If not, can I be? Todd Rowe Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Neiberg. We are located at 4137 Todd Rowe,
two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 1030 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
945 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddrowegracechurch.com.
Now here's our pastor, Todd Nibert. In 1 Samuel, chapter 30, verse
20, we read, And David took all the flocks and the herds which
they draved before those other cattle, and said, This is David's
spoil. I've entitled this message, David's
Spoil. Now, it is very important for
us to remember in reading the Old Testament that everything
in the Old Testament, and I say everything, is given to illustrate
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. All the stories are given
to illustrate some aspect of the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. To Him give all the prophets
witness. Every word in the Old Testament
is given to teach us the gospel. Noah's Ark, what's that? Well, that Ark represents Christ.
Those in the Ark are saved. Those that are not in the Ark
are destroyed. Christ is that ark, the smitten
rock. Christ was that rock that was
smitten, the water came out. When the rock was smitten, when
Christ was smitten by the wrath of God, we're fed and nourished
and saved through that. All these things are given to
typify the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, in 1 Samuel
30, beginning in verse 1, remembering that, It came to pass when David
and his men were come to Ziklag on the third day. They had traveled
three days to get to Ziklag. The Amalekites had invaded the
south and Ziklag and smitten Ziklag and burned it with fire
and had taken the women captives that were therein. They flew
not any, either great or small, but carried them away and went
on their way." Now, who were these Amalekites that did this
to Ziklag, the city that David was going to? The Amalekites
were the ones who attacked Israel first when they left Egypt. The Lord had already delivered
them from Egyptian bondage, and we read in Exodus chapter 17
where the Amalekites attacked them. You might remember the
story where Moses stood on the hill with the rod of God in his
hand, and when he held his hands up, Israel prevailed. When he
put his hands back down, the Amalekites prevailed, and Aaron
and Hur kept and raised his hands up, and they defeated the Amalekites. The Amalekites represent the
flesh. Their first battle began not
before they were delivered, but after they were delivered. When
God saves a man, really in some respects, that's when his troubles
begin. He battles this thing called the flesh. And God said
that he was against the Amalekites forever. As a matter of fact,
40 years later, when you read of Israel getting ready to enter
into the Promised Land, He reminds them, destroy the Amalekites. Don't have any peace with the
Amalekites. So they represent the flesh. And the Amalekites came in and
invaded Ziklag and took all the wives and the livestock away. Now, in 1 Samuel chapter 27,
we need to get some more background as to what had been taking place.
We read of David. And David said in his heart,
I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul. There's nothing
better for me than that I should escape into the land of the Philistines,
and Saul shall despair of me. He'll forget me." He'd been fleeing
from Saul, and he thought, if I could just go to the land of
the Philistines, Saul will forget about me, not seek me anymore,
and so shall I escape out of his hands. Now, David, the man
after God's own heart, is now in a compromised position. He
leaves Israel and goes to the land of the Philistines. So we
read in verse 2 of 1 Samuel 27, ìAnd David arose and passed over
with six hundred men that were with him unto Achish the son
of Malak king of Gath.î And David dwelt with Achish at Gath, he
and his men, remember these were Philistines, enemies of Israel,
he dwelt with them He and his men, every man with his household,
even David with his two wives, the Hinnohem, the Jezreelites,
and Abigail the Carmelites, Nabal's wife. And it was told Saul that
David was fled to Gath, into the land of the Philistines,
and he sought no more again for him. Saul said, well, just leave
him alone. So here David is in the land
of the Philistines, and he was there for some 16 months. Let's
go on reading. And David said unto Achish, this
king, if I have now found grace in thine eyes, let Then give
me a place in some town in the country that I may dwell there,
for why should thy servant dwell in the royal city with thee?
Then Achish gave him Ziklag that day. That's the place that the
Amalekites raided. He gave him Ziklag that day,
whereof Ziklag pertaineth unto the kings of Judah unto this
day. And the time that David dwelt in the country of the Philistines
was a full year and four months. Sixteen months he was out of
Israel, living with Israel's enemies. And look what he did.
