The title of our lesson this
morning is The Warfare Continues. We looked last week at the beginning
of this warfare between the flesh and the spirit. You remember
that Abner, Saul's general, he made Saul's son Ish-bosheth king
in place of Saul. Judah was the only tribe that
anointed David as king. The other eleven tribes, they
followed Ish-bosheth as their king, and a civil war began between
these two people, between the people of these two kings. And
during this battle, Abner began to realize he's on the wrong
side of this thing. He's on the wrong side of the
war. He just can't figure out how to stop the fighting. And
he ends up killing a man named Asahel in battle. Remember how
he shoved the spear, the back end of the spear, clear through
him. And Joab, David's general, he's Asahel's brother. And he
took that arm and he is pursuing Abner. It's his intent to catch
that man that killed his brother. Abner ends up with his army at
the top of the hill. Joab ends up with his army at
the bottom of the hill. Abner's got the high ground.
He's got superior numbers. He's got the completely superior
military position. But he feels like he's on the
wrong side of this thing. He feels like he's losing the
battle, even though he's in superior position. He's going to be slain. He's going to be destroyed. He
feels like he's on the wrong side of this thing. So verse
26, this is when he calls to Joab and says, shall the sword
devour forever? Knowest thou not that it will
be bitterness in the latter end? How long shall it be then? Ere
thou bid the people return from following their brethren. Now
Abner, he's been the aggressor all day long. Remember, he's
the one that started this thing. But now that the tide's turned
against him, he's not the aggressor anymore. Now he's calling for
peace. And he does realize he's on the wrong side of this thing,
but he's only calling for an end to the fighting this day
because he feels like the sword's at his throat. He feels like
he's about to be destroyed. And that's a picture of the way
men in the flesh typically find themselves. We'll say something
more about this in a minute, but this is not true repentance.
He's just sorry he's being condemned. He's sorry he's losing this battle. And Adler is a picture of a sinner.
Now this is what we all are. We've been the aggressor against
God. We are the ones that declared war on God. God didn't declare
war on us. We declared war on God. We're
the ones that started this mess, and that's what Joab tells Abner
in verse 27. Joab says, God liveth, unless
thou had spoken. Surely then in the morning the
people had gone up to everyone from following his brother. He
says, Abner, if you hadn't started this thing today, if you hadn't
issued that first challenge that said, let the young men come
up and play. Remember, they all went up and killed one another.
If you hadn't started this thing today, nobody would have died.
You issued the first challenge. You brought all this upon yourself.
But we'll call off the dogs anyway. We'll call them off. And the
rest of the chapter, everyone goes home and they bury their
dead. But now Abner is a picture of
the sinner. He's a picture of us by nature.
We are the ones who declared war on God. We started the enmity
in Adam. That's what we did. And the only
reason God's wrath is upon us is because of our sin. It's our
fault. We brought all this upon ourselves
with our sin. It's not God's fault. It's our
fault. And when people by nature get a hint of that truth, you
know, they know they get some sense. I'm going to have to answer
to God for this. They're sorry. They're sorry
they're under God's wrath. They're not sorry that they're
a sinner. They're not sorry for who or
what they are. They're sorry that God's wrath is going to
be upon them. And so they're sorry. They try to straighten
up. But as soon as the unregenerate man feels like God's wrath is
not imminent anymore, the war continues. Nothing changes. The
war continues. And that's what happens here
in this case. The peace that's in this civil war was just temporary.
Because at the start of chapter three, look what we read. Now
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 the battle against sin has
no end in this life. It's a long warfare. It lasts
as long as a believer lives on this earth. It's a long warfare.
And there's two pictures here. The first one is something like
I said a minute ago. The unregenerate man, a man who's
in the flesh, he gets sick or he finds himself in some horrible
circumstance and frequently they get religious real quick. I mean,
you know, when things are all going bad, they get religious.
