First Samuel chapter 30 is where
we are, and this is really a sequel or an advance upon last week's
message. There were some things there
that I thought we need to reconsider as we make our way through the
life of David. Do you know the feeling that
comes when you are cast into the middle of a trial and it
occurs out of nowhere and it's swift and the weight of it is
such that it actually shakes you up. It becomes for you a
crisis, a moment of calamity that disarms you and makes you
fearful and makes you wonder what's going on. Sometimes that
can happen in our life where we're taken by surprise by an
event that we weren't looking for. It happened and it took
us. It seized us. And we found ourselves
struggling with what was going on. And the event had a number
of fearful and serious potential consequences if it would have
continued on for any length. And you were crying out to God,
God, what in the world is going on? Why is this happening? Why
am I going through this? Now, I hope that for most of
us in the room, this is not something that you go through a lot. It's
good every now and then for you to go through a crisis. Because
when the crisis shakes you up, it actually separates you from
ideas and assumptions and false notions about security bases
that you thought were there to protect you. We call this a normalcy
bias. We all like things to go our
way and we like for them to go well, continually, without any
interruption or any problem or trouble. We're all used to normalcy. But when a problem breaks in
on your life and disrupts it with a major disruption, we are
crying out to God, what in the world is going on? Now, I'm actually,
framing your thoughts around this because of what happened
with David last week. If you recall, we dealt with
David discovering that he had made a choice to serve God in
the enemy's camp only to discover that another enemy had come in
and taken that which was most precious to him. And it was a
problem for David, was it not? It brought David to the point
of distress. It also brought his own company
to the point of wanting to destroy David David was in a very perplexing
situation and then God came through, didn't he? And God came through.
And what I'm getting at is this, every now and then we will be
thrown into a providential situation where you have no control at
all. And it could go from bad to worse. And you're in the middle of what
we might call a nightmare. And as you look around to try
to find points of reference by which you can maintain civility,
you find none. And then all of a sudden God
comes through. And he brings you through that
situation which was a torrent, a rainstorm, a major weather
factor that just disrupted your life. And then as quick as it
came, it went. Have you ever been there? And
didn't you say, Lord, what was that all about? Didn't you say
that? God, what was that about? What
was that about? It's kind of like nightmares
that you might have. I mean, I don't have many of
them, but I do from time to time. When I was younger and in my
mess, I had a lot of nightmares. You're all too. You're all too. God catches up with you when
you're a youthful sinner. He catches up with you at night
when you're sleeping. I'm telling the truth. And you
have these nightmares and these nightmares will grip you. And
the only thing saving you is the fact that you wake up. And
when you wake up, you say, man, I'm so glad that wasn't nothing
but a dream. And in the hood, we used to look
out our window, make sure our cars was still there. Then I
knew it was just a dream. If your car was still there,
you was cool. Cause you know, you needed your hoopty to keep
doing what you did. You looked at, okay, they didn't steal my
car. I'm cool. Now I'm setting a premise for
the study today in the life of David, and you're not going to
get it unless you can resonate with being thrown into the midst
of a situation that was so bad that you really knew that in
the midst of it, you actually deserved what you got. You really
know you deserve what you got. Even though it didn't come, you
deserve what you got. But God didn't give it to you.
He delivered you. And He didn't even tell you why.
He just did it. Now there's a reason for which
you and I go through these storms where God doesn't explain a thing
to you, but brings you through it for the specific purpose of
you learning how to be thankful. that God watched over you. We
are so unthankful sometimes. The title of my message then
is The Blessing of a Radical Redemptive Recovery. The Blessing of a Radical Redemptive
Recovery. And what I'm dealing with now
is really the effects of what happened to David. How it affected
him. How it moved him. and how you
and I should be moved when God comes in and delivers us out
of our trials. This is the lesson today because
the whole group of them have been delivered and David in the
latter chapter of 1st Samuel 30 is actually acting like he's
been delivered. You get my point? Sometimes God
delivers us and we don't act like it. Sometimes God brings
us through troubles and we could quickly forget that God did it. And we'll go on about life as
if we don't owe God praise and thanksgiving and a level of gratitude
that should underscore that that trial affected me for good. That's why the title of the message
today is the blessing, the blessing the blessing of a radical redemptive
recovery. And I'll explain the term radical
in a minute, because I know we use it in certain parts of our
culture so much so that we don't really know what the word means,
right? Oh, man, that's radical, right? Well, what do you mean
by radical? What is radical? Radical is a
very good word, and it's a very appropriate word when we're talking
about something that happens in your life that's meant to
change you. Something that happens in your
life that's meant to change you. If God uses something to change
your mind, to change your trajectory of behavior, to change your attitude,
and it actually does that, that's what we call radical. It's a
very useful term in the Scriptures. It's an adjective. It's a noun. And it fundamentally means to
get at the root of a problem with the objective of so changing
it that the thing itself is transformed. When God works radically in your
life, he gets at the root of problems with the objective of
changing you through that situation. David went through a transformative
moment when he discovered that God brought him through a mess
that was so bad that it could have totally destroyed David.
