2 Samuel 23 - Man-up in the service of the King

2 Samuel chapter 23, we're going to be looking at that together.

2 Samuel 23 · chapter mention

We have come almost to the end of our series in the book of 2 Samuel.

I'm not going to read David's last words from verse 1 to 7.

I'm going to pick it up in verse 8 just for the sake of time for the reading.

Normally, I will ask someone else to do the reading.

Sometimes I do it myself, but often I will ask someone else to do it.

This morning, there are so many names in this passage this morning

that I felt if I gave it to anybody in church, they would never, ever speak to me again.

And so I'm going to attempt them.

I ask for your forgiveness.

Just because I'm the pastor of the church does not mean that I am any better

at the pronunciation of Hebrew names written in English characters

or in Hebrew characters, for that matter.

So please do forgive me for the names that I get wrong.

But we're picking it up in verse 8, and we're going to read through to the end of the chapter.

These are the names of David's mighty warriors.

Joshab, Bashabeth, Atachemonite, was chief of the three.

He raised his spear against 800 men whom he killed in one encounter.

Next to him was Eleazar, son of Dodai, the Ahite.

As one of the three mighty warriors, he was with David when they taunted the Philistines,

sorry, when they taunted the Philistines gathered at Pas-Damin for battle.

Then the Israelites retreated.

But Eleazar stood his ground and struck down the Philistines

till his hand grew tired and froze to the sword.

The Lord brought about a great victory that day.

The troops returned to Eleazar, but only to strip the dead.

Next to him was Shammah, son of Agi, the Harite.

When the Philistines banded together at a place where there was a field full of lentils,

Israel's troops fled from them.

But Shammah took his stand in the middle of the field.

He defended it and struck the Philistines down,

and the Lord brought about a great victory.

During harvest time, three of the 30 chief warriors came down to David at the cave of Adalem,

while a band of Philistines was encamped in the valley of Rephain.

At that time, David was in the stronghold, and the Philistine garrison was at Bethlehem.

David longed for water and said,

Oh, that someone would get me a drink of water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem.

So the three mighty warriors broke through the Philistine lines,

drew water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem, and carried it back to David.

But he refused to drink it.

Instead, he poured it out before the Lord.

Far be it from me, Lord, to do this, he said.

Is not the blood of men who went at risk of their lives?

David would not drink it.

Such were the exploits of the three mighty warriors.

Abishai, the brother of Joab, the son of Zariah, was chief of the three.

He raised his spear against 300 men whom he killed.

And so he was as famous as the three.

Was he not held in greater honor than the three?

He became their commander, even though he was not included among them.

Benaniah, son of Jehiadah, a valiant fighter from Kebzeel, performed great exploits.

He struck down Moab's two mightiest warriors.

He also went down into a pit on a snowy day and killed a lion.

He struck down a huge Egyptian.

Although the Egyptian had a spear in his hand, Benaniah went against him with a club.

He snatched the spear from the Egyptian's hand and killed him with his own spear.

Such were the exploits of Benaniah, son of Jehiadah.

He too was as famous as the three mighty warriors.

He was held in greater honor than any of the 30, but he was not included among the three.

And David put him in charge of his bodyguard.

Among the 30 were Ashiel, the brother of Joab, Elam, son of Dodo from Bethlehem,

Shammah, the Herodite, Elikah, the Herodite,

Helez, the Palite, Ere, the son of Ikesh from Tekoa,

Abazir from Anoth, Sibkaph, the Hushite,

Zalmon, the Ahalite,

Mahariah, the Nethathalite,

Heldad, the son of Banna, the Nethalite,

Ithai, the son of Riba from Gibeah in Benjamin,

Benaniah, the Pirithite,

Hidai from the ravines of Gash,

Abi Abilon, the Abraphite,

Azimeth, the Bahuramite,

Ihlaiab, the Shabalonite,

the sons of Jashin,

Jonathan, never been so grateful for the word Jonathan,

son of Shammah, the Harite,

Ahim, the son of Shari, the Hazorite,

Elaphat, the son of Hashbi, the Mahakite,

Eliam, the son of Ahithophel, the Gilanite,

Hezro, the Carmelite,

Parah, the Arabite,

Igal, the son of Nathan from Zobah,

the sons of Hagri,

Zelech, the Ammonite,

Natali, the Birithite,

the armor-bearer of Joab, the son of Zariah,

Iriah, the Ithite,

Garab, the Ithrite,

and Uriah, the Hittite.

