Alright, let's turn back to 2
Samuel chapter 23. For the past several weeks I've been
studying and reading various places in the scripture where we see the last words of
God's people, men and that we read about in the Bible or whom
God used to as instruments of writing the scripture. Whom I
don't believe anybody who knows the scriptures and claims to
believe them would doubt that these men were children of God. These men were saved. And I just
want to take a few messages to For us to look into those, the
last words, this morning we're gonna look at the last words
of David. That's what it says in verse
21 there. Now these, or 23 verse one, now these be the last words
of David. These are his dying words. And
I know people are concerned about things like that. People are
concerned about things like assurance of salvation. Do I have assurance
of salvation? I think a lot of people are missing,
are confused about that issue. As if assurance of salvation
is something only for the super spiritual or the most mature.
And don't get me wrong, I know we all have doubts and ungodly
fears in our lives. But where do those come from? They don't come from God, they
come from us. So when you look at passages like this one, 2
Samuel 23. And I find, just in studying
on this the past couple weeks, reading messages and commentaries,
I find that anybody whom I know and whom I study that's really
preached the gospel, this is a passage of scripture that they've
preached from quite often. In the past three or four years,
I've preached from this at least two or three times. So it's not
anything new, but I want us to look at it in this light. Concerning
this issue of dying grace, people say dying grace. I want dying
grace. Brother Mahan told the story
of a woman who told a preacher, I don't know who she was talking
to, and she said, I'm worried. And he said, why are you worried?
And she said, I don't have dying grace. And he said, well, are
you dying? And she said, well, no. And he
said, well, you don't need it. And I listen to that, but I'll
tell you something, I have a little different take on that. I believe
we are dying. I wish I could remember these
preachers' names, you know, that I read back years ago, but I
can't do it anymore. I guess I need to get some of
that stuff that they take for memory. I can't remember what
it is. You know, you heard the story
about the fellow that said there's three things that happen to you when
you get old. Number one, you lose your memory and I can't
remember the other two. So that's it. But another preacher
who said, I always preach as a dying man to dying men. We
don't know when we're going to die. We don't know the date. We may be cut down in youth.
We may live to be a good ripe old age. We don't know. David
was probably around 70 years old when he died. about that. And so here he is on his deathbed.
And when you think about dying, when you think about death, what
should you be concerned with? What should be on your mind at
that time? Let me give you these three things,
these three questions that we we need to consider first of
all and and i believe i would think this well i believe i think
if you know if i went to a doctor and he said well we've got the
test results back in and and you have so much as far as we
can tell so many days weeks months to live whatever what what what
i think about what would i be concerned with and i believe
it be these things number one what is my relationship with
god what really is my relationship with god that's the issue It's
not what is my religion, necessarily, because whatever your relationship
with God or however you see that, that's what your religion is.
But what is my relationship with God? And then secondly, I believe
I'd be concerned with this. How will I stand before God at
judgment? How will I stand before God at
judgment? That's important. The Bible says
that there's a time appointed of God And it's appointed unto
man once to die and after that the judgment. How will I stand
at judgment? And then thirdly, where and how
will I spend eternity? I'd be concerned with that. Well,
I know what the scripture says about each one of those. I know
what the answer is and I believe we can see it here in the last
words. of King David. Now, you know
much about David. You know about him and his youth,
how his father brought in all the sons to stand before Samuel
as candidates to be the king of Israel, and David was left
out in the field tending the sheep, and none of those stout
sons of Jesse were chosen. And Samuel asked, he said, do
you have another one? And he said, yeah, I've got one
out there. But Jesse didn't even think about him being a candidate
to be king of Israel. Too young or whatever. He brought
him in and that was the boy, David, the shepherd, the shepherd
boy. And he became king. You know
about him and his relationship as it began. He had the great
victory over Goliath and the Philistines. And David himself
said, that wasn't me, that was God, that was God working, that
was God fighting. And then you know about his relationship
with King Saul, how Saul treated him so badly but David didn't
return it, did he? By the grace of God, he didn't
return the meanness and the wickedness and the evil and then how he
became king and how Israel rose in glory and then you know about
David's sins. They're recorded in the scriptures,
his sins with Unnumbering Israel, his sins with Bathsheba, his
murdering, having Uriah, her husband, murdered, the illegitimate
child whose name was Solomon. What a story. I mean, doesn't
that amaze you? It amazes me, you know, when
I think about all that. You know, that's why I believe
Romans 8, 28, all things work together for good. Now, David,
he wasn't working them for good, but God did. But you know about
all that. Well, here he is on his deathbed.
