Let's turn this morning to 1
Samuel chapter 30. 1 Samuel chapter 30. Some of you will recall that
just six or eight weeks ago I preached a message to you from this passage
on David's spoils. This morning I want to come back
to the passage in verses 21 through 25 and try to answer this question,
who gets the spoils? Let me refresh your memories
of what's taking place here. There were 600 men in Israel
who lined up with David against Saul. These men forsook family,
home, career, and friends to follow David. When it was most
unpopular to do so, they were willing to lay down their lives
for David. They followed him through thick
and thin. They preferred to be with David
in the cave than to be with Saul in palace. What a picture that
is of true faith in Christ. Believers forsake all and follow
the Lord Jesus Christ. There were among these who followed
David a few of the bravest, most valiant men in Israel, but for
the most part David's men were a band of helpless, useless paupers,
men whose only hope really was to follow him. The only hope
they had was that they cling to him. David was one who graciously
received all who came to him, though they had nothing really
to offer him. He graciously defended them,
protected them, and led them. Back in chapter 22, verse 2,
the scripture says, everyone that was in distress, and everyone
that was in debt, and everyone that was discontented, gathered
themselves unto David, and he became a captain over them. I
wonder if there's anybody here who's still discontented, poor,
desperately needy. I bid you now come to him of
whom David was just a pipe, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the captain
of our salvation. He delights to receive poor,
needy, desperate sinners. He was a type, this man David,
of our dear Savior, and his ragtag army was a pretty good type of
us. For the most part, those who
follow the Lord Jesus Christ are nothing and nobody. I remind
you again of that text that we need often to remember. You see
your calling, brethren. Have it not many wise, not many
noble, not many mighty men after the flesh are called. But God
hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the
wise, and God hath chosen the base things of the world to confound
the things, or the weak things to confound the things which
are mighty, and base things of the world and things which are
despised, that's God chosen. Yea, and things which are not
to bring to naught things that are. And he does it this way,
that no flesh should glory in his presence. Now with that in
mind, let's look here at 1 Samuel chapter 30 verses 21 through
25. While David and his men were
away seeking peace with the Philistines and Achish, who was the head
of the Philistines, the Amalekites, you recall, had come to Ziklag.
They stole everything that belonged to these men. They took away
all the property. All the possessions, all the
cattle, all the riches, all the women, all the children, everything
was taken. And when they came back to Ziklag,
David and his men saw everything that wasn't taken burned to ashes. But David turned to the Lord.
He told the priest to go get the ephod and inquire at the
Lord. And he asked the Lord, shall
I pursue these Amalekites? And the Lord said, you pursue
them and you will recover all. And so David, armed with the
spirit of God and the word of God, gathered his 600 men together
and they pursued the Amalekites until they came to the brook
Bezor. And when they got to the brook Bezor, David and his 600
men were about to go over. But there were some who just
couldn't do so. Look at verse 10. David pursued
he and 400 men. For 200 abode behind, which were
so faint that they could not go over the
Brook Visa. 200 of the men were so faint,
read it now, that they could not go over. It doesn't mean
that they would not go over, it says they could not go over. We are told that these men were
so faint that they could not follow David into the thick of
the battle. They were so faint that they
could not continue to pursue the armies of the Amalekites.
They would have gone if they could have gone, but they couldn't
go. They just didn't have any strength. They didn't have any
energy. They were faint and must stay
behind. And so they stayed by the stuff
while David and the other 400 men pursued the Amalekites. Now
I repeat, this is very, very important. They would have gone
over, but they couldn't. So they stayed by the stuff.
