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2 Samuel 3 (Part 3) Bible Study | Pastor Daniel Batarseh · Bible Study with Pr. Daniel Batarseh | Verse by Verse Series | Maranatha Bible Church - Chicago

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In this book. And this is our third time in
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this chapter, and it will be the final time before we move on.
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Because being the lengthy chapter that it is, Chapter 3
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will demand from us more time and attention but if if we are
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patient and if we give the necessary attention to these
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verses, then we will not be disappointed with the discipline
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of meditation. My we want to see all that God
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has to say and even when we think we're doing all that we
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can, they're still yet more to know in the very verses that we
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try to cover completely. So as we come to second, Samuel,
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chapter 3, scroll down with your finger, with me to verse 31,
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that is where we stopped And that is where we will continue.
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And if you take a quick glance, what you'll see is that the rest
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of our study in this chapter will only cover eight verses.
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And in these eight verses is really one scene, one main idea
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and it is David who is the main subject of our study in the past
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few weeks and will be for the next few months.
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David mourning. The death of a particular
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person, namely Abner the son of nerve.
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Now, as a recap Abner was the commander of Saul's Army who
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then was The Mastermind of Using up one of Saul's Sons ishka Chef
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to be a rival King to the davidic Dynasty, and Juan the
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Affinity of a majority of the tribes, keeping David at just
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being the king over the tribe of Judah.
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Now, after several years have gone by Abner desires, now, to
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move over and put his Allegiance with David and attempts to do
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so. But within that attempt and with
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that A small spark of Peace. It was quickly, snuffed out by
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joab, who is the commander not of Saul's Army.
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But if David's Army, who with cold-blooded intention murders,
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Abner takes his life away from him as an act of Vengeance.
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Because Abner in self-defense, in an act of war, in a context
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of battle kills joab's, brother, a Sahel.
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I hope we're all in line here, right?
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Now, what we are left with is after David has heard, the news
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of Abner's death, we will now see what will transpire.
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Because apart, from the obvious reason why this is so atrocious,
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the death of Abner by the hands of someone in David's Camp has
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potential ramifications for the development of David's
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government in Israel, is that understood this is, is not going
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to look good for David's reputation as He is attempting
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to win the hearts of the nation, so that they would recognize him
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as who he truly is the called one of God to be king.
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Now, David has been trusting, God up to this point.
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He's not trying to coerce or manipulator set up campaigns to
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try to win votes. He's completely resting in the
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Lord. But what happens here, naturally
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causes a grief and concern and David because someone from his
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own ranks that something evil And how is this going to look in
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the eyes of the people of Israel who have heard that David was to
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be anointed king and Luna and their hearts believe he was
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supposed to be king. Well that's what we're going to
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see. And let's read the first four
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verses together in verse 31, then David said to joab and to
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all the people who were with him, tear your clothes and put
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on sackcloth and mourn before Abner, and King David, follow
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the beer. They buried Abner at Hebron and
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the King lifted up his voice and wept at the grave of Abner and
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all the people wept and the King lamented for Abner saying,
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should Abner died as a fool dies.
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Your hands were not bound your feet were not fettered as one
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Falls before the wicked you have fallen and all the people wept
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again over him. Now, let's take this verse by
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verse. When we go to verse 31 we have
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to understand that this was not the initial reaction of David.
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When hearing the news of Abner's death, the initial response is
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here in verse 28 to verse 29, look, what he says afterward
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when David heard of it he said I and my kingdom are forever
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Guiltless before the Lord for the blood of Abner.
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The son of Nur may have fall upon the head of joy and upon
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all his father's house and met the house of What never be
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without one who has a discharge or is leprous or holds a spindle
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World falls by the sore or who lacks bread intense.
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David not only condemns the actions of joab.
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David goes beyond that and pronounces a curse upon him and
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his descendants. Now this is important because he
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is vocalizing that he is not connected to this.
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The scheme. He is not connected to this
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plot, he is separate. He knew nothing about it.
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He had nothing to do with it, and he wants to make sure that
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people are aware that he has no relation to jobs hatred for
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this. And now that may seem righteous
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that may seem admirably. But I want to tell you something
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today that although David seems to be doing the right thing and
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verbalizing. This he is not doing what he's
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supposed to be doing. And what way in other words,
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what should have David done? Consider his position and
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consider the law of God. What should have David done?
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Kill joab. That may sound shocking, right?
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It may sound shocking because we feel like this is unrelated to
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the law is just. A story has to do with close
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relationships and people. We have to understand that there
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is still the law of God that is supposed to be implemented.
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And the law is so clear and saying that if someone murder
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somebody with intent, they are to be killed.
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They are to have their life given for life that from a
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Judicial standpoint, there should be Canning, if you are a
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murder, then you should also have your blood shed eye for an
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eye, tooth for a tooth life, for life.
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And David does not execute this. David does not move forward with
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such a punishment for this crime.
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He hesitates, he does it. He doesn't do more than just
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give a slap on the wrist so to speak.
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But is there a time where David will do it?
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Does anybody know the answer to that?
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yes, when Very good. The answer to when job will pay
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for his crime comes. Many years from this point and
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it is found in the book of First Kings chapter 2.
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And I want you to see that with your own eyes and verse 5 of
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First, Kings chapter 2, when David is ready to rest with his
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father's and his successor Solomon, his son is going to
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take his place. David give his different
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instructions to Solomon. One of them being you got to
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deal with joab, you got to do something about this, man.
