You like that song, Jill? You know, David's men came to
this old fool named Nabal, and they said, we've come in a good
day. It's a good day. What we've got
to tell you is good. David sends peace. It's good
news, peace. And this message, gospel, is
good news. Unless we're like that old fool
and reject it. David, as you know, was God's
man. He chose him, made him king.
Long before he was crowned, he was God's king. A man after God's
own heart. David wrote of Christ in 2 Samuel,
he said, This is the one who God raised up on high, the anointed
of the God of Jacob, the sweet psalmist of Israel. The Spirit
of the Lord spake through him, his words in his tongue. He that
ruleth over men, the just one. That's light of the morning,
the sun that rises, tender grass. The rain upon the tender grass
after clearing. That's Christ. The only begotten
well-beloved Son of the Most High God, Son of God, the One
who made this world, came down here, literally. God was manifest
in flesh. He lived here. As a man, like
us, touched with the feeling of our impermanence, tempted
at all points like as we are, God became a man. And that Lord, Jesus Christ,
right now reigns and rules. He lives. He died. Yes, He died.
On purpose. For His people. To put away their
sin. Sacrifice for their sin. And
He, right now, sits on the circle of the earth. He reigns and rules. Controls
all. He's the one that kills. Jesus
Christ is the one that kills. He's the one that makes a lot.
He's the one that makes it rich. He's the one that makes it poor.
He's the one that raises it up. He's the one that casts it down.
He's the one in whose hands everything about us is, in the hands of
Jesus Christ, to do with as He pleases. It came the first time
He really did come. He came the first time to save
His people from their sin. He's coming the next time to
completely destroy everything and everyone in this planet. He's coming with a sword the
next time. This is not a fairy tale. This
is the truth. But all who call upon Him in
truth All who like Abigail fall at His feet and confess their
sin and call on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, all, He will have mercy, He will spare,
He will marry you. And you'll be a joint heir with
Him forever. While the fools that say there's no God, the
fools that say there's no Jesus Christ, no sin, no God, no judgment, will perish. All right, this story you read
with me was a great fool. This man was a great man. It
says in verse 2, he had great possessions. He was not a great
man in himself. He just had great possessions. Oh, how many people have so much. That doesn't make you great.
Great possessions don't make you great. We're all a bunch
of great sinners is what we are. By the grace of God, we are what
we are and have what we have. And this man was a fool. He didn't
know God, didn't know God's King, He thought he had gotten all
this for himself. He thought it was all his. Now he's going to lose every
bit of it. Great fool. Full of pride
and vainglory. That's man, isn't it? That's
man. He doesn't thank God. He doesn't acknowledge God. He
doesn't like this man. Who is David? Who is he? I don't
care who he is. Look what all I've done. His
wife, verse 3, a woman named Abigail. Her name means father
of joy, or the joy of her father. This Abigail was born, her father
took great delight in her. He got great joy from her, and
I believe she took great joy in her father. Oh my. I hope and pray that our Abigail,
our Daisy, our Emma, our Olivia, all our young people, that our
Heavenly Father will take great joy in them someday, and that
they will joy in God their Father. Oh, how I hope and pray that
more than anything, more than anything. And nothing else matters. We see here that the great King
is coming down to kill everything that pisses up against the wall.
What matters? And Abigail realizes this. She
needs one thing. Mercy. Right? No fairytale. It's true. You know, to the pure, all things
are pure. The Lord doesn't miss words,
does he? He says things like they are, and the word pisses
against the wall. You say, how crude is that? That's
God's Word. A man spews all this stuff out of his open sepulchre,
it's called the throat, doesn't he? Just spews all this out,
and when God says it, people... Seriously, man is a self-righteous
little peanut. He can just spew out of his mouth
anything he wants to. But when God says it, he means
it. Man says, damn this, damn that.
When God says it, you're damned. See how careful we ought to be
with our words? Whatever God says, He means it. It should make us tremble at
His Word. Abigail says she was a woman
of good understanding and beautiful countenance. Her husband was
churlish and you couldn't deal with him. He just knew everything,
did everything. You just thought he was something.
