determine the character that you should have
as a minister. Your job is to do whatever God's
put before you with great zeal, passion and practice.
God's job is to broaden the influence.
If He wants to, that's not your job.
That's not your job. And that's why you can strive as
much as you want to make it happen.
It will not happen unless he makes it happen.
That shouldn't frustrate you, That should put you to rest,
because God even knows how much you can handle.
As much as your dreams are big, He knows exactly how you've been
wired. And there are things that you
will touch that even these mighty men, like this man here
in verse eight will never touch. Yes, he was able to touch 800
lives in in this negative sense and killing them, but the rest
of the mighty men were able to do things that he could not do.
And so it's not a matter of you being lesser.
It's a matter of you occupying something that those people who
might have touched millions of lives will not even touch.
And so it's all about how God places you and where He places
you and you, fitting and fulfilling a piece of the puzzle
that even mighty men here like this will not touch.
So that's what we see here. There are certain mighty men who
operate with a level of gifting and influence that that is not
repeated, and that shouldn't frustrate you.
But look here at verse 9. At the 2nd next among the chief
3 is a man named Eliezer, the son of Dodo.
What's his story all about? Well, it's here in verse nine.
He was with David when they defied the Philistines, who were
gathered there for battle, and the men of Israel withdrew no
explanation to why. But here's a specific battle,
and you have the men of Israel there.
And for whatever reason, they were intimidated.
Fearful, they turned their backs and their run.
Then they run. And who's there on the scene?
Two of them, King David and Eliezer, the son of Dodo at
Liaiso. The son of Dodo is the one who
planted his heels in the dirt and said, I'm not going nowhere,
We're going to do this together, right?
King David and everybody else runs.
We don't give, we don't get to understand.
That's not the main point of the the passage.
It's it's to see this man stand out, stand and guard his post,
regardless of the fear and regardless of the lack of
support from those on his own team.
It's easier to serve in your ministry when those that you
like and enjoy are serving in that ministry.
It's easier to pray when other people are also praying.
It's easier to maintain a zeal when you're constantly feeling
the warmth of other burning hearts.
But what we see here about what makes up a mighty man is that
the king will commend faithfulness when it sparkles.
And the backdrop of Christian compromise, what moves the heart
of God is not just faithfulness, but faithfulness that shines on
the backdrop of Christian compromise.
This is what we see. We see these men who withdrew
and this man stands out. And where faith really matters,
I mean it matters at all times. Where we're really stands out is
when other people are not serving him, are not worshipping
him, are not devoted to him. One writer put it this way.
God esteems fidelity and holy zeal far more highly in a season
of declension and apostasy than he does in a time of revival.
I couldn't say it any better. Absolutely right.
There's something that particularly touches the heart
of God when he sees one man, a few men, a few woman, who even
in the coldness of the spiritual atmosphere of their day still
are willing to stand by. The king and our brother
mentioned and already that one of the things that stand out
about these mighty men, the chief 3, if there's one thing
that they shared despite the differences in their
testimonies, is that they stood alone.
They stood alone. And there are today who are
expressing woes, right disappointment about what's
happening today. And christen them seems like
most of Chris of them is asleep in a time of of great need.
And that's not a this is not a time to be discouraged.
You also at the same time though you can be overcome by despair.
Realize the opportunity at hand in 2023.
What's that opportunity that you have a chance to give God
praiseworthy devotion when it really matters, When it really
matters. That's how I want to see it.
OK, let other people compromise on the pulpit.
OK, let other people not want to be in the church.
OK, let other people not want to serve with a greater zeal.
Though the darkness is increasing.
Let them. That's not my job, to make sure
that everybody is doing what they're supposed that's between
them and God. I can exhort and encourage, but
if I, if I and you have to stand and serve the Lord, then so be
it. Whether the presence of God's
people are there or not, whether the majority are in for it or
not that that's not, that's not what determines anything.
God would look at your faithfulness and he'll look at
the lack of faithfulness around you and he will, He will deal
with them and He would deal with you.
And you think that this is different today.
You think what, what's happening here with this one man, the
commendation that's ascribed to him is different in the church
age. No, Look at Revelation chapter 3
in one church. Look how God evaluates churches.
Man, it's absolutely frightening to me because his, his
measurement, his evaluation sheet is much different than
man's. But he comes to this church in
Revelation 3. This church called Sardis.
Well, at least it was in Sardis. And this church had a reputation
of being alive, but it was actually dead.
And they're relying on their reputation and and the Lord in a
loving way scolds them. But he says something so
powerful that encourages me at least in chapter 3, verse three,
is it there on the screen. Here's what he says.
