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So we're gonna pick it up there in 2nd Samuel chapter 3 we did the first 22 verses last week, but we're just gonna pick up the story there at verse 22 where it says and behold the servants of David and Joab came from pursuing a troop and Joab came from pursuing to and it's our excuse me and brought in a great spoil with them But Abner was not with David in Hebrew and for he was sent him away and was gone in peace And so really this passage here You know, we this is where we learn a lot about this character Joab, you know, and Joab is a very significant character In the Old Testament, you know, he's he he isn't quite yet We're gonna see here tonight that he in in just a few chapters how he becomes the captain and it's actually kind of telling of Joab's character and I do want to take a minute to look at him because Joab in the Bible though He's you know serving King David though. He's on the right side. I don't think he's a good guy I think he's he's in fact, I would say he's a he's a megalomaniac In fact, he's a guy who desires power and we're gonna see some things about Abner that we can learn What not to do and I want to preach tonight about the bad example of Joab the bad example of Joab Now a few things about Joab is the fact that he is David's nephew, you know You might have caught that there It says if you want to go over to first Chronicles chapter 12 or excuse me chapter 2 first Chronicles chapter 2 is That you know, so he's his nephew and that's gonna come into play later. There's an application to be made here That's why I'm pointing this out Okay It said in verse 39 and I am this day weak though anointed king and these men the sons of Zeruiah Be too hard for me. So these men Joab his brothers Asahel they are The sons of Zeruiah. So who is their Raya? Well, that's David's sister It says there in first Chronicles chapter 2 verse 13 and Jesse which is David's father Begot his firstborn Eliab and Abinadab the second and Shema the third and Nathanial the fourth Radei the fifth Ozen the sixth David the seventh whose sisters were Zeruiah and Abigail and the sons of Zeruiah Abishai and Joab and Asahel three So this is you know, normally in the scripture when it says the sons of somebody it's referring to the father But in this instance, it's actually referring to their mother Zeruiah the sister of David So we see here that that Joab and Asahel and Abishai. These are actually David's nephews. Okay, and Here's the thing about it. You know that doesn't change the way David feels about Joab and what he's done. Okay, in fact Joab if you want to go over to 2nd Samuel chapter 9 2nd Samuel chapter 9 Joab is disliked by David. That's my opinion I don't think that David was a big fan of Joab and Abishai and Asahel I don't think because he says there in verse 39 where we ended in 2nd Samuel 3 that these Sons of Zeruiah plural, you know be too hard for me saying these guys are too hard for me I don't I don't like having to deal with them. They vex me, you know, every time they get involved things go bad So I don't think Joe that Joab is somebody that David was particularly fond of. Okay, and it says there and Now, you know cuz this this phrase comes up more than once where he says this of them He says, you know these sons of Zeruiah they be too hard for me. That's not just a one-off like he repeats himself This is this is David's opinion of them He's saying these guys are too hard and really when we look at what they're like is they're they're cruel people you know, they're they're people who are interested only in power in position and That's probably why Joab or excuse me David didn't like him because what we know about David is that that's not him You know, he's somebody who? Wasn't power-hungry, you know, he waited for him to throne He honored Saul even when he was trying he could have taken him out. We know that we went through first Samuel, right? He was one that was able to you know, put that off. He didn't have to be the king, but he was made king So, you know you could see why he wouldn't like somebody like this. Okay Why he would say that about that they are too hard for him It says in 2nd Samuel chapter 16 verse 9 then said Abishai the son of Zeruiah unto the king Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over I pray thee and take off his head and the king said what have I to do with you? He sons of Zeruiah. So this is Abishai Joab's brother talking about Shimei when when Absalom's rebellion took place and David's fleeing then, you know Shimei comes along and he starts cursing the king King David You know for the blood of Saul and he's throwing rocks at him as he goes and curses him and Abishai saying hey Let me go take his head off, you know, let me go cut his head off and David, you know He doesn't even really express, you know an appreciation for this, you know, this apparent display of loyalty where he's like well Look, I appreciate the gesture that you would go cut somebody's head off for me But don't do it. What he says is what have I to do with you you sons of Zeruiah So this is kind of you know, I'm trying to connect the dots here and just take David at his word It seems to me like these sons of Zeruiah are people that kind of just attach themselves to David They kind of oh, you know our cousins become the king. Let's go hang out with him. You know, let's get some of that glory Let's see if we can't get in the cabinet. Let's see if we can't get a position and He kind of goes along with it. Okay, you're there in 2nd Samuel chapter 19 verse 21 But Abishai the son of Zeruiah answered and said shall not Shimei be put to death This is when they're coming back after they defeated Absalom Put to death for this because he cursed the Lord's anointed and David said what have I to do with you you sons of Zeruiah. So he says it again, you know It's the same instance again. He's saying look you didn't let me cut his head off when we left But now we're coming back now. Can I go cut his head off now? Can we put him to death? He's saying look what I have to do with you you sons of Zeruiah that you should this day be Adversaries unto me. He's like you're gonna make me look bad. You're gonna make me look like you you're gonna you know You're on your merciless. You don't have any compassion, you know, you're too hard Alright, that's what he said about him What does he mean by that? He says look you're too hard What he's saying is that and when we when we read about these guys and what they're like is that they're cruel people You know Joab was a cruel person Abishai here is proving himself to be you know have blood lust he just wants to you know, cut people's heads off over You know somebody cursing even Asahel, you know, he pursued Abner even after Abner turned around and said hey stop Aren't you his you know, how am I gonna lift up my face to your brother Joab stop following me and he wouldn't and he pursued him he told him twice you need to go away and Then he eventually kills him because it was came down to you know, it's either gonna be me or you so Abner said well It's gonna be you buddy, but it shows you again that these these three sons of Zeruiah. They have this kind of you know This blood lust they're cruel people. They're megalomaniacs at least I believe that about Joab Joab is a cruel person go back to second Sam if you want to bookmark second Samuel 19 We'll be back they go back to second Samuel chapter number three We're gonna look at verse 26 and when Joab was come out from David he sent come out from David He sent messengers after Abner and brought him