Today on Summit Life with Jiddy Greer. Happy Monday and welcome back to Summit Life with pastor, author and apologist J.D.
Greer. As always, I'm your host, Molly Vidovich. You know, when life takes an unexpected turn, we have a choice. We can take matters into our own hands or we can do things God's way and wait on Him to fulfill His promises.
And guess what? God's way usually involves other people. In today's message, Pastor J.D. uses Abigail's story of wisdom and discretion to show us why we cannot accomplish the promise of the Spirit using the power of the flesh. We instead need to leave vengeance to God and respond with His grace. Remember, if you've missed any of our new teaching on the life of David, catch up for free at jdgreer.com. Let's rejoin Pastor J.D. now in 1 Kings chapter 25. Abigail was a model of godly counsel in every way.
Let me look at it. She speaks with calm clarity in an emotionally charged situation. She is as cool as a kosher cucumber. She does not freak out. She comes humbly.
She bows down. She shows honor. She doesn't come haughtily or filled with rage or self-righteousness. She comes kindly, bringing food and warmth. But she speaks boldly and honestly.
She doesn't mince words. Best of all, she grounds her counsel in who God is and the promises that He's made to David. God give us friends like Abigail.
Amen. Some of the best chapters of human history for and for sure some of the most important chapters in the history of the church have been written by strong, wise, courageous women. Women who saved the day when the men around them were acting like fools, which leads me to our second lesson. Number two, ladies, you can be a wise woman and a blessing to your family, even with a foolish husband.
Somebody needs to hear it, okay? See, I say that because sometimes a woman ends up in a marriage that is, shall we say, not ideal. Maybe she got married too young. Maybe she got married before she was a Christian.
Maybe the guy just changed, but whatever. Bottom line is she's married to a guy who is not leading his life as a spiritual leader. And so now she feels trapped. She feels like she's never going to be able to make a positive impact on the world. She's never going to be able to make a positive impact on her family.
Every week listening to me, I'm guessing there are hundreds of you women in that category. Learn from Abigail. Abigail saves the life of her husband and her children despite her bad marriage. Some of you are in difficult marriages and I don't want to sugarcoat it, okay? I know it's hard, but God has you there for a reason. You can probably see how God has already used that difficult marriage to teach you more about him, right? Usually the best insights about God come through pain and difficulty, right? It's like Socrates, who was not a Christian. It's like he always said, by all means marry. If you get a good spouse, you'll be happy. If you get a bad one, you'll become a philosopher, right?
Or we might say a theologian. I've already described similar to how a pearl is formed in an oyster. That beautiful, priceless pearl starts out in the heart of the oyster as an irritant.
It's a grain of sand. The oyster covers over that irritant with the pearl coating and through years and years of living with that irritant, something incredibly valuable is formed. No irritant, no pearl. For some of you, that difficult relationship is the irritant that forms the pearl of God's character in you. Which means you can go home today and start calling your husband, your little pearl. It'll be kind of an inside joke, okay?
Just kidding, don't say that. But I will say that God is using this marriage to produce beauty in you and, and this is important too, just as he did with Abigail, God has you there to save the lives of others in your family. 1 Corinthians 7, Paul said that a believing mom in an unbelieving family sanctifies her kids.
Sanctify means to set apart. Paul is saying that her presence, that presence of that believing mom in that home sets apart her kids for grace. It gives them a chance to see the gospel lived out and to believe. There's a guy on our staff team who told me that the only Christian in his family, the only one he knew of was the grandmother. He said she faithfully stayed in an environment where she was lonely, often ridiculed, where she always went to church all by herself. He said, but one by one through the years, I watched as every single one of us grandkids got saved. Now he said, all of us grandchildren were all believers, all because of a grandmother who stayed in a difficult situation where she felt alone.
I'm just saying that might be you. God might even use you to save the life of your husband. 1 Corinthians 7, the apostle Paul talks about an unbelieving man who was woken up because of the consistency, the wisdom and the patient, faithful beauty of his wife. They see how you react to hardship and it opens up their heart to the gospel. You know, my point is simply this, who knows what God is going to do with your faithfulness? Don't abandon your posts. Learn from Abigail.
Even if you're married to a fool, God can still use you as a tool. Okay. I'm just proud of that one. I've got a corresponding point for you men. Number three, men, don't be a nayball.
I mean, this is pretty straightforward. I don't even have a lot to say about it, but what a terrible story to be told about your life. Don't make your wife have to go behind your back to accomplish these things. Don't make her go behind your back to get your kids in church. Don't make her go behind your back to honor God with your finances. She's always trying to sneak a gift in. Don't make her be the one that's always trying to discipline the kids and get them to come to small group and getting them up in the morning, get them dressed for church. Don't make her do that because you're pursuing a life of foolishness.
