Prince of Peace

2 Samuel chapter 3, we're going to start at verse 17 and I'm going to go through verse 21 to begin with. And then Abner went to tell David at Hebron all that Israel and the whole house of Benjamin thought good to do. When Abner came with twenty men to David at Hebron, David made a feast for Abner and the men who were with him. And Abner said to David, I will arise and go and will gather all Israel to my Lord the King, that they may make a covenant with you and that you may reign over all that your heart desires. So David sent Abner away and he went in peace.

Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we have seen David experience great victories and hurtful losses. We have seen David trusting you completely and then acting like you don't even exist.

The defeats always occur when his dependence on you is shallow. In our passage today, David is forced into a role that he's not used to. He's called to be a peacemaker.

He's called to bring together Judah and Israel. There's a lot of baggage here. There's distrust on both sides. David knows that peace will only come through truth, transparency, honesty and love. Father, our nation is reeling from division.

Our governments on every level are corrupt and untrustworthy. You've called us not to compromise. You've called us to proclaim Christ. You've called us to stand for truth and live for truth. We can't compromise with your word. We can't be silent about abortion. We can't be silent about homosexuality. We can't be silent about divorce without biblical grounds. We can't be silent about transgenderism. We can't be silent about stealing and lying. Help us not to waver. At the same time, give us the ability to be Christ-like so our nation would hunger after what we've got. For it is in the precious holy name of Jesus that we pray. Amen.

You may be seated. I entitled this message Prince of Peace. Now where have we heard that title before? How about Isaiah chapter 9 verse 6 that says this, For unto you a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulders. And you shall call his name Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Those words were written down by Isaiah 750 years before Jesus was born.

It is a messianic prophecy and Isaiah refers to Jesus as the Prince of Peace. Today what I would like to do is to give that title to David. Now that might seem a little strange because we know that David was a mighty, mighty warrior. When nobody else in Israel would stand up against the giant Goliath, as a 17-year-old kid, David did. Trusting on God, David went out against him with nothing but a slingshot and a stone and killed him.

And then Saul offered David his daughter for marriage and Saul said, If you take my daughter, then there's a dowry of a hundred Philistine soldiers. David went out, killed not only a hundred Philistine soldiers but doubled the number and killed two hundred. David was fighting enemies all over the land. He fought against the Jebusites and defeated them and the Amalekites and the Philistines.

All the opposition that came against them, he won those great, great battles. Some amazing things that David did. And then David, when he was an older man, wanted to build a temple for the Lord God Jehovah. And God said to Nathan, No, David is not going to build a temple because Solomon will build a temple. And the reason for that is that David is a man of blood.

So, how can I give a title that was bestowed on the Lord Jesus Christ, the title of Prince of Peace, how can I give that to David, who is actually a great and mighty warrior? Folks, it was Jesus who said that we are to turn the other cheek and go the second mile. It was Jesus who was getting ready to die on the cross. And he said to his disciples, You know, I don't have to die. He said, I could call down twelve legions of angels and they would come and they would take me out of this world, take me back to glory and destroy this wicked world.

But I choose not to do that. I choose to go to the cross and die for my people. Folks, that's the Prince of Peace. He is the Prince of Peace, but I want you to know that he is not only the Prince of Peace. He is also the Lord of Glory. He is the judge of this world. And I want you to know that Jesus Christ is coming again.

And it may be sooner than we think. He is coming again. And when he comes again, every arrogant, presumptuous, prideful, unbeliever who has stood against him, who has mocked his law, who has laughed at his name is going to stand before Jesus.

And they are going to tremble in fear as the judgment of Christ is poured out upon them. In Revelation chapter 19 verses 11 through 16, John said this, Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is the word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.

On his robe and his thigh he has a name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. So yes, Jesus is indeed the Prince of Peace, but we need to understand he is also the judge of this world, and he will show no mercy to those who rejected him and rejected his truth. Today what I want to do is I want to look at David and the role that God has given him at this particular time to be a Prince of Peace.

There are four points I want to share with you this morning. Number one, Joab, an enemy of peace. Look with me at verses 18 through 23. Now then bring it about, for the Lord has promised David, saying, By the hand of my servant David I will save my people Israel from the hand of the Philistines, and from the hand of all their enemies. Abner also spoke to Benjamin, and then Abner went to tell David at Hebron all that Israel and the whole house of Benjamin thought good to do. When Abner came with twenty men to David at Hebron, David made a feast for Abner and the men who were with him. And Abner said to David, I will arise and go and will gather all Israel to my Lord the King, that they may make a covenant with you, and that you may reign over all that your heart desires. So David sent Abner away, and he went in peace.