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Now, this is hard because Is he is a relative.
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And it's hard because it's also a complicated situation job was
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a loyal and so many ways job stood by David and many
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difficult times. But in First Kings, chapter 2,
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verse 5. Look what it says, moreover
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David is speaking to Solomon. You also know what job the son
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of Zechariah did to me, how he dealt with the two commanders of
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the armies of Israel, Abner, the son of Nur and a Messiah, the
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Son of Jetter whom he killed avenging and time of Peace for
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blood. That have been shed in war and
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putting the blood of War on the belt around his waist and on the
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sandals on his feet act. Therefore according to your
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wisdom but do not let his grey head go down to sheol and peace.
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This is, this is alarming. But the question is, why did
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David wait so long? We can only speculate But what
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we see here from these verses, is that because David waited,
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what happened? What do we see there?
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He killed Abner, right? But did he kill somebody else?
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He did. He killed another of one of
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David's, Captain's down the road after our main text here,
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without Justice without explanation, just because he had
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this terrible murderous rage. And he was, he solve his
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problems by removing people, from the scene, and the most
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permanent way possible. And here's what we can take out
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of this job was the guilty one in both of these murders.
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But it makes you wonder what could have been prevented had
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David had On what he was supposed to do much early on.
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when Abner situation suit, Now, this is just one of the many
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examples from the word of God. One illustration among hundreds.
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You can say of how the Bible asks of us to take seriously
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hammering the truth that you and I should never delay in our
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confrontation against sin whether it's in our own lives on
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somebody else's life you and I do great damage if we delay in
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our confrontation against sin And though, it's not explicitly
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clear. Why David waited to pass
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judgment on Joy. Why he waited for him to pass on
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from this life and let Solomon kind of deal with it?
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The timing kind of makes it kind of makes it obvious.
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And I argue that the reason why David did not execute judgment
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upon job when he should have his because, although Joy of did
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something wrong. And so evil.
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And cruel job was a really good Commander.
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Joab contributed to much of the success of David and his
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kingdom. And perhaps letting go of Joy,
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it's not the best plan for me. And if you think about it, that
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way, then David, even in his grieving here and chapter 3,
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David is guilty of favoritism. The kind of favoritism that
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doesn't deal with sin in a person's life because that
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person benefits Us in different ways.
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And though, this is an extreme example, you can modernize that.
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You can see it in so many ways in our own lives, when the
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church has been called by Jesus, to confront sin and to maintain
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the purity of the assembly in love and gentleness.
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Yes. But also as one of the main
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things that the church is called to do and here's what's amazing,
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you see it in different Church settings and different ways.
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Unfortunately you have many leaders in churches who will not
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deal. If the sin of a person because
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they are one of the biggest givers in the church.
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We don't want to lose his donations and so they can run
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amok, they can cause problems, they can be.
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So obviously publicly in the world and and leaders will turn
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a blind eye or maybe somebody who occupies a certain position
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who exercise a certain gift from within.
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And if we lose them, we can lose this.
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This will suffer, and they're blatantly in ungodliness and so
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we'll just we'll hush-hush. And we won't make a big deal of
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it and let's just let it pass. Maybe we can make a more
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relatable, how many of us have felt the tension, even
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confronting a brother or sister, who is clearly in wrong serious,
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wrong compromising wrong because we don't want the relationship
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to be awkward. We don't want to create tension,
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we don't want it to affect our little web of relationships.
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When in fact, scripture says that faithful are the wounds of
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a friend, right? And so, what we see here is a
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clear example. if we delay, if we turn a blind eye, And dealing
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not just with our own sin, but those that God calls us to be
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responsible for. Then we have to ask ourselves
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why, and, if David was honest here, yeah, he's verbally.
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Slapping job on the wrist, but he's being kind of clever.
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He's doing enough to show people that he condemns, he condemns
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what happened, but not enough so that he wouldn't lose what job
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had to offer. He really wanted to keep him and
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this is, this is a disappointing.
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In David's leadership. And because David allowed
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political motivation to enter in.
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It eclipsed, the spiritual standards that he was supposed
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to live by and that happens all the time happens all the time.
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But if there's any place where we maintain God's righteousness
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and dealing with people, it has to be the Church of Jesus
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Christ. Has to be that no matter whether
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they are relatives, whether they are great contributions and
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different ways. God's primary call is for us to
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trust and obey his standard of Holiness and righteousness.
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Purity. And I hope you take that to
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heart, that God give you an idea, the wisdom to know how to
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deal with sin promptly lovingly carefully strategically less.
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We can cure more damage that could have been avoided.
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See David? I just dealt with job early on.
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I'm a sucker could have been spared.
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So many issues could have been avoided.
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He dealt with it but he dealt with it too late.
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Now we look at that. From David's perspective.
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What do you learn from? Joab's perspective in all of
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this when the fact that judgment came later on?
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What do you see between this scene and the next scene in
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First Kings to? Here's what you see that jaw,
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perhaps thought that because he avoided consequence with Abner's
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death, could it be that he was emboldened to actually take out
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amasa thinking that he would not see consequences either very
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strong possibility, And the picture there is this sinner
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who's emboldened to continue in their sin because they have
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evaded, apparently, the consequences of their actions.
