Well, good morning, everybody. It's great to see you. Great to sing songs of praise to the Lord to one another and remind ourselves of the truths that are there for us contained in God's Word that we get to sing about. Well, many years ago, I was a part of a Christian organization that was just thriving. It was bursting at the seams, you could say. But then several years in, when I was involved, the very beloved leader was fired by the board. And many people were upset. Many people were angry. Many people were grumbling. And they assumed the worst of the board. They assumed they knew the motives of the board. They were engaging in what I would call Christian slandering, sanctified slandering is another term I've used for it. And they were causing a lot of problems. And it was in that season I was asked to give a devotional to the staff of that organization that I was a part of. And so as I prayed about what to talk about, I chose to speak on trusting God and trusting our leaders in the midst of a very chaotic situation. And I warned them against following emotions and encouraged them to instead trust Trust the leaders, trust the Lord, and know that God is sovereign. And the staff struggled, but to their credit, they handled things well, even though they didn't know all of the details. They didn't know everything that was going on. But the damage that was done by the upset people was significant. And as professing Christians, they were actually acting more like the world than they were Christians, and the organization shrank considerably, and it took several years to recover, but it actually never fully recovered from all the damage that had been done by these people. And later, through just circumstances, it was revealed that the leader who had been fired had been dealing corruptly with finances and the board had been vindicated in a sense, but the damage was already done. And likewise, when we come to 2 Samuel chapter 20, we come on the heels, as we saw last week as chapter 19 ended, on the heels of grumbling and complaining happening in Israel that is going to lead to much damage. And what should have been a joyful homecoming for David instead was anything but that. David's return was instead marred by Israel complaining that they didn't have more of a role to play in bringing David back across the Jordan River. And as we saw last week, the discontentment of Israel resulted in the suspicion of Judah, which resulted in complaining and grumbling. And as we looked at last week, it's in discontent hearts make marked by grumbling and complaining that the seeds of division are sown and find fertile soil. And what we are going to see in chapter 20 is those seeds of division have taken root. And so open up in your Bibles. to 2 Samuel chapter 20 if you're not there already. And we're going to work through this entire chapter this morning as we've been slowly working through this book since last January. We should finish it by January. So, let's begin in verse 1. I'm not going to read the whole chapter at this time. And there happened to be there a rebel, so at the Jordan River, a rebel whose name was Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjamite. And he blew a trumpet and said, We have no share in David, nor do we have inheritance in the son of Jesse. Every man to his tent, so Israel. So every man of Israel deserted David and followed Sheba the son of Bichri. But the men of Judah from the Jordan as far as Jerusalem remained loyal to their king. Now David came to his house at Jerusalem, and the king took the ten women, his concubines, whom he had left to keep the house, and put them in seclusion and supported them, but he did not go into them. So they were shut up to the day of their death, living in widowhood. And the king said to Amasa, Assemble the men of Judah for me within three days, and be present here yourself. So Amasa went to assemble the men of Judah. But he delayed longer than the set time which David had appointed them. And David said to Abishai, Now Sheba, son of Bichri, will do more harm than Absalom. Hold on, the pages are stuck together. Now Joab was dressed in battle armor And on it was a belt with a sword fastened in its sheath at his hips. As he was going forward, it fell out. Then Joab said to Amasa, Are you in health, my brother? And Joab took Amasa by the beard with his right hand to kiss him. But Amasa did not notice the sword that was in Joab's hand. And he struck him with it, and the stomach and his entrails poured out on the ground. And he did not strike him again. Thus he died. Then Joab and Abishai, his brother, pursued Sheba the son of Bichri. Meanwhile, one of Joab's men stood near Amasa and said, Whoever favors Joab and whoever is for David, follow Joab. But Amasa wallowed in his blood in the middle of the highway. And when the man saw that all the people stood still, he moved Amasa from the highway to the field and threw a garment over him. When he saw that everyone who had come upon him halted, When he was removed from the highway, all the people went on after Joab to pursue Sheba the son of Bichri. Let's pray. Father, this is your word. And we ask, Lord, that you would help us to see more clearly what we need to see from this text. in order that we might understand better how to live in light of who you are and in light of who Christ our Savior is. And Lord, we pray that you would work through your spirit to accomplish in each one of us what needs to be accomplished. As