Let me read a few more verses. And David and his men went up
and invaded the Geshurites and the Gerrites and the Amalekites.
For those nations were of old the inhabitants of the land,
as thou goest to Shur, even as in the land of Egypt. And David
smote the land and left neither man nor woman alive, and took
away the sheep and the oxen and the asses and the camels and
the apparel, and returned and came to Achish, this king he
had been with. And Achish said, Whither had
he made a road today? And David said, Against the south
of Judah, and against the south of the Jeremelites, and against
the south of the Kenites. David lied. He lied about where
he got this spoil from. He said, We have got it from
Judah. He said he'd invaded his own
country. He lied in order to make this
man think he was foreign. Verse 11, And David saved neither
man nor woman alive, to bring tidings to Gath, saying, Lest
they should tell on us, saying, So did David, and so will be
his manner all the while he dwelleth in the country of the Philistines.
David killed everybody, so no one would be alive to tell what
he'd actually done. And Achish believed David, saying,
He hath made his people Israel utterly to abhor him, therefore
he'll be my servant for ever. So King Achish thought, I've
got David now, because David told him this lie, and he thought,
Israel will hate him now. Now, during this time, you can
go ahead and read in chapters 28 and 29, the rest of the Philistines
became suspicious of David. And they said, we don't want
him going into battle with us. He might turn on us and go back
and fight for the children of Israel. And so they watered him
out. King Achish came to him and said,
well, I'm sorry, you've been faithful to me, but all the lords
of the Philistines want you out. They don't want you following
us. So David is returning to Ziklag, not knowing what was
going to happen. He'd been in a compromised position
for 16 months. He'd been living a lie, and now
he's returning to Ziklag, Sodom. And when he gets there, he finds
out the town has been raided by the Amalekites, that they
stole his wife, his children, all their goods, everybody lost
everything. So he was at the bottom. So we
read in verse 3, So David and his men came to the city, and,
behold, it was burned with fire. And their wives and their sons
and their daughters were taken captives. And David and the people
that were with him lifted up their voice and wept, until they
had no more power to weep. And David's two wives were taken
captive, the Hinnahan, the Jezreelitus, and Abigail, the wife of Nabal,
the Carmelite. And David was greatly distressed, for the people
spake of stoning him. You see, David knew deep down
that this was all of his fault, because he was in this compromised
position. This had happened to everybody.
And evidently, everybody else knew it was all his fault, because
they were all wanting to stone him over what took place. David
hit the bottom. David was greatly distressed
for the people spake of stoning him because the soul of all the
people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters.
But David encouraged himself in the Lord. There was absolutely
nothing to be encouraged about in the circumstances. But David
is given grace at this time to do what only a believer can do.
He encouraged himself in the Lord. Now, as long as salvation's
in Christ, as long as God is on the throne ruling in absolute
sovereignty, as long as God is good, as long as God is just,
as long as God is gracious and merciful, as long as the precious
blood of Christ has power to put away sin, as long as salvation
is by grace, every believer has reason to be encouraged. He didn't
have anything to be encouraged in his circumstances, but he
encouraged himself in the Lord his God. Verse 7, And David said
to Abathur the priest, Ahimelech's son, I pray thee, bring me hither
the ephod. And Abathur brought unto the
ephod to David, and David inquired at the Lord. And this is what
he should have done in the first place before he went up to the
land of the Philistines. He should have inquired of the
Lord, but now he does what he should have done in the first
place. And David inquired at the Lord, saying, Shall I pursue
after this troop? Shall I overtake them? These
people that had invaded Ziklag and the Amalekites and carried
them all away, should I? He doesn't even know what to
do at this time. He's simply asking the Lord, What do I do? Shall
I overtake them? And he answered, the Lord answered
him, for thou shalt surely overtake them, and without fail recover
all." Now here we see that this David is a glorious type of the
Lord Jesus Christ. He recovered all. All we lost,
he recovered on the cross, and he did so without fail, verse
9. So David went after the Lord told him, go, pursue, you'll
get everybody back. So David went, he and the 600
men that were with him, and came to the brook Besor, where those
that were left behind stayed. But David pursued, he and 400