again from the well of Sariah, but David knew it not Verse 27 and when David, excuse me when Abner was returned to Hebron Joab took him aside in the gate to speak quietly with him quietly and Smote him there into the fifth rib that he died for the blood of Asahel his brother So it tells us what happens here is this there's this vindictive, you know slaying of Of Abner this wasn't a justified killing You know what Abner did to Asahel was justified because that was war, you know They had gone out to fight and he and he's telling look you need to turn back He wanted to spare Asahel. We read that when we went through second Samuel chapter two, you know, he wanted to spare him He for this very instance like I'm not the look Joab in the face And he was you know, they were winning the battle he's like you need to just turn around you guys won you beat us You know, why are you pursuing me and then he keeps pursuing him. So that was a justified killing, you know There's a difference between murder and killing somebody You know if you're killing somebody, you know when you're defending your country or defending your life, that's not yes It's killing somebody but murder is what is like an act of maliciousness That's when you're you're going out of your way to you know Just kill somebody for no good reason at all or maybe you know, you have it justified in your head But a court of law would look at it say actually that was you know, cold-blooded murder. Okay? so what Abner or what Joab does here to Abner is unjustified right and you could tell by the way he does it, you know, he does it sneakily He's like hey I gotta talk to you come over here and then he kind of pulls the wool over his eyes and and kind of gets out Of the sight, you know Over into you know takes him aside into the gate right where nobody's really around to see what happens and he kills him one of the fifth rib and this is this is you know, our first clue about the the Character of Joab and why Joab in the scripture is a bad example. It's not somebody you want to to be like Okay, he's not somebody we should look to And on top of that are you instilled in second statement three if you look at verse 31, you know, he's not even remorseful You know, sometimes when somebody does something bad they'll at least kind of feel bad about it Let's say you know what? I shouldn't have done that. Sorry, right? But if you look at verse 31, you can see that Joab doesn't even feel bad about it He's glad that he did this because if you look at verse 31 David has to tell him to mourn And David said to Joab and to all the people that with him rend your clothes, you know He had to tell him that because he wasn't doing it. He's like, yeah, I killed him So what so, you know what you need to run your clothes and you need to gird you with sackcloth and mourn before Abner So, I mean, yeah, he might have done all that but he only reason he did it's because the King commanded of him You know, this wasn't something that he felt bad about. I don't believe that And he said he mourned before Abner and the King David bowed himself before the beer so we see some things about the character of Joab and One is the fact that he is a cruel person and the other is that he's unremorseful And I believe that he is a picture in Scripture of somebody that is a megalomaniac Somebody who was obsessed with power someone who will do anything to get whatever power they can If you're there today, you kept something in 2nd Samuel 19 go back there go to verse 11 I'll begin reading in 2nd Samuel 19 verse 11 and it says and King David sent to Zadok and to Abba Thar the Abby I Abby a thar the priest saying Speak unto the elders of Judah and saying why are you come out the last to bring back the king back to his house? Seeing the speech of all Israel's come to the king even to his house year my brethren year my bones and my flesh Wherefore then are you not the last to bring back the king ain't saying to a mesa who was with you know Absalom right. He's coming back in he's taking back the kingdom and he's saying say to a mesa art thou now bone of my Not of my bone and of my flesh God So do to me do so to me and more also if thou be not the captain of the host before me Continually in the room of Joab so by 2nd Samuel 19 Joab has taken the position of the captain of David's host and now when they're coming back into the kingdom after you know Joab slew his son after he was told not, you know, he kills Absalom and David specifically said spare him But Joab goes and kills him anyway. Okay. So now David is saying you know what? I'm just gonna replace Joab as the captain with With a mesa he's coming back in say hey, you're gonna be the captain before me continually in the room of Joab and Joab You know go over to verse or chapter 20 Chapter 20 being the the humble guy that he is who just wants to serve the king He's just there for all the right reasons. You know, he just says, you know what? I'm just happy to be In the service of the king to whatever degree you want. No, he's he's like, oh you're gonna make somebody else captain Well, look what happens right if we know the story it says in verse 9 and Joab said to a mesa Art thou in health my brother? So again, he's taking just like he did before With Abner where he's being secretive. Hey, I gotta talk to you come over here. You know, he's he's he's being very craft He's not facing. He's kind of a coward. He's not just coming right out trying to fight him. I Mean Abner and maybe maybe that's the reason why because Abner killed Asahel like he didn't have any problem running him through He might have been a better soldier, you know, these guys might have been better than Joab and Joab didn't like that So he's using to seek here Art thou in health my brother and Joab took a mesa by the beard with the right hand to kiss him So if that ever happens to you, you know, you got you got issues All the clean-shaving guys are like not a problem brother. I'm gonna have I'd have an issue right there You know, you grab me by the beard and I start you start puckering up like sword or not. It's going down. But anyway He said, uh takes him by the right hand to kiss him but a mesa took No, he to the sword that was in Joab's hand So if you know the story, he fakes like the the sword fell out of his girdle and he's like, oh our throne health He's picking it up, you know, it's just like oh, I'm just gonna put this back in the sheath You know But he hangs on to it while they had this exchange and it says and he so he smote them therewith in the fifth rib that's like his favorite place I guess and shed out his bowels to the ground and Struck him not again meaning he put so much force and did so much damage that there was no need to Kill him again or to hit him again, you know, you can kind of see the picture that the Bible's painting here It's pretty graphic where he's smiting him then shedding on his bowels. He's like slicing his belly open, right and Struck him out again and he died. So Joab and Abishai his brother pursued after Sheba the son of Bichrai So this is you know We're getting some insight here into the character of Joab and it's important to understand what he's like because he's a major Character in David's life. He plays a major part He's a he's a you know, I wouldn't say he's a main character But he's definitely significant character in the Old Testament and when we see about him And if you would is go over to Acts chapter 20 Acts chapter number 20 is the fact that you know If he can't be king, you know captain is the next best thing. He'll take that I mean if he could get away with it, he