Point number one then, let's work through our outline. Point
number one, David's spoil was the plundering of grace by the
victory of what? David's plundering was the David's
spoil rather was the plundering of grace It was an act of grace
that did something for David of which when David understood
it He responded appropriately to it in first Samuel 30 verse
21 if you'll notice how David responds it is stated in 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 Besor. And they went forth to meet David
and to meet the people that were with him. And will you mark this?
And when David came near to the people, he saluted them. May I say to you, from the time
that David was granted to destroy the Amalekites, recover all of
his property, his family, the family of those that are with
him, and as he's headed now back to the camp where he had left
these men with the stuff, as David is headed back to the camp
with all of this spoil, his heart is growing more thankful to God
every moment. David is reflecting upon how
God had thoroughly recovered everything. Thoroughly recovered
everything. And that revelation went so deep
into his heart that it produced in David a superfluity, an abundance,
an overflowing of such thanksgiving. Watch this. When he got back
to his servants, his servants didn't salute him, he saluted
them. This is a grand picture of the
nature of God in Christ when he comes again on the last day
to bring his own home with him. What kind of attitude will Jesus
have when he show up to bring his people with himself? He's
going to be so thankful that God has recovered all of his
elect from all over the world, from all of the situations where
we have been trapped and snared and taken and on the way to hell. He's going to be so thankful
to recover us that there will be joy unspeakable and full of
glory. The secret, however, to point
number one is around what David comprehended because there's
a conflict drama in this portion of the scripture, is it not?
A conflict drama. God's going to set up and show
us how some people get it and some people don't. How some people
get when God delivers you and some people don't get it even
though God delivered you. And God's gonna show us how that
we can be collectively engaged in an affair for God's glory.
And some of us get it. And some of us don't. David got
it. What do you mean? Point number
one, sub-point, God wrought the victory through David. God wrought the victory through
David. Is that not true? God brought
this victory through David. This is how David could say to
the men who were acting crazy with him in verse 22, then answered
all the wicked men of Belial and those that went with David
and said, because they went not with us, we will not give them
of the spoil. We recovered it, et cetera. Verse
23, then David said, you shall not do so my brethren with that
which the Lord hath what given us. When you stay right there
for a moment, my point is, is David had a clear understanding
of why everything that was in jeopardy and could have been
lost is now back in his hands. God had worked mightily in a
gracious way, in an undeserving way to bring it all back. Let me see if I can help a few
of you shallow headed people get what I'm talking about. Just
suppose you got $100,000 in the bank And you look up one day and it's
zero. And you tripping. And you don't
know how you lost it and you have no ability to get it back.
And then all of a sudden, through mysterious circumstances, you
look up and every dime of it is back. Ain't you gonna feel
good about that? And if you say you're a worshiper
of God, are you going to give God the glory for it? Or are
you going to act like somehow in your own wisdom, you recovered
it? You went into the computer system
and fixed that problem. I'm trying to anchor something
in your thinking because practically speaking, every day, every day
God has done something by which he has demonstrated a recovery
of that which was lost in your life. And you and I will fail
to give him glory for it. failed to give him glory for
it. And so David knew that God had wrought the victory. And
this is also one of the indicatives of leadership. One of the indicatives
of leadership is to be so fully dependent upon God as to recognize
God when God is working. Woe unto us if we are under leaders
who are so moronic and ignorant that they don't see God at work,
neither give him the glory when it happens. David knew that God
had wrought this victory, sub-point number one, and I have three
verses there, I won't go there, but Joshua said the same thing,
the Lord delivered us. Nehemiah said the same thing,
God has wrought this victory for us. And again, this is what
David is saying, leadership understands that. Sub-point B, it was the
plunder of God's what? Enemies. And David said that
as much, God had wrought this plundering of our enemies. Now, ladies and gentlemen, what
you have here is a model, again, of how God works in the redemption
of sinners. The language that Christ used
in the parable of the strong man, Matthew chapter 12, and
Luke's gospel as well, is that a strong man armed will protect
his goods. Because he expects somebody to
try to break in and take him. He has security everywhere. But
someone wiser and smarter and stronger than him will break
into his house, take all of his armor, and then plunder his goods. Take his goods. That's Matthew's
Gospel, chapter 12, verse 29. Can you pull that up? I just
want you guys to see this. What we are talking about right
now is how God is describing the nature of the kingdom of