men, for 200 abode behind, which were so faint, they couldn't
ford over the brook. It was a raging river or creek,
and they'd been walking for three days, they were tired. They didn't
have the strength to get over 200, so they stayed back. More
on this in a moment. They stayed back, and David and
400 men went to pursue the Amalekites who had invaded their city after
the Lord gave them this confidence and assurance that they would
win. So we read in verse 11, after they had forded the brook,
the 400 men, and they found an Egyptian in the field and brought
him to David, and gave him bread, and he did eat, and they made
him drink water, and they gave him a piece of a cake of figs
and two clusters of raisins. And when he'd eaten, his spirit
came again to him. For he had eaten no bread, nor
drunk any water three days and three nights." This Egyptian,
they found him laying there in a field. And David said unto
him, To whom belongest thou? And whence art thou? And he said,
I am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite, the ones who
had invaded Ziklag. And my master left me, because
three days ago I fell sick. And we made an evasion upon the
south of the Cherethites, and upon the coast which belongeth
to Judah, and upon the south of Caleb, and we burned Ziklag,
with fire. And David said to him, Canst
thou bring me down to this company? And he said, Swearing to me by
God, that thou wilt neither kill me, nor deliver me in the hands
of my master, and I'll bring thee down to this company. Now
here we see the adorable providence of God. The Amalekites had burned
Ziklag with fire, and they carried the women away. Now one of the
Amalekites had a servant, an Egyptian, who fell sick, and
he just left him there to die. He just left him, and there he
is laying there dying. But God in His providence brought
all this to pass so this man could tell exactly where the
Amalekites were. And this man who was left behind
to die tells these people, this is God's providence. He's behind
everything. All things work together for
good to them that love God, to them who are called according
to His purpose. God worked this out so David and his men would
know where the Amalekites were, verse 16. And when he had brought
him down, behold, they were spread abroad upon all the earth, eating,
and drinking, and dancing, because of all the great spoil they had
taken out of the land of the Philistines and out of the land
of Judah. Now, these Amalekites were having
a party. They were so overjoyed at all the spoil they'd taken,
they had no idea what lay ahead. So we read in verse 17, And David
smote them from the twilight, nighttime, even unto the evening
of the next day. There was some smiting going
on in the dark. And their escape, not a man of
them, save 400 young men which rode upon camels and fled." Now,
this is given to typify the gospel, this smiting. David and these
400 men supernaturally smote the Amalekites, a great vast
army, and destroyed them. And they did this in the dark.
On the cross, there was some smiting taking place, and that
smiting was in the dark. Remember how God turned the lights
out when His Son hung on the cross? The sun refused to shine,
and there was some smiting going on. Awake, O sword, smite the
shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered. You see, on the
cross, the Lord Jesus Christ was being smitten by His Father.
The sins of his people became his sins. He's our substitute. He took the place of all who
believe. Their sins became his sins, and
God the Father smote him, and he put away those sins. But that's
not the only smiting that was going on. You see, 4,000 years
before this, there was a prophecy given regarding the serpent,
the one who deceived Adam and Eve, Satan. He says to the serpent,
you'll bruise his heel. And on the cross, the heel of
the Lord Jesus Christ was bruised. But the seed of woman, the Lord
Jesus Christ, will crush your head. And that's what was going
on when Christ was on the cross. Satan was being smitten. I love
to think about this. The devil thought that he'd gained
the victory in the death of Christ, and he didn't know that all he
was doing was being smashed and defeated. Oh, the victory that
the Lord Jesus won on the cross, the full salvation of all his
people. And the scripture says, and David
recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away, and David rescued
his two wives, and there was nothing lacking. Neither small
nor great, neither sons nor daughters, neither spoiled nor anything
that they'd taken to them. David recovered all, and David
took all the flocks and the herds which they dragged before those
other cattle and said, this is David's spoil." Now, I think
it's interesting how the scripture points out that 400 people got
away of the Amalekites. Notice in verse 17, and David
smoked them from twilight even to the evening of the next day,
and there escaped not a man of them. say 400 young men which
rode upon camels and fled. Now why this interesting detail?
