That hymn certainly went well
with this, didn't it? Years I spent in vanity and pride. Certainly applies to Nabal, but
Abigail too. There were times she didn't know
the Lord, but God chose her. I've preached this five times
at least. This is no leftover. In fact,
I had this already prepared last week or two ago for you, and
I just tore it up and started all over again. This story is urgent, it's vital, it's current,
it's relevant. It's an Old Testament story,
but nothing's changed. Man hasn't changed. God hasn't
changed. The truth hasn't changed. It's
an urgent message to a wicked and perverse generation, to a
foolish people. But God has a people, like Abigail. There's a man, his possessions,
Carmel, that says he was a great man. He had 3,000 sheep, 1,000
goats. He was great in possessions.
Great possessions don't make you a great person. It just means
you're rich, but you can be rich and not have anything. You're
very poor. Scripture says that. There is
he that hath great riches, yet hath nothing, but he that is
poor and hath great riches. David had nothing at this time. David didn't have a place to
lay his head. He had no possessions. sent what was on his back. Does
that sound familiar? Naboth is a type of our Lord.
It says in verse 3, the name of
the man was Nabal. It means fool. We saw that. His
wife said so, verse 25. His name is Phidi, because father,
he's a fool. What does it mean to be a fool?
Well, Psalm 14 says, the fool hath said in his heart, no God. No absolute sovereign ruler,
or, and, or, no God. Fool. And he went on in his pride,
Nabal, remember he actually thought that everything he had that he
had obtained. That's a fool. The only reason he had what he
had was because God gave it to him. And he was so foolish to
think that he had obtained it, and so foolish to think that
he was keeping it. God was keeping it the whole
time. Abigail means source of joy. That's what the name means. I
don't know why Nabal's parents named him fool. I don't know. But he's such a
picture of the natural man. Man's a natural born fool. Didn't Paul say that to people? You suffer fools, gladden them.
Fool them, be a fool. Abigail though, her parents named
her, she's a source of joy to us. God had her named that way. She's David's bride. David's bride, not a fool. A
source of joy. Psalm 45, turn over there real
quickly. I told you I wanted to read this,
but you'll marvel with me how this goes. with this story, Psalm
45. Psalm 145 is wonderful too. I may quote some of that, but
look at this. David wrote this under inspiration
of the Spirit of God. He said, Psalm 45, my heart is
indicting a good matter. I speak of things which I've
made or written touching the king. Verse 2, Thou art fairer
than the children of men. Grace is poured into Thy lips.
Therefore God hath blessed Thee forever. Gird Thy sword upon
Thy thigh, O Most Mighty. Is he thinking about his first
conquest, Goliath? That's how he came first, isn't
it? In Majesty, verse 4, in majesty
ride prosperously because of truth, the cause. Meekness and
righteousness. Thy right hand shall teach terrible
things. Your arrows are sharp in the
heart of the king's enemy. Verse 6, Thy throne, O God, is
forever. This is all speaking of Jesus
Christ. Verse 9, King's daughters were
among thy honorable women. Verse 10, hearken, O daughter,
and consider. Incline thy ear. Forget your
people. Forget your husband. Forget your father. Forgift your
mother. Forget them. Verse 11, the king
desires thy beauty. He's your Lord. Worship him. Isn't that wonderful? That's
Abigail. That's all of his people. Go
back to our text. Well, this man named Nabal, this fool, had
all of these things. His possessions were in Carmel. They weren't in heaven. They
were on earth. All that he had. Now it says
he was a man of hard head, evil in his doing, churlish. Abigail
was a woman of good understanding. Beautiful, countless. Why did
she understand? Where did she get this good understanding? How did she know David? And they
bought it and they're married. How can two be one and one not
know who David is and believe David and love David and the
other one hate him and not know and not fear him? How can one
fear and the other one have nothing to fear? God made the difference. God gave her this understanding.
