All right, Hebrews 12, let's
look at beginning with verse 14. He says, follow peace. Follow peace with all and holiness
without which no man shall see the Lord, looking diligently
lest any man fail. of the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness springing
up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled, lest there be any
fornicator or profane person as Esau, who for one morsel of
meat sold his birthright. For you know how that afterward,
when he would have inherited the blessing, He was rejected. He found no place of repentance,
no way to change his mind, although he sought it carefully with tears,
looking diligently lest any man or woman fail of the grace of
God. I now turn back to that portion
that I announced Sunday that I would be preaching from tonight. You do know where it is, don't
you? And you did read it ahead of
time, I'm sure. Enough admonition. 1 Kings chapter 2. 1 Kings chapter 2. Remember what we just read, looking
diligently. That is to say, he meant fail
of the grace of God. I Kings 2, let's read the first
four verses. Now, the days of David drew nigh
that he should die, and he charged Solomon his son, saying, I go
the way of all the earth. Be thou strong therefore, and
show thyself a man. And keep the charge of the Lord
thy God to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes and his
commandment, and his judgment and his testimonies, as it is
written in the Law of Moses, that thou mayest prosper in all
that thou doest, and with us wherever thou turnest, I say,
that the Lord may continue his word which he spake concerning
me, saying, If thy children take heed to their way, to walk before
me in truth with all their and with all their soul, there shall
not fail thee," said he, a man on the throne of Israel. Well, there are several titles
suggested in this passage, but the one I've chosen is three
reprobates. So that's the theme of this whole
chapter, three men who appeared to be true, but were not. It's a solemn portion
of Scripture. God's Word here is a great revealer
of the very thoughts and intents of the heart. And it separates. It separates
the goat from sheep, the chaff from the wheat, the pulse from
the truth. And that's what we'll see here.
All right, but thank God for these first four verses. What
a prophecy of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we could stay right
there all evening, couldn't we? But we've got to get out of I
Kings. We're studying in Luke. Now, this is a prophecy of Christ,
but I would be greatly remiss if we didn't look at it. He says
in verse 3, the king, the father, is giving this charge to his
son to keep the charge of the Lord thy God. Keep the charge,
and Christ did just that, didn't he? He kept that which was charged
to him. He kept his people, kept his
word, kept his law, his statutes. See that? To walk in his way,
keep his statutes and commandments. And Christ did every jot and
tittle. Kept it perfectly. Read on. And
his testimonies. Oh, he was mindful of the covenant,
wasn't he? As it is written in the law of
Moses, he was mindful of the law. that thou mayest prosper
in all that thou doest." Yes, the pleasure of the Lord prospered
in the hands of the Lord Jesus Christ. By his knowledge, he
justified many. Verse 4 says that the Lord may
continue his word which he spake concerning me. All of his promises
in Christ are, yea, amen. Carry on. Fulfilled. You see that? He said in verse
2, show yourself a man. This is how you're going to do
it. You're going to show yourself a man. And God was manifest,
manifest in the flesh, wasn't he? He showed himself a man.
He became a man. Born of a woman, made under the
law. Became a man. And he did all that was necessary
for us. And verse 4 says, if your children
take heed to their way. to walk before me in truth with all their heart and all
their soul. They are not failed to be a man
on the throne for them, one who reigns. Now, isn't that a charge
to us, huh? How do you keep the way? Well,
Christ is the way. Looking diligently lest any man
fail. Looking where diligently? looking
under Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, the man on the
throne. He's there, a man in glory. Read on. It says, they keep,
walk before me in the truth, walk by faith. Christ is the
truth with all their heart. Now, this thing's a heart issue
out of the heart of the issues of life and With the heart man
believeth unto salvation, and that's what we're going to see
in this story. These men had bad hearts. All right? Thank God for those
four verses. We quit right now and go home
blessed. Good. We've heard Christ. We've
heard the gospel. But this is here for our learning,
what things are written are written for our learning. All right.
