2 Samuel 23 (Part 2) Bible Study (David's Mighty Men) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

Second Samuel, Chapter 23. I have a feeling some are not

2 Samuel 23 · chapter mention

here tonight because they come from a long way and they're

planning to be there tomorrow. But Bible study must go on.

Amen. And we've been getting, let me

just say this, we've been getting so many encouraging

emails of people finding out about this ministry by doing one

simple thing. They go on YouTube, they search

up a chapter and first or Second Samuel, and we show up and and

we get encouraging messages from people across the world.

And so we are blessed to be here together in person, and we are

blessed by those who watch every single week, tuning in live and

watching later. We hope you're blessed tonight

as we come to verse eight of this chapter, verse eight in

this chapter. And today you and I are coming

to a very invigorating portion of this chapter because a brief

glance at it will show that in the last 32 verses of this

chapter, God, the Holy Spirit consecrated it to give us a

catalog of God's mighty men assigned to David David's mighty

men. And as we look at these texts,

we might think and be tempted that there's not much value in

these verses with names that we've never heard before and and

the exploits of some of these men.

I mean, what does that have to do with you and I?

But anytime you come to, and I hope you know this by now,

anytime you come to any portion of Scripture and that thought

arises, shoot it down. Disregarded completely, no

matter how obscure or difficult a verse or verses may be.

God has given us this for our instruction.

And the Holy Spirit had in mind the sanctification of the Saints

when He gave us this historical report thousands of years ago.

And I believe the best way to approach the theme of the

exhortations and the encouragements found in the set

of verses is to see how this present text connects with the

preceding one. What did we study last time we

were together? Well, look at back the first

verse of of chapter 23. Now these are the last words of

David and the 1st 7 verses are technically a Psalm, the last

Psalm of David. And so right from the beginning

we understand what we are entering into.

The Holy Spirit at the end of this book is wanting us to

contemplate the last things pertaining to David's life and

David's reign. The last things, some debate.

If this is the last words of David, we know it's not the last

words, but it's the last Psalm song Public addressed that David

gave through a hymn. And is it coincidental that with

the last words of David, the meditation of the final

concluding moments of his Kingdom, we are introduced to a

review of the services of his servants?

It's not an accident. It's actually a nudge.

It's actually kind of a foreshadowing.

It's a reminder, you and I, if you want an overarching theme

for what this chapter is about, at least in this part, is that

in the same way that the end of this church age, the end of

Christ, work through his people on the earth, we too can expect

an evaluation and commendation from our king.

Every battle that you have fought, every trial that you

have endured will one day be surfaced before the throne of

Christ and will be highlighted by the King himself.

It will be tested with fire. And so there is a day coming for

every single blood bot Christian who wears the uniform of grace

and the righteousness of Christ to stand before their commander.

And this commander will look at your gifts, your context, your

opportunities, and through your faithfulness or lack of

faithfulness, it will determine the reward that we will enjoy

and the life to come. And so this, this portion, this,

these passages are perfectly aligned with the idea of our

meditation on David as king and the last things pertaining to

him. Because at the end of it all,

when all is said and done, there will be your name called, my

name called, and Christ will review what we've done on this

earth for His name and for us. That's exciting, I hope.

For others, that's terrifying. But I hope that what you will

hear today will inspire you to fight.

The good fight will inspire you to remain faithful until the

end, will inspire you to remember that this brief

existence of yours, it all of us is leading to one thing.

All roads lead to the judgment seat of Christ.

The judgment seat of Christ is not the judgment for

unbelievers. That's the great White throne

judgment. I hope you don't show up to that

one. The judgment seat of Christ is

for Christians, and we'll not determine whether we have

eternal life that's been determined at the cross.

It will determine our reward that we will enjoy when Christ

rules and reigns on the earth. How do we divide this?

I I won't read through the rest of the chapter, especially with

these tongue twisting names. Okay, I know you might enjoy

that, but I will not be able to do that today.

But I believe the best way to approach it is to look at it the

way the author divides it. It seems as though with this

list of 30 something men you have a division of ranks.

You have a first rank, you have a second rank and you have a

third rank. You have these different

classes. The first rank makes up of three

men. The three they're called.

The second class can arguably be about two men who were chief

among the 30 but were closely associated with the top three.

And the last class of men deal with a series of names.

And we don't necessarily have their a personal conquest

ascribed to each, but they still make up of the the 30 men of the

final class. Mighty men still, but of a

different caliber. And so that's what we're going

to do. Let's look at each of these

ranks. And here's the goal that you and

I want to accomplish. What is it about these men that

qualify them to be mighty? What is it about these men that

gave them the honor to be crowned with such monumental

praise and acknowledgement? Because the physical realities

of these soldiers and this army parallels with the reality that

you and I endure in this life as soldiers of Christ.

So that's what we're going to draw from these actual soldiers

in the flesh. What do they have to teach us

about us being good soldiers in the Spirit?

And so we read in verse 8. These are the names of the

mighty of the mighty man whom David had.

Joseph Bass. Hebeth he Takimonite, he was

chief of the three. He wielded his spear against

800, whom he killed at one time, and next to him among the three

mighty man, was Eliezer, the son of Dodo, son of Aho.

High he was with David when they defied the Philistines, who were

gathered there for battle, and the men of Israel withdrew.

He rose and struck down the Philistines until his hand was

weary, and his hand clung to the sword.

And the Lord brought about a great victory that day, and the

men returned after him, only to strip the slain.

And next to him was Shama the son of Ahi, the Hara, right?

The Philistines gathered together at Lehigh or some

translation, say as a troop where there was a plot of ground

full of lentils and the men fled from the Philistines.

But he took his stand in the midst of the plot and defended

it and struck down the Philistines, and the Lord worked

a great victory. I'm curious to know, based on

that simple reading, what stands out to you from these three

chief men, the top three. Any ideas?

And I'll do my best to repeat so help me a little bit by not

making your answer too long, because people tend to say, hey,

we didn't hear the answers of the people at the study.