Remember then what you received and heard.
Keep it and repent. If you will not wake up.
I will come like a thief and you will know.
You will not know at what hour I will come against you.
Look at verse 4. Yet you have still a few names
in Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments, and they
will walk with me in white, for they are worthy.
I love how the King James and the new King James puts it, it
says in that translation of this verse.
Yet you have still a few names, even in Sardis.
It's a even in a spiritually dead, a lifeless place like
Sardis. Yes, even in such a hopeless
environment, you have some who have not soiled their garments.
And the part that touches me is this.
And I know their names. He knows their names.
And you know what the reward will be for those who choose to
stand, Though there's soil garments all around them.
They'll walk with me. They'll walk with me.
I'm going to invite them into close fellowship with me.
Because you stood for me, and you served me in your church, in
your family, in your generation, when others chose to just be
content in their spiritual death, reminiscing on things of
the past and not keeping up with their faith and their devotion
to me. That touches my heart and I and
I see this, and I see the parallel for our own lives.
And you see still a glorious description added to Eliezer.
Did you see it in verse 10? It says here that he rose and
struck down the Philistines until his hand was weary and his
hand clung to the sword. This guy had a grip on his sword
and you couldn't. You couldn't do anything to
separate those fingers from that grip.
So already he had to deal with the challenge of the lack of
support and fidelity of those around him.
All his boys turned back and ran the other direction.
Now he has another challenge. Perform, and that's his own
flesh. And you too have the same
challenge. You have the challenge of
dealing with the lack of examples, the temptation of
those around you, And then you got to deal with the weariness
of your own flesh and mind and soul.
And yet, despite the weariness, despite his own body trying to
convince him to give up, it says here that he was not weakened.
He stayed the course. He did not let go of the sword
until the task was complete. He did not remove his hands from
the plow until the master said you're done.
Mighty men and mighty woman of God endure until the end.
They finish what they started. You have to fight them to keep
them from not doing what they want to do for the Lord.
It's the opposite for people in today's generation.
You have to fight them and get them all riled up to get to
serve the Lord and to hopefully stay on that course for some
kind of length of time. And that's the opposite.
With this fella, you couldn't do anything to remove that sword
from his hand. He was going to do it until it
was done. And this is something to to
consider for your own devotion in mind.
To not give up so easily defines a mighty man of God.
Despite the lack of encouraging environment, he is not deterred
in his commitment. And that liaiser's story here it
concludes with a convicting summary.
What's that convicting summary? Look here at the last part of
verse 10. And the Lord brought about a
great victory that day, and the men returned after him only to
strip the slain. So when it came to the fight,
nobody was there. When it came to the reward,
everybody shows up. Unique story.
No human nature. Human nature.
I looked at this and I thought to myself, how sad is it that
the presence of many Saints is only made known when they
recognize an immediate benefit to their enlistment in God's
army. How true is it?
For many who have enlisted in God's army will pause and
retreat when there's an actual cost to their enlistment in
Guard's army. But when it's prosperous and
when it's easy, when it's successful, and when there's
growth, and when there's fame, we want to be associated with
it, We want to partner with it. We want to be a part of it.
But when it comes to standing in the midst of the threats of the
world and consistently fighting against the flesh, those numbers
dwindle. And that kind of caliber of
Christianity faints. And so you see some who've only
come to strip the slain. And it's true that even today,
it's usually the faithfulness of 1 or a few.
The other people enjoy the benefits of, you know, the
statistics they say, of local churches, of who in those local
churches serve actually serve consistently, is embarrassingly
low. I think they.
I don't want to give a wrong statistic, but it's below 10%,
below 10% of most congregations. Do you have people who serve
consistently in that church and the rest just attend once a
week? If they can't even do that, that
that is the difference between mighty men and women and the
feeble in the faith. Here's a person who he's been,
he's been assigned a sword. He's like, I'm not letting go of
this until the job is done and we come to the third and final
of the Chief, 3, verse 11. And next to him was Shama, the
son of Aggie, the Heroright. The Philistines gathered
together at Lehigh, where there was a plot of ground full of
lentils and the Med fled from the Philistines.
We've seen this before. Here's another man, mighty man.
And what do we see about him? He stands when everybody else
flees, but there's a description about his whereabouts, about his
actual engagement, that is striking.
It may seem strange, but when you meditate on it, it's
actually striking. The description of the plot of
land that he was on is this, that it was a land of lentils.
It was a field. It was a field that farmers
occupied. Now that's important because you
have the Philistines who show up on the horizon and clearly they
want to occupy this countryside, but it's not the citadel found
in Jerusalem. It's not a strategic city that
would determine the nation's security.