we just sang, for your glory and for our good, that we would love you more and love each other better. We pray this in Christ's name. Amen. Well, the first point we need to see here is don't listen to a rebel. Don't listen to a rebel. It's a bad idea. But as we're going to see, it can so easily happen. Sheba here is a discontent Benjamite who is an opportunist. He sees what's going on and he takes advantage of it. And he's a rebel. The word here used of him means he is a worthless man. He is a scoundrel. It's the same word used of Nabal, who you maybe remember from 1 Samuel, whom God killed because he was, like Sheba, a worthless scoundrel. Sheba's a man who rejects God's chosen king and won't submit to him, and consequently he is rejecting God and will not submit to God. And as a scoundrel and a rebel, he sees no problem in rebelling against God's anointed king, rebelling against the covenant between David and the rest of Israel. Nor does he see a problem in leading others to rebel and be insubordinate as well. So Sheba here has capitalized on this fertile soil of discontentment and grumbling and complaining. Or as Robert Bergen puts it, the bitter feelings aroused in the confrontation between the Judahites and their northern neighbors at Gilgal served as kindling for a second fire of rebellion against David. A troublemaker named Sheba was the match that ignited it all. He's a troublemaker. And so consequently, he blows the trumpet and calls out, as we see in verse 1, The call here is a call to abandon David, to abandon the nation that God has established, and instead return to a form of tribalism that Israel had been in before. And essentially what he's saying is, let us disband from David, let us disband from that authority over us, and let us, each man, do what is best in his own eyes. It's really a cry to return to the days of judges. The claim is that there's nothing from David here. David isn't giving us what we want and so let's disband from him and do our own thing. And tragically we see here his words carry momentum and we read that every man of Israel went with him. They followed this rebel. They followed this scoundrel, turning their backs on David and walking away from the Jordan River and their king. So much for the joyful homecoming for David. We can just imagine him here seeing this. He is returned to a fractured and fragile kingdom, with only Judah remaining loyal to him, which is fascinating, since the rebellion he had just survived started in Judah. And here we see the fickleness of our human nature. Because first, Israel is calling for David to return. David returns, and they turn their back on him and walk away. Judah had let a rebellion happen in them against David, and now they're the ones bringing David back. Kind of interesting to consider. And friends, last week we were warned from the text we had in chapter 19 of fostering discontentment and engaging in grumbling and complaining. Just consider here, if Israel had not been grumbling and complaining, Sheba's words would have found no soil to take root in. They would have just dismissed him. Would have gone nowhere. And here we should be warned about following those who rebel against God's structures of authority, no matter how convincing or biblical they sound. Engaging in things that God forbids is never the path to righteousness. It's never the path to peace. It's never the path to joy, no matter how much we try to justify it. There's a lot of Proverbs to think about in regard to 2 Samuel 19 and 20. One of them is this, Proverbs 26. Where there is no wood, the fire goes out. Where there is no tailbearer, strife ceases. As charcoal is to burning coals and wood to fire, so is a contentious man to kindle strife. The words of a tailbearer are like tasty trifles. They go down into the inmost body. And so friends, we need to be careful who we follow because sometimes we unintentionally follow a rebel. Sometimes due to bitterness, discontentment, or frustration with things. We can follow someone we shouldn't who is leading us to rebel against God's word. Dale Ralph Davis says rightly of this text, there are Sheba's in the church. Some of them are evangelicals of the stricter sort. They rebel against rightful authority. They are determined to go their own way, to call their own shots. They lift up their hand against the king. And in so doing, sow seeds of conflict and division. Romans 16 addresses this. Paul writes, He goes on, And that's what we're seeing on our Wednesday night study of 2 Corinthians. This is what's happening in the church at Corinth that we're dealing with. Now it's interesting to note, Sheba's going to be defeated. And his rebellion is not as effective as initially seems it is. But the damage has been done. The words and the seeds of division he sowed linger long after, resulting in a continued viewing of David with suspicion. A viewing of Solomon with suspicion that results in an immediate rebellion against Solomon's son. It's interesting to note that just over 40 years later from this chapter, Israel will revolt and divide and separate from Judah. And they use Sheba's words. They say in 1 Kings 12, 16, the people answered the king saying, What share have we in David? We have no inheritance in the son of Jessedie. To your tents, O Israel. Now see to your own house, O David. So Israel departed to their tents. It's tragic to note the words of this scoundrel remain, and they come back, though he's been dead for 40 years. Reminds