Remember the Amalekites represent the flesh and as long as I'm
alive I'm going to have to deal with my flesh. The spirit lusts
against the flesh, the flesh lusts against the spirit. These
are contrary one to another so that you can't do the things
that you would. I'm reminded that I'm gonna deal with the
flesh until the day I die, but still, David recovered all. Verse 19, there was nothing lacking
to them, neither small nor great, neither sons nor daughters, neither
spoils or anything that they'd taken to them. David recovered
all. Now, what this shows is the completeness
of the work of the Lord Jesus Christ in behalf of his people.
He recovered all, and I am complete. I am nothing lacking. In Him,
all that God requires of me, I have. And I don't have the
minimum, I have the maximum. I have all that God requires
because when Christ said, it is finished, it was said regarding
everybody He died for, there's nothing lacking. In Him dwells
all the fullness of the Godhead in a body and you are complete,
nothing lacking in Him. If you're in Him, you have completeness
of righteousness, you have completeness of holiness, you have completeness
of redemption. There's nothing lacking. You
can't get any more saved than you are. You can't get any more
holy than you are. You can't get any more righteous
than you are. If you're in the Lord Jesus Christ, there's nothing
lacking. David recovered all. All that he died for, he saved. And when he said it is finished,
there was nothing lacking. And when I stand before God on
Judgment Day, it will be said of me, there's nothing lacking.
He's perfect in Christ Jesus. And between now and then, it's
always gonna be there's nothing lacking. David recovered all. Verse 20, and David took all
the flocks in the herds which they draved before other cattle
and said, this is David's spoil. David brought back more Then
he was taken away. Not only did he bring back everything
the Amalekites took, he took all of the Amalekites' spoil
that they'd got everywhere else, and he said, this is David's
spoil. David not only recovered the
losses, but he came back with much more. Now, I have more than
I lost in Adam. Adam had an innocent nature. He had human righteousness. But
the believer has Christ's righteousness. That's a whole lot better than
Adam's righteousness. I made the very righteousness
of God in Christ Jesus. Adam was subject to fall. He
did fall. But do you know that a believer
cannot fall away? They have a nature in them that's
holy that will not let them fall away. Oh, can they fall? Sure
they do as far as the flesh, but they cannot fall away. They've got an impeccable nature
in that sense, a nature that cannot fall. Adam knew nothing
of the joy of forgiveness. Adam knew nothing of the joy
of salvation by grace. Adam knew nothing of acceptance
in the Beloved. He stood on his own, but the
believer is actually accepted in the beloved. Oh, we have infinitely
more if we're in Christ than we did before the fall. So in
that sense, it was a blessing. People say, why does God permit
evil? Well, for his own glory. For His own glory, He allowed
the fall. He allowed the fall of Adam, but I'm thankful He
did. What would we know of salvation? What would we know of the greatness
of God? What would we ever know of the mercy and the grace of
God if there were no fall? How would we know the wisdom
of God and how He's made a way to be just and justify the ungodly
if there were no fall? We recover more. Now, the story's
not over. Verse 21, And David came to the
two hundred men, remember them? They were so faint and weak,
they couldn't get across the creek or the river. The water
was raging and they left him behind. They didn't go and recover
the spoil, they stayed behind. And David came to the 200 men,
which were so faint that they couldn't follow David, whom they
had made also to abide at the brook Besor. And they went forth
to meet David and to meet the people that were with him. They
came back to meet the 400 men. And when David came near to the
people, he saluted them. He treated them with much respect. Then answered all the wicked
men and men of Belial. That's another word for Satan.