There were 37 in all.

Well, this is God's word.

Let's pray together

and ask that he might help us understand it.

Father, we've read

a list of names of people that you know and we don't.

And Lord, it's extraordinary to us that passages like this are in your word.

And so we ask, Lord, for your help this morning,

that we might understand these words truly.

But we pray even more boldly for more than just understanding with our minds.

We pray that you might be at work by your spirit,

that we might hear your voice,

that we might respond in obedience and faith.

Lord, do something in our church this morning,

even through the frailty of my mispronunciation of all these names

and my weakness as a preacher.

Please do something this morning for the sake of your glory.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

I wonder if I was to ask you this morning

just to close your eyes for a moment and think,

what is a typical Christian?

What is a typical Christian?

What's coming to mind as you think?

What do they look like?

Are they black or white?

Male?

Female?

Young?

Old?

Cool?

Uncool?

Uncool?

I don't know, as you think about it,

what you come up with,

but I know that when the producers of TV shows

do something like that,

they come up with people like,

I don't know,

Doc Cotton,

the Vicar of Dibley,

Mrs. Bouquet.

The stereotype Christian in our culture

is an older white woman

who is fussy,

weak,

easily upset,

and knows their Christian faith

to be something probably implausible

to those around them.

They live somewhere in suburbia,

don't they,

or in the Oxfordshire countryside,

and they probably drive a Honda Jazz

at about 15 miles an hour

in the middle lane of the motorway.

You know the stereotype.

Now, we know, don't we,

that that's not right.

You only have to look around you this morning

to know that's not right,

but I want you to see from our passage this morning

how not right that stereotype is.

Because in 2 Samuel chapter 23,

2 Samuel 23 · chapter mention

we meet a list of mighty warriors

headed by this guy,

Josheb Bashabeth.

I doubt before this morning

that any of you had heard of him this morning.

Josheb is the most honoured of David's men.

He is the top of the list

of God's faithful soldiers.

And in our contrast

to the stereotype in our minds,

or at least the stereotype

in the minds of TV producers,

our hero this morning,

Josheb, is a man.

He's almost certainly a man of colour.

He's anything but weak.

If he did ever drive a Honda Jazz,

it would only be in hot pursuit

of someone who was trying to get away from him,

and he'd be probably driving it

on two wheels most of the time.

Josheb appears in verse 8,

doesn't he,

topping the list of courageous men

who trusted the Lord,

protected David,

and were committed

to God's covenant promises.

Now you might have noticed

as I read the passage

that the men themselves

are divided into two groups.

There's the three and the thirty.

The three are led by this guy, Josheb,

and are complemented by Abishai,

who in verse 18

wasn't included in the three,

but was honoured above them

and commanded them,

whatever that quite means.

The thirty are headed by Benanias,

son of Jehida,

who wasn't accounted among them,

but was also part of the bodyguard

and ran the bodyguards.

Look at the detail of all this with me

just briefly.

Josheb, we're told,

in verse 8,

killed 800

with his own spear

all in one go.

Eleazar, in verse 9,

was the guy who,

when everyone else ran off

in the army,

he courageously stood his ground,

fighting so hard

that his hand locked

on the sword

that he was using.

The rest of his mates

in the army

did return

once he'd finished killing,

but only to strip the dead

after they'd fallen

at Eleazar's hand

in verse 10.

Shammah,

slightly amusingly,

I suppose,

stood his ground

in a field of lentils,

right?

Obviously,

he really liked lentils.

Everyone else fled,

but Shammah wasn't going to flee.

He stood there,

not moved,

defeating on his own

all who came at him.

Abishai,

who doesn't make it

to the three,

imagine not making it

to the three,

even though he'd killed

300 men on his own.

