I have thoroughly enjoyed studying
this chapter. I told my wife, Janet, I have
a new best friend, Abigail. I just thoroughly admire this
woman. So let's read this. We'll read
through here and see what it is the Lord would teach us. 1 Samuel 25, verse 1. And Samuel
died, and all the Israelites were gathered together and lamented
him and buried him in his house at Ramah. And David arose and
went down to the wilderness of Paran. Now that is a short epitaph
for the great prophet Samuel, isn't it? Just such a short,
Samuel died. That's the last we hear of Samuel
died. They buried him, they say, not
in his house, but in a garden there outside of his house. And
all Israel were gathered together They rejected Samuel and his
life. They rejected his ministry. They
rejected his message. They rejected his leadership.
But boy, they're mourning when he's dead. Everybody loves the
dead prophets. Everybody does. Boy, you find
a dead preacher. Boy, they love him. You know, a preacher they
can't see no more. But Henry moved out of town. People suddenly
love him. They don't see him no more. He
don't even have to be dead. Just out of town. Suddenly they love
him. They rejected his message when he was here. Because that's
what the flesh does. They won't listen to the live
preachers that God sent them to preach to them in their day.
But they love the dead ones. It's been true from the days
of Samuel. Well, verse 2, there was a man
in Maon, and David went down to the wilderness. David couldn't
go to the funeral for fear of Saul, so he went down to this
wilderness praying. And while he's there, verse 2,
there was a man in Maon whose possessions were in Carmel. And
the man was very great. He had 3,000 sheep and 1,000
goats, and he was shearing his sheep in Carmel. Now, the name
of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife, Abigail. And
she was a woman of good understanding and of beautiful countenance.
But the man was churlish and evil in his doings, and he was
of the house of Caleb. Now, Nabal was a hard-headed,
fierce man. Nobody could get along with Nabal.
He couldn't get along with anybody. That's what churlish means. He
couldn't get along with anybody. He was evil in his doings. He
was dishonest in his business dealings. He was just a bad man
in every way. And his name means fool. Matthew
Henry had this to say about this. This was a rich man. He was a
fool. Couldn't get along with anybody. He was dishonest, but
he was a rich man. Matthew Henry said riches are common blessings,
which God often gives to Naples, to whom he gives neither wisdom
nor grace. They wouldn't be a fool if God
gave them wisdom or grace, would they? He gave them riches, but
not grace nor wisdom. And this foolish, dishonest man,
who couldn't get along with anybody, was married to Abigail. Abigail
was a wise, gracious woman. She's beautiful, and it's unfortunate
to see how many Abigails And this world are tied to a navel. I can't tell you how many times
in business, particularly when I was in the convenience store
business, you hire a young woman. Boy, she starts out working like
a house of fire. Pretty soon, she don't do nothing.
She never shows up for work. And invariably, you find out
she's got this scum of a boyfriend. How many Abigail's are tied to
a navel? And this word, Abigail, her name
means the joy of her father. Now I wonder, how on earth did
this wise, beautiful woman, who was the joy of her father, end
up married to Nabal? What was her father thinking?
Well, Lord willing, by the time we get to the end of our study,
we'll see something about that. Verse 4, David heard in the wilderness
that Nabal had sheared his sheep. And David sent out ten young
men, and David said unto the young men, Get you up to Carmel,
and go to Nabal, and greet him in my name. And thus shall ye
say to him that liveth in prosperity, Peace be both to thee, and peace
be to thine house, and peace be unto all that thou hast. Now
I have heard that thou hast shearers. Now thy shepherds which were
with us, we heard them not, neither was there aught missing unto
them all the while that they were in Carmel. Ask the young
men, they will show thee. Wherefore let the young men find
favour in thine eyes, for we come in a good day. Give, I pray
thee, whatsoever cometh to thy hand, and to thy servants, and
to thy son David." Now, the time of sheep shearing was a festive
time in Israel. When David says, we come to you
in a good day, he means we come to you in a feast day, a festive
day. You can see reference to that
over in the book of Esther. It's a good day is a time of
a feast. And the reason that was is wool was very important
to the economy of the people in that area of the world. It
was very important to their daily lives. So when it was time to
shear the sheep, they had plenty of food and drink for the workers.
You know, this is a big job. It took at least a week or more.
And when they got done, they had this big party to celebrate.