Just then the servants of David arrived with Joab from a raid, bringing much spoil with him. But Abner was not with David at Hebron, for he had sent him away, and he had gone in peace. When Joab and all the army that was with him came, it was told Joab, Abner the son of Nur came to the king, and he has left him, and he let him go, and he has gone in peace.

Now Abner had capitulated, and he had turned his back on Ishmael, who he had proclaimed to be the king of Israel. And now he was given his allegiance, not to Ishmael any longer, but now to David. He came to David and made a trip all the way to Hebron, where David was. And he said to David, I want you to be the king, not only of Judah, but over all the twelve tribes of Israel. And they gathered together for a peace treaty, a covenant of peace.

They gathered together to do this, and it was done in Hebron. Well, David finished it up, they worked out all the details of surrender, and then David allowed him to leave, and allowed Abner to go in peace. Now, once that happened, Joab came back. Joab was not there, did not know any of this was going on. He had been out on a raid, and he came back with a great bounty to give to David.

He had not heard anything about what was going on here. But when he got back, the first thing that he heard was this, David has entered a peace treaty with Abner. David has let Abner go in peace. And Joab was absolutely livid. Well, look at verse 24 and 25. Then Joab went to the king and said, What have you done? Behold, Abner came to you.

What is it that you've sent him away so that he is gone? You know that Abner, the son of Nur, came to deceive you, and to know you're going out and you're coming in, and to know all that you are doing. Why was Joab so angry?

Well, I think he was angry for three primary things. Number one, Abner had killed his brother Asahel. Abner did not want to do that.

Abner begged Asahel to quit pursuing him, but Asahel didn't. And Abner took his sword, and he pierced it into the belly of Asahel, and he killed him. And he left him there in the street, his broken, bloody body just lying in the street. A little bit later, the soldiers from Judah came, and the scripture describes them as being almost in shock.

They got there, and they look at his body lying there on the ground, and they just stop, and they're not doing anything but just looking. I can imagine Joab just looking down at his brother, tears just rolling down his cheeks. He's terribly, horribly upset about this. And then he gets back home, and David has entered into a covenant of peace with Abner. And David has let him go in peace.

Let me tell you something. Abner is not a happy camper. He hates Joab, hates Abner. And not only does he hate Abner, but he's very angry at David.

I don't know about you, but I understand that. Like number two, Joab was angry with David because he felt that Abner could not be trusted. Abner had been chasing David and David's men around for several years now trying to kill David.

Then Abner lifts up Ishmael and declares him to be the king of Israel, and then he turns his back on him when things don't go well and just gives his allegiance to David. Joab says to David, this man's not trustworthy. This man is not sincere. He's going to use this against us. He's going to deceive us.

You should not have trusted him. Thirdly, I think Joab may have been concerned about his job. Joab was a chief military officer for David.

Abner was also a great military leader. And I think Joab may have thought to himself, well, David may just demote me, and he may promote him, Abner, to be the new general, the new military chief. I tell you, Joab had much reason to be angry. Abner getting the handshake of peace from David was terribly upsetting to him.

I point to a wicked murder. Look at verses 26 through 30. When Joab came out from David's presence, he sent messengers after Abner, and they brought him back from the cistern of Sirah.

But David did not know about it. When Abner returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside into the midst of the gate to speak with him privately, and there he struck him in the stomach so that he died, for the blood of Asahel his brother. Afterward, when David heard of it, he said, I and my kingdom are forever guiltless before the Lord for the blood of Abner the son of Ner.

May it fall upon the head of Joab and upon all the father's house, and may the house of Joab never be without one who has a discharge or who is leprous or who holds a spindle or who falls by the sword or who lacks bread. So Joab and Abishai, his brother, killed Abner because he had put their brother Asahel to death in the battle of Gibeon. Being very unhappy with David's peace plan with Abner, Joab decided to take matters into his own hands. And he sent messengers to go tell Abner that there needed to be a meeting back in Hebron and he needed to come immediately.

David knew nothing about this meeting. Abner thought that David had called the meeting. And so Abner comes. He meets with Joab.

