Go ahead and turn with me again tonight to 1 Samuel chapter 30. Picture of the Gospel we have in these verses before us tonight. I titled this message, Full Recovery. To one who's hopelessly sick. To one who's diseased to the extent of death. has what physicians refer to as an incurable disease. There are two words that bring hope when all other encouragement and assurance fails. Full recovery. We have such a disease. All of us do. Every single one of us. It's called sin. We all have heart trouble. Our hearts are deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Human means and measures provide no healing. It's an incurable, deadly disease.

To such a one who has this disease, two words from a physician could bring hope only to, what are they? Full recovery. But a worldly physician couldn't promise that, not with the disease we've got. However, we do have a great physician who tells us throughout the scriptures that in him, that's exactly what we can expect, a full recovery. What's the definition of a full recovery?

Well, symptoms are gone. The underlying condition has been resolved. You can function as you did before the illness. No ongoing treatment is needed. That's a full recovery. God is the God of full restoration. He heals, He renews, He alone can bring a full recovery of body, mind, soul, and spirit to the believer.

Sin has a way of breaking us. Those of you that have lived Here for a while, when God's revealed to you sin is what you are, not just what you do, you know that it has a way of breaking us. It brings loss, failures, disappointments, hopelessness. Sin has a way of leaving us in ruins. But the power of Christ is sufficient for a full recovery. And that's the picture that we're given in the verses before us tonight. Let's begin in verse 16. 1 Samuel chapter 30.

And when he, that being the Egyptian slave, had brought him, David, and his men down, behold, they, the Amalekites, were spread abroad upon all the earth, eating and drinking and dancing, because of all the great spoil that they had taken out of the land of the Philistines and out of the land of Judah. Now, picture this in your mind. and His men approach the Amalekites. They're eating and they're drinking and they're dancing. They're having a party. They're having a party. Sin always celebrates before judgment comes. The world delights in its own successes apart from God, but their celebrating is always premature and temporary. Sin, like the Amalekites, Rejoice in wrongdoing.

It mistakes temporary success for lasting victory. It forgets that accountability is coming. You look around and evil looks as though it's winning. Everywhere you look, you think evil is winning. But the child of God knows differently. Real victory comes to God's anointed. Wraiths in its own spoils. It's blind to the judgment that is coming against it, and it's coming.

David confronts them in their celebration, and Christ confronts sin where it seems triumphant. Now, true victory, friends, that's what I'm interested in, full restoration. I need for God to do something for me. I need lasting success, and it's only in the Lord's finished work of redemption. We talk about that all the time. It's the only thing that gives us any hope, any assurance.

And the Amalekites here who picture sin, who picture the flesh, and picture this world, are rejoicing in their accomplishments and what they have done. That's what they're dancing drinking and eating and having a big old time over. And what a picture that is of religion. You know, human works religion focuses on activity and on effort, outward expressions, what man does, how man performs, how men appear righteous, but true worship, I'm talking about God-centered faith in Christ, rejoices in what God has done. Believers rejoice in His mercy. and in His grace and in His forgiveness.

It's the only thing that actually saves and transforms and sustains us. And when man's works dominate, joy becomes conditional. You know, those that trust in works, they have a... Their salvation is conditioned on what they do. But ours is unconditional. It's totally dependent on what Christ has done for us. And that's why we have such assurance and such rest. Knowing that it's been accomplished for us perfectly. God accepted His finished work. We can rest in His eternal work which can never be taken away from us. Men and women by nature will always rejoice in effort, but God rejoices in Christ's work of righteousness. And when we celebrate, and we should, we should celebrate in what Christ has done, our joy actually becomes unshakable and eternal.

I can't help but to think of that Pharisee and the publican that went down to the temple to pray. It says they both went to pray. The difference was one prayed unto himself and the other prayed unto God. And one went down, the Scripture says, to his house justified. I love how Scripture describes that because justification is accomplished when we go down. And when Christ's salvation is fulfilled, when Christ is lifted up. The Pharisee, he rejoiced in what he did.

He was praying thus with himself. God didn't hear him. He was there to hear himself brag on his accomplishments. His fasting, his tithing, his moral effort. The publican doesn't boast in his accomplishments. Why? Because he didn't do anything. He hadn't done anything. What do we, you and I, have to brag about in way of our own accomplishments? Nothing. Nothing.

Everything we do is tainted with sin. Everything that we do his filthy rags according to the scriptures. The publican asked for one thing, mercy. Lord, be merciful to me, to me, a sinner. Actually, that's better translated, the sinner, as if he was the only one. That's how every little leaver feels. They're the biggest and the only real sinner in the world. God declared the public unjustified, not because of Edward, not because of his righteousness, but because of God's work in Christ.

