I presume that none of you had
been deluded by the horrid papal heresy of purgatory. Nobody here believes in purgatory,
do you? You know, where you go to hell and suffer for a while
to pay for your sins before you get to heaven. The Great Reformation
began in Germany when the papists sent out priests selling indulgences,
drop a penny in the cup. And as soon as I hear a penny
rattle in the cup, the soul will be released from hell. And Martin
Luther said, hell no. Quite literally, quite literally. And the great Protestant Reformation
began. Baptists had their form of purgatory. They don't call it that. They
call it degrees of reward in heaven. If you're a good Christian,
then you're going to get a diamond studded Duncan Fife yo-yo when
you get glory. And if you're not really good,
you get a Woolworth brand. And you younger folks don't even
have any idea what Woolworth brand is. Buy those for nickel. Such teaching is totally contrary
to the gospel of God's free grace. My subject this morning is weakness
rewarded. Weakness rewarded, not strength,
weakness. Our text will be found in 1 Samuel
chapter 30. There were 600 men in Israel
who lined up with David against Saul. They forsook family, home,
career, and friend to follow David. And they did so when it
was terribly unpopular to do so. They were willing to lay
down their lives for David. They followed David through thick
and thin. preferring to be with David in
caves in the wilderness than to be with Saul in his palace. A few of these men were the bravest,
most valiant men in Israel. But for the most part, they were
a ragtag band of helpless, useless paupers whose only hope in life
was that David would accept them and protect them and provide
for them and defend them. We're told in 1st Samuel 22 too,
that everyone that was in distress and everyone that was in debt
and everyone that was discontented gathered themselves unto David
and he became captain over them. As you know, David was typical
of our Lord Jesus Christ, our great savior and his ragtag army
of nobodies reminds me a great deal of our saviors. For you
see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after
the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called, but God
has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the
wise. And God has chosen the weak things
of the world to confound the things which are mighty. Base
things of the world and things which are despised hath God chosen
Yea, and things which are not to bring to naught things that
are and The reason God uses such things as you and I are is that
no flesh should glory in his presence If anything comes of
something we do God did That's the reason he uses such things
as we are. And David's army well typifies
God's church in every age. With that in mind, let's look
at 1 Samuel chapter 30, verses 21 through 25. And let me bring
you up to this portion of scripture, reminding you of the background.
While David and his men were away seeking peace and safety
by an alignment with Achish and the Philistines, the Amalekites
came to Ziklag and burned the city and took all the wives and
children and cattle and sheep and valuables that belonged to
David and his men. They slew not any, but they took
everything. In verses 1 through 6, we read
that Down in verse 6, they came back and these men saw what had
happened, and they wept and wept until they didn't have any more
strength to weep. David was greatly distressed,
we're told in verse 6, but David encouraged himself in the Lord. And then in verses seven and
eight, he called for Abiathar, the priest, the son of Ahimelech,
to come and bring the ephod. You'll remember the ephod was
that part of the priestly garment that where the Lord told them
to put the Urim and the Thummim from which they must seek the
counsel of the Lord. And so David said to Abiathar,
bring me the Urim and Thummim, and I will seek from you at the
Urim and Thummim the counsel of God, just as he commanded. And turning to God, he found
word from God, the promise of God, and the spirit of God telling
him to go after the Amalekites and to pursue them, knowing that
he will overtake them and without fail recover all. And then as
David pursued his enemies, some of his men had to be left behind. Look at verses 9 and 10. So David
went, he and the 600 men that were with him, Came to the Brook
Beezer where those that were left behind stayed But David
pursued he and four hundred men for two hundred abode behind
watch this Which were so faint That they could not go over the
Brook Beezer The scripture does not say they were so faint that
they would not go over The scriptures tells us plainly they were so