And staying by the stuff, they watched it. and kept watch until
David returned. Well, as you know, David recovered
everything. What a picture of our Savior. The Lord Jesus Christ,
our great Redeemer, came into this world and the scripture
says, he says in Psalm 22, then I recovered that which I took
not away. Our Lord Jesus Christ recovered
all for us, just as David recovered all for Israel and these men
who followed him. And as they were coming back,
they took the spoil of all that David had taken from the Amalekites,
the spoils which God had given them. And they put all the sheep
and the cattle out in front, and as they came back to the
brook Bezor, and were coming back to these men who stayed
by the stuff, they put them to forth, and everyone began to
shout, This is David's spoil! This is David's spoil! And thus
they put the spoil out in front, and gave honor to David the great
king. Now with those things in mind,
let's begin reading at verse 21. David came and came to the 200
men, which were so faint that they could not follow David,
whom they had made to also to abide at the Brook Beezer. And
they went forth to meet David and to meet the people that were
with him. And when David came near to the people, he saluted
them. Then answered all the wicked
men of Belial. You ought to underscore that.
Those who think like this are wicked men of Belial. It doesn't
say they were all this way, but those wicked men of Belial are
those that went with David. They said, because they went
not with us, we will not give them all of the spoil. Look at
it now. We have recovered. Look what
we have done. We went on into the battle. We
went with David right into the thick of things. We went right
up against the Amalekites. We have recovered the spoils,
and we're not going to share them. We don't. We will not give them the spoil
that we've recovered, saying to every man his wife and his
children that they may lead them away and depart. They're useless.
We don't need them. Then said David, you shall not
do so, my brethren, With that, look at it, David speaks differently. With that which the Lord has
given us, who has preserved us and delivered the company that
came against us into our hands. For who will hearken to you in
this matter? But as his part is that goeth
down to the battle, so shall his part be that carryeth by
the stuff. They shall all part alike. Then
look at verse 25. And it was so that from that
day forward that he made a statute and an ordinance for Israel unto
this day. Now let me paraphrase that for
you. Some of those who went with David into the battle were proud,
arrogant, wicked men of Belial. And they said we will not share
the spoil with these 200 weak men who went not into the battle
with us. They're not as strong as we are.
They haven't worked like we have worked. They haven't done what
we have done, and they don't deserve to be raped with us.
They shall not be rewarded with us. We will not allow them to
have what we have won. They can have their wives and
children and go their way, but no more. We've done greater things
than they have, and we'll have greater reward of the spoil which
we have recovered. Does that sound like anyone you
know? Sounds like most of religion in our day. We live in the midst
of this society where Baptists, spelled Baptist with a big B,
and most of them think that the Baptists are going to sit around
in heaven while everybody else, they're going to sit around and
spit while everybody else polishes their spit can. It ain't going
to happen. Most folks think that somehow they're going to, by
their works, win great reward for themselves and the Lord's
going to put crowns on their heads and they're just going
to walk around with crowns and they're going to live on Main
Street in the New Jerusalem in the biggest house there while
you peons who don't quite measure up. We who have not labored as
they have labored, we who have not accomplished what they have
accomplished, we shall live on the back side of the ghettos
of the New Jerusalem, and we're going to get into heaven, but
just by the skin of our teeth, and we'll just lose all our reward,
and while we're not going to be in hell, we're going to be
the next best thing there. That's such nonsense. Such utter nonsense. These wicked
men of Belial would not allow the poor weaklings to have anything
except just their wives and children. They hadn't performed such great
works. Those wicked men of Belial remind
me specifically of the religious philosophy and the religious
people of our day, who thus try to mix works and grace in this
matter of salvation. Now, you listen carefully to
this preacher. Listen carefully, I'm telling you what this book
teaches, and I'm telling you exactly what this book teaches.
Any mixture of works with grace is damning to your soul. I don't
care whether you make that mixture of works in grace in the beginning
at justification, or whether you make it before the world
began as you were speaking of earlier in God's predestination.
or whether you make it in sanctification, or whether you make it in glorification,
any mixture of works and grace is damning to your soul. Here
in 1 Samuel, David says, it's as his part is that goeth down
to the battle, so shall his part be that tarrieth by the stuff. They shall part alike. I want
this morning to show you four things from this passage of scripture
that are clearly taught in the word of God. Number one, this
is so very important. In the family of God, there are
many weak, faint brethren. There are a lot of us. It is
true there are some young, strong men and some fathers among the
saints. But there are many babes in grace
too, and even the strongest are at times weak. The mightiest
are sometimes those whose hands hang down. The most faithful
soldier weakens in his knees at times. In the army of Christ,
the strongest ones know full well their own weakness and trust
Christ as their strength. As David had his weak ones, so
does the Lord Jesus. No doubt there are some sitting
here today Some of you whose faith is real, you truly love
the Savior. But right now, at this moment,
your strength is weakening. You're depressed in spirit. Things
seem to overwhelm you. You're downcast in your soul.