It's it's a land of lentils. That's not very important, at
least in my mind. If anything, it's on the
peripheral, probably. It's not striking at the nerve
of the nation. And so to me, it seems as though
the people calculated very quickly here are the
Philistines. They want this land.
They want to park here. It's not worth risking my life
for. And so we're out of here.
And they dropped their instruments and they went into a
different direction. But there's a crazy guy in the
field that day. There's an insane man, if I can
use that word. And this man Shamat looks around
and he says, no, I'm going to stand right here, bring it on.
Why was he a man that found adrenaline in these kind of
things? Was he a man who was just
reckless and his behavior? No, he was a man with
revelation. Yeah.
To the to the crowd. This was a plot of lentils.
You know how I believe this man saw this land?
Leviticus 2325. You look at this passage and you
understand the significance of every part of the promised land.
Here's what the Lord says to his people.
Leviticus 2325. It writes the land shall not be
sold in perpetuity, for the land is whose.
The land in Leviticus 2325 is mine.
That's what the Lord says. The land is mine.
I'm giving you what belongs to me.
Though you're living on this land, though you'll benefit from
this land. I own it.
It's mine. And I believe.
Shamar looked at. He looked at this field, and he
understood that it was the Lord's inheritance.
He saw this, and he realized that he was a steward of this
land, that he was responsible in defending what God provided.
And when you understand that, you realize many wonderful and
glorious lessons. Here's the first glorious lesson
that you see from Shema, and it's something that you and I
have to understand about our own walk with the Lord.
This person here sees, although he's not like the first
individual who is able to have vast influence over hundreds of
people. He was an individual who saw the
value of the piece of real estate that he was in, that he
was on, and he was willing to give his life to it, though
other people did not see the value in it.
And you can say the same thing for people in various ministries
today. I think of those who look and
serve in certain capacities, where the majority of people
don't see the glamour in it, don't see the importance of it,
don't see the relevance of it. And yet for them, they say this
is part of the Lord's inheritance.
And this is where God has me in this Providence, and this is
where in his Providence I will remain.
And so you think about those who do what you think about those
who serve little children, little children, right.
And most people see the little children's ministry as a
babysitting ministry, just to give parents a chance to be
upstairs to hear the message. But no, I believe the teachers
of this church and many other churches say this is the Lord's
inheritance and this is discipleship and this is
investing in the next generation.
This is not just a plot of lentils.
This is what God has given us and we are responsible for it.
I think about others also who might be part of a local church
that not might not mean significant.
That might might be like a major voice in the nation or the state
or the city, but they see what God is doing in that place.
And they say this is where God has me.
I will plant my feet here and I will honor God in it.
And there are others who realize the value of prayer, and they
have the time on Wednesday. So they come to pray because to
others prayers like a plot of land of lentils.
But for those who believe in what God said about prayer, they
say no. This is part of God's plan in
advancing his work. And so we will plant ourselves
in prayer and we will pray. You see, it's all about
perspective. It's all about revelation.
And this man had it. This man had it where many men
lacked it. And I think of others also who
give their time and specific ministries.
You see that this person here is, is is giving us an example
of somebody who is in one lane and they stay in that lane.
And I couldn't help but think of a variety of different
ministries that have unique deliveries.
And they they specify in certain doctrines and certain
demographics, and that's all that they do.
They they just, they occupy this, this is what they do.
And they are still regarded as mighty men.
I think about those who deal with Muslim ministries, who
speak to them and try to prove the truth through the
scriptures. I think of others who teach
homeschooling parents how to do it well, through their own
history and through their own experience.
I think of others to evangelize, and that's all that they do.
They're not expert theologians, but they just preach the simple
gospel. I think of intercessors, they're
calling is just to pray and seek the Lord.
And again, though, they're not like the first individual who
was able to do many things, who is promoted because they had
manifold abilities, but they just had one assignment and they
did that assignment well. And if that is somebody,
something that describes you, realize that God can still in
that consider you to be a mighty man, a mighty woman of God.
Oh, there's so many ways of applying Shema's example.
Another way of applying it is looking at how he took this one
land and saw the absolute glory in it and did not disregard it.
Though at on the natural it seemed to be insignificant.
It is no different with God's revelation.
How much more should we be defending, cherishing, adoring,
loving and applying all of God's word?
Not just some. Not just the pillars of our
faith, not just the major things, but all things, the
whole council of God. And you have many people who
believe otherwise. You have many people who are
campaigning for unity. And here's their mantra.
Let's just gather around the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Everything else is irrelevant. Well, that's not true.
That's not true. Allow me to show you one of the
most convicting sayings of Jesus pertaining to how you and I
serve him in relation to his word.
