Now, let's look back at 2 Samuel
23. 2 Samuel 23. And really, I want
to pick up at verse 5. That's the subject of tonight's
message concerning Christ, the all of salvation. He is our salvation. He is our all and in all. final word, this final prophetic
word of David that represents and is a grand example of dying
grace, which expresses confidence in and by the Lord Jesus Christ. David says in verse 5, although
my house be not so with God. And you remember I told you that
there's some controversy or just a minor disagreement over how
that should be translated, but I believe it's translated properly
here. to show that David is expressing the failure and the sin and disobedience
and depravity of his own household, his own kingdom. David himself
being a part of that and being an instrument of that as he was
under the chastisement of God for most of the latter part of
his life because of that great sin, that public scandalous sin
that he committed with Bathsheba and all the things that surrounded
it. But David understood the mercy and grace of God. And my friend, that's what we
need to understand. Somebody said one time that the
preaching of the gospel is always a convicting message, convicting
us of our sinfulness, convicting us of our weakness and our failures
and our disobedience to bring us to godly sorrow over sin. But the preaching of the gospel
is not only a word that convicts us of sin, it's also a word that
convicts us of grace, convicts us of mercy, that is only to
be found in the Lord Jesus Christ. So don't leave here tonight in
despair. You see, the Lord will fill our
vessels. He will fill our cups if we're
hungry for his word. If we're thirsty for the water
of life, he'll fill us with the assurance of Christ. And that's
what David's expressing here, although my house be not so with
God, yet, yet, He, God, God, Jehovah God, the God of the covenant,
the God of promise, the God who saves sinners through His Son,
the God who would send His Son, in David's mind's eye here, the
God who promised to send a Savior, a Redeemer, to save him from
his sins. And he says, yet He hath made
with me an everlasting covenant, that everlasting covenant of
grace made before time. And this everlasting covenant,
he describes it this way, he says, it's ordered in all things
by the sovereign decree and predestinating counsel and wisdom of God Almighty. And that's a comfort to God's
people now. Don't argue with God's high thoughts and ways. They're too high for us. They're
too deep for us, you see. But God, in His predestinating
purpose, has set all things in order for the salvation of His
people through Christ, to the praise of the glory of His grace. Paul the Apostle wrote in 2 Timothy
chapter 1 and verse 8, when he was in prison, writing to Timothy,
he said, Don't be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, Timothy,
nor of me, his prisoner. But you be a partaker, a fellowshiper,
a partner with me of the afflictions of the gospel according to the
power of God, the same God who has saved us and called us with
an holy calling, not according to our works, although my house
be not so with God." Not according to our works. You see, David's
not pleading his works or his merits or his goodness here.
David is a sinner who has no hope but mercy. And so Paul says,
who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according
to our works, but according to his own what? His own purpose. Now, that's a mindful purpose
of God. That's a decree of God. That's
what that means. It's not an afterthought. It's
not a conditional promise. It's not God will do this if
you will do that. No, sir. This is the purpose
of God. The Bible says that all that
are saved according to the purpose of God. And he says this purpose
and grace, it was God's purpose to save by grace, not by works.
Listen to this last line in verse 9 of 2 Timothy 1. He says, which
was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. That's
what David's talking about here. Ordered in all things. God who
works all things after the counsel of his own will. God who brings
things to pass in their given time, to that culmination where
it says, God, in the fullness of the time, God sent forth His
Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that
were under the law. God who in each successive generation,
before the cross and after the cross, brings His elect people,
His sheep, His church, to a saving knowledge of Christ and enters
into that covenant personally with them by the preaching of
the gospel in his own time. Paul wrote it this way in Galatians
1, he said, when it pleased God to reveal his Son unto me. And
he saw this, ordered in all things. Nothing's out of order. That's
what that means. Nothing's out of place. Nothing's
by chance. Nothing's by accident. Nothing's
by happenstance. And nothing's conditioned on
us. It's ordered in all things. And therefore he describes it,
and sure. This is certain. This is solid. Now, it's sure because it has
a sure foundation. It's sure because it has a surety. And who is that surety? The Lord
Jesus Christ, who is the Son of Glory. This whole covenant,
Christ said in Hebrews 13, we read it last week, is ratified
and all of its conditions are met by His blood. He calls it
the blood of the covenant. And when he instituted the Lord's
Supper, right before he actually went to the cross, he told them
about his blood. And he said, this is the blood
of the New Testament, literally new covenant. Well, what is the
new covenant? Well, he's talking about the
revelation and accomplishment in time of the everlasting covenant
of grace made before time. And if you want to know the terms
of the new covenant, if you want to know the terms of the everlasting
covenant of grace, they're one and the same. And it's preached
out in the gospel of God's grace. That's what we preach when we
preach the gospel. We're preaching the terms of this covenant that's
ordered in all things and sure. And it wouldn't be sure, except
it were based upon the surety. Now, I was listening to Brother
Gary Shepherd preach on this verse, and he made this statement.
