Alright, back in 2 Samuel chapter
2. 2 Samuel chapter 2. When I first began to study for
this message in 2 Samuel 2 and began to put things together
as I felt I was led of the Lord, I gave the message this title,
The House That Christ Built. But I've changed my mind on the
title. I told Ron, I said, I've changed
the title, but the message is still the same. But when you
think about the emphasis that is here, and this is one of those
passages of Scripture, if you've read the chapter, you probably
may be a little confused about why certain things are put there
and what they mean and how they fit in with the message. of the
gospel, the message of Christ, especially what follows what
Brother Ron read concerning Abner and Abishai and that division
and that battle. But what this chapter is about,
I believe, in the history, the recorded history, redemptive
history of David and his being anointed as king, you see here
Saul has been slain. And now the right of accession
to the throne is the issue. It's an issue. It shouldn't be
an issue because it's already been settled by God. And I think
about that with the covenant of grace. Christ has always been
king. We didn't make him king, did
we? But at the same time, men by nature won't recognize him
as Lord and King. We're by nature like those who
said, we will not have this man to rule over us because we want
to rule ourselves. And the same thing happened with
David on earth. In Israel, there were certain
ones who, even though God had set him up to be king, and he
in all practical purposes was king, but they just didn't want
him to rule for whatever reason. I believe Abner's reason was
he didn't want to lose his position. He was Saul's general. David
already had a general named Joab, so he knew if David was going
to be anointed as king, he'd lose his job. and have to take
a lesser position, have to be in the background, and you know
that's just not in us by nature. Isn't that right? Man by nature
wants to exert himself, exalt himself, promote his own ways
and causes. And so, this is why the humility
of Jonathan never fails to amaze me. That is an amazing thing. You just don't see that every
day. the son of the king abdicating the throne, taking off his armor
and his outer garment and his sword and giving it to a man
who has no heritage at all in the line of Benjamin, the line
of Saul, a shepherd from out in the wilderness. And that's
an amazing thing. That doesn't come, that's not
in us by nature. We see this. Now Samuel had anointed
David in Bethlehem in a private anointing as the one who would
succeed King Saul of Israel. And I'll tell you this much,
I believe David was fully aware that he in his office as king
was to rule in a way that would properly typify and anticipate
the coming of the King of Kings, the Lord Jesus Christ. I believe
David was fully aware of that. He was a man after God's own
heart. You just think about the psalms of David. I don't believe
David was just a robot who was being used, as I use an ink pen,
without knowing what he was writing. He was expressing in those psalms
the desire of his heart. He was expressing repentance. He was expressing faith in the
Lord Jesus Christ in those psalms. And throughout his history, I
know he messed up a lot. I mess up a lot. You mess up
a lot. I know all that. I know all that. But I believe
he was fully aware that it was the position of the king to fully
and properly typify and honor and lead in the way of the king
of kings. I believe that. And it's, again,
not that David himself was in any way a perfect man or a perfect
king. But he was to lead the people
in the things of the Lord, the things of God. and provide himself
as an example of one who was saved by the grace of God, by
promise, the promise of the coming Messiah in his future. And on
his deathbed he expressed it so well, didn't he? This is all
my salvation, even though God makes it not to grow. And that
was the main task of any king of Israel at any time under the
Old Covenant, though the majority of them failed. Solomon expressed
it in Ecclesiastes 12. This is the conclusion of the
whole matter. Fear God. Keep His commandments. Lead the people. The king of
Israel, he was to lead the nation in worship. To lead the nation
in faith. He was to lead the nation in
service to God. The service of love and grace
and gratitude because they were who they were and they had what
they had, not because they earned it or deserved it, because God
gave it to them. by His power and His goodness.