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But let Joy be a clear example that no matter what a person may
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think he gets away with no matter what kind of status they
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have in society like job did in the Kingdom sin will catch up
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to. You sin will come with a with a
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receipt and say you owe me this. And that's exactly what happened
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to job and take comfort. What happened to job will happen
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with every high-ranking criminal and society.
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That thinks that they can bury the evidence and thinks that
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they can pay off people, so that they are not reprimanded.
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I want you to think about every corrupt politician that gets
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away with their evil. There is a day coming when they
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will have to pay for every single thing that they thought
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they got away with. And I say, Amen to that.
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Because God is a just God. Now, what's incredible is not
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just the fact that joab eventually died.
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It's in the manner that he died. That makes us even more scary.
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Scary in a good way scary in the fear of God.
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Way job did eventually die Solomon dealt with him.
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He obeyed his father and he says we will deal with joy of
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accordingly. Does anybody know how job died
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though? He died in a specific location,
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and where job died is, actually, if you're still in First Kings
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chapter 2, scroll down to verse 28, and you'll see exactly the
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location and it is very telling, it's actually incredible.
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He eventually hears the news that David called for his
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execution because of his past crimes and so he makes a run for
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it. And as you runs, he heads
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towards a specific place and where he goes Is here when the
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news came to job, for job had supported adonijah.
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Although he had not supported Absalom job fled to the tent of
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the Lord, and caught, hold of the horns of the altar.
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So remember the Tabernacle is the house of God at this time,
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the tent of meeting a transportable house of worship.
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The temple was not yet made because Solomon hadn't get to
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yet. But here's what job does.
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He hears the news Solomon has the right to come after you and
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he's coming after you. He flees to the tenth of the
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Lord. He goes to the altar of
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sacrifice where had the horns on the Four Corners, so that the
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animal would be strapped down when it was being offered up to
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the Lord He leaps upon two of the horn and he holds on as
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though he was holding on for dear life.
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Nothing in the Bible is by accident and so every single
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detail warns us to say why am I question is?
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Why why does job do this? Why does he go here?
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Why does he hold onto the horns of the altar, what is he
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thinking and doing so? Any ideas?
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I'll give you a hint. The answer is in the Bible.
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It's not it's not just guessing. There's an actual answer in the
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scriptures. Okay, that's a good.
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Guess he was hoping. Maybe there would be a
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sacrifice. That would be performed on his
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behalf. That's a very good guess but not
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not quite Why would he run to the altar?
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Okay, there's a picture of receiving forgiveness there
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because that's what the altar symbolizes but that's symbolic I
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want to give you the clear reason why Joe I went to the
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altar. You have to go to your Bibles
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though. Exodus 21 turn the pages of the
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Sacred texts to the Book of Exodus chapter 21 and I want you
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to see one verse that gives a clear instruction about the
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sacredness of the Altar and what was supposed to happen at the
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altar and what was not supposed to happen at the altar.
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Exodus 21 you're there right now, scroll down to verse 14.
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And let me read it out loud to you Exodus 20.
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Our hope you brought your Bibles to Bible study.
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But if a man willfully attacks another to kill him by cunning,
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you shall take him from my altar.
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Isn't the Bible awesome? You shall take him from my altar
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that he may die. In other words, nobody can be
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killed by The Altar. You can't desecrate it in that
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way. You can't have anybody have
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their blood spilled here. And so if somebody fleas here,
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They are to be removed from the altar so that they can be put to
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death properly. Here's what jobs thinking.
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If I hold on tight enough to the altar, they can't kill me here.
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So I'm going to stay here as long as possible and make sure
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that I let them know that God's law says I'm safe in this area.
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Where did draw of kill Abner? Where did y'all kill Abner?
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At the Gate of where the City of Refuge where Abner should have
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been? What safe. and joab attempts to
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flee to a place with unique boundaries, where he thought he
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would be, what save Whatever a man Souls that he will also
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reap. When joab killed Abner where he
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was supposed to be safe, according to the law of God.
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He pronounced his own judgment. And when he thought that he
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could be safe in the house of God by the altar of God, the
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same way that was not regarded for Abner.
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It was not regarded for him. God is very specific and he
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holds every detail in his record.
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He does not forget anything. I mean so much.
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So one of the scariest verses for me and we can be all scared
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together, Is when Jesus says that every word, every single
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word that is spoken will be taken up into judgment every
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word. Think about that.
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And so the Lord is very, very meticulous.
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He's very careful. He is very upset, he's not
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General, he's very, very, very specific and when it came to
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joab, he reached exactly what he sowed.
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I find that fascinating about God, I thank God for the blood
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of Jesus Christ, knowing this law job attempts to take refuge
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in the house of God. But that, that is not accounted
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for by Solomon. And he's killed where he thought
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he would have Refuge come back to 1st Samuel.
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Rather second Samuel, chapter three.
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Let's go to verse 32, we were in verse 31 that time.
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We re here they buried a beer at Hebron and the King.
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Lifted up his voice and wept. At the grave of Abner and all
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the people wept and the King lamented for Abner saying,
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should Abner died as a fool dies.
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Your hands were not bound your feet were not fettered as one
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Falls before the wicked you have fallen.
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Now, this is familiar because now David writes analogy, right?
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He recites it and he proclaims it publicly.
