The lesson begins in verse 4,
2 Samuel 5. And David was thirty years old
when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years. In Hebron
he reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem
he reigned thirty and three years over all Israel and Judah. Now
here we see another example of David being a picture of the
Lord Jesus Christ, the King. The Lord Jesus began his public
ministry when he was 30 years old. Just like David began to
reign when he was 30 years old. And as soon as David is anointed
king, bloody battles begin. We'll see three different battles
here in the rest of this chapter. And just like as soon as you
declare Christ to be king, you've got a battle on your hands. You
can be religious. I mean, you know, people are
Really, religious people can be difficult to be around. But
people get along with religious people just fine. You can talk
about this effeminate Jesus that wants to save you if you're letting,
that he won't violate your free will, he won't do anything unless
you want him to. You can talk about that Jesus.
People get along with you just fine. You can talk about moral
issues, what people should do, what they shouldn't do, how they
should act, how they shouldn't act. People get along with you.
You can talk about deep, hidden mysteries of doctrine, and even
if people disagree with you, they'll get along with you. But
you declare Christ to be the sovereign, to be the king who
does with every son of Adam as he will. And whatever he does
is right and just. You talk about that king, you've
got war in your hands. They anointed David king, and
he got war. And even though there is war,
And this is the title of the lesson this morning, The Kingdom
of Christ is Secure. Even though there's war, his
kingdom is secure. And I want us to see four things
in the rest of this chapter. The first one is this, the kingdom
of Christ is secure against the attacks of Satan. The kingdom
of Christ will prevail against Satan. Look here in verse six,
And the king and his men went to Jerusalem under the Jebusites,
the inhabitants of the land. which spake unto David, saying,
Except thou take away the blind and the lame, thou shalt not
come in hither, thinking David cannot come in hither. Nevertheless
David took the stronghold of Zion, the same as the city of
David. And David said on that day, Whosoever
getteth up to the gutter, smiteth the Jebusites, and the lame and
the blind, that are hated of David's soul, he shall be chief
and captain. Wherefore they said, The blind
and the lame shall not come into the house, So David dwelt in
the fort and called it the City of David, and David built round
about from Milo and inward. Now at this time, the Jebusites
lived in Jerusalem, but Jerusalem belonged to the tribe of Benjamin.
When the Israelites came into the Promised Land, God gave Jerusalem
to the tribe of Benjamin, but Benjamin never thrust the Jebusites
out. You know, they tolerated the Jebusites for a while. They
thought, well, let's just all get along. And they tolerated
the Jebusites for a while. Then as time went on, they either
couldn't thrust them out or they didn't want to thrust them out
anymore. And the Jebusites took over. Jerusalem, when David went
there, it was called the city of the Jebusites. They tolerated
the Jebusites, just like the church at Thyatira tolerated
Jezebel. John preached on that a few weeks
ago. You see, we can't tolerate false doctrine just to get along
with people. Because if you do that, you know
what will happen? They'll end up ruling. Just like the Jebusites
ended up ruling the city of Jerusalem. And they had fortified the city
so well that they had soldiers who'd been injured in battle
guarding the walls. Those who were lame and those
who were blind from injuries in battle. That's who was guarding
that city. See, they figured they didn't
need strong, fit guards because their city was so well fortified.
And they're mocking David by having the blind guard that city.
They're mocking Israel. Well, now, David is king. That
city belongs to him. And he's going to take what belongs
to him. And he sent his men through underground
tunnels that carry water in and out of the city. That's the gutter
he was talking about there. They used those underground tunnels.
They got into the city. They killed those guards. Those
lame, blind guards, they killed them. They killed the rest of
the Jebusites and took the city and David set his throne there.
That's where he reigned. Now you see the picture? Satan
has a stronghold in the hearts of natural man. Men are ruled
by sin that we cannot thrust out. We don't have the ability
to thrust it out. We don't have the desire to thrust
it out. Satan rules. He's got a stronghold. Men are
blind. by nature, just like these guards
were blind. They're blind by nature in Adam.
Scripture talks about God blinding some in judicial darkness. But
look at 2 Corinthians chapter 4. Some, Satan is blinded. 2 Corinthians 4, verse 3. But if our gospel be hid, it
is hid to them that are lost. in whom the God of this world
hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light
of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should
shine unto them." The God of this world, Satan, has blinded
their hearts, and he's got a stronghold, I mean a strong, well-defensed
hold, and his defenses are the deadness of men, the spiritual
deadness and blindness of men, and Satan's not going to let
go. How's anyone going to go free? We don't have the kind
of power to set ourselves free from that stronghold. How's anyone
going to be set free? It's through the Lord Jesus Christ.
