Spiritual Maturity is Ongoing

Have another real quick additional prayer. Heavenly Father, we pray for our troops in the conflict that they are involved in that loss of life will be few. We pray for the people of Iran, Persian people all over that the loss of life will be few. That uh that your will will be accomplished in the actions of our country in Jesus name. Amen. All right, you've got your Bible. Let's turn to guess where we're going to turn. Uh not a big secret. 1st Samuel chapter 25. We're going to plow on through. There's some really good stuff here. I hope it's a blessing to you. 1st Samuel chapter 25. We've been with David for 25 chapters. We know that he's been anointed to be king. He's not there yet. And then last week, he had it within his grasp. He had it within his grasp. He he he actually was in the cave with Saul. He could have taken him out, but he didn't. He cut a robe and then he felt guilty. And that's a good thing that his conscience kept him from doing that because it would have stained his kingship. So, let's see what happens after that. Let's see where scripture takes us. 1st Samuel chapter 25. This is how the word of the Lord opens. And Samuel died and all Israel gathered together and lamented him and buried him in the house of Rama. And David rose and went down to the wilderness of Per. Can can can we just stop for just a second? This is Samuel. And this feels like a footnote. A single sentence to mark the end of a very dramatic error in the nation of Israel. This is Samuel. I mean, Samuel was the conscience of the nation. Samuel was the last judge of Israel. Samuel was the one that consecrated Saul, but then stood up to him when he did wrong. And Samuel was the one that faced him down and said, "Saul, the Lord's uh removed the kingdom from you." Samuel is the one that anointed David in Bethlehem. When Jesse forgot to bring him to the lineup, Samuel represented spiritual stability of a country. When Israel sinned, it was Samuel that prayed the prayer that uh that appeased God. When Samuel prayed, heaven moved. And now he's dead. And that voice is gone. And in that death, it kind of seems like a a a visible spiritual protection seems to be removed. And the text doesn't really dwell on the grief at all. But I want you to imagine for a second what that meant for David. Now, Samuel was really the only prophet that David ever knew. Samuel was the one that poured oil over his head in Bethlehem. Samuel, at least to David, was the visible confirmation that God's promise was real. And in many ways, Samuel's living presence was reminder that the throne wasn't a fantasy. I mean, David is still anointed, but his prophet is buried. David is still anointed, and God's promise hasn't changed. But the voice that confirmed that calling is now gone, silent. You know, some of y'all have belonged to a church where the pastor of that church or the former pastor of that church has has really let you down. Imagine that. And I'm kind of thankful that our faith is not built on any human but on the divine human being of Jesus Christ. Because people will let you down and their absence can hurt. Um, man, you don't even have to look too far to think about that. Even uh in the South that we got Jim Baker and Tammy Fay, that was a disaster. Jimmy Swagger. Oops. You know, people rise up in Christianity, they can fall just as quickly. But thankfully, our faith is not built on any one pastor, not based on any one prophet, based on Christ. He never lets you down. And I thank God, especially as we dig through this story. So I want y'all to notice but in this moment in this verse right here have you ever noticed that there are delicate moments in our life in our spiritual life and they occur right after something stabilizing has been removed because Samuel was a stabilizing influence in David's life and maybe for you it's not a Samuel but maybe a mentor has moved away maybe a parent has passed or a spouse maybe a trusted friend relocates or a season of clarity ends. You're still called. You're still a child of God. You still got his gifts, but all of a sudden, as a Christian, your support system has really shifted. And the text doesn't explicitly say that David felt vulnerable, but the narrative arc kind of suggests uh that he's about to be David's about to be tested in a way internally because David had just passed this monumental test in chapter 24 in the cave of Engeti. In his grasp, he had the kingdom, but he refused to seize the throne