faint that they could not go over the Brook Beezer. And so
David left these 200 faint men who didn't have the ability to
go on any further here at the Brook Beezer to abide by the
stuff. to stay there and watch over
the property of the others while the other 400 men followed David
after those men, the Amalekites, who had burned Ziklag and taken
everything captive. They would have gone if they
could have gone, but they simply didn't have the strength or the
ability to go. At last, David and his men caught
their enemies and thoroughly conquered them. We read about
it in verses 11 through 20. We're told in verse 18 and David
recovered all. Verse 19, and there was nothing
lacking to them. And neither small nor great,
neither sons nor daughters, neither spoil nor anything that had been
that they had taken to them. David recovered all. And David
took all the flocks and the herds which they draved before those
other cattle and said, this is David's spoil. He had been weeping just a few
days before. Weeping with his men until they
can weep no more and finally he encourages himself in the
Lord and the Lord says go after them You will surely overtake
them and you shall recover all without fail and now David comes
back bringing all the spoils that the Amalekites had taken
his wives and their children his men's wives and their children
and all their cattle and all their possessions, but that's
not all and He's driving out in front of them all the spoils
they had taken from the Amalekites. David recovered all the Amalekites
had taken and nothing was lacking. What a great picture that is
of our Lord Jesus Christ, our great David. We were lost, but
Christ recovered all and recovered us from the fall. He says, I
plucked the spoil out of his teeth. David rescued his two
wives that had been taken into captivity The Lord Jesus has
snatched his heavenly beloved bride from the hands of the law
and from the hands of Satan and from the hands of sin We had
forfeited life Christ gives us life we had forfeited our eternal
inheritance, but Christ recovered all and So that all the elect
are seated with him around the throat. And he says, this is
David's spoil. But every believer, every child
of God, look at his life's history. Oh, child of God, read your life's
history like this. Your past, your present and your
future. This is David's spoil. This is David's spoil. This is what our Redeemer has
done. He's redeemed me by His grace. He's redeemed me by His blood.
He's redeemed me by His power and I'm His. These are all things
the Lord's recovered for us, but there's more. More than just
the recovery. As Israel was enriched by having
been taken into captivity, And not one actually was slaughtered
in the captivity. Not one was actually slaughtered
when the Americites came and took them. Not one actually perished. Not one lost a thing. But they rather were enriched
by having been taken into captivity. So by Christ, God's promise is
fulfilled. They that spoil thee shall be
a spoil. And our Lord Jesus, when he rose
from the dead, led captivity captive, making a show of it
openly. This is Jesus' spoil. David recovered all. And David
gathered great spoil from the Amalekites. And that's what Christ
has done for us. Now let's read our text. Verses
21 through 25, 1 Samuel 30. And David came to the 200 men,
which were so faint that they could not follow David, whom
they had made also to abide by the brook Bezer. And they went
forth to meet David, to meet the people that were with him. And when David came near to the
people, He saluted them, asked them how they were doing. Then
answered all the wicked men and men of Belial, all these men of hell, all these
men of the devil, all these wicked men, of those that went with
David and said, because they went not with us. We will not
give them all of the spoil that we have recovered No What did
we read about that spoil? It's the spoil that the Lord
had given it was called David's spoil Everything they got they
got because they were associated with David But now they say we'll
we will not give them of the spoil that we have recovered
save to every man his wife and his children and And they may
lead them away and depart. We'll allow them to get to heaven,
but that's all they're going to get. Then said David, ye shall
not do so, my brethren, with that which the Lord hath given
us. That which the Lord hath given
us. Ron, this business of salvation
is either what you've earned or what God's given you. It ain't
both. It can't be both. And that includes the whole of
God's salvation. Folks say, well, the heaven's
not part of it. Well, that's not part of it.