Your mind is weak. If you could, you would go out
and fight with the Amalekites, but you can't. The spirit is
willing, but the flesh is weak. Now, this faintness may be attributed
to a lot of things. Perhaps first I should say the
faintness might be my fault. Might be my fault. That was certainly
partially the case here with David's men. David's men, these
weak ones, probably became faint because of great perplexity. You see, David had wrongfully
sought to join forces with the Amalekites. Not with the Amalekites,
but with the Philistines. He had gone up to Achish, king
of the Philistines, and said, Let's make a choice. Ron, that
must have been terribly confusing. Here is this man who had slain
Goliath, this man who had slain his 10,000 of the Philistines,
this man who would not allow his servants to touch Saul. Now he goes up with the Philistines
and seeks to make a league with the Philistines in a time of
his weakness. Will David The great warrior
now joined with the armies of those who oppose God to fight
against Saul? The fact is God's people are
often perplexed and weakened. They're often hindered by the
misguided zeal and untempered words and faulty examples of
God's ordained servants who lead them. I'm not talking about false
prophets. I'm talking about faithful men
who err in their speech and their conduct and their attitude and
their behavior. When pastors, elders, beacons,
preachers, behave in such a manner that they behave in a manner
that's outside of the revealed truth of God. They behave in
a manner that's out of character for a believer, out of character
for them. They do great harm to the family of God. It's my
responsibility as that man who is appointed of God to lead you
in the way of faith, to set before you an example of faith. It's
my responsibility as that man who leads you in the paths of
righteousness to walk in those paths before you. And it is thus
the responsibility of every man who stands to preach the gospel.
Let us ever seek to adorn The Gospel of Christ. I pray and
I ask you to pray for me. You give me such respect, but
don't forget to pray for me. Pray that God will give me grace
to mark a plain path and walk in it before you so that I do
not discourage you in the way. I had an experience a while back,
a very good friend of mine, a faithful, faithful man going through a
heavy trial. Behaved in a manner that caused
a lot of confusion to a lot of people. Disheartened a lot of
people who had such high, high regards for him. God's servant
must be careful. Must be careful not to do so. Sometimes folks say, well, you
ought not to put on the front. If I come here and I'm feeling
down, there's not any point in me telling you that. That's not
going to help you in. That's not going to lift you
up in. It's my responsibility and your responsibility to one
another to behave in such a manner as not to give way to our flesh
and our carnal feelings but rather to exemplify faith and to exemplify
commitment to Christ. David in a time of weakness,
unbelief, and frustration set before his brethren who loved
him and loved his God, an example of weakness, seeking safety by
compromise. But I'll not be too hard on David. These men, however, in their
perplexity, as they watched David, just like you watch me, they
saw him go to this Philistine and seek to preserve the nation
of Israel, God's people, by compromise with the Philistine. Why are we going to fight the
Amalekites if we're going to join up with the Philistine? Why should we risk everything
to go after the Amalekites if we're going to come back and
join up with them later? They were just thanked. No doubt these
200 men became weak also because they looked at the events of
Providence instead of looking to the God of Providence. We usually do. They came back to Ziklab and
all they could see was smoke and ash. God promised them, I'll never
leave you necessary. God promised them no evil shall
happen to the just. God promised them that he made
a league even with the beast of the field to do them good.
But all they could see was smoke and ashes. They looked to the
events of providence rather than the God of providence. And I
promise you that'll always bring them deliverance. Always. Who hasn't experienced this weakness?