prematurely. He he cut off a piece of Saul's robe in 24. And even that symbolic act wounded his very sensitive conscience and he declared, "Man, the Lord judged between me and thee. It was it was restraint. We saw last week that it was faith and we saw last week that it was trust." But here's what chapter 25 does for us all. It reminds us that a moment of obedience does not inoculate us against the next temptation. And you can spare a king in one chapter and almost slaughter a rancher in the next one. But um because sanctification is you know we are eternally sanctified by God but there is a a temporal sanctification one that it's the awareness of our sanctification and that's real but it's there's also the lingling lingering volatility of the pride that we have and we're going to see that because here's what I want to get at the spiritual maturity is not proven once and then you're good to go. It's something that we have to work on every single day. Okay, we have to exercise our spiritual maturity time and time and time again, especially when circumstances feel smaller, but the cut is much more personal. We're going to see that. And this next test that we're about to see in chapter 25 is not going to involve a murderous king. That's big time. This is going to involve a foolish landlord. Let's jump on in. Verse two. And there was a man in Mayon whose possessions were in Carmel. And the man was very great. He had 3,000 sheep and a thousand goats. And he was shearing his sheep in Carmel. So he we're introduced to this dude in Mayon whose business interests are headquartered in Carmel. And he's described as very great. The text tells us 3,000 sheeps, a thousand goats, and then the Let me tell you something. Even today, that's pretty massive. But back then, that was staggering wealth because sheep were currency. Goats were assets. Livestock meant trade networks, hired workers, seasonal festivities. It meant regional influence. And this is not a marginal figure. This is a dude that has a is a pillar in the local economy. But immediately scripture reframes him. Let's read it. Verse three. Now the name of the man was Nabal. And the name of his wife was Abigail. And she was a woman of good understanding and of beautiful countenance. Notice the order of that. She was smart and oh yeah, she was good-looking. So the emphasis is on her brain. Now we all want a woman that's good-looking. I mean, come on. But it's it's even be Oh, come on, guys. Amen. Y Hey, y'all are all good-looking. Uh, but you want somebody of a good understanding, too. That, you know, just don't marry somebody just because of their looks. Don't date somebody just because of their looks. And so, scripture has immediately reframed him because it says right here, he married this woman who was good understanding, beautiful countenance. But here it is, underline this. But the man was chish and evil in his doing and he was at the house of Caleb. His name is Nabal. This is what we need to know from that. Nabal in the Bible literally translates to fool. Now why is that important? Because psalm tells us that the fool has said in his heart there is no god. So this doesn't mean that he is stupid. It's an idiot who doesn't, this is why he's stupid. He doesn't reverence and recognize God. That's why he's stupid. He thinks he is a self-made man. That's why he's stupid. But his name literally meant fool. Can you imagine introducing him at the local dinner party? This is my husband. He's the idiot. All right. So, here's what you need to know about Nabal. Nabal is wealthy. Nabal is successful. Nabal is secure. But Nabal, hear me, is spiritually tonedeaf. He's got the money. He's got the wealth without worship. He's got the prosperity without perspective. He's got success without surrender. And here's the thing about prosperity, because we live in a very prosperous country. Prosperity has a way of magnifying what's already in the heart. And we all have something in our heart that doesn't need to be magnified. And here's the tension of the situation. David and his men have been living in the caves of Engeti, right outside of Carmel. They have been fighting the Philistines. They have been providing protection for everybody in the city of Carmel, including Nabal and his 3,000 sheep, thousand goats. So he's been working, he's been blessing, and now it's sheep shearing season. So here's the tension in the situation. David had protected Nabal's shepherd in the wilderness. They kind of formed this living