Now, when last we left our study
here in 1 Samuel, the Lord had sent Abigail to David to prevent
him from going and killing every man and boy in her household,
including her husband Nabal. You remember, she brought an
offering and made intercession for them, and David spared them
because of that offering. And then the Lord turned Nabal
into a stone and he died. And that's where we pick up here
in verse 39. And when David heard that Nabal
was dead, He said, Blessed be the Lord, that hath pleaded the
cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and hath kept
his servant from evil. For the Lord hath returned the
wickedness of Nabal upon his own head." Now, you know, as
we face different situations in our life, we do not have to
take matters into our own hands. The Lord will accomplish his
purpose. David had planned on taking matters
into his own hands and killing Nabal and, you know, taking this
thing into his own hands and avenging himself. But we'll see
as we go down through here, it worked out a whole lot better,
that the Lord took care of this matter and David did not take
matters into his own hands. Now, no matter the circumstance,
I don't care what circumstances we find ourselves in, the is
going to accomplish his purpose. You just write that down. And
like our pastor told us Wednesday night, rather than fear, we should
just watch and see the Lord work out his will and his purpose,
because it's going to be done. You know, the story of Esther,
I thought of the story and I thought about how the Lord is going to
accomplish his purpose no matter the circumstances. A man named
Haman, he was very close to the king, it was his purpose. to
kill Mordecai and all the Jews. And he got the king to decree
that it be so, that the people kill every Jew in the nation.
And when that command went out, Scripture says the city was perplexed.
Why is this happening? What are we going to do? And
the situation was dire. The gallows that Haman had built
to hang Mordecai on was already built. There it was. It was done.
The situation looked hopeless. And the Lord caused the king
not to be able to sleep one night. And he read about this man, Mordecai,
who had uncovered a plot to kill the king. And the Lord arranged
these circumstances so that in the morning, the king gave Haman
orders to put the king's royal robes on Mordecai, to put the
king's crown on Mordecai. Haman had to do this now, put
the king's crown on Mordecai, to put Mordecai on a horse and
lead Mordecai through town, telling everyone, give honor to this
man for what he's done for the king. And then the Lord continued
to unfold situations, circumstances, and Haman was hanged on the very
gallows that he had built for Mordecai. Now this command from
the king went out that all the Jews be killed. Was the Lord's
purpose going to be thwarted? No. No. Even in those dire circumstances,
the Lord accomplished His purpose concerning His people. And only
God could have done it. He's going to accomplish His
purpose. Daniel was not only the design of his enemies to
throw him to the lions. They did throw him in the lion's
den, didn't they? Daniel wasn't devoured by the lions, but his
enemies were. God's purpose will be accomplished. We can just rest in that. His
every purpose is going to be accomplished. And I may not,
and often I do not, understand God's purpose and God's will
when I see things happening in our lives. But this I know, whatever
the circumstances, God is accomplishing his purpose. Whatever it is that's
happening, the Bible's right on schedule, isn't it? He's going
to accomplish his purpose. And the Lord Jesus Christ has
accomplished all of God's purpose in redemption. And that's what
I'd like to talk about for a few minutes. In eternity past, God
elected a people. He chose a people into salvation.
Now that's God's purpose, that's his will. And this you can know,
God will justify every last one of those people through the blood
of his son. And one day he will ultimately
glorify them with him. Everyone without exception for
whom Christ died will be set free from sin. They'll be set
free from the law. They'll be set free from Satan
and they will be given life in Christ. They will be married
to Christ and joined in vital union to our Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, those elect are going to come from many different backgrounds,
many different circumstances, but they're all going to have
this in common. The Lord is going to arrange every event of their
lives. So that one day they cross paths
with one of God's servants who's going to preach the gospel to
them. The gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. They're going to
hear it. They're going to hear it with ears of faith. And they
are going to fall hopelessly in love with the Lord Jesus Christ. They're going to love Him. They're
going to have faith in Him. They're going to cling to Him.
They're going to look to Him. And that's going to happen on
the exact day, at the exact moment that God has determined from
all of eternity And just like God accomplished all of his purpose
concerning David and Nabal and Abigail, he's going to accomplish
all of his purpose in redemption. In an unspeakable mercy and grace,
he sent the message of his purpose and his will that he has accomplished
in his son to his people. That's what we see in the rest
of verse 39. And David sent and communed with Abigail to take
her to him to wife. And David sent word to Abigail
about his purpose to marry her. And David is not begging Abigail
to marry him. Now, when I proposed to Janan,
I asked her if she'd marry me. And I held my breath, and my
heart was racing, and my palms were sweating just thinking about
it, just hoping and praying she'd say yes. And if she said no,
I'm telling you, I would have been reduced to a beggar. I'd
have begged her to marry me. I want her to be my wife so bad.
