Thank you, Tom. Tom texted me
this morning at 5 30 and wanted to know where I was going to
be preaching from. He wanted to pick out of him.
You couldn't have picked out a more appropriate him for the
message. I want to try to preach this morning, Tom. If you turn
with me to second Samuel chapter 23, most of us are familiar with
the verse. I want to try to preach from
this morning. We refer to it often. And I'll introduce the
message by saying that a new believer was sharing with a family
member their hope in Christ. And the family member listened
to them and made this conclusion. They said, you're a Calvinist. And I was so encouraged to have
that new believer come and say, what's a Calvinist? What's a
Calvinist? We don't call ourselves Calvinist. There are some glorious truths
that John Calvin in the 1500s preached, but there were no different
than the same truths that had been preached in every generation
by God's called preachers and believed by God's people. Not
just since the time of Christ, but a thousand years before the
Lord Jesus Christ, King David, believed what is popularly called
the five points of Calvinism. We don't call them that. We don't
refer to them as that. But they are easily defined in
David's last words. In 2 Samuel chapter 23, David
makes a declaration of his hope. If you look in your bulletin,
you'll see that there's an outline to this message as it refers
in each of the five statements that David makes to the precious
doctrines that we hold so dear. And before we look at this verse,
let me try to make some statements about doctrine. It seems to me, when it comes
to doctrine, that there is a danger of either making too little of
it or making too much of it. What do you mean by that? Well, sometimes you hear men say, well, that's just doctrine. I used to preach in the Orange
County Jail down off 33rd Street, and I remember one time the chaplain
saying to me when I went in to preach to the inmates, leave
your doctrine at the door. We don't want controversial doctrines,
as if doctrine was just something that, you know, was debatable. That's making too little of doctrine. It's not a debatable thing. We don't debate Calvinism and
Arminianism. Christ is not divided, and these
doctrines are precious to us. Now, the other swing of the pendulum,
if you will, when it comes to doctrine would be to make too
much of it. In that doctrine becomes an end
in itself. The scripture says that knowledge
puffeth up and we can learn some doctrines from the Bible. And if that's all we know, then
we might be able to proudly defeat an argument from another man
in defending doctrines. That would be certainly making
too much of doctrine. If doctrine itself becomes our
pursuit, then we've misunderstood. the purpose of doctrine. The
word doctrine just means teaching. It means teaching. And all good
preaching has teaching in it. When the Lord gave us his last
commission in Matthew chapter 28, he told the disciples, you
go out into all the world. and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the
Holy Spirit, teaching them, doctrining them, in all things whatsoever
I've commanded you, and lo, I'll be with you always, even to the
ends of the earth. We teach, when we preach, the
Lord taught doctrine. If you'll turn with me back to
Deuteronomy chapter 32. Well, I apologize, I didn't make
reference in my notes to which verse this is, but in Deuteronomy
chapter 32, it says, my doctrine shall drop as the dew. it shall
drop as the dew. The teaching comes from heaven. The scripture says, they shall
all be taught of God. And so when the Lord is pleased
to teach, this teaching comes down from heaven as the dew that
waters the earth and gives us growth in grace and in the knowledge
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Doctrine is a means to an end. Just like prayer and worship
and Bible study and Christian fellowship, believers fellowshipping
with each other, those are all means to an end. The end is always
Christ. And if our doctrine doesn't lead
us to Christ, then we've made too much of doctrine by itself. You can have doctrine and not
have Christ. But if you have Christ, you will
have him through proper doctrine. And you will believe proper teaching. Acts chapter 2, after Pentecost,
all the disciples continued in the apostles' doctrine, and in
fellowship, and in the breaking of bread, and in prayer. In 1 John, 2 John, chapter 1,
the scripture speaks of the doctrine of Christ. Sometimes you might
hear men refer to the doctrines of grace. There is only one doctrine, and
that is the doctrine of grace, and that's all bound up in the
person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. These precious truths
that the Bible teaches and that we believe all stand and fall
together. You can't hold to one doctrine
without holding to them all. Matter of fact, when the Bible
uses the word doctrine in the plural, you look it up, look
up the word doctrines in the Bible, and you'll find there
will be references to the doctrines of devils and the doctrines and
commandments of men. Anytime the word doctrines is
used, it is teaching that is not true. It is teaching that is contrary
to the doctrine that comes down from God. Doctrine is a good
thing. It's a precious thing. It is
a necessary thing. But it is not an end in itself. We're not called to come to a
position. We're called to come to a person. And so we listen
and we learn what God has taught us that we might be brought by
these things to Christ. Hebrews chapter three, verse
14 says that we are partakers of Christ, Christ in you. is your hope of glory. Not that you can argue the doctrines
of grace and defeat your Armenian friends with Calvinistic teaching,
but that these precious truths lead you to Christ and reveal
him to you. We don't believe in the sovereignty
of God. We believe in a God who is sovereign.