Benaniah,

in verse 20,

is the giant slayer

of his time,

coming against the biggest

and the best

of other nations

and winning,

killing an Egyptian

who was a giant.

He even kills a lion,

presumably with his bare hands,

I think,

that's how we're to read it,

in a pit

on a snowy day,

maybe even without

his shirt on,

I think that's how

you have to imagine it,

isn't it?

You see,

basically what you find

in 2 Samuel 23,

in contrast to our stereotype,

what you find

in 2 Samuel 23

is that big men,

real men,

courageous men,

serve the king,

God's king,

Jesus.

You know,

in the stereotype

of our day,

this is more like

Anthony Joshua

than it is like

Doc Cotton.

This is more like

Tyson Fury

than it is like

the Vicar of Dibley.

Now,

I should say at this point,

if you're a woman

in the room,

I'm not trying to make you

feel uncomfortable

this morning,

nor should you think

that this is that kind

of stereotypical image

of aggressive

muscular masculinity,

the type that's been

so abusive and damaging,

especially to women

over the centuries,

that this passage

is not commending that at all.

I'll show you that

in a moment.

But I do think

that our passage

this morning,

although it's not

recommending that kind

of muscular masculinity,

the kind of toxic masculinity

that we hear about,

the passage does still

have something to say

to the men in the room,

especially.

So if you're a man

in the room,

let me speak to you

directly,

just briefly.

What you're going to find

in 2 Samuel 23

is that real men,

courageous men,

are not half-hearted

in their service

of God's king.

It's not what they're like.

Real men,

courageous men,

are not the guys

who play it coy

when it comes

to following the Lord,

just following him

when it suits

or when it doesn't

interfere too much,

but whose real passions

and interests

lie elsewhere,

not really following the Lord.

We just do that

on a Sunday.

Nor are the real men,

the courageous men,

living their lives

out on the streets

picking fights

with smaller kids

or taking knives

into school

to prop up

their low self-image.

It's not what

courageous men do

in 2 Samuel 23.

They're not snorting coke

in the toilets

of a seedy nightclub.

They're not dealing

weed on the streets

or joining gangs

just to get a sense

of belonging.

In 2 Samuel 23,

big men,

real men,

courageous men,

the kind of men

that we should long to be,

those men are losing

themselves

in the service

of God

and his king.

And that is the example

that's been set up

for us this morning.

In a way,

the application

of 2 Samuel 23

to you,

if you're a man

this morning,

is basically

something like this.

Man up

and take following

Jesus seriously.

And if you're a woman

in the room,

please don't think

that this has nothing

to say to you.

The truth is,

as a woman

in a church

where the men

are not rude

or abusive

or dismissive,

a church

where the men

in the church

are losing themselves

in service

of King Jesus

is the kind of place

where women

long to be also.

These are the kind

of men

that you want

to marry.

These are the kind

of men

that you want

leading the church.

These are the kind

of men

you want helping

at youth group,

serving in the church.

And besides all of that,

actually the truth is

that all of us

need to man

up or woman

up,

as it gets said

in our house,

in the service

of the Lord.

That's what we need

to do.

Man up,

woman up.

Take courage

and serve the Lord.

So let me show you

three ways the passage

teaches us to do that.

And the first one

is this,

man up or woman up

if you prefer that,

and trust the Lord

and not yourself.

Trust the Lord

and not yourself.

I think this is

what we're to notice

in the passage

is that it's not

so much the great feats

of the warriors,

but the repetition

of this phrase,

the Lord

brought about

a great victory

that day.

That phrase is there

in verse 10.

If you look down,

it's again repeated

in verse 12.

In other words,

these great warriors

find their greatness

not so much

in the size

of their biceps,

but in the fact

that they are instruments

in the hands

of the Lord.

Interestingly,

their physical appearance

is never mentioned,

is it?

Actually,

it's only mentioned

in a negative way

in its weakness

with a hand

that gets locked

to a sword

getting noted.

Now,

I'm sure these were

probably big guys,

but the truth is

they were not

the kind of guys

who were taking

those pictures

in the gym

of their muscles

and then posting

on Instagram,

right?

Some of those guys,

you know who they are,

don't you?

Maybe you are one yourself.

