2 Samuel chapter 5, verse 1,
Then came all the tribes of Israel to David and to Hebron, and spake,
saying, Behold, we are thy bone and thy flesh. Now, a mistake
we often make is to read Scripture too quickly. I remember Brother
Tom Harding saying once years ago, Don't get on one of these
schedules, you know, to read the Bible through in a year.
You read a big chunk every day and you don't remember it. He said, read one verse and pray,
Lord, show me what this verse means. Show me what this verse
means. And I must confess, I read this chapter and immediately
my attention was drawn to the battles and so forth that happened
at the end of the chapter. But when I didn't read the scripture
too quickly and really read what this verse says, I couldn't get
past it. Just could not get past it. This
verse seems like an obvious foregone conclusion that all Israel is
going to come to David and make David king. I mean, it just seems
obvious. God said a long time ago, David's going to be king
over Israel. So of course they come to make him king, right?
Well, What we see here, and the title of the lesson is Sinners
Coming to Christ. And here's my first point. Who
is it that comes to Christ? Well, Scripture says all the
tribes of Israel came to David. And you know, that's a picture
of all spiritual Israel, the elect of God. All of spiritual
Israel comes to Christ. But how do they come to Christ?
In what character do they come to Christ in? Do they come to
Christ because they know they're the elect? No. They come to Christ
because they're a sinner in need of a Savior. These people who
came to David had spent years living in rebellion against David.
They spent years being David's enemy. They sided with Saul and
Ish-bosheth. They chose those men to be their
king rather than David, despite the fact that they knew God said
David's supposed to be the king. These men took up arms against
David. They went out to kill David.
They chose Saul and Ish-bosheth over David. They're enemies of
David. Rebels. Now they're coming to
David. Is David going to accept them? Is he going to give them what
they deserve for all their rebellion against him? Or is David going
to accept them? How is David going to treat these people after
they spent years being his enemy? But we'll see that these people
are accepted by David, who's a picture of our Lord Jesus Christ.
What do those Pharisees say about our Lord? This man receiveth
sinners and eateth with them. They use that as an accusation
against our Lord. That's our joy. This man receiveth
sinners and eateth with them. Our Lord said, him that cometh
to me. I will in no wise cast out, despite his sin, despite
his years of rebellion, despite who he is in Adam, if he comes
to me, I will in no wise cast him out. Now that's the character of our
God. The God we worship is a merciful
sovereign. I honestly cannot believe more
people do not come running to him when they hear of his character. I know why they don't. because
they're dead. But it still surprises me, if
that makes sense to you, that more people don't come to him.
The greatest evidence of man's spiritual deadness is when he
hears the gospel of God's sovereign grace in Christ Jesus. They don't
run to him begging for mercy. They get mad or they don't hear
it at all, one or the other. But I read verses like this,
and I'm telling you, they're so beautiful to me. I come to
him. I come to him again and again
and again. Just like Peter said, to whom
coming. Just run to him again and again and again. Now we're
all born sinners. We are born enemies of God. Those sweet babies that are born
to us are born enemies of God. In Colossians 1, you are enemies
in your mind by wicked works. We're born enemies of God. But
now you listen to me. Don't let your sin and your rebellion
stop you from coming to Christ. Yes, you're a sinner. Yes, you're
a rebel. But Christ Jesus came into this
world to save sinners, of whom I'm chief. Christ is the Savior
of sinners. Don't let your sin stop you from
coming to him. It's not your sin that stops
you from coming to Christ. It's your self-righteousness.
That's what stops a man from coming to Christ. But your sin
is never a reason to keep you from Christ. Your sin is your
reason to come to Christ, because we find cleansing of our sin
in Him. Now here these men come to David,
and there's a picture here of conviction of sin, repentance
of sin, and turning from sin, turning to Christ. You know the
Lord, this is scary. The Lord let Israel have their
way, didn't He? He let them have their King. And for all this
time, what did it give them? They got nothing but misery.
They lost battles. All their kings get killed in
battle. The Lord let them have their way for a while, and all
it gave them was misery. Now, they're finally ready to
leave their way, turn from their way, and turn to God's way. Essentially,
the Lord has shut them up to David, hasn't He? David's their
only viable option as king. He's shut them up to David. And
that's how a sinner turns to Christ. No one will turn to Christ
until God makes them absolutely sick of themselves, sick of their
sin, sick of who they are by nature. They're just sick of
themselves. Then they'll turn to Christ.