He was evil in his doing. Even though he was of the house
of Caleb. We're not born of blood or will
of the flesh. We're going to be born of God. Abigail wasn't born this way.
She wasn't born good and beautiful and all that. She was born a
fool like her husband, you know that? Why didn't she marry this
fool? You think he was really different
when she married him? Do you? No, he pulled the wool over her.
He fooled her, didn't he? Deceived. Women are deceived
in the transgression. That's what Scripture said. No. But God, rich in mercy, she heard
the news. She heard from somebody. Somebody
told her the truth. She came to a good understanding,
didn't she? She heard. She knew who David
was. She knew who the king was. She knew who God was, didn't
she? She knew the purpose of God. Oh my, she came and fell
and feared and called. That's why she's a woman of good
understanding. She understands the truth, who
God is and what she is and what her husband is. Fools about to
perish unless our God has mercy upon them. Amen. Well, David sends his men,
and you read with me, and we've looked at it other times. But
he sent ten young men down there, and I just quoted to you. They
said, this is a good day. David says, Pete, I bring good
news, peace on earth, goodwill. David, who's been good to you. The king who's watched over everything
you had up to this point. The king who's been a wall unto
you. The king who has not done you
any hurt has done you nothing but good all your days. The king
in whose hands you are has done you nothing but good all your
days. Now, give him his rightful due. Isn't this what all the messengers
of God are sent to say? Isn't this what God sent the
prophets and the apostles and evangelists and pastors and teachers
all to say? God is good. Praise Him. Thank Him. God is our Savior. He's the Savior of all man. Anybody
that lives, God gave them life. Anybody that has anything, God
gave it to them. God is good. His tender mercy
is over all His work. Merciful, gracious, kind, compassionate,
good. Nothing evil in God. He's good.
God alone is good. Now bow to Him. Praise and thank
and give Him His rightful due. Come and worship the Lord. Come
and thank the Lord. Come and sing His praises. Huh? Give His Son to do. Bow to His
Son. Believe His Son. Trust His Son. Give Him the glory that belongs
to Him. The whole earth is full of His
glory, man. Everything in the world that
God created is for His glory. And they give Him glory. Come
on, man. Give Him the glory. But this man, this fool, no,
I don't believe that. I did this. I got this. I made myself. I'm a self-made
man. I procured all this. I, by my
strength, by my wisdom, by my education, by my power, I did
all this. No, I'm not going to give Him
all the glory. Shall I give what I have to Him? That man said in verse 11, shall
I give my bread? Bread? Where'd you get bread? Where'd bread come from? Wheat.
Where'd you get that? Well, I planted it. Where'd you
get the seed? Where'd you plant it? In the earth. Why'd it grow?
Oh, you didn't do anything. God did it all. God gave it all.
Give him the glory. My water. Water? Water's a gift, isn't it, Brother
Steve? Sometimes you can dig a well, keep digging, keep digging. Right, Yvonne? And hoping and
praying that you hit water. Who's going to give you water?
Where's water come from? Actually... It's not funny. It's so foolish. One of these
persons in a big city, New York or somewhere, they asked about
water. And the person said, well, what
do you mean where's water come from? Turn on the tap. It comes
out of the faucet. City Department gives us water. It rains. The Lord sends rain.
It doesn't rain. The Lord sends rain, water of
life. And man complains. Hmm. My water? Who is David? You know, this
is the question that all human beings are faced with. Who is
Jesus Christ? Whose son is he? What think ye
of Christ? Whose son is he? This man said,
who is David? Who is Jesse? Who is the son
of David? I don't know him. I don't care.
You know him, Arhat. One of these days. One of these
days. And your heart's going to die
for fear. You see? See, this is why the fear of
the Lord is the beginning of saving wisdom. Abigail feared
him. So David's men went back to David. And this is what man has done
to the prophets, the apostles, and everybody that the Lord has
sent to tell them, just tell them the truth. Just tell them
who God is. Tell them what all He's done
for them, how good He is, and what has He required, but just
to fear Him and to give Him His due, worship Him and thank Him.