He was to rule in truth. The King of Israel was to rule
in truth. Saul didn't do that. Saul messed up. Saul abdicated
the throne long before he was taken off the throne because
he would not obey the Lord God. He would not lead the people
to look towards what his office typified, who his office typified,
the Lord Jesus Christ. But the king of Israel was to
rule in truth and justice, and he was to rule with compassion
and kindness. He was to be a king not like
any other king on earth. You know what? You know the history
of most of the kings of the earth. They were just selfish, egomaniacal, promoting themselves and their
own agenda, do anything and everything to keep their line going. History
of kingship and authority on this earth is a history written
in blood. But Israel's king was to be different. Now that's not to say that in
many days they weren't different. That was the problem, wasn't
it? When the kingdom divided later on after Solomon, the kings
of Israel, the northern kingdom, not one of those kings led the
people in worship, in truth, in grace. as an example of faith,
looking towards the coming of Christ. Not one of them. They
were all idolaters. They were all left to their own
devices. And then many of the kings of
the southern kingdom of Judah that followed in the line of
David did not lead well at all. Some led well for a time, but
then they failed. You know the story of King Uzziah.
He started out well, but he didn't finish well, did he? Hezekiah,
he kind of started off not well, but then he ended well. But you
see, this is David. This is the beginning of the
line of the Judah kings. This is the beginning of the
line of the kings of Judah. This is the beginning of the
line that was prophesied. The scepter shall not depart
from Judah until Shiloh come. We see David as a type of the
lion of the tribe of Judah. Christ himself. Now, the king
was to lead in generosity towards the neglected and the overlooked.
He was to defend the nation. He was to recognize that all
his power and authority was from God and of God, not of himself. He was to seek wisdom from the
prophets and from the priest. Other kings of other places were
corrupt and proud, but Israel's king was to be different. And
that's what we see in the opening verse of 2 Samuel 2. Listen to it. And it came to
pass after this that David inquired of the Lord. Ask, and you shall
receive. Knock, and it shall be opened
unto you. Seek, and you shall find. The
first step for any godly king in this matter is right here.
David sought the word and the will and the wisdom of the Lord. Seek ye the Lord. Seek His grace. Seek His power. Seek His mercy. Seek His guidance. Seek His correction. Yes, even seek His correction.
Correct me, Lord. Not long before this, recorded
back in chapter 27 of 1 Samuel, David said in his heart, now
I shall perish someday by the hand of Saul. And what did that
do? David followed his own heart
and that sent him to the Philistines to line himself up with idolaters.
What a difference there is in listening to our own hearts and
following God's Word. Think about that. What a difference. Some people say, follow your
heart. Don't do it. Follow the Word of God. And what
I hope, and what you hope, is that the Word of God is written
on your heart. Alright? Stamped indelibly on
your heart. That's what that means. When
he says, when Paul wrote in Romans 6, 17, you have believed from
the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered to you, or
literally, which you were delivered to. That means the Holy Spirit
in the new birth has stamped that Word, put it in your heart
so much that it cannot be removed. This is what should guide us
in all our decisions in life. I mean that. I mean, I know I
hear false preachers all the time talking about Jesus is the
answer for every problem, and then they go off into the power
of positive thinking, Religious psychology and sowing
your seed, which to them is always money. That's not what I'm talking
about. I'm talking about whatever decisions
we make in life, we should always seek the Word of God first. Seek directions from Him. James put it this way in James
1 and verse 5. Listen to this. He said, if any
of you like wisdom, and we do, Don't we? We lack a lot of wisdom. If any of you lack wisdom, let
him ask of God that giveth to all men liberally, that's all
men who ask him, and upbraideth not. He's not going to make you
feel foolish. That's what we are by nature, but he's not going
to beat you down. He's not going to say when you
ask him for wisdom, well, you big dummy, didn't you know that?
I might say that to somebody, he might say it to me, but he's
not going to say that. He upbraided not, and it shall
be given him. But let him ask in faith, not
wavering, for he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven
with the wind and tossed." You know why there's so much division
today in the church? It's because men follow their
own hearts instead of seeking the Word of God. You thought
I was never going to tell you the title of this message, didn't
you? Well, here it is. Unity only under Christ. Unity only under Christ. Without Christ, there is no unity.