OK. The man on the front. Well, this
is the story of Joab, Shimei, and Adonijah. Three principal
characters here. The three other principal characters
are David, Solomon, and Benaiah. Solomon's cat, which represents
the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Joab, Shimei, and Adonijah are
the minor characters here. Three fellows all three reprobate. OK we just read how the king
David is giving his last charge if you don't stay with me you'll
be lost. In Christ say that very thing
you don't abide with. You'll be lost well. And if you
don't stay right here, I mean, right now, you, the rest of us,
you're going to be lost. Because it's just, it's just,
this is deep. We're going to go out in the deep water. All
right? King David is giving his last
charge to Solomon, his son, whom he appointed king. David is committing all authority
and all judgment unto the son. And that's A picture of God the
Father having committed all judgment to the Son. He's anointed and
declared the decree. Christ is his King, King of kings,
Lord of lords, and he has the keys of hell and death at his
side. All judgment is committed unto the Son. All right. Verse 5. Now the King, the Father, is
giving this charge to the son concerning Joab. Moreover, he
says, Thou knowest also what Joab, the son of Jeriah, did
to me, and what he did to the two captains of the host of Israel,
to Abner, the son of Nair, and to Mason, the son of Jether,
whom he slew. He shed the blood of war in peace. There was peace, but he shed
blood. He put the blood of war upon
his girdle. It was about his lawns and in
his shoes. They were on his feet. His feet
were swift to shed blood. All right, back in 2 Samuel is
where this story is, all right? Turn back there. 2 Samuel chapter 18. That's where this story, and
this is a story in itself. But like I said, we need to cover
all three. 2 Samuel 18. And these fellows, like Joab,
can represent many, many things. The Word of God is so deep. But
we need to see this on a personal level. This needs to be directed
at us personally, all right? We need to see these for men
that they were, all right, and not over spiritually. You understand
what I'm trying to say? These were three men and a king,
and they were reprobate. You know what reprobate means,
don't you, before I go any further? Reprobate means void of mind
and heart, void of judgment and of past recovery. No hope. No hope. All right? 2 Kings 18,
verse 5. 2 Kings, I'm sorry, 2 Samuel
18, verse 5. All right? The king commanded
Joab and Abishai And Attea, these were brothers, said, Deal gently
for my sake with the young man, even with Absalom. And all the
people heard when the king gave all the captains charge concerning
Absalom. Now this is the king's son. And the king said, You be careful
how you deal with my son. You deal kindly with my son.
You know the story of Absalom. And the whole type can't fit
perfectly to Christ. But nevertheless, King David
said he loved Absalom. And he told Joab, You deal kindly. You be careful. Don't you lay
a hand on my son. Well, to make a long story short,
up in verse 9, Absalom met the servants of David and
Absalom rode on a mule and he ran under an oak tree and it
caught him by the hair of the head is what it did. He had long
hair and it caught him and he was hanging in a tree. Verse
10, a certain man saw it and told up Joab and said, I saw
Absalom hanging in an oak tree. I saw the king's son hanging
in a tree. Like I said, this whole story
is a story about self, but a picture of Christ, but we've got to go
on. All right? Verse 11, Joab said
unto the man that told him, Well, you saw him. Why didn't you smite
him? Why didn't you kill him? He didn't even hesitate. Why
didn't you kill him? I'd have given you ten shekels of silver. Now the king had just said, concerning
my son. He charged Joab, didn't he? You
deal kindly with my son. And when he saw him hanging in
the tree, he slew him. Verse 12, the man said, well,
verse 12, the man, this man, the more honorable Joab, he said,
I wouldn't take any amount of money, a thousand shekels of
silver to kill the king's son. I heard what the king said. Verse 13, there's no matter hit
from the king. Nobody's going to get away with
it. He touches his son. And Joab said, I don't have time
to talk with you. Verse 14, I don't have time to
tarry with you. He took three darts in his hand
and thrust them in the heart of Absalom. Killed him. And so did his brother. Joab killed the king's son, and
this is what the king held him accountable for in the first
thing. Chief thing. Over there and back in the text
now, 1 Kings 2, verse 5, remember what he said? David said to Solomon,
you know what Joab did to what? Me. What you did and what he did
to the son, he did to the father. And this is a picture of God
holding all men accountable. We, with wicked hands, have taken
and crucified the Lord of glory. This is the chief sin that God
is holding all men accountable for, killing his son. Psalm 53
says, We did esteem him not. We hid, as it were, our faces
from everyone in here who is guilty of this gross sin. Right? All right, Joab was guilty of
killing the king's son. That's the first thing that the
king held him accountable for. All right, but something else. Joab also played the part of
a hypocrite, pretended. Joab, you know Abner. Abner was
once Saul's captain and repented. at the following after saul and
asked david if he could and david received him gladly
abner had repented and uh... joab deceived abner joab called abner
privately And met with him like he was going to be a friend,
a peaceable. And he hugged him. Joe Abner hugged Abner and said,
how you doing brother? And killed him. And David said, he's not going to get away with
that. That's what this is about, all right? That's what this is
about. You know what he did to two captains and another one,
a young man that was pursuing. And, well, at any rate, let's
go on. Look at verse 6 now, 1 Kings
2. He said to Solomon, he said,
You do. He's a bloody man. You do, therefore,
according to your wisdom. But don't let his gray head go
down to the grave in peace. I'm committing this judgment
to you, my son, but don't let him go to the grave in peace.