But as soon as the pressure's off, as soon as they feel like
the sword of God's not at their throat anymore, they go right
back to what they used to. The warfare continues. And that's
what Abner does. As soon as the pressure's off,
he starts this fighting again. And it was a long warfare. But
the second picture is this, and this is the one that's the most
important to us. What's going on here? This war
is a civil war. These are brethren fighting one
another. And that's a picture of the civil war that's going
on inside of every believer. The warfare between the flesh
and the spirit. Solomon said in Proverbs 8, He that sinneth
against me wrongs his own soul. His own soul. That's a civil
war. When you do things that wrong your own soul, that's a
civil war. Just like men killing their brother,
that's a civil war. When we do things that wrong
our own soul, that's the civil war that's going on inside of
every believer and that war will never end as long as we're in
this flesh, as long as we're in this life. Now, I did a lot
of reading on this verse. And Arthur Pinck made this statement,
and there are several men, prominent men, who we respect, who agree
with this statement that Pinck made. This is what he said. The
spirit in a believer grows stronger and stronger, and the flesh grows
weaker and weaker. Now, I'll confess to you, that
is not my experience. And I've talked to a lot of old
believers about this very issue, and they've told me that's not
their experience. Cecil Roach told me it gets harder. The flesh,
it gets harder and harder and harder to fight that flesh. John
made this statement, I told him about this statement. John said,
thanks to spending too much time in the study, he lost touch with
people's lives with the way it is, you know, for people. And
I think that's true. This civil war that goes on inside
of every believer is the war that Paul talked about in Romans
7. Turn over there to Romans chapter 7. This is the very warfare
that Paul is talking about. And in the end of this, what
he tells us is this war is not going to end until God puts the
flesh in the ground. It takes the new man to be with
him. That's the only time this warfare is going to end. Now Romans 7 verse 14, here's
how this warfare begins. For we know that the law is spiritual,
but I am carnal. soul under sin. The law of God
is spiritual. The law requires that in the
heart we love God perfectly. The law requires not just our
actions be perfect, but that the thoughts and motives of our
minds and of our hearts be perfect. That's what the law requires.
But Paul says, I'm flesh. I'm carnal. All the flesh is
is sin, and I'm under the control of sin in my flesh. So verse
15 he says, for that which I do, I allow not. I don't know why
I do that. For what I would, that do I not.
But what I hate, that's exactly what I do. Doesn't that sound
like a civil war to you? What I hate, that's what I do.
What I want to do, I can't do. I don't know why I do what I
do. So if then I do that, which I would not, I could sin under
the law. That is good. Now then, it is
no more I that do it, do it but sin. that dwelleth in me. I'm
the one who committed the sin. It's my fault. And I'm taking
sides with God's law against myself. God's law is just. It's
right. It's good. This is what I ought
to do. But I don't because I'm weak through the flesh and it's
my fault. I take sides with God's law against myself. So verse
18 says, for I know that in me, that is in my flesh dwelleth
no good thing. For the will is present with
me. But how to perform that which is good, I find not. This is
only true, this verse is only true of the believer. The man
who's been born again has got two distinct men, two distinct
natures in him. The believer has the desire to
be perfect. He has the will to be perfect.
That's from the new man. That's the man who's been born
again. That's where that will comes from, from the new man.
We have the will to be perfect. But as long as we live in this
flesh, we don't have the ability. We just don't have the power
to be perfect. Because all this sin is, is flesh.
Now hold your finger there and look over Galatians chapter 5.
And here's why we can't do that. Here's why, even though we have
the will to be perfect, we can't do it. Galatians 5 verse 17. For the flesh lusteth. against the Spirit. He's not
just kind of there putting up a little bit of a battle. The
flesh lusteth against the Spirit with all he's got. And the Spirit
against the flesh. And these are contrary one to
another so that you cannot do the things that you would. You
have the will to be perfect, you have the desire to be perfect,
but you cannot do what you would because of the flesh lusting
against the Spirit. And at the end of our chapter
here, we won't get to it this week, we'll get to it next week.