It's not those here,

right?

That's not what they're doing.

These men,

if you were to ask them,

where does your strength

and your prowess

come from?

How is it that you

have achieved

these great things

in service of the Lord?

They would say,

oh no,

that's really easy.

Let me give you

a simple answer to that.

The Lord did it.

The Lord did it

through me.

You know,

you're not to imagine,

are you,

that Joshua killed

800 men by himself

because he fancied it.

It's not like

he's at the gym one day

and going,

I wonder what I could

bench press today,

right?

I wonder if I could

take 800 men

by myself.

He's not thinking

that at all,

is he?

I think what you're

to imagine

is that he did that.

He took on 800 men

on his own

because everybody else

had fled.

That's exactly

what happens

to Eleazar and Shammah,

isn't it?

They trusted God,

not themselves,

even when everybody else

thought that all hope

was lost.

These are men

of courageous faith,

men who in the midst

of battle believed

that the Lord's promises

were still trustworthy,

that God would deliver

whatever the odds

because they were fighting

for God and his king.

Now,

just for a moment,

well,

maybe not just for a moment,

for the rest of the sermon,

but for this moment

in particular,

engage your brain

if you can

because we need to do

some work here

in order to see

the application.

Now,

you need to remember

that in David's day,

the great promises

of redemption,

so your Bible

is dominated

by promises

of salvation

which run from

the beginning

to the end.

They are hinted at

to Adam,

they are spelt out

to Abraham.

I will make you

a great nation,

I will bless you,

you will belong to me,

says God to Abraham.

Now,

that great promise

to Abraham

in David's day

is administrated

through the nation

of Israel

and his role

as king of Israel.

The promise

is demonstrated

by the success

of a nation,

if you like.

How do I know

that God has a promise

to save people

in the Old Testament?

I see it

in the success

of God's king

and this nation

of Israel.

That's how I see it.

Now,

that arrangement,

that administration

of the promise

made to Abraham,

that ends

at the end

of the Old Testament

when the nation

of Israel

are exiled

and then they

return to Jerusalem

in weakness

and defeat.

And then comes

Jesus,

the Messiah

in the New Testament

and he inaugurates

in his blood

what he calls

a new covenant.

A new covenant.

I am taking

these promises

of redemption,

says Jesus,

which dominate

your Bible

from the beginning.

Those are now

administrated

through me.

I am the one

who is able

to give you

membership

of God's people,

forgiveness

and love

and a knowledge

of God.

The New Testament,

the new arrangement.

And in the New Testament,

God's people

are no longer

just one nation,

are they?

In the New Testament,

God's people

are a church

made up of people

from all nations

under the leadership

of God's king,

Jesus.

And the promises

of Abraham,

the promises

of God to Abraham

are no longer

administrated then

by the sword

of a nation

but by the preaching

of a church

where men and women

from every land

are invited

to join God's people

not by surrendering

to Israel

but by trusting

in Jesus Christ

and joining the church.

Knowing that forgiveness

comes not from

a sacrificial system

in a temple

in Jerusalem

but from the fulfillment

of that

in Jesus' sacrifice

on the cross.

So the new covenant,

the promise

of the Lord

is not this land

will be ours

but that this church

will be his

and his church

will grow,

his church will flourish

and it will be full

of people

from every tribe,

every language,

every nation

and that King Jesus

will not let us down

but will return one day

in power and glory

to take his people

to be with him

in a world

that he remakes

by his power

and his glory

forever and ever and ever.

Now that means

that when you and I

read 2 Samuel 23

the application

is not

find a field of lentils

and stand firm,

right?

You'd do well

to find a field of lentils

in London anyway,

wouldn't you?

No, that's not

the invitation, is it?

The invitation

is not to wrestle

in a pit with a lion

but rather

the invitation

is stand your ground,

live your life

trusting Jesus Christ alone,

believing in his promises

that he has made

to build his church

that he will not leave you,

that he will not let you down

and that you can trust him.

Invest your hopes,

he says,

invest your service

in the promises of God

to build a people of faith.

You know,

manning up

or womaning up

means not giving up

on those promises,

the promises of God

to exalt King Jesus

and present him

with a beautiful church.