You need to lead in such a way that her wisdom complements yours. So men, are you the spiritual leader in your family? Are you the leader in generosity? Are you the one that's saying we need to sacrifice here? We need to make this a priority.
We need to do this. Are you leading in discipline? Some of you men need to wake up out of your nayball ways. In fact, maybe you're here this morning and your wife has been inviting you to church, pleading with you to come, and now you're here.
Friend, that's not accidental. You may not have it all figured out yet, but the journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step, and it's time for you today to take that step. Let me show you how the story ends. Verse 36. And Abigail returns home and came to Nabal, and behold, he was holding a feast in his house. It was like the feast of a king. And Nabal's heart was merry within him, for he was very drunk.
Crunk, the kids would say. So she told him nothing at all until the morning light and the morning when the wine had gone out of Nabal. Now, I have to point this out.
It's just too good to pass up. This chapter is filled with Hebrew plays on words that we miss in English. Scholars say this is all very obvious in Hebrew. Nabal is not only the word for fool, it also sounds like the Hebrew word for wineskin, Nabal. And get this, that next phrase, when the wine had gone out of him, that was a Hebrew euphemism for peeing. And this chapter, by the way, is filled with references to peeing.
I don't know any other way to say that. I'm only pointing out one. There's like three of them in there.
If you look at my transcript, I've got them in the footnotes. The author is saying Nabal is nothing more than an insignificant wineskin peeing away his life. When the wine is gone, there ain't nothing left of him.
Now it's easy to put all this together. In chapter 24, the author made poop jokes. In chapter 25, he makes pee jokes. I'm not kidding. Okay, look at my transcript. They're obvious in Hebrew. So middle school boys, I want you to hear me very clearly.
Tell your parents later that I said, if you like to make potty jokes, you're in good company. Okay, huh? See what I did there?
All right, all right, back to the text. When the wine had gone out of Nabal, his wife told him those things in his heart died within him. He became like a stone. About 10 days later, the Lord struck Nabal and he died. Now that's tragic for Nabal, of course, but the author is trying to show us that just like Abigail said, God is going to fight David's battles for him. If David will just leave things in God's hand, David doesn't need to take vengeance on fools like Nabal. God will do it. That leads us to the fourth lesson.
You cannot accomplish the promise of the Spirit and the power of the flesh. That was the theme. This is the theme that ties this story to chapter 24.
It's what makes it part two. Only that in this chapter, David almost goes back on the lesson he demonstrated for us so beautifully in the previous chapter. When life takes an unexpected turn, you've got to make a choice. You can take matters into your own hands, or you can do things God's way and wait on him to fulfill his promises. Maybe the primary way that you and I are tempted to take matters back into our own hands is when we face that temptation to exact vengeance on our enemies. It's like I told you last week, when you are wronged, when somebody insults you, somebody mistreats you, somebody does something unjust to you, it's like a little tuning fork gets rung inside of you that feels like it's in complete harmony with the universe. And you know, when you're getting back at somebody, it doesn't feel wrong, does it? It feels right. Oh, it feels right.
You feel nigh unto deity. When you are telling that person off, when you're sticking it to them, you feel like, yes, this is right. When somebody cuts you off in traffic, when somebody is rude to you in traffic, pulls into your lane and runs up on your bumper and then has the audacity to somehow act like it is your fault. Then lay on the horn and then zoom by you giving you the one finger salute.
And you're like, this is an oddly specific example. Yes. Do you just instinctively roll down the window and yell, bless you friend. No, your instinct is to speed up and to respond with unkindness to their unkindness. That's our instinct.
And momentary traffic episodes might not be that big of a deal, but that insane instinct works its way out in almost every relationship we have, whether it's with our spouse or friends, people in a small group, our employer, we think to restore righteousness, we need to take matters into our own hands. So your friend is self-absorbed and they are insensitive to your needs. So you respond by being aloof and distant.
Your boss is a jerk. So you respond with sloppy work or by finding ways to undermine him or her. Your spouse is rude and they're insensitive to you. So you're cold and petty toward them.
Some family member lets you down or makes you mad. So you blow up and scream at them. You realize all of those responses are you trying to fix a situation by the power of your flesh. We think that by repaying unkindness with unkindness, we can fix that person because hopefully we think when that other person gets a taste of my anger and they understand how they've hurt me, that will make them change their ways. Feels so right, doesn't it? Makes so much sense.
Only problem is, have you noticed, are you old enough to know that it never really works? Y'all listen carefully to this verse from James in the New Testament. The wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
Therefore, put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. The anger of men cannot produce the righteousness of God. The anger of men cannot build God's kingdom or advance it in somebody's life. It feels like when you see a lack of righteousness in your spouse or in your kids or in your boss or your friends, it feels like if you get angry and you punish them for what they did, that will wake them up into righteousness.