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He's done this before with who Saul and Jonathan much shorter,
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but he's he has a goal with it. And the point is clear what he's
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trying to tell people from his own heart is that I believe that
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Abner was innocent Abner, did not deserve to die in this way
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though. He died as a fool fool, meaning
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that a sinner who invites death, because of his sinful ways.
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He did die as a fool, but he was not a criminal.
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Your hands were not bound. You weren't imprison.
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Your feet were not fettered. Didn't deserve this.
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You weren't awaiting some kind of trial here.
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You were deceived and you fell as a victim before wicked men.
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This is what he's trying to Proclaim.
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This is what he's trying to communicate to his audience.
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And as much as what David is saying is true, should advertise
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a full dies. He did not deserve to die the
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way, a sinner deserves to die because of what they bring into
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their lives. And the way that they walk at
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the same time, I argue that though what David is saying is
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valid Abner, did die. Foolishly.
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She did. Where did after die again?
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City of Refuge, right? That is the only mention between
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Abner and the City of Refuge and it is quite tragic.
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That, that is so because Abner's relationship with the City of
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Refuge should have been much different than what it was
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according to what we read a couple of weeks ago The
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foolishness of Abner is that he refused to flee to the City of
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Refuge the moment that he committed, an accidental,
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killing his duty, according to the law was to waste no time and
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to make his way towards one of those cities and to take refuge
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there, until he was declared innocent until the high priest
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died, atoning for his departure and to his normal life.
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And he did not do that. And that is sad because there's
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a picture of something. When God gave his law to the
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Israelites about how they were to understand the City of
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Refuge, he gave it with a certain urgency and I want you
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to see that go to numbers 35:15, there's a powerful word that the
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Lord uses about the manslayer who does accidentally murder
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somebody. And the numbers 3515.
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We see it so clear. God says, these six cities shall
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be for refuge for the people of Israel and for the stranger, and
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for the sojourn among them. That anyone who kills any person
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without a tent, May what flee there?
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Three times in this chapter and the portion which speaks about
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the City of Refuge. God says, if somebody does this
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there to flee to the City of Refuge, now that word flea is
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the very same word used when Joseph fled, the scene after
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Potiphar's wife attempted to sleep with him.
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When she grabbed a hold of His Garment, he fled that room.
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Now, when you understand that connection, it's hard to imagine
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that when God here says that the manslayer must flee that it's a
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casual stroll. Or something that you put in
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your calendar for a future time, it's urgent.
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It's a median. It's top priority even though it
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interrupts your schedule or your family life or whatever the case
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may be, you are to make this your top ambition immediately.
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Flee their run their escape as soon as possible.
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That's God's tone when it comes to the Cities of Refuge and we
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know what the Cities of Refuge represent Christ, salvation, and
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Jesus Christ. And that is why we try by God's
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help. Whenever we proclaim, the gospel
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from this Pulpit, that we Proclaim it with urgency.
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Jesus is not a suggestion for your life.
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He's the only solution. he is salvation you and I have to
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understand that when we present this truth, It's breaking news.
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Flee to Jesus. Run to Jesus.
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It's not just good news, it costs for a response upon
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hearing it whether it's your first time or the thousandth
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time. If you have not answered the 909
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x times before flee their that's God's heart beat.
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And this is what we see here. There's a hint here that the
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moment the gospel is in contact with a sinner Everything else
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needs to be dropped in your life.
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That's what Jesus did with those three who came up and says, I
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want to follow you and they had all these other ideas.
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Well, I got to bury my father and can I do this for us?
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And he's like, you don't understand what it means to
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follow me. You need to drop everything and
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understand that if you don't do this, now, there may never be a
27:48
chance for you to do it again. We don't understand it that way.
27:51
We kind of we kind of just are you?
27:54
I think you need this. No, you do need this and you
27:57
need it now. I want you to now put yourself
28:00
in the sandals of an Israelite of this time, okay, I want you
28:04
to imagine. Now, you're there in ancient
28:07
Israel, in your home. And on a random afternoon, a
28:10
sibling brother and sister runs through the door, huffing, and
28:14
puffing, and tells you I was at work.
28:16
Today was cutting a tree and the tree fell upon another employee.
28:21
And that guy is a goner. He's dead.
28:25
And I just just talked myself out of work and I came home.
28:30
What are you doing later on? You want to hang out?
28:33
If any plans tonight. Imagine your that Israelite
28:38
hearing this and you know the law of God, how ridiculous does
28:41
that sound? What do you mean?
28:45
Do you want to do something tonight?
28:49
You need to get out of here. You forget the meal not making
28:55
you anything. You need to run to the City of
28:57
Refuge. Where's the nearest one?
28:59
Get there right away? Yeah I get.
29:02
I know God set up a listen. I can just I can do it two weeks
29:05
from now. I got plans with my buddies.
29:07
We're going on a camping trip this weekend.
29:09
So listen do you want to do something tonight or not?
29:11
Yeah. What does that translate that?
29:14
Here's a word for that foolish. Reckless.
29:20
What's the matter with you? And yet?
29:22
If we see it in that context? How much more in understanding
29:25
salvation in Jesus Christ? What are you waiting for?
29:30
Exactly. Because that Israelite who would
29:34
delay like Abner delayed had to understand that at any moment
29:37
the Avenger could come and take your life from you.