God. The nature of the kingdom of God is many things, but one
of them is this. God is in the business of restoring
that which has been taken and lost. If you are a believer in
Christ, you are the product of the restoration work of God and
his grace in Christ. If you are a believer in Christ,
you were lost at one point. You were taken captive by the
devil at one point. You were under his control at
one point. In fact, you were in the devil's
camp as the devil's plunder because God allowed him to plunder the
human race in Adam and Eve. Am I making some sense? And you
and I were miserably abiding in the dark kingdom of Satan,
living and abiding as his slave. And God in his mercy came to
you in the power of his spirit through the preaching of the
gospel and plundered, plundered the kingdom of hell. This is
what Christ meant in Matthew 16 when he says, I will what? Build my church. And what? The
gates of hell will not. What? And what that means is
not that the gates of hell are trying to assault Christ, but
that as Christ goes into hell to retrieve his elect, he will
bust the gates wide open come in and plunder hell and take
his saints out. That's what he did for you. Whether
you know it or not, that's what he did for you. He kicked those
gates in and he went in and he hogtied your hell-bound soul
and he led you out. You, me, and all of God's elect,
captive. One of my sisters asked me the
question about a month ago, what does it mean that he led captivity
captive? It meant he, as the great king,
has now retrieved and now controls the whole human race. Every slave,
whether in Christ or out of Christ, is Christ's captive. And for
those of us who are his people, he led us out as captive slaves
into his kingdom. And you and I, for all intents
and purposes, are God's spoil. We are his plunder. David knew
that God had wrought this. Subpoint B then is, it was the
plunder of God's enemies. That's so amazing of a thought,
something to meditate on. Do you know that when God saved
you, you were an enemy of God? Can you believe that? Here you
are, you had your hand in God's face, rebelling against God,
living like hell, cussing him out, and he still saved your
wretched soul. I'm telling you the truth. I'm
telling you the truth. Now watch this, because the Oriental kings
would go into kingdoms, destroy their foes, and take the people
captive, and the king would be walking back to his city, and
all the slaves would be behind him, shackled in chains. I'm
so glad he made me a slave of the kingdom. Aren't you? This
is what Colossians chapter two says when it says, and he made
a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it when he plundered
hell to deliver our souls. David knew as he was headed back
to the camp that God had wrought a mighty work. Every day of our
lives, children of God, we should be giving him thanks for that.
Every day that you wake up as a free man in Christ, a free
woman in Christ, You should be thanking God for delivering your
soul because he did it only by his grace. Point number two then,
let's go to work and learn some things. Point number two, as
I had stated, in the scenario that we are working through in
1 Samuel chapter 30, there are a couple of scenarios or a couple
of aspects of this drama that God wants us to see. He wants
us to understand David's appreciation but something is remarkable about
is about to occur and we've got to get the lesson because this
year again is this year's paradigmatic. There are some folks who actually
went with David to the battle that God calls wicked men. Point number two, the king's
gracious acts exposing the what? Selfish servants. I heard somebody
say servants. Do you see that adjective in
front of that? Would you get that? There's a difference between
a servant and a selfish servant. I meant to put that word there.
Something happened that exposed them for their selfishness. And
the first thing that happened was they did not see God in the
victory. They didn't see God. This is
a fascinating idea because you can be in the midst of God's
work and not see God. And as a consequence, not appropriately
respond to what God is doing because you're blinded to the
providence of God. Here's the situation. These men
are wondering what David is up to as he's traveling back to
the camp, and they can't quite understand why the smile is on
David's face. And then As soon as David gets
to the camp and he salutes everybody that stayed with the staff, they
knew that David was up to something that they weren't in agreement
with. Do you know what that was? David's heart had been so full
of thanksgiving and gladness for what God had done that David
was ready to bless everybody in the camp. His heart was so
full of thankfulness to God He was just glad to see them just
as much as he was glad to see his own wife and children. David
had gotten the point. He had gotten the point that
God's people are to be just as precious to David as they are
to God. He also got another point that
everybody's role in the matters of the kingdom of God are very
important. And so when we come back from
a campaign of gospel ministry, the spoil that we retrieve, we
are to open up to everybody in the family. And this is where
David's heart is. But here's the problem. The act
of a gracious king will often expose the selfishness of some. First Samuel chapter 30, verse
six. Here it is. First Samuel 30, verse six. Here's the way
in which David is confronted with these men. And David was
greatly, his response to them in First Samuel 30, verse 24.