Isn't that what you think? But James very clearly says here, nope, the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God in somebody else. It just produces unrighteousness in you. There's something else that produces righteousness in people.
What is it? He tells you the implanted word sown in grace, that's what produces righteousness. So he says, put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness because out of the wicked comes wickedness and respond instead with meekness and forgiveness and grace because that is how God's righteousness is produced in the world. That's how God's righteousness is produced in somebody else.
Think about it. That's how Jesus produced righteousness in you, right? Jesus did not produce righteousness in you by paying you back for your sin. He produced righteousness in you by showing you grace. God's law told me what I was supposed to do. His threats of judgment may have scared me into some outward conformity to those commands, but only God's grace gave me the desire to obey Him. Only grace produced real righteousness in me. You're listening to Summit Life with Pastor J.D.
Greer. To find out more about this ministry, visit jdgreer.com anytime. Before we get back to today's teaching, I wanted to let you know about a great new featured resource that we've created just for you this month. It's an eight part Bible study focusing on key passages and events from the life of David, which will make an excellent supplement to this new teaching series we're in here on the program. King David is one of the most beloved and influential people in the entire Bible.
However, for us, his story is more than just an interesting biographical account. David's story lays down for us the pattern of salvation, creating a picture of the man who would one day come to earth to be our Messiah. As you'll learn if you stick with us, we constantly return to the message of the gospel in everything we do here at Summit Life, and this resource is no exception. We'd love to send you a copy of this study as a thank you for your gift of $35 or more to this ministry.
You can give now by calling us at 866-335-5220, or perhaps it's easier online by going to jdgreer.com. Now let's get back to today's teaching in 1 Samuel. Once again, here's Pastor J.D. You will never accomplish the work of the Spirit in somebody else's life by the power of the flesh. Paul says, Romans 12, don't be conquered by evil. Conquer evil with good. You want to conquer evil around you? You want to conquer evil in your boss? You want to conquer evil in your spouse? You want to conquer evil in your kids or in your friends?
That word conquered is a military term in Greek. How do you conquer evil in others? You don't do it by repaying evil with evil, which feels instinctive. You do it by repaying evil with good and by trusting God and letting the Spirit work. Taking matters into your own hands doesn't truly conquer evil in them or in you.
It just makes a mess for everybody, right? Many of you know Rick Langston. He's one of our oldest pastors on staff here at Summit Church. He and his wife, Judy, have a great marriage, exemplary marriage.
They recently celebrated 41 years of marriage. One day Rick told me, he said, I said to her recently, I was like, hey, you know, for these last 41 years, I have not been a perfect spouse. Over those years, I've often been selfish and rude, but Judy, every time I do, you stay so calm. And y'all, it's true, if you know her, she stays so calm always. Rick was like, how do you do that?
How do you maintain that calmness? And she said, oh, oh, it's easy. Whenever you blow up at me, I just go and clean the bathroom.
I scrub the toilet and it just takes my anger away. And Rick was like, that helps? She said, yeah, because I always use your toothbrush to scrub the toilet. That is not really true. I just made that story up. But here's another one that is true.
Here's another that is true. Winston Churchill had a long-standing feud with a lady of the English nobility named Lady Astor. Their long-standing acrimony was so bad.
This is not a joke. It's a test of two by multiple people, multiple sources, that people knew never to invite the two of them to the same dinner party because for sure, like vinegar and baking soda, some blow up would happen. Well, sure enough, some noob to London invites them both. And over dinner at the table, Churchill and this lady get into this ferocious argument. And Lady Astor shouted at him across the table, if I were your wife, Winston, I would poison your coffee. To which Churchill replied, and if I were your husband, I would drink it. Right?
Once again, these are validating. So once Lady Astor was throwing a costume ball and she had to invite Winston Churchill because he was the prime minister, but she didn't want to invite him. And so she begrudgingly sent him an invitation. And when Churchill accepted the invitation, he sent back his RSVP asking her what costume he might wear so that nobody would recognize him because he did not want to be seen at her house. She responded that if he came sober, nobody would recognize him. When he went to the party, they say they got an RSVP. At one point, she noticed him with like a martini in his hand or something. And she yelled, Winston, you're drunk. To which he replied, and I kid you not. He said, yes, but you are ugly. And in the morning, I shall be sober. That was his response. Now, amazing responses, world-class wit. Right? But you know this, their relationship never got better.
She was never like, you know what? I'm changing. That's a good one. Tip for tat, just deepen the divide. Repaying evil with evil never stops evil.
It just multiplies it. If you want to be a vehicle of God's power, if you want to produce true righteousness in the hearts of the people that you love, and you want to produce true righteousness in the world, then you're going to leave vengeance to God and respond with grace instead. Because again, y'all, isn't that how Jesus changed us? Which brings me to the last point, maybe the most important point of this story. Number five, is David really the king that we're looking for? Is David really the king that we're looking for? In some ways, y'all wish this story ended with David relenting of his desire to take vengeance on Nabal.
