Continuing our study tonight in Second Samuel, if you turn there with me to the Chapter 3. Second Samuel Chapter 3, just one verse tonight, verse one. Give you a moment to get there. Second Samuel Chapter 3. Verse one. Now there was a long war between, that's the title tonight's message, A Long War Between.

There was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David, but David waxed stronger and stronger and the house of Saul waxed weaker and weaker. Now we've seen from our previous study That what makes matters worse here is this long war is a civil war. It's a civil war, as you know, is a conflict fought between a single country. We all learned something in school about the Civil War of the United States. It was a tragic thing.

Family against family, brother against brother. And that's what we have here. the war within two groups of the same nation. These two sides were of the same family. They were of the 12 tribes of Judah, the 12 tribes of Israel. They were all the children of Israel. They were all part of God's chosen nation. Verse one tells us that this long civil war was between the house of David and the house of Saul. One was fading and the other was rising. David waxed stronger and stronger and the house of Saul waxed weaker and weaker. Now, what is the gospel connection with this verse? Well, John read it to us there in Romans chapter seven.

There's a civil war that goes on within the believer, every believer. There are two natures within us. There are two identities struggling inside of us. A believer is one person with two natures. The conflict between the old man and the new man isn't a peaceful negotiation. It's a war. It's a long war.

Saul here represents everything natural in us. Self-rule. We want to be our own God. Pride. Saul was a prideful man. So are we by nature. Saul represented flesh. He represented resistance. On more than one occasion, Saul did things his way, not God's way. Saul represents rebellion. And he is a picture of us by nature. David represents the new man. He's God's chosen king, pointing us to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now I want to read you a verse out of Galatians chapter five, verse 17. You don't have to turn there. Paul there wrote, for the flesh lusteth against the spirit. and the spirit against the flesh. And these are contrary. That word means opposed. It means opposite. This flesh and this spirit within us is opposed to one another. They're opposite to one another. The one to the other, he says, so that you cannot, cannot, you don't have the ability to do the things that you would. That's what Paul was saying there in Romans 7. What I shouldn't do, I do. What I don't want to do, that I do. What I don't want to do, I do.

It's a struggle. It's a war. It's a long war. It's a civil war. This conflict, this struggle goes on within the same individual. It's a civil war. There's nothing civil about it. A battle, a struggle, a war that's never over in this life. As long as we live and as long as we breathe, this war will continue.

The house of Saul does not improve. It's got to decline. And I don't know what makes men think that God reforms the flesh. He does no such thing. He replaces Selk's rule with a new king. That's why this conflict's going on between the house of Saul and the house of David. The house of David represents God's chosen king. pointing forward to Christ and His kingdom.

Now, I want you to hold your place here and turn back to Genesis chapter 25 with me. We'll come back to this single verse in 2 Samuel, but I want you to see these verses. Very familiar passage of Scripture, Genesis chapter 25, and look at verse 21. Genesis 25, 21.

It says, and Isaac entreated. That word means interceded. Isaac interceded, entreated the Lord for his wife because she was barren. And the Lord was entreated of him. In other words, the Lord interceded at his request. He answered his prayer. And Rebekah, his wife, conceived. She was barren. So are you and I. By nature, we're barren. We're barren of God's Spirit.

In verse 22, and the children. Now this is talking about Jacob and Esau. We're real familiar with them two boys. And it says, and the children struggled. That word means crushed. These children, Jacob and Esau, struggled together within her. And she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to inquire of the Lord, and the Lord said unto her, look what he said unto her, two nations are in your womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels, and the one people shall be stronger than the other people, and the elder shall serve the younger. Now this is much more than just an unusual pregnancy detail.

It's a window into man's struggle within. What John read, what I read to you there in Galatians, two nations were in Rebekah's womb, two manner of people, but God had ordained and purposed that one would be stronger than the other. The elder, the older, gonna serve the younger. The old man is the older and the new man is the younger.

And God determined the outcome before either of these children had done any good or evil. That's what we read in Romans 9, 11, so that God's purpose according to election. We talked about election Sunday. See, we love election because election removes all doubt about who does the saving. God saved before the foundation world, before you and I were ever born, before we ever done any good or evil, that God's purpose, according to His choosing, stands, not by works. but by God who calls.