There's no peace to the bylaw but to the peacemakers. Blessed
are the peacemakers, Christ said. They'll be called sons of God.
There's no mercy for the unmerciful. Abner begged for mercy. Joab didn't, spared him not.
So when it came time for Joab to need mercy, he found it not. You see what a solemn picture
this is. Look at verses, over in verse,
alright, now here's the end of Joab, verses 28 through 29. 28
and 29 over here in 1 Kings 2. Tidings came to Joab. And Joab turned after Adonijah,
though he turned not after Absalom. And Joab fled unto the tabernacle
of the Lord and called hold on the horns of the altar. Now, he was laying hold on the
altar like somebody else we know. And it was told King Solomon
that Joab was fled unto the tabernacle of the Lord. Now, he was in the
tabernacle. laying hold on the altar. Surely
he's a saved man. He's a bloody man. He's got a bad
heart. I don't care where he is or what
he's doing. He's got a bad heart. Solomon sent Benaiah, and he's
a picture of the Holy Spirit, who is a slayer also. son of
Jehoiada saying, Go fall on him. And Benaiah came to the tabernacle
of the Lord and found him there. And down in verse thirty-four,
Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up and fell on him, and slowly,
and he was buried in his own house, the wilderness. In spite
of where he was, in spite of his pleas for mercy, he was slain.
Well, that's serious You see, there's some things
that indicate or that some things are clear signs of reprobate
behavior. Listen to me carefully. If we didn't already see it and
hear it, we've already declared it. Some things are indicative
of reprobate behavior. Can a person commit adultery
and be saved? Yeah, David did. But he didn't
continue in it, did he? He wasn't an adulterer. Can a person commit murder and
be saved? Yeah. But a thief on the cross, if he had
gotten down from there, he'd have been a peaceable man, wouldn't
he? Can a person get violent? We say, yeah. Strike someone? Yeah. Peter did. Peter did, didn't he? But later on, Peter said, let's,
we better be putting away malice and anger and wrath, didn't he? Peter said, we may put it this
way. But see, a believer is not a striker, not a brawler. That's what Paul said. A believer is not those things.
It's peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreated. A believer is
not a violent, bloody person. No, sir. Not at all. He's merciful. She's merciful.
Peacemaker. Gentle. Easy to be entreated.
These are the children of God. God's the author of peace, is
He not, in His family? He said His grace is sufficient,
didn't He? The Scripture says He's able
to subdue all things, even this old man. Isn't He not? The wrath of man somehow will
praise him, but the remainder he's able to subdue. God has not subdued this old
man to the great degree. Is that right? That's just right.
Joab was a bloody man, a violent man, and he was an unmerciful
man, a striker. Is that right? And though he
laid hold on the horns of the altar, and was where he was supposed
to be, and doing what he was doing, and begging for mercy,
Solomon said, You didn't show any, and you won't get any. He
that hath ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit saith in
the church. All right, look at the next one, Shimei. Shimei,
verses 8 and 9. Shimei, behold thou hast with
thee Shimei. David is given charge concerning
him, son of Jireh, Benjamin. You know how he came down to
meet me at Jordan? David is recounting the story
to Solomon. You know what he did. You know
the story of what Shimei did, don't you folks? Cursed him,
took the king's name in vain. There you are, David, you bloody
man, just cussed David, took David's name on his vile lips,
God's king name on his vile lips and cursed him. And David said, I'm not going
to hold him guiltless. Who takes my name in that? Takes his name and bang. The
Lord will not hold him guiltless. But look, all right, here's the
end of Shimei, verses 36 through 38. 1 Kings 2, verses 36 through
38. All right, King sent and called
for Shimei. Well, I didn't read what David
said to Solomon. Verse 9, he says, Now therefore
hold him not guiltless. That's it. You're a wise man.