would probably go ahead and just get the kingdom But he knows that there's no overthrowing David, you know, the people love David Whatsoever he does pleases the people the people wanted him to be king. The Lord is with him, you know He knows that you can't overthrow the king so I'm just gonna attach myself to him and just keep myself as high up in rank as I can and That's that's the who this guy is He's a megalomaniac who's somebody who wants power as much as he can get and is willing to hurt other people to get it if you can't be king captain's next best thing and That's what he's in it for And I want to point this out I want to take the time because you know This is in the scripture for the reason whenever I'm doing these studies I always have to ask myself what is God trying to show us by telling us the story? It's not just this narrative that God just threw in there because you know, it just makes for good storytelling There's a principle here There's something that God wants us to see and understand and what I believe he's pointing out is the fact that wicked people Will attach themselves to good people. I mean my opinion maybe you disagree Is that Joab is a wicked man when he's killing people? Multiple times deceitfully not in war for his own gain just because he's power-hungry He doesn't want to lose his office just because he's you know, taking vengeance on somebody You know, he that makes you a wicked person And when you when you're killing people to do that, he's a wicked man But what we see is that he's attached to a very good man and King David was a very good man He was you know, he was anointed of the Lord But what we see is that wicked people attach themselves to good people this is a principle that we have to understand and I believe God put it in the scripture for us because This people can can hear about this and they can be told this until you actually see it happen. You'll say oh, no way Well, you know maybe back in David's day, but there's no people aren't like that today. Oh, yes, they are There's people like this that exist even today that are that want that that see a good a good person a good church you know good work taking place and they will attach themselves to that for their own personal gain and Then in time they will show themselves to be what they really are wicked people that are you know, maybe not murderers But to some degree megalomaniacs people just want power People just want notoriety people who just want a following as well and the Paul warns about it in Acts chapter 20 in Acts chapter 20 over in Verse 29. Okay, when he calls the elders of Ephesus, he's getting ready to part to go back to Jerusalem And it says in verse 29 for I know this that after my departing Shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock So he's saying this to all the pastors and Ephesus the elders of Ephesus and he's saying look this is gonna happen Even in your day, there's going to be when I depart when I go, you know, when the when the you know When the when the cats away the mice will play kind of a thing He's like look when I'm gone when I'm not here to be vigilant and run these people out and watch over things That's when these grievous wolves are going to enter in among you Not sparing the flock and look at verse 30 and also of your own selves shall men arise Speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them And look we could preach this and people will still and I had to see it happen more than once Before I realize that this is something that happens on a regular. I'm sure it's going to happen again I'm sure that somebody at some point is gonna attach themselves to this church Somebody's gonna come to this church and they're gonna be an infiltrator They're gonna be a Judas for these exact same purposes They want to want draw disciples away after them you say has that ever happened? Yes, it has we've had people come in get in positions of authority in this church and faithful word and Then begin to straight what perverse things, you know, we use that word perverse to mean like, you know perverted in that context But it could mean just things that are not right just things that are crooked perverse Right false doctrine Damable heresies and he was what they bring in denying, you know, the Trinity teaching oneness, you know behind the pastor's back Teaching it to a group of people and then what drawing away and then then when they get caught and called out and kicked out What happens they draw away disciples after them and they move to Florida and they start a church And their name is Tyler Baker You know, that's that's that kind of thing happens So You say well that would ever happen it's already happened, you know And I'm sure it will happen again where people will creep in just to do harm to inflict damage to draw us away disciples after them because We see this principle all the way back with King David that bad people attach themselves to good people Wicked people attach themselves to righteous people for their own personal gain and they don't care who they hurt in the process They don't care about the damage they do in the process Joab what was had to be told look you need to rend your clothes You need to mourn you need to put on sackcloth Even if you're not sorry, you should at least look like it because you look like a jerk You know because you just killed a good man named Abner That's the type of people if you go to Jude chapter 1 Jude chapter 1 Bible warns us about this Well, maybe in Paul's day, you know, maybe that happened Mm-hmm You know, maybe yeah all the way back in David's day But do you really think that kind of thing goes on? Yes, it does. It does happen Now I'm not saying people are gonna come in here and grab you by the beard smoke You know the fifth rib, but they're gonna try and do damage to this body They're gonna try and do damage to this church, you know, we're still kind of small right now You know, maybe maybe there's not a lot of interest for wicked people to come in here and try to do that But I guarantee you the longer we go and as this church grows it's only a matter of time It's only a matter of time till this type of thing happens And I'm just warning you today that we see this principle in Scripture that wicked people attach themselves to good people there in Jude chapter 1 Which is the only chapter look at verse 3 it says beloved when I gave all diligence to ready the common salvation It was needful for me to write you and exhort you that you should earnestly contend for the faith, which is once delivered Unto the Saints she's saying look I wanted to write you the common salvation But then I realized I needed to write unto you that you should earnestly contend for the faith. Why? Well, he says in verse 4 for there are certain men crept in they're already there Unawares, they've crept in and how do they creep in they didn't walk in and say hey, I'm a Judas Hey, I believe in some damnable heresy. Hey, I'm here to draw away disciples after me That's not how Joab do it did it you didn't walk up to Abner Hey, let's go over here so I could smoke you into the fifth rib You know, he didn't he didn't walk up and say let me grab you by the beard so I can kill you He said art thou in health brother You know, they creep in they do it unawares And that's why we can't go on this You know You always got a preach when you brother you preach us you got to also kind of put the little asterisk and there's like we're not Going on a witch hunt by the way, don't start looking around going. Who is it? You know, there might not be anyone like that in here But I'm just saying