wall around them. No theft, no violence, no loss. And in that culture, protection deserved provision. So David sends 10 young men with a simple request. Hey man, peace, courtesy, provision. And it says in verse four, "And David heard in the wilderness that Nabal did that shear his sheep. And David sent out 10 young men. And David said unto the young men, "Get you up to Caramel, go to Nabal, greet them in the name, and thus say ye to him that liveth in prosperity, peace be both to thee, peace be to thine house, and peace be unto all that thou hast. And now I've heard that thou hast shears. Now thy shepherds which were with us, we will hurt them not. Neither was there ought missing unto them. And all the while they were in Carmel. Ask thy young men and they will show thee. Wherefore let the young men that are tending your her find favor that here find favor in your eyes. For we come in a good day give I pray thee whatsoever cometh to thy hand unto thy servants and to thy son David. So you catch it. David sends messengers during sheep sharing season. It's a time of festivities. It's a time of generosity and it was culturally appropriate to give out of the abundance. And David's men had been in the wilderness protecting them from the raiders all this while acting as that defensive wall. So David's request is not extortion. It's a symbiotic reciprocity of blessing. Here it says in verse 9, so David's people go, they say this to Nabal. And when David's men came, they spake to Nabal according to all the words in the name of David and ceased. Now I want you to watch Nabal's response. Verse 10. And Nabal answered David's servant and said, "Who is David? Who is the son of Jesse?" There there be many servants nowadays that break away every man from his master. So he's he's not only being dismissive, he's being contemptuous. And then he's poking David in the eye by making reference to the fact that he's left Saul's employee. And I want you to listen. This is not ignorance. David's reputation is widespread. A matter of fact, you know, Nabal knew it because he knew he was the son of Jesse. But listen to the contempt. Here we go. Verse 11. Shall I then take of Here it is. my bread, my water, my flesh that I have killed from my shears, and give it unto men whom I know not whence they be. Did you hear the possesses? My sheep, my bread, my water. See, here's the thing. This is a danger to all children of God. Prosperity has distorted his theology. He says, "My so much you'd think that he personally invented the livestock." This is the theology of self ownership and it's stupid. He's living up to his name because everything he calls mine is ultimately borrowed breath, borrowed land, borrowed mercy. His entire household stands one angry David away from annihilation. So, this is where we get into the heart of this text. We built the background. You got the backdrop. Let's look at David's reaction or David's overreaction. Verse 12. So, David's young men turned away and went again and came to him all and and told him all those things, saying, "And David said unto his men," here it is, verse 13, "guard ye every man his sword." So David hears the report and he says, "Get every man his sword." So 400 of the 600 men prepare for war. 400 men strap up

over an insult.

Saul tried to pin David to a wall with a spear. David restrained himself. Nabal insults David. David mobilizes a militia and they girded on every man his sword and David also gerted a sword and there went up after David about 400 men and 200 abode by the stuff. So 200 people stayed behind to guard the provisions. Have you ever noticed and we look at David and we're like, man, dude, come on. But you're just as guilty, right? Have you ever noticed how sometimes persecution, it feels noble, but disrespect, dude, that's intolerable. When someone attacks your mission, you can spiritualize it. When someone questions your worth, man, that that that feels personal. And David's response is not measured justice. It's wounded pride. And he declares by mourning that every man in Dave Nabal's household is going to be dead. Dude, that escalated quickly. So, let's just say David would not have handled Twitter very well. So, he's one sarcastic comment. 400 people are lacing up their sandals, strapping on their sword. But y'all, that's what pride does. It whispers. You can't let that stand. Anger, here's the thing. When baptized in self-righteousness feels like strength, but often anger is the armor of insecurity.

