Sound Doctrine

Jeff Johnson: We all will serve someone ultimately. Who will you choose? The Lord this morning is seeking for you to make your choice who you will serve, who you allow to be King of your life. If the Lord isn't King of your life, guess who is? Because there's only two kings reigning in this world. That's a scary thought. Have you ever thought about it that way? If you're not serving God, living for the Lord, you're serving the enemy. You're living for Satan. Oh, you go, "No, I disagree." Well, go ahead and disagree, but this is the Word of the Lord. It's one or the other.

Guest (Male): Hello and welcome to Sound Doctrine with Pastor Jeff Johnson from Calvary Chapel Downey. Today, we continue Pastor Jeff's study in 2 Samuel, chapter 19. There are many great men and women in the Bible, some more well-known than others. One of those unsung heroes is a man named Mephibosheth. I'll let Pastor Jeff tell the story, but this man with a long name showed a very great amount of wisdom and godliness when he met up with King David. It's a really neat story, and so let's get started with the details. Here is Pastor Jeff.

Jeff Johnson: Last week, we left off in verse 8, 2nd Samuel, chapter 19, and this morning we're talking about bringing the king back. David is a beautiful type and a shadow of the Son of David, who is Jesus Christ. As we look into this scripture this morning especially, remember Jesus came to His own and His own knew Him not, and they rejected Him. And so we see now David rejected by his own people. He has been driven into exile into the wilderness.

Remember Jesus, after His crucifixion and His resurrection, He left this planet, but He sent His Spirit as He left to dwell in those hearts who would receive Him. And He also gave the promise that He will return. Remember He said, "In my Father's house there are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go," Jesus said, "I will come for you and again," He said, "and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there you might be also."

So, as we take communion, remember it says that as we break the bread and as we drink the cup, we do show the Lord's death until He comes again. He has promised to come again. He's coming in glory as King of kings and Lord of lords. As He comes, He is going to set all nations before Him, and there is where He's going to separate the goats from the sheep. Those on His right hand, He's going to say, "Enter into my kingdom that has been set for you," and He is going to set up His kingdom in this earth. He is coming again.

David has just learned of his son's death. Absalom has died, and he enters into this time of great depression and despair. Everyone is affected by it. Everybody is looking for David for leadership, but he is no good. This world is full of sin. It is full of heartache and agony, but we as Christians cannot let it get to us. We're not to let it devour us. We're to stand up against it. We're to actually cry out to the Lord and say, "Lord, give me strength for today, hope for tomorrow," because He promised to be that for us.

Remember that scripture that says as we sow into this place, don't be weary in well-doing. For in due season, you shall also reap what you have sown. So don't get weary with this place. Don't give up. Don't throw the towel in. It's going to be worth it. You fight to the end. Run the race that is set before you, but be a long-distance runner. Pace yourself. Understand it's going to be tough, and God's going to give us the strength to steady on in this crazy place.

Joab eventually told David, "Listen, David, if you don't snap out of it, you think you've got trouble now, you wait to see the trouble that's going to hit you in your life." David listened to Joab, and he did snap out of it. He decided, instead of being a bummer to everybody around him, he decided, "I'm going to be a blessing." He called all of the people together, and there was a rallying point, and everybody got excited because the king is calling.

I thought about this and I thought, wow, that's what the Lord is doing today. He's calling His church together. We are rallying together. This morning we are doing that as He's called us here to rejoice and to proclaim our King and that He is coming soon. For those who are onlookers, those of you that are visiting this morning, checking all this out, you know that something is going to go on. I know. I remember the first time I came into a place where there were believers. I felt this is something unique. I've never experienced this before. There is something here that I don't have and that I better check into, and there was an urgency.

This morning is no different. The Lord is here and there is an urgency because our King's coming. Just as David was coming back to be king, so Jesus is coming back to be King of this world. Now, by His Spirit, we know the times and the seasons, don't we? We know that we're living in the last days. Why? Because His Spirit is in us. He's keeping us right in tune with what is going on, and we know that the end of this age is close as Christians.

But notice now as we start out in 2nd Samuel, and we left off with verse 8. So look at verse 9 of 2nd Samuel 19. It says that all the people were at strife throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, "The king saved us out of the hand of our enemies. He delivered us out of the hand of the Philistines, and now he has fled out of the land for Absalom. And Absalom, whom we anointed over us, is dead in battle. Now, therefore, why speak you not a word of bringing the king back?"