Can you can you be more clear? So if you want to give a concise

answer that helps me repeat it, yes.

What stands out? Oh, very, very, very good.

They stood alone in their battles.

Yes. Anything else?

The Lord worked through these men?

Absolutely. He brought about a great victory

through the faithfulness of these men.

Yes. Anything else?

Go ahead. So there was many of their

adversaries, yet they still stood and they saw God come

through. Despite the challenging

opposition, their faith remained.

Yes. Anything else of these three?

Mighty. The first three?

Yes. Very similar to David?

Absolutely. In what sense?

Yes. Amen.

Isn't that a wonderful report concerning the followers of

David? They imitated their king, and we

learned that last time we were together, that David's

faithfulness rubbed off on others.

It was contagious, and he inspired others to walk in the

same level of courage that he did.

That's what your faithfulness can do when you're willing to do

something like David and stand alone for God?

Absolutely. Well, why don't we explore this

in greater detail? Shall we not?

Let's look at our first man, mighty man.

We are told here about this man that he is the chief of the

three, the chief of the three. So he's not just among the first

three, he is the chief of the three.

It is believed that he must have been an advisor for the military

as a whole. He was an expert.

He was extremely wise and discerning.

He was somebody that can be counted on, not just with his

mind, but with his skill. And one of the things that are

highlighted concerning his ability is the fact that at one

time, in one specific event, he wielded his spear against not

eight. One against eight is super

impressive. One against 800.

Unusual. Supernatural, to say the least.

And so you look at this man and you see something that is pretty

difficult to match. Pretty difficult to replicate.

Something that is unique even among the mighty and the

faithful. And I think what we can take

from this is to understand. And even in the Kingdom of God

today, there are certain servants of God who have been

gifted by God to to do certain things that are very difficult

to repeat, very difficult to follow in.

I mean, you look at this man and you realize that he does the

work of 1000 men. And when you look at the Kingdom

of God throughout history, the church throughout the ages, you

know this very well. That God and every generation

chooses and raises up certain men to touch many people at the

same time to do work that some, if they live 10 lives, will not

even do a fraction in comparison.

And that is not to say that these men and these women

throughout history were more loved by God.

It is all to say that God and his sovereignty and desiring to

expand his glory, will expand the ability and the gifting of 1

particular person to do a great and mighty work on the earth.

That's what you see here with this first fella.

He he is a mighty man, but he is an exceptional mighty man.

He is a different kind of mighty man, one in the generation kind

of guy. And we know those people.

And some of you can even name those people.

And when you when you understand that, you have to not be

discouraged, but understand that the Lord knows what He's doing

in ascribing to you the gifts that you have and ascribing to

others the gifts that they have. And I've personally learned this

even in this past week. I was meditating on that truth

this morning. And this past week was an

unusual week for me in terms of my schedule of preaching.

There was almost something happening every day where there

was online or in person, and and yesterday I was just laying a

bad thing to myself because my throat is sore even now.

So be gracious to me if I'm not as loud as I usually him.

I thought to myself, how, how did these men of old do it?

If you know a little about church history, if you've read

into George Whitfield and Wesley, you see that these men

preached twice a day, every day for months without stop and no

microphone, no amplification, and they had thousands of people

before them. Here I am and I did A2 extra

meetings and my throat is, is is acting all soft.

And I'm thinking to myself how And I wasn't discouraged.

I just thought to myself, well, just like this man here, God has

enabled certain people to do things that I might not be able

to do, that you might not be able to do, and that shouldn't

squash you. That should just cause you to

rejoice that God in his wisdom knows what to give to whom.

And in the end, God's getting the glory anyway.

That's the whole point. It's not to be in competition

with other preachers or missionaries.

It's to see what the Lord has done, to see what the Lord can

do, and to rejoice in that. We rejoice in this testimony.

And there is a verse that Paul gives that confirms this, this

idea that I'm conveying to you. I want you to see it.

In 2nd Corinthians 10. He speaks to the Corinthians and

he is challenging how they are being influenced by these false

apostles, these false teachers that are boasting themselves and

then boasting themselves, trying to disqualify Paul and notice

what he says. Notice what he says here in

verse 13, he says in 2nd Corinthians 1013.

But we will not boast beyond limits.

But we will boast only with regard to the area of influence

God assigned to us. To reach even to you, what a

humble man Paul understood and Paul's theology, practical

theology. He understood that God

sovereignly determines how each of his servants will serve him

and to what capacity. There are some who have been

gifted by God in a way in which they will have a larger platform

and a wider reach. And there are others who may

have a more limited reach. And that is not to say one is

more special or favored by God. That is merely to say that God

knows exactly what portion of his vineyard you should occupy.

And Paul here is expressing contentment in the extent of his

influence. He's not complaining.

Oh, you have every right to say, Lord, use me to touch as many

people as possible. But as you serve him, trust in

the breath that he is granting to you.

Your job is to determine the excellence of your ministry.

Your job is to determine the character that you should have

as a minister. Your job is to do whatever God's

put before you with great zeal, passion and practice.

God's job is to broaden the influence.

If He wants to, that's not your job.

That's not your job. And that's why you can strive as

much as you want to make it happen.

It will not happen unless he makes it happen.

That shouldn't frustrate you, That should put you to rest,

because God even knows how much you can handle.

As much as your dreams are big, He knows exactly how you've been

wired. And there are things that you

will touch that even these mighty men, like this man here

in verse eight will never touch. Yes, he was able to touch 800

lives in in this negative sense and killing them, but the rest

of the mighty men were able to do things that he could not do.

And so it's not a matter of you being lesser.

It's a matter of you occupying something that those people who

might have touched millions of lives will not even touch.

And so it's all about how God places you and where He places

you and you, fitting and fulfilling a piece of the puzzle

that even mighty men here like this will not touch.

So that's what we see here. There are certain mighty men who

operate with a level of gifting and influence that that is not

repeated, and that shouldn't frustrate you.