And listen to what he says. Look at verse 1. Now, these be
the last words of David. David, the son of Jesse. That
speaks of humble beginnings. You know who Jesse was, don't
you? He was the son of Ruth and Boaz. And it said, and the man who
was raised up on high. David, humble beginnings. Not of the royal house of Saul. Saul was of the tribe of Benjamin,
but that was man's doing, wasn't it? God allowed man to have a
king like other kings. Saul, and he was an abject failure. Saul was. God had already promised
him a king. Somebody said, well, the problem
with Israel is they wanted a king instead of God. No, God promised
them a king. Read Jacob's last words in Genesis
49. He told Judah, he said, the scepter.
What's a scepter? That's what a king holds. That's
kingship. The scepter will not depart from
who? Judah, the tribe of Judah, not
the tribe of Benjamin. Judah until Shiloh, peace comes. That's Christ. That was ultimately
fulfilled in Christ. But there was a line of the kings
of Judah that started with David. He was from the house of Judah.
So he had humble beginnings, not of the royal house of Saul,
but of the royal house of Judah. He was a mere shepherd, a mere
servant in the household of his father, not even considered by
his father to be a prime candidate or an adequate candidate for
the king. And yet he says he was raised up on high. Who raised
him up? God did. God did. David didn't seek it for himself.
He said he was the anointed of the God of Jacob. You know, God
identifies himself so often in the Old Testament as the God
of Jacob. Who's Jacob? He's a sinner saved by the grace
of God. This is talking about the covenant
God. Jehovah, the savior of sinners. So the whole context of David's
last words here, I'm gonna tell you something now, you gotta
see this. The whole context of David's last words here smacks
of this. There is no worthiness in the
man, no deservedness in the man of honor and glory. This doesn't
have to do with how great David is and how honorable he would
be or is. You know, it has nothing to do
with what he promises to do. This is the totally, the work
and the providence of the God of Jacob. And that's it. And then he says the sweet psalmist
of Israel. David wrote a lot of the Psalms. Probably around 50 of them, maybe
more. We don't know. Some scholars argue over that,
but we know he wrote at least 50 of them. But he says this
in verse two, now look at this. He says, the Spirit of the Lord
spoke by me and his word was in my tongue. Now, what is he
saying there? He said, those Psalms I wrote, they're not a
testimony to the creativity of David. They're a testimony to
the glory of God. The Psalms I wrote, the Spirit
of the Lord, the Holy Spirit inspired me to do it. This is
the work of God again. So David's still, he's not drawing
attention to himself. You see, in his last words, he's
not talking about, now look how many Psalms I wrote. Now you
put that on my tombstone. No, sir. He said the spirit of
the Lord spoke by me. I was just a spokesman. I was
just like, I was a voice. I was just an instrument. His
word was in my tongue. This is God's word. And then
look here in verse three, he says, the God of Israel. You
notice how many times in the Old Testament, how when God identifies
himself as the God of Jacob, the God who saves sinners by
his grace and his mercy through Christ. And then almost immediately,
or right close there, he'll call himself the God of Israel. Remember
Jacob, that was his name, given to him by his mother and father.