Here it is. And then David said, you shall
not do so my brethren. with that which the Lord had
given us, who had prepared for us and delivered this company
that was against us in our hand. For who will hearken unto you
in this matter? Here it is, verse 24. But as
his part is that goeth down to the battle, so shall his part
be that tarrieth by the staff. They shall equally receive a
share just as us. Think about what's going on in
David's heart here. Now, it would be quite natural
on our part, yours and mine, that if you and I had to bear
the brunt of the labor of retrieving the goods, and then we see the
king actually dispersing the goods to everybody equally, you
and I might be bent out of shape a little bit as to why David
wants to give them something, and all they did was stay by
the stuff. You guys got that? But see, David's
heart is overflowing with the kind of gratitude that is revealed
to him that it's just important that those soldiers stayed by
the stuff to protect the stuff, as was those soldiers whom God
gave grace to recover. the family, and all those things
that were trapped by the Amalekites. This is the thing that's bizarre,
because their response is, as the text says, and these baseless
fellows, these wicked men answered, verse 22, then answered all the
wicked men and the men of Belial. You see how the author wants
you to get it? Wicked men and men of Belial. What is a man
of Belial? Well, it can be a bad word, But
mostly what it means is they are useless persons who are reprobate
in their mind and they don't get the nature of spiritual things. The word is often translated
in other translations as worthless. Now, if God calls you worthless,
you're in trouble. And that's because no one in
the kingdom of God is viewed as worthless. But if you are
in the kingdom of God, and you are viewed by God as worthless,
it means you are a sham. It means that you are not the
real thing. And for these men to have been
with David, gone with David, experienced the triumph with
David, and yet be called men of Belial, base men, vile men,
means that they are in the camp, but not of the camp. It's a very
ominous concept here. Go with me in your Bible to 2
Samuel 23, verse 6. I'll show you how David uses
his word as he gives us his last psalm. In 2 Samuel 23, as we
are given the rules of biblical leadership here in this account,
he gives us his final psalm, and here's what he says about
these vile men in chapter 23, verse 6. Are we there? He says, But the sons of Belial shall
be all of them as what? Thorns thrust away because they
cannot be taken with hands. That's an ominous statement,
ladies and gentlemen. He has just described what is
called biblical qualifications for leadership, how men are qualified
characteristically to lead for God. But then he says that the
base men shall be thrust away like thorns. That's the language
that Jesus is using in the gospels when he talks about thorns being
burnt up because they are identified with false prophets. To be thrown
away then is to be determined as to have been worthless and
useless. Ominous phrase for these guys,
which drove me to think about what is my attitude like when
God does something wonderful and marvelous in my life or around
me, and I get an attitude because he did it. Going back to verse
22, because I want to work through this point. First Samuel 30,
22. Then answered all the wicked
men and men of Belial. Now they didn't even have nothing
to do with David talking to these other people, but they're going
to talk up anyway. Watch this. And those that went with David
and said, because they went not with us, we will not give them
off of the spoil. We're not giving them anything,
David. I know you want to give them something, but we're not
giving them anything. Now watch this. We're not going to give
them anything of the spoil that we have recovered. Got it? That we have recovered. What I'm trying to share with
you is how if you and I are failing to understand how God works,
you can do what these men did and still his glory. thinking
that you have it in your power to actually function in the kingdom
of God, and therefore to determine who you're going to bless and
who you're not going to bless. These men are talking as if they actually
had the power in themselves to recover the goods. These are
called wicked, ungodly, base men, reprobates in the kingdom.
They're actually enemies of David, aren't they? And here's the scary
and eerie thing that I want us to grasp with that. I think we
can behave just like them. I think you can behave like them,
I think I can too. I think you and I can be under the presumption
that we are safe with God and things are well and then a radical
act of grace occurs where God does something beyond the normal
in blessing and you have an attitude about it. You follow what I'm
getting at? Let me see if I can take you
to the New Testament and help you understand the parallels
under this. Do you remember the time in the
gospel of Matthew chapter 14 where the Lord Jesus Christ,
and you can pull that up, had just finished a preaching series
and the multitudes were around Jesus and they really didn't
want to leave because his preaching was so powerful, but he knew
that they were hungry. He knew that they were tired
and weary. And he had said to his disciples, is there any bread,
any food for these people to eat? Go with me in your Bible
to Matthew chapter 14 while we are waiting for the screen to
pull back up. In Matthew chapter 14, here is something very similar
that went on and it's a lesson that you and I must get as well.
In Matthew chapter 14, listen to what he says in verse 14,
how they respond. And Jesus went for and saw a
great multitude and was moved with compassion toward them and
he healed their sick. And when it was evening, his
disciples came to him saying, this is a desert place and the
time is now past. Ready? Send the multitude away
that they may go into villages and buy food for themselves.
Now who said that? The disciples. The disciples. Going back to our PowerPoint,
I want you to see the sub points here. Grace is strange to the
carnal mind. You got that? Grace is strange
to the carnal mind. Even the disciples didn't get
that their being with Jesus and seeing Jesus do all of the healing
and the miracles that he accomplished didn't make them better than
the other people. that they were not more special
because they were Jesus' close companions than the people to
whom he was ministering. But ladies and gentlemen, don't
you see a parallel between these disciples and the men of Belial
who went with David, recovered the spoil, and David is ready
to give a portion with the people that stayed back. And they're
saying, no, don't give it to them, just give it to the people
who actually did the work with us, give it to their family,
and then send these folks away. Isn't that what it said? Send
them away. The disciples said, send them
down the road. Jesus says it's evening time,
all the stores are closed. This is an irrational thought
that's rising up in them because they're not understanding the
nature of grace. And when you and I are carnal, we will act
that way. Can I get a witness? We will actually act like we
are better than other people, what we have we deserve, and
what they are getting they don't deserve. When in fact the matter,
as David is going to demonstrate, everything that we have God gave
to us. This is the thing that David understands so fully. This
is why he says, you, you brother, and don't be like this. I'm going
to set down a rule now that whoever is partaking in the kingdom of
God with us, whatever station they have in life, they're going
to be blessed according to that station that they have simply
because they are part of the family. So my first sub point
is grace is strange to the carnal mind. You guys know it. First
Corinthians chapter two 14. You don't have to go there. The
things of God, the natural man, does not get. The carnal mind
is enmity against God, and the natural mind can never comprehend
spiritual reality, spiritual principles, or our spiritual
economy. And when you and I are operated
in the flesh, we will push back against God's blessing. And that's
what's happening in our current. The second one is grace is what?