That's what you boys got to look forward to, those sweaty palms
and that, oh my goodness. Now, it's worth it, but that's
what you got to look forward to. That's not what David's doing
here in our text. This proposal of marriage, is
a picture of Christ sending his word to his people, telling her
of his purpose to redeem her, of his purpose to marry her and
make her his. Now you remember this. God is
not a beggar. God's not begging his bride to
come to him. He commands her to come. This
word communed in verse 39, it means to communicate like we
would use the word But it also means command and pronounce. Command and pronounce. The gospel
is not an invitation. The gospel is a commandment. We're commanded to repent and
believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. The gospel is a
pronouncement. It's not to see if you'll accept
it, if you'll do something to ratify it. The gospel is a pronouncement
that the Lord Jesus Christ has already accomplished all the
salvation of his people. A little over a week ago, I was
channel surfing, you know, like I do. Came upon this man. He
was standing next to a full-scale model of the Ark of the Covenant.
And Jan said, stop here and see what he's going to say. And this
is what he said. I went and wrote it down so I
wouldn't, would have it exactly. He said, God won't write you
in. All he'll do is extend the invitation. and patiently wait
for you to accept." That sounds like a beggar to me. Doesn't
it to you, Adam? Sounds like a beggar. That's not the God
in this Bible. Two Wednesdays ago, John and
I were in his study, and Jonathan Holbrook came in, and he made
this statement about his grandmother, Helen. He said, our family's
sad, but this is a time of celebration. This is a time of celebration.
is going to be in the presence of the Lord. Because, he said,
the Lord is merciful to her. He sent the gospel to her. He
didn't have to, but he did. That's the God of this book. He didn't have to, but he did. He didn't have to send his son
to die for us, but he did. He didn't have to send the gospel
to us. He didn't have to give us life
and faith in Christ. He didn't have to, but he did. Because that was his purpose
in redemption for his people, to make his people his. He set his love and affection
upon them and he will have them. He didn't have to, but he did. So this is a commandment come
to Christ. But what a gracious, loving commandment. This word commune also means
to promise. It means to command and pronounce
and it also means to promise. The commandment of the gospel
includes exceeding great and precious promises. The gospel
promises us life, eternal life in the Lord Jesus Christ. The
gospel promises us forgiveness of sins in the blood of our Lord
Jesus Christ. The gospel promises us peace
with God. The gospel promises us that God's
grace is greater than all of our sin, where sin abounded,
grace did much more abound. The gospel promises us, this
is the promise of God himself, I will never, no never, no never
leave thee, nor forsake thee. Other people will desert you,
they'll leave you, they'll die, they'll go, whatever. He'll never,
he'll never leave thee, nor forsake thee. How can you not come? Only a dead man would not come.
What a gracious commandment of God. And God's servants come
with a commandment to speak the gospel to God's people, to his
elect. Just like David sent his servants
to speak with Abigail. And what do we speak? When we
come, what do we speak? What do the servants of God speak?
Well, look here in verse 40. And when the servants of David
were come to Abigail, to Carmel, they spake unto her, saying,
David sent us unto thee to take thee to him to wife." Now, David
sent his servants to Abigail, to Abigail. Not just any woman
that they might meet on their way to Carmel. He sent them to
a specific woman, to Abigail. And God sends his servants to
a specific people, to his elect. Not just anyone who might choose
to accept him to his elect. And we come with a commandment. This word spake in verse 40 is
the exact same word translated commute in verse 39. God's servants
preach the commandment, the pronouncement of the gospel to God's elect.