No one will turn to Christ until they see their sin for what it
really is. It's an uncleanness that no amount
of religious activity, no amount of reforming the outward man
will have any effect on until we see sin for what it really
is. Then we'll turn to Christ. When a person is convicted of
their sin, and they're convinced of what sin really is, then and
only then will they turn to the Lord Jesus Christ. God's got
to shut us up to Christ where we see He's our only hope of
salvation. Then we'll run to Him. Then we'll
cling to Him. Then we'll look to Him. And that's
what happened to these men. They were shut up to David as
their only option for the King. And they came to Him. And they
came to David with my second point. They came to him with
the sinner's plea. They said, David, behold, we
are thy bone and thy flesh. Now, the first thing I know our
minds come to when we read that is that's a picture of Christ,
our Redeemer. He took on him flesh and bones. He took upon
him human flesh. God sent forth his Son made of
a woman, made under the law to redeem them that are under the
law. He came just like every other man and woman of the flesh,
yet without sin. Look at Hebrews chapter 2. He came, bone of our bone and
flesh of our flesh. In Hebrews 2 verse 14. For as much then as the children
are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took
part of the same, that through death he might destroy him that
had the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver them
who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to
bondage, a legal fear. For verily he took not on him
the nature of angels, he took on him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore,
in all things it behooved him to be made like unto his that
he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining
to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For
that he himself has suffered being tempted, he is able to
succor them that are tempted." Now that really happened. The
Son of God became the Son of Man. And earlier in the chapter
it says, he's not ashamed to call them brethren. He took on
our bone, our flesh. He's not ashamed to call us brethren.
I'm ashamed of myself most of the time. Probably should be
ashamed of myself more. He's not ashamed to call them brethren.
Now, the incarnation of Christ is a glorious thing to think
about. To think why He did it. What
a wonderful miracle that He would become the Son of Man. But that's
not what these men are talking to David about here. They didn't
say, David, you are our bone and our flesh, did they? They
said, we are thy bone and thy flesh. That's the sinner's plea. Their plea for mercy is, David,
we're your bone. We're your flesh. That's their
plea for mercy for their rebellion against him. We are thy bone
and thy flesh. And a sinner's plea for mercy
is that God would have mercy on us. Why? For Christ's sake. For his sake. God see me. in Christ. Don't see me in Adam. Don't see me in myself. See me
in your blessed Son. And God does see his elect in
his Son. He sees them as holy and righteous
as God the Son. And he sees us that way because
we are in Christ so completely that believers are the body of
Christ. When you see a man, you don't
separate his head and his body, you see his whole person. Believers
are the body of Christ. Look over in Ephesians chapter
five. A child of God can pray because
we're your body. Have mercy on us because we're
your body, accept us and love us and rule over us. We can pray
that way because we are his bone and his flesh. In Ephesians 5
verse 25, Husbands, love your wives, even
as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it, that
he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water
by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church,
not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should
be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives
as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth
himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh, but nourished
it and cherished it, even as the Lord of the church. For we
are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave
his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and
they too shall be one flesh." Now this is a great mystery,
but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Christ and His
body. We are of His flesh and of His
bones. That's the sinner's plea. See
us in Christ. See us in your own blessed Son. Now in verse 2, back in our text,
2 Samuel 5, we have the third point. Here's something every
sinner learns when he comes to Christ. Look at verse 2. They go on and they say, also
in time past, when Saul was king over us, Thou was he that led
us out and brought us to Israel. And the Lord said to thee, Thou
shalt feed my people Israel, and thou shalt be a captain over
Israel." Now men in the flesh, they always think that they're
providing for themselves until they come to Christ. These men
thought they were providing for themselves, didn't they? When
they chose Saul as king, he's head and shoulders over everyone.
He's tall and dark and handsome. They thought they were providing
for themselves. But they come to realize years
later that it was David all along. It was David who was going out
and winning the battles. Saul didn't win battles without
David. David was the one that went out and won the battles.
It was David who was the one safely leading Israel in and
out. David was their shepherd. all along. They thought it was
themselves. They thought it was Saul. They're
just like Gomer, our pastor-priest on a week or two ago. She thought
her lovers were bringing her corn and wine and oil and flax,
and they weren't. It was Hosea all along. And that's
what every sinner learns when he comes to Christ. They thought
in time past they were providing for themselves, both physically
and spiritually. Before God saved you, Wayne made
this statement Wednesday night. I thought, that's good, I'm going
to put that in my notes. He said, before God saves you, you think,
I did good this year. I did really good. I only missed
service twice this year. I did good. Now, you know, that'd
be beneficial for all of us, wouldn't it? To, you know, regularly
be in the worship service. But that's not what saves us
all. Now, nothing we ever do contributes one thing to the
cleansing of our sin. It's the blood of Christ that
cleanseth us from all sin. Salvation, look over in 1 John
5, salvation is entirely in the Lord Jesus Christ. In 1 John 5, verse 11, and this is the record
that God has given to us eternal life. And this life is what? In His Son. That's where life
is. He that hath the Son hath life. He that hath not the Son of God
hath not life. He that hath life is not he that
has perfect attendance. It's not he that has cleaned
up his outward act, all he can do. It's in His Son. It's in the Lord Jesus Christ. And before man comes to Christ,
he thinks. He's been providing for himself
all these years. But after we come to Christ,
after God gives us life, after God gives us eyes to see, we
see, oh, Christ has been my shepherd all along. He's the one that's
been safely leading me in and out. He's the one that's been
providing for me. Every believer can look back
over the course of their life before God saved them and say,
wow, The Lord saved me there. I see that. The Lord preserved
me from evil there. The Lord kept me from perishing
there. The Lord kept me from making a horrible mistake there
that I'd have paid for the rest of my life. The Lord preserved
me then. I didn't see it then. I thought
I was just lucky then or I thought I was smart or I thought, you
know, now I see. It was He's been my shepherd
all along. He's been providing for me and
taking care of me all this time. And after a person's converted,
We don't want one thing to do with taking care of ourselves.