John said, we know the Son of God has come. He's not just Jesus,
He's the Son of God, the Almighty. And He hath given us an understanding,
a good understanding, that we might know Him, and fear Him, and worship Him, and
come to Him the way that we will be accepted. You see, if you know these things,
you're a source of joy. You have been chosen. It pleased
God to make you His people. You're the King's daughter, and
you're the Son's bride. He sent ten young men, David. He sent ten young men, verse
5. He said to the young men, tell this man, this Nabal, read
him in my name, thus saith King David. Now understand me here, that
no type is perfect. I keep saying that, don't I?
You can't apply every single thing that's said of these men
in the Bible to Christ. But here's the sense. They came
with a message of peace, didn't they? They came with a message
of peace. As we keep saying, that's not
the first thing God sends. But they came, verse 6, here's
what they said, peace to thee, peace to thine house, peace to
all that thou hast. Verse 7, you have shearers, your
shepherds are with us, we hurt them not, nothing was missing
all the while they were with us, we were with them. You see
these men were up in the hills first, David sent them. And they
saw these men, they saw these men before These shepherds before
they saw them. And they were sent to the shepherds.
Is that a time for prayer? They were sent to these lowly
servants and shepherds. And what they're saying is, you
have peace, you have protection, you have all these things because
we kept you. Because David reigns. He's over everything and everyone. David, little did most people
know, but David's out fighting battles everywhere, keeping Israel. He was he that kept Israel from
the beginning till the day he died. He kept Israel. And so
these ten men went with this message, you have this peace. You have this prosperity. You
have this protection. You're living a life of peace
and prosperity and protection because David's tender mercies,
David's goodness, it's David that's kept you. And he sent
us to tell you, give us. You're not asking, say, give
us. He said, give us our rightful due. Give us what is your reasonable
service. See that? In Psalm 145, let me
read this to you. Psalm 145 says this, I will speak of the glorious
honor of His Majesty and His wondrous works. And men will
speak of His might and His terrible acts. I will declare His greatness. I will abundantly utter the memory
of His great goodness and sing of His righteousness. The Lord
is gracious, full of compassion, slow to anger." That means He
does get angry. "...and of great mercy. The Lord
is good to all. His tender mercy is over all
His work." It says, "...the eyes of all wait upon Him. He gives
them their meat in due season." He opens His hand and satisfies
the desire of every living thing. This is the Lord. The Lord is
good. The Lord is gracious. The Lord
giveth and giveth and giveth. Now, give Him His due. Worship Him. Praise Him. Give
back a little of what doesn't even belong to you. The only
reason you have it is He gave it. These ten men, who do they represent?
You know who they represent. They represent the preachers
of the gospel. Ten men. And they spoke as they were told.
They spoke, it says, they spoke these things to Nabal and they
ceased. That was it. They didn't say
one word more or one word less. They told exactly what David
told them to say. And that was it. Now, let me remind you something. If you want to later for yourself
look up 2 Samuel 23, it will describe these men, David. These weren't effeminate little
meek, mealy-mouthed, they were meek all right, but they weren't
effeminate, weak, Mealy-mouthed, men-pleasing beggars. Read it
for yourself. One of those fellows stood up
and slew 300 men by himself. Another man went to a great Egyptian
warrior and all he had was a staff in his hand and took the sword
right out of his hand and slew him with it. Another man stood
in a bean field. These are men. Where did they
get this courage? Now although these were great
men, these were bold men, these were strong men, but every one
of them knew, David's mightier than we are. David's the one. We're just fighting for his cause.
So what I'm trying to say is that these men, they were like
David, gentle. David's gentle, he's kind, he's
gracious, he's merciful, he's compassionate, he's slow to anger,
He will receive anybody that comes to Him. You think? You
think David will receive anybody? Sure he will. So will our Lord. But He's first to be feared. Right? There is not a kinder, gentler,
sweeter, meeker, more humble, Servant of God on the face of
the earth and David. But how did he first come? How
did he come? How was he revealed? How was
he revealed to planet Earth? Is there not a cause? And the
first thing you see him doing is shedding blood. We see Jesus
made a little lower than the angels for this purpose. The
suffering of death. The violent taking by force.