His people may be held for a while, but His kingdom is secure. Look
over at Luke chapter 11. Here's how we're set free. Luke chapter 11. Now he was casting out a devil, and
it was done. And it came to pass when the
devil was gone out, the domes faked, and the people wondered.
And some of them said he casteth out devils through Beelzebub,
the chief of the devils. And others, tempting him, saw
of him a sign from heaven. But he, knowing their thoughts,
said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought
to desolation. and a house divided against a
house fallen. If Satan also be divided against
himself, how shall his kingdom stand? Because ye say, I cast
out devils through Beelzebub. And if I by Beelzebub cast out
devils, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they
should be your judges. But if I with the finger of God
cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come unto you.
When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in
peace. But when a stronger than he shall come and overcome him,
he taketh from him all his armor wherein he trusted, and divideth
his spoils. That's how we're set free. Satan's
got a stronghold, but one stronger than him comes, sets his people
free, and divides the spoil. And just like David sat enthroned
at Jerusalem, Christ sits enthroned in Zion. He sits enthroned in
the hearts of his people. And his kingdom dwells securely. But now God's church, his kingdom,
it's not just hunkered down in a defensive position. We take
the offensive. If a strong man is going to free
someone from that strong man to arm one stronger than him,
he's going to have to take the offensive. And that's what God's
church does. Look at Matthew chapter 16. Matthew 16, this is when Peter
declared that Christ is the Son, you're the Christ, the Son of
the living God. And verse 18, our Lord said unto him, I say
also unto thee that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will
build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against
it. Even the very gates of hell are not going to be able to stop
the kingdom of Christ from going forth and having his people.
Now back in our text, I looked and looked at this my first read
this chapter about the blind and the lame that are hated of
David's soul. At the end of verse 7, they say,
wherefore they say, the blind and the lame shall not come into
the house. When I first read that, I thought,
that sounds like there's no hope for me. That's me, I'm blind
and lame and dead. Well, you know what? God is holy. God hates sin. This thing about
God loving everybody, God hates sin. And he hates the sinner.
The blind and the lame shall not come in to the kingdom of
God. No one in their sins is going
to come into the kingdom of God. So the Lord Jesus Christ makes
his people whole. He gives life to his people.
He gives eyes to his people so that they see Christ. He gives
them ears that they hear the voice of Christ. He gives them
feet that follow Christ. He gives them a voice to be used
in the praise of Christ. They're not blind and lame and
dead anymore. He'd given them life, and that's
how they come into his kingdom, whole. We enter into his kingdom. The kingdom of Christ will prevail
against Satan. Second, the kingdom of Christ
is secure from the sin of the elect. Look at verse 10 in our
text. And David went on and grew great,
and the Lord God of hosts was with him. And Hiram, king of
Tyre, sent messengers to David, and cedar trees, and carpenters,
and masons, and they built David a house. And David perceived
that the Lord had established him king over Israel, and that
he had exalted his kingdom for his people Israel's sake. And
David took him more concubines and wives out of Jerusalem, after
he was come from Hebron. And there were yet sons and daughters
born to David, and these be the names of those that were born
unto him in Jerusalem, Chemua, and Choab, and Nathan, and Solomon,
Ibar also, and Elishua, and Nepheg, and Japheth. J.P.I. and Eli Shammah and Eli Adda
and Eli Fallot. Now David, King David, is a picture
of Christ. King of kings and Lord of lords.
And we read here that the Lord had established his kingdom and
promoted his kingdom for Israel's sake. Well, that's how the Father
has promoted the Lord Jesus Christ. In Philippians 2, wherefore God
also Highly exalted Him and giving Him a name which is above every
name that the name of Jesus every knee should bow. Every tongue
should confess that He's Lord, He's King, to the glory of God
the Father. Hebrews 1 verse 8, But unto the
Son, He said, Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever. A scepter
of righteousness is the scepter of Thy kingdom. He's exalted
the kingdom of His Son for His people's sake, for spiritual
Israel's sake. The Lord Jesus Christ has been
exalted for his glory and the good of his people. Now Christ
is perfect, but David's just a picture. The best a man can
ever be is just a picture. David has the same two natures
that every believer has dwelling in them. David has a spiritual
man that's been born in him. David perceived that the Lord
had established him. He perceived the Lord had blessed
him. He perceived the Lord God of hosts was with him. Only a
spiritual man could perceive that. But David also had a natural
man. David perceived that the Lord
God of hosts was with him. That the Lord God of hosts had
established his kingdom for his people Israel's sake. So, David
took him more concubines and wives. Now, we've seen this before,
David taking these wives. And the best I can explain this
is that the Lord tolerated men having multiple wives, but it
was never condoned. And in Deuteronomy 17, we read
this before in our study. We won't go back and read it
again. But in Deuteronomy 17, God expressly forbids the king
to have more than one wife. It's expressly forbidden. And
David did it anyway. Now, God tolerated it, but it
was never condoned. And these children are going
to bring grief to them. They're going to bring grief
because they're born out of sin. I mean, that's just all you can
say about it. And it's a sad state of affairs when the Lord's
blessing leads a man to sin. Now, when that happens, that's
just clear evidence Adam's nature is still in us. Adam's nature
has not been eradicated. He's strong and he's fighting
as hard as he ever has. If God's grace leads us to sin,
then I can assure you we have the wrong understanding of God's
grace. Shall we sin that grace may abound?