Because you might be able to forgive that as a temporary lapse, but the author then tucks in a subtle little detail that portends much worse things to come. Then David sent and spoke to Abigail, to take Abigail as his wife. Verse 42, and Abigail hurried and rose and mounted a donkey, and her five young women attended her. She followed the messengers of David and became his wife.
Now at first, that sounds great, right? Storybook ending. Abigail's an amazing woman, a good catch for sure, but you see, that began for David, the multiplication of wives. You see the next verse, verse 43, David also took a henna home of Jezreel, and both of them became his wives. That's now wives number two and number three for David. David unfortunately begins to follow the custom of his day to exploit his position as king to take lots of wives. But see, in Deuteronomy 17, God had explicitly warned future Israelite kings not to do this. This chapter, 1st Samuel 25, you probably rewrite over and don't even realize what's happening, but 1st Samuel 25 is one of the first indications that David may not be the promised king that we've been looking for, hoping for, waiting for.
You see, up until this point, he seemed like he was. David was the humble shepherd boy who trusted God and lived with undaunted courage. David, David, up until now, has carried himself with grace and trusted God in impossible circumstances. But here, here we see in this chapter first, we see a lapse in faith where David succumbs to a vengeful spirit. And second, we see him start to leverage his kingly privilege to multiply wives in direct disobedience to a command of God. Y'all, we're just a few chapters into this, but I want you to understand, y'all, we're just a few chapters into David's story, and already our hearts are beginning to yearn for a king more righteous than David. The whole point is that our salvation is never gonna come from man, no matter how strong or how righteous they appear, for all have sinned, all have sinned, and all, including David and Abigail and Billy Graham and Mother Teresa and me and you and your grandma and your parents, all of us have sinned and all of us have fallen short there is none righteous, not even one, even David will fail us.
Your dad will fail you, your spouse will fail you, I will fail you. In fact, the irony is in this story, David is not the picture of Jesus in this story, Abigail is. I mean, think about it. Abigail is a wise, discerning sage who rides in on a donkey, humbles herself, then takes the blame for everything that's happened on herself, even though she was innocent. Then she offered to David a meal of peace, which happened to be, by the way, a meal of lamb, and by her bravery and her sacrifice, purchases salvation for everybody in her household. David's not the best picture of Jesus in this story, she is. And we're starting to see that David may not be the hope for king who's gonna give us identity, security, and happiness. No, those things are gonna have to come through a later king, a descendant of David, who's gonna lay down his life for all of us treasonous Nabals.
By the way, if you're looking for you in this story, you're a Nabal. We're all strutting around like kings, ungrateful to God for his kindness, despising and rebuffing his goodness in Jesus. The true king, like Abigail, comes riding in on a donkey to save us from the wrath that we deserve, taking vengeance on himself, dying for us instead. The true king, the king that you and I are searching for, is not David. It's gonna be the son of David, but not just the son of David. He's also gonna be the son of God. And unlike David, that son of God is never gonna falter or fail. He's never gonna need to be reminded to trust God.
He is never gonna leverage his position to abuse us and abuse us for himself. He's gonna become the hope, not just of Israel, he's gonna become the hope of all the nations. And whether you know it or not, he's the king you're searching for also.
He's the hope of your heart. We pray this teaching has touched your heart and that Jesus is in your sights, even right now. This is Summit Life, the Bible teaching ministry of Pastor J.D.
Greer. Before we go, I want to say a special thank you to the MVPs of this ministry, our gospel partners. Each time you hear a Summit Life broadcast or listen to one of Pastor J.D. 's Ask the Pastor podcasts or read one of his books or blog posts, you have our gospel partners to thank for that. So what is a gospel partner?
I'm glad you asked. This is a group of ministry partners who give generously and regularly each and every month to fuel this work. Whether you give $35 a month or $350 a month, we want to sincerely thank you for your partnership. And if you're not a gospel partner and would like to be, you can join with us today. And each month we curate a special premium resource to say thanks and to help you grow in your walk with the Lord as a disciple making disciple. This month, we have a brand new eight-week Life of David Bible study that teaches through eight key passages in King David's life, complementing our teaching series perfectly. To join us as a gospel partner or to give a one-time gift, call us now at 866-335-5220.
That's 866-335-5220. Or you can join with us by heading to jdgrier.com. I'm Molly Vidovitch, and tomorrow we'll continue our Life of David series by learning how not to die.
And who doesn't want to hear that? Join us Tuesday on Summit Life with J.D. Greer. Today's program was produced and sponsored by J.D. Greer Ministries.