I can imagine Joab putting his arm around his shoulder and walking over toward the gate. He says, we just need to talk a minute, Abner. And then he reaches down in his sleeve and he pulls out a dagger and he pops it into his belly and several times just jabs it into his belly and he kills Abner in the same way that Abner killed his brother Asahel. I can almost picture that scene in my mind as Abner just falls down to the ground. He's bleeding profusely.

He's in unbelievable pain. And Joab standing over him, taunting him, he says, this is what you get for killing my brother. This is what happens to you. This is what you get for chasing David around trying to kill him. Payback's tough, ain't it, Abner?

Well, bye. Now you just enjoy an eternity in hell. This murder was wicked on many levels. First, it was cowardly to slay a man under the pretense of peace. John Calvin said, if there had been a drop of reason and humanity in him, he ought to have stopped himself from committing such cruelty. It's Harry Reader who said this, the man doesn't make the moment and the moment doesn't make the man.

But the moment tells us what kind of man we are. And that's true. Primarily Joab sinned because he would not submit himself to his God-given authority. His God-given authority here was David. David was the king. And he is talking to David and yelling at him, screaming at him like David's nothing but a dog. Why did you do this, David? Implying that David had no right to enter into a peace treaty with Abner, that David should have killed him. Folks, the Bible tells us to be subject to the governing authorities. Hebrews chapter 13 verse 17 says this, Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls as those who have to give an account. David had a very careful, laid-out plan to try to bring peace to Israel, to put Israel and Judah together. Part of that plan was to enter into a peace treaty with Abner and make peace with him.

That was part of it. Let me take a moment and speak to the leadership here in our church. In Matthew chapter 23, Jesus is speaking primarily to the Pharisees, but the disciples are there.

They're hearing it too. The disciples had just been recently arguing about who was going to be greatest in the kingdom, what positions they were going to have in the kingdom. And Jesus says to them, He said, The greatest among you shall be your servant. And he who is exalted will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. We as teaching and ruling elders must realize that God's call in our lives is to be servants to you as the church.

And we are to look on that service as an absolute privilege before God. Richard Phillips had some powerful words to say to the church in its response to its leadership. He said, Joab's problem was that everything he said in contempt of Abner was equally true of himself. With this in mind, we should be wary of condemning Joab's murderous deed without searching for similarly sinful motives in our own hearts. Do we find ourselves quick to criticize the careful, prayerful deliberation of our spiritual leaders? When decisions are made that are plainly contrary to God's Word, we may be forced to oppose or reject leaders in churches and denominations. Yet pastors and elders are often criticized over matters merely of judgment and prudence in applying God's Word.

The matter that divides many churches have little to do with biblical doctrine or ministry, but rather focus on church decorations, music styles, or differences in personality. Paul urges believers to be eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace. The first step in this direction is a spirit of humility and submission to ordain leadership in the church.

I agree with Phillips there. Our elders and our deacons in this church need your support, and we get it, and I praise God for that. Folks, in the light of our nation's changing direction right now, I want you to think about what could happen to the church.

Hear me out. I believe that the church in America is getting ready to experience persecution like we have never seen before, and I think we are going to be shaken like we have never seen before. I believe that persecution is coming in ways that is going to really shake us. I believe that those that are phony in the church are going to bail out. I think they're going to renounce their faith. I think those that are true are going to go through deep persecution, and it's going to be about great purification in our life. I believe that possibly what's coming, maybe right here in America, right here in Harrisburg, is that there may be persecution that we experience that is going to do a mighty work, and it may be our greatest hour. It may be the time when God uses us to bring revival to this nation.

Folks, that's happening in China right now. There are people coming to Christ in unbelievable ways under horrible, terrible persecution. That's what happened in the early church.

That persecution came, and the true people of God fell deeper in love with Jesus than they've ever been before. Pray for your pastors here. Pray for your ruling elders here. Pray for your deacons here, and I know that you've been doing that. I thank God for the attitude that you've had as a church through this crazy coronavirus mess.

You didn't pout. You continue to lead to sacrificially give, and you supported us. I praise God for that.

Folks, the Lord has been faithful to Grace Church, and you have been faithful to Him. That was not true of Joab. His murder of Abner had the potential of doing much harm to his people and to his King David.

That takes me to point three, a blessed peacemaker. Look at verses 31 through 39. And David said to Joab and all the people who were with him, Tear your clothes, put on sackcloth, and mourn before Abner. And King David followed the beer. They buried Abner at Hebron, and the king lifted up his voice and wept at the grave of Abner, and all the people wept, and the king lamented for Abner, saying, Should Abner die as a fool dies, your hands were not bound, your feet were not fettered, as one falls before the wicked you have fallen. And all the people wept over him again. Then all the people came to persuade David to eat bread while it was yet day.