It's on the Sermon of the Mount. I don't know if you've ever
noticed this. It's in Matthew 519.
I want you to see what Jesus says when he gives his
instructions. Before he does, He makes this
statement. And this statement is very
humbling as it deals with as it deals with how we relate to the
word of God in Matthew 5/19, he says here in Matthew 519,
Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments
and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the
Kingdom of heaven. But whoever does them and
teaches them will be called great in the Kingdom of heaven.
Have you ever meditated on that? So whoever comes to the word of
God and looks at things that may not seem instrumental or
important in our application of the Christian walk or church
governance or anything, whoever relaxes them and teaches others
to do the same. When it comes to his final
estimation and evaluation, he will consider such people to be
the least. But those who look at the whole
council of God and absorb all that God has to say and it
properly applies and dissects and determines how we move about
these things will be called great in the Kingdom of heaven.
And Shama is a is a illustration of that a plot of land of
lentils he was willing to fight for.
And today we're getting in a lot of trouble because you have
people not fighting for doctrines because in their mind
it's secondary or it's it's it's in the 3rd place and and we have
little cracks in the foundation. That's where compromise is.
Compromise is able to seep in. And so yes, Jesus did say
Matthew 2323 that there are weightier matters of the law.
But at the same time, he says that does not mean you should
neglect those that are under those weightier matters.
So there is nowhere in the scripture where we are
encouraged to annul or delete or ignore any part of God's Word.
And unfortunately, Shama's testimony.
Yet some would say this, this is not that important, We're going
to walk away from it. And he says, no, no, no, no, no.
I will stand for it. If you want to be mighty man, if
you want to be a mighty woman of God, you will take all of God's
word, and you will seek to understand all that he has to
say and apply it as as much as it depends on you.
Again, what are we talking about here?
We're we're talking about the difference between the mighty
and the feeble, the strong and the weak, the commended, and
those who will be corrected by Christ.
We deal with this later, but we come now to the interesting
portion found in this verse 13. This is a heartwarming
testimony. When you're then verse 13, you
read of something that most of us are familiar with, the story
of three mighty men who who fetch for a glass of water for
their king. Now people debate are these the
same three mighty men that we just mentioned or three
different ones? That's not even the main point.
The main point is what they did. So whether you believe it's the
three that we just heard of or three new ones, look at the
point and the three. Verse 13 of the 30 chief men
went down and came about harvest time to David at The Cave of
Adelam, when a band of Philistines were encamped in the
valley of Rafaem. David was then in the
stronghold, and the Garrison of the Philistines was then at
Bethlehem. And David said, Longley, oh,
that someone would give me water to drink from the well of
Bethlehem, that is, by the gate. Then the three mighty men broke
through the camp of the Philistines and drew water out
of the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate, and carried and
brought it to David. But he would not drink of it.
He poured it out to the Lord and said, Far be it from me, oh
Lord, that I should do this. Shall I drink the blood of the
men who went at the risk of their lives.
Therefore he would not drink it. These things the three mighty
men did so much to glean from this text.
Here's the scene. David is in The Cave of Adelam.
Most people believe it's the same time that he was in The
Cave in First Samuel 22, when he was just the fugitive.
Some debate and say no. I was at a later time when he
found himself in the same cave at a different war.
If it was when he was just in exile, if it was when he was
kicked out and became Public Enemy number one, then this says
something about these mighty men.
Here are these men willing to serve David with great sacrifice
when there was no promise necessarily of his exaltation to
the throne. There is no immediate reward or
blessing for their service where there was no evidence of of
anything going their way, and yet still they found it within
themselves, a passionate desire to serve him at any length.
And David here is not making a command.
David here is not issuing some kind of instruction, abusing his
power. He's just pacing back and forth
in The Cave and he's feeling a little nostalgic.
Here he is enduring a difficult season and he's thinking back to
the days of innocence. He's thinking back to the days
of safety, where he was able to freely go perhaps with one of
his brothers or friends and draw from that well in Bethlehem on a
hot summer day and drink this crisp water to quench his
thirst. That's the memory that he is.
He is rehearsing and and so profoundly impactful that he's
actually saying out loud. He's just thinking out loud.
And you have three of these guys that are squatting in that cave
and they look at each other and say, did you hear what David
said? You hear what the king is
talking about? You know what this means, right?
Yeah. But the Phyllis things are that
that doesn't matter. He wants it.
They get up and they go, and the lesson is this about being a
mighty man or a mighty woman of God.
What were they ultimately motivated by?
If you consider who David was in his status at this point as a
king, he had nothing to give them.