it's only a matter of time until there is somebody in here Who was like that who wants to come in and creep in like it says in Jude chapter 1 verse 4 Certain men are crept in unawares who were before ordained to this condemnation ungodly men turning the grace of our Lord into the civviest ness and Denying the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. They're gonna deny God You know, they're teaching damnable heresy. That's what these people are like they creep in They attach themselves to good people to righteous churches to good churches to men of God Look at verse 12. These are spots in your feasts They're in there. They're among you. They're gonna even of your own selves. So men arise. They're already among you They are spots in your feast of charity when they feast with you Feeding themselves without fear clouds are they without water carried about of winds trees whose fruit wither it Without fruit twice dead plucked up by the roots. You know, the reprobates many instances. That's what they are Judas being very specific and telling them these particular people are reprobates You say is that really possible? Yes, and what's crazy about it is when you see this happen time and time again I'm not saying like on a regular basis, but boy it seems, you know in the last in the eight years I've been here. I've seen it more than once, you know some degree or another And what's crazy about it is that sometimes I think these people that creep in These reprobates that creep in and try to bring down a church or split a church or teach damnable heresies A lot of time they don't even know they are what they are I'm convinced of that that to me. That's just a frightening thought to to be an instrument of the devil and not even know it. I Mean think about that. I mean they come in here. They try to split the church You know, they try to tear down the pastor teach some damnable heresy, whatever it is Why? You know if I if I if I loathe some church if I hated some man of God or I hated some church I just wouldn't go there It's a it's a very strange thing that people would stick around for years in a church and Then you know when they see an opportunity try to spring some trap and split a church. That's wicked That's you know, that's demonic is what that is and then you tell them that you know, you're being used to Satan Well, no, I'm not they don't even know they are. I mean, do you think Judas did Judas know saying it Satan entered into him? I I Don't know did he I tend to think not I tend to think he didn't I think he just you know And I think that Satan even today has his little sleeper cells that he creeps into churches And when he sees an opportunity He just flips the switch and he just winds them up and just sets him down and teach you teach you teach it You know like those little stupid toys And they whatever they can just run around trying to knock stuff over whatever They just do whatever they're gonna do There they are they hate look the Bible's showing us time and time again they creep in they do damage and It's gonna happen again. It's only a matter of time So that's the type of guy Joab now was Joab a reprobate I'm not gonna go so far as to say he's some kind of wicked infiltrator reprobate, but he was definitely a megalomaniac He was definitely somebody who was we wanted power. He's power hungry, you know, the guy had issues for sure. Okay Go Over to a second Samuel chapter 5, you know, I'm gonna get ahead of myself a little bit in the book But let's look at you say well, how is it that Joab? What are you telling me? Joab is a bad guy, you know? Yeah, he made some mistakes. He killed a few people But is he I mean, he's like he's the captain of the Lord. He's the captain of David's hosts Why would David promote a guy like that, you know, and and I'm I'm kind of still thinking about exactly, you know Why David allowed this to happen or David meant for this to happen, but when you when you look at the way in which Joab came to be the captain it even shows you that he's still kind of a cruel he did it through cruel way Look at second Samuel chapter 5 Okay in verse 6 and the king and his men went to Jerusalem unto the Jebusites because remember they have you know Jerusalem was still being controlled by the Jebusites. It was called Jebus They went on to Jerusalem unto the Jebusites the inhabitants of the land which and which spake unto David saying Except thou take away the blind and the lame Thou shalt not come in thither So they see David and his men coming you're like, okay And I mean David's known at this point as one bad dude when David shows up at your town Like you might as well just surrender. Okay, cuz it's it's going down So what's going on here when they say except thou take away the blind and the lame Well, you know, this is kind of a sermon when I get there But what I think is going on here is that they're actually using people as like human shields You know, they're they're gonna try and scale these walls. They're gonna try to come into the town So they're they're putting in the blind and the lame, you know to try to keep them from coming in Something like that something's going on like that. You say no one does stuff like that. Look, they still do that today I was watching some video about You know those Blackhawk helicopters that went down and Mogadishu Years ago that they did that they they had to kill civilians and stuff like that because the you know The whatever they were the terrorists or whatever regime that was there They would when they were trying to attack those soldiers they would they would you know, they would put some guy out there in a donkey and they would stand behind him and try and Shoot and then they would eventually had no choice. They had to start killing civilians Otherwise, they were all gonna die and people do that all the time, you know, they'll even today they'll use You know innocents as human shields and they say look except I'll come away and take away the blind lame Thou shall not come in hither meaning you're gonna have to go through these people Right and they know that you know, David is somebody who's known for being merciful and doesn't want to you know, shed innocent blood They know that you know, the God of the Bible condemns Shedding of innocent blood so they're thinking how we got him, right? And it's kind of interesting story I really haven't you know fleshed all this out but it does show you that how Joab came in to being captain here because it goes on it says In verse 7 never 11 nevertheless David took the stronghold of Zion the same the same is the city of David and David said on that day whosoever getteth up to the gutter and Smite at the Jebusites and the lame and the blind that are hated of David's soul He shall be chief and captain said why would he kill them? Well, if you remember the Jebusites were one of the seven Canaanite nations that God said to wipe out So he's hated of David's soul But he says whoever goes up there and kills these lame and blind they're gonna be captain You know and even if we read it and we're kind of like, I don't know if I could do that I don't know if I could go kill a blind person Even if it's some wicked nation that God wants to destroy what I mean me personally I feel kind of weird about that Don't kill some lame guy, you know taking I'm gonna go beat up somebody, you know I got in a fight the other day. You should see this guy. I whooped him. Oh, really? Yeah, he was in a wheelchair Like you look at me like you're cruel You know you pick on some blind person, you know somebody who's lame But David says hey whoever goes up