29:41
Like it did with joy that at any moment, despite your plan
29:45
despite the peace and The Mending and the networking and
29:47
all the things that you're doing, just like Abner with
29:49
David. Everything can be taken from you
29:51
in a moment. This is not something to risk
29:54
but it's not that a with play around with listen to me.
29:57
If you're a person in here, that does not know if you're saved,
30:00
get saved. Like, put your trust in Jesus
30:04
tonight. Don't delay for next Bible.
30:08
Study don't even delay for your Taco Bell later on tonight.
30:11
Give your life to Jesus tonight. Surrender to his lordship
30:17
surrender to his provision of Salvation through his blood on
30:22
that cross on your behalf. There is no reason to wait.
30:27
There's no reason to delay. And there are many things about
30:31
the City of Refuge that points. So clearly the Jesus Christ in
30:34
some people Express, two weeks ago, how they were blessed by
30:37
seeing just one parallel. The one parallel, the City of
30:40
Refuge, you can have a series on the Cities of Refuge and how it
30:43
points to Jesus. Remember The Parallel that there
30:45
were six cities, we just read and there were strategically
30:48
placed around the land of Israel.
30:52
So that why? No matter where somebody was
30:55
across the land, they would have easy access to one of those
30:59
cities and be safe and fine. Huge.
31:01
And that is a picture of this, that no matter where you are, no
31:05
matter how far you think you are salvation is available for you,
31:11
no matter where, no matter how far you think you are from
31:14
Holiness from Perfection, all have fallen short of the glory
31:16
of God. And here's the beauty about it.
31:19
God can save you. God can save you now, not when
31:24
you enter, self closer to the standard of what you think is
31:27
good. Now, it can all change, but
31:31
there's more. I mean, I'm so passionate about
31:34
this subject, let's just stay here.
31:35
A little bit, will come back to 2nd Samuel.
31:37
What are we just reading numbers, 3515.
31:39
Let's see, if anybody notice another prophetic hint to the
31:41
gospel, and just this one verse These, six cities shall be for
31:45
refuge for the people of Israel, and for the stranger, and for
31:48
the Sojourner, among them, that anyone who kills any person
31:51
without a tent, May flee there. Anybody else notice the gospel
31:53
truth in there? Beautiful.
31:59
Did you hear it? It's really again these six
32:03
cities shall be for the Refuge for the people is your and for
32:06
the stranger and for the soldier among them, did you catch it?
32:12
The Cities of Refuge did not discriminate?
32:16
It was not just for the Jews, not just for the chosen people
32:19
of God. It was not for the elect among
32:21
all the nations. If you are a Sojourner fewer
32:23
Gentile, if you're traveling by the Cities of Refuge work for
32:26
you as well, Jew and Gentile have salvation, and Jesus
32:31
Christ, All Nations, all tribes, all tongues have available to
32:36
the same Grace that is found in him.
32:39
And so you see? It's so obviously here that
32:42
anybody no matter where they are, no matter how far, they
32:45
think they are no matter. Background.
32:47
Ethnicity culture. They can come and be safe in
32:51
these cities and I think to myself this is glorious.
32:56
But here's what's so true. I mean, we can spend the rest of
32:57
this Bible study talking about these things, but I want to
32:59
finish this chapter. Let me add one more thing.
33:03
whenever you see a type or shadow of Jesus in the Old
33:06
Testament, You will find similarities, you'll find
33:10
differences, but no matter how things may seem so close to the
33:14
person and work of Christ. What we believe what we see.
33:18
So obviously, what we sing about is that Jesus is always the
33:21
greater than always. So you see him in David, but
33:25
he's greater than they've, he's a greater David, he's a greater
33:27
Samson. He's the greater Moses.
33:30
And that is true for the City of Refuge as much as there.
33:32
Are so much things that parallel with Christ.
33:35
Jesus is the Great. City of Refuge Hebrews 6:18
33:40
tells us that he is the City of Refuge in a very clear way when
33:44
you understand the language of fleeing their but let me ask you
33:47
this. How is Jesus the greater City of
33:50
Refuge anybody know? How is Jesus the greater City of
33:55
Refuge? Did you hear it?
34:01
Did you hear it? This is where you get mutually
34:03
encouraged. The City of Refuge, was for
34:10
those who were innocent. so those who unintentionally
34:15
murdered, those who accidentally killed somebody, if you were
34:18
found guilty upon trial, You, you could not have residents in
34:25
these unique boundaries you had to be expelled and you are left.
34:29
To the Vengeance of a relative. Jesus is a greater City of
34:34
Refuge because he's not just refuge for those who
34:36
accidentally send, but those who intentionally send those who
34:40
have transgressed, who those with deliberately broke God's
34:43
law, the gates of his salvation are made available even for
34:48
them, that's why he's greater Exciting.
34:53
Yes. Amen.
34:56
I hope so. Some of us have lived so long in
35:00
the City of Refuge, we've forgotten how glorious it is.
35:03
Yes night, not for unintentional, not for
35:06
accidental for deliberate. Willful perverted scheming
35:11
wicked men and women he saves. He says, you can come and
35:16
receive safety. In my blood, I rejoice in that
35:21
this book is Supernatural. This is not an ordinary
35:25
classroom tonight. This book is Supernatural.
35:28
And so we come back to 2nd Samuel now.
35:33
And so, yes, Abner, why did he dies a fool?
35:37
He didn't deserve it, but there was some element of foolishness
35:40
in him. Now, verse 35, what do we see?
