Would you turn to 2 Kings chapter
1? This is the first message from
2 Kings. 2 Kings chapter 1. Now, King David was old and stricken
in years. That means his life was now measured
in days. He was a very old man physically. You think of what all he'd gone
through, and he was an old man physically. And they covered
him with clothes, but he got no heat. Wherefore his servants said unto
him, Let there be sought for my lord the king a young virgin,
and let her stand before the king, and let her cherish him,
and let her lie in thy bosom that my lord the king may get
heat. So they sought for a fair damsel
throughout all the coasts of Israel and found Abishag, a Shumanite,
and brought her to the king. And the damsel was very fair
and cherished the king and ministered to him, but the king knew her
not. Let's pray together. Lord, we come into your presence
in Christ's name and we ask in his name that you would be pleased
to cause your gospel to be declared in the power of your spirit.
Give us hearing ears and receptive hearts. Lord, may we be enabled to worship
thy dear son. Lord, we confess our sin. We
pray for forgiveness and cleansing. And Lord, we Pray for all your
people wherever they meet together. Lord, we especially pray for
the church in Medina that you'd raise up a pastor there. Lord, may Christ be exalted.
In his name we pray, amen. Now some 70-year-olds are robust,
aren't they? Healthy, strong. David was very
sickly and perhaps he had heart or circulatory problems. His
life was now measured in days and not years. And the man, after God's own
heart, could not get heat. He was always cold. And they covered him with covers,
but he could get no heat. So somebody comes up with this
medical advice. Get a young virgin and let her a teenager, and she will give
him heat. And one of the things I thought
about, why not light a fire? That'd work, wouldn't it? And what if
this was your daughter? You wouldn't like it, would you?
I mean, there's almost a creep factor in this. Some think the rebellion of Adonijah
was because of chasing for this sin. You can read about that
in verse five. We're gonna consider that next
week. But any way you look at it, this was not right. You can't make it right under
any circumstance. But you know, there's a lot of
things that God's people do that aren't right, isn't there? I
mean, we could just go on and on with that. Well, a search
for the most beautiful young virgin they could find, and they
found her and brought her to the king. And it's interesting,
all the commentaries I read about this, because I read a lot, I
was thinking, what am I going to say about this? And they all said
he married her. Well, the Bible doesn't say that,
so I don't know whether he did or not. But evidently the young
virgin was good to David. She stood as his servant and
she cherished him and kept him warm. And notice the last of
verse four, but the king knew or not, they did not have sexual
relations. And well, as I said, this act can't
be justified. It's bad conduct, but You know
the scriptures, here's what I thought of. Turn with me to Genesis chapter
16. Genesis chapter 16. Now Sarah, Abram's wife, bare
him no children. And remember, God had promised
that she would bear him children, and the child would come through
her. And she had a handmaid, an Egyptian,
whose name was Hagar. And Sarah said unto Abraham,
Behold, now the Lord hath restrained me from bearing. I pray thee,
go in unto my maid. It may be that I may obtain children
by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice
of Sarah. And Sarah, Abram's wife, took
Hagar, her maid, the Egyptian, and after Abraham had dwelt ten
years in the land, and gave her to her husband, Abram, to be
his wife." Now, let me remind you, that was adultery then,
and it's adultery now. There wasn't anything right about
that. Look down in Verse 3, I've already
said verse 4. He went into Hagar, and she conceived.
And when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised
in her eyes. Now, she had a baby by Abraham,
and she looked down at Sarah, I am better than you. And Sarah
didn't take it very well. And Sarah said unto Abraham,
my wrong be upon thee. I love the way she says that.
This is your fault. This is your fault. That reminds me of Lynn.
This is your fault. But that's what she said, my
wrong be upon thee. You should have never done this.
I don't care if I did say to do it, you shouldn't have done
it. I have given my maiden to thy bosom, and when she saw that
she had conceived, I was despised in her eyes. The Lord judged
between me and thee. The Lord take care of that. Well,
you can see her reaction. And look down, look in chapter
21, 12 or 13 years later. And the Lord visited Sarah, as
he had said. And the Lord did unto Sarah,
as he had spoken. For Sarah conceived and bare
Abram a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had
spoken to him. And Abraham called the name of the son that was
born unto him, whom Sarah bare to him, Isaac." Look down in verse 9 of the same
chapter. And Sarah saw the son of Hagar, the Egyptian, which
she had borne unto Abram, mocking. Wherefore she said unto Abraham,
Cast out this bondwoman and her son. For the son of this bondwoman
shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac. And the thing
was very grievous in Abraham's sight because of his son." Now,
in this story, we have, number one, we have sexual sin. Number
two, we have a refusal to wait upon the Lord. They should have
waited. The Lord made the promise, but
they didn't do it. Number three, we have Sarah being cruel. She was cruel to this woman.