And then later, God changed his name. I think it's recorded in
Genesis 35 to Israel, which literally means those who prevail with
God, or the Prince of God. And what he's talking about there
is salvation. Salvation, again, by the grace
of God. I know this about Jacob. He didn't
work his way into it and he didn't earn his way into it. God brought
him into it, didn't he? Salvation's of the Lord. And
that's what happens to a child of God. We're born by nature
children of wrath even as others. Sinners, dead in trespasses and
sin. We're Jacob's. That's what we
are. I preached on it a couple times in the last week or two. In Malachi 3, 6, I am the Lord,
I change not, therefore you sons of Jacob are not consumed. It's
of the Lord's mercies that we're not consumed. We're gonna be
talking about the sure mercies of David here. If you're a sinner
saved by the grace of God, you're now in Israel. It means you've
prevailed with God. How does a sinner prevail with
God? Not but one way, and that's through Christ. He's the prevailer. He's my savior. He's the Lord
my righteousness, you see. So he says in verse three, the
God of Israel said, the rock of Israel spoke to me. This is
talking about Christ. This is prophetic. David's talking
about his savior here. He's not talking about himself.
He's not bragging on himself. He's not writing his own biography
as if to Lift up himself. He's talking about the rock of
Israel. Who is it? That's Christ He's the rock He's
the rock upon which the church is built. He said upon this rock
I'll build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail
against it He's the rock from which the water came that quenched
the thirst of the children of Israel in the in the wilderness
and He's the chief cornerstone by which all things in the church
are measured. And he's the stumbling stone
to all who believeth not. And it says, he that ruleth over
men. Now here's what Christ told David. Here's what the Lord told David.
He that ruleth over men must be just ruling in the fear of
God. He must rule righteously. And
he must ruin the fear of God. Now that's what the king was
to do. He must deal justly. And he must
ruin the fear of God. That is in the service and worship
and reverence of God. He must understand who he is.
Very few kings have ever done that. Very few men do that. Understand
who you are. Usually when a man gets in power,
what do they say? Absolute power corrupts absolutely. That's usually what happens,
isn't it? And what the Lord is telling David, don't let that
happen. We're not gonna let that happen, you see. But David, he
got caught up in his own power. That's why he sinned with Bathsheba. He could have her. That's why
he had Uriah murdered. He could do it. But he says, He said, you gotta
realize who you are. You're the king, but there's
somebody who's more powerful than you. There's somebody who
put you there. There's somebody who made you
what you are. There's somebody who gives you
the next breath you take, and it's God. And then it says in verse four,
look here, he says, and he shall be as the light of the morning
when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds. Talking about
the king. as the tender grass springing out of the earth by
the clear shining after rain." Now, what you see here is this was set up to be the
description of the righteous king, but you also see here that
David personally, along with all the other kings of Judah
that succeeded him, they were failures. Look at verse five,
although my house be not so with God. Now most people talk about
David's family there. You talk about his wife and his
wives and his sons, Absalom, for example. But here I believe
he's talking about the house of Judah, the kings of Judah,
himself included. Not one of them could fit this
bill here in verses three and four perfectly. There were a
few, now David for a while he ruled justly, he ruled in the
fear of God, his life in general was that way, but he was still
a failure in many ways. That's what he's saying, although
my house be not so with God. And there were a few other kings
of Judah who had moments in their lives of obedience to the covenant,
but on the whole they were failures too. David's house here, the house
of Judah, is a testimony to the failure of men to save ourselves,
to make ourselves righteous. Although my house, be not so
with God. So where do we find the fulfillment
of these verses in any way, shape, form, or fashion? Is there any
person of whom it could be said, fulfills
in a perfect way, in a righteous way, in a full way, what David
describes here when he says, I'm a faith. There's only one
person and that's the Lord Jesus Christ, the seed of David. David
was a type of the Lord Jesus Christ. And this is, listen,
if you wanna talk about Christ, you could see an illustration
of him and David. He says, David, the son of Jesse.
Well, Christ was born of the seed of David, according to the
flesh. He's called the root of Jesse, or the stem of Jesse. He's called the branch of David. He was born not like David, not
like you, not like me in sin. He was born of the Holy Spirit,
conceived in the womb of the Virgin, the sinless Son of God. Unto us a child is born, a son
is given. His name shall be called Jesus,
for he shall save his people from their sins. His name shall
be called Emmanuel, which being interpreted as God with us. But
according to his humanity, he was born of the seed of David.
He was the man that was raised up on high, the anointed of the
God of Jacob. He's the Messiah. God raised
him up, the God-man. The sweet psalmist of Israel.