Christ came like David. He said, you suppose I came to
bring peace on earth? A sword. Why? Because if I don't
do something with my sword, the sword's going to land on your
head. And that's what he said. If I don't do something, I am
come that they might have life. Christ said, I am come that they
might have life. What would have happened to Israel
had not David fought this battle for them? They'd all be captives.
They'd all be under the dominion of the enemy. But David. That's why He came. You see, that's why He came.
And it was bloody. A head had to fall. And that's why Christ came. And
this is the first time. But Nabal said, who's David? I don't know this David. Do you
remember when our Lord turned to His disciples one day and
said, who do men say that I am? Do you remember? Who do men say
that I, the Son of Man, am? This man who walked this earth.
Who do men say that I am? Well, they said, some say you're
John the Baptist. That's not good enough, people.
John the Baptist can't save us. Some say you're Elijah or one
of the prophets. They can't save us either. They're
just men like us. Men of like passions like us. And then our Lord turned to them
and said, who do you say that I am? And Simon Peter said, we know
who you are. You're the Son of the Most High
God. You're the Christ, the Son of the Living God. You've come
to save us. You've come to redeem us. When
Christ said, I've come that they might have life, what does that
mean? They're dead. I keep talking about free will,
right? Christ said, I came that they
might have life. What does that mean? They're
dead. I am come to do the Father's
will. What does that mean? A man can't save himself by his
own will. Nabal was a son of Caleb. Nabal
was of a family rich in faith. Caleb was a faithful dog, wasn't
he? But not Nabal because you are
not born of blood or the will of the flesh. How are you brought
into the Kingdom of God? Christ! Violence! Bloodshed! It's goodness, it's
mercy, it's grace, it's kindness. Christ crucified! Christ crucified. Boy, does this
generation need to hear this message. Anyone in here resent
this? Anyone already saying like Nabal
did? I don't like that. Oh, mercy,
mercy be on all of us. God forbid we should ever glory
save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Hmm. Nabal, you see, isn't Nabal a picture
of all of us by nature? Nabal said in verse 10, who's
David? Who's this son of Jesse? Verse
11, shall I take my bread, my water, my flesh that I've killed
for my shepherds? My, my, my, my. What do we come
forth from the womb saying? What do your children come out
of the womb saying? What is one of the first things
your sweet little children, your flesh and blood do? Mine. Right? That's mine. What is it? What is it within our children?
Pride. I, me, my, self. And Satan's
the one that instilled this. He will exalt himself. You'll
be like God. It's yours. Claim it. Nothing's
ours. We can't claim anything. Isn't
that what religion says? Stephen, isn't that what religion
says? Claim it. Darryl, we don't claim
anything. We ask for it. We beg Him. We got to come to God first as
a beggar. A mercy beggar. Lord, this is
what Abigail did. I'm a sinner. I'm a fool married to a fool. Have mercy. Have mercy. You don't claim mercy. Ask for
it. He delights to show mercy. God
hates pride. Why does God hate pride more
than anything else? Why? Because it robs Him of His glory. Because what do we have we have
not received. And if anything, if we received
it, why would we glory as if we didn't receive it? And God
hates it. That's what, oh, you read it
for yourself, Isaiah especially. The Gospel of Isaiah begins with
the pride. And God said, I'm going to bring
down all pride. The lofty looks of man shall
be brought down. And the Lord alone shall be exalted
in that day. Why? Because of Him, through
Him, to Him, by Him, and for Him are all things. That God
didn't send His Son down here to save a bunch of worthy, good
people. No, He just did it because He's gracious, and He's merciful,
and He's love. There's nothing in that. It's
all in Him, you see. Man doesn't deserve to be saved,
but God deserves the glory for saving him. All of it. Pride. Hey boss, it's mine, it's
mine. I don't give what I did. The earth is the Lord's and the
fullness thereof. Hannah's prayer, a woman of great
understanding, good understanding and beautiful countenance. She
looks like Christ. She said, talk no more so exceedingly
proudly. The Lord maketh rich and the
Lord maketh poor. The Lord raiseth up and the Lord
casteth down. The Lord killeth and the Lord
maketh alive. That's what she said. The Lord
lifted up the beggar. That's the only ones he lifts
up. It's the beggar from the known hill. And you know what
he does? Like Abigail, sets him among princes. Are you with me? I've lost some of you. Well, look at this. Look at verse
14. Look at verse 14. It says here, David said to every
one of his men, gird on your sword. Verse 13, guard on your
soul. Now, he said in verse 22, I'm
going to kill them all. Now, and I like, I'm quite sure
most perversions of scripture change that word, the last line,
to make it more palatable. I know so. But these are very
plain, hard words. The truth is a stark reality.