Offensive to the self-important. That was my point. Peter, James,
and John and the rest of the disciples Frequently acted like
carnal man, didn't they? They frequently acted like lost
people, didn't they? They frequently acted like self-righteous
men that had rights to things that they did not have, and God
had to teach them the lesson too. I hope you and I get this
lesson. Sub point number C, if we have
it in our PowerPoint, every member of the body is what? Y'all got
that in the lesson? Every member is important. First
Corinthians chapter 12 gives us three verses. I want you to
see them, actually four. First Corinthians chapter 12,
let's look at that and make sure that we understand this principle.
Everyone is important in the body. Now, as I'm thinking about
that, and I want you to think about this too, while we are
thinking about this, ask God for forgiveness because you actually
don't believe what I just said. I'm going to give you a little
time to think about that. Why? while I tie my Stacey Adams
here. It's true. It's true. As I observe people in the church,
you'll get so comfortable in your Christianity that you'll
get carnal and you'll get selfish. And in certain environments,
you will boldly open your mouth and talk like other believers
don't have a right to certain things. You will. We just do
that and it's a wrong place to be. Now when we're in that place,
we have not been impacted by a radical redemptive recovery. Are you hearing what I'm saying?
We are acting like we have not been redeemed and that it didn't
have a radical impact in our life. We've lost sight that we
are vessels of mercy just like everybody else. And now we're
acting like it, like vile sons of Belial. And so David is dealing
with that. He's teaching us something about
that. Listen to the language in 1 Corinthians chapter 12.
I'm gonna start at verse 18, make my way back. In 1 Corinthians
chapter 12, verse 18, this is the work of the Spirit of God
in actually bringing us into the body of Christ through baptism
and then gifting everyone in the body in order that the body
might accomplish the goal for which God gave us to Christ in
his body, verse 18. But now have God set the members,
every one of them in the what? And how did he do it? As it pleased
him. Sometimes we argue with God as
to positions in the church. Sometimes we want God to make
us visible leaders in the church when that wasn't God's sovereign
providence. His purpose is to put you in a place in the church
where in his own estimation, you can best serve him. Am I
making some sense? And so we got to get that because
if we don't, we will start kicking and chafing against the rest
of the body. So again, we read then not only
in verse 18 that God does what he does sovereignly and we are
supposed to get it. The people that were by the scuff
was the way God wanted them to be. They were right where God
was. Remember what the text said?
They had fainted and they could not go with David to battle.
How many of you guys have fainted? Fainted in your walk with God?
See, now the rest is only a handful of y'all raising their hand.
But see, you have fainted some days. You've gotten weary some
days. You quit on God some days. I'm
just telling you the truth. See, you don't want to admit
it. You fainted some days. You failed to keep up. You failed
to call on God. You just said, now I'm stopping
right here. I'm taking a vacation. I'm not continuing on. I'm tired. And aren't you thankful that
God doesn't kick you out because you get tired? They had fainted and David was
gracious enough to employ them in their weakness. So he stopped
them by the stuff and said, just watch the stuff. And when David
came back, he was so thankful that God gave them the grace
in their weakness to watch the stuff that they got their reward.
Because see, we're learning about rewards today. We're learning
that God is one who faithfully rewards everyone who serves him,
no matter what the position is. No matter what the position is.
And sometimes he's doing it because God knows things about us that
we don't know about ourselves. You might say that I might be
better serving God in this area, but God knows. Does he know? So we will see now then in verse
11 how this is used as well. Verse 11, but all these worketh
the one and the same self spirit dividing to every man severally
what so you see what God does he places us as he will he gives
us gifts as he wills you can't go up to the Holy Ghost and take
the gift you won't okay let me go on to the next one verse 7
verse 7 listen to what verse 7 says but the manifestation
of the spirit The manifestation of the Spirit is given to every
man to what? Profit thereby. The manifestation
of the Spirit, that is the giving of the Spirit and the Spirit's
sovereign providence to give us all gifts for the purpose
of the body is for the profit of everyone. Watch this now.
If you refuse the gift that God gives you by the Spirit and you
want another gift, that gift won't profit you. That gift won't
profit you. The only gift that's going to
profit you is the gift that God gives you. People frequently
ask me, Pastor, you know, we're talking about this on Friday.
I think I'm called. OK, well, let's talk about that. How do you think you're called?
Well, I just got a feeling that's a problem because there are concrete
factors that determine whether or not an individual is called.