There may be a temporary bond in some cases. You know, when
you speak about false religion and false churches, there's a
lot of division there and there's some unity. It's temporary. But
you know, the church here on earth, even Here on this earth,
the true church, the churches of God, are not perfect churches
yet. The only perfection we can claim
right now is Christ, the Lord our righteousness, Jehovah Sikhanou.
We're made perfect in Him, complete in Him. But yet we are so imperfect
in everything we say and do and think, try to do. We're so imperfect. We're sinners saved by the grace
of God. I hope you never get tired of
hearing me say that. I really do. I worry about you
if you do. I'm serious. I hope I never get
tired of saying it. Only a sinner saved by grace. This is my story. To God be the
glory. I'm just a sinner saved by grace. And that's our claim, the fame
and anything, wisdom, all our wisdom's in Christ. But the church,
even the true church is marked with division because even in
the true churches there are sheep and there are goats, there are
wheat and there are tares. And so how do we, how do we operate? How do we get along? Do like
David did, inquire of the Lord. Now look at it, verse 1, David
inquired of the Lord saying, shall I go up unto any of the
cities of Judah, and the Lord said unto him, Go up." That is
God's command to David. Inquire of the Lord, ask and
he will answer. We see this certainly in eternal
life and salvation. If any sinner seeks the Lord,
inquires of the Lord in the matter of salvation, where will the
Lord send him? Where do you think he'll guide
you to? Where do you think he'll tell you? He'll say, run to Christ.
Run to the cross. Run to his death, his burial,
his resurrection. Run to the blood of the crucified
one. Run to his righteousness. Seek
and find rest in him alone. If we follow our own hearts in
that matter, where are we going to end up? Death and hell. The
heart's deceitful, desperately wicked. Who can know it? You
know what your heart will teach you to do and guide you to do?
To trust in yourself. But God's Word, if it's written
on your heart by the power of the Holy Spirit, will lead you
to find hope, peace, safety, salvation, rest, comfort, assurance
in Christ and Him crucified alone. Nowhere else. Nowhere else. And
if there are any people who need to inquire of the Lord, it's
us, isn't it? We're sinners. Proverbs 11.5
says, the righteousness of the perfect shall direct his way. That's the mature. But the wicked
shall fall by his own wickedness. And Jeremiah 10 and verse 23
says, O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself. It is not in man that walketh
to direct his steps. Now, what that really means is
this. It means I know, God, that sinful men can't direct their
own lives. that men and women don't have
what it takes to walk a right. We don't have it. God alone does. So the Bible tells us not to
trust in our own hearts, but to trust in the Lord with all
our hearts, all our heart rather, and lean not unto our own understanding. In all our ways acknowledge him,
and he will direct our paths. David asked, he said, Whither
shall I go up? And he said, Unto Hebron. Hebron
has a rich history in the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, where
Sarah was buried. It was the only piece of land
that Abraham bought and possessed. He was a sojourner throughout
the whole thing, and it was not in their possession as a nation
until God brought them together and brought them in there after
the exodus. But Hebron was special. And there's
the line, the earthly line of Christ, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob.
Bring it all the way down to David. The first place he was
anointed as king in a public ceremony, you might say, was
in Hebron. He went to Hebron. And it says
in verse 2, So David went up there, and his two wives also,
Ahinoam, the Jezreelitess, and Abigail, Nabal, Nabal's wife,
the Carmelite. And his men that were with him
did bring David up, every man with his household, and they
dwelt in the cities of Hebron. Every man with his household.
These are all the men who were identified and united to David. These were all the men who David
ruled over. These were all the ones who suffered
with David as he ran from Saul, as he was pursued. And all these
men and their household came up with David. And what a great
picture of those who are united to and identified and ruled by
the Lord Jesus Christ. We'll be exalted with Him. if
we suffer with Him. That's what the Scripture teaches.