It's a big difference. We don't believe in the doctrine
of total depravity. We believe that we're sinners
in need of grace. These things have been taught
to us of God. We don't believe in the doctrine of particular
redemption. We believe in a successful savior
who actually accomplished the salvation of his people when
he died on Calvary's cross. You see the difference? These
doctrines can be easily substituted for the truth of the gospel.
We can make too much of them, but let us not make too little
of them. Let us not make too little of them. It's not just
doctrine. It's the teaching of God that
reveals to us the truth of who Christ is and who we are and
what he's done to save us. And they go back a whole lot
further than John Calvin. They go back a whole lot further
than the Apostle Paul. We find them here being spoken
by King David in 1000 BC. And we can go in the scriptures
all the way back to the garden and find them. So with that having
been said about doctrine, look at David's last words, because
he makes five statements in verse 23, in verse 5 of 2 Samuel 23. And the first statement he makes
is, although my house be not so with God. Now he's not saying although
my house be, is not like it ought to be. He's saying there's nothing
about my house that is as it ought to be. There's nothing
about my house that's right with God. Everything about my house
falls short of what it ought to be. He's making a declaration
of his depravity. The doctrine is total depravity.
People hear total depravity and they think, depraved? I'm not
totally depraved. Well, the only reason a man would say
that is if he's comparing himself to other men. The word depraved
means to be crooked, it means not to be straight. And when
we say that we are totally depraved, what we mean is that everything
about us is crooked. In light of that plumb line,
that God hangs from heaven, that represents the perfection of
the Lord Jesus Christ, we have all fallen short of that. All fallen short of his standard. Paul speaks in 2 Corinthians
chapter 5 of his body being the tabernacle or house
that he lives in. And when the house of this body,
the tabernacle of this flesh is dissolved, then we have a
new body. So when David says, although
my house be not so with God, he's talking about the tabernacle
of his flesh. He's talking about himself. He's
saying the same thing Job said. Job justified himself until he
saw the Lord. And when the Lord spoke to Job,
what did Job say? Behold, I am vile. Everything about me is crooked.
Everything about me is sinful. Total depravity doesn't mean
that you're outwardly as bad as you could be. It means that
everything about you is bad. Everything about you is sinful.
It's what we are. Paul said, in me, that is in
my flesh, dwelleth no good thing. I want to be straight. I want to be perfect. I want
to be holy. I want to be sinless. But how
to perform that which I find not, I can't. I need, now the glorious hope
that this gives us is that a faithful saying is that Christ came to
save sinners. Total depravity just means I'm
a sinner. I'm a sinner. Although my house be not so with
God. Daniel, when he saw the Lord,
he said, my comeliness My beauty, my strength, those things that
I thought were good about me have turned in me into corruption. You can believe in the doctrine
of total depravity, but it's not until the Lord reveals himself
that you come to the conclusion that all believers ultimately
come to. Lord, I'm a sinner. Nothing about
me is as it ought to be. Although my house, be not so
with God. I can't find any hope of my salvation
in anything in me. And of course, Dave is talking
about his home life. David was a horrible father.