Look over in Acts chapter 10. I've been thinking about this
passage. for the past couple of weeks,
and it illustrates my point here perfectly. God's servants come
to preach the commandment of God to God's people. Now, this
is the story of when Cornelius sent for Peter. In verse 30,
Cornelius said, four days ago I was fasting until this hour,
and at the ninth hour I prayed in my house, and behold, a man
stood before me in bright clothing, and he said, thy prayers heard,
and thine alms are had in remembrance in the sight of God. Send, therefore,
to Joppa, and call hither Simon, whose surname is Peter. He is
lodged in the house of one Simon, a tanner by the seaside, who,
when he cometh, he shall speak unto thee." Just like David's
servant spake to Abigail, when he comes, he shall speak unto
thee. Now, what's he going to say? Cornelius goes on in verse
33, he says, "...immediately, therefore, I sent to thee, and
thou hast well done that thou art come." Now therefore, we
are all here present before God to hear all things that are what? Commanded. That are commanded
thee of God. That's what God's servant goes
out. That's his message that he takes
with him. To go out to God's elect. All things that are commanded
us of God. The gospel. All the counsel of
God. And God's servants have the same
mission that David's servants had. to take Abigail to David
to wife. I'm here this morning with a
commandment from God to take you to Christ, to fetch you to
Him, like Cody Gruber says, to point you to Christ and get out
of the way so that you will go to Him. Now, right where you
sit without moving a hair or muscle, Brother Henry says, you
come to Christ. Coming to Christ is from the
heart. You come to Him. Come to Christ. and find in Him
everything God requires. Read this book and find out what
God requires. We can't do any of it. I mean,
try to remember some. I mean, just some of it. We can't
do it. Find in Christ everything God requires. You come to Christ
and find in Him everything you need. If God will show you who
and what you are, you'll find out you don't got nothing You
have nothing. You're dead. Come to Christ. You'll find everything you need. He is everything to the believer.
You come to Him. You'd be married to Him. You'd
be joined to Him in that vital union. Just like the branch is
joined to the vine. You come to Him. Now the Gospel,
this commandment of God that we preach, if we preach it right,
it pronounces who God is. It pronounces who Christ is,
the Son of God. And if we preach the gospel right,
the way it is, and it's truth, it'll say who man is. It'll pronounce
to us who man is. The gospel slays the flesh, just
utterly slays the flesh. The gospel, when it's preached
right, puts man in the dust. Just shows us we have no hope
in our flesh whatsoever. Our flesh is nothing but dead,
rotting, dying sin. That's all it is. So, when the
gospel is preached, it will always meet with resistance from the
flesh, because it's opposed to the flesh. But, when the gospel
is preached to one of God's elect, those he's given ears to hear,
eyes to see, it always produces two reactions in the spiritual
man. And the first one is humility. Humility. Now the gospel declares,
I'm no good. You're no good. We are just no
good. We're totally depraved. There's
not one speck of goodness in us. There's no soundness in us.
There's nothing in me but wounds and bruises and putrefying sores
from the sole of the foot to the top of the head. I'm covered
with sores. They're oozing pus that stink
because they have not been treated. Now, that's offensive to you
and me. Think how offensive that is to God. What we are by nature
so offensive to God, and the spiritual man hears that and
says, Amen, that's me. That's me. Why then? Why? Such mercy to a sinner like
me. Why? Humility. See that in verse 41? Abigail,
she rose and bowed herself on her face to the earth and said,
Behold, let thine handmaid be a servant to wash the feet of
the servants of my Lord." Abigail says, I'm not worthy to be David's
wife. Just let me be the lowest servant. I'm not even worthy
to be the servant that washes David's feet. I'm not worthy
of that honor. Let me be the servant that washes
the feet of the servant who washes David's feet. That suits me. Let me be the lowest servant. Now in a human sense, in our
story here, David is impressed with Abigail. He's impressed
with her wisdom. She gave him very sound advice
that kept him from doing something evil. He's impressed with her
beauty. She's been a good wife to a bad
man. You can respect that. But now
in that sense, Abigail is not pictured in me. We have no good
qualities. We have no good personality traits.
There's nothing in us that commends us to God. Gomer, the old used
up harlot that nobody wanted anymore that lost all of her
beauty. That's a picture of us. The woman that nobody would want.
That's the picture of us, not Abigail. Yet we can say with
Abigail and the prodigal son, we can say with Mephibosheth,
why? Why such mercy to a dead dog
like me? I'm not worthy to be a son. I'm
not worthy to be the bride. Just let me be the lowest servant. You see, grace produces humility. And it should, shouldn't it?
We've got nothing to be proud of. We ought to be a humble people. We're nothing. And where there
is a lack of humility, there is a lack of grace. And if you
believe the gospel, if God's put his grace in your heart,
I'll tell you what you'll do. You will wash the feet of the
saints. You'll wash the feet of your
brethren. Now, I don't mean take off their shoes and wash their
feet. That would be embarrassing to me and you both. I'd hate
for you to see my toenails. They're just awful. They'd tickle
my feet anyway. It wouldn't be an enjoyable thing.