We suffered with Him by representation and substitution on the cross
of Calvary, for He died for our sins. Scripture says in Ephesians
2, we went together with Him. And we suffer with Him when the
Spirit brings us into a saving knowledge of Christ, and we confess
Him with our mouths. He who is in our hearts, we confess
Him with our mouths, and that brings the persecution that comes
from the world. And we suffer with Him. But those
who suffered with him will reign with him, just as those in our
day who have suffered with our Lord will reign with him." In
verse 4 it says, "...the men of Judah came, and they anointed
David king over the house of Judah. And they told David, saying
that the men of Jabesh-Gilead were they that buried Saul."
Here David is anointed as king over Judah in Hebrew. Now underscore in your mind at
this point the name Judah. Because we're looking at David
first as the king of Judah, not as the king of all Israel. In
fact, read on, verse 5, David sent messengers unto the men
of Jabesh-Gilead, and said unto them, Blessed be ye of the Lord,
that ye have shown this kindness unto your Lord, even unto Saul,
and have buried him. And now the Lord show kindness
and truth unto you, and I also will requite or return you this
kindness, because you've done this thing. And then he prays
for them. He said, Therefore now let your
hands be strengthened and be you valiant for your master Saul
is dead. And also the house of Judah have
anointed me king over them. David is inviting them to come
and serve him as king over Judah. And he honors them because they
honored the office of king. They honored Saul by burying
him. They show compassion. But what happens? Look at verse
8. Right after that, But Abner, the son of Ner, captain of Saul's
host, Abner there. He took Ish-bosheth, the son
of Saul. Now, we don't know a lot about
Ish-bosheth. We know Saul had three sons that were killed with
him in battle. Most commentators say that Ish-bosheth
was either an illegitimate son of Saul, that he was about 40
years old at this time, Or that he was a grandson. Many times
in the Bible when a grandson is named, he's called the son
of his grandfather. That just doesn't make those
distinctions. So we don't know. His name, there's
some argument over this, his name means man of shame. Don't know why his mama would
name him that way, or his daddy, but that's what it was. But this
is a shame. that he would allow Abner to
set him up as king over Israel when he knew full well that David
was the anointed of God. So it's a shame for any person,
any man, to set himself in a place that belongs only to the anointed
king. And there you have it. It's a
shame for any man, I don't care who he is or what he's known
as or how much he's known or how well he's liked or anything,
to set himself in any position where only God, through the Lord
Jesus Christ, must have. And that's why we must continually
inquire of the Lord and not of men. Now, I know God sends men
to preach the gospel to us. And it's by the foolishness of
preaching that he saves them that believe. And I know he sends
godly men to guide us. But my friend, you must test
the preachers. You must test those by the Word
of God. Never, never, never fail to do
that in anybody's case. I don't care who they are. Never
fail to do that. Inquire of the Lord. But there
you have division now. Abner. And he sets up Ish-bosheth,
the son of Saul. brought him over to Mahanaim,
verse 9, and made him king over Gilead, and over the Asherites,
and over Jezreel, and over Ephraim, and over Benjamin, and over all
Israel." So here is David, the king of Judah. And here is Ish-bosheth,
the king of Israel. And it says in verse 10, Ish-bosheth
saw his son, verse 10, was forty years old when he began to reign
over Israel, and he reigned two years, short reign. But the house
of Judah followed David. The house of Judah followed David. And the time that David was king
in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months.
Not meaning that David's reign ended then, but then David became
king over all Israel, including Judah. Now, as I said, I underscore
that name Judah. Judah is the tribe from which
we get the term Jew. In fact, the first time in the
Bible the term Jew, J-E-W, is used, 2 Kings chapter 16. First time it's used. And that
is a derivative of the tribe of Judah. Israel and Judah. You begin to get the sense here
of what's going on. And later on, There was a division. They came together under David
later on after the seven years. But the seed of division had
already been sown by Abner, right here, in this chapter. And that never, never fully,
fully was obliterated, that seed of division. Because after Solomon,
you remember, the kingdom divided, split, between Jeroboam and Rehoboam. And you had Israel and Judah,
and with Judah, along with Judah, came most of the tribe of Benjamin
and a great part of the tribe of Levi. But you see, so Israel
to the north became almost, now think about this one, Israel
to the north, the ten tribes, after that division, after Solomon,
they became like Gentiles. They didn't worship at the temple.