Now we have an illustration here of the conflict between flesh and spirit, the natural man and the child of promise. Esau represents the natural man, just like Saul does. And Jacob represents the child of promise. Jacob have I loved, God said, Esau have I hated. Now the battle in Rebekah's womb is a living parable of what I just read to you in Galatians chapter five.

The flesh lusteth against the spirit. And this is a conflict that only God can resolve. You can't resolve it, I can't resolve it, none of us can resolve it, only God can. Which is gonna win the war, huh? There's no uncertainty about it. The outcome is predetermined by God Almighty. The elder shall serve the younger. This overturns every cultural norm. Abel was chosen over Cain. Cain was the firstborn. Isaac was chosen over Ishmael. Jacob over Esau and Christ over Adam. The stronger, the firstborn, the natural heir is passed over. And this is the gospel pattern.

Why? Because God chooses the weak. God passes by the strong. God exalts what man could never do or never would do. And this points us straight again to the Lord Jesus Christ, where righteousness is not inherited. It's not merited, it's not earned, it's not deserved. It's by grace and grace alone. Sovereign grace, yes. That's the only kind of grace there is. We have to qualify it because Everybody today preaches what they call grace, and it's not grace at all. They preach grace as man's cooperation with God to help God to do what he undoubtedly can't do without their help. That's not grace.

Now, let me mention this. Rebecca's question in verse 22 there in Genesis, why am I thus? is the cry of someone experiencing something they can't explain. Is that not the case with the Awakened sinner? Have you ever asked God, why am I this way? I ask myself that question. Oh, Lord, why am I like this? I don't know the answer.

We still ask, why, why, why, why, why? When God gives life within, there begins turmoil, there begins conviction of sin, there begins resistance of the flesh, and a real struggle begins. It's a civil war within, and it's a long war. And it doesn't even begin until life is given. Isn't that something? Rebecca was barren, so were we, by nature.

Isaac entreated and interceded the Lord for her. And Christ prays and intercedes, not for the world. That's what he said. I pray not for the world, but for those that thou hast given me. He prays for his own. He intercedes for his own. And all of a sudden, life is given. You see, his prayer is effectual. When the Lord prays for somebody, that prayer's gonna be heard. And he entreated the Lord, he entreated God on behalf of his people. He came to die for them to make their salvation certain. And it's, there was no struggle in Rebecca before life was given to her. And it's the same with us inwardly. When life is given, that's when the struggle begins.

Is that not your case? Sure it is. Now, back in 2 Samuel 3, verse one, our text reminds us again that this is a long war. And it is, isn't it? It's a long war. This is not a brief skirmish, it's a prolonged conflict. And when Christ begins His work, war begins. Flesh against spirit, self against grace, pride against submission. Now I want you to pay close attention here to the language of verse one. I read this seven, eight times before I saw this. Even had to go back and change my notes and outline after the Lord showed it to me.

This verse says, David grew stronger and stronger. You see that there? Not the house of David, but David himself did. Now when it speaks of Saul, it says his house waxed weaker and weaker. But it says David grew stronger and stronger. So I have to ask you this.

Do you find yourself getting stronger and stronger? Do you? Is this talking about our flesh getting stronger and stronger? I have to ask you, since you came to Christ and began to trust Him as your mediator, are you experiencing more strength and victory against sin? Has dealing with sin become easier for you? Do you feel as though you're holier? Do you find yourself to be more righteous? Well, let me just say this, if that's the case, and if we should, then something's bad wrong with me. If sin has become less a struggle for me, then I'm no doubt, if sin should be less a struggle for me, then I'm no doubt missing something.

This verse doesn't speak of David's house becoming stronger and stronger. It says that David himself waxed stronger and stronger. And you know what that's doing? That's speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the greater David. We've said that so many times in our studies at First Samuel. He's David's son, yet he's David's Lord. And we, his house, are not becoming stronger. But Christ in us is. He's the hope of glory, not us. Christ in you is the hope of glory. What's my hope of being saved and forever with God? Jesus Christ.