We don't want one thing to do with providing for ourselves.
We want Christ to be our shepherd. We want Christ to be our king,
just as the Lord has promised. The word feed these men use here
is just like the word feed or fed that Jacob, we looked at
this last week. It means shepherd, shepherd. And that's our plea based on
what God's taught us. Lord, please be our shepherd. Feed us like a shepherd feeds
his flock, because we're unable to feed ourselves. Left up to
us, you know what we need? Those pigs' husks, like the prodigal
son ate. He's eaten his husk that the
pigs ate. That's what we feed ourselves.
Lord, feed us. Don't let us feed ourselves.
Lord, protect us like a shepherd protects his flock. We're too
weak to defend ourselves. Lord, keep us from getting lost.
We're too stupid to stay right up next to the shepherd. Isn't
that awful? Lord, keep us from wandering off. Keep us close
to thy side like a shepherd keeps his sheep all there together.
Use your rod and your staff to keep me close to thee. In this
word, being also means pastor. Pastor. What do God's pastors
do? Well, they're the under shepherd
and the pastor Feeds the sheep. Why does he feed the sheep? He
feeds them Christ. We eat his flesh and drink his
blood. The pastor protects the sheep by preaching to them sound
doctrine so they're well taught. They won't be blown about with
every wind of doctrine. He protects the pulpits. Only
the gospel is preached here for the good of the sheep, for the
glory of the Savior. He keeps the sheep from getting
lost by constantly preaching Christ the Savior to them. It
means the shepherd, it means the pastor. And true conversion
is a whole lot more than giving mental agreement to some facts
and some doctrines of scripture. You can have a third-grade education
and read the Bible and understand God's sovereignty. You can have
a third-grade education to read the Bible and say, yeah, God's
holy. That's what that says. God chose
a people to redeem. You can have a third-grade education
and honestly just read the Bible and say, yeah, that's true. I
mean, there it is. But getting mental agreement to these things
is not conversion. True conversion is complete surrender
to the Lord Jesus Christ as my King. The Lord has said, thou
shalt be captain over Israel. And that's the way we want it.
And this word captain does not mean like a captain in the army,
you know, that he's got some authority, but there is a higher
authority over him. This word captain means ruler,
a sovereign ruler. And God's people would have it
no other way. True conversion is complete surrender
to Christ as King. I told you before about the two
little dogs we have. I don't know if this is true,
but this is what Janet tells me, so I believe it. Those dogs come
up to us, and they roll over on their back. And she says that's
not just because they want their belly rubbed. That's submission. They expose their neck and their
belly, and what they're saying is, I'm worthless. Do with me
as you will. Have you said that in your heart?
Lord, I'm worthless. I'm completely and utterly worthless. Do with me as you will. If he kills me, if he damns me,
he's right. And if he saves me in mercy,
he'll be right in just too. But either way, no matter what
you do, I'm staying right here. I'm staying right here at your
feet. Do with me as you will. If you haven't said that in your
heart, You've never seen Christ as he is, as the king. And that's
what every sinner learns. And here's my fourth point. The
second thing every sinner learns when they come to Christ is God's
electing love. I didn't choose him. He chose
me. Salvation is of the Lord from
beginning to end. Look at verse three back in our
text. So all the elders of Israel came
to the king, to Hebron. And King David made a league
with them in Hebron before the Lord and they anointed David
king over Israel. Now David accepted these former
enemies and he became king over them. Just like the Lord Jesus
Christ, the son of David, he graciously accepts sinners who
come to him. And you know why he does it?
He does it because of a covenant. That word league here, David
made a league with them. should be translated covenant.