Christ is the sweetest psalmist of Israel, for it was he who
inspired David by the power of the Holy Spirit and all the other
psalmists to write those psalms, those psalms of worship, psalms
of praise, psalms of prayer, psalms of confession. He's the
one. And they're all about Him. I
sometimes will use this term when I preach from several of
the Psalms. I say, well, this is a Messianic Psalm. Well, they're
all Messianic, really, if you think about it. And then it says
in verse two, the spirit of the Lord spake by me and his word
was in my tongue. The Lord Jesus Christ as the
servant of the covenant, the servant of the father, spoke
the words of the father. They're one, that doesn't deny
his deity, that just speaks of his servanthood. He's the servant
of the covenant. The messenger of the covenant.
And then it says, verse three, the God of Israel said, the rock
of Israel spake to me, he that ruleth over men must be just
ruling in the fear of God. Everything our Lord did was just
and in honor to the praise of the glory of his Father. He perfectly
did the will of the Father. David didn't, but the seed of
David did. The Lord Jesus Christ. He obeyed
the law perfectly. They accused him of being a,
you ever think about that much? The only person, the only person
who ever kept the law perfectly, and they accused him of being
a lawbreaker. The only person who ever was perfectly righteous
in everything, and we accused him of being unrighteous, a malefactor,
a criminal. The only person that ever came
to earth who was perfect, they accused him of blasphemy. But
he did, he did then and he is now ruling in justice and in
the fear of God. And then look at verse four,
doesn't this describe our Savior? And he shall be as the light
of the morning. Now the only way a human king
could be the light of the morning is to point sinners to Christ. You know, the Bible calls Christ
our light. But it also calls believers,
the church, a light. We're shining lights in a dark
world, Paul wrote in Philippians. Now, how can we be lights? Well,
we shine with the reflection, like the moon reflects the light
of the sun. Christ is the sun, the S-U-N,
of righteousness. We, like the moon, we shine with
his reflection. We point sinners to Christ. Not just in what we preach, but
in what we do. So he shall be the light, Christ
is the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning
without clouds, clear as day. He says, and the tender grass
springing out of the earth by a clear shining after rain, fruitfulness,
you see. That's what Christ is. Now, David
says, although my house be not so with God. My house is not
worthy. You know, that's what he's saying,
my house is not worthy. My house does not deserve what
I'm about to talk to you about. Everything that God has done
for me and in me, I don't deserve it. My house has not earned it. This is what David is talking
about on his deathbed. His last words is that all the
blessings, all the salvation is purely and totally a matter
of free, sovereign grace and mercy in Christ. That's what
it is. He has no hope or comfort or
assurance in himself or in his works, although my house, my
household, my family, my dynasty be not so with God. David's,
he's reflecting here what he wrote in one of those sweet Psalms.
Psalm 130 in verse three, if thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities,
who would stand? David says, not me. If God would
impute sin to me, I wouldn't stand. If he would charge me
with my sin, well preacher, aren't you a sinner? Yes. But if God
were to charge me, lay them to my account, I would not stand. What is my hope? God was in,
2 Corinthians 5, 18, God was in Christ, reconciling the world
unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them. David said
in Psalm, what is it, 32, He said, blessed is the man whose
sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord imputeth not iniquity, charges not iniquity. David was a sinner. No hope, no comfort. So whatever
he's talking about in this prophecy, and his deathbed words, his last
words here are a prophecy. They're a testimony, they're
a confession. They speak of his hope, but they
also speak of one to come because his hope is in one to come. It's not fulfilled in the kings
of Judah, although my house not be so with God. We can talk about
what the Bible calls the kings that did that which is right
in the sight of the Lord. We can talk about Hezekiah. We can talk about Josiah. We
can even talk about Uzziah for a little while. But they all
eventually failed. They all were sinful men. And
so whatever is being talked about here as far as hope and assurance,
it's not wrapped up in David or any other human king. It's
wrapped up and founded upon the Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah,
the seed of David. And notice the next line in verse
five. He says, although my house be not so with God, now listen
to this, yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant. The everlasting covenant of grace. Look over at Isaiah 55 that I
read in the opening. That's the covenant that he's
talking about. The everlasting covenant of grace. Here he's talking about people
who are thirsty. People who are hungry. What are
they thirsty and hungry for? Is he talking about starting
a soup kitchen here? No. Nothing wrong with starting
a soup kitchen if the Lord blesses you and that's what you wanna
do and wanna help people, but that's not what he's talking
about here. You know what he's talking about here? Ho, everyone
that thirsteth, verse one. Come ye to the waters, and he
that hath no money, your money's no good here. That's what he's
saying. You can't buy, he says, come
ye buy and eat, but you do it without money. Now what is he
saying here? Well, whatever this water is,
there's a price to be paid, but you don't have it, and I don't
have it. It's not of man, it's not of
works. Somebody had to pay the price. Well, who did? Christ did. He's talking about
those who hunger and thirst after righteousness. He says, they'll
be filled. He says, yea, come by wine and
milk. Wine is an emblem of joy there. Joy in the spirit, joy in Christ.