Please tell me what is. This is what the Lord's given
us, who hath preserved us and delivered the company that came
against us into our hand. For who will hearken unto you
in this matter? Not God's people. But as his
party is that goeth down to the battle, so shall his part be
that tarrieth by the stuff. They shall part alike. As his party is that goeth down
to the battle, shall his part be that tarrieth by the stuff. They shall part alike. And it was so from that day forward. that he made a statute and an
ordinance for Israel unto this day. Some of those who went down
with David said, we're not going to share these spoils that we
have taken, that we have won for ourselves with these men
who did nothing. We are not going to give them
any portion in this great spoil. We've taken this, we've earned
it, we've merited it. They stayed down here and did
not engage in the battle. David said, oh no, oh no. How common it is that men vainly
imagine that somehow they, by their presumed goodness, by their
proud display of what they call faithfulness, by their display
of what they presume is righteousness and holiness, somehow they manage
to earn from God reward. What blasphemy. Please tell me
how you're going to put God Almighty in your debt. Please tell me
how you're going to oblige the Almighty to anything. And these
same men would assert that you who are saved, but you don't
do things like you ought to, and you struggle with sin, and
you're weak, and you don't go out and win souls to Jesus, and
you don't give a thousand dollars a week, and you don't go to the
mission field, Haven't got all of your Bible memorized? Well,
you'll get to heaven by the skin of your teeth, but you'll get
some rusty old wings and a skinny white cloud and a robe so full
of patches and woolly that it scratches. What blasphemy. What stupidity. I want to show
you four things plainly from that which is revealed to us
here in 1 Samuel 30 verses 21 through 25. Number one. In the family of God, there are
many faint, weak brethren. In the family of God, there are
many faint, weak brethren. Second, the Lord Jesus Christ
is Lord of his faint and weak ones, especially Lord of his
faint and weak ones. Number three, Christ will come
again to his weak ones. And when Christ comes again,
fourthly, he will grant his faint and weak ones a full inheritance
with himself. All right, here's the first thing.
In the family of God, there are many faint, weak brethren. In fact, All God's people acknowledge
they are faint and weak. I'm talking to some of you who
now would not dare say it, but some of you think you're strong. You think you're something else. Look what I've done. Look how
long I've been around. You think you know a great deal.
I'm quite confident that if that's the case, you know nothing. including God. If you ever meet the son of God
in saving mercy and grace, you will acknowledge before the footstool
of grace that you're nothing, faint and weak. Christ is Lord
over all things and over all men. But Christ is distinctly
the Lord of his faint ones and his weak ones. Yes, it is true. There are in the kingdom of God,
young men and fathers among the saints of God, but those whom
we look upon as strong, those we look to as great, those we
acknowledge to be, as the Holy Spirit inspired Peter to write,
holy men, those that we admire as examples of faith and faithfulness. Go ask them to tell you about
their faith and faithfulness. Ask them to tell you about their
strength. Ask them to tell you about their knowledge of the
book. I've been studying this book. Relentlessly every day
for 45 years. And Bob Duff is bigger now than
he's ever been. It's more profound now than it's
ever been. More mysterious now than it's
ever been. more wondrous now than it's ever been. And I realize
I'm beginning to, maybe, maybe just beginning to scratch the
surface a little. Just beginning to scratch the
surface a little. But folks think they're mighty
and noble and strong and righteous and knowledgeable. They don't
know God from a billy goat. That's just that. That's just
that. With God's people, we recognize our weakness. The spirit indeed
is willing, but the flesh is weak. This faintness can be attributed
to many things. This faintness is displayed in
many ways. This faintness is seen as we
tend more to stir this in others than we do faith and strength
and faith. In the case of David's men, I'm
sure that they were faint and weak because they were somewhat
perplexed. Here's David, this man they so
highly admired, this man who is God's ordained king, this
man whom God sent over them to be their Lord, David, he is the
one who slaughtered Goliath with a sling. And David goes to Achish
and seeks an alignment with the Philistines to save himself. This man who would not allow
his own men to touch Saul now seeks an alignment with the Philistines
and they must have said, is David going to now join the Philistines
to oppose Israel? And they must have been terribly
perplexed. You see, God's people are sometimes injured, perplexed,
weakened by the misguided zeal, untempered words, and faulty
examples of those who are God's ordained leaders, pastors, teachers,