He was a man after God's own heart. He was a sweet psalmist
of Israel. All the things that say about
David here in the first verses of this chapter are true. David
had children murdering one another, raping one another. He had a
son that overthrew his kingdom and just all kinds. David himself was a What, a murderer? And an adulterer? Although my house be not so with
God. David's saying what every believer
says. Lord, nothing about me is worth
looking to for any hope that you would accept me. Everything about my body, about
my life, about my heart, about my family, it all falls short. It's all depraved. It's all crooked. Totally depraved. That's a good place to be. It's
a really good place to be. And that is the place that The unbeliever will never allow
himself to be. All the times I try to talk to
men, unbelievers, about the gospel, this seems to be the thing that
they can't accept. They're comparing themselves
to themselves and comparing themselves to other men. They, well, you
know, I know I've sinned, but I'm not completely sinful. Men debate, they want to debate
what they call the doctrines of grace, and usually the one
that they want to debate is limited atonement. But that's not really
the problem. The problem is total depravity,
because if they ever believe themselves to be totally depraved,
if they ever believe themselves to be a sinner, they won't have
any trouble with any of the rest of it. They all five fall like
dominoes, and you push the first one over, and they all go together.
You can't have four. You got to have all five, and
it starts with number one. And there's the problem. David
is making a good confession at the very end of his life. I want
this to be your confession. I want this to be my confession.
Lord, I'm a sinner. My house is not so with God. Yet. And I want you to notice
the personal pronouns in this verse. Although my house be not
so with God, Yet he made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered
in all things ensure. This is all my salvation. This is all my desire. David's not looking at someone
else and trying to figure out whether or not they're saved.
This is all about, this is all about David. And that's such an important
truth when it comes to to knowing God and being saved. And we can't,
Lord, this is about me. I draw my last breath and find
myself standing in the presence of a holy God. I'm not going
to have somebody else to blame or to look to or to make accusations
about. It's just going to be me and
God. I'm going to have to have an advocate. I'm going to have
to have a substitute. I'm going to have to have Christ
as my sin bearer to stand in my stead before God. It's very
personal. Yet. Yet. He hath made with me. In spite
of. That's a good definition for
grace, isn't it? In spite of the fact that there's
nothing in the tabernacle of my flesh or in my life or in
my kingdom or in my family that would merit me any favor with
God, yet here's my hope. He made with me an everlasting
covenant. This covenant of grace is an
everlasting covenant. It didn't ever had a beginning.
We call it doctrinally unconditional election. David said he made
with me. He elected me. He coveted with
me. He made a promise. The salvation
that we have is not based upon my promises with God. How many
promises I've made that I haven't kept? And yet that's what we
hear in religion. You know, if you'll make your
promise and pray your prayer and do this or do that, God will
have mercy. David said no. And when we say
that it's unconditional election, there's really nothing unconditional.
We talk about unconditional love, there's no such thing. And really
there's no such thing as unconditional election except when we mean
it in a very limited sense. It's unconditioned on anything
that I do. In other words, God did not look
down through the quarters of time from eternity past and see
me and see that I would choose him and therefore chose me. That
would be an election that would be conditioned on something that
he saw in me. This election of God is unconditioned
on anything that I've done, but it's not unconditional. It is
conditioned on being found in Christ. It is conditioned on
having the Lord Jesus as my surety. the one who bears all the responsibility
of my salvation, entering into a covenant promise with his heavenly
father. You see, David is saying the
exact same thing. You know, the five points of
Calvinism weren't even really outlined like we have them until
after John Calvin died. And then Jacob Arminius in the
Netherlands started teaching a works gospel and the elders
got together in a synod and they wrote those things. This was
after Jacob Arminius, after John Calvin. They were already dead
when these things were outlined. But David's saying exactly the
same thing. I am totally depraved, yet my
hope is that he made with me an everlasting covenant. The
hope of my salvation is that I believe in a God who cannot
lie. I believe in a God who is faithful
to all of his promises. I believe in a God who always
does what he says. Notice that David says, he hath made with me. How can I know that he made that
covenant with me? I believe that God's sovereign.