I mean, I can't believe the way she treated her. Now, that's
a bad story, isn't it? Now turn to Galatians 4. Galatians chapter 4. Verse 21, Tell me, ye that desire
to be under the law, do you not hear the law? For it is written
that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, and the other
by a free woman. Now, he's giving the story of
Sarah and Hagar. Two sons, one by a bondwoman,
one by a free woman. Now look what he says about this.
But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh, but
he of the free woman was by promise. Which things are an allegory? For these are the two covenants."
Now, I've said this before. Would you have read Genesis chapter
16 and Genesis chapter 21 and figure out that this is talking
about the two covenants of grace? You would have never dreamed
it. I would have never dreamed it
too. I just thought this is a weird story about weird things that
happened back then. But Paul tells us that this is
representative of the two covenants. How so? Well, Sarah was in menopause, unable to bear
a child. She bore a child miraculously
by God's promise. Hagar was a young woman and God
said, It wasn't, there was nothing miraculous about it. It was Abraham
doing his part. Now I can see Sarah saying, look,
obviously we're not getting the child. It's not God's will at
this time. He must mean for us to do our
part. His promise won't come to pass
unless we do our part. Now here's Hagar. Abraham said,
okay. And thus we have a story that's,
I mean, there's nothing clean about it, but yet God uses this
and overrules it all to teach the gospel. God brings good out
of evil. He's the only one who can do
it. But God brings good out of evil. Now, every story in the
Old Testament is given to illustrate the gospel. We know that from
Galatians 4. You're not spiritualizing when
you see the gospel in an Old Testament story. For instance,
Abraham offering up Isaac and then finding that substitute
ram. Well, that's obviously the gospel.
That's an obvious picture of the gospel, but what about when
Jacob wanted to deceive his brother and swindle him out of the birthright?
And his mother gave him advice. She goes, I'm going to make this
meat, it's going to taste right, but here's what you need to do.
You need to put on his clothes so you smell like him. And he
was a very hairy man, Esau was, so you need to put on something
that will make you feel like him. And so when Jacob, I mean,
this was deceitful. This was deceitful. Jacob is
going to swindle his brother, and he comes in to swindle him. And, are you my son Esau? Yeah, that's a lie. Well, let
me smell you. He smells just like Esau. Well,
let me feel you. He feels just like Esau. Are
you my son Esau? Yes, I am. Pure deception. If you come into God's presence,
You're going to have to smell like Christ. You're going to
have to feel like Christ. You're going to have to answer
to Christ's name. My only hope is being united
to Him, being in union with Him. So this is an example of how
all these Old Testament stories are given to teach us something
about the Gospel. Now, what can we learn about
the Gospel in this? knew of this. He saw it. Turn with me to Ecclesiastes
chapter 4. I think maybe he had this in
mind when he wrote this in Ecclesiastes chapter 4 verse 11. Again, Ecclesiastes
chapter 4 verse 11. Again, if two lie together, then
they have heat. But how can be How can one be
warm alone? I think that he was thinking
about this passage of script or what happened when he wrote
this down, but two are better than one. Now, what's that mean? What's that got to do with the
gospel? Verse nine. Well, before I read these, this
thing of her giving him heat, it's also translated conceive. Heat and the conception of life. David could not get any heat. He couldn't produce life. He
couldn't produce warmth. The only way he could be warmed
is by the The fact that she's a virgin speaks of her perfect
life, her innocence. He could only be warmed by the
perfect life of somebody else. Don't you find that in your experience?
The only thing that warms my heart is the perfect life of
the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the only thing that gives
me warmth. I'll be cold as I can be except knowing that His life,
His perfect life is my righteousness before God. The only thing that
warms my heart, you can take all those clothes, what are they? They're filthy rags. They will
not bring warmth. You can try everything you want
to and they will not bring warmth. The only thing that'll warm this
heart is the perfect life of Christ, the perfect death of
Christ, knowing that he actually accomplished my salvation without
my works. He did it all. The only thing
that warms my heart is the perfect resurrection of Christ when he
was raised from my justification. Now this life of this young virgin
represents innocence. And the only thing that'll really
warm my heart is hearing the gospel. I'll be cold and icy
if I gotta look to myself and the garments that I gather for
my own warmth. The only thing that'll warm this
heart is the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I believe that
Solomon had this in mind when he wrote this passage, this thing in verse
9, two are better than one because they have a good reward
for their labor. Two are better than one. I think of what the Lord said
to John the Baptist, thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. Two are better than one. Me with Christ is a whole lot
better than me by myself. If it's me by myself, there will
be no reward for me. But I get His reward if He's
with me. Two are better than one. Amen? Is that the only way you
want to come into God's presence? With Christ. Look in verse 8. No, verse 10 I mean. If they
fall, the one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him that's
alone when he falleth, he hath not another to help him. Now
woe unto us if we fall without Christ. Because you know what? We won't get up and we can't
get up. If you fall alone, you're in
trouble. If I fall alone, I'm in trouble. But if I have Christ, if there's
two, for if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow. Now,
woe to me if I don't have someone to lift me up, but oh, if I have
Christ to lift me up, and I think of the different ways I've been
lifted up in Christ. When He was raised from the dead, I was
raised from the dead. When He ascended back to glory,
I ascended back to glory with Him because I was in Him. He lifts me up when I fall, not
if I fall, when I fall. Turn with me to Proverbs chapter
24, verse 16. For a just man, now
what's a just man? A justified man. A justified
man. That describes every believer. A justified man. Christ justified
me. That means I stand before God
without guilt. That's who the just man is. For
a just man falleth seven times. Now what does seven mean in the
Scripture? It means he falls all the time.