David says, I'm weak, even though I'm anointed king. And every
believer knows exactly what he's saying. I'm weak. Now, I'm anointed
king. I've been made a child of God.
I've been given a heart that loves God, that loves his word,
that loves the Lord Jesus Christ. If I'm weak, I'm in this flesh. I can't do what I would. Now,
back in Romans 7, verse 19. Paul says, for the good that
I would, I do not, but the evil which I would not, that's what
I do. Now, if I do that I would not, it's no more I that do it,
but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, this is just
like the law of gravity, that when I would do good, evil is
present with me. For I delight in the law of God
after the inward man, after the new man, but I see another law
in my warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into
captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched
man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the
body of this death?" It doesn't sound like the power of the flesh
and the power of sin is getting any weaker and the Apostle Paul
doesn't. He longs to be set free from it. He longs to have the
victory over sin and over flesh, but it can't be done. It just
can't be done in this life. Now, as a person ages, frequently
their physical ability to commit different sins, you know, the
sins of their youth, that physical ability may diminish, but the
desire does not diminish. The love of it does not diminish.
Even though the physical ability may diminish, the love of it
does not diminish. Tim James said, when I heard
him say this, he said, I used to think that I was kind of growing
in grace and, you know, kind of conquering this thing a little
better, I just realized as I age my body's producing less testosterone.
You know, your ability to do those things may diminish, but
the love of it does not diminish. As long as we're in this flesh.
And that makes the believer the happiest, most miserable person
in this earth. And that's a good description
of the believer. You're the happiest, most miserable person alive.
The joy that we have in Christ, oh, that's so happy. And the
misery of being tied to this flesh, just the happiest, most
miserable person alive. And this warfare will not be
won because the flesh grows weaker. The warfare will be won when
the flesh is killed. That's when the war will be won.
And we can't eradicate that flesh, but Christ will. And he'll ultimately
give his people the victory because he kills the flesh. That's what
Paul says in verse 25, he says, who shall deliver me from the
body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
So then with the mind, I serve the law of God, but with the
flesh, the law of sin. Christ is going to give me victory.
But until he returns for me, the warfare between the flesh
and the spirit, the civil war is going to continue in me until
he comes. And in that warfare, There are going to be times I
feel like I lose against the flesh a whole lot more than I
win. I do. I feel like I lose a whole lot
more than I win. But in Christ, this war will never be lost.
I'm going to lose plenty of battles, but the warfare will never be
lost because we're in the Lord Jesus Christ. He already won
the war. And if you look back in 2 Samuel 3, back in our text,
that's David's experience. David loses a lot of battles.
but he never lost the war. Look here at verse 2, and unto
David were sons born in Hebron, and his firstborn was Ammon,
of Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and the second, Charliab, of
Abigail, the wife of Nabal the Carmelite, and the third, Absalom,
the son of Maacah, the daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur, and
the fourth, Adonijah, the son of Haggath, the fifth, Shepetiah,
the son of and the sixth, Ithrium, by Agla, David's wife. These
were born to David in Hebron. Now, why is that in the Word
of God? What is that there for? What
is that telling us? Well, in the Old Testament, polygamy
was, I don't know if tolerated is the right word, tolerated
by God. But it was never condoned. It
was never God's way. Now I can't really explain that
other than I just know that it was tolerated. God put up with
it, but it was never condoned by God. I know polygamy was never
God's way. Just like divorce is not God's
way. Moses, why did he give the people a bill of divorce? because
of the hardness of a man's heart. Not because it was God's way,
because of the hardness of a man's heart. And it's tolerated, but
it was never condoned by God. For this reason, marriage is
given to us as a picture of the relationship between Christ and
His bride. Lord Jesus Christ has one bride. One. He loves her with an eternal,
unchanging, perfect love. And he will never cast that wife
away. And he'll never get another one.