And so just like

for Josh Ebb

and Eliezer

and others

where real men

trust the Lord

to keep his king,

so today

real men,

real women

trust the Lord

to keep King Jesus

on the throne

for eternity.

So much so

that not giving up

in trusting the Lord,

the best way to live,

the only true thing

to invest in

is not our own fame

and our own glory,

not prosperity

and comfort

but trusting in

standing our ground

on the promises of God

knowing that God the Father

by the Spirit

through the work of the Son

will keep his promise.

So let me try

and give you

I think essentially

a contemporary

Josh Ebb

or Eliezer

or Shammah story.

Here the warrior

is a mother.

Her son has left home.

It's a true story.

It's a friend of mine.

Her son left home.

He got into drinking heavily

and fighting.

He was depressed

and self-harming.

He had absolutely

no interest in the gospel

despite having been raised

in a Christian home

where he had been taken

along to church

where his parents

had shared the gospel

with him day on day,

prayed for him

over and over

yet still fighting,

drinking,

self-harming.

That was his life.

And it went on

not just for a few months.

It went on for years

and years and years.

And then came

the global pandemic,

COVID.

And Tom started to think.

And he remembered the gospel

that his parents

had told him.

The seed sown

over his childhood.

He dug out his Bible,

his old Bible

and he started to listen

to sermons

because she could do that

online in COVID

for the first time.

And he gave his life

to Christ.

His parents,

his mom,

is a warrior

in 2 Samuel 23 terms.

What about a young person

who is willing at school

to talk openly

about being a Christian?

Who's bullied

for holding fast

to the Bible's message

even when teachers

are laughing at them?

Holding fast

to their commitment

to honour God

with their body,

to speak of Jesus

every opportunity

they get

despite everybody

coming at them?

They're a warrior,

aren't they?

What about the man

who faces

the full onslaught

of the world,

the temptation

to live for pleasure

and live for comfort?

Who's told

by everybody else

that life is about

the woman on your arm,

the money in your bank,

the car in the car park,

the name on the wall

at work

and yet they refuse.

I'm going to trust

the Lord.

I'm going to trust

his promises.

I'm going to live

for Jesus.

I'm going to give generously.

I'm going to invest

in gospel priorities.

I'm going to spend

my time and my energy

encouraging others

at church.

I'm going to make sure

I'm there when the church

gathers because I want

to be there to encourage

and bless and strengthen

others.

They're a warrior.

They're a warrior

because real men,

real women,

trust Jesus

and live for him.

Secondly,

man up

and sacrifice yourself

or woman up

and sacrifice yourself.

In the centre

of the passage

is an intriguing account

of these three warriors

bursting through enemy lines

to get David a drink.

It's an odd story,

isn't it?

David at the time

is hiding in the caves

in the stronghold.

He's on the run

from Saul

who's trying to kill him

and there's a garrison

of Philistine soldiers

who have set up camp

in Bethlehem

and David is longing

for a drink

from the well

near the city gates.

Not presumably

just because he was

generally thirsty,

although he might have been,

but really here's the sense

that he longs for home.

Nothing tastes quite like

the water from your own well,

does it?

You know that

when you go away on holiday

and you drink the water

from the tap

and this tastes weird.

That's it here.

I long to be in Bethlehem.

I long to be home.

And it's almost as if

the warriors sort of,

they're not commanded,

are they?

They're not ordered

to go and do this.

It's though they listen

to David and think,

do you know what?

David really wants?

He wants a drink

from that well

back in Bethlehem.

Okay, come on lads,

let's go.

And so they break

through the enemy lines

and draw some water

from the well.

How on earth

did they do that?

And they bring it

back to David.

And then oddly,

David gets it

and he pours it out

before the Lord.

I think as an honour

to the men

who got it for him.

You know,

I used to think,

surely they would be

slightly irritated

by David pouring it out.

Thanks very much.

Pours it on the floor.

But I think we're to see

that they are

being honoured

by David.

David,

your sacrifice

is so valuable,

I will pour this out

before the Lord.