I believe he elected a particular people. I believe that Christ
redeemed those that the father elected. I believe they'll all
be drawn irresistibly. But how do I know it's for me?
How do I know it's for me? David said, he made with me an
everlasting covenant. And here's how I know, because
that covenant is ordered in all things and sure. There's nothing
that I can do to contribute to what's required in this covenant
for it to be ratified. It's ordered in all things. This is limited atonement. And
limited atonement is just a negative way of saying particular redemption. The Lord redeemed a particular
people. His death was the atoning grace
and work of his death was limited to those that God chose in the
covenant of grace. Everything that God required
for that covenant to be fulfilled, for justice to be served, for
sin to be paid for, for righteousness to be established, the Lord Jesus
ordered it all and made it sure. He made it sure. We call the
Lord Jesus our surety. That's what we're saying. And
here's how I know he made it with me. because I'm looking
to Christ as my surety. I'm trusting that what he did
is all that God required. I would dare not remove from
him any of his success, any of his accomplishments, by adding
to him something that I think I've done. He's all my salvation,
and he's all my desire. Is that not irresistible grace? He has shut me up to where I've
got no place else to go. This matter of salvation is not
a decision. It's not a prayer. It's not an
option that I have. David said, I'm a sinner. I'm
totally depraved. My house, nothing about my house
is as it ought to be. Yet, in spite of that, he made
with me an everlasting covenant. He promised to save a people,
and he ordered that covenant in all things, and he made it
sure. In the perfect righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ, he put away all the sins of all
of his people, once and for all, all by himself. Everything that
God requires for me to be saved is in the person of his glorious
son. You see, we're not hanging the
hopes of our salvation on a doctrine of limited atonement or particular
redemption. We're hanging the hopes of our
salvation on the Lord Jesus Christ, who was successful in accomplishing
the salvation of his people. If he didn't succeed in saving
me by himself, I won't be saved. He's all my hope. He's all my
desire. I'm not putting my hope anywhere
else. I've got no place else to go.
What did Peter say? Lord, to whom shall we go? You
alone have the words of eternal life. And we know and are sure
that thou art the Christ, the son of the living God. Turn with me to Proverbs chapter
nine. Proverbs chapter nine. Look at verse one. Now the Lord
Jesus, the Bible says, God has made him to be unto us our wisdom. Our knowledge, our understanding,
our teaching, our doctrine, our wisdom, our righteousness, our
sanctification, and our redemption. And he gives all the glory. So
here in the Proverbs, the Lord is personifying wisdom. And he's speaking of the Lord
Jesus when he says, wisdom hath builded her house. Although my
house not be so with God, yet wisdom, Christ has built his
house. Upon this rock, I will build
my house and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Wisdom hath builded her house. She hath hewned her seven pillars. The number seven in the Bible
is the number of perfection, completeness, and rest. God rested
on the seventh day because he was finished. The Lord Jesus
Christ is our rest. We rest in him because the work
of redemption is accomplished. She hath killed her beast. She hath mingled her wine. She
hath also furnished her table. The king made a feast for his
son's wedding. And he said, go out in the highways
and hedges and compel them to come in, for it's all ready.
It's all ready. It's all prepared. and we get
to glory and sit at the Lord's table, it's all gonna be there.
We're not taking anything with us. Naked you came into the world,
naked you're going out of the world. You didn't bring anything
in this world, you're not gonna take anything with you. He's
gonna have it all prepared. He's finished the work. He ordered
it in all things and it's sure. And if the hope of my salvation
hangs on anything other than who he is and what he's done,
I won't be saved. David said in Psalm 23, thou
preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies.
My cup runneth over. Oh, everything. He's our shepherd. The Lord Jesus didn't die to
make salvation possible. He ordered it in all things and
he made it sure. And when he bowed his head and
said, it is finished, it's finished. He's our hope. He's our hope. This is all my salvation, all
my desire. It's not a decision I made and
a prayer I prayed. It's not a work I performed.