You know what you ought to do with him. But his hoary head,
here it goes again, his grave head, bring it down to the grave
with his own blood. May his blood be on his own head.
All right. Now, in verse 36, the king sent
and called for Shimei. He called for Shimei. And he
said unto him, Build you a house in Jerusalem, and dwell there,
and go not forth thence anywhere. Don't go anywhere. You build
you a house in Jerusalem. And don't you leave, don't you move. I don't care what it's for. You build your place and you
abide there and don't you leave. Verse 37, For it shall be that
on the day you go out, and you so much as set foot over the
broken kingdom, you're going to know for certain you're going
to die. Your blood's on your own head.
Shimei said, verse 38, this is good. King says, As my Lord the
King, he took his name on his lips, as my Lord the King hath
said, you said it in your word, I believe it, and it's good.
Yeah, it's good. That's what I'll do today. Yeah,
I believe it. You said it. I'll do it. So Shimei, I grew up in Jerusalem
anyway. All right, looks good, so far so good. He's all right,
isn't he? Everything's all right. Well,
three years went by. Three years. Verse 39, it came
to pass at the end of three years, two of the servants of Shimei
ran away unto Achish, son of Micaiah, the king of Gath. They
told Shimei, I say, behold, your servants be in Gath. Your servants
have gone, and Gath, Shimei, arose and settled his half, and
went to Gath the Achish to seek his servant. Shimei went and
brought his servants from Gath." And it was told Solomon, Shimei
left Jerusalem. He'd back, but he left. All right, now the king told
him, the king gave him a place to stay, didn't he? gave him
a place, told him to abide there, don't leave, and he swore by
the king's name that he swore by the king's name. This former
king cursed her. Now he swears to believe the
king. He takes the king's name on his
lips and swears that he would not leave. Three years went by.
All right, two of his servants ran away. So, well, this is a
good reason to leave him, a legitimate reason. What's wrong with this? It's
innocent enough, isn't it? Innocent enough? Well, isn't it needful that they
go get the servants back? Somebody's got to go get them.
Shimei thought, this is good. The king's not going to... Well,
surely he won't. Surely he won't hold me accountable
for that. I'm just not going to go along. I plan on coming
back. You remember how the Shimei took
for... Well, somebody, Adonijah, took for granted that the king
approved of what he was doing. Remember that? Oh, he doesn't
mind. He didn't consult the king. He didn't consult the word of
the king. I believe if Shimei had gone
to the king and said, I know you told me not to leave, but
two of my servants, king, sent two down to fetch them, wouldn't
he? Or he might have. He might have
let Shimei go himself, but he didn't consult the word of the
king. He just took it for granted. It's just one little thing. And he left. All right? Verses 42 and 43. The king sent
and called for Shimei and said unto him, Did I not make thee
to swear by the Lord? And protested unto thee, saying,
No, for a certain, on the day you go out and walk us abroad
anywhere, anywhere, that you shall surely die. And thou saidst
to me, You said it your own mouth. Your own words. The word that
I have heard is good. You said it's good. Why then
hast thou not kept the oath of the Lord, the commandment that
I have charged thee with?" Huh? You've done it again. You've cursed the king. You've
taken his name in vain. By swearing to do what he said
and doing it not. By being a hearer of the word
and not a doer. By claiming it's good and doing
the opposite. Verse 44, King said, You know
all the wickedness that thine heart is not right within you.
You know what you did to David my father, cursed him. The Lord
shall return thy wickedness upon thine own head." And verses 45 and 46, and King
Solomon shall be blessed. He's going to be blessed in this.
He's going to be honored in your death. The throne of David shall
be established forever, the word of David. So the king commanded
Benaiah, the same man, the captain, the son of Jehoiada, and went
out and fell on him and he died. Kingdom was established in the
hand of Solomon. You see, Solomon, Solomon's king
now, and the first thing he establishes when he sits on the throne, I
mean the first thing. What? What attribute has Solomon
shown us so far? At the very outset, attribute,
a just king who will by no means clear the guilty. That's what
he showed him. He's a just king and a savior. He's kind and he's merciful.