and does that they're going to be chief and captain and I won't have you go back to First Chronicles, but if you read the parallel passage in verse 11, guess who went up there and had no problem Just wiping out the lame. It was just the first guy up the ladder like oh you need somebody to kill somebody I'm the guy for the job because he you know, Joe abs the type of guy he'll kill anybody I mean, he's killing Abner. He's killing this guy. He's like, hey, I'll go up the Jebusite what I get to be chief captain I get to be over the the army. Yeah step aside you know worth it, you know, and so he goes up there and it says that he Nevertheless David took the castle Zion and David said whosoever smite at the Jebusites first I'll be chieftain captain. So Joab the son of Zeriah went first up and was chief. So that's how he came in It wasn't that David was like, you know Joab you're such a such a good guy You know, you're just such a faithful man. You're you know, you have so much integrity. I Just want you to be the chief captain. No, it's because he Again, it seems you kind of read the story It's like is David did David know that Joab would be willing to do it and that's why he made it happen I don't know but that's how either way that's how Joab came into being the chief captain. It wasn't through being promoted through his you know, his good deeds You know wasn't his good merit that got him exalted It was the fact that he was willing to get his hands dirty and do wicked things So that's great, you know, why are you preaching that? Well, what's the application here? How can I use this? Well, Here's here's the application. Don't be like Joab. Don't be like this guy You know, we should even in a little bit, you know now I'm not suspecting anybody here is gonna You know try and take me by the beard smoke me on the fifth rib later But we should be merciful people. Okay, we should be merciful people go to Romans chapter 12 Romans chapter 12 Don't be like Joab is the first application don't be like this guy You know, we might not want to smite people under their fifth rib. You know what? Sometimes we can get vindictive Maybe we do want to be a little vengeful You know, maybe the dogs next door are just barking a little too much a little too long at night I mean you think well if I just whip up that batch of rod Bread dough with extra leaven in it put some equity and I just throw it over there and then their guts will explode Not that that's ever gone through my mind, you know Well, we think things like this don't we someone does us dirty someone does us wrong We don't like something that's going on. We think well, I'm gonna get back I'm gonna get that guy back. I'm gonna get that person back You know, then you find yourself out in the parking lot in the middle of night letting some air out of someone's tires Right. I've never done it. I'm just trying to think of examples. Okay, who's ever done something really bad. I'm just kidding Help me out here interactive preaching night You say well, I'm never gonna do what Joe app did. Yeah, we might not do it to that extreme We might not go do all the things he did. We're gonna start, you know, we're gonna go and start, you know Hurting the lame and the blind Well, you know what that all can you know, we have the potential to be just as cruel You know, we might not do those bad things, but we can be vengeful We can be unmerciful with people the Bible says not to do that Bible said in Leviticus chapter 19 Thou shalt not avenge nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people But thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. I mean, that's the second greatest commandment love thy neighbor as thyself He's saying you're not gonna bear grudge against any of the children of thy people. I mean that was joy I was guilty of that. I mean, that's what Abner was He was the children of his people and he had a grudge against him and he took vengeance on him He was unmerciful man look at Romans chapter 12 verse 17 Reconpense to no man You say well, I I understand, you know to the children of thy people the Bible says in Leviticus, you know I'm not gonna do you know, someone offends me in church I'm not gonna get back at them But if some lost heathen out there in the world does me dirty you better believe I'm gonna come down on them like a ton Of bricks the Bible says recompense to no man evil for evil To no, man, nobody we should never be these vengeful people. They just want to get back at people, you know Here's a great example You know road rage, right? Someone cuts you off. It's like well, I'm gonna I'm gonna cut him off and then I'm gonna break check him and People do that kind of stuff on them. That's why I just don't do anymore anymore Is that you know, you don't know how that person's gonna react things escalate You know you drive by of some of these these wrecks on the side of the highway. It's like you wonder what happened Was it just an accident or is it two people, you know, we're just being vengeful against each other at high speeds You know, that's a kind of bringing it. Let's bring it into a modern-day context that we can actually apply to our lives You know, that's just the one that comes in my mind And but there and we could think of other examples where people do this type of thing where they want to be spiteful They want to be vengeful against somebody that does them wrong A Recompense to no man evil for evil provide things honest in the sight of all men If it be possible as much as lieth in you live peaceable with peaceably with all men You know, we should be the type of people that seek peace We should be the type of people that just want to be at peace with people You know instead of whipping up that batch of leaven laden dough and killing the neighbor's dog I'm just gonna turn the fan on and drown out the noise in the back and I'll fall asleep like a like a baby And then my neighbor can still have his dog and I can get a good night's rest and we can still be friends Right, we can still be at peace We could still not, you know have done evil to somebody If it be possible as much as lieth in you with all men now Obviously, there's a point where we have to defend ourselves, right? We understand it as much as as possible as much as lieth in you live peaceably with all men It's at some point we have to you know, put the peace aside and stand up for what's right Defend what's ours, but you know what? That's a long way off You know a lot of times, you know, and here here's an example, you know people who carry guns You know, I can't I carried a gun in my last job And my boss told me he encouraged it He said look I you know I want you to conceal carry and want and I was working as a locksmith going into people's houses Going to places of business. He's like I believe in the second way I carry He said, you know, I encourage all my guys to get their CCW and carry he said but here's my rule He's like when you come to work you leave one of two things at home You either leave your gun at home or you leave your temper at home You don't bring both and what he's getting across is that you know If you're if you're the type of person gonna carry a gun, you can't have a short fuse with people Because there's this and I've noticed about some people I've met people who carry guns. I'm like that guy shouldn't carry a gun Because he has a short fuse and they like to brag about it There's one guy came in I was working somewhere and he's talking about yeah I pulled out of my driveway and I backed out real fast I almost hit this other guy in a motorcycle and then he was they were road-raging