What I mean by that, what Scripture means by washing one another's
feet is to be a help to one another, a blessing to one another. Jan
and I were driving home last Sunday morning. Y'all washed
your feet. You're such a blessing to us,
so thankful for you. How'd that happen? Grace. It's grace in the heart. That's
how. So first, the gospel produces humility in God's elect. Second,
when the gospel is preached to God's elect, it produces faith
and obedience. Look at verse 42. And Abigail
hastened and arose and rode upon an ass with five damsels of hers
that went after her. And she went after the messengers
of David and she became his wife. Now when Abigail heard the pronouncement
of David, she heard that commandment, she heard the promises of David,
she arose quickly and came to David. And guess what? She didn't go to David and become
the lowest servant. She went to David and became
his wife. That's because that's God's purpose.
And she came in faith. She came to David and was married
to David before David was ever sitting on the throne. He's still
living in caves. She came to David and married
him in faith. Now, Abigail's a rich widow.
I mean, this woman's wealthy. And she esteemed the reproach
of David greater riches than everything that fool Label left
her. She married David in faith. And
that's exactly what happens when one of God's elect hears the
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. They hear the commandment to
come to Christ. They hear the precious promises
that God has for us in Christ. And they arise quickly and go
to Christ. Last Sunday, you sang that song,
I will arise and go to Jesus. Why? I heard the commandment. I come in faith to Him. Arise
quickly and go to Him. And now, Abigail's married to
another. No longer is she married that
fool, Nabal. She's married to King David.
Look over in Romans chapter 7. And this is where I get the title
of the lesson this morning, Married to Another. Abigail is married
to another. Can you imagine how different
Abigail's life is now than when she was married to that fool,
Nabal? In Romans 7 verse 1, Now know ye not, brethren, for I
speak to them that know the law, how that the law hath dominion
over a man as long as he liveth? For the woman which hath a husband
is bound by the law to her husband as long as he liveth. But if
the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband.
So then, if while her husband liveth she be married to another
man, she should be called an adulteress. But if her husband
be dead, she is free from that law, so that she is no adulteress,
though she be married to another man. Wherefore, my brethren,
ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ. that
ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from
the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God. For when
we were in the flesh, the motions of sin which were by the law
did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. But now
we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were
held, that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in
the oldness of the letter." Now what Paul is teaching us here
is this married woman. She's bound to her husband as
long as they live. She's bound by the law to live
with her husband, to give obedience to her husband, to honor him,
because that's the vow that she vowed before God when she was
married. And that husband, he's bound
by the law to live with her, to honor her and cherish her.
They're bound by the law, and they're bound until one of them
dies. Death is the only way to be set
free from the law of marriage. Just like death, and this is
what Paul is teaching us here, is the only way that we can be
set free from the demands of God's law. Because we're born
married to it. We're born under its rule and
under its dominion. And the believer is free from
the law. Completely and utterly free from
the law. How? We're still alive. We're
still walking around here. Because when Christ our representative
died, we died in Him. and are set free from the law.
We're free from the law as a covenant of life or death. We're free
from the law as a way to earn justification or condemnation. We are no longer under the power
and dominion and rule of the law any more than that woman
is under the rule of her dead husband. We're free from the
law. I have an illustration here.
Brother Henry gave it years ago. You've heard it. But this is
one of the things I've learned about preaching. Things bear
repeating. We need to have things repeated
to us. So this will be a blessing to you. Henry told a story about
a woman. She married a man. Oh, he looked
wonderful. Oh, he was handsome and tall
and everything was perfect. His hair was perfect. His clothes
were always perfect. Reminds me of what Janet says
so many times to unmarried girls. Be very careful. Who you put
yourself in subjection to. Just be very careful. This man
looked mighty good. But when she married him, she
found out he's a mean, mean, cruel, austere man. He's strict. He's cold. He's
unfeeling. Never did he tell her, I love
you. Never did he tell you, thank
you. Never did he tell you, you know
you did such a good job. Well, thank you. He never complimented
her. He never told her she was beautiful. Never! Instead, every
day he'd come home, he'd put on that white glove, and he'd
go around and give the house a white glove test. And he wouldn't
just check the tabletops, he'd check the floors, the corners,
he'd check behind the toilet. And buddy, I mean, there was
a stir if he found a speck of dirt anywhere. And every day
she served him. She got up in the morning, fixed
him breakfast, she packed him lunch to take to work, and when
he came home, dinner was hot and on the table. And he'd beat
her if that dinner was late even one minute. He was an austere,
strict man. And then, thank God, that man
died. And that woman was free from
his rule. And she remarried. She remarried
a kind man. He was gentle and loving. All
the time he told her, I love you. He always complimented everything
she did. He never criticized her. Something
wasn't just right. He didn't criticize her. And
that woman did all the same things she ever used to do. She got
in the morning and fixed him breakfast. She packed him a lunch
to take to work. She had dinner on the table when
he got home. But her life was very different, wasn't it? Very
different. Why? Because now everything she
did was done from the motive of love. Before, everything was
done out of the motive of fear. Married to another. And we're
born under the rule of the law. Nothing wrong with the law. It's
perfect. It's upright. You can't pick
at it at all. But we serve it out of fear.