If you read for yourself later on, Solomon's a merciful king.
Full of wisdom and truth and mercy and grace, yes. Unlike
any man who's ever lived before. But he's a just king. He's just. He does according to the will
of His Father. You see that? Well, you see, what's the story
here, if you don't already know the story here? You see, there's
a place, a city of refuge, that our Lord said in Deuteronomy
12 through several chapters, He said, there's a place that
I've chosen to put my name there. There's a place, a place where
the gospel is. It's not everywhere. There aren't
cities of refuge everywhere. God ordained seven cities of
refuge, did he not? Seven cities of refuge. He said,
that's the city of refuge. Don't go anywhere here. It's
only going to be found there. A place, he said, he's chosen
to put his name. exalts his name. Who make mention
that his name is exalted? Everybody else is not doing that,
taking his name in vain. You leave those places, you'll
find them taking the king's name in vain. A place where the gospel is proclaimed,
where God's God, Christ is Christ, and the gospel is gospel. It
ain't every place. Some people abide for a while.
Some people come and they even say, this is it. Don't they? I've found the place. This, yeah, this is it. This
is the gospel. There is no other. What I'm hearing
is good. This is God's Word. This is the
place. I'm not leaving. And if they do leave, what have
they done? You see, they've profaned the
name of the king. They've taken his name in vain.
They have brought reproach on that gospel. They've said, well,
maybe I was mistaken. Maybe that isn't just the gospel.
Maybe there are other gospels. And over here, isn't this Jesus?
He's just as much Jesus. You see? They bring reproach on the gospel. Well, do you remember, do you
have time? Yeah, we've got to make time,
all right? You all got anywhere to go? You're off tomorrow. All right, let's go over to chapter
one. Chapter one, verse twenty-eight. Do you remember? Chapter one. You remember how
that David called each one of these people personally. To. Reveal that his son is reigning
in room you remember that I love going back there and thinking
about that he called Bathsheba verse twenty eight. First person
he called was his wife, his bride. That's God who called his church,
right? Called me in Bathsheba and she
came and stood in his presence, stood before the king. Well,
and then verse 32, he said, call me the priest, Zadok the priest.
He's Nathan the prophet, prophet, priest, bride, king's going to
say something concerning Saul. Do you remember that? Verse thirty-three,
King said unto them personally. You see, the king personally
said to each of these people. The king, the mouth of the king,
they heard it from the king. He said, Call Solomon my son
to ride on my mule and bring him down to Gihon. Bring him
down to Gihon. He declared to them personally,
Solomon reigns and he's at Gihon. Look down at verse, if I can
find it, verse 38. So they did. They put Solomon,
they exalted him, Solomon. They lifted him up. Yes, Bathsheba
and Zadok and Nathan and Benaiah, he's there, you see. They're
all there. They're all lifting up Solomon, lifting him up, parading
him before them. He come down, he brought him
to Gihon. You see that, verse 38? Gihon. Well, you remember Adonai and
a bunch of his fellows, Joab, was there. They were meeting
somewhere else. They had them a big shindig going
on someplace else, big feet. And Jonathan, the young fellow,
came and brought tidings. Hey, Sullivan's on the throne. What y'all meeting down here
for? Y'all in the wrong place. The king's sons and the faithful
to the king, they're down at, look at verse 45, Zadok the priest,
Nathan the prophet, they've all anointed him king in Gihon. If you want to find Solomon and
Solomon's people, they're at Gihon. That's where they are. Well, they say none of those
fellas got up and went to Gahon. Gahon was a... Well, Gahon was a spring. A spring of water. It was a... It was a source, really, of all
water. Water of life. That's where God
was. If you're going to find mercy
and you're going to get comfort and you're going to hear from
the King, I'd go this way. Water of life. And there's more to
that, but we don't have time. Spring. That's where He's at.