And milk, that's the word of God. Without money, without price.
You see, it sounds like he's talking a little bit in riddles
there, but he's not. He's trying to impress upon our
minds that this salvation, this righteousness, this forgiveness
of sin, We don't have the money, we don't have the price, but
somebody had to pay it. And he says in verse two, wherefore
or why do you spend money for that which is not bread? Every
time I read that statement, I think of false religion. People spending
their time, their works, their efforts, trying to establish
a righteousness of their own and not submitting to the righteousness
of God in Christ. trying to make themselves better
in order to gain or earn God's blessings. And what they get
in return? It's not bread, it's not the
bread of life. He says, and your labor for that
which satisfies not. My labors cannot satisfy God
and ultimately they won't satisfy me. You see David in his deathbed
over here, he's not talking about all his labors, is he? He did
mention, and you know why he mentioned he was the sweet psalmist
of Israel? Because that's what God called him. But then he said
what? He said, well, those words didn't
come from me. They came from God. So he says,
hearken diligently unto me and eat ye that which is good and
let your soul delight itself in fatness. Now fatness there
means health. That's a healthy fat. So what
do you do? Look at verse three, incline
your ear, listen, and come unto me. Listen to the gospel, the
gospel of God's grace. And remember Christ said in Matthew
11, come unto me all you that labor and are heavy laden and
I'll give you rest. He says, here in your soul shall live
and I will make an everlasting covenant. That's what David's
talking about. With you, even the sure mercies
of David. The sure mercies, go back to
2 Samuel 23 now. That's what he's talking about,
the everlasting covenant of grace made before the world began between
the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Someone said, I
like this, it's one of the old writers, I believe I do remember
this one, it was John Owen. Have you ever read anything about
John Owen? I don't really know all about
John Owen. There's some people told me some pretty nasty things
about him in history, but I don't know. But I like this, he said
this, he said, the gospel is the preaching of the terms of
the everlasting covenant of grace. The sure mercies of David. Now
you know what the sure mercies of David speaks of. That's the
assurance of salvation that David had. Sure mercies. It's not a maybe. It's not something that you doubt,
you see. But it's the product of an everlasting
covenant, an agreement between the Father and the Son and the
Spirit. And David says here, he's made
this covenant with me. Now how does he make that covenant
with me or with you? Now look over at 2 Timothy chapter
1. I want you to see this. 2 Timothy chapter 1. The apostle Paul tells Timothy
here. And this is in Paul's old age
and when we get, one of the messages that I'm gonna preach from this.
this group of messages is Paul's last words. But listen to this
today. He talks about his going through
the ministry, preaching the gospel by the grace of God. And verse
8, look at 2 Timothy 1 and verse 8. He says, Be not thou therefore
ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner.
Paul was in prison when he wrote this. Notice he calls himself
God's prisoner. He said, I'm where God put me.