But look here at verse 9. At the 2nd next among the chief

3 is a man named Eliezer, the son of Dodo.

What's his story all about? Well, it's here in verse nine.

He was with David when they defied the Philistines, who were

gathered there for battle, and the men of Israel withdrew no

explanation to why. But here's a specific battle,

and you have the men of Israel there.

And for whatever reason, they were intimidated.

Fearful, they turned their backs and their run.

Then they run. And who's there on the scene?

Two of them, King David and Eliezer, the son of Dodo at

Liaiso. The son of Dodo is the one who

planted his heels in the dirt and said, I'm not going nowhere,

We're going to do this together, right?

King David and everybody else runs.

We don't give, we don't get to understand.

That's not the main point of the the passage.

It's it's to see this man stand out, stand and guard his post,

regardless of the fear and regardless of the lack of

support from those on his own team.

It's easier to serve in your ministry when those that you

like and enjoy are serving in that ministry.

It's easier to pray when other people are also praying.

It's easier to maintain a zeal when you're constantly feeling

the warmth of other burning hearts.

But what we see here about what makes up a mighty man is that

the king will commend faithfulness when it sparkles.

And the backdrop of Christian compromise, what moves the heart

of God is not just faithfulness, but faithfulness that shines on

the backdrop of Christian compromise.

This is what we see. We see these men who withdrew

and this man stands out. And where faith really matters,

I mean it matters at all times. Where we're really stands out is

when other people are not serving him, are not worshipping

him, are not devoted to him. One writer put it this way.

God esteems fidelity and holy zeal far more highly in a season

of declension and apostasy than he does in a time of revival.

I couldn't say it any better. Absolutely right.

There's something that particularly touches the heart

of God when he sees one man, a few men, a few woman, who even

in the coldness of the spiritual atmosphere of their day still

are willing to stand by. The king and our brother

mentioned and already that one of the things that stand out

about these mighty men, the chief 3, if there's one thing

that they shared despite the differences in their

testimonies, is that they stood alone.

They stood alone. And there are today who are

expressing woes, right disappointment about what's

happening today. And christen them seems like

most of Chris of them is asleep in a time of of great need.

And that's not a this is not a time to be discouraged.

You also at the same time though you can be overcome by despair.

Realize the opportunity at hand in 2023.

What's that opportunity that you have a chance to give God

praiseworthy devotion when it really matters, When it really

matters. That's how I want to see it.

OK, let other people compromise on the pulpit.

OK, let other people not want to be in the church.

OK, let other people not want to serve with a greater zeal.

Though the darkness is increasing.

Let them. That's not my job, to make sure

that everybody is doing what they're supposed that's between

them and God. I can exhort and encourage, but

if I, if I and you have to stand and serve the Lord, then so be

it. Whether the presence of God's

people are there or not, whether the majority are in for it or

not that that's not, that's not what determines anything.

God would look at your faithfulness and he'll look at

the lack of faithfulness around you and he will, He will deal

with them and He would deal with you.

And you think that this is different today.

You think what, what's happening here with this one man, the

commendation that's ascribed to him is different in the church

age. No, Look at Revelation chapter 3

Revelation 3 · chapter mention

in one church. Look how God evaluates churches.

Man, it's absolutely frightening to me because his, his

measurement, his evaluation sheet is much different than

man's. But he comes to this church in

Revelation 3. This church called Sardis.

Well, at least it was in Sardis. And this church had a reputation

of being alive, but it was actually dead.

And they're relying on their reputation and and the Lord in a

loving way scolds them. But he says something so

powerful that encourages me at least in chapter 3, verse three,

is it there on the screen. Here's what he says.

Remember then what you received and heard.

Keep it and repent. If you will not wake up.

I will come like a thief and you will know.

You will not know at what hour I will come against you.

Look at verse 4. Yet you have still a few names

in Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments, and they

will walk with me in white, for they are worthy.

I love how the King James and the new King James puts it, it

says in that translation of this verse.

Yet you have still a few names, even in Sardis.

It's a even in a spiritually dead, a lifeless place like

Sardis. Yes, even in such a hopeless

environment, you have some who have not soiled their garments.

And the part that touches me is this.

And I know their names. He knows their names.

And you know what the reward will be for those who choose to

stand, Though there's soil garments all around them.

They'll walk with me. They'll walk with me.

I'm going to invite them into close fellowship with me.

Because you stood for me, and you served me in your church, in

your family, in your generation, when others chose to just be

content in their spiritual death, reminiscing on things of

the past and not keeping up with their faith and their devotion

to me. That touches my heart and I and

I see this, and I see the parallel for our own lives.

And you see still a glorious description added to Eliezer.

Did you see it in verse 10? It says here that he rose and

struck down the Philistines until his hand was weary and his

hand clung to the sword. This guy had a grip on his sword

and you couldn't. You couldn't do anything to

separate those fingers from that grip.

So already he had to deal with the challenge of the lack of

support and fidelity of those around him.

All his boys turned back and ran the other direction.

Now he has another challenge. Perform, and that's his own

flesh. And you too have the same

challenge. You have the challenge of

dealing with the lack of examples, the temptation of

those around you, And then you got to deal with the weariness

of your own flesh and mind and soul.

And yet, despite the weariness, despite his own body trying to

convince him to give up, it says here that he was not weakened.

He stayed the course. He did not let go of the sword

until the task was complete. He did not remove his hands from

the plow until the master said you're done.

Mighty men and mighty woman of God endure until the end.

They finish what they started. You have to fight them to keep

them from not doing what they want to do for the Lord.

It's the opposite for people in today's generation.

You have to fight them and get them all riled up to get to

serve the Lord and to hopefully stay on that course for some

kind of length of time. And that's the opposite.

With this fella, you couldn't do anything to remove that sword

from his hand. He was going to do it until it

was done. And this is something to to

consider for your own devotion in mind.

To not give up so easily defines a mighty man of God.

Despite the lack of encouraging environment, he is not deterred

in his commitment. And that liaiser's story here it

concludes with a convicting summary.