It doesn't mean he didn't fall eight or six. Seven is the number
of completion. He falls all the time. And don't
you find that in your own experience? A just man falleth seven times
and riseth up again. Because he has the Lord pulling
him back up. He rises up again. Every single
time he rises up again. But the wicked shall fall into
mischief, and they will not get up. Turn with me to Psalm 37. Psalm 37, verse 23. The steps of a good man, speaking of a
believer, and notice the word good is in italics, we're good
in Christ, but the translators put it there, but the steps of
a good man, so by this a believer, are ordered by the Lord, and
he delighteth in his way. Isn't it comforting to know that
your steps are ordered by the Lord? Your very steps, he's in
control of them. They're ordered by the Lord.
He has complete control over your life. I love it that way.
I love it that way. The steps of a good man are ordered
by the Lord. And he delights in his way, because
his way is Christ, and God delights in his way. Though he fall, he
shall not be utterly cast down, for the Lord upholdeth him with
his hand. So, back to our text. I mean,
back to Ecclesiastes. Two are better than one because
they have good reward for their labor. You see, if Christ is,
if I'm with him, that means his righteousness is mine. It's my
reward. Two are better than one. If they
fall, the one will lift up his fellow, but woe to him that's
alone when he falleth, he hath not another to help him. Verse
11, again, if two lie together, then they have heat. But how
can one be warm alone? Now, you know where my warmth
and heat come from? Just being in Christ. That's the only thing that warms
my heart, being in Christ. Think of how icy you would be
if you did not have the Lord. Boy, the preacher sure is getting
dry. Maybe, maybe it's you. Maybe it's you. Think how icy
and unfeeling you would be apart from the warmth of the Lord. Again, if two lie together, then
they have heat, but how can one be warm alone? The fact of the
matter is they can't. Verse 12, And if one prevail
against him, two shall withstand him, and a three-forged cord
is not quickly broken. Now, how can you stand before
your enemies on your own? How can you stand before your sins
on your own? How can you stand before the law of God on your
own? How can you stand before the devil on your own? How can
you stand before your own wicked heart on your own? If you're
left to yourself, if God leaves you to yourself, what will you
be like? Only if you're a believer, you
know. If you're a believer, you know you'd be as bad as Satan
himself. You've got that nature right
now. And you cannot stand before your enemies. But if one's with
you, the Lord Jesus Christ, if one's with you, you can stand
before Satan because he's God's devil. He's Christ's devil in
Christ's hand. And he's only doing what Christ
bids him to do. He doesn't know it, but even
he will be used for your good and the glory of God. You can
stand before the law because you stand perfect before God's
holy law. And you've got a new nature that's
greater in you than the old man. And God is using everything in
that old nature to serve the new. God brings good out of evil. Now, two's better than one, isn't
it? Two's better than one. And look what he says last. And
a three-fold cord is not quickly broken. Now, what's this three-fold
cord? Father, Son, and Spirit. If you have the Father electing
you and choosing you to salvation, if you have the Son redeeming
you and putting away your sins, if you have God the Holy Spirit
giving you life, it's a whole lot better than one, isn't it?
A threefold cord is not soon than broken, will not be broken. Now go back to our text in 2
Kings chapter 1 and remember every passage of
Scripture. We know the meaning of it even
if we don't know the meaning of it. We know what it should
be. Every passage of Scripture is given to teach us something
of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. David, I guess he had
circulatory problems. He had heart problems. I don't
know what was wrong with him, but he just shivered. He was cold
all the time. He got no heat. They tried everything
they could to pile up covers on him. And again, I said, why
didn't they make a fire? He had servants who could tend
the fire constantly, but he got no heat. And the only thing that
could warm him was the life, the innocent life, the perfect
life of somebody else. And the only thing that can warm
a believer is the perfect life, the perfect death, and the perfect
resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Doesn't it warm your
heart when you know that all God requires of you, he looks
to his son for, and he's going to preserve you, he's going to
keep you warm, he's going to pick you up when you fall, and
he's going to defend you? That warms our heart, doesn't
it? Anything else doesn't warm our heart. We'll just be as cold
as we can be. Thank God for the warmth of the
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Okay. Glad having you with us. What's
your name? Josh. Okay, glad having you with us.