read it together. Now you'll
remember David had already been anointed king over Judah. And we read, picking up in verse
eight of 2 Samuel chapter two, but Abner, the son of Ner, captain
of Saul's host, remember Saul was dead and Abner had been his
general. He was actually his cousin. He
took Ish-bosheth, the son of Saul, and brought him over to
Mahanaim, and made him king over Gilead, and over Asurites, and
over Jezreel, and over Ephraim, and over Benjamin, and over all
of Israel." Now, this is the beginning of the divided kingdom.
Verse 10, Ish-bosheth, God's, or Saul's son, was 40 years old
when he began to reign over Israel. And he reigned two years, but
the house of Judah followed David. And the time that David was king
in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months.
And Abner the son of Ner and the servants of Ish-bosheth and
the son of Saul went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon. And Joab the son of Zariah, which
was David's sister, so Joab was actually David's nephew, And
the servants of David went out and met together by the pool
of Gibeon. And they sat down, the one on the one side of the
pool and the other on the other side of the pool. And Abner said
to Joab, let the young men now arise and play before us. And Joab said, let them arise. Now this was some kind of, I
guess, athletic contest is all I can tell. Verse 15, Then there
arose and went over by number 12 of Benjamin, which pertained
to Ish-bosheth, the son of Saul, and 12 of the servants of David.
And they caught every one his fellow by the head and thrust
his sword in his fellow's side, so that there fell down together.
All 24 of them were killed." That's a strange story, isn't
it? All 24 of them were killed. So
they fell down together. Wherefore, the place was called
Helkathazurim, which is Gibeon. And there was a very sore battle
that day, and Abner was beaten, and the men of Israel before
the servants of David. Let's pray. Lord, we come into your presence
in Christ's name, and Lord, we're so utterly and completely dependent
upon you to reveal your word, to reveal your gospel,
to reveal your son. Lord, we're so much in need of
your presence and your blessing. So Lord bless us. Speak in power
to our hearts. Lord, give us the grace to confess
our sins. Lord, give us the grace to be
found in your son. We ask that you would cleanse
us, that you renew our minds and our hearts. Lord, may your son be glorified
at this time. May we be enabled to hear his
voice. Lord, we'll unite our hearts
together in love to you and love to one another. Lord, we pray
for your mercy and your grace upon us for Christ's sake. Be
with all your people wherever they meet together. In Christ's
name we pray, amen. Wonder if anybody was thinking,
what is he gonna say about this story? It's a strange story,
isn't it? But may the Lord help us. Verse eight begins with the word
but. But Abner, the son of Ner, captain
of Saul's host, took Ish-bosheth, the son of Saul, and brought
him over to Mahane-naim. Now David had already been anointed
king. He was already over the house
of Judah, and he had been anointed king by God in 1 Samuel 16, if
you'll remember. God anointed him king. He wasn't
made a king by man. God anointed him king and made
him to be king. That's why he was king. He was
the rightful king. He was the king that God had
chosen. Well, who was Abner? He was the general of Saul's
army. He was Saul's cousin. And I don't know if he was putting
Ish-bosheth up as king because Saul told him to do that before
he died or simply because he was afraid he was going to lose
his position as general. But he did not want David to
be king. He wanted Ish-bosheth to be king. And Ish-bosheth's name means
man of shame. As a matter of fact, if you look
at Chronicles account, it says a man of Baal. This man was man's
choice for king. And I think it's interesting
how Saul makes him king. I mean, not Saul, but Abner makes
him king. Whoever makes the king is the
one who has the power. You agree with that? an instance of man making him
king. This is man's choice. He made
him king. He thought he's the one who had
power. Now, Ish-bosheth was the fourth son of Saul. He was the
one who was not killed. And as you go on reading in second
Samuel, these opening chapters, you find out he was a very weak
man. Look in chapter three, verse one. Now there was long war between
the house of Saul and the house of David, but David waxed stronger
and stronger and the house of Saul led by Ish-bosheth waxed
weaker and weaker. Look in verse 11, this is where
Ish-bosheth is afraid of Abner and he could not answer Abner
a word again because he feared him. You see, Abner was really
the one that was in control, not Ish-bosheth. Abner was running
the show. Look in chapter four, verse one. And when Saul's son, Ishbosheth,
heard that Abner was dead in Hebron, his hands were feeble,
and all the Israelites were troubled. They were scared to death. Look
in verse five. And the sons of Rimen, the Birethite,
this is in chapter four, Rechab and Bena, went and came about
the heat of the day to the house of Ishbosheth, who lay on a bed
at noon. That's quite a picture, isn't
it? He's just laying there on a bed at noon. He was a very
weak man. And they came thither into the midst of the house as
though they would have fetched wheat, and they smote him under
the fifth rib. And Rechab and Bena, his brother, escaped. For
when they came into the house, he lay on his bed in his bedchamber,
and they smote him and slew him and beheaded him and took his
head and got away through the plain all that night." Now, that's
another gruesome story, but that shows the weakness of this man,
Ish-bosheth. And like I said, his name means
man of shame. And in the Chronicles accounts,
man of Baal. So he has something to do with
man's choice and false religion, doesn't he? And weakness and
shame. Now, this is the natural man's
response. Abner setting up this man to
be king because he didn't like David being king. This is the
natural man's response to the kingship of Christ. That's what
this represents. Now, under what office did they
crucify the Lord Jesus Christ? What was written over the cross? Was it this is Jesus of Nazareth,
the prophet? Jesus of Nazareth, the priest?