35:45
Then all the people, I want you to pay attention.
35:47
As I read these three verses what reoccurs then.
35:50
All the people came to persuade David to eat bread while it was
35:54
yet day. But David's War saying God, do
35:57
so to me and more also, if I taste bread or anything else,
36:00
till the sun goes down, and all the people took notice of it and
36:04
it, please them as everything that the king did, please.
36:07
All the people saw the people and all Israel understood that
36:11
day that had not been the Kings will to put the death Abner.
36:15
Son of Nur. What phrase repairs over and
36:18
over. Very good, four times in three
36:25
verses. We see that for some reason, the
36:28
Holy Spirit wants to bring to our attention about all the
36:31
people. And I believe the reason why he
36:33
is trying to draw our attention to, this is to communicate to us
36:38
that the actions and the attitude of David had made a
36:42
great impression on those who observed him.
36:46
I made a great impression and in his King case, as the king of
36:50
Judah, David's audience was the nation of Israel.
36:54
Talking about millions of people.
36:57
Now, here's the point, David did not have to honor Abner and the
37:01
way he did but it was very wise for him to do so.
37:07
Not that what his grief was not genuine that's not the case.
37:11
It was very genuine but strategically what he is doing
37:14
here is dispelling, all rumors all potential divisive theories
37:20
that would bring hindrance to the advancement and development
37:24
of his kingdom. And here is the lesson for all
37:29
of us. Though we may not be Kings as
37:33
David was a king that we may not be queens that we may not have
37:37
high positions. Each of us has a calling like
37:40
David had a calling Okay, every I don't care what you believe
37:44
about yourself. I don't care what level of
37:46
self-esteem, you may have according to this book, God has
37:49
deposited gifts and he has works that he's prepared beforehand.
37:52
That you should walk in them, whether that's on a great
37:55
platform or to Hidden platform. It's true nonetheless.
37:58
And here's what's important to understand about that.
38:00
The effectiveness of our individual callings is greatly
38:04
dependent upon Our conduct as citizens of the Kingdom, that we
38:10
want to see advance. The effectiveness of our
38:14
individual callings in the advancement of the kingdom of
38:16
God is greatly dependent upon our conduct as citizens, who
38:21
represent that Kingdom. I know what people mean when
38:25
they say, I don't care what people think.
38:28
I have you heard it? I mean I've said it have you
38:30
said it? I don't care what people think,
38:32
I understand what you mean by that, but some people have a
38:37
different motive and saying that and we have to, we have to
38:40
understand there's a fine line with with convincing ourselves
38:43
and even telling others, I don't care what people think.
38:46
Now, if what you mean by saying that is that in your pursuit of
38:49
righteousness and obedience to God's word, you are not
38:51
concerned about the repercussions or about the
38:54
ramifications of your decisions. You're not concerned about
38:57
criticism. Or punishment or anything that's
38:59
taken away from you. Then we applaud that kind of
39:02
attitude. But if what you mean by saying,
39:04
I don't care what people think about me is that you believe
39:08
that people should tolerate your unsanctified personality, you're
39:11
wrong. Okay, that's not godly because
39:16
the scripture is loaded with the admonition that you and I should
39:21
care what people think, as ambassadors of Jesus Christ that
39:25
we should be very careful and how we portray ourselves since
39:29
we are tied to. And we represent a king and a
39:34
kingdom a culture, a Heavenly one, And so we have to
39:38
understand what David is doing here is righteous.
39:42
He's making sure that he's blameless and he puts great
39:46
effort and making sure that he is without reproach.
39:51
Here's what's amazing. There are many things that David
39:53
gives completely to God. There many things that he says,
39:56
God, I trust you I'm not even going to be able to participate
39:59
in this, I completely leave it to you but when it came to his
40:02
behavior he put great energy into that.
40:07
He made great strides to ensure that there was no confusion
40:11
about his convictions. And you.
40:15
And I, as I said earlier, we may not have high positions in this
40:18
world, okay? But according to the scriptures,
40:21
identification of you, as a child of God, we are, royal we
40:26
are royal You're not a churchgoer, a royal priesthood.
40:34
A Tsar Peter says, in First Peter 2:9, you are a chosen
40:37
race. A royal priesthood, your what a
40:40
holy nation, a people of my own possession, like, what a
40:44
glorious way of crowning us. Undeserving, Sinners, if we were
40:49
just saved, and that's all the Bible says about us in the New
40:52
Testament. I'm happy with that but a royal
40:55
priesthood, a holy nation, a people of God's possession.
40:59
Later on. We are what?
41:01
Ambassadors of Jesus Christ. Rather before 1st Peter.
41:06
But with the great reward of being crowned with such titles,
41:10
listen with every reward comes responsibility and what's
41:13
amazing about what Peter says there is that when you just look
41:15
a couple of verses after that, you understand that this title
41:19
isn't just, it's not just like, poetry.
41:21
Like it's not something that we just say to each other.
41:24
We memorize, I'm a royal priesthood.
41:25
No, no, it has. It has real implications and how
41:29
we conduct ourselves. So after he says, you're a royal
41:32
priesthood. Ivory says, you're a holy nation
41:34
and all these wonderful things. Verse 12.