But the point I'm trying to make is that a particular place designated
by the King, Revealed to the king's chosen, he told Bathsheba,
he told Zerubbabel, he told all, taking into account everybody
that went and worshiped or submitted to Solomon, that's where they
were. They resorted thither. to Solomon, that guy, as he played. Well, Joab, Shimei, none of them
heard that personally. They heard it through a band. But they didn't hear it from
the king. They heard it. But the king didn't really tell
them personally. Well, anyone, and here's the point,
and this place where the gospel, anyone who leaves the gospel, and it's only found in certain
places, anyone who leaves the gospel for whatever reason, But, but, but, but, but I've
got the, I got to work, I got it, I might, I've lost my job
here and I, I got to make a living. No, it's the point of the man
wants to die. After that, the judgment, thou
fool, this soul, thy, or this night, thy soul may be required
of thee. And God gave you the first job
where the gospel is, he'll give you another one, right? And well I whatever reason you
know why there be a gospel church down there I'll go and I got
word on the gospel church down there not necessarily. So you leave the gospel whatever
reason. And if they do the fact is they
didn't hear it from the king. If they do leave the gospel,
if anybody does leave the gospel, Peter heard the gospel, didn't
he, from the source, from the spring, from the water of life. Peter heard it, and Christ said,
There's the door. Take off. Peter said, To whom
shall we go? You have the words of life. This is the place. You're the
place that God has chosen. Whatever reason, a person leaves
the gospel. It may seem legitimate. It may
seem legitimate. Am I being too hard here? They
thought Solomon was a sinner. Can you imagine what the people
thought? Well, Solomon's servants ran
away. He just went down there to get
his servants. Huh? No big deal. He just came back,
didn't he? Solomon said, kill him! He's got a bad heart. Solomon knew him. My, my. Anybody leaves the gospel
now, for whatever reason, the judgment's going to fall on their
head. What they've done, what they've done now is bring reproach
on that gospel. You see, that's what this is.
It's a far more serious matter, and it involves far more people
than just me, myself. If I, like, divorce my wife and
leave the gospel, I have affected far more people than myself and
my wife. I've brought reproach on my God,
whom I claim to worship, and His Word that I claim to believe.
I've brought reproach on the people. You see, our actions
have far-reaching consequences. They reach all the way to God. He's a just God. You see, when Christ comes back,
what's he going to come as? A judge. No more mercy. Don't leave. Hey, you hearing
me? Don't. I don't care what the
reason is. This gospel is not everywhere. God will give you some meat and
taters and a roof over your head. Better to eat beans with the
fear of the Lord than live in a palace somewhere else. All
right, our dinner of herbs, that's what I'm saying. Adonijah. You see, there's a lot more people
involved in this than Adonijah in this chapter. Adonijah. Do you remember him? Let's get
back to him. Chapter 1, verses 52 and 53, Solomon said,
and I feel he'll show himself a worthy man, this Adonijah.
Remember Adonijah? He was that self-willed, self-exalting
fellow. Well, he said, Solomon said,
If he'll show himself a worthy man, he's going to show himself
a worthy man. He's going to show that really he's laying hold on the altar,
but we'll find out. We'll find out in the end. It's
not how a man starts, is it? It's not even where a man is.
Joab is how he dies. Right? Hebrews 11, these all
die in faith, having believed the promises. All right? It says now, verse
53, so King Solomon sent, brought him down from the altar, and
he came, bowed himself to the king. Well, it looks good. He
looks good. He looks sincere. If we had stopped right there,
everybody in here would have thought Adonijah was a Well, look at what Solomon said
to him. All right, let's hear what Solomon
said to him. You ought to rightly divide the word, Chris. Solomon
said, Go to your house. That's all he said. He didn't say peace. He didn't
say, I won't kill you. He didn't say anything. He said,
Go to your house. Solomon knew what was in him.
You see, Solomon did not commit himself to Adonijah. He knew
what was in him. Does that sound familiar? A greater than Solomon walked
this earth, and it says that many believed on him. They believed
on him. A thing came to him. And it says
he did not commit himself unto them. He knew what was in him. So many appeared to believe he
knew them. He didn't commit to them. Christ didn't die for them.
He didn't send his Holy Spirit to them, to convict them, to
change them, to give them a new heart. But rather in the end,
he sent him to slay them. Well, Adonijah's heart is revealed. Like we started this whole message
out, the Word of God is a great revealer. It will reveal the
very thoughts and intents of the heart. Adonijah, verse 13. Son of Haggith came to Bathsheba,
the mother of Solomon. Now, you remember who Bathsheba
is. She's the king's bride, the king's wife. And this wicked
fellow had an idea of appealing to the king's bride. He comes in, he sneaks in to
this woman, and he says this. She said, Comest thou peaceably?