It was not popular to follow him.
In fact, to be associated with him meant death.
If Saul found out so the desire in serving him was not
stimulated by anything that they would be rewarded with.
All that they needed was a revelation of what pleased their
king, and they went. The difference between a mighty
man and a feeble man, The difference between a mighty
woman and a weak woman, is this. Your obedience is not determined
even by what you would be blessed with, but what blesses
God. That's it.
If this blesses God, that's all the motivation I need to serve
God. If it will put a smile on his
face, whatever frowns, I will inherit as a result.
I will still do it regardless. So what happens with a mighty
man or a mighty woman? It's this.
God's pleasure is your treasure. That's what it is.
That's all you need, nothing else.
And these men show that they move along, They go ahead, they
break through because one thing they knew, one thing they
learned. This is what David delights in.
And if he delights in it, then we will give ourselves to it.
Come on, be honest now, be honest.
On this Friday night, how much of that drives our devotion?
What the simple delight of God. If God wants it, that's all I
need for me to do it. Do you see?
Do you see now the division? Do you see the line being drawn?
What? What would it look?
God said it. We'll be there.
God wants us to do it. Count us in.
This is what the Lord asks of us.
Then so be it. That's it.
That's what makes a mighty man a mighty man.
No arm twisting, no games, no mechanics and no bribing.
God said it. And more than that, you see
something else when David receives this water.
I mean, come on. After all of that, what do you
expect the king to do? What do you want to see the king
to do? Drink it.
We risked our lives for you to have this glass of water for a
few seconds of refreshment. We put our next on the line.
So if I'm one of those three, you know what I'm expecting?
I'm expecting David to say you are mighty, You are something
else. You, you will be positioned in
my mind and for the rest of history unlike any other.
He grabs that water, chugs it. You know what he does?
Takes that water. He looks into that glass, and he
sees blood, and so he pours it onto the ground.
And it's an honorable thing, right?
It's an honorable thing. But if I'm one of those three,
I'm thinking you probably should have just drank it, right?
No complaint, no protest, no sigh.
That's challenging and serving God.
When you when you serve him and you give to him what he desires
and what he does with that is not necessarily what you thought
he would do. What are you going to do?
I thought that if I would pray for this long and come every
Wednesday and pay gas in the time of inflation, I thought
that this would happen. I thought that if I would preach
faithfully that people would invite me and I will be ranked
amongst this and ranked amongst that.
And I I thought that my obedience would lead to this.
There there's nothing of the sort because a mighty man
doesn't care, because it's not about the reward.
It's simply because of the delight that the master enjoys.
And seeing your faithfulness and your sacrifice.
That sounds good in theory, but it's not a theory for the mighty
man. It's reality.
It's what makes their heartbeat. If this is what pleases him,
that's all I need. That's all I need to know.
May God bring us there. May God bring us there for his
glory. Side note, David, although he's
a picture of Christ, provides an example for us in what he did
with that water. You've heard this truth before.
Let me repeat it again. He gives us a lesson concerning
a principle in the area of pleasure, in the area of self
gratification, in the area of pursuing your desires.
Here's the lesson that he provides.
When David realized that there are people who put their lives
on the line for him to enjoy this water, he considered it an
illegitimate thing to engage in. Because anything that you and I
desire or want, if it will cost somebody else in any way, if it
puts them in danger in any way, is not legitimate.
The language that Paul would use is you're not walking in love.
If you want something, no matter how strong it is, no matter how
neutral it is, if you want something so badly at the
expense of your conscience, the conscience of your brother being
violated, then it becomes illegitimate, It becomes
illegal. You should disqualify it and
cancel it as something you should pursue in that moment for
the sake of your brother's wellbeing.
And so we're not just talking about physical danger here,
we're talking about spiritual danger.
And so qualify your your pleasure singing your pursuits
in this. There's there's many more other
conditions, but here's an important one.
Light this context. If what I want put somebody else
at risk. If what I want put somebody else
in danger. If what I want harms or hurts
somebody else. I don't care how strongly you
feel about that thing. You do not pursue it.
You do not indulge in it. You do not drink from it.
You pour it out. And one preacher made an amazing
observation. If don't if David had only made
the same decision when it came to Bathsheba.
If David only realized what I realized in this cave.
How can I enjoy this knowing that your lives were at risk and
and me enjoying this. If he only had that same idea
run through his mind when he looked at somebody else's wife
and said, how can I do this to my brother?
How can I do this to one of my mighty men?
And so it's very likely that David had these convictions
strong in the early part of his his life.
And it's so true that things that we enjoyed and and believed
and held on too early on can dissipate over time if we're not
careful to steward it. Let's go to the second rank.