41:36
That's first, Peter 2:9, and 10. And first 12, just listen, you
41:39
have to turn the listen to what Peter says, keep your conduct
41:42
among the Gentiles. Honorable If you are a royal
41:46
priesthood, if you're a holy nation, well keep your conduct
41:49
among the Gentiles. Honorable so that when they
41:52
speak against you as evildoers they may see your good deeds and
41:57
glorify God on the day of visitation.
42:01
Now, that would have meant a lot to the early church, and it will
42:04
mean a lot to Christians in the west very soon if not already.
42:11
There was already a list of strange accusations going around
42:16
in the culture during the times of Peter, and the early church,
42:21
very weird, slanderous comments and rumors about Christians
42:27
followers of the way. Let me give you a few.
42:30
They practice camera to cannibalism.
42:33
They eat his blood drink, his drink, his blood eat his flesh.
42:36
What is this? They practice Kent.
42:39
This is what they were saying. They break up families.
42:44
When people join this, it just shatters fans.
42:46
They don't honor the emperor. They don't acknowledge Caesar,
42:50
they don't acknowledge Nero, they don't acknowledge these
42:52
men, they're Rebels. You know, they have these things
42:56
called these love feasts. You know what they do that?
42:58
They perform orgies. There's sexually strange,
43:02
people, there are moral, this is what was swirling around in the
43:06
culture and the unbelieving world in the offices of that
43:10
day. About Christians. and Peter
43:14
comes in and he gives these instructions and he says, this
43:17
is what God says about you, your royal priesthood, your holy
43:20
nation, all these wonderful things, but let me take it
43:22
further, prove them wrong, Prove them wrong.
43:27
Like let them encounter you. And as they encounter you, let
43:31
your conduct contradict. What they've heard from other
43:34
people mess with their thinking in a holy way cause them to be
43:39
conflicted. And Peter did you just want the
43:42
people to stop saying bad things?
43:43
He says, it can be so impressionable that on the day
43:47
of visitation they can glorify God.
43:50
In other words, they can they can actually be saved.
43:54
Because you walk honorably among them.
43:57
As the people that God calls you to be.
43:59
Now, I want you to think about it and David situation.
44:02
What is David do? This murder of Abner could have
44:07
easily cause the different tribes to come up with ideas
44:11
that David was behind all of us. If there was any tribe who would
44:15
have built that theory up, it would have been The Tribe of
44:16
Benjamin. But even The Tribe of Benjamin
44:20
could not come up with anything. Nobody can bring up any
44:23
accusation any slander, anything of the sort because David's
44:27
attitude in this public space would have directly fought
44:31
against all these Fierce Concepts.
44:34
I would try to smeared him as a true man of God and that is
44:38
encouraging. That is encouraging.
44:41
He was blameless from head to toe. and there is many things
44:45
that David put his complete trust in, as I said earlier, But
44:51
he made the conscious effort and pursuing blamelessness and
44:55
what's encouraging about that is that he did it in a sense.
44:58
Yes for God. But also for his kingdom, we do
45:00
it for God's kingdom by the help of the Holy Spirit.
45:04
By the help of the Holy Spirit, he will help us be.
45:06
Honorable people, be honest, people and listen, I'm and it
45:11
here This is where it gets hard. This is where this is where we
45:16
go. Thank you for the holy spirit
45:19
because as Believers, the high standard of it is much more than
45:22
just making sure that we're blameless, more than that.
45:25
God through his word in the New Testament, even calls us to be
45:29
intentional to be offensive in the sense of moving forward.
45:34
Not always being defensive, but moving forward and actually
45:38
making things happen as that royal priesthood.
45:42
An holy nation. So let me give you one example,
45:44
go to Romans chapter 12 and notice this, this is this is
45:48
just one example of how as Believers we go, the extra mile,
45:55
We go, the extra mile. And Romans 12:18. when I was
46:03
thinking about David, when I said all people, all people, all
46:07
people that connection came to Romans 12:18, another kind of
46:11
all men, but in a different context, look what he says to
46:14
the Believers in Romans 12:18, if possible so far, as it
46:19
depends on, you live peaceably with all How wonderful it's
46:26
wonderful in theory, but it's very hard and practicality and
46:30
get I love this. God is so realistic.
46:33
Look what he says. So far as it depends on you, if
46:37
it's possible, make it happen. The reason is because peace in
46:41
relationships, two way thing. I could be a peaceful person,
46:45
but if you're not a peaceful person, this can, this isn't
46:47
going to work. But look at where the burden is.
46:50
The burden is on the believer to ensure that you are the
46:54
initiator and you were the manager of your relationships.
46:57
So that if there's any tension or friction you would deal with
47:00
that immediately. So that even with your enemies,
47:02
there can be some kind of level of peace and understanding.
47:05
That's our calling among many other things, right?
47:08
That's how we pursue. To blame the successor we pursue
47:12
a certain conduct that can dismantle false ideas of who we
47:16
are as those who wear the badge of Jesus Christ.
47:21
And I want to end it here. I'm really ending it here.
47:25
David went the extra mile, I mean, you can say he went the
47:28
extra mile by doing all of this, but this was just, this is what
47:31
he should have done, he should have done for many reasons, but
47:36
David goes, the extra mile and I want to prove that to you.
47:38
I want to prove it to you in an obscure texts that If we're
47:42
honest we would often skip over because we want to get to the
47:44
meteor stuff. But when you take the time to
47:47
actually read the Bible from cover to cover, you find these
47:51
gems and you go no way. Really right here it is.