Oh yes, peaceably. put on a smile on the Lord's
day. It may have been the Sabbath. And he said, Moreover, I have
somewhat to say unto thee. She said, Say on. Verse 15. Now, listen. Now, what he was doing here was he
was appealing to the king's bride, and he had her food. He had the king's wife. She believed
he was sincere. She believed he was all right.
He was sweet, sincere, nice fellow. She never suspected him for a
moment. The king knew him. Like the scripture
says about some, a far off. She didn't catch it. She didn't
catch what he was about to say. She didn't catch it. But his
words condemned him. His words condemned him. Our
Lord said, By a man's words he'll be justified or condemned. Out
of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh. He didn't
catch it. Do you catch it? Look at this. Verse 15, all right? What's in the heart is going
to come out of the mouth. First thing, verse 15. He said to her,
Thou knowest that the kingdom was mine. I will be reigning." All Israel
set their faces on that. How be it, oh, he said, oh, however,
read on. How be it, the kingdom is turned
about, it's become my brother Solomon, and this is from the
Lord. That's how he said that. It's
from the Lord. God is sovereign. And yes, Jesus
is Lord. You see, he had not renounced
his old self-will, his old self-righteousness. He did not truly acknowledge
in his heart that Solomon was the only king. the one and only
king. And he said to her, the kingdom
is hers. Yet he said, he said some good
things. Didn't he say some good things? The Lord did this, it's
Solomon's, and it's of the Lord. Yes. I used to reign, but now
I believe Solomon reigns. What's that? What's this? What's
this, Robert? What this is, is anyone who refuses
to renounce their former religion. This is someone who refuses to
renounce their former self-exalting, free-will religion. Well, I was
saved back when I was an Arminian, but now I've come to a knowledge
of the doctrines of grace. I was saved back when I was a
God-hating, disbelieving, self-exalting believer in free trust in another
Jesus, not believe in the true God, rejecting his word, thumbs
down. Have I saved? Oh, now I've come
to a knowledge of the doctrines of grace. Yes, Jesus is the Lord. We'll see how he ends up. And Bathsheba was fooled. She was fooled by him. Seems
true enough, good words, fair speeches. How many of God's people, his
bride, his wife, his church, have been fooled by how many
wolves in sheep's clothing, by how many false brethren crept
in unaware? If this is how you're going to
know them, do they renounce their former religion? That's what see that's what that's
what that right there is for. Well I've baptized, I've been
baptized. Who'd you confess? I made my decision for Jesus. That's right. We're all one. And when you come
here to the gospel, you get in there and say, I renounce that
I've never been baptized, and now I'm confessing the Christ,
the gospel. Beth, she was fooled. And by
the way, old Adonijah said, oh, by the way, you see, you may
have thought that this little thing with Abishag was the heart
and soul. That's not the matter. He wanted her. That's another
proof, you know, he wanted this. He got religion so he could get
him a wife. Oh yeah, oh yeah, ask him this
too. Can I have Abishag? David Solomon
saw right through that. See, if he was going through
religion today, he'd have gone to all the singles meetings. He'd have gone to all the single
meetings, you know. By the way, ask for me, the king,
ask the king, give me Abishag. And this is a picture, old Adonijah's
picture of these sneaky, these wolves in sheep's clothing who
desire, who deceive and are deceived themselves. He deceived Bathsheba
and he was deceived himself, and leading silly women captive
and drawing away disciples after himself. He wanted Abishag, you
know. And unbeknownst to some, Unbeknownst to Bathsheba, she
didn't know it, Solomon knew him. Solomon knew him. And look
at it here in verse 21, 22. And Bathsheba came in and she's
praying for him. That's all God's people pray
for all men. Lord bless so and so. I ain't
going to bless him. Those king knows, doesn't he?
We pray, and the Lord says, the Lord's thinking, I ain't going
to bless him, I'm going to kill him. Well, read on, it says,
Let Abishag and Shumah might be given to Adonijah thy brother
to wife. And King Solomon answered and
said unto his mother, Why do you ask Abishag and Shumah for
Adonijah? Ask for him the kingdom. That's really what he wants.