And the lesson is clear. True rejoicing, the kind that endures, comes from celebrating what Christ has done. God-centered rejoicing gives eternal satisfaction. Men rejoice in what man does. God rejoices in what Christ has done. And every believer does too. Because they know that's the only means of their redemption. Man's pride is in his hands. I pictured so many times Cain coming before the Lord with that sacrifice. Oh, don't you know he's got that in his hands? I don't know what fruit it was, but it was, I guarantee you, he was proud of it. God rejected it. No blood, no blood. Man's pride's in his hand, God's grace is in his heart.

Verse 17, and David smoked them from the twilight even until the evening of the next day. And most of the commentators say that was a 24-hour period. and there escaped not a man of them, save or except 400 young men which rode upon camels and fled. I love the thought that God fights for his people. This wasn't just military skill on David's part. This was God fighting. 400 men out against thousands. Think about that. From evening of one day to the evening of the next, 400 men defeated the Amalekites whole army. Now listen, only God can do that. Only God can do that. You know, I think about Abraham.

Remember, he rescued Lot with 318 men defeating four kings in their armies. Gideon overtook the Midianites, 120,000 men who drew the sword, the scripture says, and caused 15,000 more of them to flee with 300 men. He started with 32,000 and the Lord just kept saying, too many, too many, a little bit down to 300. Why did he do that? To show that this was God fighting the battle for us.

Armed with only a sling and five stones, David struck down Elijah. Jonathan and his armor bearer, remember that earlier in our study of 1 Samuel, took on a Philistine garrison and won. Elijah confronted 450 prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel, and God sent fire down from heaven, consumed them all, consumed the sacrifice, the trenches of water, dug around it, proving his power, not Elijah's. This wasn't Elijah's power, it was God's power.

Moses and the Israelites didn't even move a muscle when trapped between the Red Sea and Pharaoh's army. And as Moses claimed, he said, the Lord shall fight for you. And that's exactly what he did. What do we have to worry about if the Lord fights our battles for?

David with 400 men. They left 200 back at the brook with 400 men defeated the Malachi. God struck the Syrian army with blindness and Elijah led them to Samaria, I think, with 12 men. They're blind, couldn't see. Only God can do that. God's power triumphs over numbers. Obedience to God brings His favor. These men all followed God's instructions and God uses the weak things of the world to compound the mighty and the wise, doesn't He? The Lord bringeth low and lifteth up. This is the Lord's doing. In this we see that victory comes through Christ, not by human might. That's what Zechariah 4, 6 says, not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. Now, one other thing I want to mention concerning verse 17, and that's the 400 men that escaped and fled on camels.

What's the significance of that? I always read that. And I'm like, why did they mention that? And what does that teach us? Well, I think it's a very good lesson in the fact that not all evil is immediately destroyed. The escape of these men reminds us the battle with sin in the flesh that we have that's gonna continue until the day we die. Though Christ decisively defeated sin and Satan, the effects of sin remains in the world, and let me add, in us. Paul said, O wretched man that I am. He didn't say, O wretched man that I was. Do you know anything about sin and how it so easily besets you? Boy, I do. I know you do too.

The battle with flesh and sin continues. And again, Amalek represents the flesh. And David's 400 men defeated thousands, but 400 men of the Amalekites escaped. And this is teaching you and I that we're going to always deal with this flesh as long as we have breath. It's going to be with us as long as we live, but it doesn't change the fact that our Lord Jesus gives us full recovery.

Verse 18, and David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away. And David rescued his two wives. And there was nothing lacking to them, neither small nor great, neither sons nor daughters, neither spoil nor anything that they had taken to them. David recovered all. What's that? That's a full recovery. Do you notice the language there? He recovered all.

This is David's spoil. The men fought, but this text centers around the victory of David. He's God's anointed. He pictures the Lord Jesus Christ. This is a picture of Christ's substitution and Christ's representation as our federal head. In Adam, we all died. In Christ, all God's people are made alive. He's our federal head. We stand in Him. He's our representative. And like Christ, David stands here as the covenant head. And when he wins, what he wins becomes the people's possession. We don't share in the gospel because we fought for it. We share in what our King did for us. David recovering all is just a picture and a reminder of what the Lord Jesus Christ did for us.

David struck them down. David recovered all. Not some, not most, all. Nothing belonging to David was left behind. No wife lost, no children missing, no promise broke. And this is the same for all the other men. All their wives and children were recovered also.

This foreshadows our redemption in the Lord Jesus Christ. On the cross, our Lord just didn't negotiate with sin. He recovered his wife, the church. He recovered his father's children called believers. He fulfilled all the promises of God because they are all yea and amen in him. The gospel is not that Jesus made salvation possible.