I like the way Brother Alan Jellett refers to it as a dreadful realization. He's called the dreaded God,
the dreaded God, called the terrible God. Who understands that? God's people do. See, the fear
of the Lord is the beginning of it. Nabal didn't fear Him. He didn't
know Him. Nabal thought, look what I've
done. He didn't know it. David kept everything in. He
didn't know it. Nabal said, I'm not going to
give what's mine. He was a fool. He didn't understand it. Nothing
was his. He thought he was a great man.
What a fool he is. He thinks he's a great man because
he has great possession. He's a fool. His soul is in danger. And all this stuff will be lost. One of the young men told Abigail,
verse 14, one of the young men told Abigail, I hope there's
an Abigail in here. I hope she's here. I hope there's
several. What did she say? What did they
say to Abigail? They said everything that David's
servant said. They came in the name of David.
And I have come saying, and every single man sent by God has come
saying one thing. Thus saith the Lord. You have
what you have by the grace of God. The Lord's been merciful.
The Lord's been gracious. The Lord giveth and giveth and
giveth and giveth again. Now, we're talking about the
Lord. We're not talking about some poor man standing outside
your heart's door. We're talking about the great
Son of the Most High God, who by Himself purged the sins of
His people. He didn't come to try to kill
the Goliath. He cut his head off. We're talking
about the Son of David here. Now, He sent us. Bow down. He's going to be king. You're
going to see. Every eye is going to behold Him. He's going to
sit on the throne. You're going to see Him as He
is. And we're coming on a mission
of mercy, and a mission of grace, and a mission of peace. We've
got a gospel of peace, all right, but it's to those that fear Him,
those that worship Him, those that bow down to Him, those that
know that their lives are in danger, and they deserve it.
Now, just give a little something. Give Him His due. Give Him His
glory. Come worship the King. Come. Where are the people today? Where are the nabals today? Why
isn't this place full of them? Because we're not flattering.
We're not begging. My pastor preached a message
entitled, I'm on the trail of his sheep. Christ said, my sheep
hear my voice. And the first thing they hear
is, kiss the Son, lest he be angry. And for all those that bow, grace,
mercy, and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
And Abel said, not me, not me. But one of the young men told
Abigail, don't worry, I'm going to quit. One of the men told
Abigail, and they said, what are you going to do? And she said, well, I'm going
to quit talking to my husband. There's no sense in talking to
him. He's a fool. Here's what I'm going to do. In spite of
him, in spite of my family, in spite of my father, my mother,
my husband, my wife, this could have been a man as well as a
woman, couldn't it? In spite of him, he doesn't believe
that. But I tell you, this is what I'm going to do. I'm going
to go to him with bread, with wine, with a lamb. and I'm going to plead with Him
for my house, for myself. It may be, may be. She knew, she knew I'm just as
guilty as my husband. She knew And when she saw David,
she first heard the message from one of David's messengers. Then
verse 23, she saw him. What did she do? She fell on
her face on the ground. And fell at his feet. What did
she say? On me. Me. It's me. It's all my fault. It's all my blame. I'm guilty. I am guilty. Guilty. Guilty. I'm a fool just like he is. That's
what she said. Now I've preached this, and other
men have too, that Abigail is a type of the Holy Spirit. Abigail
is a type of Christ. Abigail is a type of the Christ,
and David is a type of God the Father. That'd work, wouldn't
it? That Christ pleads and brings
that which God gave him. But this is... David is a type
of Christ, and Abigail is every sinner whom the Lord reveals
himself to and puts his fear in them? And how do they come?