47:58
Go to 1st Chronicles, 27. This is our final verse for the
48:01
night First Chronicles 27. What's happening in first
48:10
Chronicles, 27? We just really have a record of
48:16
different leaders and administrative things during
48:20
David's Rule, and Reign military divisions, and leaders of
48:26
certain tribes, And when you come to verse 16, that's what we
48:30
really see. We see the names of different
48:33
representatives of the tribes of Israel during David's Dynasty.
48:38
So we had set up these local governments in the tribes that
48:42
each tribe would have a civil Authority, that would in a sense
48:45
represent that people group within the nation of Israel.
48:49
And you look at that and be honest, be honest in the
48:52
immediate sense, it doesn't seem appealing.
48:56
Names, that are hard to pronounce one after the other.
49:00
This would tempt us to drift. But as you read and you see
49:05
these names and you have an understanding of what we are
49:09
doing, every Friday, the Old Testament, scroll down quickly
49:12
and look at verse 20. For the Ephraim mites hoshea,
49:16
the son of as Isaiah. For the half tribe of Manasseh,
49:21
Joel, the son of petia verse 21 for the half tribe of Manasseh
49:25
and Gilead. Either the son of Zechariah for
49:27
Benjamin jostle, the son of, who Abner, Think about this.
49:39
Years after Abner's death. David goes, the extra mile.
49:47
And takes one of Abner sons and makes him a leader in Israel.
49:53
That's Grace. How much more can you do after
49:59
what you did in Chapter 3 of calling him?
50:02
A great Prince and calling man on my herbal man and honoring
50:05
him with an elegy and mourning and weeping in.
50:07
Not even eating until the sun goes down.
50:10
On top of that. He takes one of Abner sons and
50:13
he says I'm going to make you a leader Over The Tribe of
50:16
Benjamin. I'm going to recognize you as a
50:19
leader Over The Tribe of Benjamin.
50:23
And we look at that and we see that this is a hint that David
50:28
wasn't doing what he was doing in chapter 3, as a political
50:30
stunt, he wasn't trying to save face, he wasn't caught up with
50:34
his reputation and just see me to be righteous and you know,
50:38
fake tears. It was real, it was real and the
50:42
best way to be holy my brother, my sister is to be real.
50:47
Really. If you leave here saying well
50:52
you know I go to Maranatha Bible Church and the pretty serious
50:55
about Holiness. And the pretty serious about
50:57
church discipline. I better not mess up so I'm
51:00
going to be chameleon. I'm gonna here I'm going to
51:04
speak one way and here I'm going to speak another way you're
51:08
going to fail man. You're gonna fail.
51:12
Just be real, be a real holy spirit, filled Christian and
51:18
this pursuit of blamelessness is effortless.
51:21
When you actually walk with a Consciousness that you want to
51:24
please, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, your elders, not because
51:28
you want to maintain your ministry, but you really love
51:31
the Lord, your heart is really soft and by him and you like
51:35
David understand the grace of God, so you can extend it to
51:37
others. That is the easiest way of being
51:41
energized for holiness. I look at some people and they
51:48
liked us trying so hard to be spiritual and it's cringe.
51:54
Stop doing it in the flesh. Stop, you're not going to get it
52:00
by reading certain books, you're not going to get it by getting
52:03
certain terminology there. You're not going to get it by
52:05
dressing a certain way or posting certain stuff.
52:08
You're gonna get it. When you really understand who
52:10
Christ is, and you're going to get it when you really
52:14
understand it, only, he can put that desire in your heart and
52:17
make you the real deal. And so, what I present to you is
52:22
simply this fall in love with Jesus Christ.
52:26
And Holiness will be much easier to pursue this man, David.
52:33
With a little verse like that in first Chronicles, silence is all
52:37
other arguments about what he did in chapter 3, being
52:40
something that was just for his kingdom and his throne and his
52:44
political agenda wrong. He was the real deal and only
52:49
you and I will be truly successful for real with god.
52:52
Well we thank you for this Bible study.
52:56
We thank you for the rich insights and just eight verses,
53:00
and we didn't even cover all of them.
53:02
We thank you, Lord, that your word is so alive and
53:06
Supernatural. Lord with all that we heard we
53:10
end with that final thought help us be real help us be true help
53:16
us be sincere. Thank You O Lord that you've
53:20
made it all possible with a power in the person of the holy
53:23
spirit. Thank you, Lord.
53:25
Jesus that we don't have to strive because your word says in
53:29
first, John 5 that your Commandments are not burdensome
53:33
Lord. We just pray for those who
53:35
really want to be Godly but are Being of seeing it come about,
53:40
they feel like they fall back into the flesh.
53:42
They feel like they, they can't maintain that consistently in
53:46
different context, they fall too easily into the pressures of
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certain crowds. Lord let tonight be the turning
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point. Let it change tonight.
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Lured by the spirit. Do such a work in us that
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wherever we go, Jesus goes whoever were with, Jesus comes
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with us, whether in secret or in public that we have Christ in
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mind Christ in our affections Christ, in our meditations
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Christ, in our planning, Lord, only you can Inspire such a
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thing and we long for that. Thank you for calling us, a
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royal priesthood. Thank you for calling us a holy
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nation, a people for your own possession.
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Now, Lord help us be honorable and all places.
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At all times, we give you glory and thanks in Jesus name we
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pray. Amen.