They made their own temple in Samaria. That's where you had
the intermarriage of those Gentiles with the Israelites, and you
had the Samaritans. That's why they were so hated.
They were mixed blood. That's why Paul said, I'm a Hebrew
of Hebrews. I don't mix blood. He said, that
ought to count for something. He said that until God brought
him to repentance, showed him the glory of Christ. But you
see, they were like Gentiles. And I tell you, it remained that
way. They never come together again. In fact, about a hundred
years, or I think a few hundred years, before Judah was destroyed
and taken captive by the Babylonians, Israel was utterly obliterated,
the northern kingdom, by the Assyrian army. And they were
never to be seen again. And so now we have a million
books trying to figure out where the Lost Ten Tribes are. Forget it. They're not there. God meant it for a purpose. But
you had the tribe of Judah that remained intact. Because that
was according to God's purpose and promise. The scepter will
not depart from Judah until Christ, the King of Judah, would come.
And Judah was united under David. And just as Christ came first
to the Jews, And then to the Gentiles, here we see David anointed
first as king of Judah, and then later on all Israel. It's a picture
of Christ who has a people both of Jew and Gentile, spiritual
Israel. But David, as he honored these
men who buried Saul, In other words, they honored Saul's memory. Now, listen to me now. They weren't
blowing smoke here. They weren't bragging about Saul
and how great Saul was. They honored him in the office
of king. And that meant something. That
meant that these men of Judah, Beth, Gilead, they respected
that office. And then David said, well, I'm
king over Judah. You come to me. So they honored
Saul's memory. Abner, the captain of his host,
dishonored his memory. Now, how did he do it? By creating
division. You see, the point of this is
there could only be unity in Israel under David. And without
David, there could be no unity. And you know why? Is it because
David was such a good guy or a good leader? No. It was because
God had anointed him to be king. And that's a picture of how in
the church, what unity there is. I hope tonight there's unity
here. What unity there is in the church
is under Christ. And the very moment that people
begin to follow a man, there's division. Just like Abner. The very moment, that's division. This is the house that Christ
built, you see. His church. He told Peter and
the disciples, he said, upon this rock I will build my church.
He didn't say upon these rocks. One rock. And that's Christ.
One church. And here Abner, he comes along
and he creates division and strife. Eventually comes to a civil war. Made Ish-bosheth king over all
Israel, a man of shame. This was the beginning of a division
that came to full swing fruition after Solomon. But, he says in
verse 10, but the house of David, or the house of Judah followed
David. My friend, the people of God follow Christ. And that's where our unity is.
This was God's plan for redemptive history. The house of Judah is
a type of Christ's church built upon Him and by Him. He's the
rock upon which we build our house. And look back over there
in Hebrews chapter 3 that I read at the opening. And he starts off there. He says,
Consider the apostle and high priest of our profession. Consider
Christ. That's where we're going to meet
together now. Now, I'll go out on a limb here tonight. I would say that when we read
the Bible, and you know, I always tell you this, now, the Bible
is not an easy book. Don't let any preacher tell you
that. Listen, you've been reading the Old Testament with me here.
I mean, there are things you just can't get a hold of. Why
is that there? Somebody asked me about David's
wives last week. It's all of a sudden, he just
picked up another one here in the next chapter. I don't know.
Why'd God let that go on? I don't know. It was not lawful
now. I've heard preachers say, well,
polygamy was okay in the old days. No, it wasn't. One man,
one woman, coming together, one flesh. Not one man and fifty
women. And, but now it just mentions, it just says it said David picked
up another wife and it goes on. It doesn't stop to explain it.