just like I was talking about, right? And then he's like and I had my pistol right there the whole time And I rolled down my window at the red light we were young and he's just telling me I got in this altercation and how he was just like I had my hand in my gun guy didn't even know it I'm just thinking like You shouldn't have a gun, dude You know, is that you think that's gonna go down you're gonna shoot this guy the cops you're gonna show up You like what happened? Well first I backed out of my driveway and nearly clipped him and then we got into it He called me this and I called him that and then I shot him. Oh, okay. Yeah, you're free to go That's not how it's gonna go. You're gonna get booked. You're gonna go to jail You're gonna get you know, probably on some degree murder brought up on charges Even you know and let me just while we're on the subject, you know talking about guns and carrying, you know One thing my boss told me I was very eye-opening for me as somebody who carries a gun He said and I don't know whether this is true I just took it as fact but I could see you know It's probably is true that most eighty percent of people that shoot somebody even in a justified shooting Would they kill somebody else and it's a hundred percent justified. They end up bankrupt and divorced eighty percent of them Eighty percent because the people get this mentality It's like a video game like if I if I just shoot somebody and they had it coming it was me or them then you I'll still be able to I'll feel fine about that Not necessarily You know, maybe maybe the cops will say hey you could yeah, you were justified but maybe you'll go back in your mind and go man if I just done this or I just said that if I just walked Away, or you know what? I mean those it would plague you to take somebody's life as a big deal You know, even if it's someone you that the world would just perceive as some scumbag, you know It's still I mean especially as a Christian. Well, I just killed that person was even saved And eighty percent of people I've been told that end up killing somebody even in a justified shooting and A bankrupt and divorced because it just alters their life you say why bankrupt? Because unless you can prove it like unless you have like multiple witnesses and camp for you know video evidence to clear Clear your name. You're still gonna get booked You're still gonna go to jail and you're still gonna have to go to court and hire a lawyer and prove that what you did Was justified and that's all very expensive by the way, so you you know, there goes all your money now I get it If it's me or them, it's gonna be them If I go bankrupt, so be it But you know, I'm just trying to make the point that you know We don't want to be people that have a short fuse. We want to be people we want as much as possible You'd be at peace with all men You know if it came down to me getting into a scrap with somebody let's say, you know When could this possibly happen? Oh, I don't know out soul winning You know when you're going out and you know go out every week and you're knocking multiple doors You think that maybe you might some run into somebody who just had it having a bad day or just hates God or just doesn't Like the look on your face and decided today's the day I'm gonna take it out on this guy, you know, I'm gonna grab him by the tie and just go at it Look if it came down to me or that if it came in if I got a situation soul winning wherever Where I had two options either get into a fight or run away I would run away I Would just swallow my pride and run away I know you're a chick and you're a coward. Yeah, but I don't have any scrapes as Much as is possible. Was it possible for me to right now granted. I couldn't run very far With the vans never that far away folks. I Would run away and then I would Lightly jog away and I would probably limp eat the rest of the way, okay And then I would go lay down somewhere But that's what I would do because I'm not trying to prove anything and look the Bible says as much as is possible Look, we don't want to be vengeful people They don't want and these are obviously extreme cases But if we're honest, you know, we if we really watched, you know The way we think or the way we feel about people Especially when they do something towards us that we don't like when they offend us in some way You know, we might find ourselves feeling vengeful, you know, maybe we won't do anything But boy, we wish we could we wish we could get them back and show them what's what you know and teach them a lesson You know, the Bible doesn't teach that we're not to be vengeful people He said as much as is possible live peacefully with all men Dearly beloved avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath Give place unto wrath You know if wrath comes we're to give place to it not to resist that for it is written vengeance is mine I will pay say it the Lord You know, and that's why I'm not gonna you know, I'm not heading for the hills that the tribulation comes I'm gonna give place to wrath you know if they come and they want to Take my head off or they want to do whatever I'm giving place to wrath because God will repay I'm not gonna go find a bunker and you know And rack the AR and start eating rations, you know and start trying to take out as many of the you know, the one-world You know satanic force, you know the murder-death robots that the New World Order is gonna say, you know Whatever like people get into this stuff. They're thinking, you know, well the one that when the Antichrist comes I'm gonna be that guy That's I'm starting to take out as many people as I can all these wicked reprobates the you know The reprobate army of the Antichrist is like no, I'm gonna give place to wrath and I'm gonna let God repay So we know our Bibles God boy. He pours it out doesn't he and he repays pretty good a Lot better than I could do with you know a few rounds or whatever That's an extreme example, obviously, right but the mentality is out there and in even if it's something, you know We're somebody's doing us wrong You know, they're trying to hurt us, you know people that have tried to hurt this church people that have you know Docs our church members brought up dirt out of their past People that have had to you know, try to attack our pastor attack his family You know those people God repaid God vent said vengeance is mine. I will repay You know and they you know in a short time later people who are making these, you know, YouTube attack channels Where they're just lying and trying to bring down the man of God trying to stop the work of Christ Showing up at you know, preaching conferences and trying to disrupt things Trying to expose the new IFB or whatever, you know, and they're just railing and lying and just enemies of the cause of Christ You know, one of those people was found literally in an alley with the skull caved in And I was oh coincidence. No vengeance is mine. I will repay say it the Lord You say well you should glory in that. Well, you know, whatever I'm glad God pays back. I'm God glad I'm glad I gave place to wrath and let God take care of it You know and I've talked to people they say boy it'd be really nice to go find out where that you know internet bozo lives is making these channels and Dragging people's names through the mud and trying to I'd like to find out where he lives and just show up with a ski mask And do some dental work You know and feed him his teeth But you know what the Bible says to give plate to wrath let God repay those people because he does a lot better job So we should never have this