He's got one. What a bridegroom. What a husband. This is the believer's husband. And that's the picture that we
have of marriage. And of all people, David should
have known better than this. David should have known. For
whatever reason, this polygamy was permitted by God for some
Jacob. had multiple whys. For whatever
reason, I don't know why, it was permitted. But it was expressly
forbidden to King David. If you look back at Deuteronomy
17, I'll show you that. It was expressly forbidden to
King David. Before the people ever entered
the Promised Land, God told them, one day you're going to want
a king. And I'll give him to you. And he has some instruction
here. In verse 14 of Deuteronomy 17.
When thou art come unto the land which the Lord thy God giveth
thee, and shalt possess it, and shalt dwell therein, and shalt
say, I will have a king over me, like as all the nations that
are about me, thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee,
whom the Lord thy God shall choose. One from among thy brethren shalt
thou set king over thee. Thou mayest not set a stranger
over thee which is not thy brother." And you see how that's a picture
of Christ? who became our brother, became flesh of our flesh and
bone of our bone. This is our King. This David
is a picture of Christ our King. In verse 16, he shall not multiply
horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt.
To the end that he should multiply horses. No matter what gain or
bribe or whatever he may have, he's not going to take his people
back to Egypt. For as much as the Lord hath said unto you,
ye shall henceforth return no more that way. You're not going
that way anymore. shall he multiply wives to himself. Why? That his heart turn not
away. Neither shall he greatly multiply
to himself silver and gold. That's the express commandment
of God to King David. You're not to take multiple wives
to yourself. You're to have one wife. In the rest of this chapter,
he gives David, on all kings and rulers, instruction. You
want to know how to be a good ruler? You husbands, you want
to know how to be a good ruler in your home? You wives, you
mothers, you want to not be a good ruler over the children in your
home? People are bosses at work. You want to not be a good ruler?
He gives some instruction here. This is kind of off the subject,
but one of those things you get for free. And verse 18, it shall
be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he
shall write him a copy of this law and a book out of that which
is before the priests, the Levites, and it shall be with him. And
he shall read therein all the days of his life. He's not going
to take this and set it on the coffee table. It's with him. He would read it all the days
of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, to
keep all the words of this law and the statutes to do them,
that his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, that he
turn not aside from the commandment to the right hand or to the left,
to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and
his children in the midst of Israel. You want to be a good
leader? Read God's Word. Read it all
the days of your life. You'll learn His statutes. You'll
learn His way. You'll learn some humility that
your heart won't be lifted up above your prayer. This is good
instruction. You want to be a leader? Just
go and read this a second and over and over and over again.
There's good instruction. Our subject is the warfare between
the flesh and the spirit. And there are times that the
flesh There are times that the flesh wins in our actions when
we do what we would not, like what Paul said. That's what happened
to David. He took these wives out of the
lust of his flesh. Now, that was expressly forbidden,
wasn't it? The Lord didn't destroy David.
The Lord didn't take the kingdom from David. David's sin is not
going to alter the purpose of God, is it? Not in any way. But
this sin ended up hurting David greatly, greatly. Almost every
trial David experiences the rest of his life is a direct result
of this sin. These sons that were born to
him in Hebron, there was a rapist among them, raped his own sister. There were several murderers
among them. There were a couple who were
seditioned against the throne. Absalom tried to take David's
throne. to try to take Solomon's throne after David appointed
Solomon as king. The Lord will not bless Sinai. Not going to do it. Not one,
and the Lord allowed this to happen, but not one of these
sons ever became great. Not one of them. They were a
heartache to their father and a heartache to Israel all their
days. But God tolerated the sin. He
allowed it to happen. But there are still consequences
to be suffered for our work. Now, God does not destroy his
people when we sin. If he did, none of us would be
here this morning. We'd all be destroyed. We wouldn't
have left the house this morning if we'd been destroyed. And God
never punishes his people for their sin because Christ, our
substitute, was punished for all of the sin of all of God's
elect. The punishment's been poured out and exhausted. But
we, And others we love will suffer the consequences of our sin.