Why are you asking that? Well, he wants his kingdom. But he said, verse 23, and boy,
I like this. King Solomon swore by the Lord,
saying, God, do so to me, and more also, if Adonijah hath not
spoken this word against his own life. Therefore, as the Lord
liveth with his established me, and set me on the throne of David
my father, who hath made me in house, as he promised, Adonijah
shall be put to death this day, and King Solomon sent by the
hand of Benaiah." Well, Scripture says, looking
diligently, lest any man fail. You know,
what do you think Bathsheba did when the king King said she came in and was
asking for him. Bless Adonijah and Solomon gritted
his teeth and looked her in the face, his mother. Woman, what have I to do with
thee? As much as to say that, that sounds familiar. He looked
at his mother and said, I'm going to kill him. What do you think? That's Sheba's
thought. This is not my son. This boy
is king. He's not my boy. He's king. He's a just king. He will by no means clear the
guilty. He knows what's in the heart. He's more than just a man. He may have even thought
it was unfair though. It's unfair. Well, Scripture says, and look
indeligently, I'm going to quote it again, look indeligently,
lest any man fail of the grace of God. We need to take a hard
look at ourselves. Am I Joab? Am I Shimei? Lord, please. Lord, please. deliver me from the evil man.
Am I an Adonijah? The Lord bleeds. We need to take
a diligent look at ourselves, but then real quickly look to
Christ. If you go to Solomon, like I
said, if Joe Abbott had gone to Solomon, if Shimei had gone
to Solomon, if Adonijah had gone to Solomon, I'm rotten, and said,
I'm rotten to the core. What do you reckon Solomon would
have done? If Solomon would have come, not
through Bathsheba, but himself, and said, please, I don't know what I should ask
for. I got a bad stomach. That's my problem. Would you
please do something about it? Have mercy on me, O King. What
do you reckon would have happened? I know Solomon. Well, no you not, listen to this
now. Scripture says, No you not, your
own selves, how that Christ be in you, except you be reprimanded. Joe Abbott. I almost didn't,
we almost didn't study this because after reading it I thought this
is just, won't get too many amens. It's
hard. It's a hard thing, right? Hard
matter. You know, God's, God's consuming fire. And he
said, this is a man I'm going to dwell with. He hears my word and trembles
at it. Lord, I feel a little bit of
Joab in me. I feel a little bit of Shimei
in me. I feel a little Adonijah and a whole lot in me. A man
that trembles at my word. Hears and trembles at it and
lays hold on the horns of the altar. Trembles at the word. Bleeds the word. Beats on his breast. God, be
merciful to me, my sinner. Know thee still of me. But we were with. Joanne had a brother. Abishai. He killed, you know, he killed
Absalom too. He's in it with him. But he found
mercy. He found mercy. He ended up being
one of the king's great captains, Abishai. The king told Abishai,
he's a great man. He told the king's son. The king
said, he's a great man. He's merciful. Merciful. Oh man, every manner of sin will
be forgiven. You just got to go to the king
and say, hey, All right, may the Lord grant
mercy. All right, let's stand and ask him for it. Our Lord, your Word is a fire, a hammer. Your Word is a sword, piercing,
dividing, revealing the very thoughts and intents of the heart.
Though the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately
wicked, who can know it? Well, you know it, and you reveal
it through your Word. O Lord, create in me a clean
heart, for new within me a right spirit. Take not Thy mercy, Thy Spirit, from us. give us thy Spirit, the fruit
of the Spirit, rather not slay us by that same Spirit which
is the work of the flesh. Lord, you've warned us that not
no Murderer or thief or adulterer
and on and on will inherit the kingdom of heaven. You said such
were some of you, but you're washed. O Lord, wash us throughly
from our iniquity. Purge us with hyssop and we'll
be clean. We're guilty. But according to
thy mercies, thy tender mercies, the multitude of thy tender mercies
and our loving kindness, blot out our transgressions,
that against thee and thee only we've sinned. We've killed your
son. We've exalted self. We've left our place, left our
first love. O Lord, forgive us, please, for
Christ's sake. It's in his name we ask thee
stay. Amen. And I was like, oh, I'm going
to die. And I was like, oh, I'm going
to die. And I was like, oh, I'm going
to die. And I was like, oh, I'm going to die. And I was like,
oh, I'm going to die. And I was like, oh, I'm going
to die. And I was like, oh, I'm going to die. And I was like,
oh, I'm going to die. And I was like, oh, I'm going
to die. I don't know. I don't know.