and others. I'm not talking now about false
prophets, I'm talking about men who are faithful men, with their
urge and their speech and their conduct and their attitude. If I behave in a manner that's
out of character and contrary to the gospel of God's grace,
a lot of people can be harmed. You who are placed in positions
of responsibility in your household, in the church of God, in this
world, understand that you are responsible for the influence
you have upon others, be it good or evil. You are responsible. How well he takes his seat. Please don't do that again, Noah,
you're too old for this. Go back to before services start. You're responsible for the way
you behave. And you're responsible for the
influence you have on others so that believers must assume
that responsibility, especially you who are leaders in the kingdom
of God. I recognize That's a tremendous burden for
everyone, especially for preachers. But what we must do, Bob, is
do what's right. Just do what's right. Children
of God, do what's right. In all things, adorn the doctrine
of God, our Savior. Behave as men and women who believe
God, endeavoring to sit before your sons and daughters and your
neighbors and your friends, your brothers and sisters, these men
and women sitting here with you in the house of God today, endeavor
to sit before everyone who sees you, an example of faith and
faithfulness and commitment and consecration and devotion to
the Son of God. Oh, brother Don, you think we
ought to be really careful about those things? More careful about
that, Mark, than anything else you can do for your family. More
careful about that than anything else you can do for anyone. David, in time of weakness, unbelief
and frustration, set before his brethren an example of weakness. Seeking safety. by compromise
and these men followed his example. No doubt they became weak also
because they looked at the events of Providence instead of looking
to the God of Providence. They looked back at Ziklag and
the city is burned to the ground. Now put yourself where they are. They don't know what happened
to their wives. They don't know where their children are. They
don't know where the cattle are. For all they know, everything's
slaughtered, everything's gone. And they wept until they had
no more strength to weep. And I certainly don't suggest
that this is some kind of an ordinary trial. Not one of us
has ever experienced such a thing. They couldn't pursue the Amalekites. They couldn't obey God's command
because they looked to Ziklag and the ashes of Ziklag rather
than God's promise. God said, get up and go after
them. You will surely overtake them.
You will surely recover all. That's what God said. God said,
go now. But they were so weak, they could
not go over. And their weakness was they looked
at their circumstances rather than God. Oh, what a weakness I find in
me. Looking to things around me rather
than to God above me. Looking to my strength rather
than His strength. Looking to my wisdom rather than
His. Looking to my skill rather than His goodness. Looking at
things around me rather than believing His promise. How we
err when we judge God's will by God's providence. Don't do
that. Judge God's providence by the
revelation of God's will. So that even though when you're
like Jacob and you got to look at things around you say all
these things are against me. Oh no! All these things are for
me. God said so. It doesn't matter
how it feels. It doesn't matter what things
look like to me. It doesn't matter how things
appear to me. This is what God said. Judge not the Lord by feeble
sense, but trust him for his grace. Behind the frowning providence,
he hides a smiling face. His purposes will ripen fast. Unfolding every hour, the bud
may have a bitter taste, but sweet will be the flower. The
only cure for this weakness His faith in Christ. Look away to
him who is God, our savior, who sits on his throne and rules
all things by his wisdom, skill and goodness. We know that all
things work together for good to them that love God, to them
who are the called according to his purpose. Trust his wisdom,
trust his goodness, trust his promise, trust his grace. No
doubt. We often show weakness when the
task before us is great and obstacles in the way that we become fearful,
fearful. These men are sent out to do
God's bidding, just as we have been. Sent out to do God's bidding,
to recover God's chosen, to recover God's people, just as we have
been sent. But they go against a mighty
army, well-armed and skilled, and they're just a ragtag mob
of nobodies. And so fear sets in. The fear
of failure and defeat makes us weak. I can't think of anything
more powerful or successful than fear. Fear makes every enemy
a giant. Faith slays the giant. Fear creates
mountains everywhere in every path. Faith levels the mountains. Fear makes the feet heavy. Faith
makes them wings and causes them to fly swiftly. Fear makes the
broke beaser a torrent, a river that cannot be crossed because
it's so swollen. Faith crosses the book, swimming
if necessary. Building a bridge if necessary,
but faith crosses. Fear makes every tree a forest.