You better be very careful when you talk about being called,
because essentially when you talk about being called, other than
the general call of salvation, because we're all called that
way, right? So what are you called to? Are you called to be God's
janitor? Are you called to be God's, you know, street sweeper? Are you called to be God's doorman?
Remember what David learned, I'd rather be a doorkeeper than
a dwell in the tents of wickedness. What has God called you to? So
we get caught up in these fanciful ideas of being called. And if
we're not called the way we want to be called, then we don't want
to serve. Big problem. Real big problem because if God
has baptized you into the body of Christ by the Spirit of God,
he also gave you a gift to operate in. And if you are operating
in the gift that God has called you to and not one that you made
up, you will be a blessing to people. It's true. It's true. It's true. One more verse here
and then we'll move on to our other point so we can shut it
down. Verse number 13. Listen to verse number 13. For
by one spirit are we all baptized into what? One body. Whether
we be Jew or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free, and have
been all made to drink into what? Verse 13 is the New Testament
counterpart to our text. David recognized every person
as part of the body. The spoil that he recovered is
the drinking of the spirit. as he comes back and now disperses
to every man some of the gifts, some of the plunder. The Old
Testament battles that they won by which they recovered physical
things points to the New Testament battles that Christ won for us
by which we enter into the spiritual things of the plunder. Am I making
some sense? The spiritual things of the plunder. Do you enjoy the plunders of
God? Very interesting. Very interesting. Very interesting then. Let's
move on then to our next point. And that is, there is a difference
between performance and agreement-based relationship. There's a difference
between performance and agreement-based relationship. Now, what am I
talking about? I'm talking about these wicked men who came to
David and said, David, you shouldn't give them this. because they
didn't do that. Are you with me? There's going
to be an insight to you here in a second. David, you shouldn't
give them this because they didn't go down with us. We will. I'm
at verse 22. We will not give them of any
of the spoil that we have recovered. Save to every man, his wife and
his children that they may go somewhere. Leave us. Horrible. Because if you recall, The camp that they were in was
burnt up by the Amalekites when they came and took them captive.
Where are they gonna go? You gonna send them away back
home to a burnt up camp? The heart is hard, isn't it?
Watch this though, watch this though. I want you to get this
now, because I'm actually getting inside of our head around a faulty
understanding of the grounds of grace upon which you stand. These men thought that they had
a right to what they had, because of their performance. They thought
they had a right to what they had because of their performance. Because they had wrought victory
and they claimed it for themselves without giving God glory for
it. Now they're going to reward themselves, aren't they? I've
taught us this before. For those of you who have been
listening to me for a long time, this is how you know where you have
slipped past a grace-based understanding of your walk with Jesus. When
you have slipped past a grace-based back into a performance-based
relationship with God, you're going to get paid. That's going
to come home in a second. You're going to get paid. You
know what that means? You're going to find a way to pay yourself.
You're going to find a way to pay yourself. When you serve
God to get something, you're gonna pay yourself. You're gonna
pay yourself either by pushing your way to the front or tearing
other people down so that they don't get what you deserve. Are
you hearing what I'm saying? When you are operating out of
a performance-based relationship with God, you're gonna demand
that God gives you what God has the right to give anyone in the
kingdom. Here's one of three parables that we're going to
be dealing with in our reward study that's going to help us
understand this. This is what I call the parable of the worker's
what? Agreement. It's in Matthew's
gospel chapter 20. Look at it with me for a moment.
The parable of the worker's agreement. And this here also is a parallel
to what's going on in our text. Now, as you go there, let me
ask you the question. Are you glad to be in the kingdom
of God? Did you get into the kingdom
of God because you negotiated with Jesus, having filled out
a wonderful resume with all kinds of accolades on it and skills
and accomplishments by which he put you in the position that
you wanted to be in. Is that the way you get into
the kingdom? All right. So see, you and I ought to be
thankful every day that God just looked upon us and chose us. and brought us into the kingdom.
I want you to see how this parable is set up. We're not going to
unpack this. I'm just going to show you the framework because
people misinterpret the parables around business models that God
sets up. Chapter 20 verse 1 and 2. For the kingdom of heaven
is like unto a man that is a householder which went out early in the morning. He went out early in the morning
and to hire laborers into his vineyard. And when he had agreed
with the laborers for a penny a day, he sent them into the
vineyard. Do you see that? He had established
an agreement upon the relationship. Now, will you mark what it says
in verse 10 through 13? Here it is. But when the first
came, but when the first came, those folks who started at six
o'clock in the morning, they supposed that they should have
received more. You see? And they likewise received
every man a penny. And when they had received it,
they murmured against the good men of the house. Do you see
the parallels? Who here doesn't see the parallels?
Do you see the parallels? You see how the old once again
shows up in the new? Because attitude is the same
until God deals with us. These dudes is getting on the
householder Because he's looking up, they're looking up and seeing
that the householder is paying everyone equally the same. I
want to show you something here. This is very important to get.
