Sermon: Subverting and Serving the Kingdom

This passage, uh, provides a good reason for why we preach what is called Lectio continua preaching, where we preach consecutively through passages of the Bible. Uh, because this might be a text you skip past, uh, I've been wrestling with it all week. What in the world do you preach from this text? Uh, and I'm hoping that the Lord will make it abundantly clear to us as we go through this. Uh, all scriptures, God breathe, all

of it is useful for the Christian life. All of it points to Christ. And so we will see that from this passage this morning, Lord willing this morning. Second Cha Samuel chapter two verses 12 through 32. Let's pray before we open together.

Our Father, we do pray that even as we just sung, that you would lead us this morning, that you would lead us and go before us as we read this text and as we hear it preached that you would sow the eternal truths of your word into our hearts.

We do pray that it would be your light that shines in our presence this morning.

We pray that you would be with your people as you have promised, and we are thankful that you are a God of promise. And we bow before you in all humility this morning looking up to you and saying, speak to us, oh Lord. And we pray all this in the strong name of Christ. Amen. This morning, second Samuel chapter two verses 12 through 32. This is the holy er, sufficient word of God. Abner the son of Ner and the servant of Osh, the son of soul,

went out from me to Gibeon and Joab, the son of Zaria and the servants of David went out and met them at the pool of Gibeon and they sat down the one on the one side of the pool and the other on the other side of the pool. And Abner said to Joab, let the young men arise and compete before us. And Joab said, let them arise. Then they arose and passed over by number 12 for Benjamin and ish Bhef and the son of the son of Saul

and 12 of the servants of David. And each caught his opponent by the head and thrust a sword in his opponent's side. So they fell down together. Therefore, that place was called hell, Kath Hare, which is at Gibeon. And the battle was very fierce that day. And and Abner and the men of Israel were beaten before the servants of David and the three sons of Zeriah were there, Joab, Abishai, and Zael. Now Zael was a swift afoot as a wild gazelle.

And Zahil pursued Abner and as he went, he turned neither to the right hand nor to the left from following Abner. The Abner looked behind him and said, is it you? Aza Hill? And he answered it his eye, Abner said to him, turn aside to your right hand or to your left and seized one of the young men and take his spoil. But Zahil would not turn aside from following him. And Abner said, again, Zahil, turn aside from following me,

why should I strike you to the ground? How then I could, could I lift up my face to your brother Joe Ebb. But he refused to turn aside. Therefore, Abner struck him in the stomach with the butt of a spear so that the spear came out at his back and he fell there and died where he was and all who came to the place where Za Hill had fallen and died, stood still, but Joab and Abishai pursued Abner. And as the sun was going down, they came to the hill

of Amah, which lies before Gia on the way to the wilderness of Gibeon. And the people of Benjamin gathered themselves together behind Abner and became one group and took their stand on the top of a hill. The Abner called the Joab. Shall the sword devour forever? Do you not know that the end will be bitter? How long will it be before you tell your people to turn from the pursuit of their brothers? And Joab said, as God lives, if you had not spoken,

surely the men would not have given up the pursuit of their brothers until the morning. So Joab blew the trumpet and all the men stopped in pursuit Israel no more, nor did they fight anymore. And Abner and his men went all that night through the Arabah, they crossed to Jordan and March in the whole morning they came to May. Hanin. Joab returned from the pursuit of Abner. And when he gathered all the people together there were missing from David's servants, 19 men

besides Zaha. But the servants of David had struck down of Benjamin 360 of Abners men and they took up, uh, they took up Zaha and buried him in the tomb of his father, which was at Bethlehem and Joab and his men marched all night and the day broke upon them. At Hebrew, though the grass withers and the flower fades, the word of God is forever. Thanks be to God. Amen.