He says, but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel
according to the power of God. What he's saying there to Timothy
is you be in fellowship with me in the afflictions of the
gospel. We're going to preach together,
we're going to walk together, we're going to suffer together
in this ministry of the gospel. And he says, according to the
power of God, it's not by our power, but it's according to
the power of God, verse nine, who hath saved us and called
us with an holy calling. Now, holy calling is the call
of the Holy Spirit in the new birth, in regeneration and conversion. That's when the gospel is the
power of God unto salvation. And it's not according to our
works. It's not according to our works, but according, now
listen to these words, according to his own purpose. God had a
purpose. Now, when did that purpose begin?
When did God's purpose begin? Well, technically speaking, it
had no beginning. It's always been. We say from everlasting, from
before the foundation of the world. It's not like God was
in his office one day and just started thinking, well, I think
I'll purpose this. No. This has been the purpose of
God from the beginning. And grace. His own purpose and
grace. That's the everlasting covenant
of grace. Now listen. Listen to this. Which was given
us in Christ Jesus, when? Do you see that, what it says?
Before the world began. It was given to David before
the world began, before David was even born. David didn't know
it until God made that everlasting covenant with him. Now how's
that come about? Look at verse 10. But is now
made manifest, it's made known, made apparent by the appearing
of our Savior Jesus Christ. Christ has come. He lived on
this earth as God-man. He kept the law perfectly. He
went to the cross of Calvary bearing the sins of his people.
He was made sin. Christ, who knew no sin. And
in that great death, he satisfied the justice of God. He brought
forth an everlasting righteousness of infinite value. And God is
enabled to be both a just God and a Savior. And it says he
abolished death. How did he do that? By his death.
As another, one of the first books that Brother Mahan gave
me when I first started coming here was called The Death of
Death and the Death of Christ by John Owen. He abolished death
and hath brought life and immortality to light, now listen, through
the gospel, the preaching of the gospel, wherein to I'm appointed
a preacher and apostle and a teacher of the Gentiles. So there's the
gospel in line with the covenant. When we preach the gospel of
salvation by the sovereign grace of God in Christ, salvation conditioned
on Christ who met those conditions, salvation wherein the righteousness
of God is revealed, that's the entire merit and value and work
of the Lord Jesus Christ in his obedience unto death for the
salvation of his people wherein he who was made sin so that we're
made the righteousness of God in him. That's what David's talking
about. And look here in 2 Samuel 23
5, he says that this everlasting covenant is ordered in all things
and sure, it's ordered in all things, not part. You see, God's not a, he's not
some kind of a cosmic chess player up there making his move and
then you make yours, then he waits to see what you do and
then he makes his move, no sir. He is the God, Ephesians 1, read
Ephesians 1. We don't have time to read the
whole thing this morning. Read Ephesians 1, that's one of the,
there's others, but that's one of the best little explanations of this. It talks
about how God predestinated his people in Christ, chose his people
in Christ before the foundation of the world, and how he works,
Ephesians 1 11, how God works all things after the counsel
of his own will. You see, that's why it's ordered
in all things. God ordered it. I didn't order
it, you didn't order it, David didn't order it. If we had it,
the order would be nothing but chaos. There'd be no order. Think about it. If it was left
in the hands of man, where it would be? Look at this world. Look at this sinful world. God
lets us do our own thing, so to speak. What happens? Chaos,
sin, depravity, confusion, failure. But now this covenant, this covenant
of grace, this covenant of salvation, this covenant of mercy is ordered
in all things by God and it's sure. Now how can it be sure?
Because it's all conditioned on, all on the surety who is
Christ the Lord. He's our surety. There's the
sure mercies of David. That's what he's talking about.
This is the covenant that Christ fulfilled for his people. It's not God will if you will. That's failure. It's not God
just hoping you'll make the right choice. You won't, I won't. It's God sending his son to fulfill
all conditions, all requirements, all stipulations of that covenant
for his people. That's a sure thing. You see,
the promises of God are in him, yea. and in him, amen. Not in us, in him, in Christ. You see that? God ordered it. Christ is the sure death. That's
why his blood, let me read this to you over in Hebrews chapter
13. His blood is called the blood of the everlasting covenant.
Listen to this. In Hebrews 13 verse 20. It says,
now the God of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord
Jesus Christ That great shepherd of the sheep, just like old David
was a shepherd. Our Lord's a shepherd. He's the
good shepherd. He's the great shepherd. He's
the chief shepherd. Through the blood of the everlasting
covenant. His blood is the surety of the
forgiveness of all my sins. His righteousness imputed to
me is the assurance of my complete, eternal, unchangeable justification
before God. I'm accepted in the Beloved.