Most times it's translated covenant. That's the way it should be translated
here. It's a covenant. Now, the word covenant, this
translated covenant, I don't know how many other times the
Hebrew word is used, I should have looked that up, but the
word covenant is used over 270 times in Scripture. You reckon there's something
important about this covenant if that word's used that many
times? The God of this book is a covenant God. He does what
he does because of his covenant with his son that concerns his
people. The truly amazing truth about
God is not that he passes some by. There's nothing amazing about
that. Of course he passes by. The amazing
thing is that God would choose any son of Adam. The utterly
astounding thing is that God would send his son to die for
any sinner. That's the amazing thing. And
he has chosen those people in Christ before the world began
in a covenant of grace. Now, look back Genesis chapter
six. Here's the first time. This word covenant is used in
scripture, the only reason God does not damn every son of Adam
is because of his covenant of grace. That's what we have pictured
here in the story of Noah. In verse 7 of Genesis 6, And
the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from
the face of the earth, both man and beast, and the creeping thing,
and the fowls of the air. For it repenteth me that I have
made them. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Now
look over to verse 17, And behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of
waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh wherein is the breath
of life from under heaven. and everything that is in the
earth shall die. But with thee will I establish
my covenant, and thou shalt come into the ark, thou and thy sons
and thy wife and thy sons' wives with thee." I will establish
my covenant with you, Noah, and put you in the ark. Now, what
kind of covenant is that? It's a covenant of grace. Noah
found grace in the eyes of the Lord, and the Lord established
his covenant with Noah. And this covenant is eternal. Look over at chapter 9 of Genesis. This is an eternal covenant.
Genesis 9, verse 9. And I, behold I, establish my
covenant with you, and with your seed after you, and with every
living creature that is with you, of the fowl, of the cattle,
and of every beast of the earth with you, from all that go out
of the ark to every beast of the earth. And I will establish
my covenant with you. Neither shall all flesh be cut
off any more by the waters of the flood. Neither shall there
any more be a flood to destroy the earth. And God says this
is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you
and every living creature that is with you for perpetual generations. This is an eternal covenant.
It doesn't have an end. I do set my bow in the cloud
and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the
earth. And it shall come to pass when I bring a cloud over the
earth that the bow shall be seen in the cloud, and I will remember
my covenant which is between me and you, and every living
creature of all flesh, and the waters shall no more become a
flood to destroy all flesh, and the bow shall be in the cloud,
and I will look upon it, and I will remember the everlasting
covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh
that is upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, This
is the token of the covenant which I have established between
me and all flesh that is upon the earth. And brethren, this
covenant, the token of this covenant, it's eternal. And if you look
over in Revelations chapter 4, God always sees his covenant. He always sees the token of the
covenant. We don't always see it. There's many times it rains. I don't see a rainbow. God sees
it always. In Revelations 4 verse 3. is talking about the one that
sat upon the throne. And he that sat was to look upon
like a jasper and a sardine stone. And there was a rainbow round
about the throne in the sight of an emerald. That rainbow is
all around the throne, no matter which way he turns on that throne. The rainbow is a circle around
the throne. He always sees his covenant. We don't always see it. But he
does, and the important thing is, he told Noah, when I see
it, I see that rainbow, I see that token, I won't destroy the
earth. When I see it. He didn't say when you see it,
I won't destroy the earth. He said, when I see it, I won't
destroy the earth. And that rainbow is a complete
circle. Now, I picked this, I'm not too
smart. I picked this up from Greg Amquist a few weeks ago.
If you get up high enough in the sky, in an airplane or something,
And you can do a Google search on this when you get home, on
a circle rainbow. That rainbow is a circle. Have
you ever seen that, Bob, you have up in that plane? A rainbow
is a circle. I didn't know that. God always
sees the complete circle. We just see an arc, a segment,
a line segment or an arc, whatever they call that. We just see a
segment. God always sees that circle. He always sees his completed
purpose all at once. We just see a segment. We just
see part of what God's doing now. And we may not understand
it. We may not fully understand it.
Most times we don't. But you can rest assured of this.
Whatever God's doing, he is doing because of his covenant of grace
for his people. He's doing it so that covenant
is worked out completely and perfectly. And when you come
to Christ, you come to him because you need a sake. And you soon
discover, oh, I came to Christ because I was given to him before
the world began in that covenant of grace. You come to Christ
and you will soon see, oh, I came to Christ because he was drawing
me, because the Father gave me to him in the covenant of grace
and he's going to have everyone. that God gave him. He redeemed
them. He'll have them to be his own. You come to Christ and you'll
see, oh, I love him because he first loved me. Oh, I chose him. I do. I choose the Lord Jesus
Christ, but I choose him because he chose me first in the covenant
of grace. That's how a sinner comes to
Christ. All right. Well, the Lord bless you.