It says in verse 13, but he answered one of them and said, friend. Now again, I want to show you
the irony of this language. In our first Samuel 30 account,
The author who was either Gad or Nathan basically said, not
Samuel, Samuel was dead. Gad or Nathan wrote this and
said that these men are sons of Belial, right? Do you remember
how David responded? Brethren. Because David is a
great type of Christ. And remember how Judas Iscariot
came to Jesus to betray him with a kiss? Remember what he said
to him? Friend. In other words, the heart of
the owner of the vineyard is never wicked. It's never vile. It's never austere. It's never
mean. He's never unjust. He views everybody in the kingdom
equally. Watch this now. He said, friend,
I do thee no wrong. Did you not agree with me for
a penny? Do you see it? Take your penny,
brother. That's my translation. and get
out of here. I will give unto this last even
as unto thee. Is it not lawful for me to do
what I will with my own? Now, here it is. Is your eye
evil? Because I'm good. See, David
was good. Was David good? And David was
doing good. Was David doing good? And these brothers' eyes were
evil. Were they evil? Because they failed to understand the
underlying covenant premise. The underlying covenant premise
was that they were in the kingdom based upon an agreement that
was made between God and David. Not predicated upon performance,
but agreement. But agreement. This parable is
about agreement. It's about the workers' agreement.
This parable is not about performance. This parable does not have within
its literature or within its framework any kind of mediation,
any kind of demand on the part of the owner. No accountability
here. The owner is not asking these
men to come and give an account for what they did. Did you notice
that? In other words, this is not about accountability. This
is not about the owner coming to them and saying, now I gave
you this good, I gave you that commodity, I gave you this talent,
I gave you this vehicle, and I told you to go out and make
that to gain interest or to compound or to increase. That's not the
conversation here. This is not about what they were
to do by way of performance. This was simply about an agreement
made up front. Here's the agreement. You come
work for me and I'll pay you. It was just that simple, wasn't
it? And it was upfront. We're not dealing here with the
performance of the people. We're dealing with the fact that
the owner simply agreed that their being a part of his kingdom
will merit them a reward. Essentially what this account
actually represents is when the gospel comes to the center and
says, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. The answer is you shall
be what? He that believeth on Christ hath
what? Eternal life. This agreement
parable then describes what you and I should understand as the
basis of our being in the kingdom is really only grace. And grace
has as its reward eternal life. And it's not based upon what?
Merit or performance. Now when we understand that foundation,
we won't be distracted by the other brother down the road.
That's what our account is talking about. One more thing. I want
to wrap it up. One more thing. Go back with me to our account.
One more thing I want to deal with. Not only then are we dealing
with a difference between performance and agreement based relationships.
We want to clarify that the parable of the worker, the price was
determined beforehand. And finally, the payment is an
act of righteousness on the part of the owner. I think you got
that right. Point number three, the effects. the effects of a
radical redemptive recovery. I started talking to you about
that already. Who was affected by this radical redemptive recovery?
David. It's the whole reason we have
the scenario in front of us. Because David was so affected
by what God had done that David's heart now is making him liberal
and generous to give to everyone who was part of the event. Three
things then. There was something that happened
to David that did not happen to these men. Do you know what
it was? It was a revelation of the work of God. Let me keep
this simple for time sake. The whole problem with us frequently
is we don't see God. David saw God in the work. Isn't
that what he said? God had delivered our enemies
into our hands. David had saw God in the work.
Secondly, an appreciation for being what? Kept by God. Those
are shouting words right there. Think with me, child of God.
What's today's date? The 7th of February, 2016? God
has kept you one more day. One more day. You've been kept
one more day. Do you understand that? God kept
you. Isn't he good? Think about this
for a moment, child of God. He kept you before the world
began. He kept you when he knew that
you was gonna fall in your mama and daddy Adam When we fell in
Adam God had kept us. Did he kept us? Did he keep us?
Did he preserve us in Jesus Christ? before the world began, so that
when humanity fell, God had a plan to recover us. He kept you while
you were living in sin, ignorant of God, walking in rebellion
against God. Hallelujah. Yes, he did. While
you were in the darkness of your sin, in your wickedness, do you
know what God was doing? He was hedging you in, watching
over you, blocking your path, dealing with your enemies until
he led you to the place where you heard the gospel. He kept
you. He kept you. And then you know
how else God kept you? He kept you still enough to open
your ears and open your heart so that you could hear the gospel.
And he allowed a radical, redemptive recovery to take place in your
soul, to change your life, to change your life. Now, let me
talk again about the term radical. I don't believe that anyone who
knows anything about the grace of God for real does not understand
what I mean by radical. Every person that's truly saved
is a work of radical redemption. Remember what I said? Radical
is a term that goes to the root of the problem, gets at the root
of the problem, and works so effectually that it changes the
whole nature of the thing. Has God done that in your life?
Did God get a hold of you at the root of your problem? change
your life, change your life. You and I are objects of a work
of radical redemptive recovery. Here's the other thing, when
that happens, what is the life attitude of the man or the woman
that has been the object of God's grace? Should it not be Thanksgiving?