I think in that sense

it's quite like

the story in Mark 14

where the woman

at Jesus' feet

pours out perfume

on his head

as a sort of ceremonial sign

that Jesus was worth

more to her

than the expensive perfume.

Jesus,

for her,

was worth everything.

Just like David's thirst

for home

was worth

the warrior's lives.

David,

we love you

even more

than our own lives,

he says.

I honour you

for that,

says David.

Now here what you've got

is a picture

of a warrior

with devotion

to the pleasure

of his king.

I will do

whatever it takes

to bring joy

to my king,

say these warriors.

And so for us

to do that same

translation work,

yeah,

the same work

that we were doing before,

and we can think,

can't we,

the rule of life

for the Christian

is I live my life

to bring joy

and delight

to King Jesus.

Not out of mere duty

or formality,

but because the joy

of the king

is my joy

and my purpose.

Let me try for a moment

just to see

how this might apply

for us

as a church corporately.

We were talking

as leaders

just the other day

that it feels like

in many ways

we are entering

into what essentially

feels like

a completely new season

for us as a church.

For a number of years

we've been trying

to purchase the freehold

and that looks like

that's now settled.

The hall on the back roof

has been leaking

for a long time

and that is now repaired.

The bank account

that had so much money

in it at one time

is now empty.

There is a merger

on the horizon

with Redeemer Queens Park.

And we're really here,

aren't we,

on the shoulders

of the sacrifices

of those who've gone before us.

The legacy

that was given to us

that's enabled us

to do those things,

to purchase the freehold,

to repair the roof.

The hard work

of many in this room

who've taken on roles

in the church

to keep things going.

And now, again,

we're being asked,

we're not being commanded,

we're being asked,

aren't we,

to consider

the pleasure of Jesus

greater than the comfort

of familiarity

as a church.

The question before us

essentially

in this new season

is,

do we want to stay

as we are

or are we willing

to change

and move forward

for the pleasure

of Jesus?

Because there are people

in these flats

around us,

in this community

in which we live,

that belong to Jesus

and our job

is to go call them

to come home to him.

And he's asked us,

hasn't he,

to be his mouthpiece?

I wonder,

I like to imagine this,

it's not here in the story,

but you imagine,

maybe these three warriors

tried to persuade

somebody else

to come with them

on that night

to go break through

to collect the water

from Bethlehem.

Maybe Abishai,

perhaps.

Hey Abishai,

we've got an idea.

What's your idea?

Oh,

what are we going to do?

We're going to,

you know the garrison

of Philistine soldiers

in Bethlehem?

Oh yeah,

I know,

I've heard of that.

Yeah.

Well,

they're guarding the well

in Bethlehem,

aren't they?

Yeah,

yeah,

yeah,

yeah.

We're going to break through

and we're going to get some water

for David to drink

from the well.

Are you nuts?

Are you,

are you crazy?

You know,

don't you,

that David is not instructing

any of you to do,

there's no command

to go do that.

Why are you doing it?

Oh no,

we,

no,

we want to see the look

on David's face

when he sees the water

from the well.

We can't,

we long to see that.

Don't,

are you in?

Abishai says,

no,

you're crazy.

You,

you go if you want to go.

You're crazy.

You go.

I'm staying right here.

And what does the passage say

of Abishai?

He was never included

among them.

He was never included

among them.

Where are we going?

We're about to risk it

for Jesus.

We're giving this,

we're going there,

we're doing that.

You do,

do you realize

that you don't need that?

Jesus doesn't,

we don't have to do that.

You don't have to give

a legacy to mission.

You don't have to sacrifice

your weekends

to go door to door.

You don't have to serve

on the refreshment rotor.

You don't have to serve

in the children's ministry.

You don't have to change.

You could stay where you are.

You could stay as you are.

Oh yeah,

I long to see the look

on Jesus's face

when I see him

and he says,

you sacrificed it for me.

Well done,

good and faithful servant.

Thirdly,

man up

and be faithful

to Jesus.

I hopefully have demonstrated

one thing to you

in my reading of the passage

this morning

and that is that

I am not very good

at Old Testament names.

It's nice of you

to laugh at me

as I read the passage.