Out of fear. But Christ, in His death, set
us free from the law so that we are married to Him. To Him
who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood. And
we are married to the Lord Jesus Christ. And when a woman becomes
married, she gets a new name. Janet Conley became Janet Tate.
When a believer becomes married to Christ, we get a new name.
This is the name wherewith she shall be called, Jeremiah said.
The Lord our righteousness. No longer do we bear our worthless
name. We bear his precious name. When
a woman becomes married, she gets a new address. Moves in
with her husband, they begin keeping house. That's the way
a believer is. When we become married to Christ,
we're translated from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom
of His dear Son. When a woman is married, she
gets a new way of life. They get married and begin new
traditions and new ways of life. So does the believer. Married
to Christ, no longer do we follow the course of this world. We
follow Him. We live in Him. And when a woman
becomes married, she gets a new provider. Her daddy doesn't provide
for her anymore. Her husband does. And when a
believer is married, we're married to Jehovah Jireh. He will provide
everything we need. He's the perfect husband. We're
married to a husband that Paul says, raised from the dead, to
die no more. This marriage to Christ will
never end because he'll never die. And in him, we'll never
die. This is an eternal relationship,
which will never end. Now quickly, back to our text.
I want to cover these last two verses. In verse 43, David also took
Ahinoam of Jezreel, and they were also both of them his wives.
Now, I'm going to tell you right now, I cannot explain this. I
can't explain this verse. I can't explain why David did
this. It's utterly beyond me why any man would want two wives.
But David married both of these witches. Well, you're not, you're just
not going to make them both happy now. I mean, this is, you know,
they're going to fuss and feud and fight and make each other
miserable and make you miserable. They don't know why that man
wants that. Gil said David married these two women against the law
of nature and God. This is just, this is against
the law of nature and God. I can't explain why God allowed
it. I have no idea. But I will tell you this about
this verse in relationship to this picture of the marriage
of Christ to his bride. Lord Jesus Christ had one bride,
just one. She's made up of a number no
man can number, isn't she? Oh, sovereign grace, the commandment
of the gospel, is not exclusive. God does not exert his sovereign
grace on men to keep people out of the kingdom of God. Sovereign
grace is inclusive. It's the only way men can come
into the presence of God. By his sovereign, fetching grace,
he brings them to himself. In verse 44, Basal had given
Michael, his daughter, David's wife, to Phaltai, the son of
Laish, which was of Galen. Now, that's a very sad situation.
And again, I don't understand what's going on here either.
But I do know that this proves Michael never truly belonged
to David. Charles Connolly, my father-in-law,
could never give my wife to another. She's mine. I love her. She's mine. I'm thankful
she loves me. That was not the case, apparently,
with David and Michael. And here again is the picture.
Contrary to popular opinion, God does not love everyone. I heard Henry say one time, he
said, a man who tells you Tells everyone without exception, God
loves you, and so do I. He doesn't know you or God. He's
right. Now there are those, like Michael,
who give the appearance of being married to David. There are those
who give the appearance of believing Christ, following Him. You see
them at the service all the time. After a while, they leave. Where'd
they go? What happened? What are they
doing? Well, they left only for this reason. They never belonged
to Christ in the first place. Now I want to leave you with
this confidence. That's kind of a low note, so I'm going to leave you
with this confidence. If you belong to Christ, do you believe
Christ? Do you love Him? Do you belong to Him? Are you
joined to Him? Is everything you need in Him? Is He all your heart's desire?
Then you can have this confidence. That union is eternal. It will never end. It won't end
in death. It won't end in divorce. It'll
never end. He will never leave you. And He will never allow
you to leave Him. This union is eternal. Join to
Him by bands of eternal, sovereign love so that you're married to
another. All right. I hope the Lord will
bless that to you.