I want to begin here this morning as we think about this passage, uh, hear a lot in our day about the conflict in Ukraine. You hear a lot about the conflict in Israel, Gaza, you hear a lot about the conflict in Sudan, significant conflicts. And yet the great conflict that is happening is the same conflict that has been since the beginning, since the garden. It is the conflict between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent.

And it is what God said there in Genesis three 15 when he announced what we call the proto, even the first mention of the gospel. And he said there to the serpent, he said, I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring and her offspring, he shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel. The seed of the woman are those who are redeemed, that the people of God and the seed of the serpent are those who are not redeemed,

who are not counted among the people of God. And Satan, as God is saying there in the garden, Satan is going to be on a continual pursuit until the very end, the consummation of Christ's kingdom, he's going to be on a constant and consistent pursuit to oppose God. And he seeks to raise up offspring in opposition to God and specifically to Christ as he reigns as king.

And it's a conflict that not only is being waged around us, it's a conflict that you are engaged in. You're in it the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. Now that may give you pause. You say, well, I didn't sign up for this conflict, conflict. And I think most people would, even Christians I think would think that there are those who are aligned with Christ Christians and then there are those who are aligned

with Satan Satanists. And then there are all kinds that are in some kind of neutral territory in a neutral zone. They live in the InBetween, but that's not the testimony of scripture. There is no neutrality. There is no neutral zone in which you can dwell. All every single person is either aligned with Christ or is aligned with Satan is either serving or subverting the kingdom. It's either or. Our passage is sworn. We see evidence of this.

First we see one seeking to subvert the kingdom, one seeking to subvert the kingdom. Abner is the leader of ish Bo's army and he is the great aggressor here. You remember from previous weeks that David is now king. He has risen to the throne with the death of Saul. And yet Abner who was the commander of Saul's army does not submit to that. And he has taken Osh Saul's son and he has anointed him as king. And so you have all of the tribes

of Israel are following ish Boche, this puppet that Abner has set up. And then you have a lone Judah who is following David. And what happens in our passages that Abner now at the head of the army, of all of these tribes of Israel, he is now gone to the field and he is seeking to subvert David's kingdom. The map tells us that much. We aren't exactly sure, sure where May Hanni was at, but we do know that it was east of the Jordan River.

And what we see in this text is that Abner took his army and he crosses the Jordan River and he crosses the Jordan River with his army because he's coming for David. He wants to destroy him. And this is why we're told in verse 13 that Joab, the son of Zeriah and the servants of David went out and met them at the pool of Gibeon. And obviously this was a famous place at the time because we were given no information about

this pool of Gibeon. The narrator just assumes everybody knows where this is at.

Now Abner, he knows the promises of God to David and yet he still comes to try to deth throne him. Listen to him what he says in later in chapter three, verse 10, just a a chapter later when he decides that ish Boche is no longer worth serving, he says this, God do so to Abner. He says of himself, God do so to Abner and more also, if I do not accomplish for David what the Lord has sworn to him, he knows. He knows that God has promised David the throne.

So why does he rebel against David? Because sin makes you stupid.

As we said a couple of weeks ago, Abner is not only opposed to God, he is opposed, not only opposed to David, he is opposing God and he's seeking to subvert the kingdom. It's stupid. God's clear what he says. He will bless. He blesses and opposing that only brings judgment. David will reign. Why do we know that he will reign? Because God has said that he will reigns established. He's the king. God has established and rebellion against this.

King is rebellion against God, which is just stupid. But sin makes us stupid.

Abner thinks that he can stand against David, but God stands behind David the sovereign God of the universe. No one stands against God.

David, of course, is a foreshadowing of Christ to come the king of kings and the greater David that has come into the world, his kingdom has broken in. In Mark one, the very first words that we hear from the mouth of Jesus or his proclamation of what Mark calls the gospel of God, the good news of God. He says, the time is fulfilled in the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the gospel. The kingdom of God has come

because the king that God has appointed has come into the world. And when the king has come into the world, his king has come into the world.