We know that these are the end times. The King is coming. But because David here wasn't king yet totally over the people, there was strife in the land. And that's what we're experiencing in the world today. The people were as sheep with no shepherd, and so they strove against one another. There was tension, there was unrest. But as that prodigal son, remember, who came finally to his senses? He was out there in the world and he was burned out, and he finally came to his right mind.

Israel is here realizing that David was truly the king, that he was rightfully their king because he was called and anointed to be king, but more than that, he was their king by his deeds. He delivered Israel out of their enemies, and they're looking back and they're saying, "Look at David's done. Look at his track record. Look at what he's done for us, and why not? Why not bring him back as king? Let's open our arms to him and let's bring him back as king of Israel." And what a day that is when you finally come to your senses and you see that you can't run your own life, that you're not the captain of your own ship, the master of your own destiny, that you've really made a mess of your life. What a great day that is when you come to that understanding and you say, "I need Jesus to be King of my life," and I want to invite Him in. I want to make Him King of my life, Savior of my soul, to lead my life from here on out. I'm going to crawl into the back seat and let Him have the wheel because I've driven into too many walls and I'm sick and tired of it.

What a day that is. Israel has come to this point. Verse 11: "And King David sent to Zadok and Abiathar," remember these are the two priests that David left in Jerusalem to be spies in there, saying, "Speak unto the elders of Judah, saying, why are you the last to bring the king back to his house? Seeing that the speech of all Israel is come to the king, even to his house. You are my brethren. You are my bones and my flesh. Wherefore then are you the last to bring back the king?"

There were still those who were not sure about bringing David in as king. There were still those that were leaning towards the Absalom philosophy and wanting to rebel, and they were not totally convinced. They were not even of Israel, they were of David's own tribe of Judah. Do you remember that the Jews, of course, rejected Jesus as their Messiah? Remember how they said, "We will have no king over us but Caesar"? That's what they said. "This is not our king. Caesar's our king. And his blood be upon us and upon our children."

Whoa, and it was. Look at how the Jews and Israel has struggled over the years. Unreal things that they've gone through, the horrendous trial of their whole nation. There are those today who have a form of godliness. They say they are of us, but they are not of us. They call themselves Christians. They sound like Christians, they look like Christians, but they're not. And there is a day coming where everything's going to be revealed.

Do you remember in Matthew's Gospel 25 where it says that there were five foolish virgins and five wise? The wise ones trimmed their wicks and they had oil in their lamps. They were busy doing what they needed to do to be ready. The five foolish slept and did nothing. The Lord came and five wise were taken, and the five foolish were left. It is interesting to me that they're all virgins. You know, there's a lot of people say, "We're Christians. Oh, we believe in God and Jesus Christ." But the life that you're living, your heart is not right with God, you're not born again. You're not serving the Lord and loving the Lord, and yet you call yourself a Christian.

But see, there's coming a day where everything's going to be revealed. Five were taken, they were ready, they went in. Five were left. So David, as the Lord does today, is seeking to win these who are not with it, who haven't dedicated, committed themselves to Him as being Lord. They haven't obeyed Him. They haven't sought Him and submitted themselves under His lordship, and so David seeks to win them.

Remember what the Lord says, "Come out from amongst them and be you separate, says the Lord. Touch not the unclean thing. I want you to be separate unto me. I'm jealous for you, and I want you to be mine and mine alone." In fact, I found a scripture in Isaiah 1, verse 18. He says, "Let's just reason together about this, says the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as white as wool. If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land. But," He warns, "if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured with the sword and the mouth of the Lord has spoken it."

So there's a choice that needs to be made. David is seeking for Judah to make that choice, as the Lord this morning is seeking for you to make your choice who you will serve, who you allow to be King of your life. If the Lord isn't King of your life, guess who is? Because there's only two kings reigning in this world. That's a scary thought. Have you ever thought about it that way? If you're not serving God, living for the Lord, you're serving the enemy. You're living for Satan. Oh, you go, "No, I disagree." Well, go ahead and disagree, but this is the Word of the Lord. It's one or the other.