What's that convicting summary? Look here at the last part of

verse 10. And the Lord brought about a

great victory that day, and the men returned after him only to

strip the slain. So when it came to the fight,

nobody was there. When it came to the reward,

everybody shows up. Unique story.

No human nature. Human nature.

I looked at this and I thought to myself, how sad is it that

the presence of many Saints is only made known when they

recognize an immediate benefit to their enlistment in God's

army. How true is it?

For many who have enlisted in God's army will pause and

retreat when there's an actual cost to their enlistment in

Guard's army. But when it's prosperous and

when it's easy, when it's successful, and when there's

growth, and when there's fame, we want to be associated with

it, We want to partner with it. We want to be a part of it.

But when it comes to standing in the midst of the threats of the

world and consistently fighting against the flesh, those numbers

dwindle. And that kind of caliber of

Christianity faints. And so you see some who've only

come to strip the slain. And it's true that even today,

it's usually the faithfulness of 1 or a few.

The other people enjoy the benefits of, you know, the

statistics they say, of local churches, of who in those local

churches serve actually serve consistently, is embarrassingly

low. I think they.

I don't want to give a wrong statistic, but it's below 10%,

below 10% of most congregations. Do you have people who serve

consistently in that church and the rest just attend once a

week? If they can't even do that, that

that is the difference between mighty men and women and the

feeble in the faith. Here's a person who he's been,

he's been assigned a sword. He's like, I'm not letting go of

this until the job is done and we come to the third and final

of the Chief, 3, verse 11. And next to him was Shama, the

son of Aggie, the Heroright. The Philistines gathered

together at Lehigh, where there was a plot of ground full of

lentils and the Med fled from the Philistines.

We've seen this before. Here's another man, mighty man.

And what do we see about him? He stands when everybody else

flees, but there's a description about his whereabouts, about his

actual engagement, that is striking.

It may seem strange, but when you meditate on it, it's

actually striking. The description of the plot of

land that he was on is this, that it was a land of lentils.

It was a field. It was a field that farmers

occupied. Now that's important because you

have the Philistines who show up on the horizon and clearly they

want to occupy this countryside, but it's not the citadel found

in Jerusalem. It's not a strategic city that

would determine the nation's security.

It's it's a land of lentils. That's not very important, at

least in my mind. If anything, it's on the

peripheral, probably. It's not striking at the nerve

of the nation. And so to me, it seems as though

the people calculated very quickly here are the

Philistines. They want this land.

They want to park here. It's not worth risking my life

for. And so we're out of here.

And they dropped their instruments and they went into a

different direction. But there's a crazy guy in the

field that day. There's an insane man, if I can

use that word. And this man Shamat looks around

and he says, no, I'm going to stand right here, bring it on.

Why was he a man that found adrenaline in these kind of

things? Was he a man who was just

reckless and his behavior? No, he was a man with

revelation. Yeah.

To the to the crowd. This was a plot of lentils.

You know how I believe this man saw this land?

Leviticus 2325. You look at this passage and you

understand the significance of every part of the promised land.

Here's what the Lord says to his people.

Leviticus 2325. It writes the land shall not be

sold in perpetuity, for the land is whose.

The land in Leviticus 2325 is mine.

That's what the Lord says. The land is mine.

I'm giving you what belongs to me.

Though you're living on this land, though you'll benefit from

this land. I own it.

It's mine. And I believe.

Shamar looked at. He looked at this field, and he

understood that it was the Lord's inheritance.

He saw this, and he realized that he was a steward of this

land, that he was responsible in defending what God provided.

And when you understand that, you realize many wonderful and

glorious lessons. Here's the first glorious lesson

that you see from Shema, and it's something that you and I

have to understand about our own walk with the Lord.

This person here sees, although he's not like the first

individual who is able to have vast influence over hundreds of

people. He was an individual who saw the

value of the piece of real estate that he was in, that he

was on, and he was willing to give his life to it, though

other people did not see the value in it.

And you can say the same thing for people in various ministries

today. I think of those who look and

serve in certain capacities, where the majority of people

don't see the glamour in it, don't see the importance of it,

don't see the relevance of it. And yet for them, they say this

is part of the Lord's inheritance.

And this is where God has me in this Providence, and this is

where in his Providence I will remain.

And so you think about those who do what you think about those

who serve little children, little children, right.

And most people see the little children's ministry as a

babysitting ministry, just to give parents a chance to be

upstairs to hear the message. But no, I believe the teachers

of this church and many other churches say this is the Lord's

inheritance and this is discipleship and this is

investing in the next generation.

This is not just a plot of lentils.

This is what God has given us and we are responsible for it.

I think about others also who might be part of a local church

that not might not mean significant.

That might might be like a major voice in the nation or the state

or the city, but they see what God is doing in that place.

And they say this is where God has me.

I will plant my feet here and I will honor God in it.

And there are others who realize the value of prayer, and they

have the time on Wednesday. So they come to pray because to

others prayers like a plot of land of lentils.

But for those who believe in what God said about prayer, they

say no. This is part of God's plan in

advancing his work. And so we will plant ourselves

in prayer and we will pray. You see, it's all about

perspective. It's all about revelation.

And this man had it. This man had it where many men

lacked it. And I think of others also who

give their time and specific ministries.

You see that this person here is, is is giving us an example

of somebody who is in one lane and they stay in that lane.

And I couldn't help but think of a variety of different

ministries that have unique deliveries.

And they they specify in certain doctrines and certain

demographics, and that's all that they do.

They they just, they occupy this, this is what they do.

And they are still regarded as mighty men.

I think about those who deal with Muslim ministries, who

speak to them and try to prove the truth through the

scriptures. I think of others who teach

homeschooling parents how to do it well, through their own

history and through their own experience.

I think of others to evangelize, and that's all that they do.

They're not expert theologians, but they just preach the simple

gospel. I think of intercessors, they're

calling is just to pray and seek the Lord.