You know, you can go out to a restaurant if you want to. Next Friday night,
just go out to a restaurant. Take your family with you. Go
out to a restaurant and have too much alcohol to drink. Put
your children in the back seat of the car and start driving
home under the influence. Nobody's going to be surprised
if you wreck that car. You're not able to control it.
And nobody be surprised when you're injured and suffer as
a result, because you wrecked the car. You wrecked it into
a telephone pole or something. You won't be the only one to
suffer. Kids in the back seat are going to suffer too. Others
we love suffer because of our sins too. And that's what happened
to David and his family, to those he loved. Children follow the
example of their parents. Janet was talking to Holly the
other day, and Janet told me, she said, oh, she sounds just
like you. And when she says it like that, you know it's my finest
hour, and she sounded just like me. Children follow the example
of their parents. And it's so sad. Bob Coffey told
me when Holly was little, he said, you know what you're going
to find out? Your children will pick up your very worst trait.
Follow it to a T. The things that you do right,
they'll never follow that. They're going to pick up your
worst trait. It's so sad. That's what happened to David.
Solomon, the best we've got. This is the smartest, most wise
man who ever lived in the flesh. Fleshly man, outside of our lore.
He's the best we got. Followed the example of David,
his father, even though he knew better. And exactly like Scripture
promised, what did it do? Turned his heart from the Lord.
Turned his heart. Look in Proverbs chapter 18.
Solomon knew better. I want to show you two scriptures
here in Proverbs. He knew better. And he followed the example of
his father anyway. Proverbs 18 verse 22. Whoso findeth a wife not wives,
a wife, one, findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favor of the Lord."
Solomon knew he was just supposed to have one. Now look back at
Proverbs chapter 5. And this is the advice he gives
his son. I reckon he's telling him, do as I say, not as I do,
because he knew better. And he tells his son this very
thing, verse 18 of Proverbs 5. Let thy fountain be blessed,
and rejoice with the wife of thy youth, just one, with the
wife of thy youth. Let her be as a loving hind in
the pleasant row. Let her breast satisfy thee at
all times, and be thou ravished always with her love. Now why
wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace
the bosom of a stranger? For the ways of man are before
the eyes of the Lord. And he pondereth all his going.
The Lord knows what's going on. He sees all things. His own iniquities
shall take the wicked himself, and he shall behold him with
the cords of his sins. He shall die without instruction,
and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray." Well, he
followed the example of David his father, even though he knew
better. You just cannot say that the flesh grows weaker and weaker
and weaker the older a believer gets. Now, the spirit will grow
stronger. Now, that's true. The spirit
will grow stronger. We grow in grace and in the knowledge
of our Lord Jesus Christ. But the power of sin in the flesh
will not grow weaker. Look at Job chapter 17. I thought
yesterday of this verse. Brother Henry preached a message
on it. It was outstanding. Go home and find it this afternoon
on Sermon Audio. From Job 17, verse 9. I'm going to lose a lot of battles,
but never the war. See what Job says here in verse
9? The righteous also shall hold on his way, and he that hath
clean hands shall be stronger and stronger. He's going to grow
in grace. That spirit will grow stronger
and stronger as we grow in grace and the knowledge of the Lord
Jesus Christ. We're going to lose plenty of battles, but we'll
hold on our way because we're in the Lord Jesus Christ and
we'll ultimately win the war. because of him. Now, no believer
wants to surrender to the flesh. Just because we're going to lose
a lot of battles to sin and to the flesh, that doesn't mean
we want to surrender. I mean, just because I can't
always win, I'm not just going to give up. Adam, I bet when
you were coaching, you never had an undefeated team, did you?