That's not unreasonable. It's a reasonable service. But
no, man doesn't believe. He's a fool, like Nabal. And
so they killed all the prophets, killed all the apostles, killed
them all. And if it were lawful, they'd do it today. They went
back to David, and they told David, hey, reject this. And David said,
strap on your swords. Who is David? Ask Goliath. Ask the Philistines. Ask the Amalekites. Nobody stood
up to him. Nobody. Who is David? He's a man to be feared. Oh,
he's a gracious man. He's a loving man. He's a merciful
man. He's a kind man. He's the sweet
psalmist of Israel. He's a beautiful man. He's a
good man. But he's a warrior. He's a man to be feared. Can
you love someone and fear them at the same time? Absolutely.
That's our God. Those who fear Him, His perfect
love will cast out. They need not fear Him. Well,
here He came. Here He and His men came. David
comes with all his men. Oh my, the danger that Men, women,
and young people are in and don't know it. Men, young people, men, women,
young people live in such carnal security. They trust in, you
know, the United States of America, the armed forces of the United
States of America. They trust in technology. They
trust in all these things. What a fool. There's not been
one kingdom on the face of this earth that stood very long at
all until it was wiped I don't care how strong. Alexander and
his great army, the Greeks, one of the greatest kingdoms ever
on the face of the earth, just covered Europe. Alexander the
Great, you've heard of him. He just went everywhere, destroying
everybody and everything and taking it for his own. He died
at 23, was it, of syphilis. God brought him down like that.
In a moment, kingdoms dispersed, just gone. And God did all that.
The Greek language, it's for the kingdom of God, for the purpose
of the gospel. England, everybody was under
the captivity of this Alexander the Great. Who? The Great? Who? How'd God kill him? In absolute
shame. He didn't die from a bullet. God did that. God did that. Oh my, the danger that men and
women and young people are in and don't know it. And you know,
you can blame a lot of it on false prophets. Jeremiah, you
read with me. Jeremiah kept warning the people,
he's coming. Nebuchadnezzar is coming. And they didn't believe
him. And the false prophets said,
peace, peace. No evil shall befall you. You're
about to find out. So this woman comes, Abigail.
She's a woman of good understanding. It says the young men told Abigail,
David's coming. She heard the word. They told
her, David is coming. He doesn't love us all. He's
angry. He's coming. And what do you
think she did, Mike? She started trembling. So we've got to do something.
And she cared about her own soul. She cared about her family. She
cared about her friends, her workers. She cared about, she
was worried. She was distressed. What did she do? We've got to
do something. So she came. Verse 14, they told
her, and then down in verse 18, it says, Abigail made haste. Today is the day of salvation.
It really is. When is our Lord Jesus Christ coming? Somebody
tell me when he's coming. At a time when you think not. Sun's shining. You think he's
coming today? Really? You really think he's
coming today? At a time when you think not. She made haste. She came down. She told everybody. We got to go and plead with David.
In verse 23, she came. She came and Abigail saw David.
If you'll ever see who Jesus Christ is, really, not this poor
Jesus standing outside people's hearts door. That's a figment
of men's imagination. I need to keep saying that because
that's all that people believe about Jesus. Signs everywhere,
Jesus loves you. Maybe not. She hasted and she got down off
her high horse, verse 23, she fell on her face on the ground
and bowed herself to the son of Jesse. She's scared. She's fearful.
She's afraid. And she said, verse 24, upon
me, my Lord, let this iniquity be. I pray thee. That said down
there in verse 26, forgive me. Verse 28, forgive my trespass. She knows what she is. She knew
she was a fool, just like her husband. And only by the grace
of God she knew who David was. Only by the grace of God she
knew who God was. Only by the grace of God that
she knew and feared and came and called and fell, wasn't it? Huh? She knew that. She knew
she was a sinner. need a mercy. Oh, how blessed
we are if we know, if we call. You know, whosoever shall call
on the name of the Lord shall be saved. You hear false prophets
today, you think we don't need saving from anything. What do
we need saving from? God. Wrath. Judgment. Sin. She fell. She came. She fell. She heard. She feared. She made haste. She
came. Our Lord came to save sinners.