And again, though, they're not like the first individual who

was able to do many things, who is promoted because they had

manifold abilities, but they just had one assignment and they

did that assignment well. And if that is somebody,

something that describes you, realize that God can still in

that consider you to be a mighty man, a mighty woman of God.

Oh, there's so many ways of applying Shema's example.

Another way of applying it is looking at how he took this one

land and saw the absolute glory in it and did not disregard it.

Though at on the natural it seemed to be insignificant.

It is no different with God's revelation.

How much more should we be defending, cherishing, adoring,

loving and applying all of God's word?

Not just some. Not just the pillars of our

faith, not just the major things, but all things, the

whole council of God. And you have many people who

believe otherwise. You have many people who are

campaigning for unity. And here's their mantra.

Let's just gather around the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Everything else is irrelevant. Well, that's not true.

That's not true. Allow me to show you one of the

most convicting sayings of Jesus pertaining to how you and I

serve him in relation to his word.

It's on the Sermon of the Mount. I don't know if you've ever

noticed this. It's in Matthew 519.

I want you to see what Jesus says when he gives his

instructions. Before he does, He makes this

statement. And this statement is very

humbling as it deals with as it deals with how we relate to the

word of God in Matthew 5/19, he says here in Matthew 519,

Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments

and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the

Kingdom of heaven. But whoever does them and

teaches them will be called great in the Kingdom of heaven.

Have you ever meditated on that? So whoever comes to the word of

God and looks at things that may not seem instrumental or

important in our application of the Christian walk or church

governance or anything, whoever relaxes them and teaches others

to do the same. When it comes to his final

estimation and evaluation, he will consider such people to be

the least. But those who look at the whole

council of God and absorb all that God has to say and it

properly applies and dissects and determines how we move about

these things will be called great in the Kingdom of heaven.

And Shama is a is a illustration of that a plot of land of

lentils he was willing to fight for.

And today we're getting in a lot of trouble because you have

people not fighting for doctrines because in their mind

it's secondary or it's it's it's in the 3rd place and and we have

little cracks in the foundation. That's where compromise is.

Compromise is able to seep in. And so yes, Jesus did say

Matthew 2323 that there are weightier matters of the law.

But at the same time, he says that does not mean you should

neglect those that are under those weightier matters.

So there is nowhere in the scripture where we are

encouraged to annul or delete or ignore any part of God's Word.

And unfortunately, Shama's testimony.

Yet some would say this, this is not that important, We're going

to walk away from it. And he says, no, no, no, no, no.

I will stand for it. If you want to be mighty man, if

you want to be a mighty woman of God, you will take all of God's

word, and you will seek to understand all that he has to

say and apply it as as much as it depends on you.

Again, what are we talking about here?

We're we're talking about the difference between the mighty

and the feeble, the strong and the weak, the commended, and

those who will be corrected by Christ.

We deal with this later, but we come now to the interesting

portion found in this verse 13. This is a heartwarming

testimony. When you're then verse 13, you

read of something that most of us are familiar with, the story

of three mighty men who who fetch for a glass of water for

their king. Now people debate are these the

same three mighty men that we just mentioned or three

different ones? That's not even the main point.

The main point is what they did. So whether you believe it's the

three that we just heard of or three new ones, look at the

point and the three. Verse 13 of the 30 chief men

went down and came about harvest time to David at The Cave of

Adelam, when a band of Philistines were encamped in the

valley of Rafaem. David was then in the

stronghold, and the Garrison of the Philistines was then at

Bethlehem. And David said, Longley, oh,

that someone would give me water to drink from the well of

Bethlehem, that is, by the gate. Then the three mighty men broke

through the camp of the Philistines and drew water out

of the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate, and carried and

brought it to David. But he would not drink of it.

He poured it out to the Lord and said, Far be it from me, oh

Lord, that I should do this. Shall I drink the blood of the

men who went at the risk of their lives.

Therefore he would not drink it. These things the three mighty

men did so much to glean from this text.

Here's the scene. David is in The Cave of Adelam.

Most people believe it's the same time that he was in The

Cave in First Samuel 22, when he was just the fugitive.

Some debate and say no. I was at a later time when he

found himself in the same cave at a different war.

If it was when he was just in exile, if it was when he was

kicked out and became Public Enemy number one, then this says

something about these mighty men.

Here are these men willing to serve David with great sacrifice

when there was no promise necessarily of his exaltation to

the throne. There is no immediate reward or

blessing for their service where there was no evidence of of

anything going their way, and yet still they found it within

themselves, a passionate desire to serve him at any length.

And David here is not making a command.

David here is not issuing some kind of instruction, abusing his

power. He's just pacing back and forth

in The Cave and he's feeling a little nostalgic.

Here he is enduring a difficult season and he's thinking back to

the days of innocence. He's thinking back to the days

of safety, where he was able to freely go perhaps with one of

his brothers or friends and draw from that well in Bethlehem on a

hot summer day and drink this crisp water to quench his

thirst. That's the memory that he is.

He is rehearsing and and so profoundly impactful that he's

actually saying out loud. He's just thinking out loud.

And you have three of these guys that are squatting in that cave

and they look at each other and say, did you hear what David

said? You hear what the king is

talking about? You know what this means, right?

Yeah. But the Phyllis things are that

that doesn't matter. He wants it.

They get up and they go, and the lesson is this about being a

mighty man or a mighty woman of God.

What were they ultimately motivated by?

If you consider who David was in his status at this point as a

king, he had nothing to give them.

It was not popular to follow him.

In fact, to be associated with him meant death.

If Saul found out so the desire in serving him was not

stimulated by anything that they would be rewarded with.

All that they needed was a revelation of what pleased their

king, and they went. The difference between a mighty

man and a feeble man, The difference between a mighty

woman and a weak woman, is this. Your obedience is not determined

even by what you would be blessed with, but what blesses

God. That's it.

If this blesses God, that's all the motivation I need to serve

God. If it will put a smile on his

face, whatever frowns, I will inherit as a result.