Why do we get mad sometimes? I know I get mad is when I feel attacked, insecure about something. But I want you to notice something. As wrong as David is, I mean, killing a killing a whole group of people because he got insulted, we can all agree that's wrong, right? Okay. So, David's still chosen. David's still anointed. David is still called, but in this moment he is reacting reflexively. But our God, our God is gracious. And our God sends grace to children who make bad decisions, too. Amen. Thank the Lord because every one of us makes bad decisions in our life. enter a lady by the name of Abigail. But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal's wife, saying, "Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to salute our master, and he railed on them. But the men were very good unto us, and and we were not hurt, neither missed we anything, as long as we were conversant with them when we were in the fields, and they were a wall unto us by both night and day. And all the while we were with them keeping the sheep. Now therefore know and consider what thou will do for for evil is determined against our master and against all his household. Underline this as they're describing Nabal. You know bad things are going to happen. Here it is. For he is a son of Bowel that a man cannot speak to him. So he's all kinds of stupid. Not only does he think he's a self-made man, doesn't acknowledge God in it, not only does he not bless people out of his abundance, it says that he's so stupid you can't even talk to him. And the text describes her as a woman of good understanding. That's biblical language for someone who sees clearly when everybody else is emotionally foggy. So the servant goes to her and says, "We're about to die because our boss is an idiot." Let's see what Abigail does. Let's pick up with verse 18. And then Abigail made haste. And oh, by the way, he's a son of BL. That's in the context of the fact he won't listen to anybody. If you ever have a point and there's times when you have to stick by the courage of your convictions, but don't overspiritualize stubbornness. Amen. Oh, y'all got it all. Polishing your halos. Okay. Other people can have good ideas, too. And if you're leading an organization, it's good to have a counsel. If you ever lead an organization, this is just a voice of experience. Assign one person to disagree with you. Hey, and and make it that way they can resist and maybe you can consider all the options. It's good to have somebody that'll tell you when you're right and when they think you're wrong. So Abigail is a good person, woman of great understanding. It's a blessing to have somebody in your life that will lead you back to the right path. Whether they be a parent, child, spouse, friend, it's good to have that person. Don't resent them. Then Abigail made haste and took 200 loaves, two bottles of wine. It's not like they didn't have it. She took 200 loaves, two bottles of wine, five five sheep ready dressed, five measures of parched corn, 100 clusters of raisin, 200 cakes of figs, and laid them on the asses. And she said unto her servant, "Go on before me. Behold, I come after you." And she told not her husband Nabal. And it was so as she rode on the ass that she came down by the covert on the hill. And behold, David and his men had come down against her, and she met them. Now, David had said, this is the promise he had made. Now, I want you to listen to this promise might contain a word that some of the parents are a little uncomfortable with. Now, David had said, "But there's grace in this." Now David had said, "Surely in vain have I kept all that this fellow hath in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that pertained unto him, and he hath reququed me evil for good." So, and more also to God, and to the enemies of David, if I leave all that pertain to him by morning light, any that pisseth against the wall. Abigail does not panic. She prepares the bread. She gets the wine. She gets the sheep. She gets the corn, the raisins, the figs. This is not a snack basket. This is a peace convoy. She interrupts David before he arrives. And when she meets him, she says, "Forgive my master." But he had made an oath that he had related that he was gonna kill everybody as the scriptures say, pisseth against the wall. That's King James. Don't get mad at me. I'm telling you what scriptures say. And I am so thankful that the Bible doesn't varnish the language. Doesn't clean it up because God is in control and cleans up our messes all the time. This is a stupid promise. It's a it's kind of a crass promise. But the Bible shows us that even in our crassness, even in our stupidity, even in our vulgarity, God is at work. And he was at work in this promise, too. Why is David making a promise like this? Let's see what Abigail does. She rides out to intercepts David. When she meets him, she dismounts. She gets low. She says something absolutely astonishing. And when Abigail saw David, she hastened, lighted off her ass, and fell before David on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, and fell at his feet. This is what she says. Upon me, my lord, upon me, let this iniquity be. And let thine handmaiden, I pray thee, speak in thine audience, and hear the words of thine handmaidaden. Let not my lord David, I pray thee, regard this man of BL, even Nabal. Here she goes. For as his name is, so is he. Yeah, he's named fool, and he is a fool. She's not varnishing it. Nabal is his name, and folly is with him. But I, thy handmmaiden saw not the young men of my lord, whom thou did sin. Now therefore, my Lord, as the Lord liveth, as my Lord liveth, as thy soul liveth, seeing the Lord hath withholden thee from coming to shed blood, and from avenging thyself with thine own hand, now let thine enemies, and they that seek evil to my Lord, be as Nal. And now this blessing which thine handmmaiden hath brought, all these 200 loaves, these couple bottles of wine, these this bread and food, all these blessings which your handmaiden hath brought unto my Lord, let it even be given to the young men that follow my Lord. I pray thee, forgive the trespasses of thine handmmaid. So she's interceding. She's taking it on herself. But the Lord will certainly make my Lord a sure house, cause my Lord fightth the battles of the Lord, and evil hath not been found in thine all thy days. Yet a man is risen to pursue thee, and to seek thy soul, but the soul of my Lord shall be bound in the bundle of his life with the Lord thy God. And the souls of thine enemies them shall he out as out of the middle of a sling. So here's what Abigail does. There's a lot of King James. Let me break it down. She assumes responsibility that she did not incur. She does not defend Nabal's sin. She doesn't excuse his foolishness, but she stands in the gap and she acknowledges his character plainly. As his name is, so is he. Which is the biblical equivalent of sir, he lives up to his reputation. But then she does something profound. And it shall come to pass, this is verse 30. This is the one that's just like, man, this for me was a key verse. And it shall come to pass when my Lord shall have done when And it shall come to pass when the Lord shall have done to my Lord, according to all the good that he has spoken concerning thee, and shall have appointed thee ruler over Israel, that there be shall be no grief unto thee, nor offense of the heart unto my Lord, either that thou hast shed blood causeless, or that my Lord hath avenged himself. Did y'all see what she just did, y'all? Abigail reminded David who he really is.