No, this is Jesus of Nazareth. This is the accusation against
him, the king of the Jews, the one who was in absolute control,
the one whose will was done. Would you turn with me for a
moment to John chapter 18? I want us to read about man's
response to his kingship. And this is what this represents.
Abner is going to set up a king he can control. And that's the
way the natural man is. We want a king we can control,
that we can tell him what to do. We can get him to respond
to us. And that's exactly what Abner had. He had this weak man.
in whom he could control, and he really was the one who was
in control. And that's what the natural man
wants, isn't it? That's what we all by nature
want. We don't want a king who's in absolute control. Now look
in verse 28 of John chapter 18. Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas
unto the hall of judgment. It was early, and they themselves
went not into the judgment hall, lest they should be defiled,
but that they might eat the Passover. Pilate then went out unto them
and said, what accusation bring ye against this man? And they
answered and said unto him, if ye were not a malfactor, we would
have not delivered him unto thee. Then said Pilate unto them, we'll
take ye him and judge him according to your law. The Jews therefore
said unto him, it's not lawful for us to put any man to death,
that the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled, which he spake,
signifying what death he should die. You see, he said he would
die from the cross, the Roman means of execution. I love the
way he's in control of everything. He said this, that his saying
might be fulfilled. He's in absolute control. Verse
33, then Pilate entered into the judgment hall again and called
Jesus and said unto him, art thou the king of the Jews? Jesus
answered him, sayest thou this thing of thyself, or did others
tell it thee of me? Pilate answered, am I Jew? Thine
own nation and the chief priests have delivered thee unto me.
What hast thou done? Jesus answered, my kingdom is
not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world,
then would my servants fight that I should not be delivered
to the Jews, but now is my kingdom not from hence. Pilate, therefore,
said unto him, Art thou a king then? You're talking about a
kingdom. Are you a king? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that
I am king. You said it. To this end was I born. He's
the king of kings. And for this cause came I into
the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Everyone
that's of the truth heareth my voice. Pilate saith unto him,
What is truth? And when he said this, he went
out again unto the Jews and said unto them, I find no fault in
him at all, but you have a custom that I should release unto you
one at the Passover. Will you therefore that I release
unto you the king of the Jews? He acknowledges him to be king. Now, was he doing this just to
irritate the Pharisees or did he see something in the Lord
Jesus Christ? I'm not real sure. but he acknowledged
him at this time to be king. Verse 40, then cried they all
again saying, not this man, but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a
robber. Then Pilate therefore took him,
took Jesus and scourged him. And the soldiers planted a crown
of thorns and put it on his head. And they put on him a purple
robe and said, hail king of the Jews. What were they mocking
him about? Being a prophet, being a priest,
being a healer? No. They were mocking his kingship. This is how they were making
fun of him. And they smote him with their hands. Pilate therefore
went forth again and saith unto them, behold, I bring him forth
to you that you may know that I find no fault in him. Then
came Jesus forth wearing the crown of thorns and the purple
robe. And Pilate said unto them, behold
the man. When the chief priest, therefore,
and the officers saw him, they cried out, saying, Crucify him,
crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Take
ye him, and crucify him, for I find no fault in him. The Jews
answered him, We have a law, and by our law he ought to die,
because he made himself the son of God. When Pilate, therefore,
heard the saying, he was the more afraid. He had some kind
of fear of the Lord. And he went again into the judgment
hall, and saith unto him, Whence art thou? But Jesus gave him
no answer. Then saith Pilate unto him, Speakest thou not to
me? knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and I
have power to release thee? Jesus answered, Thou couldst
have no power at all against me, except it were given thee
from above, Therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath greater
sin. And from henceforth Pilate sought
to release him. But the Jews cried out, saying, if thou let
this man go, thou art not Caesar's friend. For whosoever maketh
himself a king speaketh against Caesar." Now, he knows he's in
trouble now. This could cause him political
problems. All of a sudden, he's going against
Caesar. When Pilate therefore heard that
saying, he brought Jesus forth and sat down in the judgment
seat in the place that's called the pavement, but in the Hebrew,
Gabbatha. And it was the preparation of
the Passover, about the six hour. And he saith unto the Jews, behold
your king. But they cried out away with
him. away with him crucified. Pilate saith unto him, Them shall
I crucify your king? The chief priest answered, We
have no king but Caesar. Then delivered he him therefore
unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus and led him
away. And he bearing his cross went
forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called
in the Hebrew Golgotha, where they crucified him and the two
other with him on the either side and Jesus in the midst.