And David is choosing this time to ask for food and provisions
for his men, because they ought to be in a good mood, in a generous
mood. The same reason salvation only
puts their kettles out at Christmas time, because people are in a
good mood and a generous mood. That's why David's asking at
this time. And he asked in a very polite way, and he reminds Nabel,
you know, you wouldn't have as many sheep to shear. You wouldn't
have as many shepherds to shear them if we hadn't protected your
flocks and your men from these roving bands of thieves, you
know, that work that area. Many times these sheiks that
lived in this area got rich because they sent out these thieves to
go steal other men's sheep and flocks and so forth. But David's
men didn't take from those flocks. They protected them. Which is
pretty remarkable when you consider David's men were soldiers of
fortune. All of them were in distress.
They were in debt. They were discontented. Those
were the men that came to David. They're soldiers of fortune.
They don't want to be broke. Yet instead of taking from Nabal's
flocks, they protected them. Didn't let anything that belonged
to Nabal be stolen. So verse 9, and when David's
young men came, they spake to Nabal according to all those
words in the name of David and ceased. And Nabal answered David's
servants, and said, Who is David, and who is the son of Jesse?
There be many servants nowadays that break away every man from
his master. Shall I take my bread, and my water, and my flesh, that
I have killed for my shearers, and give it unto men whom I know
not which they be?" Now, Nabal knew who David was. David was
famous in Israel for all of his military exploits. Nabal knows
who David is. He refuses to acknowledge David.
He refuses to acknowledge everything that David has done for Israel.
And he says, if David had stayed with Saul, he'd have plenty.
He wouldn't need to come begging for my stuff. All this is mine.
He don't have any claim to it. So verse 12, David's young men
turned their way and went again and came and told David all those
sayings. David said unto his men, gird ye on every man his
sword. And they girded on every man
his sword, and David also girded on his sword. And there went
up after David about 400 men, and 200 abode by the stuff. Now
David acts rashly here, telling every man, gird on your sword,
we're going down there and kill those folks. And I'm not going
to be hard on David for it. A lot of the writers are pretty
hard on David for it, but I'm not going to be hard on David
for it, because I bet you everybody in this room can easily identify
with David. Can you think of a time you were
personally insulted? If you had a sword, you'd have
girded it on, wouldn't you? Acted rashly. I know I would have.
And while David's losing his temper, and he's acting rashly,
down at Nabal's house, the house of this fool, somebody's acting
with some wisdom. Look here in verse 14. And one
of the young men told Abigail, Nabal's wife, saying, Behold,
David sent messengers out of the wilderness to salute our
master. And he railed on them. He flew upon them. But the men
were very good unto us, and we were not hurt, neither missed
we anything, as long as we were conversant with them when we
were in the fields. They were a wall unto us, both
by night and day, all the while we were with them keeping the
sheep. Now therefore know and consider what thou wilt do, for
evil is determined against our master, and against all his household. For he is such a son of Belial,
that a man cannot even speak to him." Now if you have a problem,
You'd be wise to go to the person that's got the wisdom and the
ability to solve the problem. And that's what these servants
do. They go to Abigail. She's a wise woman. And they
told Abigail how David's men were a wall of protection around
us, both night and day. And they will treat them so badly
because he's a wicked man. He's just so evil. Nobody can
even talk to him. He won't even listen to anybody.
Listen to what they're saying. So verse 18, then Abigail made
haste. And she took 200 loaves and two
bottles of wine and five sheep ready dressed and five measures
of parched corn and a hundred clusters of raisins and 200 cakes
of figs and laid them on asses. And she said unto her servants,
go on before me. Behold, I come after you. But
she told not her husband Nabal. And it was so as she rode on
the ass that she came down by the covert of the hill. And David
and his men came down against her, and she met them. Now, Abigail
got a big peace offering together to David. And you can see how
wise she is. She immediately knew something
had to be done to satisfy David, or to pacify David's anger. And
if Abigail hadn't done anything, She wouldn't have been harmed.
Physically, she would not have been harmed, because we're going
to see in a minute, David's coming after the men. He's not planning on
harming the women. He would not have physically
harmed Abigail. He's coming to kill the men. Abigail wouldn't
have been personally injured, but the people that she loved
would have. There are people that she loved and cared about
would have suffered and died under the sword of David's men.
So she acted in wisdom and saved her family from annihilation.