It doesn't stop to say now, let me tell you religious folk how
you can handle this. It doesn't. And I don't understand
all that. I don't. But I don't have to. And you don't either. And you'll
read, it's like when I read this chapter, you know, I said, well,
you know, why is all that about Abner there, you know? You read
that and Abner, he goes out and he, Joab and his nephew come
out, and they're going to get Abner, and they have this battle.
They have this kind of like a duel. You know, Abner finally, he says,
stop now. He said, we're going to kill
everybody, and we're all going to be killed. And so, I mean, even Abner recognized
that. What's he talking about? He's talking about this. Under
David, there's unity. There's fellowship. Under men,
there's division and hatred and strife and war. That's the point
of that. I don't know why Abner looked
to the East instead of the West. I can't tell you, but I can tell
you what this means. The Bible is not any... but the
message of the Bible is simple. I mean, it's very simple. And
that's simply this. Our whole life is wrapped up
in the person and work of Christ. And when we get our minds off
Him and what He accomplished and who He is and how He's our
first love and our only love, really, then there'll be trouble. I mean, there's just going to
be trouble from the get-go there. What does it say when somebody
divides like that? I really don't know. I tell you,
it either says they're an apostate or they're a very sick believer. That's the only thing I can tell
you. The Scripture teaches us. You say, well, how would you
assess that? I don't. That's not my business. I'm just telling them to inquire
of the Lord. Run to Christ. But look here, consider Christ
Jesus. Now, when we stop considering
Him, we're going to get in trouble. But then He speaks, He talks
about Christ building the house. And we're the house now. Christ
is the builder. Now, who deserves the honor?
He says here, He says here, verse 3 of Hebrews 3, He says, this
man, that man is in italics, this person, This man, Christ,
was counted worthy of more glory than Moses inasmuch as he who
hath builted the house hath more honor than the house." So we're
the house now. Christ is the builder of the
house. Now who gets the honor? Christ does. Who are we here
to honor? Christ. This whole thing is a
memorial to Christ. That's what the Lord's Supper
is about. It's a memorial to Christ and what He accomplished
at Calvary. It's not a memorial to men or to me. or the pastor,
or anybody. It's a memorial to Christ. And
when it stops being a memorial to Christ, you know what it is?
It's the salt that lost its savor. It's good for nothing except
to be thrown out. That's right. And so we pray, don't let us
lose sight of who gets the glory here, who gets the honor here.
And he says in verse 4, For every house is built by some man, but
he that built all things is God. Moses was faithful in all his
house as a servant for a testimony of those things which were to
be spoken after. But Christ, verse 6, but Christ
as a son over his own house. Whose house are we? Not just
me and not just we together. That's the whole family of God. That's the elect of God. That's
the justified. That's the redeemed, the regenerated,
the adopted. We. And then he gives the evidence. Are you a member of this household,
this family? Here's the evidence. If we hold
fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope, firm unto the end.
Now, what is our confidence? All the promises of God are in
Him, yea, and in Him, amen. That's our confidence. Christ
is our confidence. My confidence is not in you and
it's not in me. Your confidence is not in me.
It's in Christ. He's going to keep that which
I've committed unto Him against that day, Paul writes. And our
rejoicing is in Christ. We glory in Christ. God forbid
that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.
And our hope is firm in Him. Not in us. Listen, if it was
in David, how would it have been? It would have been lost, wouldn't
it? You know the future. You've read
the future for David. You know what's going to happen
to him. He's going to fail miserably. And you can say that about every
saint at one time or another. Every one of the great superheroes of the Bible. You can say that about everyone.