And Pilate wrote a title, Matthew calls it an accusation. Pilate
wrote a title and put it on the cross, and the writing was Jesus
of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. This title then read many
of the Jews, for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh
into the city, and it was written in Hebrew and Greek and Latin.
Everybody could see this. Then said the priest of the Jews
to Pilate, write not the king of the Jews, but that he said
I'm the king of the Jews. Pilate answered, what I've written
stays written. He is king. And this is where
Abner had such a problem. If he's king, that means he's
my king. If he really is king, that means
I'm in his hands. That means I don't have any control
and he has all control if he is the king of the Jews. Now
that is the natural man's response to David's kingship. Let's get us another king that
we can control. That's what we want. Now, I believe that these
verses also speak of something else because this is civil war. This is not Israel fighting against
the Philistines or the Jebusites or the Ammonites. There's civil
war going on. Israel belongs to God. Judah
belongs to God. And civil war is such a horrible
thing. You know, in our civil war in the 1860s, one million
people died. You know, in Vietnam, there were
58,000. But in our civil war, one million people died. And what a sad thing it is when
there is civil war. Now, the word, back to our text
in 2 Samuel chapter two, this is what got me to thinking about
this. Civil war, war within the people
of God. Look in verse eight. But Abram,
Arabner, the son of Ner, captain of Saul's host, took Ish-bosheth,
the son of Saul, and brought him over to Mahanayim. You know, these words are hard
to pronounce. You're going to have to bear with me. I get all
these words. I think, man, a lot of practice on them more, I guess.
But at any rate, I know what the word means. The word means
two companies. Two companies. It's taken out
of the word where the Shulamites said in the Song of Solomon,
I am two armies. Two armies. Now what civil war
represents is the war that goes on between the one believer who
belongs to God, the war of the two natures. And I think that
this is what this is talking about as much as anything else.
You have the new nature and you have the old nature. You have
David and you have Ish-bosheth, the man of shame. You have both
of those men warring within you. Now the scripture teaches this.
This is the teaching of the scripture, two separate natures in a believer. A holy nature given to him in
the new birth, in regeneration, and the old nature that he was
born with. separate natures. I think it's
illustrated so clearly in Genesis chapter 25, if you'll turn with
me there. And I'm going to, when we get to these guys fighting
and killing each other, I'm going to see if you feel like this
is what happens within you. But Genesis chapter 25, beginning in verse 19. And these are the generations
of Isaac, Abraham's son, Abraham begat Isaac, and Isaac was 40
years old when he took Rebekah to wife, the daughter of Bethunel,
the Syrian of Badanaram, the sister to Laban, the Syrian.
And Isaac entreated the Lord for his wife because she was
barren. And the Lord was entreated of her, and Rebekah, his wife,
conceived. And the children struggled together
within her. She didn't know she had twins.
You know, when you're born again, you don't know you have two natures,
do you? But the struggle begins then. That's when the struggle
actually begins. When life was conceived in her,
then all of a sudden there was this struggle. And she said,
if it be so, why am I thus? And she went to inquire of the
Lord. And the Lord said unto her, two nations are in thy womb
and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels.