I will still do it regardless. So what happens with a mighty

man or a mighty woman? It's this.

God's pleasure is your treasure. That's what it is.

That's all you need, nothing else.

And these men show that they move along, They go ahead, they

break through because one thing they knew, one thing they

learned. This is what David delights in.

And if he delights in it, then we will give ourselves to it.

Come on, be honest now, be honest.

On this Friday night, how much of that drives our devotion?

What the simple delight of God. If God wants it, that's all I

need for me to do it. Do you see?

Do you see now the division? Do you see the line being drawn?

What? What would it look?

God said it. We'll be there.

God wants us to do it. Count us in.

This is what the Lord asks of us.

Then so be it. That's it.

That's what makes a mighty man a mighty man.

No arm twisting, no games, no mechanics and no bribing.

God said it. And more than that, you see

something else when David receives this water.

I mean, come on. After all of that, what do you

expect the king to do? What do you want to see the king

to do? Drink it.

We risked our lives for you to have this glass of water for a

few seconds of refreshment. We put our next on the line.

So if I'm one of those three, you know what I'm expecting?

I'm expecting David to say you are mighty, You are something

else. You, you will be positioned in

my mind and for the rest of history unlike any other.

He grabs that water, chugs it. You know what he does?

Takes that water. He looks into that glass, and he

sees blood, and so he pours it onto the ground.

And it's an honorable thing, right?

It's an honorable thing. But if I'm one of those three,

I'm thinking you probably should have just drank it, right?

No complaint, no protest, no sigh.

That's challenging and serving God.

When you when you serve him and you give to him what he desires

and what he does with that is not necessarily what you thought

he would do. What are you going to do?

I thought that if I would pray for this long and come every

Wednesday and pay gas in the time of inflation, I thought

that this would happen. I thought that if I would preach

faithfully that people would invite me and I will be ranked

amongst this and ranked amongst that.

And I I thought that my obedience would lead to this.

There there's nothing of the sort because a mighty man

doesn't care, because it's not about the reward.

It's simply because of the delight that the master enjoys.

And seeing your faithfulness and your sacrifice.

That sounds good in theory, but it's not a theory for the mighty

man. It's reality.

It's what makes their heartbeat. If this is what pleases him,

that's all I need. That's all I need to know.

May God bring us there. May God bring us there for his

glory. Side note, David, although he's

a picture of Christ, provides an example for us in what he did

with that water. You've heard this truth before.

Let me repeat it again. He gives us a lesson concerning

a principle in the area of pleasure, in the area of self

gratification, in the area of pursuing your desires.

Here's the lesson that he provides.

When David realized that there are people who put their lives

on the line for him to enjoy this water, he considered it an

illegitimate thing to engage in. Because anything that you and I

desire or want, if it will cost somebody else in any way, if it

puts them in danger in any way, is not legitimate.

The language that Paul would use is you're not walking in love.

If you want something, no matter how strong it is, no matter how

neutral it is, if you want something so badly at the

expense of your conscience, the conscience of your brother being

violated, then it becomes illegitimate, It becomes

illegal. You should disqualify it and

cancel it as something you should pursue in that moment for

the sake of your brother's wellbeing.

And so we're not just talking about physical danger here,

we're talking about spiritual danger.

And so qualify your your pleasure singing your pursuits

in this. There's there's many more other

conditions, but here's an important one.

Light this context. If what I want put somebody else

at risk. If what I want put somebody else

in danger. If what I want harms or hurts

somebody else. I don't care how strongly you

feel about that thing. You do not pursue it.

You do not indulge in it. You do not drink from it.

You pour it out. And one preacher made an amazing

observation. If don't if David had only made

the same decision when it came to Bathsheba.

If David only realized what I realized in this cave.

How can I enjoy this knowing that your lives were at risk and

and me enjoying this. If he only had that same idea

run through his mind when he looked at somebody else's wife

and said, how can I do this to my brother?

How can I do this to one of my mighty men?

And so it's very likely that David had these convictions

strong in the early part of his his life.

And it's so true that things that we enjoyed and and believed

and held on too early on can dissipate over time if we're not

careful to steward it. Let's go to the second rank.

We're done with these mighty men that the first three.

Let's go to the second set here, look at verse 18.

Now Abhishei, the brother of Joe Abh, the son of Zuraiya, was

chief of the 30 and he wielded his spear against 300 men and

killed them and want a name beside the three.

He was the most renowned of the 30 and he became their

commander, but he did not attain to the three.

Abushai. I'm not getting into the details

of what he did, but what stands out to you in this one verse.

I'm curious to know if anybody caught on to something.

If you've read this chapter before, you would know it.

If you haven't, you might not know it until you read the the

rest of it. But I'm wondering if anybody

notices something about Abishai's description here.

Abishai who? The Who?

The brother of Joe AB. I looked at this verse and I

thought to myself, the brother of Joe AB.

We're going to learn about Asaha.

Well, you'll read it. We won't read it tonight.

He's the brother of Job. We look down, we see even that

another man here in verse 37, Z, like the Ammonite Naharay of B

Roth, the armor bearer of Joe Up.

So three times Joe Up is referenced, but not directly.

He's only referenced in relation to other people who are either

related to him or who served him.

You read this entire list and you'll notice someone is

missing. Who's missing Joe Up.

How? How in the world is a man like

Joe AB after all that he's done? After his fierce loyalty, after

the very position that he operated in?

How is a man like Joe AB not included among the 30 mighty

men? Job is not mentioned.

He's not mentioned at all except in connection to the other

people, and I'll tell you why Job is not mentioned.

And it deals with the principle of being a mighty man, a mighty

woman of God, who will be commended at the end of it all.

Because of Joe Abs unrepented sin.

No matter what he did, no matter what title he possessed,

ultimately saw all his works turn into ash.

Because of Joe Abs unrepented sin, he sinned.