We're done with these mighty men that the first three.
Let's go to the second set here, look at verse 18.
Now Abhishei, the brother of Joe Abh, the son of Zuraiya, was
chief of the 30 and he wielded his spear against 300 men and
killed them and want a name beside the three.
He was the most renowned of the 30 and he became their
commander, but he did not attain to the three.
Abushai. I'm not getting into the details
of what he did, but what stands out to you in this one verse.
I'm curious to know if anybody caught on to something.
If you've read this chapter before, you would know it.
If you haven't, you might not know it until you read the the
rest of it. But I'm wondering if anybody
notices something about Abishai's description here.
Abishai who? The Who?
The brother of Joe AB. I looked at this verse and I
thought to myself, the brother of Joe AB.
We're going to learn about Asaha.
Well, you'll read it. We won't read it tonight.
He's the brother of Job. We look down, we see even that
another man here in verse 37, Z, like the Ammonite Naharay of B
Roth, the armor bearer of Joe Up.
So three times Joe Up is referenced, but not directly.
He's only referenced in relation to other people who are either
related to him or who served him.
You read this entire list and you'll notice someone is
missing. Who's missing Joe Up.
How? How in the world is a man like
Joe AB after all that he's done? After his fierce loyalty, after
the very position that he operated in?
How is a man like Joe AB not included among the 30 mighty
men? Job is not mentioned.
He's not mentioned at all except in connection to the other
people, and I'll tell you why Job is not mentioned.
And it deals with the principle of being a mighty man, a mighty
woman of God, who will be commended at the end of it all.
Because of Joe Abs unrepented sin.
No matter what he did, no matter what title he possessed,
ultimately saw all his works turn into ash.
Because of Joe Abs unrepented sin, he sinned.
And it's not about us sinning that that necessarily
disqualifies. This is what happens when we do
sin. This man, listen, was playing
according to his own rules. And when you play discipleship
according to your own rules, you may not be immediately flagged,
you may not have the red card put into your face.
But many people will have a shocking surprise at the end
when they try to justify certain things and how they live for the
Lord only if you met with no commendation at all, no crown at
all, no trophy, no promotion. When I learned that, that really
helped me understand how there are certain people in ministry
today who who, like Job, are holding on to two things at the
same time and yet seem to seem to be seeing results.
Seeing fruit, holding on to their ministry, holding on to
their position with no discipline, no consequence from
heaven. And then one day this verse came
to my attention and it made sense of it all.
You want to see it? It's in Second Timothy 2.
When you go to Second Timothy 2, you get a list of different
metaphors of what the Christian life is like.
One is like a soldier, the other like an athlete who remembers
the third one, a farmer. And look at verse five of Second
Timothy Timothy, chapter 2. What do you see there?
An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the
rules. So you can run this race and
reach the finish line only to be met with no crown.
Why? Because at some point or
throughout that race, you were not running according to the
rules Job ran. He was a soldier, he was a
general, but when it came to the end, he was not crowned.
And there will be some people within Chris and them who will
have that same reality check. And so play according to the
rules. Don't look at sin and say, well,
this is permissible. God needs me so I can have a
little relief in my life. That's how you have some people
thinking this is God's word, but I'm going to help him because
the culture has changed. So let me say what I think it
says to to when that you're playing according to your own
rules, When you play according to your own rules, you are
throwing away your reward. And Joe Up did that.
Joe Up did that instead, like those three mighty men that we
just learned, we're there in Second Timothy go to Philippians
220 Look at Philippians 220 when I told you about how a mighty
man is driven not by his own delights, not by his own
desires, but what is determined by the pleasures of God.
And here's what Paul says about one of his servants, ultimately
a servant of God and Philippians 220 This is an encouraging
scripture to me. He talks about the many servants
of God that he knows, the many ministers that he knows.
And he says, for I have no one like him concerning Timothy.
I have no one like him who will be genuinely concerned for your
welfare. And look at this, They all seek
their own interest, not those of Jesus Christ.
What made Timothy stand out? His life was orbiting around one
thing. What interests the Savior?
Not even my own interest. That's what distinguished them
from other ministers. And the reason why he had a
genuine concern for the Philippians is because he had a
he had a connection with the heart of his master.
And so if you can just know what the will of God is, know what
his heart is, knows what his desires is, you're on the path
of being crowned by him. But if you, like Job, want to
play by your own rules, which many people are excuses,
justifying certain things, though God's word is clear on
it, all right, you might enjoy your ministry.
You you might still be invited, you still might be tolerated at
people who want to use your gift.
But when it matters the most, you're in for a shock.