And the one people shall be stronger than the other people. And the
elder shall serve the younger. Now, you know that this is talking
about Jacob and Esau, but these men represent something. This
is not just the two nations. It represents what goes on with
inside of the believer. Verse 24, when her days to be
delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb,
and the first came out red, overall like a hairy garment, and they
called his name Esau. Now, I think it's interesting,
Esau was born already having a garment. What does a garment
represent in the scripture? A garment of righteousness. He
already had his own garment. I think it's interesting how
the scripture points that out. He already had a garment. His
name was Esau. And after this came his brother out and his
hand took hold on Esau's heel and his name was called Jacob.
And Isaac was three score years old when she buried him. And
the boys grew and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field. And
Jacob was a plain man dwelling in tents. Now I think this is
interesting, this word plain. is also translated perfect and
undefiled. And that's the way this word
is translated. When it says Noah was perfect
in his generation, it's the same word. Now, somebody may think,
how could you ever use such a word like that to describe Jacob?
He was a deceitful man. He was a sinful man. I mean,
read his history. How could you ever use a word
like that to describe Jacob? Well, that is the new man. Perfect, undefiled, the old man
Esau. Cunning, deceitful, the new man. So in this illustration, and
you read in 1 John chapter three of the nature that does not commit
sin, perfect, undefiled, that that which is born of God cannot
sin. That which is born of God, the new man and the old man,
all he does is sin. Now, the word, like I said, Mahanahan
is taken out of the word where the Shulamites said, what am
I? A company of two armies and the flesh and the spirit. And
this is so illustrated clearly in Romans chapter seven. And
you can read that on your own. We've looked, well, no, let's
go ahead and read that. That backs up what I'm saying to where I
get to this, this battle between these two people, Romans chapter
seven. I have heard so many people say
regarding Romans chapter seven, well, Paul was speaking about
the way it was when he was an unbeliever. No, no. Only a believer can speak this
way. because only a believer has a holy nature, a new nature,
and only a believer can see sin for what it is. And look what
Paul says in Romans chapter seven, verse 14, for we know that the
law is spiritual, God's holy law, but I am carnal, sold under
sin means a slave to sin. Now, like I said, people say,
well, how can he be saved then? You know, it's only when you're
saved that you recognize what sin is. And that's how he saw
this, sold under sin. Verse 15. For that which I do,
I allow not. For what I would, that do I not.
But what I hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would
not, I consent unto the law that it's good. I'm not looking for
an excuse for sin. I consent to the law that's good.
My sin condemns me. And I say, God's holy law is
good. Now understand this, understand this clearly. No believer uses
the grace of God as an excuse for their sin. You know, I can't
help it. I've got an old nature. No, we
don't have that attitude of indifference towards sin and use it as an
excuse. Now he says in verse 18, for I know that in me, that
is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. Do you know that? Do you
know that about yourself? Paul did. I know that in me,
that is in my flesh dwells no good thing, for to will is present
with me. I want to be holy. I want to
be just like Christ, but how to perform that which is good,
I find not. He wasn't one of these people
who said, well, I make mistakes sometimes, I'm only human. No, he said,
I don't even find it. For the good that I would, I
do not, but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that
which I would not, it's no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth
in me. I find then a law that when I
would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the
law of God after the inward man, but I see another law in my members
warring against the law of my mind. and bringing me into captivity
to the law of sin, which is in my members. Oh, wretched man
that I am who should deliver me from the body of this death.
I thank God through Jesus Christ, our Lord. So then with my mind,
I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh, the law of
sin." Now, every believer knows exactly what Paul's saying. I don't even have to explain
it. You find this being true within your own heart. It's your
experience, the two natures. Now, a denial of two natures
is a denial of total depravity. You're saying my nature, my original
nature is being acted on by the grace of God and being enabled
to do this or that. No, your own nature is no good. It's beyond repair. The only
hope me and you have is for God to give us a new heart and a
new nature that was not there before. A denial of two natures is a
denial of a perfectly holy nature that does not commit sin. Whosoever,
whatsoever is born of God, the scripture says in 1 John 3, does
not commit sin. And this is something that comes
from God, doesn't even have the potential to sin, does it? Can
God sin? Can God sin? No. Nor can that which is born of
God. And this is the teaching of the
two natures. And these two natures explain
me If the shoe fits, wear it where the shoe fits, so I'll
wear it. It explains all the stuff that
goes on within my heart. Now back to our text in 2 Samuel
2. Two kings, Ish-bosheth and David. the one anointed by God be another
the other man's choice verse twelve and Abner the son of Ner
and the servants of Bishbosheth the son of Saul went out from
Mahanaim the place of two companies to Gibeon and Joab the son of
Zeruiah and that was David's sister he had Joab and Abishai
and I can't remember the other fellow's name. We're going to,
we're going to get with him here before, before long, but Joab, the son
of Zeruiah, the servants of David went out and met together by
the pool of Gibeon and they sat down. the one on the one side
of the pool and the other on the other side of the pool. And
Abner said to Joab, let the young men now arise and play before
us. And Joab said, let them arise.