You know,

I don't know about you

but I read some of these names

and they go through my head

but they fall out

the other side.

But even still,

even with,

even with a brain like that,

I've noticed

that there is an omission

on this list.

I wonder whether

you've noticed it too.

There's somebody

whose name you would expect

to be on there

whose name is not there.

It's a name that's come up

all the way through 2 Samuel

but is now excluded

from the list of warriors

and mighty men.

What is that name?

Well, it's the name Joab,

isn't it?

Joab is the commander

of David's army.

He too was an amazing warrior,

right?

You know how Joab got his job?

Can you remember that story

in 2 Samuel?

Joab got his job

because David said,

listen,

if you,

if you will do this for me,

you can be the commander

of my army.

I want to take

the city of Jerusalem.

No one had managed

to conquer the city

of Jerusalem.

It was too well defended.

But David said,

this is the city

I want for myself.

This is going to be

the city of David.

Someone conquer this for me.

And if you conquer this,

you can be commander

of my army.

Joab says,

I'm in.

And he climbs up

the water shaft

to conquer the city

of Jerusalem

and defeats the city

and hands it over

to David.

And so it's a massive surprise

as you get to the end

of the book

that Joab is not there.

He's not in the three

and he's not in the 30.

Why?

Well, if you've read 2 Samuel

and you've been with us,

you'll know that's because

Joab is unfaithful,

isn't he?

He refuses David's orders

time and again.

He takes matters

into his own hands.

He manipulates the king.

He murders people

when he doesn't get

his own way.

In the end,

Joab is actually punished

by David's son Solomon

who executes him

next to the altar

in the tabernacle.

And you see here,

I think,

is the point

in 2 Samuel 23.

Real men,

real women of God

are faithful to the king

not just on occasion

but in their lives.

courageously staying true

to King Jesus.

Living their lives for him.

Joab was faithful in moments

but not in the end.

He betrayed

and was unfaithful.

I went for coffee

this week

with a friend

who's pastoring

an Anglican church

not very far from here,

just over in Hampstead.

We've got a lot

of mutual friends as well.

We went to

theological college

around the same time.

He was actually

a couple of years

younger than me.

He didn't look it

but I'm sure he was.

Anyway,

he and I

were chatting together

and we were saying

about the people

who we knew

who we'd trained with

and how sad it was

how many of them

were no longer

walking with the Lord.

It wasn't difficult

for us

although we reflected

on people at college

who were brighter than us

and that was most of them

and who had gone on

to do amazing things

but who had made a mess

of their ministries,

blown up their lives

with scandal and sin,

people who'd fallen out

with one another,

people who'd covered over

the sins of others,

people who'd been unfaithful

to their wives

even for years and years

and pretended to be otherwise,

people who'd bullied

their staff members,

people who'd refused

to submit to the authority

over them

and had bounced out

of ministry.

The conversation

was kind of sad.

Lots of people had started,

not many people had finished

and that's it here.

These men get named

on the list

because they finish

with David

and they keep going

to the end.

Joab did not.

And so for you

and I this morning,

the call this morning

is not just follow Jesus.

The call is keep following

Jesus to the end.

Keep following him.

Don't just look back

and say,

I remember a great time

of closeness with the Lord.

But know those today.

So we're to man up,

woman up,

trusting,

sacrificing,

and keeping going

in faithfulness

to the Lord Jesus.

It would be wrong though,

I think,

to end a sermon there

because we have to ask

one more question

before we finish

and that's this question,

the question,

why?

Why?

I don't know

whether you've thought

about that.

why would these men

do that for David?

Right?

Why the trust?

Why the sacrifice?

Why the faithfulness?

Now the obvious answer

to that is it's because

of who David is.

Yeah?

David is God's king.

He's not just a nobody.

He is God's promised king.

He is appointed

to be the king

of God's people.

He is the holder

of the promise of God.

He is the administrator

of the blessing of God.

It is David as God's king

who is handing out

the blessing of belonging

to God's people.

And David himself

is the great warrior,

isn't he?

He is the boy

who went to a giant

with a few smooth stones.

He didn't just kill

an Egyptian as another soldier

but he went as a boy

with a stone and a sling.