And it's not about us sinning that that necessarily

disqualifies. This is what happens when we do

sin. This man, listen, was playing

according to his own rules. And when you play discipleship

according to your own rules, you may not be immediately flagged,

you may not have the red card put into your face.

But many people will have a shocking surprise at the end

when they try to justify certain things and how they live for the

Lord only if you met with no commendation at all, no crown at

all, no trophy, no promotion. When I learned that, that really

helped me understand how there are certain people in ministry

today who who, like Job, are holding on to two things at the

same time and yet seem to seem to be seeing results.

Seeing fruit, holding on to their ministry, holding on to

their position with no discipline, no consequence from

heaven. And then one day this verse came

to my attention and it made sense of it all.

You want to see it? It's in Second Timothy 2.

When you go to Second Timothy 2, you get a list of different

metaphors of what the Christian life is like.

One is like a soldier, the other like an athlete who remembers

the third one, a farmer. And look at verse five of Second

Timothy Timothy, chapter 2. What do you see there?

An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the

rules. So you can run this race and

reach the finish line only to be met with no crown.

Why? Because at some point or

throughout that race, you were not running according to the

rules Job ran. He was a soldier, he was a

general, but when it came to the end, he was not crowned.

And there will be some people within Chris and them who will

have that same reality check. And so play according to the

rules. Don't look at sin and say, well,

this is permissible. God needs me so I can have a

little relief in my life. That's how you have some people

thinking this is God's word, but I'm going to help him because

the culture has changed. So let me say what I think it

says to to when that you're playing according to your own

rules, When you play according to your own rules, you are

throwing away your reward. And Joe Up did that.

Joe Up did that instead, like those three mighty men that we

just learned, we're there in Second Timothy go to Philippians

220 Look at Philippians 220 when I told you about how a mighty

man is driven not by his own delights, not by his own

desires, but what is determined by the pleasures of God.

And here's what Paul says about one of his servants, ultimately

a servant of God and Philippians 220 This is an encouraging

scripture to me. He talks about the many servants

of God that he knows, the many ministers that he knows.

And he says, for I have no one like him concerning Timothy.

I have no one like him who will be genuinely concerned for your

welfare. And look at this, They all seek

their own interest, not those of Jesus Christ.

What made Timothy stand out? His life was orbiting around one

thing. What interests the Savior?

Not even my own interest. That's what distinguished them

from other ministers. And the reason why he had a

genuine concern for the Philippians is because he had a

he had a connection with the heart of his master.

And so if you can just know what the will of God is, know what

his heart is, knows what his desires is, you're on the path

of being crowned by him. But if you, like Job, want to

play by your own rules, which many people are excuses,

justifying certain things, though God's word is clear on

it, all right, you might enjoy your ministry.

You you might still be invited, you still might be tolerated at

people who want to use your gift.

But when it matters the most, you're in for a shock.

You're in for a shock. And then you have the 2nd man in

the second rank in verse 20. We're wrapping up very quickly

here and Banaya, the son of Jehodia was a valiant man of of

Capzeal, A doer of great deeds. He struck down to aerials of

Moab. Aerials is a difficult Hebrew

word, that's why some translations say lion like lion

like men of Moab. He also went down and struck

down a lion in a pit on a day when snow had fallen and he

struck down an Egyptian, a handsome man.

The Egyptian had a spear in his hand but Benaya went down to him

with his staff and snatched the spear out of the Egyptians hand

and killed them with his own spear.

These things did Benaya the son of Jehodia and want to name

beside the three mighty men. He was renowned among the 30,

but he did not attain to the three and David set him over his

bodyguard. So many things to say about this

one man. You know what stands out to me

though? He figuratively deals with these

lion like men of Moab and he actually literally killed a

lion. Not just killed a lion.

Listen, he kills a lion in a pit on a snowy day.

Disadvantage, disadvantage, disadvantage, right.

I was talking to my brother that day.

He was talking about how he had to pull over somebody.

And he was telling me how he was in the country, Country Rd.

And there's a ditch by the side of the road.

And so he told me he had to be on the side of the highway.

And I said, why this car zooming by?

Why I'm going to go the other side?

Because they train us that if you're on the other side and

something happens, you're at a disadvantage if you're in that

pit. And so you want to be on the

same level ground as that potential threat.

So you have this man where everything is is going against

him. You have him in a pit with a

lion. I mean, if you just have the

lion, that's a bad day on its own.

Never mind the pit, never mind the snowy day.

You have a lion with the pit and a snowy day.

That's a bad day in my books. You know what I love about it?

The out of all that, the snowy day part.

The snowy day part. Like the Holy Spirit wanted to

include that. It was a snowy day.

I think Christians are allergic to snow.

A lot of them are, at least. And rain you have.

You have a man who's willing to kill a lion on a snowy day.

And how many things, How many excuses arise when it's a snowy

day? For us, the spiritual lesson is

that he's serving his king in all seasons.

He's serving his master in all seasons.

When the sun is shining and when the snow is falling, when the

sky is clear, when the sky is Gray.

He's still a man serving his master When it's easy and when

it's very, very difficult, because Christ is worthy of that

perpetual devotion. The King is worthy of that

unending, unceasing, unbroken fellowship.

When it's snowy or when it's sunny.

Whatever you ask of me, my King, that I will do, that I will do.

And I love how the Lord will challenge us in that way.

In some ways, I love how tomorrow our outreach is on a

Saturday. You might not.

I love it. I love how it's on a Saturday

morning. Do you know why?

Because what kind of a statement is that going to make in

downtown Chicago when a group of people who are praying for the

unborn chose to set apart two hours of their Saturday to do

so? I love it.

I I love how love life does it on a Saturday.

It may not be convenient, okay. It's his interest.

It's his desires. In fact, I'm going to, I want to

continue with Benaya. But let me wrap it up with one

verse because I want to talk about how Benaya was promoted.

He was promoted out of this place.

Benaya shows up in First Kings chapter one and First Kings

Chapter one. We see him not just in a

physical sense when it's spiritually freezing.

Also he chose to serve his master.

Actually, let me show it to you. Why not?