Now, Abner started this. He said, let them have this game.
Let them have this contest. And I assume it was supposed
to be some kind of athletic contest. I don't know what else it could
have been when he said, let them play before us. But look what happened.
I guess both of them were intending on this. Verse 15, then there
arose and went over by number 12 of Benjamin, which pertained
to Ishmael, the son of Saul, and 12 of the servants of David.
And when they began this play, they caught every one his fellow
by the head. I don't know if they grabbed
their beard, their head, put each other in an arm lock, and
they took the sword and thrust it through, and 24 people died. Every single one of them were
killed. Everybody was watching this.
It was supposed to be some kind of play, but all 24 were killed. They cut everyone his fellow
by the head and thrust his sword in his fellow's side, so they
fell down together. Wherefore, that place was called
Helkathazurim. Would anybody else like to try
that? But what it means is the field of edges or the field of
the sword, the field of the sharp sword, all 24 of these men died. Now, it appeared that nobody
won, didn't it? It appeared that nobody had victory. Everyone was killed. Everybody who participated. Now,
here's the point. As far as my experience goes,
as far as the way I feel about myself, I'm trying to be honest.
I don't feel victory. Do you? As far as in yourself,
the struggle going on within. Galatians 5 17, the flesh lusts
against the spirit, the spirit lusts against the flesh, and
these two are contrary one to the other, so that you cannot,
you cannot do the things that you would. Now in this picture
we're given of this civil war going on within, no one felt
victory. Everyone was defeated. Now, if I would talk to you and
if you said, well, I feel much victory going on in my life.
I feel much triumph over sin. I feel like I'm becoming better
and better and less and less sinful. You know, I think here's
somebody that number one, I can't relate with. And number two,
it's not what scripture teaches. It's just not what the scripture
teaches. Really, if somebody says something like this, it's
because they don't know what sin is in the first place. It's because
they don't have a new nature that recognizes the old nature.
That's the only reason. They don't have a new nature
that understands and perceives what's going on. They just got
an old nature and they've got a deceitful heart that'll lie
to themselves and lie to everybody else. Because all that is is
a lie. If somebody says, oh, I'm just
becoming better and better. I'm becoming more holy. I'm becoming
more like Christ. I feel more victory in my life.
Somebody talks like that. No, I'm not intimidated either. I'm not thinking, well, I can't
measure up to them. I just know that these people don't, they're
just dishonest, dishonest. In this civil war that took place,
as far as what they felt, everybody there was destroyed. But just because that seemed
to happen, who was it that won? Look in verse 17. And there was
a very sore battle that day, and Abner was beaten, and the
men of Israel before the servants of David. Now, even if I don't
feel like I'm winning, I'm winning. That's the point. Even if I don't
feel like I'm winning, I'm winning, because I have David. I have
the Lord Jesus Christ. And you know, regarding these
two natures, I think this is very interesting. You know, the
Lord said, the elder shall serve the younger. Esau was the elder,
wasn't he? Esau was the elder, he came out
first. But the Lord says, the elder shall serve the younger.
And as far as my experience goes, my old nature is older than my
new nature. I was born with old nature. I didn't get my new nature
until I was born again. But that old nature is used to
serve the younger. Well, how's that? I'll tell you
what, my old nature My sinful nature shows me that the only
righteousness that I have is the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Now, is that doing me service?
My old nature drives me to the Lord Jesus Christ and causes
me to look nowhere but Him. And my old nature lets me know
that all I have is Christ. That's it. Now, you know what
my old nature is doing? It's being a servant to me, isn't
it? It's a blessing. It drives me
to Christ. So even though all 24 were killed,
yet who wins? Israel. Adner is beaten. Thanks. And I love the way Paul
says, Oh, wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the
body of this death? When he was talking about the
struggle between these two natures, he said, I thank God through
Jesus Christ, our Lord, so that with my mind, I serve the law
of God, but with the flesh, the law of sin. That's our experience. Okay, see you in a bit.