Look at verse 13: "And say then to Amasa, give Amasa this message. Are you not my bone and my flesh? God do so to me and more also if you be not captain of the host before me continually in the room or in the place of Joab." I want you to see what is going on here. Amasa, remember, is David's cousin. That's why he's saying, "You're my flesh and blood. We're blood." And David says, "I'm going to put you as my captain, my general, number one general in the place of Joab. I promise you that."

Now, if you remember, Amasa was the general to Absalom in the rebellion against David. Absalom's gone, Amasa's just with all these armies. Amasa wasn't anything as far as capability-wise towards fighting as Joab. Joab was the guy. But David said, "I want you to be my number one guy." Why did he do this? Well, there are two reasons. Number one, he sought to secure the allegiance of the rebel army, and he knew by making him the head general, he would win all the rebel army to himself. And number two, he was seeking to discipline Joab for slaying Absalom, his son. Because he knew he had slain him. He didn't know how it went, he heard stories, but he knew that Joab was a part of it, and he said, "That's it."

But do you remember how Joab was also the guy when Saul's general Abner came and ran over to David's side and said, "David, I want to be with you. I don't want to be with Saul"? Remember how Joab took a sword and just killed him right on the spot? And David got very angry at Joab for doing that. And David didn't do a thing against Joab for doing that. He just was silent. He didn't say anything, he didn't do anything. He just let him kill Abner, and he was angry and that's all it said.

I think the reason why David didn't raise a hand against Joab during that time was because if you look in 2nd Samuel 11:14, you can see that David wrote a letter to Joab telling Joab to put Uriah on the front lines and kill him. You see, Joab knew what David was doing. He knew his secret sin. Joab understood everything that David was in, and I think David looked at Joab like, "He knows a lot. I'm just going to leave the guy alone, you know? I don't want to cause any problems. He knows everything, we're kind of together in this whole thing."

But now this is the straw that broke the camel's back. He's saying, "That's it. I'm really angry at this time, Joab. You killed my son. Now I'm putting you down." And he says, "And I want to go ahead and put Amasa as my general." Now, Joab's going to be back. Don't weep over Joab. He's coming back. In fact, when I get to heaven, I want to talk to Joab. This guy is something out. He is a fighter and he goes and gets them and you kind of wonder sometimes, "Why did you do that?" But he always had a very good reason, just like when he got Absalom and he wiped him out. He had a very good reason. And there are things coming down here that I think when we get to heaven we need to ask. We have a lot of questions, right? And there's some things you just can't get the answers right now. And we have them in the back of our file that says, "Wait until I get there," you know? And when we get there, it's going to be answered. It's going to be great.

Verse 14: "And he bowed the heart of all the men of Judah, even as the heart of one man, so that they sent this word unto the king, Return you and all your servants." David's plan worked. Everything lined up. He won their hearts completely. Everyone that was a part of Judah, they bowed, they said, "King, return. We want you to come back and be our king."

It is interesting as you look at the New Testament account of the Lord's return as King. It's somewhat very similar to David coming in, being King. Number one, when the Lord comes back, He is going to return in great power and authority, just as David would be. This world is never going to be Christianized. It's never going to be Christianized. But we know we've got to evangelize it, right? And that's what we're busy about our doing, is just telling the gospel wherever we can.

There is a big difference between these two, and that is that this world will not become Christian by simply preaching the gospel. This world is going to, and only those who hear the gospel and receive it are going to be saved. But the only way this world is going to receive true peace and be in a happiness mode is under the personal reign of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. That's it. That's bottom line. When He comes back, we're going to see peace worldwide and not until.

That's why we're always saying pray for the peace of Jerusalem. What are you actually praying for? You're praying for the Lord to come back. There's not going to be peace in the Middle East until Jesus comes back. Yes, they can talk about it and they'll do this, that, and the other, but we're not going to see it, folks. There's a lot of people hopeful right now, isn't there? It's not going to happen. Not until the Prince of Peace comes back.

We know because many of us have received Christ into our hearts and He's given us peace inside. There's no peace outside, but we do have that peace inside and the hope that He is going to return and set up His kingdom. He's King of my heart, King of my life. And His Spirit comes in and I become His child, and that's what He's calling upon you to make that decision, those of you that haven't, to be a child of God, to have Christ living in you, to have the peace of God and peace with God.