You're in for a shock. And then you have the 2nd man in
the second rank in verse 20. We're wrapping up very quickly
here and Banaya, the son of Jehodia was a valiant man of of
Capzeal, A doer of great deeds. He struck down to aerials of
Moab. Aerials is a difficult Hebrew
word, that's why some translations say lion like lion
like men of Moab. He also went down and struck
down a lion in a pit on a day when snow had fallen and he
struck down an Egyptian, a handsome man.
The Egyptian had a spear in his hand but Benaya went down to him
with his staff and snatched the spear out of the Egyptians hand
and killed them with his own spear.
These things did Benaya the son of Jehodia and want to name
beside the three mighty men. He was renowned among the 30,
but he did not attain to the three and David set him over his
bodyguard. So many things to say about this
one man. You know what stands out to me
though? He figuratively deals with these
lion like men of Moab and he actually literally killed a
lion. Not just killed a lion.
Listen, he kills a lion in a pit on a snowy day.
Disadvantage, disadvantage, disadvantage, right.
I was talking to my brother that day.
He was talking about how he had to pull over somebody.
And he was telling me how he was in the country, Country Rd.
And there's a ditch by the side of the road.
And so he told me he had to be on the side of the highway.
And I said, why this car zooming by?
Why I'm going to go the other side?
Because they train us that if you're on the other side and
something happens, you're at a disadvantage if you're in that
pit. And so you want to be on the
same level ground as that potential threat.
So you have this man where everything is is going against
him. You have him in a pit with a
lion. I mean, if you just have the
lion, that's a bad day on its own.
Never mind the pit, never mind the snowy day.
You have a lion with the pit and a snowy day.
That's a bad day in my books. You know what I love about it?
The out of all that, the snowy day part.
The snowy day part. Like the Holy Spirit wanted to
include that. It was a snowy day.
I think Christians are allergic to snow.
A lot of them are, at least. And rain you have.
You have a man who's willing to kill a lion on a snowy day.
And how many things, How many excuses arise when it's a snowy
day? For us, the spiritual lesson is
that he's serving his king in all seasons.
He's serving his master in all seasons.
When the sun is shining and when the snow is falling, when the
sky is clear, when the sky is Gray.
He's still a man serving his master When it's easy and when
it's very, very difficult, because Christ is worthy of that
perpetual devotion. The King is worthy of that
unending, unceasing, unbroken fellowship.
When it's snowy or when it's sunny.
Whatever you ask of me, my King, that I will do, that I will do.
And I love how the Lord will challenge us in that way.
In some ways, I love how tomorrow our outreach is on a
Saturday. You might not.
I love it. I love how it's on a Saturday
morning. Do you know why?
Because what kind of a statement is that going to make in
downtown Chicago when a group of people who are praying for the
unborn chose to set apart two hours of their Saturday to do
so? I love it.
I I love how love life does it on a Saturday.
It may not be convenient, okay. It's his interest.
It's his desires. In fact, I'm going to, I want to
continue with Benaya. But let me wrap it up with one
verse because I want to talk about how Benaya was promoted.
He was promoted out of this place.
Benaya shows up in First Kings chapter one and First Kings
Chapter one. We see him not just in a
physical sense when it's spiritually freezing.
Also he chose to serve his master.
Actually, let me show it to you. Why not?
And 1st Kings chapter one. Notice something with me on a
physically snowy day he's serving his king.
And what happens when there is this chill in the air
spiritually and politically? Add the Niger wants to become
king and look here, verse seven of chapter one of first kings.
He confer withdraw the son of Zaria and with Abbyathur the
priest, and they followed a de Niger and helped him.
But Zara the priest and Benaiah the son of Yohodia and Nathan
the prophet and Shamayan Rahai and David's mighty man were not
with Adenija. This confirms the point right?
I'll kill a lion on a snowy day and when there is another
potential absolute 2.0 David, I'm with you.
I will stand with you. Let Joe AB go.
Let the others go again. It's it's confirming that main
point. Wherever the king is, no matter
who goes and who stays, I'm with the king.
And then you go to chapter 2 and look here at verse 25.
What do you see? So King Solomon sent Banaya the
son of Jehodia, and struck him down.
And he died. Out of all the men, he chose
Banaya. And he says go and get him.
And he does, and he takes care of him.
And then you go to verse 35 in the same chapter, and what do
you read? The king put Banaya the son of
Jehodia over the army in place of Joab, and the king puts out
of the priests in the place of Aviatar.