God forbid! God forbid that we do that. Believers
are to strive for holiness, aren't we? Be ye holy, as your Father
which is in heaven is holy. We're to strive for holiness.
But no, we're going to fall short. Don't let that stop you from
striving for it, but we're going to fall short. And when we do,
here's our comfort. We're not accepted for our holiness.
We're accepted in the holiness, in the person of our Lord Jesus
Christ. And when we fall short, here's
our second comfort. The kingdom of Christ is secure
from the sin of God's elect. David sinned. There's no way
to sugarcoat that. There's no way to get around
it. David sinned. Yet the kingdom of Christ was
not destroyed, was it? Man's sin will never frustrate
the purpose or decree of God. God overrules even man's sin
to accomplish his purpose. And the best illustration of
that is those men that crucified the Lord Jesus. What a sin. What a sin against God, a sin
against God's Son, yet the Lord overruled that to bring about
the salvation of His people through the sacrifice of His Son. Now
David sinned, but God overruled it. And these sons that are born
to David, they commit every crime imaginable. But did one name
stick out to you there of those sons? Solomon. Solomon was born
out of those sons. David sinned and he suffered
for it, but God also brought Solomon out of all that mess
because his purpose was for a son of David to sit on the throne
as a picture of Christ. He brought Solomon out of all
that mess in order to bless Israel. Even the sin of God's elect is
not going to destroy the security of the kingdom of Christ. Third,
the kingdom of Christ is secure. from the attacks of the wicked,
from the attacks of God-haters. Now you might think that sounds
like a pretty strong description of people. A God-hater? I don't
hate God. Romans 1 calls all men by nature
God-haters. And the world is pulled up. Well,
the kingdom of Christ is secure from the attacks of those people.
Look at verse 17. And when the Philistines heard,
they had anointed David king over Israel. All the Philistines
came up to seek David. They found a way to join together
now. And David heard of it. He went down to the hold. And
the Philistines also came and spread themselves in the valley
of Rephaim. And David inquired of the Lord,
saying, Shall I go up to the Philistines? Wilt thou deliver
them into mine hand? And the Lord said unto David,
Go up, for I will doubtless deliver the Philistines into thine hand.
And David came to Baal-Pharazim, and David smote them there. and
said, The Lord hath broken forth upon mine enemies before me as
the breach of waters. Therefore he called the name
of that place Baal-perazim. And there they left their images,
and David and his men burned them." Now, you know the Philistines
are pictures of men by nature. They're haters of God. And as
soon as they heard David was anointed king, they attacked. Just like I said a little bit
ago, Men will get along with you in any kind of religion,
in any kind of religious activity, until you proclaim Christ to
be King. As soon as they heard David was
anointed King, they came attacking. Look over at Psalm chapter 2,
2nd Psalm. Verse 1, Why do the heathen rage,
and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth
set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together against
the Lord and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands
of sundern, and cast away their cords from us. They are going
to attack. But he that sitteth in the heavens
shall laugh, and the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall
he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure.
Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare
the decree, the Lord has said, or I will declare the decree,
the Lord has said unto me, Thou art my son, this day have I begotten
thee." The Lord set him on his holy hill of Zion, that kingdom
is secure. Those that were attacking the
Lord will laugh, hold them in derision. And in our text, like
so many places in scripture, David is a picture of Christ,
the mighty conqueror. The Lord sent David and his army
out and they wiped that flisting army out, just like a wall of
water just washes everything away. When the dam breaks, you've
seen movies that, you know, the dam breaks, here comes this wall
of water. I mean, it washes everything
in its path away. David says, that's what happened.
My army went out and the Lord went before us like a wall of
water. He just washed everything away and they had complete victory.