attitude where we just feel like we have to right every wrong because really a lot of times that can turn out to bust just being vindictive and vengeful and Then God says well if you're gonna try and take care of it Then I'm not gonna do my thing and I'd rather just let God do his thing because he makes it and he cleans up nice So don't be like Joab. Don't be a vengeful person. Don't be somebody who asked to be in power be a humble person You know, that's I mean, that's what motivated Joab, wasn't it? Go over to uh, go over to Philippians chapter 2. I'm almost done You know, what's the application tonight when you're looking at the bad example of Joab, you know Joab was a guy who was vengeful Somebody who was merciless Somebody who had no compassion somebody who was vindictive and vengeful He had no mercy, but what motivated him? What was his motive to kill Abner? What was his motive to kill these other people? It's because he wanted power Why did he kill a Mesa because he wanted he didn't want his position to be taken away from him Why was he the first one up the ladder to you know to take out the Jebusites even the lame the lame and the blind? Because he wanted that position right because he was proud person. Okay, we should not we should be merciful. We should be humble Jesus said Mark 10 Oriti. He said I mean, this is very familiar. I know we all know this he said it's Whosoever will be great among you let him be your minister You know, let him be your minister Well, I want to be great. Well then be a servant be a minister You know humble yourselves in the mighty hand under the mighty hand of God and he will exalt you in due time You know draw an eye to the Lord humble yourselves He said it shall not be so among you but whosoever be great among you shall be your minister and whosoever will be your Chiefest whoever's gonna be the captain right shall be servant of all For even the Son of Man came not to minister be ministered unto but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many Say well, I don't know if I like that. I don't like this idea about being humble and you know if I want to be exalted I serve Well, that's the example of Christ, you know, and if it's good enough for him, you know, it's good enough for us You know, we should we should be willing to go along with that. That sounds like a good plan to me And here's the thing if everybody does that and just says hey, you know what? I'm gonna exalt others better than myself I'm you know, like we're in Philippians, right? It says in verse 4 looked on every man in his own things, but also every man on the things of others You know, I'm not just gonna be worried about myself I'm gonna worry about other people see how I can help them how I can bless them You know and and forgive them and do good to them and not be vengeful towards them And care about them, you know, if we do that if we all do that, then we're all gonna get along Everybody, you know if we all love our neighbor as ourselves Let guess what we all get along don't we because we're all too busy loving each other to try and do each other harm, right? Let this mind be in you which is also in Christ Jesus who being in the form of God thought it not robbery to be Equal with God but made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant That's not Joab Joab had to have reputation and he certainly wasn't much of a servant. I mean, yeah, he served David But he was he was in it for his own gain. He was in it for his own Reputation he was in it for his own Exaltation right because he had to get that power So the first application is this and I'll wrap up is don't be like Joab Okay, don't be like him be a merciful person be a humble person and here's the second application beware of the Joabs in your life You see well, I'm not gonna be a Joab, but you know what? We also have to be aware of the Joabs in our lives And if you go back to 2nd Samuel chapter 3 second keep something in Romans if you're you probably already turned away just forget it but 2nd Samuel chapter number 3 2nd Samuel chapter number 3 And I'm gonna point this out because you might have missed this but it's just one little versus One little kind of dig that that Joab has towards King David Beware of the jobs in your life. Joab was a manipulative person He liked to manipulate people and he was manipulating David a little bit here, you know Is that there's that term that gets thrown around a lot today, you know gaslighting? Which is basically when you're telling somebody that their perception of reality isn't right Like oh you think this is going on, but that's not really what's going on. This is what's going on This is the truth, right? You're wrong about Well, you think it's like this, but that's not the way it is. Let me tell you how it really is You know, you're going crazy. You know your perception of reality the way you're perceiving things your is wrong That's what Joab does to the king here. You even have an example in Scripture verse 2nd Samuel 3 verse 24 Then Joab came to the king and said what hast thou done? Behold Abner came unto thee why is it that thou hast sent him away and he is quite gone Now we know Abner really want or what Joab really wanted. He wanted his opportunity to kill Abner Thou knowest verse 25 look at this thou knowest Abner the son of nerd that he came to deceive thee Is that why Abner was there? Look the the narrator of the scripture tells us that he was there to make a league with him That he was he was turning over the kingdom to him because his loyalty wasn't being appreciated by Esposia, you know, he's sticking it out over there trying to make things work and Esposia that's a weak leader and it's not happening. So he says you know what? I'm not gonna sit here and fight God Let's just go over to David then if that's God's will we're gonna do that Abner was a good man He was doing the right thing You know, this is Joab's perception, but he's telling it to the king he's saying thou knowest When he did that the Abner the son of nerd that he came to deceive thee. He said get he's gaslighting him it's like you know, this is what really happened here that he's coming to deceive thee and To know thy going in thy coming out and to know all that thou doest He's trying to you know twist reality. He's trying to paint this other You know picture of what's actually going on and he's kind of telling it to him in a way like well This is what's really happening. You know, you're wrong David to think that that's what's going on. This is what's actually happening What he's doing is he's manipulating him. He's manipulating him So you need to look out for people like this in your life They're gonna people that are gonna try and manipulate you You know and it's why so they can get what they want out of you Okay, and use you beware of the Joabs in your life. I don't want to go on on about that You say well, how how do you avoid the Joabs in your life? Well be impartial Be impartial don't think don't and what I mean by that is don't sit there think well so-and-so would never be like that Well, I'll remind you that this is Joab is David's nephew. See how I started that in the beginning And he could have said well, this is my nephew. This is the son of my sister Zaria, obviously, you know he They wouldn't want to do me any harm. Obviously, he's you know, he's only got my best interest in mind No He has his own interest of mine and That's why he's gaslighting David and trying to make him think it's something else is going on so that he can get his hands on Abner and get him killed And this is something we have to keep in mind is that