John Calvin said it this way. He said, the earthly reign of David is a token in which we must contemplate the reign of the Lord Jesus Christ and the salvation of his church to the ends of the world. And yes, that's absolutely right. David comes as king and it's established in Hebrew and he's immediately opposed. Jesus comes as king. He's established, you sang it this morning. He sits andron in heaven and yet he's opposed.

But it's all for Naugh.

It doesn't matter. God's established him.

God clearly revealed his will about David and yet sinners will ignore it and they will scoff at it and they will disdain it. But Abner, he's in his folly. He's just tilting at windmills. Doesn't matter. David's established

sin makes us so stupid.

A sovereign God of the universe has established Christ as king.

He thundered from the cloud on the Mount of Transfiguration. This is my beloved son, my chosen one. Listen to him

or folly doesn't make it untrue, it's established.

It's just tilting at windmills.

When God tells you what his will is, it's a good idea to actually listen to it and obey it.

He's sovereign. It's gonna happen

in John 15, Jesus says this,

no longer do I call you servants for the servant does not know what is master doing. But I have called you friends for all that I've heard from my father, I have made known to you. He's told us John six, this is the will of my father. That everyone who looks on the sun and believes in him should have eternal life. And I will raise him up on the last day. This is the will of my Father.

You, you look on me and you believe upon me. And you are raised up on the last day of eternal life. It's established it's folly to align yourself against God and think there is some other way to have blessing, some other way to be established

when thinks what a silly people these Israelites were, they're aligning themselves with ish Boche, the son of Saul. So who was not a good king, who did not love the nation very well. And yet you have David here who, who's a true good shepherd

who will love the people. And he demonstrates that time and again it's even greater folly to align ourselves with the one who hates us and is seeking our destruction rather than the one who has forever loved us.

That John 15 passage, Jesus says this, he says, abide in me. And then he makes I think what is one of the most glorious jaw dropping statements in all of the scriptures. He says, abide in me as a father has loved me. So have I loved you. Abide in my love that that's jaw dropping as a father has loved me,

so I have loved you.

What kind of love does the father have for the son?

Eternal and infinite without bounds, perfect and complete, filled with joy and delight and happiness.

And the son says, as the father has loved me, so I have loved you.

Now from that ground, Jesus says, abide in my love. Just as I have kept my father's commandments and abide in his love, we live in him and under him and with him or we're opposed to him,

we're subverting or we're serving.

Second, we're to see that when we oppose the kingdom, it always negatively affects others. It always negatively affects others. When Abner moves his army across the jo, the Jordan Joab responds by moving some of David's army to meet him. And these two armies will, will be opposing each other kind of lined up you. You remember the scene when, when the nation of Israel is on one side of the valley and the Philistines are on the other side of the valley,

and Goliath will go down into that valley and for 40 days he will challenge the Israelites and it, this is pretty common in the ancient world, you, you would line up against each other and then there would be a kind of jockeying for position and taunts and insults. And then you would decide, do you really want to fight? And that's what these two armies are doing here. Well here Abner and Joab decide to sit opposite one another.

When Abner proposes an idea, he says, why don't we have some of our young men engage in a contest before us? A little hand to hand fighting. And so Joab agrees. And so 12 men from each side go down to the pool there and they each partner with an opposing member of the opposing army and they engage in a contest together.

But Abner Fali leads to the folly of young men who often burn heart hot. And each of them pulls out their swords. And in what can only be called a stunning event, all 24 stab one another to death. Not one was left and they all fall down dead. And it could have all been avoided. It it began though Abner sin, when we oppose the kingdom, it always negatively affects others. Where sin begins, it it, it never just stops it.

It loves to extend its tentacles out and influence all that it can, it it wells up in a life. It overflows a life and then it loves to assault other lives around it. It's just how sin works.

And this is why holiness in leaders is especially important.