It takes life within to see this. It takes a new nature, a new birth for us to see this. Before Rebecca was given life within, she didn't have a struggle going on. She was barren. She was dead. God gave her life and then here comes the struggle. That's how salvation works. Our Lord Jesus doesn't just offer help. His rule takes over. And I'm so glad it does, aren't you? His grace becomes dominant. His small, still voice gets louder and louder. His power becomes more evident.

This is not us letting Jesus have his way in our life. This is Christ, God's chosen king, having his way in our life. We're not letting him do anything. Saul's house grew weaker and weaker. Now listen, when Christ is king, flesh loses ground. God doesn't reform the old nature. He brings it down. He destroys it. And it's a long war. Pride weakens. Self-reliance diminishes. Our imagined control dissipates. We realize we're not on the throne. The redeemed sinner's not improved. He's overthrown.

God saves his people by replacing one king with another. And salvation is never quick, it's never easy or conflict-free, but the outcome is never, ever in doubt. So what we see before us in this single verse is that you and I, the believer, was saved before the foundation of the world, before we'd done any good or evil. That way we can't take any credit or glory for it.

And I am being saved right now. To whom coming? We continually come to Christ, don't we? Not day by day, minute by minute, second by second. And I'm being saved. Christ steadily is being strengthened within me. waxing stronger and stronger within me. The old man is steadily weakened. The end is certain because God has ordained it. In the believer, Christ is becoming more.

The more we see Christ as all, the more we see ourselves as nothing. Well, brother, I'm afraid you're going to get puffed up. Don't worry about it. God's going to see to it that I don't and that you don't. He's going to remind his people who is in control. If Christ is truly my all, then he grows greater and greater in my sight and my confidence in myself grows less and less. It's all getting weaker and weaker.

That doesn't mean I'm becoming more sinful. That's impossible because sin's not just what we do, it's what we are. And I'm just seeing more and more and more of my sin. But regardless, I do see myself as more a sinner today than when I first began to believe 40 years ago. Why is that? Because God's enabling me to see my sin more and more and more. The more I see of Christ, the more I see of myself and the higher view that I have of the Lord Jesus, the lower view I have of myself. That's the way it ought to be. That's a good thing. This house, this flesh grows weaker and weaker and weaker.

And Christ, who is our Alpha and Omega, our beginning and our end, the first and the last, He's everything in our salvation. He's our salvation from beginning to the end. And there was a time we didn't know it. We didn't know it. We just skipping along on our way to hell until God divinely intervened and said, That centered mine. I died for him. I died for her. Is that your experience? It sure is mine.

The natural man is at peace with himself. Like I said, we just skip along on our happy way to hell. But when God saves a sinner, he disturbs that false peace. And he exposes that sin within. And What we always did, all of a sudden, we see and we begin to say, oh my goodness, I'm a wretch. Oh, wretched man that I am, Paul said. Who's gonna deliver me from this body of death? And then he answered his own question.

I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. He's the only one that can. He's my king. He's my king. There's a new king on the throne. And it's here that we see the direction of grace. David grows stronger and stronger and stronger. Christ in us waxes stronger and stronger. The direction's not back and forth, it's progressive. Stronger, stronger, stronger. We look within, we don't see any change. And that's when we got to look outside of ourselves and look to Christ alone.

When Christ truly reigns, He becomes more precious. And His righteousness becomes more necessary to us. I see that my righteousness is filthy rags. But I see that His righteousness is perfect. And it's the only righteousness that God will accept. His finished work is now more trusted. I trust in his finished work.

It's not the strength of the believer. It's the strength of the believer's new king. David waxed stronger and stronger, not his house. And here it is that we see the decline of the flesh. Saul grows weaker and weaker. I'm so glad. I sure have my problems with Him. I try to whip Him and keep Him down, and I fail miserably. But Christ is my King. He's my victor. And again, I can't help but to think what makes religion think that they can make men better and stronger.

They don't know the Scriptures. They don't know themselves. God hadn't revealed it to them. God doesn't refine the old man. He brings him down. And that's why the gospel is offensive to human pride. Do you know that? You tell somebody that God's on the throne, and it's God that saves sinners, and the man doesn't have anything to do with it, and folks will fly hot. It's offensive to human pride.