But David swore, saying, God, do so to me, and more also if I taste bread or anything else till the sun goes down. And all the people took notice of it, and it pleased them, as everything that the king did pleased all the people. So all the people and all Israel understood that day that it had not been the king's will to put to death Abner, the son of Ner. And the king said to his servants, Do you not know that a prince and a great man has fallen this day in Israel? And I was gentle today, though anointed king. These men, the sons of Zeruiah, are more severe than I.

The Lord will repay the evil doer according to his wickedness. Jesus said, Blessed are the peacemakers, for they should be called the sons of God. David's desire was to unite the tribe of Judah along with the other 11 tribes of Israel.

That would be no easy task. And now Joab has tricked Abner and then murdered him. That was going to make unification much, much tougher. So what should David have done differently? Number one, he should have realized that Joab was still hurt and angry over the death of his brother. When David made peace with Abner, Joab wasn't even around. And it made Joab feel that David didn't really care about him. And then once again, I think Joab was concerned that maybe Abner would come in and take his job. David could have prevented a lot of this. David could have said to Joab, Look, your job's not in jeopardy. My allegiance is not to Abner. My allegiance is to you. He could have done that.

Number two, think of this. When Abner offered David the 11 tribes of Israel and said to David, You will be our king, David immediately thought back to a wrong that had been done to him. He said, Saul stole my wife. He took my wife that I had killed 100 Philistines, actually 204. He took my wife and gave her to another man.

That is a wrong that needs to be righted. And he said, You bring my wife back to me. That's what David did. David had been offended, and he wanted retribution.

He wanted something for that. And he wanted his wife back. And you know, here was Joab, who had also been offended. And yet David didn't even think about Joab. Joab had been hurt, just like David had. Abner had killed Joab's brother.

David could have wisely brought the two in, set them down together, and talked with them. He could have jumped on Abner right there in front of Joab and said, What you did was wrong. It was a travesty, and you need to make it right with this man.

You need to maybe pay restitution to him, maybe livestock, maybe real estate, do something to let him know that this was a tragedy and that's not what you wanted to do. That didn't happen. David did not do that. Joab took matters into his own hands, and what did he do?

He murdered Abner. Richard Phillips addressed this well. He said this, Peacemaking usually involves difficult and prayerful ministry to reconcile in bittered parties and put long-held grievances to rest. Furthermore, having given Abner assurances of safety and peace, it was incumbent on David to take action to fulfill this promise, especially when Joab had denounced David's peace and departed in anger.

David had an obligation to take positive steps to secure the reality of his peace for those under his care. In John 16, 33, Jesus said this, These things have I spoken unto me, that in me you might have peace, in the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world. You know, we expect unbelievers to oppose us.

We expect the world to stand against us. But when it's people in our church or people in our family that stand against us, the hurt is a million times worse. Twenty-five years ago, I listened to a sermon that John MacArthur preached on, the subject of betrayal. And John said that there was a young man, teenage young man that came to his church and after the service was over, the young man came to him and told him that he wanted to be saved. John shared the gospel with him. The young man prayed with him, trusted Christ as his Lord and Savior.

Started going to that church. After about three weeks, John MacArthur found out that the young man was homeless. And he went to him and said, look, we got an extra bedroom in our house.

I want you to come and live with us. And the young man moved in with John, fed him three meals a day, put him all the way through high school. They have a college there on campus, the King's College. After he finished high school, John paid his tuition and sent him all the way through college. He graduated from college.

He got a great job. And it wasn't long after that that he turned on John and he started lying to him about him. And not only lying about him, but just viciously gossiping against him. Absolutely broke John's heart. The elders went to this young man. They begged him to stop and he wouldn't. They finally had to excommunicate him out of the church. John, in the midst of that sermon that he was preaching, began to just stop. He got choked up and he wept. He said, this was the most unexpected and most hurtful thing that I've ever had to deal with.

He said, every time I think about it, it just brings me to my knees in tears. That's what David wants to stop. David knows what strife and division and jealousy can do. So when David hears about Abner's murder, what does he do?

He plunges himself into a plan to promote peace. His first concern was that those eleven tribes of Israel know that he had nothing to do with this murder. And he lets them know, this was not my idea.