We look at our circumstances. You remember how Jacob looked
at all that had happened to him. He said, Joseph is gone. Simeon's
gone. Now you're going to take Benjamin
away from me. All these things are against me. Little did he
know, all these things are for him. Joseph was gone and Simeon
was gone and Benjamin's got to go. to bring him at last into
salvation by God's provision. All God is dressed to dress you
with promise. Not to look to the events of
our lives, but the promise of God concerning the whole of our
lives. They couldn't pursue the Amalekites. They could not obey
God's command. God said, go after them. But
they could not obey because all they could see was Ziklag. They couldn't hear God's promise.
They tried to obey. They said, all right, we'll go
with you. But it still had the mind of Ziklag. God said, you
will recover all. You'll overtake the Amalekites.
Nothing will be lost. And they tried to believe. They
went on, but only to Beza, and then they stopped. Children of
God, this is what I'm saying. Do not, do not, do not ever interpret
God's will and God's promise and God's word by what you see
and feel and experience. Don't do it. Don't do it. There's
not one of us sitting here who would not look back at some aspect
of our lives, some event in our lives, and conclude, looking
at that experience, at that time, Romans 8.28 can't be believed. All things work together for
good? Like hell they do. Looking at
the experience. The bitter, painful, troubling
experience. Oh, don't look at the experience. Don't, don't, don't interpret
God's goodness and God's promise based on what you feel. Judge
not for Lord by feeble faith, but trust him for his grace.
Behind the frowning providence he hides a smiling face. His
purposes will ripen fast, unfolding every hour, the bird which has
such a bitter taste. Ah, but sweet will be the flower.
I promise you that. I've experienced it over and
over. and you who believe God can bear
the witness. The only cure for this weakness
is faith. Faith in the wisdom of God, the
goodness of God, the promise of God, for we know, oh we know
that all things do indeed work together for good to them that
love God, to them who are called according to his purpose. No
doubt these men became faint because the task before them
was just humongous, is a huge task. These were a small band
of ragtag, ragamuffin nobodies who had nothing, and they're
going out against the well-armed, well-trained armies of the Amalekites. We can't do that. Not as long as you look at your
hands you can. Not as long as you look at your weapons you
can't. Not as long as you look at your ability you can't. We
can't overcome them. They couldn't think of anything
but the Amalekites. But God said, now listen, God
said you shall surely overcome them. God said you shall surely
recover all. That's hard to believe when you're
pursuing Goliath with a slingshot. That's hard to believe when you're
a band of herdsmen with nothing but a staff and a dagger in your
hand going after an army of the Malachites. The fear of failure,
the fear of defeat made these men too weak to fight. So you
see their weakness is not an excusable thing. Our weakness
And the things of God is never excusable, never. It's too hard to be very severe
on these fellas, because we know by experience what they need
to deal with. Oh, what a powerful foe he is. Things I've never met a man or
a demon in hell, are an experience in this world so successful at
stopping me from doing what I know I ought to do as a human. Fear makes every enemy a giant.
Faith slays the giant. Fear makes every path a huge
mountain. Faith levels the mountain. Fear
makes feet heavy. Faith makes them like wings swift
flying to do his will. Fear makes the brook Bezer seem
like a torrential river. Faith makes that brook and the
Red Sea and any other obstacle to seem just as a wading pool
when it wades across the brook. Fear makes every tree a forest.
Faith cuts down the forest. Fear causes a sizing up of the
obstacle. Faith is obeying the will of
God. Fear causes us to look to the
strength of the enemy. Faith causes us to look to the
promise and strength of God. Do you understand that? Apply
children of God to every aspect of our lives. We as a congregation
of believers, how many times have we sought to do God's will? We pray and ask God to give us
some direction, open doors and God opens the doors and You're
looking at, shoot, we can't do that. We can't do that. Not as long as we look at our
hands. But as long as we look at his
hands and his promise, Rex Bartley, there's nothing we can't do.