And all who call upon Him, all who come to Him, all who fall
down and kiss the Son lest He be angry, all who kiss the Son,
all who see their need of Christ, all who come unto God, every
single fool that comes to God by Jesus Christ, pleading Him,
pleading His blood, His righteousness, calling on the name of the Lord
for mercy and grace in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, God
will abundantly pardon. David accepted her, accepted
her person, didn't he? Look down at verse 23, I'm
sorry, verse 32. Look down at verse 32. David
said to Abigail, Blessed be the Lord God that sent thee this
day to meet me. Right, sister? Oh, blessed be
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, abundant mercy
who have begotten us according as He chose us in Christ for
the foundation of the world brought us to here how blessed you are blessing of blessings brought
you to see Christ see what you are and brought you to His feet laugh it's good news it's all
good for you like Abigail oh it's going to be good for her Down to verse 35, David received
of her hand, Go in peace. Hearken, dear boy, I have accepted
your prayer. We're accepted. How are we accepted? In the beloved. That's on our side out there.
Praise be to grace. Accepted. Well, here's this Nabal
fool. My, my. Verse 36, she came to
Nabal. She went home. David spoke peace
to her heart. He allayed her fears. David gave her words of promise
and words of peace and comfort and joy. Her fears, His love,
His mercy, His grace has cast out her fear and now she's going
home. She's happy. She's thankful. She's relieved. She's got peace. He's not going
to kill me. He's not gonna kill me he spared
me you just don't know what he's about to do She went home to
her old husband didn't know David Like some of you do And he was drunk He was feasting
remember this I He's laying there drunk. His heart was married
with him. He's very drunk. He's having a big old time. He's
happy. He's happy-go-lucky. He's just
having a big old time eating and drinking and feasting and
all that, not knowing that somebody has his life in his
hands. Remember that, because we're
going to go to the next story in a minute. And isn't that man? Isn't that mankind? Well, verse
36, and she didn't speak to him. There's no sense in talking to
a drunk. He can't hear you. He whines and mockers. Came to
pass and wine was gone out of him. Verse 37, his wife told
him all these things. His heart died within him. He
became a stone. You know, there comes a point.
Is there a time when there's no more grace, when there's no
more mercy, when somebody is beyond recovery? Is there a time?
Yes, there is. We don't know when that is. Thankfully. So we keep praying
that one. We keep asking the Lord to have
mercy on this person and that person. And no matter how hard,
is anything too hard for the Lord? No. Is anyone too hard
for the Lord? No. Is anyone impossible? Is someone so bad the Lord can't
save? Oh, he's able to save to the
uttermost. Is there anyone that he cannot
save? Oh, no. That means he's a God
can't save. But He hardens. Whom He will, He hardens. Is
there a reprimand? Yes, there are. Point of no return. It's frightening, isn't it? Now,
this man died. His heart died. And Scripture
talks about those who are past feeling. Those who have given
themselves over to be past feeling. It sure looks that way with some,
doesn't it? Somebody we love. Scripture talks
about, and Paul said it with weeping, I say it with weeping,
it is some who God is their belly, or enemies of the cross, and
God is their belly, or waiting on destruction. And all they
care about is things. That's frightening. But look at what happened. And
then David heard Nabal. The Lord killed Nabal. He smoked
Nabal and he died. In verse 39, David heard Nabal
was dead and he said, Blessed be the Lord who pleaded the cause
of my reproach from the hand of Nabal who kept his servant
from evil. For the Lord hath returned the
wickedness of Nabal upon his own head. And David sent. Now
he's away. He's gone. Abigail can't see
him now and doesn't know what he's going to do, but Abigail
sent word by those same men. He sent those men back to Abigail
who warned her, whom she heard and feared and warned, and sent
those men back to Abigail. And David communed, David spoke
with her through these men and said to Abigail, I'm taking
you as my wife. You're coming with me. You're
coming home with me. And they spake unto her. What
do you mean? He didn't ask her. Kings don't do that. And that's
what we need our Lord Jesus Christ to do to us and our children,
don't we? And our lost spouses and children
and grandchildren, don't we? Take them! Send word. Apprehend them. Almighty love,
arrest that man, that child. Fetch them! You're coming with me. If he
does, you know what? They're coming with him. I can't do it. You can't do it.