She's encouraging the future king of Israel. She's encouraging him to live out of his identity. She she's reminding him that the Lord will establish him as the ruler over Israel. She urges him not to secure this promise through bloodshed that's going to haunt him later. She says that this shall be no grief unto thee. She is protecting David from future regret. Now, and godly counsel often sounds like that, sounds like that. You know, you'll thank me later. And this is remarkable. Abigail is protecting a king who's not even enthroned yet from a regret that hasn't even occurred yet. And David recognizes it. Verse 32. And David said to Abigail, "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, which sent thee this day to meet me." So he recognizes the intervention. "Blessed be thy advice, and blessed be thou which has kept me this day, from coming to shed blood, and from avenging myself with mine own hands. For in very deed as the Lord God of Israel liveth, which hath kept me back from hurting thee, except thou hast hastened to come to meet me." Here it is. Surely there had not been left unto Nabal by the morning light any epissth against the wall. Here we go again. So first of all, can we appreciate that the Bible is not sanitized that that the Holy Spirit's not afraid of the language? This is not the Hallmark Channel Hebrew version. This is this is wilderness talk. And what that phrase means is every man. Because in the ancient world, that was the colorful way of identifying man. And honestly, the bluntness of it is part of the point. David is not saying, "Hey, we're gonna we were going to have a stern conversation." He's saying, "I I was about to wipe out every last man in that household." So the phrase is crude, but it's crude on purpose because David's anger was crude. David had moved past diplomacy. He had moved past negotiation. He had moved all the way to nos, no mailboxes, no mercy. And this is the Bible's way of saying, you know what? I was about to remove the men's section from this department store, but it actually exposes something a little bit deeper. Look, when we're angry, we tend to talk big. We exaggerate. We escalate. Anger always thinks in terms of absolutes. You always, no one's left. Never again. Always. Ever. David's language right here shows just how far he was in that moment. and he had mentally erased an entire household before breakfast over an insult. And it's amazing how quickly we can go from that hurt my feelings to burn it all down. Nobody starts at nuclear, we escalate to nuclear. And so the Holy Spirit preserved this phrase, this raw, slightly embarrassing phrase to remind us that even a future king can sound ridiculous when anger is driving the chariot. But here's the grace of the verse. David says, "The Lord God of Israel hath kept me back from hurting thee." The same man who is talking like a frontier warrior now recognizes that God has restrained him. And here's the beautiful tension. The verse is earthy. The anger is real. The threat is extreme,

but mercy is greater. And so David's essentially confessing, hey, I was out of control, but but God stopped me. And that might be the most relatable part of the whole story because if we're all honest, most of us have been in moments where we if we had followed through on what we had planned, we we would have needed the witness protection program and a new church. Instead, God sent Abigail. Sometimes he sends a phone call, a text, a friend, an ex pause, a spouse. And afterwards, we look back and say, as the Lord liveth, he kept me back. So, this reminds us that God's mercy sometimes keeps us from being the worst version of ourselves before sunrise. And that's something worth thanking him for. So it says verse 35, so David received of her hand which she had brought him and said unto her, go up in peace to thine house and see I have hearkened to thy voice and have accepted thy thy person. So David recognizes something critical. Abigail is not merely a wise woman. He recognizes she's also a divine interruption. And if you walk with God long enough, you're going to discover that he sends Abigail's in your life. And they're not necessarily angels with flaming swords. They're not always thunder from heaven, but they're people, friends, co-workers. And this is the humbling part. Usually, they're the person that you would least expect. And Abigail is someone who steps into your emotional momentum and says gently but firmly, you don't want to do this. And Abigail sees tomorrow while while you're reacting to today, she cares more about your future peace