Nothing. That's what Paul meant when he
said, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. If
the Lord God has called me to it, I can do it! Because it's
his work and not mine. His will and not mine. His purpose
and not mine. God has many faint, weak children
in his family. But secondly, I want you to see
that Christ is especially, and if you're taking notes, underscore
that word, especially. Christ is especially the Lord
of his faints. and weak ones. David was captain,
as I have told you, over a bunch of ragamuffins, weaklings. Everyone that was in distress
or in debt or discontent were those who gathered to David.
What a picture that is of our Lord Jesus Christ and us. We
are not among those self-praising mighty ones who have accomplished
great feats of holiness and wonders of righteousness by which they
suppose They have made themselves great before God. So great that
now they are mighty in progress. So great that now God has become
their debtor. So great that now they anticipate
that God owes them something because of what they've done.
Now we grant, we grant we're saved by grace. We grant that
salvation is of the Lord, but there's something that we have
done, and for this God shall reward us, they would tell us. We have no part with such men.
Believers mourn their weakness. Our iniquities, our transgressions,
and our sins are ever before. But we rejoice, ho ho ho, how
we rejoice in the faithfulness of our dear Lord. He delights
to be the Lord of sinners who need him. He will not cast them
off because they need him. Though we are often in distress
by reason of our own weakness, the Lord Jesus is touched with
the feeling of our infirmities. Because we are weak and need
him, the Lord Jesus Christ is ever present with us. and willing
to defend us, protect us, and provide for us. He says, I will
never leave thee nor forsake thee. He says, let us come boldly
now to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find
grace to help when we're mighty and strong. Oh no, when we have
time of need. Do you need anything? Do you
need Him? Then come to the throne of grace.
They're the only ones who can, those who are weak and needy. not our goodness, but our sinfulness
that qualifies us for mercy, you see. The strong don't need
Christ's strength. The righteous do not need his
grace. The rich don't need his help.
But the Son of God still goes home with and eats with publicans
and sinners. He's especially the Lord of the
meeting. The needy need mercy. I believe I can say this, I know
I can say this with all honesty, for every child of God's Savior,
beginning right here, right here back. There's nothing we would not do for our Savior And I can say this, for every
child of God here, you get in gear, all the way to the back.
Mark, you cannot do the things that you learn. Or you'll weep, as they say,
thick flesh. So thirdly, I want you to understand that
the Lord Jesus Christ will come again to his faithful. As soon
as David had finished business with the Amalekites and won the
spoils, he came back to these men at Bezor. And as he came
back to Bezor, he saluted them with joy, told them of his accomplishments. David came to these 200 men who
could not follow him and ask of their well-being. What a picture
that is of our Savior. Though our Lord sometimes hides
his face from us, because of our weakness. He doesn't hide
his face from us because he's angry with us. No. He hides his
face from us to make us strong, to make us seek after him. He
doesn't hide his face from us to punish us. No. He hides his
face from us to chastise us. Though he often hides his face
from us for a time, for our own good that we might seek him,
he will return to those who need him. And the poor, the faint, the
weak, the needy ones will just be overjoyed to see Him again. Let me remind you again of one
of my favorite pictures in the New Testament. Our Lord told
those ladies, the angel did, said, you go back. No, He said
to these ladies, you go back to my disciples and tell his
disciples and tell them that he'll meet them just like he
said he would. And then those angels carried the Lord's word
and said, be sure to tell Peter. Be sure to tell Peter. Peter,
he doesn't think I'm going to meet him like I said I would.
You be sure to tell Peter, everything's all right. Nothing's changed.
I'll meet him just like I said I would. And when the Lord met
Peter, by the seashore. When he got done, Peter was never
the same man again. The Lord met him and overwhelmed
him with his faithfulness and goodness. Soon our Lord Jesus
will come again to call his faint ones home. And when he does,
We'll go out to meet him, just exactly like these men at Bezos
did when they heard David's coming, they went out to meet him. And
when the Lord Jesus comes again, we which are alive and remain
shall be caught up together with him and his saints in the clouds
to meet the Lord in the air. And so shall we ever be with
the Lord. Oh, blessed, blessed. Then Then will all our failings be
over. We'll have no more weakness.