God can and does. They said, David sent us unto
you to take him to wife. That's what they said. David
sent us and you're coming with us. You're going to be his wife. That's what happened to me. What'd
she say? Like Rebecca. Yes, good. Will you go marry a man you like?
Yes! The sooner the better. She arose, bowed herself, and
hasted, and went to David, and she became his wife. Now all her troubles are over. Go to chapter 30 with me. You're
going to get a double blessing this morning. Go to chapter 30.
I wanted to do both of these. I thought, well, I'll just do
them at the same time. Chapter 30. Give me a few more minutes.
This is wonderful. All right, Abigail is now married
to the most blessed man on earth. She's David's wife. Oh, how blessed
she is. Oh, how happy she is. She knows a joy she had never
known before. She was married to a fool. Let
me commune with some of you that are married to fools. These men came to her and said,
you're coming with us. You're coming where David is.
You're his wife. You're coming with us. Leave.
Your home and your family leave all that and you come where David
is. You come where the gospel is. You come and you'll be happy
and you'll be blessed because you're not your own. You're married
to another. You're bought with a pride. You
come, you be where he is right now. And I'm telling that to
some people listening to me right now over this airways or whatever. You go where the gospel is. You're
married to Christ. You go where he is, where his
people is. That's where peace is. That's where joy is. That's
where happiness is. That's where David is. That's
where the son of David is. That's what they did. That's
what they did. They came to her and said, you leave your mother,
your father, your home, your everything, and you go where
Christ is. All right, she did. And now she's married to David. Oh, what a happy woman. What
a blessed woman. But because she's David's wife
now, she's got enemies. Because she's married to the
king, she's got enemies. The whole world is after him,
and the whole world is after her. And they came. In chapter 30, the Amalekites
came down to Ziklag, where David was. And they took them all captive. That sounds like Wednesday night,
doesn't it? Here's a message to all of you
that are captive. All you Abigails out there that
are married to Christ, all you that are taken captive by the
God of this world, this is a picture of how Christ comes to lead captivity
captive, to rescue His people in captivity to the God of this
world. And those that He's married to that feel like they're in
captivity. These Malachites came down. They
took David's wives captive. And down in verse 4, it says,
David and his people that were with him came back and they lifted
up their voice and wept until they had no more power to weep.
You know, our Lord came to Lazarus' tomb, shortest verse in the Bible,
you know, and says he wept. Our Lord wept, didn't He? Over
what? Sin, its consequence. Seeing
all firsthand, seeing, coming down into this world, living
here as a, like us, touched with a feeling of our infirmities,
captivity. He was not captive, but we were.
He's felt that. He's troubled. He's not discouraged. He's not
going to fail. He came to do something. He came to recover his wife. David, look at verse 6, it says
in the last line, David encouraged himself in the Lord his God.
And David said to Abiathar the priest, verse 7, I pray thee
bring the ephod. What's that? That's the garment
of the high priest. David, you can't wear that. Bring
it to me. You've got to be a Levite. He's
from the tribe of Judah. You can't wear that. We have
a priest after the order of Melchizedek, you see. They brought him to Ephod. And
our Lord wept at Lazarus' tomb. And then our Lord was troubled
before He went to the cross. And He went in the garden and
prayed. Verse 8, David inquired of the Lord, Shall I pursue after
this troop? Shall I overtake them? Shall I go? Is it Thy will
that I do this? God said, It's My will. You will. Christ said, Not my will, but
thy will be done. The Lord said, Pursue. He said,
Thou shalt overtake them. And without fail, you've got
to recover it all. Our Lord said, What shall I say?
Father, deliver me from this hour. For this cause came I into
this hour. to deliver my people. And Isaiah said, he shall not
fail or even be discouraged. They set his face like a flint.