Now the Philistines, all the Philistines came up. Their army
is decimated. All their idols are burned and
destroyed. You'd think that it might dawn
on them to go to David and say, would you plead with your God
for us? Will we go to the God of David and beg for mercy? That's
not what they did. Dead men cannot learn anything. They're dead. So what do they
do? They come back for more. Look at verse 22 here in our
text. And the Philistines came up yet
again, and spread themselves in the valley of Rephaim. And
when David inquired of the Lord, he said, Thou shalt not go up,
but fetch a compass behind them, and come upon them over against
the mulberry trees. And let it be, when thou hearest
the sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry trees, that then
thou shalt bestir thyself. For then shall the Lord go out
before thee to smite the host of the Philistines. And David
did so, as the Lord had commanded him, and smote the Philistines
from Geba until they had come down to Gaza." Now you'll notice
when the Philistines came up to attack this time, David just
didn't follow the same battle plan as he had before and run
out and attack them again, did he? He inquired of the Lord as
to what he should do. And it would seem obvious to
us, David just go out and attack the Philistines. Go out and defend
Israel. Go out and defend your kingdom. You know, the Lord's
established your kingdom. Go out and defend it. But David
doesn't make a move until he inquires of the Lord. And we
see this so many times through Scripture. We need to do the
same. Don't make a move until you inquire
of the Lord. Every time, just keep seeking
the Lord's will, the Lord's way. And it's a good thing David did
this. Because this time the Lord didn't send him out to go to
the front of them and confront them in battle. The Lord tells
David, you circle around behind them and you just lay still.
You hide in this bunch of mulberry trees and you wait there until
you hear a sound of a going in the top of those trees. Then
you bestow yourself to battle and I'll go before you. And just
like before, the Lord went out before him and smoked those philistines. The kingdom of Christ is secure
from the attacks of the wicked. And here's our fourth point.
We see here a description of the people who dwell safely in
the kingdom of Christ. Christ has a kingdom and it's
populated with people. And there's a description of
those people here. A believer just rests in Christ. Every believer understands that
we rest completely in Christ. He's our Sabbath. We rest in
Him. We rest from all of our works of righteousness and rest
completely, entirely in the person and the work of our Lord Jesus
Christ. Now, that does not mean that God's people are an inactive,
lazy people. Quite the contrary. God's people
are not fatalistic. Whatever's going to be, will
be. God's decreed it from all of eternity. Whatever will be,
will be. It's all just do nothing. No, that's not what the Lord's
people do. That's not the way what the Lord
told David to do. The Lord told David, you go lay down. You just
wait in that stain of mulberry trees. And when you hear the
sound of a going in the top of those trees, you bestir yourself. You go to battle. Now, David's
going to get up and go to battle. Lord gets all the glory, just
because David bestirred himself. David doesn't get any glory.
Scripture says the Lord went before him and smoked the Philistines. The Lord's the one who went out
and made all that work effectual. It's the Lord who smoked the
Philistines, but he still used David to do it. He still told
David, you bestir yourself and go to battle. And I know exactly what the sound
of a going in the tops of those mulberry trees was. I know exactly
what it is. God, the Holy Spirit, That was
the sound of a going there. In God's kingdom, they're filled
with people. Some of those people are preachers,
and they wait on the Holy Spirit before they say a word. Now look
over in Acts chapter 1. This is such a clear picture,
just almost identical to what happened with David here. In
Acts chapter 1, This is where our Lord showed
himself to his disciples and in verse 4, being assembled together
with them, he commanded them that they should not depart from
Jerusalem, but just stay there and wait for the promise of the
Father, which saith he, ye have heard of me. And look down here
in verse 8, he tells them, but ye shall receive power. You just
wait and you shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has
come upon you. And ye shall be witnesses unto
me, both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and to
the uttermost part of the earth." Now here they were waiting, waiting,
waiting, waiting in Jerusalem. And look at chapter 2, verse
1. And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all
in one accord, in one place, and suddenly there came a sound
from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all
the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them
cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each one of them.
And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost. And then they
began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance."
As the Spirit gave them utterance. After the Holy Spirit coming
in like a rushing mighty wind, then they bestirred themselves,
and they preached, and people were saved, because the Spirit
gave them something to say. Now so-called preachers in our
day, they're not saying anything. They're not saying a blessed
thing. And I know why. The Spirit hasn't given them
anything to say. The Spirit hasn't moved, but they're yapping away.