than your present pride. And here's the key. The Abigails in your life rarely show up applauding your anger. They show up slowing it down. Which means if you only listen to voices that agree with you when you're upset, you may silence the very mercy that that God is sending. So Abigail returns home to find Nabal feasting. Let's pick up. And Abigail came to Nabal, and behold, he held a feast in his house like the feast of a king. And Nabal's heart was merry within him, and he was very drunken. Wherefore she told him nothing less or more until the morning light. But when it came to pass in the morning when the wine was gone out of Nabal and his wife told him these things that his heart died within him and he became a stone. And it came to pass about 10 days after that the Lord smoked Nabal and he died. So he goes into a coma and Nabal dies. The irony is sharp. Abigail returns home. Nabal's hosting a feast like the feast of the king. And the irony is thick because the real king is sleeping in a cave and the fool is throwing a royal banquet and he is drunk. And when Abigail tells him what happens, his heart fells and then the Lord strikes him dead 10 days later. And David never drew a sword. Verse uh 39. And when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, "Blessed be the Lord that hath pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and hath kept his servant from evil. For the Lord hath returned the wickedness of Nabal upon his own hand." God handled what David almost mishandled, and that's grace. And the deepest comfort in this text is not David's growth. It's really God's faithfulness when David falters. Right? Because if the future of Israel had depended on David's emotional stability, his un unending faithfulness, if it had depended on that, it would have gone away in this moment. And this chapter would have ended in a disaster. But God God intervened. And he kept his promise not only from the enemies but also the impulses of his own children. And this is comforting because the fulfillment of the Lord's purpose in our lives depends on our flawless reactions. We would derail it regularly. The security the security of your redemption does not rest on your composure. Hallelujah. It rests on Christ's accomplishment. And when our identity is is anchored in Christ's finished work, insults lose their power to destabilize us. This is first Peter chapter 2 verse 21. For even here too were ye called because Christ who suffered for us leaving us an example that we should follow his steps. Christ left us an example who did no sin neither was gal found in his mouth who here it is verse 23 who when he was reviled reviled not again when he suffered he threatened not but committed himself to him that judges righteously who his own self bear our sins in his body on the tree that we being dead to sin sins should live under righteousness by whose stripes we are healed. Christ died to leave us an example and he left us a perfect example. He didn't leave us a David example that when somebody insult you, you strap up 400 men to go murder every man in the village. Christ lived perfectly for us. And because he lived perfectly for us, because he took us and died on that tree, now we get to live righteously. You didn't live righteously and then earn his his affection. He loved you and his empowerment enables you to live righteously. Hallelujah. Because we are emotionally unstable people. And here's the juxaposition between David and Christ. David needed Abigail to restrain him. Jesus didn't need anybody. He was reviled and reviled not. David almost retaliated over an insult, but Jesus endured mockery, spitting, a crown of thorns and nails to a cross and never retaliated. And where David needed mercy, Jesus became mercy. Where David required intervention, Jesus was our intervention. So grace, grace doesn't rest on your calmness. It rest on the finished work of Christ. So that's liberating. Now you don't have to avenge every insult because your identity is already secured. Now you don't have to fight every slight because your future is already anchored. Now you you don't have to prove yourself because the King of Kings has already claimed you. And because he did the battles that you refuse to fight in pride becomes testimonies of trust. And sometimes the greatest victory is not defeating your enemy. It's laying down your sword and trusting the one who has never lost control. If you'd like to serve Christ as we do here at Camp Creek Church, we give you that chance as we stand sing him

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