David went after these. The Amalekites were spread all
over the ground like a vast number. He was vastly outnumbered. Okay? So David went. Six hundred men
with him. Two hundred stayed behind. And down in verse 16, now here
they come, verse 16. And when he brought David down,
David came, there they were, just like Nabal. All these Amalekites
who had taken his wife, his bride, captive. All spread upon the
earth, eating and drinking and dancing. All the great spoil
that they had taken. Now they had the letter of Philistine
of Judea. laughing, dancing, eating, drinking,
sleeping, sleep of death. You know, our Lord said, as in
the days of Noah, so shall the coming of the Son of Man be.
They were eating, they were drinking, marrying, giving and marrying,
and do not. These people were laughing, having
a big time, mocking God. They didn't know that up on that
mountain, somebody's watching them. This is true. This is true. Somebody's coming. Somebody's coming. What's he
coming to do? He's coming to get his bride
back. He's coming to get what belongs to Him back, what He
bought for with the price, His pride. He's coming to get, recover
it all, all that she lost, all that He lost. He's going to recover
it all. And Adam all died in Christ. All that we lost is going
to be recovered. Yes, He is. He's coming. He shall
not fail to be discouraged. He's coming down to bring His
people out of captivity. Jesus Christ. What's Abigail
doing? What do you think Abigail's doing?
How long was she in captivity? We don't know. Maybe a good while. What do you think she's doing?
Call her. She's crying. Lord, save me. Lord, save us. Our children,
save us. Isn't she? She's waiting. Waiting. She's watching. She's hoping.
She's praying. She's calling who she waited
on. Her husband to come get her. She's waiting. She's watching.
She's witnessing. You reckon? You know, this is
not written here, but I'm just certain that Abigail, she knew
David. She'd seen David. She feared David. She knew David. She loved David. She knew what
kind of man he was. She'd seen his conquest. She
knew he slain his 10,000. All right, these were no match
for him. And so she said to everybody
listening, listen, you have taken my husband, you've taken his
bride, and he's coming for me. And if you'll just give up right
now, You know what? You know she did.
Those Amalekites, you know, with their swords and their stuff
and all that. And she's behind. She's in bondage and captivity.
And they're free, they think. And she's saying, if you just
lay down your guns right now. Just lay down your swords and
your weapons right now. Get on the ground right now.
I'm just certain right now He's watching us right now. He's coming.
Just lie down on the ground right now and He'll be alright with
you. He'll have mercy on you. He's merciful. He's gracious.
Do this right now. Save yourself and everybody around
you. Just bow down right now. And they laughed. Look, you're the
one in my bitch. You're the one that's a fool.
You're the one. Who are you talking about? Who
is David? We can't see David. Okay. And he came. And he came. Now I want to close with Revelation
19. Turn with me to Revelation 19.
And it says he smoked them from the evening of the day to the
next day. And it says David recovered all. He got it all back. And he took
his wives and went home and slew everybody and everything in his
path. True story. Ricky, that's a true
story. He killed everything that lived. And Peter said, this is no cunningly
devised fable. We beheld his majesty. We know
who he is. We've seen him. We've feared
him. All who call, all who fear, he's mercy, he's Christ. But
he's coming. The heavens will melt with a fervent
heat. In Revelation 19, let me close with this, verse 11, Revelation
19, ìI saw heaven open, and behold, a white horse. And he that sat
upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness
he doth judge and make war. And his eyes were as a flame
of fire, and on his head were many crowns.î
Whatís that? All his conquests. every king
that he brought down. He had a name written no man
knew but he himself. He was clothed with a vesture
dipped in blood and his name is called the word of God. What does that mean? The truth.
Everything else is a lie. The armies in heaven followed
him. on white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean,
and out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword that he should smite the
nation, rule them with a rod of iron. He treadeth the wine
breath of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and
on his thigh a name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. That's Jesus Christ. And very
soon, David, nobody knew him, except a few. But everybody's
going to know him. Very shortly after this, David's
going to ascend the throne, and all Israel's going to know him.
And very soon, our Lord, who sits on the throne, all Israel
will be saved. All Israel will be gathered before
him to crown him with many crowns. to sit at his feet, because he's king of kings. Okay.