I bet you never went into the season thinking, we're going
to win. I know it. We're going to win every game
this year. But you never gave up. That's what, don't, now don't
quit, just because you're not going to win every battle. Look
over Ephesians chapter six, that's where we're going to quit. Until
Christ returns, arm yourself for this battle. Arm yourself
for this warfare. This scripture tells us how to
do it. In verse 12 of Ephesians chapter
six. For we wrestle not against flesh
and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers
of darkness in this world, against spiritual wickedness in high
places." And that's just not out there. That's in our heart.
That's that flesh, that old man that's in us. So wherefore, Paul
says in verse 13, take unto you the whole armor of God, that
ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done
all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your
loins curled about with truth, and having on the breastplate
of righteousness, and your feet shod with the preparation of
the gospel of peace. Above all, taking the shield
of faith, wherewith you shall be able to quench all the fiery
darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation,
and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Praying
always with all prayer, and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto
with all perseverance. and supplication for all saints.
This is our weapons of warfare. Arm yourself with this. Have
your loins girt about with truth. Wrap yourself tightly in the
truth. The truth about God. The truth
about the Lord Jesus Christ and the truth about ourselves. That
truth will protect you from a false hope. Put on the breastplate
of righteousness. The righteousness of Christ.
Put that on. It's our only defense against
every accusation. His righteousness imputed to
my account is my only defense. Put on that breastplate of His
righteousness. It'll protect your heart from error. Have your
feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Plant
your feet firmly on Christ the solid rock. Plant your feet firmly
on His gospel. It'll keep your walk straight
in this earth, if you do. Those of you here Wednesday night,
you heard our pastor preach a great message on count your blessings.
Did you take it with you to work Thursday? If you did, it kept
your walk straight. It just kept your walk. Earl
and I were talking about that. It's just what we need. Keeps
your walk straight through this earth. And take the shield of
faith. Faith in Christ, faith in His
person, who He is, faith in His work, what He did and why He
did it. That shield will protect you from every danger. You can't
do it, but He can. So take faith in Him as your
shield. Put on the helmet of salvation.
The hope of salvation in Christ alone will protect your head
from false doctrine. Take that helmet of salvation
to protect your head. Take the sword of the Spirit.
Take the Word. That's why I said earlier, take
this Word and read it. Just read it. Digest. Ask God
to show you what it means. It'll kill the flesh. It'll kill
sin. And to give life in Christ. Take
the sword of the Spirit. It's the children's bread. It's
how you're fed. Take it. And Paul says pray. Don't forget
to pray. This is our strongest weapon.
Praying. Oh, it's so important. Pray for
yourself. Spend time. Giving thanks. That's what John was telling
us Wednesday night. Spend time giving thanks while the Lord's
blessed you. Everything He's done for you.
It's good for us to give thanks. Be thankful. Pray that the Lord
will protect you. Pray that He'll give you mercy.
Pray that He'll save you. Pray that He'll teach you and
lead you. Spend time in prayer. And pray for others. Pray for
your brethren. Don't sin against the Lord and
forgetting to pray for your brethren. And look what He says here in
verse 19. Pray for your pastor. Pray for him. See, it says in
verse 9, Paul said, and for me, pray for all to say, and for
me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth
boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am
an ambassador in bonds, that therein I may speak boldly as
I ought to speak. Pray that the Lord will make
me speak as I ought to speak. Royce told me, he said, I pray
for you and John every day. That's a great blessing. Every
day. It's important. That's how we're
fed, isn't it? Maybe David would avoid a lot of his troubles if
he spent more time inquiring of the Lord, if he spent more
time in prayer, seeking the Lord's will, seeking the Lord's direction,
His way. And we would, too. We would,
too. I'm not just talking about David.
Now, you and me. be better off if we made use
of these weapons of the warfare with them. Spend time in prayer
that the Lord will teach us and give us wisdom. All right. Well,
I hope the Lord bless them.