And 1st Kings chapter one. Notice something with me on a

physically snowy day he's serving his king.

And what happens when there is this chill in the air

spiritually and politically? Add the Niger wants to become

king and look here, verse seven of chapter one of first kings.

He confer withdraw the son of Zaria and with Abbyathur the

priest, and they followed a de Niger and helped him.

But Zara the priest and Benaiah the son of Yohodia and Nathan

the prophet and Shamayan Rahai and David's mighty man were not

with Adenija. This confirms the point right?

I'll kill a lion on a snowy day and when there is another

potential absolute 2.0 David, I'm with you.

I will stand with you. Let Joe AB go.

Let the others go again. It's it's confirming that main

point. Wherever the king is, no matter

who goes and who stays, I'm with the king.

And then you go to chapter 2 and look here at verse 25.

What do you see? So King Solomon sent Banaya the

son of Jehodia, and struck him down.

And he died. Out of all the men, he chose

Banaya. And he says go and get him.

And he does, and he takes care of him.

And then you go to verse 35 in the same chapter, and what do

you read? The king put Banaya the son of

Jehodia over the army in place of Joab, and the king puts out

of the priests in the place of Aviatar.

So in 2nd Samo. 23 David elevated this man to be his

bodyguard. When King Solomon comes into the

place of the throne, he elevates him as the commander of the

army. And you can make a case that

Solomon, especially with the Temple, is a picture of and is a

reminder of as a foreshadowing of the rule and reign of Christ

in its permanence, right? The Tabernacle was mobile.

The Tabernacle was something that moved along.

It was not something concrete. And yet when the temple came, it

stood in one place. It remained.

It wasn't going anywhere. And when Christ returns to

ruling, though he is ruling and raining now, there's something

about his coming that will be obvious, that will be glorious,

that will be beautiful, that will outshine the Tabernacle

era. And the point that I want to

make is this. That is when Benaya was rewarded

as a mighty man, as a mighty woman of God.

You may not know God's blessing in this life, but you will in

the life to come. You will, when Christ returns to

establish his era of the Millennium reign, when He will

reward you and where nothing will take it away from you.

No thief can steal it. No kind of creature can erode

it. Here's the verse I wanted to end

with. Second Corinthians, chapter 5,

2 Corinthians 5:15

verse 15. Here's what Paul says about

Christians. He says.

And he died for all that those who live might no longer live

for themselves, but for him who for their sake died and was

raised, and he died for all. Why?

So that when you die, you can go to heaven.

That's part of it. He didn't say that, though, and

he died for all that. Those who live, you are living.

I hope those who live might no longer live for themselves.

You know how some people interpret the gospel, I'll tell

you how. And they may not confess it.

They prove it. Practically, though, they they

at some point, are confronted with their sin.

They hear the good news of God's grace and mercy.

They receive it. They accept it.

They get emotional about it. They get baptized for it, and

they prove their devotion to the Lord to that extent.

And here's what here's here's how it's lived out, though.

Glad I got that out of the way. I was on my way to hell.

I was on my way to experience God's wrath, but that's dealt

with now. I'm secure forever, and they go

on their merry way of life. That doesn't describe what Paul

is talking about here. He died for all.

So that what? Yeah, you would find eternal

life, but that your life, your your little pretty life would

also be crucified. That your plans, your dreams,

your hopes, your desires would also be nailed on the cross, not

just your sins. And so that in pursuing the

Lord, yes, in his saving work, but also in His Lordship over

your life, you know what happens to if you're truly Christian.

I don't live for myself. I know this is Christian 101.

I know this sounds basic, but be reminded again, it's not about

my life. It's not.

When I'm a Christian, I literally reorient.

I literally wash my blueprint away.

Give God a blank canvas and say you write what you want.

To what extent, to every extent, to what details to the molecule

details of your life? Think about that.

Everything about my life, my marriage, my children, my home,

where I live, where I serve, what I plan, what I do, where I

go. That's all now surrendered to

Christ. I no longer live for myself.

Now I live for the one who died. For me, that's Christianity.

That's not American Christianity, though.

American Christianity is what I just described to you.

Wow. Thank God I found the gospel.

I was going to be an eternal torment.

Not anymore. I'll reach you when I need you.

I'll serve you when you think you need me.

I'll be back. That's how most people live

their Christian life. And Paul says what that's not,

that's not Holy Spirit inspired Christianity.

That's not blood bought Christianity.

That's Walt Disney Christianity. And so let's conclude on this.

You're here on a Friday night to learn more of God's Word, let's

recommit ourselves to saying, Lord, if there's any area that I

have reclaimed when originally I surrendered it, if there's any

area of my devotion that I said about, this is just a plot of

lentils. I don't need to give myself to

it. I don't need to be attentive to

it. I don't need to be devoted to

it. Make me a mighty man of God.

Make me a mighty woman of God. Do something in me so that you

would receive more glory and number me among those that you

will commend in the end. Lord, we ask by your precious

grace that you would bring us there.

We thank you for this study. We thank you that it was perhaps

more exhortation than it was digging up inside and making

references. Although we thank you that on

this Friday we received a stirring that we always need a

reminder of what our lives are. We thank you for the gospel.

We thank you that you are the true and better David.

We thank you, O Lord, that we have eternal life.

Yes, but we have a new way of life today.

And so we pray and we ask that knowing that you've died for all

that those who live might also die to self and live for you.

We pray, O Lord, that you would show us what it is that you want

us to do and how we can do it with excellence.

We pray that you protect us from going outside of our lane or

being frustrated or discouraged with what has been

providentially provided to us. The way you've wired us, the way

you have gifted us. Help us, oh Lord, fight this

battle. Help us finish well.

Help us, oh God, in our weaknesses.

And may you receive all maximum praise and honor that you can

receive from our lives. In Jesus name we pray.

Amen. Let's stand and worship.

We'll sing and pray for for tomorrow morning and make our

way home with our hearts stirred afresh.

I hope Akshay.