The question is many ask how long before Jesus comes to set up His kingdom? How long is it going to be? Well, first of all, the next event on God's time schedule is the Rapture of the church. And that, we're not looking for any prophecies to be fulfilled. That intervention, nothing is holding it back. It could happen tonight. As I'm speaking, it could happen where the Lord Jesus takes His church out of this planet. Then seven years of tribulation will come upon this world. After the seven years of tribulation, Jesus says, "Then I am going to come and I'm going to be King of kings and Lord of lords."

In fact, Jesus said before He left His rightful place as King of this earth as the Messiah, He said this. He said, "You will not see the Son of Man again until you say, blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord." And that is going to happen in Revelation when Israel hits bottom. You see, Israel right here in the scriptures that we're looking at is hitting bottom. They're in a mess. There's great suffering, there's strife, frustration, and it continues. Why? Because David is not King. It's the same with our world today. There's unrest, there's misery, there's confusion, and it will continue until Jesus Christ returns as King. You can count on it.

In fact, over in Matthew's Gospel, chapter 24, Jesus says this about what is coming up ahead, what you can count on. The Bible makes it very plain in Matthew's Gospel 24, starting with verse 6. Jesus is speaking, and He says, "And you shall hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you be not troubled. Don't let it get to you. For all of these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, kingdom against kingdom, and there shall be famines, pestilences, earthquakes in diverse places." And then He says, "All these are the beginning of sorrows."

This is just the beginning. There's going to be great tribulation on the world right before the King comes back. Paul said perilous times will come in the last days. Seducers will grow worse and worse, deceiving many. Sin will abound. We see it all around us on our TVs, every night when we turn on the news, we see the great suffering all over the world. The starvation that is taking place in Rwanda and all over. I mean, hey, listen, the starvation belt, the famine belt is growing every year, getting bigger. You don't hear about Ethiopia, you don't hear about Somalia, but they're still suffering, they're still starving to death. It's just the big problem, the sore spot that is being put out in the news, but the famine belt's growing throughout Africa.

Wars, pollution, population explosion, disease, crime. Everything is on the increase as you look at it. Everything is growing. Come on, when are we going to wake up? We are living in the last days, the end of this age. It's all coming to the focal point and that's the King is going to set up His reign. All of these, He says, are a sign of His soon return. And yet the world is continuing to cry out for peace and for rest, for freedom, deliverance from this pain and agony, as Israel was crying out.

The question is, what are we going to do until the Rapture? What are we going to do until the Lord sets up His kingdom of peace? I love what Isaiah says about Him setting up His kingdom in Isaiah 9, verse 7. It says of Jesus, "And of the increase of His government and peace, there shall be no end upon the throne of David and upon His kingdom, to order it, to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this."

The Lord is going to set up His kingdom. It's going to go on forever and ever. It's going to be awesome. But until then, what are we to do? Jesus said, "You come to me, all you that are heavy laden and down with burdens." Jesus went on to say, "Call upon me and you shall be saved. Confess with your mouth, believe in your heart." That's what you need to do. Be born again. You say, "But Jeff, I've done this. I know the Lord in my heart. What am I to do until the Lord returns?"

Would you turn with me real quick to 2nd Peter chapter 3? 2nd Peter chapter 3, verse 11: "Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved or are coming to pass, that all this is going just like the Lord said, what manner of persons ought you to be in your holy conversation or in your manner of life and godliness?" How should you be living knowing that this is the end of the age, knowing that these things are coming to pass, knowing that everything the Bible said is happening? How should we be living? Well, he says in verse 12, "Looking for and hastening unto the coming of the day of God." How should we be living? We should be looking up. The Lord's coming back.

Guest (Male): Where's your focus? Are you looking up, as Pastor Jeff Johnson just set? This is Sound Doctrine and today's study focused on 2nd Samuel chapter 19. Pastor Jeff's messages are archived for you at sounddoctrineradio.org. That includes all of 2nd Samuel. Our programs are also accessible at oneplace.com and on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

If you enjoy the teaching you received through Sound Doctrine, you can show your support through a financial gift, and thank you for whatever the Lord lays on your heart. There's a place to give at sounddoctrineradio.org, sounddoctrineradio.org. Join us for another study in 2nd Samuel next time we meet for Sound Doctrine with Pastor Jeff. May God richly bless you as you live by the sound doctrine contained in God's Word.