It's real good. He said, a surety is not a guarantor. For example, if somebody was
going to take out a loan and you were going to cosign for
them, sometimes we call that a surety, but that's more like
a guarantor. And it says this, that if you
can't pay the loan, then this person guarantees the payment
of the loan. But the problem with that, see,
it doesn't fit with this covenant that's ordered in all things
insured. Because let me ask you this question. Somebody said,
well, that means if you can't pay your debt to God's law and
justice, then Christ will pay it for you. Well, when were we
ever able to pay that debt? Have we ever been able to pay
it? No, sir. We fell in Adam, ruined by the
fall, born dead in trespasses and sin. But you see, a surety
was already set up. Christ, who said, put it on my
account already. You see, it was always charged
to him, always imputed to him. And it was always in light of
the fact that he would come in time and fulfill that debt, pay
that debt in time on the cross. And that's what he did. And that's
what David's looking to. You know, think about this. He
says, it's ordered in all things, and sure, he says, this is all
my salvation. He could say it this way just
as well as we can. Christ is all my salvation. He's all my salvation. Christ
and him crucified and risen again. It's almost like as you remember
the Lord when he was confronted with some of the Pharisees and
the Herodians and the different groups that were trying to trap
him and trying to discredit him. And they were asking him some
of the silliest questions, some of the questions that aren't
worth anything. I hear a lot of them today. People
get involved in these issues and, you know, it just brings
about division and confusion and it's to no avail. But he
turned on them and he asked them a question. And you remember
what the question he asked was? I believe it's in Matthew 22.
He said, what think ye of Christ? Whose son is he? You know what
David's doing in verse 5 here? He's telling us exactly what
he thinks of Christ. Although I'm a sinner, and although
my whole house is just rotten to the core, it's a failure,
this kingdom, what David had to do with it. I know it wasn't
a failure in God's providence and purpose and power. It's going
to continue on for a little while, until God's finished with it.
But as far as David was concerned, Sinners saved by the grace of
God. And it was just like we can say it's of the Lord's mercies
that we're not consumed. David could say the same thing.
He did say it in Psalm 130. When he said, O Lord, if thou,
Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, who would stand? So here it is,
you know, he's saying this is all my salvation. I've got no
salvation but Christ who is promised in this covenant as my surety. This covenant that's ordered
in all things and sure. So he's telling us what he thinks
of Christ. Well, he's all my salvation. Then he goes on, he
said, he's all my desire. Not only is he all my salvation,
he's all my desire. You know, I believe it's in the
book of Haggai. And there's a prophecy in the
book of Haggai chapter two, you know, you can turn there, find
it if you can't write these down, Haggai two, verses six through
seven and read this, I'll read it to you. when David says, He's
all my desire. And Haggai prophesies this way
concerning the coming of Christ. In verse 6, Haggai 2 and verse
6. He says, For thus saith the Lord
of hosts, the Lord of a great invincible army, Yet once it
is a little while, and I will shake the heavens and the earth
and the sea and the dry land, and I will shake all nations,
And this is how he identifies the coming Messiah. He says,
and the desire of all nations shall come. And I will fill this
house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts. The desire of all nations
shall come. He describes the coming Messiah,
the Lord Jesus Christ, as being the desire of all nations. Now
what is he talking about? Well, he's talking about the
desire of sinners who see their need of Christ in all nations.