How can a sinner, a fearful sinner, come before a thrice holy God,
a God who is a consuming fire? How can a sinner come before
God who says, I will by no means clear the guilty? How can a sinner
come before God that says, the soul that sinneth shall surely
die? How? How? How? And be accepted by
God? One way. Exactly like she said,
she brought bread, wine, she brought a sheep that had been
slain, a lamb, she brought the sacrifice. And David in the end
said, I've accepted your person. Like Abel, the very first person
that was accepted by God, Abel, why was he accepted? Because
he was a good man? It was the sacrifice he brought.
It was the blood he bought. Where did Abigail get all this?
She knew where she got it. God gave it to her. She knew. God taught her. You go to that
king with an offering of peace and it's an offering that he
provided. You go to God, you go to this holy God with the
offering of Christ, with the sacrifice of Christ, and you
plead before this holy God and say, I'm coming to you in the
name which is above every name, the only name given among men
under heaven whereby I must be saved. I'm coming to you in the
blood of Jesus Christ, the righteousness of Jesus Christ, the works, the
fruit, like those clusters of raven. I'm coming to you through
Christ and Christ alone. Would you accept me? David said,
yes, I will. Jesus Christ is the one that
wrote this. And He said, come unto Me. He
said, the Father will receive all that come unto Him by Me. We're accepted in the Beloved. David's name means Beloved. Let me conclude. So, and her
testimony was wonderful, wasn't it? Oh, you're the Lord. You're
Lord. And all your enemies are going
to be slain. You're going to sling them out
like a stone in a sling. You're not worried about anything.
It's done. It's done. She said, it's all
done. I know it. He's going to be ruler. She said, you're ruler over Israel
right now. You're going to be. You have
to be in our land. We'll always be ruler. And do you know what,
Dan? She's going to reign with him. But she said, please have mercy. And David, verse 35, received
of her hand that which she had brought. Go in peace, I have
hearkened to thy voice, I have accepted thy person. And Abigail
came to Nabal, her husband, and what was he doing? What is your
lost husband doing right now? What is your lost wife doing
right now as I speak? What is your father or mother?
or son or daughter that doesn't know the Lord, doesn't fear the
Lord. What are they doing right now as I speak to you? Feasting. Feasting on bread that God gave
them. Feasting on drink that God gave
them. Living in a house that God gave
them. Enjoying the peace, the prosperity,
the grace, the kindness, the goodness that God gave them.
And the only reason they're not in hell right now is because
Jesus Christ, because the gospel is still being preached. And
perhaps, perhaps, hopefully, God, peradventure, will give
them repentance like Paul wrote in Timothy, to the acknowledgement
of the truth that they may recover themselves from the captivity
of Satan who holds the world in captivity. Oh God, be merciful. And so we say, don't we, with
Abigail, to our loved one, listen to me. But like Nabal, I just won't
listen. And there comes a time when it's
too late. There comes a time when there's no more mercy. And
they become so hardened, like 2 Thessalonians 2.11 says, They
receive not the love of the Church, so God sends them strong delusions. They're so conceited, so secure in their carnal security
and their religious security, they don't know God and they
don't know Christ. And the judge was about to die. Oh man, you know what it takes?
Do you know what it takes to deliver such a woman? Power of
God. These men didn't stop and try
to reason with Nabal. They didn't argue with him. They
didn't use persuasible words of man's wisdom. No, sir. They
just said what David said and they ceased. They said, okay,
we're going home. It was up to God, wasn't it?
It was totally up to God to change this man's heart. And what God
did, hardened his heart. Now when David heard that he
was dead, he sent and communed with Abigail to take her to him
to wife. She heard about David. She finally
saw something of his glory. She feared him. She bowed to
him first. She pleaded with him first for
mercy. She begged him for mercy. She
confessed all of her sins and all of her false first, didn't
she? Before she ever heard one word of David's love, of David's
betrothal, before she ever heard one word of promise to her, she
feared him, she bowed to him, she pleaded with him, she begged
him for mercy. And you know what? David is a
merciful man. David is a loving, that's his
name. God is love. Yes, he is love, but he's holy
first. He's righteous first. He said, I'm a just God and a
Savior. Here's the mystery of it all.