Now here she sees David coming, verse 21, Now David hath said,
Surely in vain have I kept all that this fellow hath in the
wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that pertained
unto him, and he hath requited me evil for good. So more also
do God unto the enemies of David, if I leave of all that pertain
to him by the morning light any that pisseth against the wall.
David's coming down there to kill every man and boy in his
household. Because his kindness was met
with unthankfulness and just greediness. Now, why is David
going to kill all the males? He's going to kill all the males,
so Nabal's not going to have any descendants. If he kills
all the males, men and boys, Nabal's name cannot continue.
He's going to cut his name off from the earth. That's why he's
going to do that. And on his way to do that, David meets Abigail. Look at verse 23. And when Abigail
saw David, she hasted, and lighted off the ass, and fell before
David on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, and fell
at his feet, and said, Upon me, my lord, upon me let this iniquity
be. And let thine handmaid, I pray
thee, speak in thine audience, and hear the words of thine handmaid.
Let not my lord, I pray thee, regard this man of Belial, even
Nabal, for as his name is, so is he. Navel is his name, fool
is his name, and folly is with him. But I, thine handmaid, saw
not the young men of my Lord, whom thou didst send. Now therefore,
my Lord, as the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, seeing
the Lord hath withholden thee from coming to shed blood, and
from avenging thyself with thine own hand, now let thine enemies,
and they that seek evil to my Lord, be his navel. And now this
blessing, which thine handmaid hath brought unto my Lord, Let
it even be given unto the young men that follow my Lord. I pray
thee, forgive the trespass of thine handmaid. For the Lord
will certainly make my Lord a sure house, because my Lord fighteth
the battles of the Lord, and evil hath not been found in thee
all thy days." You see how wise Abigail is here? She brings this
offering, this sacrifice to satisfy David, to pacify him. And I also
see Abigail's love for Nabal, her husband. Don't know why,
the man did not deserve the love of a woman like Abigail, but
she loved him. And she's here acting in his
best interest because she is his faithful wife. And Abigail
gets David to accept her offering, to appease his anger, and acting
in haste and wisdom, she spared the lives of many people that
David would have killed. But she's not done. She's got
some more words of wisdom for David here. Now look in verse
29. Yet, she says, a man is risen to pursue thee and to seek thy
soul. But the soul of my Lord shall
be bound in the bundle of life with the Lord thy God. And the
souls of thine enemies, them shall he sling out as out of
the middle of a sling. And it shall come to pass when
the Lord shall have done to my Lord according to all the good
that he has spoken concerning thee, and shall have appointed
thee ruler over Israel. that this should be no grief
unto thee, nor offense of heart unto my Lord, either that thou
hast shed blood causeless, or that my Lord hath avenged himself.
But when the Lord shall have dealt well with my Lord, then
remember thine handmaid, then remember what I told you." Now
she's telling David here, don't take matters into your own hands
and avenge yourself. You'll just be sorry if you do.
The Lord will take vengeance on himself. She said, now, David,
you could go down there and do what you're intending to do.
You go down there and kill all the men in that household. But later on, when you're on
the throne, God puts you on the throne, you'll look back on this
day with regret. If you do that, you'll be sorry
that you acted rashly and didn't wait on the Lord, that you avenged
yourself. Now, if you listen to me later
on, you're going to have peace. And that's pretty valuable. You
know, if you ever not have peace over something, that's pretty
valuable to have peace. Now, I know all of us can identify
with Abigail's advice here. Every person in this room can
look back over the course of your life and think, oh, I wish
I had done that. Oh, I wish I had not acted in
anger. I wish I had said that. I wish I had done that. I'd do
anything to take it back. That's what she's fearing David
from here. She said, now you'll have peace later on. But now
how can Abigail be so certain David's going to be on the throne?
I mean, David's having to get food in here. He's asking Abel
for food. How is she so sure he's going
to end up on the throne? Saul is a powerful man. And Saul's doing everything he
can do to kill David. How is she so sure David's going
to end up on the throne of Israel? Abigail believed God. She believed
the Word of God. She'd heard how God promised
David was going to sit on the throne. Well, does God promise
that? It's impossible for Saul to kill
David. Utterly impossible. David is
going to be king. Saul, as powerful a man as he
is, cannot thwart the purpose of God. David's life is going
to be bound up in a bundle. bundle of life with the Lord
thy God. She said, David, the Lord's going
to preserve you to accomplish his purpose. You're not going
to starve to death before your coronation. If God promised you,
you'll be on the throne. The Lord's going to provide for
everything you need. That's just a wise woman. And
men, you know, this is just the way men are. No point denying
it. We tend to get pretty full of ourselves. And think, well,
you know, I'm the head of the home. God put me as the leader
of the home. He's given me the wherewithal to be leader of the
home. I'm just going to do what I think, what I say, what I want.