These were wicked men. These were unbelievers. These
were part of the 400 that went with David to rescue everybody,
but they were not believers. They were all the wicked, all
children of the devil, actually. Then answered all the wicked
men, and men of Belial, of those that went with David, and said
regarding these two hundred that stayed back, Because they went
not with us, we will not give them out of the spoil that we
have recovered, save every man his wife and his children, that
they may lay them away and depart." Now, what they're saying is,
we did a lot more work than these guys did. We put our lives on
the line, we rescued Everybody, so we're going to give these
fellows back their wives and children, but we're not going
to give them any of the riches of the spoil because we did all the
work and they did nothing, therefore we should get more than them.
What's that remind you of? You remember the parable of the
workers in the vineyard? Remember there were some that
worked 12 hours a day or 12 hours, there were some that worked nine,
there were some that worked six, there were some that worked three,
and there were some that worked one hour. And the ones who worked
12 hours at the end of the day supposed that they would get
more than the ones who merely worked one hour. They thought,
I've done more. Surely I should get more. I have
more coming to me. I worked harder. But they all
got the same thing. The ones who worked one hour
and the ones who worked 12 hours, they all got the same thing. And the ones who worked 12 hours
were angry. They said, We should have got
more. That's the same spirit that's
going on here. These 400 men said, We worked hard. We're the
ones who put our lives on the line in order to save these people.
We should get more. That's human reasoning. Now,
David's answer. Then said David, You shall not
do so, my brethren, with that which the Lord hath given us.
who had preserved us and delivered the company that came against
us into the hand. The Lord did this. We didn't
do it. The Lord did this. Three words
I want you to notice. The Lord gave, the Lord preserved,
and the Lord delivered. The idea of some people having
a higher reward in heaven because they have done more work is utterly
wrong. And it's obnoxious. It's obnoxious
to God. It was obnoxious to David. Everybody
gets the same thing, saved the same way by the grace of God.
We have the same righteousness, the righteousness of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Yet so many people believe, well, true salvation
is by grace, but we'll get a higher reward based upon our obedience
and works here on earth. Well, does the Scripture teach
that? No. Scripture doesn't teach that
anywhere, and the parable of the workers in the vineyard answers
that question. The Scriptures do not teach that.
Number two, do you have such a high opinion of your works
that you think you can add that to the righteousness of Christ
and somehow that's going to make it better? Well, that's why that's
so obnoxious to God. And something else. If you're
seeking something in heaven, what we ought to seek is the
lowest place. Not the highest place. Do you want exalted above
your brethren? Would you like to be up above
them and you can look down upon them and say, I'm in a mansion,
you're in a shack? Is that what you want? Why, that's contrary
to grace, that's contrary to love. Every believer ought to
believe themselves to be the very chief of sinners and they
ought to believe they are to take the lowest place. David
said, no, everybody's going to get the same thing. You see,
we're saved the same way. If I'm saved and you're saved,
there's one reason why both of us are saved, by the free grace
of God. If I stand righteous before God
and you stand righteous before God, there's only one reason,
we have the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the
thought of One man having a higher position or getting more because
of the things that he did is contrary to salvation by grace. And if it's proud, do you really
think you deserve a higher place? And it's contrary to love, wanting
to exalt yourself above your brethren. So David said, no. He says in verse 24, for who
will hearken unto you in this matter? But as his part is that
goeth down to the battle, so shall his part be that teareth
by the stuff. They shall part alike. And it
was from that day forward that he made it a statute and an ordinance
of Israel unto this day." This ordinance is still in effect. Every believer gets the same
thing. And you know, I'm thankful for
this because I know that my works don't deserve anything. And I
hope you know that, too. And the only way somebody can
be saved is because of the grace of God and the righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is David's spoil. This is Christ's spoil, is what
that means. He saved us by His grace. Now, we have this message
on DVD and CD. If you call the church, if you
write or email, we'll send you a copy. And we'd like to invite
you to services at Todd's Road Grace Church. Morning Bible study
begins at 9.45, the morning worship at 10.30, and we meet again this
evening at 6.00. You'll hear the gospel of the
Lord Jesus Christ. This is Todd Kniper, praying
that God will be pleased to make Himself known to you. That's
our prayer. Amen. To request a copy of the sermon
you have just heard, send your requests and messages at ToddsRoadGraceChurch.com
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