You know, God is merciful only to the guilty. God is merciful
only to those who are unworthy. God loves only those who hate
themselves. And He communed with her. Now, notice he didn't say, I
want you to marry me. Would you please marry me? Did
he say that? Did he say that, Irene? Did he say, I'm sending
word here, if you'll accept me as your husband. He said, like
on Mephibosheth. Some of you want me to preach
on Mephibosheth. Well, here it is. He's lame. He can't come. He's an enemy.
He doesn't want to come, Kelly. He doesn't want to come. He wants
the throne. But David said, you go down and
you fetch it. sent two strong men. I didn't
say ask Him. I said fetch Him. Aren't you
glad, Mac, that God sent someone stronger than you? He said, break
Him. Break that wild ass's coat. Bring
Him to me. You won't come, will you? Nabal
won't come unless God breaks in. David said, he said this in kind,
go down there, You're not asking her. Take her. Bring her to me. I've chosen her. See? David said, I've chosen her.
Well, what has happened though before then? This is called grace
before grace. She's already fallen in love
with him. She's fallen out of love with Nabal. A long time
ago, she esteemed David higher than her own husband. She said,
he's a fool. He's the Lord. He's my all. He's my hope. He's my life. If He doesn't believe, I believe. And that's what David said. Go
take her. She's already mine. I've already made her mine. She
knows who I am. She fears me. She loves me. And
now it's nothing but love and mercy and kindness. Come on,
Abigail. Come into my house. Abigail,
I love you. I set my love upon you. You are
mine from here on out." What did she do? Verse 41, she
bowed to the ground. What did she say about herself?
Oh, let me just wash the feet of your servant. Oh, the ones
that I heard this message from, oh, I love them like I love you. They told me about you. And she went in and David, verse
42, she became his wife. What's that mean, Stephen? That means everything. Her worries
are over. She thought she was rich before.
She thought she had a husband before. Oh, my. She has an altogether lovely
son, David, the son of God. Oh, will he always love her?
Tune in. Are her troubles over though?
No, David's on the run and David's hated. And David is pursued by
the enemies in our next and last message on this whole thing.
Abigail's taken captive. Somebody comes to get her. And you've come after the wrong
person. David's her husband. He never
lost a sheep, brother. He never lost a sheep. And anybody
He sets His love upon, if you touch His anointing, He's coming for you. Would you like to hear that?
Well, maybe we can tell it. Who's sufficient for these things?
We've just been trying to talk about the Son of God. That's
all I've been doing this morning. You've never seen Him. I haven't
seen Him. I'm trying to paint a picture
of the Son. You can't even look at it. You can't do it. What a pitiful preacher I am.
But boy, it's a wonderful message. I'm a poor preacher, but boy,
I've got a good message, a good story. It's a powerful word.
A sword, the arrows of the Lord are sharp in the hand. And it's
not up to me to send it. But buddy, bless God, if He sends
like a stone in His sling, this poor sling, if He slings it,
that giant is coming down. That giant of pride. That giant
called self. All that religion is going to
be gone. Everything you are and had, like
Abigail, is going to be brought to nothing. You're going to see
Jesus Christ as your all in all. He's going to marry you. He already
has. You see those things. Number 474, I believe it is. What not have I gotten, but what
I receive. As grace hath bestowed it, change
the word, and now I believe. Boasting excluded, pride I base. You know what I am? You know
what we are? Only sinners. Saved by grace, saved by prayer. Not have I gotten, but what I received. Grace hath bestowed it, now I
have believed. Oh, sin included, pride I have
faced. I'm only a sinner saved by grace. Only a sinner saved by grace. Only a sinner saved by grace. This is my story. To God be the glory. I'm only a sinner saved by grace. I've already preached verse 4,
so sing verse 2 as a closing, okay? Verse 2. Once I was foolish
and sin ruled my heart. Causing my first step from God
to depart. Jesus hath found me and made
my cave.