We'll have no more fainting. We'll have no more unbelief.
We'll have no more doubting. Now fourthly, let me wrap this up by showing
you that when our Lord Jesus comes again, he will grant all
his faint and weak ones a full inheritance in glory. Turn over
to chapter 2 of 2 Samuel. 2 Samuel chapter 2. Let me show you this. 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. David, he said, now these fellows
are going to get the same spoil you get. And he brought them
up to Hebron, and he became an advocate for these weak ones. As David became an advocate for
these 200 faint men in the teeth of their accusers, so the Lord
Jesus Christ will be an advocate for us in the day of judgment.
He said to these wicked men, Abeli will not be sold. I'll
make this a statute in Israel forever. Now look at the reasons
he gives. Go back and read 1 Samuel chapter
30 again, and verse 24. Who will hearken to you in this
matter? But as his part is that goeth down to the battle, so
shall his part be that carryeth by the stuff. They shall part
alike. Now look at the reasons David
gives. He said the rewards of heaven are the spoils of Christ,
not ours. These four things, these things
the Lord gave us. You talk about what you've recovered?
You haven't done anything. You really think you would have
gone out and conquered these fellows by yourself? You haven't
done anything. These are the Lord's spoils. Children of God, you listen.
Whatever heaven's glory affords was obtained by the blood and
righteous obedience of the Son of God. Not by your prayers,
not by your faithfulness, not by your giving, not by your distributing
tracts, not by your laboring, not by your church attendance.
Shoot, there's nothing to be taught about that. That's utter
nonsense. That stuff is so ridiculous, it would not be believed by anybody
who had any sense at all concerning spiritual things. Heaven's reward
is that which Christ has won, and Christ gives. The Church
of God is one body, and we are one with Christ. When David spoke
to these wicked men of Belial and spoke about his people, he
said, He was David. David's kid. David, man, he walked head and
shoulders above everybody. I never met a man like David,
did you? When he died, God in his word
just mentioned three things he did wrong. I mean, David was
a man after God's own heart. This man walked by faith. What a character he was. He was
a picture of Christ. And David speaks to these men. who were in his armies. And he
said the Lord's given these things to us. Whereas in reality the Lord gave
them to David. Those fellas just got in on it. Because they were one with David.
You see where I'm going? The Lord Jesus Christ recovered
the spoil for us. He won the victory for us. But
we're one with him. And Paul Harry's one with him.
That means that what he has won, we've won in him. What he's obtained,
we've obtained in him. What he has, we have in him. He said this. He said when he
finished his work, he said, Father, restore unto me the glory which
I had with you before the world was. John 17 verse 5. Then in
verse 22, this is what it says. The glory which thou hast given So that all the glorious possession
of heaven that he has, is given to all his people. These glories
of heaven are the gifts of divine grace, that which the Lord has
given us, not something that we've earned by our merit. The
crowns of heaven are crowns of grace. The thrones of heaven
are thrones of grace. The mansions of heaven are mansions
of grace. The songs of heaven are all songs
of grace. Not unto us, O Lord, not unto
us, unto thy name give glory. And then we see in these precepts
of David that the weak and the faint believer, though weak and
faint, serves Christ just as fully And just as sincerely as
the strong in the shadows. Now that might be a little hard
for us to grasp. Let me spend a minute with it. These men did not go to battle
because they were too weak. They couldn't go fight the war.
They just couldn't. If they had gone into battle,
They would have just been an obstacle. They wouldn't have
done any good. They were too weak to go. But
even though they were too weak to go to battle, there was something
they could do. They could save themselves. And
so David said, all right, fellas, you can't go to battle. I understand
you're too weak to go. Maybe it's my fault. I shouldn't
have gone up to Ziklag. I shouldn't have gone up to Akish
and tried to get Akish and the Felicity's to let us join up
with them. But I tell you what, you stay
by the staff. I believe I can do that. What about you other fellas here?