He's not talking about every individual without exception
in all nations. In fact, man left himself is described in
Acts chapter 4 when it talks about how the Jews and the Gentiles
and the Romans and the kings of the earth all stood up in
unison against the Lord, against Christ. All nations as a whole
would reject him. But God has a remnant. And that's
what David's talking about, those who come to see their need of
Christ, their need of mercy, their need of grace, their need
of righteousness from God, not their own, but one that God would
send, their need of a substitute, their need of a mediator. He's
going to be all their desire. He's all we want because He's
all there is, and He's more than enough. You see that? What is
your desire in salvation? What is your way of looking at
it, you see? Only those whom God has made
sensible of our sins desire Christ, the true Christ. Now, people
today, they want a Jesus, a Christ. They really don't want a Savior.
You know a Savior, now think about this, you know what a Savior
is? He is one who has saved. He's already done the work. He
has saved His people from their sins. His name shall be called
Jesus, for He shall save, not might, not only if they let Him,
but He shall save His people from their sins. He's a Savior.
Christ has saved us. Now, one who's trying to save,
or one who might save, is not a Savior. Well, what is it? He's
just one who's trying to do it. That's all. But our Savior is
the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. Now, David says here
in 2 Samuel 23, verse 5, he says, although he make it not to grow.
Well, there's a there's a difference in translations on this phrase,
too. Some say that in the original, this is in the form of a question.
And it would go something like this. David is simply saying,
will he not make it to increase? Which is literally the word grow,
to increase. In other words, David, it'd be like this. David
here in his dying words, he's saying, although my house be
not so with God, there's no hindrance to him. God's going to save his
people. He's made a covenant with me that's ordered in all
things insure. This is all my salvation. This
is all my desire. Don't you think he's going to
make it to increase? Would you ever doubt that? And
I kind of like that translation. Now, some say it should be translated
this way, although we make it not to grow, wherein David would
be referring to his own household, his children, his family, his
kingdom. They rejected the promise. They
rejected David. And therefore, what he would
be saying there is that God's going to do his work. He's going
to fulfill his purpose. He's going to save his people,
even though my house is left in shambles. And that might be
it. But think about it this way.
God's kingdom, either way how you want to accept that or translate,
God's kingdom is on the increase. It's on the rise. And you know
why? It's because of what the Baptist
said, John the Baptist. He must increase and I must decrease,
Christ increased. He went to the cross. He died. He satisfied the justice of God.
He was buried. He arose again the third day.
He ascended unto the Father. That's His increase. And as long
as He is increased, His kingdom, His household, His church is
on the increase. Well, think about that. How can
it increase when we see such havoc down here, such trouble,
such a mess? Look at David. Look at his household. Look at his kingdom. Look at
his own life. Oh, I know he's the sweet psalmist
of Israel, and in general, we would have to say that David
was a man of faith, an obedient servant of God, even though he,
like all of us, was still a sinner. Saved by the grace of God, we'll
fail miserably in many ways. We struggle, we war, and sometimes
our life is like David's. We say, Lord, restore unto us
the joy of our salvation because of our bad attitudes or our neglect. We lose that joy. We don't lose
salvation. But we'll lose joy. So how in
the world can you say that government was going to be on the increase,
that kingdom, that family? Well, turn to Isaiah 9. Now,
you know where I'm going with this one. Isaiah 9 and verse 6. Look at verse 7. I believe the
first words of verse 7. It says, of the increase of his
government and peace, there shall be no end upon the throne of
David and upon his kingdom to order it, to establish it with
judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever. The
zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. Did you notice
that too? Isn't that interesting? He says
of the increase of his government, there'll be no end. Nothing's
going to stop it. It's going to increase. It's
what David's saying back here. If you translate it that way,
will he not make it to increase? Well, of course he will. How's
it going to increase? How's this government going to
increase? Well, look at verse 6. Here's this. For unto us a
child is born, the humanity of Christ. God in human flesh, the
Word made flesh and dwelling among us. You remember when he
said, what think ye of Christ? And they said, well, he's David's
son. And Christ asked him, he said, well, then how could David
call him Lord? How could David worship him and
call him his God? How could he be both David's
God and David's offspring? How is that possible? Well, it's
only possible in the God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son
of Mary, who was created in the womb of the virgin by the Holy
Spirit, the seed of woman, not of man, and was born miraculously,
the word of God made flesh dwelling among us." You see that? And
so it says, of, for unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given,
that's his deity. Now this is the person now, the
God-man. And the government shall be upon
his shoulder." Now, how's this government going to increase?