Should it not be gratitude? Shouldn't you be a happy person
most of the time? Shouldn't you be an individual
that's constantly reflecting upon how good God has been to
you? Shouldn't the grace of God, the grace of God, cause you to
be a nice person here and there? At least a grace person. Stay
with me for a moment because I like the word grace, because
grace has to do with God bestowing upon you good things, even actually
pouring into your spirit and shaping into your character good
things that are not natural or endemic to you. Some of us are
very, very, very bad people. I get that. We're very, very
bad people by nature. But God has been good enough
to shape in our lives certain supernatural characteristics,
the work of the spirit, I want you to get this, where he has
made us to be able to be a blessing to people. Are you with me? I'm done here. I'm going to show
you this though. See, if you're not a blessing,
you're not redeemed. Now that's an absolute. I know
it's dangerous. We talk about this in theology all the time.
Be careful not to use absolutes. But I want you to get this. He
redeemed you to be a blessing. He did not redeem you to absorb
God's blessings on yourself. He redeemed you to be a blessing. He redeemed you to be a blessing.
He changed your life so that you can be a blessing to people.
He poured into you the resources of the Spirit of God so that
you can be a blessing to people. And when you are thinking about
how much God has blessed you, you should easily want to bless
other people. You should easily want to bless other people. See,
now watch this. So David had a revelation. That
revelation caused him to appreciate being kept by God. And then the
honor of being used by God. The honor of being used by God.
I don't get it with Christians. I don't get it. See, David was
happy to be used by God. To recover all the stuff. David
remembered that God had chose him, that God had called him,
that God had anointed him, that God was using him, and that God
was the one that he used to recover, to recover. And should not David
now bless everybody? Bless everybody. And that's our
final point here. When you and I are actually the
products of a radical redemptive recovery, it should compel us
or drive us to bless others because of it. Is that true? That's verse
26 through 31. You don't have to go through
it, but you already saw what was going on in 26 through 31. David
is sending portions to everybody in Judah. Is that good? Listen to what it says. I'm only
going to read certain portions of it for time's sake. And David
came to Ziklag And he sent of the spoil unto the elders of
Judah, even to his friends, saying, behold, a present for you of
the spoil of the enemies of the Lord. Do you see it? To them
which were in Bethel, to them that were in the south of Ramah,
to them that were in Jeter, and so forth, as our elder laid it
out so valiantly, trying to quote these terms and phrases, being
a country boy as he is, did the best job he could do. quote these
phrases. But do you understand that the
battle that David and his men fought fell out to be a blessing
to everybody that identified with David? Here's the gospel. Because the word present there
in verse 26 is the word blessing. It's the Hebrew term blessing.
And the real blessing that God gives to you and me is his son,
Jesus Christ. He's the blessing. Do you hear
me? He's the blessing. And I like the way Paul put it
in Acts 3, verse 26. Pull that up because I want you
to see it. In Acts 3, verse 26, this is how Paul, coming to the
Jews, or Peter rather, coming to the Jews, says to the Jews,
God sent his son into the world to bless you, that you and I
might be blessed. Unto you first, God, having raised
up his son, Jesus, the resurrection, sent him to do what? He sent
him to do what? In turning every one of you from
his iniquities. Have God blessed us? Has he not
blessed us richly? And the blessing is a consequence
of Christ's atonement, is it not? So here's two realities. The spoil, first and foremost,
are believers. Christ plundered the kingdom
and got us out, didn't he? But the real spoil is Christ
himself. He's the spoil that he divides
with all of his elect. You and I get to feed on Christ.
We get to eat of him. We get to enjoy his benefits.
That's Isaiah chapter 53, I think the last verse around verse 12.
And he shall divide the spoil with the strong. Every time you
and I gather together in the worship of God, amongst the people
of God, and we hear the gospel and the Spirit of God is working
through that gospel to minister to our souls, you and I are experiencing
the spoils of Christ, are we not? The spoils, the riches,
the plunder. And mark this, There's a day
coming when Jesus is coming back like David came back and there
will be an infinite inexhaustible household of spoil coming with
the King. Riches and treasures and blessings
that I have not seen and ear has not heard. Massive, massive
treasures and spoils that you and I, by the grace of God, will
enter into. But between now and then, Stop
being sons of Belial. Stop it. Operate in your lane. Thank God for calling you and
placing you and gifting you and learn how to operate out of the
impact of being an object of radical grace. Because when you
do, you'll be more giving. You'll be more liberal in your
soul. You won't be bothered with other people getting something
over here. You'll be thankful for what God
gave you. You won't be tripping on why she got so much and he
got so much. Are you guys hearing what I'm
saying? And in a moment, we're getting ready to actually partake
of that which typifies the spoil of God. His name is Jesus Christ,
is he not? He is the bread of life and his
blood cleanses us from all unrighteousness. and we get to eat his flesh and
drink his blood typically right now and so indicate that he has
brought us into the kingdom and we get to enjoy the spoils of
him in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Amen.