They fail miserably in many ways. But Christ never fails. He never lets go. He never stops. He never changes. He has us in
the palm of His hand, He said in John 10, and no one, can pluck
them out of his hand. No one. We can't even pluck ourselves
out of his hand. And we hold that confidence firm
until the end, you see. And we're only held together
by Christ. Turn to Ephesians chapter 2 with me. Now, what is written here in
Ephesians 2? We've read it many times. I want you to think about
something here as I read through just a few verses here. What
is said here in Ephesians 2? can be applied to each and every
sinner saved by grace individually. But you know, the mainstay of
what he's saying here in Ephesians chapter 2 applies to the church
as a whole. And I'll show you what I mean.
Like here in verse 4, after he talks about our sin and depravity,
by nature children of wrath, and it says in verse 4, But God,
who is rich in mercy for His great love wherewith He loved
us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us You see
that next word? Together. With Christ. By grace, you are saved. Now,
if you're born again tonight, if I'm born again, we weren't
born again together. You were born again at a different
time than I was. I don't know when. Don't get
me wrong. I'm not telling you to go out
there and try to find, as they say, your spiritual birthday.
Don't get on that stuff. What I'm saying is that it's
different. Our experience of grace is different. Different ways, different times.
So how were we quickened together with Christ? At the cross. He died for our sins. He was buried. And what did he
do? He arose again the third day. That's the quickening he's
talking about. And every member of his household was right with
him by representation, by imputation, by substitution. He didn't do
it for himself, Daniel chapter 9 verse 25, he was cut off, but
not for himself, he was cut off for his people. So you see there,
that's talking about the church as a whole. And so in verse 8,
by grace are you saved through faith, that and not of yourselves,
the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. Do
you know who that applies to? That applies to each member of
the house. So that's a whole church. You see, there's not
one person who's saved by works in the church and another person
who's saved by grace. And faith is the gift of God
for every believer. You didn't get it by your will,
and I didn't get it by another will. It all comes the same way.
And so he says, where his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto
good works which God hath before ordained that we should walk
in them, that's the church. That's everybody. And the whole issue
here is walking together. Not walking apart, not walking
away from each other, but walking together under Christ. And so
he goes on, he talks about the Gentiles. Verse 13, look at this. He said, Now in Christ Jesus,
you who sometimes were far off, are made nigh by the blood of
Christ. How were the Gentiles brought
into this family? Same way the Jews were, by the
blood of Christ. For He is our peace, who hath
made both one. You see that? Jew and Gentile,
both one. Judah and Israel, you might say,
as we apply it to David in history. Made us both one. What's one?
Now we're one in Christ. And he says, "...for he is our
peace who hath made both one..." and hath broken down the middle
wall of partition between us." Now that middle wall of partition
is a reference to the temple that stood at that time where
there was a court of the Jews that was inside and a court of
the Gentiles which is outside. The Gentiles could come in and
worship like the Jews but they had to remain separate. And so
the Jews, they were just a little bit closer to God. A little bit
better. Not so now. In Christ we're all
one and that middle wall's been broken down. Verse 15, having
abolished in his flesh the enmity. Now that's, he abolished the
enmity that was between God and his people. But here's talking
about the enmity that was between Jew and Gentile. Even the law
of commandments contained in ordinances for to make in himself,
in Christ, of two, one new man. That's the church. so making
peace, and that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by
the cross, having slain the enmity thereby. And came and preached
peace to you which were far off, and to them which were nigh,
for through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the
Father." You see that? One Spirit. Now, therefore, you're
no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the
saints and of the household of God, and are built upon the foundation
of the apostles and prophets. And what is that foundation?
He says it right here. Jesus Christ Himself being the
chief cornerstone. You see that? Listen to verse
21, "...in whom all the building fitly framed." Who fitly framed
it? God did. Who put you where you
are and gave you the gifts you have to operate in this one body? God did. "...grow up unto a holy
temple in the Lord, in whom you also are built together for the
inhabitation of God through the Spirit." Over in chapter 4, verse
3, when he's talking about endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit
in the bond of peace. Now that's what we're all to
be about. Every individual believer, from the pastor, everybody. We're
all to be about endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit
in the bond of peace, because there's one body, one Spirit,
even as you're called in one hope of your calling, one Lord.