This is not what I wanted to happen. This was Joab that did this. In verse 28 he says this, I and my kingdom are forever guiltless before the Lord for the blood of Abner, the son of Nur. David publicly denounced Joab's sin. He even asked God to put a curse on Joab's family because of what he did. Was Joab's sin that bad?

Yeah, it absolutely was that bad. His brother had been killed in war. Abner told his brother to not pursue him. Abner did not want to kill him. But his brother came and it was either kill or be killed and it was an act of war when it happened.

It was not an act of war when Joab killed Abner. It was a deceptive thing. He tricked him. He came to him in the guise of peace and then killed him. And he did it where? He did it in Hebron. You know what Hebron was?

Hebron was a city of refuge. It was a city where no retaliation was ever supposed to take place. And there's where he killed him. David did not order Joab's execution. It was a crime here that was punishable by death. It was a crime that he could have died for and probably should have died for. And David did not do that.

Why not? I think Joab had a lot of loyal soldiers. And David probably knew that it was not politically expedient for him to do so. And so what did David say? David said, we'll let the Lord handle it. The Lord deal with Joab.

I think it was a cop-out. David put politics before faith and it cost him. Once again Richard Phillips. Commentators criticized David for not obeying God's word by punishing his subordinate. Certainly this indecision would come back to haunt David. While Joab would often serve David well in the years to come, his insubordination would occur again. It is similarly a mistake when divisive or unruly church leaders are permitted to retain their office without proper discipline. Usually on the grounds that the discipline process is too painful and disruptive.

Under normal circumstances it is better to faithfully exercise proper discipline without taking counsel of fears. Before David simply was not able to rein in Joab completely. If so, we know that he resented Joab from that time onward. Joab's punishment finally came when David was given his dying instruction to his son and successor King Solomon. By then Joab had been implicated in the plot of Adonijah to steal the throne from Solomon.

When David ordered his death for this continued insubordination, he threw it in the grounds of Joab's long unpunished guilt in the slaying of Abner. Then David gave Abner an honorable burial right there in Hebron. He followed the beer, the casket, followed it all the way out to the burial place. And then he spoke. He preached. He gave a eulogy and talked about the things that Abner had done that were right and stated that Abner's death was a wrongful death, that it should never have happened, that it was a foolish death.

And then after that he mourned and he fasted for the rest of that day. Folks, the people of Israel saw that and they realized that David was doing everything he could to bring about peace. Point four is the true Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9-6, For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and he shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. In Colossians 1, verses 19-20, we are told what true peace is. For it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell, and having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself by him.

Jesus brought peace by the shedding of his precious, sinless blood. That is called an atonement. It reconciled sinful man to a holy God.

It is also called a propitiation. And that means that when that blood was shed and it was applied to the hearts of sinful man, that it appeased the wrath of God. Our world does not understand the horror of people's enmity against God. And we had this idea, well, our sin's not that big a deal.

It doesn't really matter that much. God's a loving God. He's just going to overlook our sin and kind of turn his back on it.

He can't do that. Our God is a God of perfect justice. Our sin had to be dealt with, and the only way it could be dealt with, the only way you and I could be reconciled to a holy God is for the precious, sinless blood, righteous blood, of Jesus to be shed on our behalf so that that blood could wash away our sin and put us in the right relationship with God.

In closing, let me ask you this. Do you know where you're going when you die? Are you sure that you're going to heaven when you die?

Do you know it beyond a shadow of a doubt? If not, would you come to the Prince of Peace? Would you come to Jesus? Would you repent of your sins, turn from your sin, turn to faith in him, surrender to his lordship? Jesus said, He who comes to me, I will in no wise cast out.

Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for the Prince of Peace. We thank you for Jesus coming to this earth with the specific purpose of dying on the cross to be in reconciliation between sinful man and a holy God.

That atonement through the shed blood of Christ was our only hope. We had nothing to offer you, but our attempts at righteousness that you said were like filthy rags before you. Nothing could clear the enmity between us and you except the spotless, sinless blood of Jesus. Jesus is our Prince of Peace. He calls us to be peacemakers. In these days of confusion and frustration, we have been angered by lies and corruption. Help us to refuse to compromise, and yet may we be so filled with the love of Christ that we may fulfill your calling to make peace. Empower us to do your work. Forgive us when we fail. May our dependence be on you. For it is in Jesus' holy and precious name we pray. Amen.