How's it going to grow, this salvation? It's on his shoulder. That's how. It's not on David's
shoulder. It's not on your shoulders. Boy, if it were, would it be...
The answer to the question, will he not make it to increase, would
have to be, no, if it's on my shoulders. If it were conditioned
on me or you or David or the best of God's saints, It would
not grow, it would not increase, but it's not conditioned on us.
The responsibility, the fulfillment, the power, the righteousness
of this kingdom is upon the shoulders of this child who is born, this
son who is given, the Lord Jesus Christ. And his name shall be
called Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Prince of Peace. All of these things, the Everlasting
Father, the Prince of Peace, all of these things are the issues
of this government and its increase in and by the Lord Jesus Christ. You think about this. Think about
it. Listen, David back here in 2
Samuel 23, you know, what he says here spans all of eternity. He speaks of the past. God, before
the world began, ordered it all, the covenant. He speaks of the
present. David's dying in the faith. And
he's speaking of the future because all of his salvation and desire
was dependent upon one who was to come in the future. And it
spans all eternity in time. Look over with me to the book
of Revelation chapter 22. Revelation 22. And look at Look at verse 13 of Revelation
22, the last chapter of the Bible. In verse 13, he says, I am Alpha
and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Speaking of Christ. He's speaking
of himself. He said, blessed are they that
do his commandments. That's to believe the gospel.
That's what he's talking about here. And to walk by faith in
Christ. Not trying to work your way into
heaven, but resting in Christ and obeying him out of mercy
and grace and love and gratitude. And he says that they might have
right to the tree of life that may enter in through the gates
into the city for without our dogs outside this, dogs and sorcerers
and whoremongers and murderers and idolaters and whosoever loveth
and make a lie as a picture of false religion in its reality
exposed. He says in verse 16, I, Jesus,
have sent mine angel, my messenger, to testify unto you these things
in the churches. I am the root and the offspring
of David, and the bride and morning star. Now, the root means that
which David proceeded from, like a branch, like a leaf, like a
flower, like the fruit. The root, you see, is the beginning,
and Christ says, I am the root of David. And then he says, I
am the offspring of David, that which proceeds from David. I
speaking of Christ in his humanity, according to the flesh of the
seed of David. How can he be both the root and the offspring
of this man David? He's the root of David because
he is David's salvation. He is the offspring of David
in his humanity. And as God-man, he met and fulfilled
all the conditions of David's salvation. And then he says in
the bright and morning star, the light, the light, the light
of truth, the light of life. This is David's dying words.
Look back at 2 Samuel 23. Let me ask you to do something
as you close out these words here. Compare David's dying words,
here, to the words of the false preachers in Matthew 7, 21-23,
standing before the judgment, in connection with death. It's
pointed in the man wants to die, and after that, the judgment.
Now, here's these false preachers standing there, and they say,
well, they say, they say, Lord, Lord, haven't we not prophesied
in thy name? We preached in your name. We
prophesied in your name. Now, David could say that. He
preached and prophesied in the name of God. He wrote many of
the Psalms inspired by the Holy Spirit. He could say, Lord, he
could have said, although my house be not so with God, I wrote
over a third of the Psalms. I preached in the name of God.
I prophesied. I sang songs in his name. Although
my house be not so with God." There's a lot of bad things you
can say about me, David. A lot of things you could charge
me with in the eyes of men. But now think about it. Look
at what I've done. I thank God I wrote those songs. Now, I didn't
write them on my own. God helped me. God did it. But
I wrote them. Those false preachers say we've
cast out devils. David could say, I won many victories
over the enemies of God in the land and ran them out. In a sense,
casting out devils. He could have said that, although
my house be not so with God, I've won many battles. Look,
I'm the one who slew Goliath in the power of God. And then
they said, we've done many wonderful works. You could go back through
the life of David and see all the many wonderful works that
God used David to do. But David didn't bring up even
one of them. You see the difference? You see
what dying grace does? These preachers in Matthew 7,
21 through 23, you know what they were doing? They were pleading
what they believed God had enabled them to do by His power, not
their own, but what God had enabled them to do as their right to
inner glory, as their righteousness before God. But David, back here,
With all the great things that God had enabled him to do, he
simply says, he's made a covenant with me that's ordered in all
things insure and this is all my salvation. What's David saying?