You see, unity only under Christ. One faith. Somebody said, well,
does every believer believe exactly the same way? No, but we're still
one faith. We have one Lord, one Christ,
one way that God saves sinners. The simplicity of Christ. And
you may have a different take on a particular scripture than
I do. And you may be right and I may be wrong. I may be right.
You may be wrong. Probably we're both wrong. But
I know this. There's only one way that God
can be just and justify a sinner, and that is by the sovereign
grace and mercy of God in Christ Jesus. That's by His blood and
righteousness alone. And so it's one baptism, one
God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and
in you all. That's what's being pictured
back here in this 2 Samuel chapter 2. The house of Judah followed
David. My friend, the house of God follows
Christ. That's it. Now, there was division in Israel
under the Old Covenant after Solomon. But I'll tell you what,
in Christ there's no division. In Christ there is none now.
Jeremiah spoke of that in Jeremiah 31. He said there are not going
to be One nation here and it's all going to be one nation together.
And just as in Israel, unity could only come under David.
In the church, unity can only come under Christ. And that's
what's illustrated. You know, in these other verses,
you can read these last verses of 2 Samuel 2 about Abner and
Joab and all that took place here in this
battle of Sahel. who attacked Abner, and Abner
killed him, ran him through with the butt of his spear. And it
says in verse 25, the children of Benjamin gathered themselves
together after Abner. No, that's division. They're
following Abner, not following David, God's anointed king. Abner,
he called for peace, which was kind of hypocritical because
he's the one who started the whole mess to begin with. He's
like the playground bully. Start the fight and back off.
I wonder what's going on. I've seen those kind of playground
bullies in churches. I have. Stir it up. Stir it up. Keep it going. Do you hear what
he said? Do you know what he said about
you? You've heard it and it comes.
Let me give you this and I'll hurry and I'll close. Men of
their own hearts will only divide. Paul dealt with that in 1 Corinthians
1. And it's always over men. And they'll either do it or they'll
allow it to be done. And this is what he says. And
here's how he answers them. He says in verse 11 of 1 Corinthians
1. He said, it has been declared
unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house
of Chloe, that there are contentions among you. And now this, I say
that every one of you sayeth, I'm a Paul and I have a Paulus
and I have Cephas and I have Christ. There's the division
right there. Here's the answer. Verse 13,
is Christ divided? No, he's not divided. Was Paul
crucified for you? Some of you say, I'm a Paul.
Well, did Paul die for your sins? Is Paul your righteousness before
God? No. Christ is. Or were you baptized
in the name of Paul? No. When you were baptized, you
were immersed in water, baptized in the name of the Father, and
of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. You identified with Christ. You
confessed Christ in that ordinance. Not Paul. Not Bill. Not anyone. But Christ. And so Paul says,
I thank God that I baptized none of you but Christus and Gaius.
And he goes on. Now, somebody asks, well, why
does God allow this to go on? Well, turn to 1 Corinthians 11. And Paul answers that too. God
answers that through Paul. 1 Corinthians 11, verse 18. Now, he gives you the reason
that there are divisions within the true church, and he gives
you the remedy. He's already given us the remedy.
Consider Christ. Set your mind on Him. Keep your
eyes and your hearts on Him. Honor Him. Glorify Him. Follow
Him. Look at verse 18. He says, For
first of all, when you come together, this is 1 Corinthians 11, together
in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you, and I
partly believe it, for there must be also heresies, schisms,
or divisions among you, that they which are approved may be
made manifest among you. In these divisions, there is
a testimony of the grace of God in those who are true believers. And sometimes the tares are weeded
out. Now, does that mean everybody
who gets caught up in these things are tares or ghosts? No. Scripture deals with that
too. But it does mean this. There
is no, absolutely at any time, for any reason, no godly reason,
if they inquire of the Lord, for there to be division. There's
always to be unity, and there will be unity only under Christ.