And let me tell you something, there's not one second in my
life that I'm not accepted in the Beloved. And when I lay my
head down to die, or when I get knocked off by an accident, as
we call it, I'll still be accepted in the Beloved. And it didn't
have anything to do with my works or my efforts or what I've earned.
You see that? And listen to what he says in
verse 21 of Hebrews 13. Make you perfect in every good
work to do his will working in you that which is well pleasing
in his sight. Anything through me that's well
pleasing in his sight is his working in me. That's Christ
in you. Through Jesus Christ, to whom
be glory forever and ever, amen. It's ordered in all things and
sure. Now, let me conclude with this. We'll ask this question.
I told you at the beginning there that if we found out we were
close to this point in our lives where we're going to die, We
could ask these questions. What is my relationship with
God? How will I stand at the judgment? Where and how will
I spend eternity? When I listen to the last words
of David here in verse 5 of 2 Samuel 23. Now listen to what he says.
He talked about this. Although my house be not so with
God. We're sinners. We're failures.
I don't deserve salvation. I can't earn salvation. God has
made a covenant with me. Ordered in all things insure.
Now here's another question. Has God made this covenant with
me? Has he made it with you? Want
to listen to what David says. For this is all my salvation
and all my desire. Now my question to myself, is
that all my salvation and all my desire or am I looking elsewhere?
Am I looking to someone else? Am I looking to me? Am I looking
to you? Or am I looking to some preacher
somewhere? Or am I looking to Christ and Him alone? That's
what David's saying, this is all my, I don't have any, there's
nothing else that I can claim for salvation. Well, David, you
were king of Israel. Big deal, although my house be
not so with God. We're failure, look at Israel.
Look at the way I left the throne. Look at my children. My son was
out to murder me and take my throne. Look at me. David, you wrote a lot of the
Psalms. That wasn't me. That was God. That was me. I sat down here, I wrote a note.
The pen didn't write it, I did. And that's what David's saying,
that's what I am, I'm a pen. He said, well now, you had Solomon
for a son. Well, I had him by evil means,
even though God overruled it and turned it into good, but
my intentions were evil. So David, no, this is all my,
Christ is all my salvation. Now what is your salvation? His
blood, that's all my forgiveness. His righteousness is all my justification. Now, what else would you want
to go to? You want to go to your back? You'll hear people say,
well, when I was 12, I walked and I got baptized, I'll never
forget, I had a dream. What is your salvation? David's not talking about any
dreams. David had some dreams, did you know that? But he's not
talking about any dreams here. David, listen, David, do you
remember that time when the fellow was across the river, he was
running from Saul, that David, and one of Saul's henchmen was
across the river just cussing David, cussing him out. And I
think it was Joab who once said, let me go over and lop his head
off, and David said, no, God meant for that fellow, God sent
that fellow to curse David. I tell you, that's noble, you
know? I don't know that I could do that. I mean, I think about
people who say things about me and I want to hit them. Now,
I'm sure David had his moments too. I know it's wrong, but that's
the thing about it. But David didn't mention that. He said, this is all my salvation. And that's it. Is this all my
salvation? And then he said, although he
make it not to grow. There's a minor contention over
how to translate that last line. If the King James Version has
it right, I'm sure what David is talking about is the fact
that his kingdom, his earthly kingdom and his earthly line
were abject failures. But this covenant of grace in
Christ is never going to fail. Some say it should be translated
as a form of a question. Will God, will he not make it
to grow? In other words, could you imagine
that God wouldn't make this thing grow? Christ is coming, that's
what he's saying. Christ is coming. And he's all
my salvation, and that's ordered in all things insure. That's
my hope, that's my assurance, that's dying grace, folks, isn't
it? Christ is all. All right.