You know, whether you are a husband or whether you are a father or whether you are a mother, or whether you are in business or whether you lead your friend group or whether you are a pastor or you are an elder, the most important thing is your personal holiness.

And the church, it's essential because sin like water, it just, it doesn't just trickle down, it floods down. It doesn't just have an initial impact. It it, it spreads out and it always flows down. And when that initial bomb atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, there were 70,000 people that were melted in an instant. Within five years, 200,000 people had died.

It has an initial impact, but that cloud just spreads.

And Paul outlines the qualifications for elders in the church. Every one of them is about character. There's only one that's about gifting able to teach when he's instructing Timothy, you will say keep a close watch on your life and your doctrine. Life first, doctrine second. Why? Because sin just trickles down.

Sin subverts the kingdom. It can destroy a people in army of church.

The fallout from the subversion continues in our passage After these young men kill one another, open battle begins. And verse 17 we're told that it was fierce fighting that day. And we are told that Abner and the men of Israel were quote, beaten before the servants of David. And yet still the effects of abner's subversive sin continues to have fallout. It didn't end there. One's man's folly led to the crossing of the Jordan

to 24 men killing one another to an entire fierce fight between the armies. And then we are told further a sad account of the fallout in verses 18 and following. And there we're told that Zeriah, who was David's sister, had three sons. And these three sons decided to follow up the victory on the battlefield by chasing after the army so that they could grab a hold of Abner and hopefully put him to death. And so you have these three brothers, Joe Ab,

the great commander, and Abishai the oldest son and Zael the youngest, and off they go leading the army after Abner. Zael was, we were told in verse 18 as swift afoot as a wild gazelle. And so with his gazelle like legs, he outpaces his brothers and he outpaces the army and he is chasing after Abner. Is it a holy ambition or an unholy ambition? Don't think we can be definitive, but it seems like it was a holy ambition

because at the end he is honored in this text. But he wants to see Abner put to death because what a great blow that would be to this rebellion against David. And Abner could tell that it was Za Hill pursuing him from a distance. He tried to shake him, he would turn to the left, he would turn to the right and Za Hill would turn to the left. He would turn to the right and on he came. And so Abner will scream back behind him, is

that you Za Hill, he can tell from the way he is running, yes it's me. So he pleads with him. Look, don't keep coming after me. You could grab one of the young men in our army that you're passing and you could put him to death and you could steal the possessions that he has. Be contempt with that Za Hill and all. And Zaha kept running. And so then Abner makes a great plea to him. Za Hill, stop. I don't wanna have to put you to death.

Zaha continues to chase after him. And so Abner utters his last plea, za Hill, it will make your brother Joab so incredibly sad, don't keep coming. Isaiah continues to draw near and as he draws near Abner sticks out his spear with the butt of it pointed at Za Hill, which would've been the Dole end, but Za Hill with his gazelle like legs and Abner, no doubt with his strength. The two meet and in goes the butt of the spear into

Za Hill and it goes out his back.

And there he crumples and there he dies.

Mr. Ralph Davis said Zao had the speed, but Abner had the spear. It was Za Hill's last race. As the writer tells us in verse 23 that when people would come by this spot where Za Hill had fallen and where he had died, they would do a moment of silence. They would stop and they would remember him. And so he was honored

that sins folly had taken another victim. When we subvert the kingdom, it always negatively affects others.

Finally, serving the kingdom means living by a kingdom ethic. Serving the kingdom means living by a kingdom ethic. Abner somehow rallies his men the tribe of Benjamin up upon this hill and they are on this hill. They have the high ground and Joab and his troops are now at the foot of the hill and they can look up and they can see Abner and his men on the crest of this hill looking down at them. And Abner will yell down at them in verse 26.