But now God's preachers have something to say. God's preachers
have something to say because God the Holy Spirit has given
them the message of Christ to be given to sinners. And people
say, well, if I believe what you believe, if I believe that
only the elect are going to believe, only the elect are going to hear,
I wouldn't bother preaching. I just wouldn't bother preaching
if everybody didn't have a chance to make a decision. Brethren, if everybody had a
chance to make a decision, and it was my job as the preacher
to convince them to make that decision, I wouldn't preach at
all. I would not preach at all. I
promise you, I could find something better to do with my time than
try to convince a dead man to do something. I hate wasting
my time. Savannah told me this week, would
you just wait 20 seconds? I can't stand to waste my time. What a waste of time to try to
convince dead people to do something. It's an utter waste of time.
The very reason that we preach is because God said, my sheep
will hear my voice. You go preach to them. Just like
the valley of dry bones. Can these dry bones live? Lord,
you know. When did they live? When that
rushing mighty wind came in and gave life. That's when those
dry bones will live. That's the reason we preach.
God will see to it. His elect will hear. They'll
believe. They'll come to Christ. And our
prayer is, Earl, you said this this week, Lord, if you don't
go with us, don't let us go. Don't let me go if your Spirit's
not going to go with us. Someone else will say, well,
if all the elect are going to be saved, no matter what happens,
all the elect are going to be saved. That's true. They're going
to be saved. There's no possibility that any
of them will be lost. then I don't need to bother to
preach because they're all going to be saved anyway. No. It pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. Limited atonement and
the perseverance of the saints does not make us lazy. The death of Christ for his people,
I have in my notes, is the reason we preach. That's not really
true. The death of Christ for his people is our message. He
is our message. And beyond that, the commandment
of our Savior is to go into all the world and preach the gospel. Then do it, because he said it.
Look at Matthew 28. Every parent worth their salt
has told their children when they say do something, they say,
why? Because I said it. Why do we go preach? Because
the Savior, that's his commandment. He said it. In verse 18 of Matthew
28. And Jesus came and spake unto
them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and earth.
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the
name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching
them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you, lo, I am
with you always, even unto the end of the world." Now, everyone in God's kingdom
is not a He has some that are preachers. Everyone's not a preacher,
but everyone in the kingdom of Christ has eternal life. Where'd
they get that life? Who gave them life? The Lord
Jesus Christ did. He said, all power is given unto
me in heaven and earth. He has the power to give his
people life. Well, when were they given life?
They were given life when the Holy Spirit moved in the new
birth. Look over John chapter three. You know this story very well. Our Lord tells Nicodemus, you
must be born again. He says in verse 7, marvel not
that I said unto thee, ye must be born again. The wind bloweth
where it listeth. Thou hearest the sound thereof,
but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth.
So is every one that is born of the Spirit. They were born
of the Spirit when God the Holy Spirit blew where he listeth,
and gave And this does not make God's people a lazy people. It
makes them an active people. God's people are praying people.
And some will say, well, what you're saying is God's will is
going to be done no matter what. God's will is going to be done,
then why bother praying? That's why we pray, because God's will
shall be done. Our Lord Jesus knew better than
anyone, God's will shall be done. He is the greatest man of prayer
who ever lived. God's people are praying people. God's people
are giving people. Some will say, well, the Lord's
going to meet every need, and He doesn't need me to give. Well,
that's true. God doesn't need me. I need Him.
But we're a giving people. The Lord Jesus Christ gave Himself
for my sins. God the Father gave me the unspeakable
gift of His Son. Reckon it's my joy to give? It
is. And let me give you this in closing.
All of us need to be ready to bestir ourselves at the sound
of a going in the mulberry trees. Sean told me this story a few
weeks ago about Lila. Lila comes home on a Sunday afternoon
and she says, Daddy, Cain killed his brother. And Sean said, He
did? Why'd he do that? She said, because
he's a jealous boy. Now, that's a child's view of
what she learned in her Sunday school class. And it may sound
simplistic, but Sean, how do we know that's not the start
of that sound in the mulberry trees? How do you know? And when
that sound comes up, you parents, I tell parents of young children
this all the time, when that sound comes up, you bestir yourself,
and you tell them, about the Lord Jesus Christ, you tell them,
speak to them frequently of the Scriptures and of the Lord, because
if the Lord's going to save them, he's going to do it through a
knowledge of who he is. When you hear that sound of a
going in the mulberry tree, disturb yourself and teach them, tell
them about Christ. And really, in everything we
do, in everything, if the Lord puts it on your mind to do something,
something just comes to your mind to go do something for somebody,
Don't think, well now are they going to think that's dumb, or
how's that going to be perceived? It's the sound of a going in
the mulberry trees. Or put that in your heart to
do it. Go do it! He'll make it effectual. He'll
bless it. Because it's His will. It's His
Spirit that's moving. You bestow yourself and follow
Him, alright? I hope I'll be a blessing to
you.