So in 2nd Samo. 23 David elevated this man to be his
bodyguard. When King Solomon comes into the
place of the throne, he elevates him as the commander of the
army. And you can make a case that
Solomon, especially with the Temple, is a picture of and is a
reminder of as a foreshadowing of the rule and reign of Christ
in its permanence, right? The Tabernacle was mobile.
The Tabernacle was something that moved along.
It was not something concrete. And yet when the temple came, it
stood in one place. It remained.
It wasn't going anywhere. And when Christ returns to
ruling, though he is ruling and raining now, there's something
about his coming that will be obvious, that will be glorious,
that will be beautiful, that will outshine the Tabernacle
era. And the point that I want to
make is this. That is when Benaya was rewarded
as a mighty man, as a mighty woman of God.
You may not know God's blessing in this life, but you will in
the life to come. You will, when Christ returns to
establish his era of the Millennium reign, when He will
reward you and where nothing will take it away from you.
No thief can steal it. No kind of creature can erode
it. Here's the verse I wanted to end
with. Second Corinthians, chapter 5,
verse 15. Here's what Paul says about
Christians. He says.
And he died for all that those who live might no longer live
for themselves, but for him who for their sake died and was
raised, and he died for all. Why?
So that when you die, you can go to heaven.
That's part of it. He didn't say that, though, and
he died for all that. Those who live, you are living.
I hope those who live might no longer live for themselves.
You know how some people interpret the gospel, I'll tell
you how. And they may not confess it.
They prove it. Practically, though, they they
at some point, are confronted with their sin.
They hear the good news of God's grace and mercy.
They receive it. They accept it.
They get emotional about it. They get baptized for it, and
they prove their devotion to the Lord to that extent.
And here's what here's here's how it's lived out, though.
Glad I got that out of the way. I was on my way to hell.
I was on my way to experience God's wrath, but that's dealt
with now. I'm secure forever, and they go
on their merry way of life. That doesn't describe what Paul
is talking about here. He died for all.
So that what? Yeah, you would find eternal
life, but that your life, your your little pretty life would
also be crucified. That your plans, your dreams,
your hopes, your desires would also be nailed on the cross, not
just your sins. And so that in pursuing the
Lord, yes, in his saving work, but also in His Lordship over
your life, you know what happens to if you're truly Christian.
I don't live for myself. I know this is Christian 101.
I know this sounds basic, but be reminded again, it's not about
my life. It's not.
When I'm a Christian, I literally reorient.
I literally wash my blueprint away.
Give God a blank canvas and say you write what you want.
To what extent, to every extent, to what details to the molecule
details of your life? Think about that.
Everything about my life, my marriage, my children, my home,
where I live, where I serve, what I plan, what I do, where I
go. That's all now surrendered to
Christ. I no longer live for myself.
Now I live for the one who died. For me, that's Christianity.
That's not American Christianity, though.
American Christianity is what I just described to you.
Wow. Thank God I found the gospel.
I was going to be an eternal torment.
Not anymore. I'll reach you when I need you.
I'll serve you when you think you need me.
I'll be back. That's how most people live
their Christian life. And Paul says what that's not,
that's not Holy Spirit inspired Christianity.
That's not blood bought Christianity.
That's Walt Disney Christianity. And so let's conclude on this.
You're here on a Friday night to learn more of God's Word, let's
recommit ourselves to saying, Lord, if there's any area that I
have reclaimed when originally I surrendered it, if there's any
area of my devotion that I said about, this is just a plot of
lentils. I don't need to give myself to
it. I don't need to be attentive to
it. I don't need to be devoted to
it. Make me a mighty man of God.
Make me a mighty woman of God. Do something in me so that you
would receive more glory and number me among those that you
will commend in the end. Lord, we ask by your precious
grace that you would bring us there.
We thank you for this study. We thank you that it was perhaps
more exhortation than it was digging up inside and making
references. Although we thank you that on
this Friday we received a stirring that we always need a
reminder of what our lives are. We thank you for the gospel.
We thank you that you are the true and better David.
We thank you, O Lord, that we have eternal life.
Yes, but we have a new way of life today.
And so we pray and we ask that knowing that you've died for all
that those who live might also die to self and live for you.
We pray, O Lord, that you would show us what it is that you want
us to do and how we can do it with excellence.
We pray that you protect us from going outside of our lane or
being frustrated or discouraged with what has been
providentially provided to us. The way you've wired us, the way
you have gifted us. Help us, oh Lord, fight this
battle. Help us finish well.
Help us, oh God, in our weaknesses.
And may you receive all maximum praise and honor that you can
receive from our lives. In Jesus name we pray.
Amen. Let's stand and worship.
We'll sing and pray for for tomorrow morning and make our
way home with our hearts stirred afresh.
I hope Akshay.