It tells a man in no uncertain terms, you're not getting better. Progressive sanctification. You can't improve on perfection. You can't be more set apart. That's what sanctification mean. Christ set me apart. Christ made me perfect. I can't do anything to improve on that. Can you improve on perfection? You're not becoming acceptable by your efforts. A man doesn't like it. But that's mercy.

Now we've seen throughout our study in 1 Samuel that until Saul falls and until Saul fails, David was not fully recognized as king. He was, as you know, Saul chased him for years, and he's on the run, but he's God's anointed king. God has already sent Samuel to anoint him king, and he's God's king, he's just not on the throne. But after Saul's death, David's kingship is coming to fruition and he waxes stronger and stronger.

King self must die. King self must die. King Jesus must rule and reign. And this war has a guaranteed end. David's house will reign. Saul's house will fail. Not maybe, not possibly, but most certainly. It's a done deal. It's a finished work. That's the gospel. Christ will have the victory. Grace will ultimately triumph. Every enemy of King Jesus Christ will be subdued. And this includes the greatest enemy of all, self.

And here we have the gospel call. Where does these things leave us? We're either still under Saul, trusting ourselves, trusting our works, trusting our religion. We've been brought under David, meaning resting in Christ, the greater David, the greater king, the king of kings. He's the king of all kings. The question is not, do we struggle? We know we struggle. The question is, who's going to win in the end? Well, we don't have to worry about that either. Because we know who's going to win in the end. We know who's already won. Has your true nature been exposed, weakened, and humbled? Is Christ becoming more necessary and precious and more of everything to you? This, my friends, is the mark of grace. And this is the comfort of the believer.

Dead men don't fight. You know, folks say, you know, I'm fighting Satan, you know, I'm dead men don't fight. Dead men can't fight. Christ fights this long civil war for us and he alone will finish the war. No, that's that's not right. He's already finished the war. We know how it ends. He set the direction. David stronger, Saul weaker. You and I may feel the struggle, but the outcome has never been in doubt. So in this single verse, we have the whole gospel. It's a battle between two kings. A steady overthrow of the old and a sure establishment of the new.

And it all centers on one truth, Jesus Christ will and must and is reigning. And when he does, self is humbled, grace is exalted, and God gets all the glory. To those who still bow to Saul as king, if Saul still sits comfortable on the throne of your life, you've got reason to be concerned. But if he's weakened, if his rules have been challenged, if Christ is becoming your only hope, take heart. God is raising up his king in your heart.

And he will not stop. until the greater king, the greater David, wins with our rival. In the end, there's only going to be two houses, the house of Saul and the house of David. And within us, there's only two king. King self or the Lord Jesus Christ, the king of king. One king self is built on the strength of the flesh, the pride of man, the illusion of control. What an illusion. men have when they think they're in control of anything.

And by God's grace, it's going to grow weaker and weaker until it fails. And then the other, the Lord and King Jesus Christ is established by God's promise, upheld by His power. See, He can back up what He promises. We make promises and we hope we can carry them out, but sometimes We don't have the ability to carry them out. But our king does.

Upheld by his power, ruled by him, and it'll grow stronger and stronger, and we'll be able to, because of him, stand forever. And this war is not out there. This war is right here. It's right in here. The old man fights for the throne. Self-righteousness refused to die quickly. That's why it's a long war. But God has already determined the outcome, and He set His King on His holy hill. And every soul that He saves, He brings out of Saul's house into David's.

So let me leave you with these comforting words of the Spirit of God through the Apostle Paul, Romans 8, 18. For I reckon, Paul said, that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed, where?

In us. 2 Corinthians 4, verses 17 and 18, for our light affliction. Oh, this struggle then doesn't feel light, but God calls it light affliction, which is but for a moment, but it's a long war. It's long in what we call time, but not in eternity. But for a moment, it worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory."

Grab hold of that. Well, we look not at the things which are seen. That's our problem. We look at things that are seen. but at the things which are not seen." Oh, may God give us eyes to see unseen things. Well, the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. That's what we need to see.

So my encouragement to you and my encouragement to me tonight is to flee to the house of victorious king. If you're in Saul's house, get yourself to David's as quick as you can. Lay down your arms, bow to the King of Kings, and take comfort in knowing, being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it. Finish it, is what the word means, until the day of Jesus Christ.