Shall the sword devour forever? Do you not know that the end will be bitter? How long will it be before you tell your people to turn from the pursuit of their brothers and he's crafty? It's a subtle reminder, we're we're we're brothers, we're fellow Israelites. Now that had to sting a bit or more than a bit because Abner had just killed Joe Abs brother. And yet Joab chose the bigger picture rather than revenge. In this moment, he will use the same term verse 27

brothers and says, has God lives? If you had not spoken, surely the men would not have given up the pursuit of their brothers until the morning. They would've kept pursuing and pursuing until the day broke and Maura would've been killed. Abner is an enemy, but these Israelites are fellow brothers and are simply being misled. And so Joab, he blows the trumpet and the pursuit ends

And serving the kingdom. There's a limit to our fighting. The mercy is right where we can extend it. We fight when necessary. We fight as long as necessary and fight as ferociously as necessary, but only as necessary. We are wholehearted fighters when engaged, but we're not unrelenting fighters, especially in the church. We extend mercy where we can.

Rick Phillips said it this way, he said this supplies a precept for godly people who are required to wage warfare, whether in the armed conflict of nations or in the battle for truth within the church. When we must fight, we should do so with the greatest restraint possible, relying on God to grant victory and resolving, not to violate his word in our treatment of our fellow men and especially fellow believers. When war is waged by necessity, it must be pursued

with an aim to a peace that is not embittered by ruthlessness in the fight. And so Joe Abey, he's fighting for the kingdom, but he fights with a kingdom ethic.

Do you remember when they came to arrest Jesus in the garden? And Peter will draw his sword and he is ready to defend the Lord Jesus and go on the attack for him.

And Jesus will tell him to put away a sword that this isn't the kingdom ethic. This isn't the way that we fight. We fight for the kingdom. But as kingdom people with kingdom ethics, the way matters as much as the outcome. We're not pragmatists as servants of Christ.

We fight for the kingdom as kingdom people with kingdom ethics. That's part of serving the kingdom where we can extend mercy. We do so and it's often hard.

Think about Joab here. Listen, his brother was just killed

Here. He has him on the run. Surely the Lord has given him into his hand. Surely there's opportunity here not only for accomplishing the Lord's purposes, but for revenge.

And yet he extends mercy, at least here.

Can't tell you what that always looks like in your workplace, in your college classroom, in your family.

Like we saw David do at the beginning of this chapter at least starts with prayer or servants of the king. Should I go up? Oh Lord, should I take the initiative? Should I fight? Now? David asked. And then remember when he receives the answer, yes, go up fight, then he still seeks the Lord. Where oh Lord, engagement and prayer is surely the most necessary step to write engagement in serving the kingdom. Abner and Osh are simply attempting

to seize things by their own strength. They're subverting the Kingdom David and Joe ab. They're trusting the Lord's promises, seeking the Lord's will and then engaging Christ. Their king will do this very thing in the garden of Gethsemane.

He, he goes and he trusts the father's promises he's seeking the Father's will in prayer. And he goes to the cross fully engaging in the fight. And often that means setting aside our own personal desires and will in submission to his, not my will, the son says, but thy will be done.

Look, you know the father's, will you do it? It's so crazy not to. It's a definition of stupidity. He's sovereign.

Joanne extends mercy because it's the kingdom ethic.

Friends, the way that we navigate through this world reflects what our hearts are gripped by and and whose we are.

We're in the fight. There's no in between. We're either serving the kingdom or we're subverting the kingdom and we're doing so with our lives. We're doing so in every moment of our lives. You're engaged in the fight

and this is a king that is worth serving. We pray for us,

our Father. We are thankful That there is a kingdom that has come into this world and that is coming in this world. This world is not all that there is.

At one day, the lion shall lie down with the lamb of our king shall fully consummate his kingdom,

that all of our hearts shall fully line up completely and wholeheartedly with the very ethic of the kingdom. And that our king, our king, will receive the praise and the glory and the honor that is due His name. May we be willing servants of that which is everlasting and that which is true and that which is your will in this world. And we pray all of us in the strong name of Jesus. Amen.