Faith clears the forest, one tree at a time. Fear measures
the obstacle. How many times, Bob, have we
looked at things these 33 years together and said, well, that's
too big, we can't do that? God forgive me. What's too big? for God to do
with Gideon's band or without them. Nothing. Fear looks to the strength of
the enemy. Faith looks to the promise of
God. All right, here's the second
thing. God has many faint, weak children in his family. But the
Lord Jesus is Lord of His faint ones, especially, particularly,
distinctly Lord of His faint ones. Everywhere, men were in distress. These men
who came to David were already in distress when they came. They
were in debt. They were discontent. These are
the ones who were gathered to David. In this, too, is typical
of our savior. We come to our Lord Jesus. In
our desperate need. With nothing. We come to our
savior and seek his mercy because we need his mercy. We come to
him continually as sinners needing grace. We never grow above that. Several years ago, had written
some things, just brief things, when the EP first published Grace
for Today. And a fellow got real offended
and decided he'd write me up. And he wanted to be sure I read
it, so he sent me the paper. He wrote me up month after month
after month, and defending what he called his progressive righteousness. Now, he didn't call his righteousness
progressive righteousness, but that's what he defended, his
progressive righteousness. It got better and better and
better. Well. Lindsay, I haven't gotten any
better today. Or any better over these years. It's not just that I see the
evil of my heart more clearly. My heart's more evil. It's not just that I see the
corruption of my nature more distinctly. My nature is more
corrupt. The dead man corrupts. That's all he can do. He's already corrupt. Corruption
sets in immediately, even before the death begins. But the dead
man corrupts, that's all. And so it is with every child
of God born in this world. You and I, born dead in trespasses
and in sins, while God's put in us a new nature that is holy
and cannot sin, that old man, Adam, in us can do nothing but
sin. And we recognize it. It's our
need that causes us to cling to the Savior. Though we're often
in distress by reason of our weakness, Christ is touched with
the feeling of our infirmities. Though it was through David's
sin that Ziklag was burned. It was through David's sin that
Ziklag was burned. You got that, don't you? And
the Lord didn't even correct him for it. The burning of Ziklag, his
loss was correction enough. God never even brought it up.
He said, you pursue the Amalekites, you shall recover all. Well,
the Lord does chasten us for our sins, but it never punishes
us. He reproves us. But bless his
name, he never renounces us. He never forsakes. He never ceases
to love his own. He has said, I will never leave
thee nor forsake thee. And he loves all his children
with the same everlasting love. He's with us. I started to say,
even when we stray, He's with us especially when
we stray. He protects us in the midst of all our sin. It's because we are weak and
need Him that Christ is ever present and willing to help,
defend, protect, and provide for us. Because we're weak. I saw Nathan walk in. I remember,
buddy, when your daddy had to watch over you all the time,
just like you had to watch over that boy sitting beside you,
because you were weak and needed him. Now I bet he doesn't even
call you every day. How come? Well, he doesn't care
anymore. Oh, yeah. But Nathan doesn't need him like
he did. He's grown beyond that. Oh God, let me never grow for a moment
not to need You. Not to need You. Whatever is
required, no matter how humbling to me,
whatever is required to make me know my need of my Redeemer. God grant it. And that's grace. That's grace. There's nothing. We wouldn't do for our savior.
We were his. I don't I don't have a question
about that. You were born of God, delighted
in the law of God after the inward man. But you still have in your
members that old man. flesh. And when you would do
good, evil is present with you so that you cannot do the things
you would. Now, here's the glory of our
Redeemer. He says, my strength is made
perfect in weakness. My strength is made perfect in
your weakness. My grace is sufficient for you. My strength is made perfect in
your weakness. When you know your weakness,
glory in your infirmity before God, causing it to cast you down
at the Savior's feet continually. Here's the third thing. The Lord
Jesus will come to his weak and faint ones. Turn to the Song
of Solomon for a moment, chapter three. Oh, he does hide his face from
us for a time, but he does that for our good. The reason he hides
his face from us is to force us to seek it. Look here in the
Song of Solomon, chapter three. By night on my bed I sought him
whom my soul loved. I sought him, but I found him
not. I will rise now and go about
the city and the streets. And in the broad ways, I will
seek him whom my soul loveth. I sought him, but I found him
not. The watchmen that go about the streets, go about the city,
they found me. I saw the preacher and I said
to him, saw you him whom my soul loveth? It was but a little that
I passed from them. was but a little, that I passed
from them. You come here this morning, the
Lord's hidden his face from you now, and you've heard the watchman
declare the word of his grace, and you go home. But I failed him, whom my soul
loveth. I hailed him, and would not let
him go till I brought him back to church with me. until I brought
him into my mother's house, the chamber of her that conceived
me. Soon, our Lord Jesus will come
again to call his faint ones home, to call his poor weak ones
to glory, and we will go out with anxious hearts to meet him. We which are alive and remain
shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the
Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Oh, blessed, blessed, blessed
day. Soon the Savior is coming to
take us to himself, either in resurrection glory or perhaps
in death that's just in the next breath. Either way is all right. We're going out to meet him.