And I don't need advice from anybody. Men would do well to
listen to an Abigail. If the Lord sends you an Abigail,
you'd be wise to listen to her. David did. He recognized wisdom
when he heard it. Look here at verse 32. And David
said to Abigail, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, which sent
thee this day to meet me, and blessed be thy vice, and blessed
be thou, which hast kept me this day from coming to shed blood,
and from avenging myself with mine own hand. For in very deed,
as the Lord God of Israel liveth, which hath kept me back from
hurting thee, except that thou hast hastened, and come to meet
me, surely there hath not been left undenabled by the morning
light any that pisseth against the wall." David said, your words
of wisdom and your wise actions have prevented a lot of bloodshed.
Because I'd have gone down there and killed those people. Look
over in Proverbs 25. Abigail's advice to David was
such a blessing to him. It wouldn't surprise me that
Solomon, David's son, heard this story. Maybe had this kind of
advice in mind here in Proverbs 25. Verse 11, Solomon says a
word fitly spoken is like apples of gold and pictures of silver.
As an earring of gold and an ornament of fine gold, so is
a wise reprover upon an obedient ear. God give us an obedient
ear when he sends us someone with wisdom. Even when they're
reproving us, give us an obedient ear. It will be a decoration
of gold to you, valuable as fine gold. So David goes on here to
Abigail in verse 35. So David received of her hand
that which she had brought him, and said unto her, Now go up
in peace to thy house. See, I have hearkened to thy
voice, and have accepted thy person. Now Spurgeon points out
how this is an example of pervenient grace, grace that goes before,
preventing grace. Before any of you knew the Lord,
it was preventing grace that kept you alive, that kept you
out of all horrible circumstances, so that one day you'd come hear
the gospel and you'd believe the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And before conversion and after conversion, every day of our
lives, the only reason that we haven't fallen to all sorts of
open sin is lack of opportunity. The Lord's preventing grace has
kept us from having the opportunity. I promise you, if the opportunity
is prevented or presented to us, we'll fall. It's God's preventing
grace has kept us from falling into open sin, just like it was
God's preventing grace that kept David from going down there and
acting rationally and shedding all that blood. And David accepted
the sacrifice of Abigail. But more than just her sacrifice,
it's not just, well, I accept your sacrifice. He said, I accept
your person. I accept your person." And when
he accepted her person, he accepted all that family that she represented,
and her family was spared because David accepted her person. So
verse 36, Abigail came to Nabal, and behold, he held a feast in
his house, like the feast of a king. And Nabal's heart was
merry within him, for he was very drunken. Wherefore, she
told him nothing, less or more, until the morning light. But
it came to pass in the morning, when the wine was gone out of
Nabal, and his wife had told him these things, that his heart
died within him. He had a stroke, and he became
as a stone. And it came to pass about ten
days after that the Lord smoked Nabal that he died." Now you'll
notice Nabal had plenty to give David if he wanted to. Even after
everything Abigail took to David, Nabal still had the feast of
a king. They had plenty of leftovers,
even after everything Abigail sent to David. And you would
see again, Abigail's wisdom. She gets back there, this party's
going on, Nabal's drunk. She doesn't try to tell him anything.
He's too far gone. You can't reason with a drunken
person. So she waits till the morning. And some people say
that Nabal, out of fear, he realized how close he came to dying, had
this stroke. I think it was anger. I think
he was so angry at Abigail for giving my stuff, my food, my
water, my sheep, my meat to David. My stuff that I provide, you
gave that to David? He's so angry. He had a stroke. And about 10 days later, he died. The Lord avenged David, didn't
he? He avenged the matter. Now, that's
a good story. I think we can learn something
there if we follow Abigail's example of wisdom and grace.
But the gospel is in these verses. I'm going to give you a few pictures
of Christ. Abigail, her name means the joy
of her father. Remember I asked you, how on
earth did she end up married to Nabal, a foolish, evil man? Well, I don't know what caused
her father to give her marriage to a man like Nabal, but I know
why the Lord allowed it to happen. So we would have here recorded
in scripture a picture of Christ, who is the joy of his father.