That's blasphemous. The gospel is it's finished. That's our hope. It's finished. I can't do anything to merit salvation, but He did it all for me. He recovered all. Full restoration. That's what substitution is. This is what Christ did for us. We're not saved because we fought well. We're saved because King Jesus Christ did it all for us.

Look at verse 20. And David took all the flocks and the herds which they drave before those other cattle and said, this is David's spoil. David recovered all, but David also recovered more than was lost. That's beautiful. Christ restores more than we lost. They didn't just get restoration, they got increase. That's how grace works. And that's what we get. The Gospel doesn't return us to just neutral. It brings to us abundance.

The Lord Jesus said, the thief cometh not but to steal and to kill and to destroy. But He said, I'm come that they might have life and have it what? More abundantly. Abundance. We've got more than we lost. Adam lost a garden. Christ gives a kingdom. This is David's spoil. This is Christ's glory. That's what this picture is. All the credit goes to the King. There's no shared glory. There's no divided praise. Salvation is not what we bring back from battle. It's all about what Christ brought back from the grave. He recovered what Adam lost. He reclaimed what sin stole. He redeemed what Satan thought he owned.

And he didn't lose a single one that the Father gave him. Not a single one. All that the Father giveth me shall come to me. Every single one of them. Not one of his will be lost. He recovered all. In Christ, you and I lack nothing. Sadly, there's some still standing in the zig-zag. They're burned, they're tired, and they're empty. But what the enemy steals, Christ recovers. And what sin destroys, Christ restores. And what death claims, Christ resurrects. Full recovery.

And when all is said and done, the testimony is not going to be, look at what we did. I guarantee you that. Are we going to stand before God like those mentioned in the Scriptures and say, Lord, Lord, haven't we, haven't we, look what we've done? No. So let me say it once again. Our testimony should be, and it will be, for the believer, this is our King's foil. This is what Christ did for me. This is Christ's victory. Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory. How? through our Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 15, 57. Verse 21, and David came to the 200 men, which were so faint that they could not follow David, whom they had made also to abide at the brook Bezor. And they went forth to meet David and to meet the people that were with him. And when David came near to the people, he saluted them. Now, that's important. He treated them with kindness. He treated them with respect. The ones that couldn't cross the brook. He didn't say, well, you bunch of weaklings. You stayed behind. You didn't help us. What are you standing here with your hand out for? No, he saluted to him.

Verse 22, then answered all the wicked men and the men of Belial of those that went with David. Now that's not talking about all of the 400 men. This was the response of all the men of Belial, all the wicked and worthless men who are here gonna complain. And friends, this is the response of every wicked man and woman. And it hadn't changed. It was the case then, it's the case now. Read on.

They said, verse 22, Because they were not with us, we will not give them out of the spoil that we have recovered. That we have recovered? Saved every man his wife and his children. We'll give them his wife and his children, but the rest of it's ours.

What did they do? They may lead them away and depart. And what they're saying here is just that. These men didn't do anything. We did everything. We put our lives on the line. They sit back here and didn't do a thing. We're the ones that did the fighting. We ought to get the extra spoils. That's the response of wicked men. We ought to get it.

That's the response of religious men and women. That's the attitude of all who think that they have somehow, by a work of their own righteousness, merited salvation. And it's kind of like that parable of the workers in the vineyard who, some worked 12 hours and some worked only one hour. And when they found out that the ones that had only worked one hour got the same wage as they did, they begin to claim unfairness. Well, that's not fair. Have you ever said that? I have. Well, that's not fair.

And that's exactly what these men in verse 22 are saying. Why should they share in the spoil? I can assure you they believed in works. They felt they should get a bigger share. And most in the world's religion today feel the same way. Because of their righteousness, they're going to live in a mansion, and others are going to live in a little shack on the backside of Glory.

And I've told you this many times, and I'm going to tell it to you again. That's what somebody told Brother Winford one day. I believe it may have been his brother. Was it Clayton? I think it was. He told Winford, he said, oh, I think you're going to make it to heaven. He said, but I'll have a mansion, and you'll have a shack. And Wimper said, well, where my little shack is, will Christ be there? And the man said, yes. And Wimper said, that's all that matters to me. And that's all that matters to a true believer, is that they'll be face-to-face with Christ, their Savior, forever. And He is, no doubt in my mind. Him and Miss Betty Bo, your mama, a lot that have passed. I think about that often.

Now look what David says to these men in verse 23. Then said David, ye shall not do so, my brethren, with that which the Lord hath given us. This doesn't have anything to do with what you did. The Lord's given us this. Who hath preserved us and delivered the company that came against us into our hand. Who does David give the credit to here? to who credit is deserved. He said the Lord did this. That's what we say. The Lord did this. The Lord gave to us. The Lord preserved us. The Lord delivered us.