we if we're gonna avoid If we're gonna look be on the lookout for the Abner's and whether it's in our own lives or how about this in our churches? You know and this is something that this is a big lesson that I've learned You know in the short time that I've been the ministry is the importance of being impartial with people Because people come to you and say hey this happened and it's a legitimate concern Let's say hey, you know this happened it's kind of a red flag to me. I don't know what to do I'm pretty sure this person is a you know Twice dead reprobate plucked up by the roots a raging wave of the sea that we need to throw out of church It's like well slow down there turbo Let's pump the brakes a minute and think this through, you know And let me just give you an example Okay, and this is just this is just good to cover. Anyway is you know this I you know, sometimes People grow up especially people that don't have large families. They didn't have siblings or they weren't close They get older and it's it God has given all of us. I believe a natural desire to have children We want that You know, we want that could be that Companionship I guess or we just want to with that experience of having children Interacting with them because that's a really pleasant thing, isn't it? I mean, that's that's what I love about working at home Is I'm in the office for several hours doing my thing and then I go out to eat all my kids are at the table You know every so often that little door cracks open and you know, the little sugarplum comes in and Says something I can't understand it, but it's cute. You know, it gives me a kiss and then goes back out, you know And and it's proven you you met you when you you know play with your kids when you interact you get endorphins You know, it lightens your mood up God gives that to people right and what I'm getting at is this when you have somebody doesn't have that in their life They don't have their own children. They're not even married. Maybe they didn't have that growing up Maybe they or maybe they do have nieces and nephews that they're comfortable with and playing with and you know, picking them up Tickling them, you know, sometimes people haven't learned that that's probably that's inappropriate to do with other people's kids You know then I believe that You know, obviously if people are saying yeah, you know, I know here like we we hand my my my What's her name? Julie Look, it's five. Okay, so I get to do that. All right I know I'm not up there with some some y'all but I'm at five now so I can and I'm getting older I can do That now what's her name? Yeah, we said I'd go through every name before I got to it Wait, I know we passed the baby around and that's that's I'm not you know, that's fine It's appropriate but you know, some people aren't comfortable when you go around pick up their toddler and tickle them pat them on the butt You know or or play with them, you know ruffle their hair And mess around with them like that, you know that can make people uncomfortable And I always advise like look don't do that because they could be taken the wrong way Especially if you're like a single guy, you know, it's it's it can be good seriously You know and people do take it the wrong way, you know and they come to you and they're like well What do we you know, obviously look he's playing with the kids he came over my kids and You know said this and pinch their cheek and swat them on the behind and ruffle their hair and you know It's like he's obviously a reprobate. It's like well, no I mean and I and I don't want to want to discourage people from coming in and saying that because we do need to know About that look if people are getting because that kind of thing happens they creep in unawares beguiling stable souls You know, they want to get access to children church is a soft target to these people But we can't what am I getting at? We have to be impartial We can't just immediately jump to that conclusion We have to say well, maybe this person just wants kids in their life and hasn't been taught. That's not really appropriate You probably shouldn't play with other people's kids You know if you get to know them, you know, you're hanging out with them and there's maybe I don't know Everyone has to kind of make up their own mind on that Where you draw the line? But the point I'm making is like that's not just dumped to that conclusion that this person is some wicked evil person That's me impartial and the Bible, you know warns us and tells us over and over again To be impartial and judgment, you know, you and might even what if it was somebody? You know, what if there was somebody you know, this is gonna come a shock. Okay, but what if there was somebody in the church? Not this church, but faithful word at large That maybe I would just wasn't the biggest fan of Say you're the deacon you can't not you have to be and look I love everyone in the Lord But I'm not gonna I'm not gonna that doesn't mean I want to spend every waking moment with every single person in the church You know, there's some people I probably would just rather not have Thanksgiving dinner with you know what I mean? Oh, can I say that is that okay to say that? And you know what? There's probably people would rather not have me around You know the saying we like we appreciate you is the deacon appreciate is you're preaching we appreciate you serving in the church We understand that but you know what we're gonna do our own thing on the weekend or we're gonna you know what I mean? That's perfectly natural Not everyone's gonna get along. It's unrealistic But what if somebody came to me and said something about somebody who wasn't I wasn't the biggest fan of Am I supposed to just meet you know, it would be real tempting Well, you know what? I've been waiting for a good excuse to throw that person out anyway, and I finally got it Is that me being impartial? No, that's me being partial That's me You know putting my own two cents into it and and just making out into something It isn't it's just so I can get what I want out of the situation So that's why the Bible warns about being impartial with people he said in first Timothy chapter 5 verse 21 I charged thee before God and Lord Jesus Christ elect angels that thou observe these things without Perfering one another before another doing nothing by partiality That's a charge that Paul gave to Timothy before God and the Lord Jesus Christ and the elect angels That he what observes these things without preferring one before another with and doing nothing by partiality. Okay? So that's kind of the application there at the end is that we don't want to be like Joab We want to be merciful people. We want to be humble people And how do you we have to also beware of the Joabs in our life, okay and Not allow ourselves to be manipulated and be impartial, you know, don't just assume the worst about people Again Joab was David's nephew. He could have said well, you know, he's not that bad of guy You know, he knew we would was and he I mean he curses him in the chapter. Did you notice that? You just you know Let you know let let there not be one among his house that doesn't fall on the sword or has an issue or as a leper I mean he just curses him For what he did to Abner Because why because he wasn't impartial you have to judge people Not just on what they say but on their actions you have to judge people as a whole, you know, you have to judge people You know For what they do not just how you perceive them, you know, well what you think that they might be So that's my message tonight, let's go ahead pray