He is the delight of his father. Yet he married himself to a foolish,
sinful people. That's what we are, nabal. That's
what we are by nature, foolish and evil. Look over Psalm 53.
Psalm 53, verse 1. The fool, Nabal, the fool has
said in his heart there is no God. Corrupt are they, and they
have done abominable iniquity. There is none that doeth good.
The fool has said in his heart there is no God. Now it's not
so much that they can deny God exists. Men know God exists. They can't really fool themselves
into thinking God does not exist. Just like Nabal knew who David
Even the Philistines knew who David was. They knew him by sight.
They said, that's David, the one they sing the songs about.
He's killed his ten thousands. The Philistines knew who David
was. Of course, Nabal knew who David was. But he wouldn't acknowledge
everything David had done for Israel. That's the way men are. That's the way we Nabals are
by nature. We know who God is. We just refuse to acknowledge
him. We refuse to bow to him and worship him. We refuse his
son. And the fool has said in his heart, it's not just that
there is no God. You'll notice those words, there
is, is in italics. The fool has said in his heart,
no God. No, no, I will not bow to you. No, I will not worship you. No,
I will not acknowledge you. No, I will not repent. I'm going
to continue in my evil ways and things that make me happy. That's
what he's no God. And the father gave a people
like that. to be married to His precious
Son. That is only a match that could
be made in heaven. Only divine grace and love would
marry a people like us to the Son of God. That happened in
divine grace and love, a bride given to the Son so He could
redeem her from all of her sins. He could make her beautiful in
His beauty which He put upon her. That's why God gave those
people to His Son. And then David's men, they protected
Nabal's shepherds and flocks while they were out there in
the field. They were a wall of protection all about them. And
that's the way men enjoy the general mercies of the Lord.
God gives us food to eat. He gives us air to breathe. He
gives us water to drink. He gives us clothes to wear.
God makes human beings intelligent. I mean, people are intelligent.
God gave them that intelligence. Our lives are preserved. People
live. God does that. And what do we do? Requite God's
good with evil. That's what we Nabals do. Men
refuse to acknowledge the Lord's provision to them. They talk
about me, mine, and I. This is stuff that belongs to
me. It's mine. It's what I've provided
for myself. My bread, my water, my flesh,
which I have provided for my shearers. We talk just like Nabal. Just exactly like him. And the
thing that really condemns Nabal When it says here that he is
of the house of Caleb, it's not just telling us whose lineage
he's in. It's telling us he's inherited
everything he has. Now, he wouldn't go out through
his own hard work and ingenuity and build up this great wealth.
He inherited it. It was given to him. And he's
taking credit like it's mine. I earned it. That's the way men
are. Everything God gives us, we say
is mine. That's why unbelievers are told to tithe. Because they're
not going to let loose of it unless they're taxed. There's
got to be some reason, you know, they're buying something. Believers
aren't told to tithe. Believers are told to bring an
offering. Bring an offering with thanksgiving and joy. Because
a believer knows, I'm just returning to the Lord what He gave me.
I'm just returning to the Lord where it belongs to Him. It's
not mine, it's His. He gave it to me. God make us
a wise steward of what He's given us. And then David sent his men
to Nabal in David's name. Isn't that how God sends his
servants to Nabal's? He sends us in the name of the
Lord, with the message of the Lord. And Nabal's fools always
refuse God's message and God's messengers, unless God gives
them a new heart. You can't expect, God's servants
can't expect to go out in this world preaching the message of
Christ and be loved and accepted of men. Our Lord Himself came
into His own and His own received Him not. That nation that God
chose, that nation that God blessed and protected and led are Nabals. He came into His own, His own
received Him not. Look in John chapter 5. This is Heap's condemnation.
upon us. In Romans 5 verse 39, our Lord tells these Pharisees,
search the scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal
life, and they are they which testify of me, and you will not
come unto me that you might have life. I receive not honor from
men, but I know you that you have not the love of God in you.
And here's the proof that they do not have the love of God in
them. I am come in my Father's name and you receive me not.