These wicked men compared themselves to other men. That's what religion does. I wish I had a nickel or dime. I'd still be a rich man. Every time somebody said to me, well, I'm not perfect, but I'm as good as everybody down there at that Bible Baptist church, or whatever church it is.

You're comparing one worm to another is all you do. One maggot to another. It doesn't have anything to do with that. At least I'm better than so-and-so. I did more than they did. I may not be perfect, but I'm better than most. It's the religion of comparison. That's a summary of human religion right there.

These men had no true love for the brethren. If you love someone, you want them to have what you have. You want them to have the same, you want them to be in the same place. They said, take your wife and children and go. You're not getting any of the extra that we got.

And David said, oh, yes they are. And isn't that what the Lord See? I did all the work. I finished the work. What did we have that we didn't receive? If we received it, why do we glory in it? 1 Corinthians 4. David said, no, you're not going to do that. This was the Lord's work. This was the Lord's victory. That's what our salvation is. It's accomplished by the work and the victory of the Lord Jesus. Salvation is of The Lord. The Lord did it all. And I love how David addresses this in verse 24.

He says, For who will hearken unto you in this matter? For as his part is that goeth down to the battle, so shall his part be that tarrieth by the stuff they shall part alike. In other words, who's going to hearken to you in something this foolish and contrary to the gospel? Who's going to pay you any mind to something this foolish that you're saying?

This way of thinking is contrary to the grace of God. David said the Lord did this. We did no more than those who remain by the stuff. They shall part alike. They've got as much right to it as you did. You didn't do anything either. You fought, but the Lord is the one that brought you the victory. The Lord's the one that spared your life. The Lord is the one who gave you the victory. And all believers are saved the same way. Saved by the same grace. Saved by the same blood. Saved by the same righteousness. Saved by the same Savior. There's only one reason any of us are saved.

It's because Christ died for our sins. It's because Christ gave us His perfect righteousness. It's because Christ paid the wages of sin, which is death, so that you and I might have life. That's it. What do we have the glory in? It's because Christ gave us His perfect righteousness, the only righteousness that God will accept. We're accepted where? In the Beloved.

And there's nothing we can add to His righteousness to improve it. There's nothing that we can add to give us a greater reward Oh, I tell you, there are folks that are trusting in their works. And I say this truthfully, is that they actually think that their works is going to give them a bigger crown, so big that they'll need some kind of neck brace to hold it up. That's ridiculous. It goes against everything the Gospel teaches. Nothing we can add to what Christ did to give us a greater reward. He is our reward.

Verse 25, and it was so from that day forward that he, David, made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel unto this day. This was made a divine ordinance. This was to be an everlasting practice for Israel, for God's covenant people. This is God initiating and sustaining a covenant. and it testifies to God's faithfulness.

David's victory and the recovery of everything, everything lost, shows us that God restores what's been taken. We don't get it back ourselves. God restores it. God gives it back to us. This points to Christ, who restores what was lost through sin, providing, not offering, providing salvation and reconciliation.

This declares an enduring covenant promise. By making it a statute, David ensures Israel remembers God's justice and provision continually. Don't ever forget what God's done for you. A child of God won't. In the gospel, This mirrors the lasting covenant we have in and by and through the Lord Jesus.

It's an everlasting covenant. That's what David said on his deathbed. He said, though my house be not so with God, yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure, this is all my salvation and desire. What's my salvation? The covenant of God. made with me in Christ. It's sure. It's everlasting.

This ordinance testifies to the obedience of Christ, not ours. This ordinance encourages and teaches us how to follow in God's ways. This verse teaches us that God restores, God provides, God establishes lasting ways for His people to remember Him. And this principle is only fully recognized in Christ. who secures eternal restoration and relationship with God for us.

You know, friends, God's still in the restoration business. He still fully restores. Just as God gave David victory over the Amalekites, recovering all that was lost, God promises to restore us what the enemy of sin and Satan has stolen in our lives. And may He continue to give us eyes to see His power, His justice, and His faithfulness, which ensures our full recovery. What a promise that is to perishing sinners.

I'm convinced that's why you're here tonight, to hear again the wonder story of full restoration in the Lord Jesus Christ. And our recovery is not only complete, It's elevated to a higher and stronger position than before because of who we find ourselves in. Who's that? Christ. Our union with Christ is the most precious thing that we have in this life. May we never forget it.

And may we, by His grace, trust Him and obey Him and watch Him turn our battles into blessings. Are you experiencing some trouble? Going through some things right now? Just wait and watch. The Lord is going to fight for you. And you're going to see by His grace that what you thought was a battle is going to be a blessing. It always is. He works all things together for what? Good. To them that love the Lord. May the Lord help us to realize and appreciate His full recovery.