David is the one

who they sang about

who had killed

thousands of people

in his great battles.

The courage

of these men

comes from David's status.

Why?

Why are you doing this

for David?

It's because

of who he is.

Their courage

comes from David's status.

And so for us,

why would we,

why would I

stand in front of you

this morning

and commend to me

and all of us,

listen,

I think you should

trust Jesus

with all that you have.

I think you should

sacrifice to him

in large ways

and small ways.

I think you should

be faithful to him

all the days

of your life,

living only for him.

Why on earth

would I say that to you?

Because of who Jesus is.

He's God's anointed king,

the eternal son

from heaven.

He's the one sent

to bring his people home.

How do you know that?

Well, not because

he went to a giant

called Goliath

armed with a pebble,

but because in an even

more remarkable way,

he went at the giant

of sin,

death,

hell and Satan himself

with a wooden cross

and he defeated it all,

defeated them all.

He rose from the dead

in triumphant victory.

He rescued us

from the clutches

of our sin,

promises us resurrection,

life with him.

Jesus smashes death,

destroys the devil,

rises to new life

and says,

come follow me.

And that's why

we're to be faithful to him.

That's why we're

to sacrifice to him.

And that's why

we're to trust him

because of who he is.

Perhaps you've never

thought about it

like that this morning

before.

Or maybe you're

kind of half-hearted

in your following of Jesus.

Well, listen,

if that's you this morning,

my encouragement to you

is not so much

to dig deep

and see whether

there might be courage

to live for Jesus there.

Please don't do that.

Please don't think

that I'm saying to you

this morning,

work hard to trust Jesus.

I'm not saying that

so much as saying,

look to Jesus.

Look at who he is.

Recognize that he is

the King of Kings

and the Lord of Lords.

All of us in this room

one day will stand

before Jesus

to give an account

of the lives

that we've lived.

And the more

that we see that,

the more that we know that,

the more that we'll find

by his spirit

we are courageously given

to live the Christian life

whose praise and his glory.

If I can put it like this,

and I mean this reverently

and not in a flippant way at all,

Jesus' identity,

if you like,

is the protein shake

of the Christian life.

If you want to build up

strength as a Christian,

look at who Jesus is

over and over and over again.

Jesus is the man's man,

isn't he?

The ultimate man.

The man of love

and generosity,

of sacrifice and service,

of faithfulness

and trustworthiness.

is the man to whom

all of us

one day will be united

in what truly is marriage,

isn't it?

As the church

becomes his bride.

In Matthew 25,

Jesus tells the parable

of the master

who goes away

and leaves his servants

with money to invest

and work

while he goes away.

He gives different amounts

to different people

what he says

according to their ability.

And the master then returns

to see what they've done.

For two of those servants,

they've lived courageously,

haven't they?

In the light of the master's

returning,

he says this,

and I'm going to end

with these words.

His master replied,

well done,

good and faithful servant.

You have been faithful

with few things.

I will put you in charge

of many things.

Come,

share in your master's

happiness.

We long to hear that,

don't we?

Come, Lord Jesus.

Let's pray.

Let me leave a few moments,

just as quiet

as you might reflect

on what the Lord

has said to you.

Amen.

Heavenly Father,

we want to be like these

soldiers here,

warriors of the faith.

We want to trust you

and King Jesus,

absolutely.

We want to consider

the joy of Jesus

worth even the greatest sacrifice.

and Lord,

we pray,

make us faithful

to the very end,

we ask.

Keep us trusting you

and living for you.

Lord,

we know that the strength

to do all of that,

none of that lies within us.

We long that you might

do that work

by your spirit

as we see more clearly

who Jesus is.

Leave us this morning

with a really clear impression

of the greatness

and worthiness of Jesus

that we might want to

and take courage

to live for him

in every area of our lives.

Please,

we pray this morning,

even especially for us

as a local church

at this point

in the life of our church.

May we not falter

in our courage

to live for you.

May we,

like those who have gone

before us,

consider all things

or loss

compared to the surpassing

greatness of knowing

Christ Jesus our Lord

and living for him.

In his name we pray.

Amen.

Amen.