It's not a knowledge that I achieved. It's not a doctrine that I hope
in. He made the call irresistible. I couldn't say no. I didn't want
to say no. You know, when you talk about
these things to men who aren't believers, they will object by
saying, well, doesn't God want people to love him freely? He
doesn't want us to be robots. He doesn't want us to resent
being made to serve him and love him. That's why he has to make
it irresistible. That's why he has to make us
willing in the day of his power. That's, yes. We're not dragged
kicking and screaming. He gives us a new heart. He gives us a heart for Christ,
a desire for Him. He causes us to love Him. And if He didn't, if He didn't,
we wouldn't. He had to choose us. We'd never
choose Him. The last thing that David said
in this prayer, in this statement, was, although he make it not
to grow. A couple things about that. The church of the Lord Jesus
Christ is exactly the same size now as it was before the angels
were made, and it is exactly the same size now as it will
be in eternity future. When this world is over and we're
all gathered together in glory, the number of God's people is
not going to change by one. It's not going to be reduced
by one, it's not going to be increased by one, although we make it not
to grow. The second thing I understand
about what David's saying has to do with the perseverance of
the saints, the preservation of the Spirit of God, The last
of our five points of doctrine is that when I look at my growth
in grace and in the knowledge that God has given me of the
Lord Jesus Christ, I can't find any improvements in my life.
Matter of fact, the more I see of Him, the more I see of Him,
the more of the unbelief, pride, self-righteousness, coldness,
worldliness. I see in my heart things that
I never saw. I thought it was just those great big bad things
that, you know, that I was ashamed of and didn't want anybody to
know about. Now, the searchlight of God's grace goes into the
recesses of my heart and I see things. Lord, I can't say that
I'm getting better. I can't say that I'm getting better.
I'm seeing more and more of my need for Christ. I'm seeing more
and more of my need for grace. I'm coming to the realization
more and more as I grow in grace and in the knowledge of Christ,
of all of these gracious, glorious truths. My house be not so with
God. Yet he made with me an everlasting
covenant. And that covenant was ordered
in all things and it was sure. And this is all my salvation
and all my desire. though he make it not to grow.
You see, this is not just a message that you believe when the Lord calls you. No, this is a word from God that
we live by. This is our daily walk. We never
grow beyond these five things. We don't preach one thing to
believers and another thing to unbelievers, we all need Christ. We all need the same message.
And this is the gospel. You know, I had a Calvinist friend
who thought that his call from God was to bring his Arminian
brethren up to a higher view of the gospel. To him, the five points of Calvinism
was just doctrine. and that his Arminian brethren
need to be better educated. This is the gospel. This is not a debatable thing
that we have with our freewill Arminian, quote, brethren. They're not our brethren. This
is what every believer believes. Every child of God believes these
things. That's why we don't call ourselves Calvinist. Because
to call yourself a Calvinist means, well, we're in debate
and in division with our Arminians. No, this is the gospel. It always has been, and it always
will be. And it all stands or falls together
and is the precious doctrine of truth that reveals to us the
glorious person of Christ. My house never has and never
will be anything like it needs to be. I am totally depraved. Yet, here's my hope. In spite
of that, he made with me an everlasting covenant. I can look all the
way back to eternity past Let my mind go as far as it can and
I'll say with David, these things are too wonderful for me. I cannot
achieve unto them. A God that could be understood,
a God that could be put in a box wouldn't be much of a God. No,
our God is infinite and glorious, but he has revealed to us these
things about himself. He's everlasting and he made
an everlasting covenant and that covenant was ordered in everything
required for that covenant. And it was made sure when Christ
died on Calvary's cross, it is finished. And every child of
God says, this is all my salvation. This is all my desire, though he make it not to grow. I keep coming back. to the very root of my hope,
the person of Christ. The root of the matter, Job said,
is in me. The root of the matter. Our Heavenly
Father, thank you for David's last words. Lord, make these
to be our words now and in the hour of our death. We ask it
in Christ's name. Amen. 272 in the hardback Tim. No,
let's stand together.