But worse than that, he goes on, he says, if another shall
come in his own name, him you will receive. Fools. That's the way we are. That's
the foolish, evil nature that we're born with. Refusing to
acknowledge and worship God. But let another come in His own
name. Boy, we'll follow after Him. Fools by nature. And because of that sin, God's
angry. Now don't be confused. God's
holy. He's angry. He's coming to punish
sin. And God's going to come in judgment
and wipe out all mankind. Everyone will die eternally. unless something is done to pacify
God's holy anger. Just like David's anger had to
be pacified. Well, how is God's anger going
to be pacified? With sacrifice. Abigail is a picture of our Lord.
When she comes to David in verse 24, she fell at his feet. She
fell in front of him and she asked David, please hear me. Please give a moment and hear
me. That's a picture of the Son praying
for his people. In John 17, his intercessory
prayer, he's praying for his people. Praying that the Father
would hear him and accept him. And our Lord said the same thing
that Abigail said. She said, David, let this iniquity
be on me. Don't let it be on Nabal. Let
it be on me. The Lord Jesus Christ was made
to be sin for his people. Sin wasn't just on him. It just
wasn't put on his shoulders. It wasn't put around him. It
wasn't put to his account on some piece of paper somewhere.
He was made to be sin for his people. And God killed him for
it. He died under that wrath because
that sin became his. In verse 28, Abigail says, forgive
the trespass of thine handmaid. Abigail didn't do anything wrong.
She told David, and I didn't see your young men when they
came. She didn't do anything wrong. But she didn't say, David,
forgive Nabal's trespass, did she? She said, forgive my trespass. This is my sin. That's how our
Lord went to the cross. He knew no sin. He did no sin,
yet he was made to be sin for his people. And you read this
sometime in Psalm 40. He calls the sin of his people,
mine iniquities. He said, I'm not dying for The
sins of my people, the sins of somebody else, the sins of other
people have got a hold on me. He said, mine iniquities have
got a hold upon me. Abigail is a picture of Christ.
And she said, let these iniquities be on me. And she acted in haste
and brought a sacrifice. She didn't just act in haste
and come to David empty handed. She acted in haste and came to
David with a sacrifice. picture of the redemption that
we have for the sacrifices of our Lord Jesus Christ. He acted
in haste, just like Aaron after Korah's rebellion, he acted in
haste. He ran to make an atonement for
the people. Our Lord, our great high priest,
set his face like a flint toward Jerusalem. And if he hadn't acted
in that haste, if he had not acted in that determination to
make a sacrifice for the sins of his people, no one would live. He came in haste to pacify God's
holy anger. And He didn't come empty-handed.
He brought the only sacrifice that the Father would have sent.
He brought the best sacrifice. He brought His own blood. Just
like Abigail. She didn't just send David a
few jugs of water and some stale bread. I mean, those hungry men
would have ate that and been thankful for it. But she didn't
send that. She sent the best. All those raisins and figs and
wine and lambs ready dressed. All made ready. For Nabal's sacrifice,
for his feast, she sent the sacrifice to David. Our Lord brought the
best. He brought his own blood once
into the holy place and obtained eternal redemption for us. Now
that's a love for a people that do not deserve that love. Just
like Nabal. He didn't deserve the love of
Abigail. And we don't deserve the love of Christ either. And
every one of us needs to make haste and come to Christ. Today's the day of salvation.
Today's the day God's sending the gospel to you. We're not
guaranteed tomorrow. We're not guaranteed this afternoon.
We're not guaranteed the next minute. Today is the day of salvation. Make haste, come to Christ. And
David accepted the person of Abigail. The father accepts the
person of his son. It's not just that he accepts
the work and the sacrifice of his son, although he does. He
accepts the person of his son. And how are his people accepted?
In the beloved. We are accepted in the beloved.
By nature, we're enabled. Fools. But in Christ, we're not
fools. He has made unto us wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption. And being in Christ, being accepted
in the Beloved means that everything Christ is, we are. The Father
accepts the person of Christ. He's the head, we're the body.
You know, if you tell me, Frank, I accept you, you don't just
accept my head, it's the whole body. When the Father accepts
the person of Christ, he accepts the head and the body together. And we are accepted in him. This afternoon, it's your leisure.
Let's read Ephesians chapter 1. Read the whole chapter and
see how many times we see every blessing that God has for his
people is in Christ. In Christ. In Christ. In the
Beloved. By Jesus Christ. In Him. In Him. In Him. Repeated over and over
and over again. In Him. And that's how we're
accepted by the Father. In the Beloved. Alright. I hope
the Lord will bless that to you.