This Christ is my all in salvation. I think about that a lot because
you know God enables his children to do a lot of miraculous things
that we could not do before his spirit came. and regenerated
us. Believing is a miracle. Did you
know that? If you believe the gospel, and
if you have any desire to sit there and hear a man preach it,
you know that's a miracle. That's not of your own free will
or your own desires. There's nothing any better about
me and you than there is about a person who doesn't want to
have anything to do with it. That's a miracle. Repentance
is a miracle. Obedience of grace and faith
is a miracle. But you see, that's not our righteousness
before God. That's not the ground and cause
and hope of our salvation. Christ is. This is all my salvation
and it's all my desire, although he make it not to grow. Now,
the fact that David looks at this, at Christ, as his whole
salvation does not negate or deny or even diminish the necessity
of the work of the Spirit in us in the new birth and those
miracles of grace that he performs in us and through us. In fact,
David spoke by the Holy Spirit. Do you remember he said over
in 2 Samuel 23, he says in verse 2, the Spirit of the Lord spoke
by me and his word was in my tongue. It was in his tongue,
it was in his heart. He'd been regenerated and converted.
In this covenant that David's talking about, that's ordered
in all things insure because of Christ, is the provision of
the Holy Spirit's Word. And it's the work of Christ who
has established righteousness which demands the Spirit's Word
in giving life. And that's what God says. He
says it several times. Jeremiah 31, Hebrews chapter
8 and on. He talks about how he will put
his Spirit within us. He will write his law upon our
hearts. And that's a great, grand, glorious
thing. But do you know why it all comes
about? Because he's made a covenant, ordered in all things insure,
and Christ is all our salvation in all our desire. Although he
make it not to grow, or will he not make it increase? Well,
look at verse 6 and 7, and I'll close. Here's the opposite now. Now, David has a hope. He has
an assurance. that's based on a firm, solid
ground. You remember after Christ dealt
with those false preachers in Matthew 7, 21, 23, the first
thing he did, he went to the wise man that builds his house
on the rock. That's what David has done here.
He's talking about that rock. And then the foolish man that
builds his house on the sand. But here's the opposite now.
He says, but the sons of Belial or Belial, however you want to
pronounce it. What is that? That's the sons
of Satan. That's the sons of rebellion. That's the sons of
idolatry. Who is a son of Satan? Those
who believe not on the Lord Jesus Christ. Those who have not entered
into this everlasting covenant in Christ. That's the son of
Belial. And he says, they shall be all
of them as thorns thrust away because they cannot be taken
with hands. But the man that shall touch
them must be fenced or filled with iron and the staff of a
spear, and they shall be utterly burned with fire in the same
place. What's he saying here? He's saying, first of all, Christ
is not only coming. in the future here to establish
righteousness and to rule in righteousness for his people
and for their salvation and for their assurance. But he's also
coming to judge the wicked. And these worthless sons of Belial,
worthless because they seek salvation by other ways and other means,
and they have no regard for the glory of God in Christ. Those
who continue in their sin and unbelief and rejection of the
Lord, they're like thorns, he says. Now, you can't go out and
just pick up thorns and thrust them away with your hand. The
only contact you can have with them is with something covering
you and something to shove them out of the way, like armor and
like a spear. And this is how the Lord will
be with those men described as thorns. He'll come to them dressed
for battle, burning them with fire. That's what he's saying.
That's the only thing you can do with them. My friend, don't
be a son of Belial. Don't do it. Believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ. Rest in Him and trust in Him.
Don't wait another moment. Now is the day of salvation.
This is David's dying words. This is his deathbed confession.
This is the sum of all things for David. I pray that God, by
His grace, will make it the sum of all things for every one of
us here tonight, that Christ is all, that He is all our salvation,
the all of salvation, and that He is all our desire. Will He
not make it increase? And no matter what goes on around
us, no matter what we see, you keep your eyes fixed on Christ.
Keep it on Him. And that will give you dying
grace.