Yeah, we can stay here. We can stay by the staff. And
they did. If they hadn't stayed by the
stuff, the other fellows could have gone on and won the victory.
Somebody got to stay by the stuff. They were more fearful than those
who went to the battle. But they were not less earnest
or less useful than the stronger brethren. And you, my brothers
and sisters, in your weaknesses, in your fears, Don't ever imagine that for that
reason you're less useful. Don't ever imagine because you're
fearful and you're timid and you're often confused and you
feel like you're useless. Don't ever imagine that. Don't
ever imagine that. Our Lord honors those who do
what they can That widow in the temple, that poor woman, she couldn't
do anything. She couldn't do anything. Probably
she didn't have anything. She didn't have anything. She
couldn't preach and she couldn't see anybody else to preach. She
didn't have anything. All she had was two pens, two lights,
not even a few Just a few miles. And she comes and she says, God,
I'm utterly useless. I'll handle it. All I've got
is keeping me together. Because I'm yours. And she did more than anybody
in the people that know. The Lord said, now, Peter, James,
John, you want to learn something about giving? This woman has
given all she has. You do it. You do it, son. Martha was cumbered about much
serving. I like Mary. Mary chose that
good part which should not be taken away from her. But in choosing
that good part, our Lord was not, he was not suggesting in
any way that what Martha was doing was evil. Martha should
not have been cumbered about her servant. But I tell you what,
I thank God for the Martha's who serve. Now, you ladies particularly,
y'all called on to do so many things and you being around here,
And this congregation called on to do so many things that
take the load off of me and take the load off of others. Now,
don't become cumbered with it. If it gets to be an aggravation
to you, don't do it. Don't do it. The only time somebody
wants to do it. But by all means, sir. By all
means, somebody's got to prepare the meal. Somebody's got to clean
the building. Somebody's got to stay by the
staff. And Martha stayed by the staff. If on that particular
occasion, the Lord and his disciples have been waiting on Mary to
keep fixing some chicken and dumplings, they're going to be
hungry. Because he wanted to sit and worship. Well, God's
people don't sit and worship. They work and worship. You understand
that? You remember the woman who came
with that alabaster box? I spiked an old gal who apparently
had been selling her body for her livelihood for years. She had enough sense to put a
little back because she knew one of these days her body is
going to get kind of out of shape and her face is going to get
wrinkled and she's going to get like everybody else and she wouldn't
be any good for anything and she better be counting on somebody
because her lover is not going to help her then. And so she
kept her spiked. You remember the parable we read?
Every man was hired for a penny a day. That gal came and bought
an alabaster box of spikewood worth three hundred days. You know what I've never observed
in my life? I've never observed to my knowledge anyone make such
a deal. This gal brought her life savings,
a year's wages. What'd you do with it? Well,
the disciples said, take it, sell it, give it to the poor.
Judas led them, and they didn't have any more sense than to follow
him. They said, that's what all men do. Everybody started cussing
that woman because she had made such a great waste. Turn over
to Mark 14. Let's see what our Lord thought
about it. Mark 14. Jesus said, you let her alone. Why trouble ye her? She hath
wrought a good work on me. You know what? He never said
that about Peter, James, or John. He said, she hath wrought a good
work on me. For the poor you always have
with you. And whensoever you will, you
may do them good, but me you have not always. She hath done
what she could. Oh God, give me grace to just
do what I need. Give me grace to do the same.
She did what she could. You do what you can. Do what
you can for the Bible. And you will have a lot of good
work on you. One last thing. These men who stayed by the stuff
that these are, were rewarded with all the riches that everybody
else had for one year. Because the king said, give it
to them. It was the will of the king.
He said, He said, this is the way it's going to be! That's
the way it is. And our Lord Jesus says to you
and me, fear not, little flock, for it is your father's good
pleasure to give you the kingdom, and give it he will. Amen.