And so shall we ever be with the Lord. Now, fourthly, when Christ our Lord comes again,
he will grant all his fate and weak ones a full inheritance
in glory. Look back at 2 Samuel. Turn over to 2 Samuel chapter
2 for just a minute. Look at verse 3. and his men that were with him
did David bring up every man with his household and they dwelt
in the cities of Hebron. Whenever you read this chapter
over and over again, David speaks of these who are his soldiers,
his this ragamuffin band, this group of nobodies, these poor,
distressed, discontent people who come to David for refuge.
And he speaks of everything with the little word us. The Lord
delivered us, the Lord gave to us, the Lord preserved us, always
speaking of himself collectively with his people. So our Lord
Jesus always so regards us. You who are Christ are one with
Him and all God's people one with Him so that the very glory
that the Father has given to Him as our mediator, He's given
to all His own so that we are declared to be heirs of God and
joint heirs with Jesus Christ. You see, all the glories of heaven
are gifts of grace. Nothing is earned by us. The
crowns are crowns of grace. The thrones are thrones of grace.
The mansions are mansions of grace. The songs are all songs
of grace. The weak and faint believer is
rewarded with those who are presumed strong because the weak and the
faint serve Christ just as sincerely and just as fully and just as
usefully as those we presume are strong. You see, all I can
see is what I can see. And all you can see is what you
can see. And all we can see is what impresses
the flesh. That's all. That's all. Let me
tell you about a faithful man. Let me tell you about a faithful
man. He'll probably call me and be
upset with me when he hears me say this. Up in Dingus, West
Virginia. Brother Gary Vance, been in that
church my soul. I don't remember when I first
went up there. I was back sometime in the 70s. First time Shelby
and I went up there, faith was just little bitty thing. And Gary been there, faithful,
faithful, faithful all those years. Served in the church with
several pastors. After Brother Hep died, I called
Gary to be pastor. You know, not many folks know
his name. He pastors a small congregation
in a little town. Most maps, you can't even find
it on it. Faithful. You know what he'd been doing
all these years? Before God put him there pastoring and after
God put him there pastoring, doing the same thing. He'd been
staying by the stuff. He'd been staying by the stuff.
Faithfully staying by the stuff. You see, those who stay by the
stuff, they are men and women who do what they can where God's
put them. for the good of God's people,
the building of God's kingdom, the saving of God's elect, and
the glory of God's son. The Lord Jesus said to that woman
who brought the alabaster box and anointed his body for the burying, washed
his feet with the tears and kissed them and wiped them with the
hairs of her head. They began to deride her and said, look
what a waste. What a waste? Well, she took
this huge, rich gift. Oh, we could have done so much
more with it. Oh, could you? Could you? Oh, we could have done great
things with that. Could you? Greater than this?
She hath done what she could for me. She hath done what she could
for me. Just for me. Just for me. And when the Lord Jesus comes
in His glory, He will say to that great, great
woman, that remarkable woman. And that widow who made such
a great sacrifice, who brought her two mites, sacrificing so
much. He'll say to those great ones. And to us poor, weak ones. Well done. Aaron Gibby, he'll
say to me, well done. Well done. He'll say to Martha
and to Mary, well done. He'll say to you who trust his
name, Well done, thou good and faithful servant. That can't
be, can it? That can't be, can it? It shall
be, if you're one with Him, because He's done well. Amen.