us of Proverbs chapter 11. Well, this brings us now to our second point here. Flee from self-interest. Flee from self-interest. In these verses, we see the damage that self-interest brings upon God's people. We're going to see it from David, we're going to see it from Absalom, we're going to see it from Joab. At first, as we get to verse 3, it almost just seems like a passing note, not of much significance. But it's really important to the author, he would not have it here, in the middle of this incredibly important story. So verse 3, Now David came to his house at Jerusalem, and the king took the ten women, his concubines, whom he had left to keep the house, and put them in seclusion and supported them. But he did not go into them. So they were shut up to the day of their death, living in widowhood. These verses are important to the author because it is a reminder of the long lasting impact that sin has. This is what we've seen all through 1st and 2nd Samuel is what we've called the ripple effect of sin. It's not just the one person's sin, but how it ripples out and affects those closest and those farther out. It continues to roll. These 10 women are suffering here because of the sinful actions of David with another woman. David acted in self-interest with Bathsheba and destruction came as a result. But I think the author is also reminding us, even though it's interesting, God's not really mentioned in chapter 20. But he's reminding us here in verse 3, God is active. God is sovereign. Because God had promised to David that as a consequence of his sin, this situation would come to pass. In 2 Samuel 12, verse 11, you may remember this. And remember it was Absalom who did this to these ten women. It was him acting in his self-interest that led to the rape of these women. So these women are suffering not only because of David's sin, but also because of Absalom's sin. And to David's credit, he doesn't just cast them aside and have nothing to do with them. We need to see here from the text, he protects them and he provides for them. Nonetheless, our hearts should break for these women who suffer as widows for the rest of their days. They came into the city and into David's house because of their beauty, but now live out their remaining days alone. And this is the result of sin, this is the result of living in a broken world. These women look to David to care for them, but even more so, they must look to the Lord. Psalm 121, 1 through 2, I will lift my eyes up to the hills from whence comes my help. My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth. Well, then we get on to verse 4. So Amasa went to assemble the men of Judah, but he delayed longer than the set time. So, remember, in a move that communicated to Judah that David was not going to be a king who sought vengeance on those who opposed him. He had put Amasa in charge of the armies, and Amasa was the one who led the rebellion against David. David puts Amasa in charge of the armies in place of Joab. He commands him to go and assemble troops within three days, which Amasa fails to do. We aren't told why, but based upon what we saw of him in the revolt against David, it seems like he wasn't that great of a commander. And so maybe that's why. And thus David turns to Abishai, Joab's brother, and tells him to go after Sheba. You see, David knows he must act fast. where Sheba's rebellion will gain a foothold. So he has to act fast. So now he turns to Abishai, Joab's brother. He understands the kingdom is fragile, it's not stable. And it's fascinating here that David still is not turning to Joab. He turns to Joab's brother. And yet, we will see here, Joab goes out as well. where we read that at Gibeon, the troops from Jerusalem, whom Joab has now joined, meets up with the troops that Amasa has gathered. Joab then approached Amasa, and as he does so, whether intentionally or unintentionally, we aren't told Joab's sword falls out and either falls onto the ground or falls onto the folds of his garment. And Joab reaches out and mocks sincerity to Amasa. My brother, how are you? Reaching for him with his right hand. Inquiring as to his well-being. grabs Amasa by the beard as if to kiss him, as if he's truly concerned about him. With the sword that was clearly in his left hand, he drives it into Amasa with such violence and force that we read his entrails pour out on the ground. And Amasa would have never seen it coming because men fought with the right hand. And it was the right hand of Joab that reached out to him. Once again, we see Joab acting in self-interest, doing what he thinks is best. He saw Amasa as a traitor, and it was inconceivable to him that Amasa was a better commander than he was. And so he decides to take action and do what seems best in his eyes. And thus, as he has done before with Abner, with Absalom, He's driven by his self-interest. We've said this before of Joab many times. Joab submitted to David when he agreed with David and didn't submit when he disagreed. And we see this further played out as Joab now takes command of the army, putting himself back in charge regardless of what David had ordered. We then read in verse 11 that one of Joab's men cries out, whoever favors Joab, who is ever for David, follow Joab. And what these words are meaning, if you're loyal to David, then you will now follow Joab. If you won't follow Joab, then clearly you're not loyal to David. And we've said this before, but Joab is such a complicated character. Because he has no desire for the throne, most men like him are trying to get to the ultimate place of power, that this isn't Joab's case. He clearly wants David to succeed. He clearly wants the nation to succeed. But he also has no true concern for following God or walking in God's ways. He wants to do what he wants to do when he wants to do it. And here in this text, we see his self-interest, his focus on self, and the destruction it brings. See, Joab was one of those men, as we looked at before with Joab, who was wise in his own eyes. Again, we come to a proverb, 2612. Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There's more hope for a fool than for him. When we start walking around thinking, I know what's best, as Joab does, we drift into becoming a fool. We become, as John Woodhouse states, he says, no matter how much he, Joab, departed from David's wills and David's ways, Joab was sure he was serving David and his kingdom. We've often met people in the church like that as well. No matter how much they depart from God's will and God's ways, they are certain they are following God faithfully. And so we need to be wary of this. This self-interest can creep into the church, whereby people speak and act based upon their self-interest, but disguise it as just wanting what is best for the church. The problem is their definition of what is best for the church happens to line up with their desires as well. And this is why we are called to die to ourselves, something Joab does not learn. To live in humility, to look out for the interests of others, to live for the glory of God. Philippians 2, 4, let each of you look out not only for his own interests, which is what we naturally do, but also for the interests of others. We looked at this passage several weeks ago in regard to Joab, like a month ago. Romans 12, 16. Joab was always wise in his own opinion. Paul later in chapter 15 of Romans would write, See this self-interest of Joab resulted in the death of Amasa. and proved to be a hindrance for the soldiers. Because as Amasa is laying there in this violent death, in the middle of the path, the soldiers that Amasa had gathered from Judah stop. They're not going past the body. It's probably because it raised questions in their mind. Is this what it's going to look like now to follow David? Is anyone who is opposed to him going to suffer the same violent fate as Amasa? Is this what it's now going to be like? Thus, Jehob's man takes the body and moves it out of the way, covers it, and the procession continues. But we shouldn't miss the fact here. that Joab doing what seems best in his own eyes has almost caused the defense of the kingdom against Sheba to falter and fail. It nearly derailed what David's trying to do. Well, let's go on now. Let's begin in verse 14 and read this next part. Chapter 14 of 20. and he, Sheba, went through all the tribes of Israel to Abel and Beth-ma-achah and all the Baraites. So they gathered together and also went after Sheba. And then they came and besieged him in Abel of Beth-ma-achah. And they cast up a siege mount against the city, and it stood by the rampart. And all the people who were with Joab battered the wall to throw it down. Then a wise woman cried out from the city, Here, here, please say to Joab, come nearby that I may speak with you. When he had come near to her, the woman said, Are you Joab? And he answered, I am. Then she said to him, Hear the words of your maidservant. And he answered, I am listening. So she spoke, saying, They used to talk in former times, saying, They shall surely seek guidance at Abel. And so they would end disputes. I am among the peaceable and faithful in Israel. You seek to destroy a city and a mother in Israel. Why would you swallow up the inheritance of the Lord? And Joab answered and said, Far be it from me that I should swallow up and destroy. That is not so. But a man from the mountains of Ephraim, Sheba the son of Vichry, by name, has raised his hand against the king, against David. Deliver him only, and I will depart from the city. So the woman said to Joab, Watch, his head will be thrown over to you. over the wall. Then the woman in her wisdom went to all the people, and they cut off the head of Sheba, the son of Bichri, and threw it out to Joab. Then he blew a trumpet, and they withdrew from the city, every man to his tent. So Joab returned to the king at Jerusalem. " Next point, final point on your outline is pursue peace and faithfulness. From verse 14, it seems very clear that Sheba's revolt has just kind of dissipated. It really hasn't gone anywhere. And the only people that are actually following him at this point are the people from his own tribe. He has traveled through the entire northern part of Israel and slowly the Israelites have just faded off of his trail and have gone away. This quick response by David has not allowed Sheba to gain traction. And Joab, now clearly back in command of the army, arrives at this city, Abel of Bethma-akka, where Sheba and his band of men have fled for safety. And they begin this process of siege warfare, intent on destroying the city to get to Sheba. It's then that this wise woman enters the picture, and the author just slows the story down, and we seem to have a word-for-word account of everything that transpires here. Twice we're told by the author, this is a wise woman. Her cry is urgent. I need to talk to Joab. And when he comes to the wall to speak to her, she asks him to listen to her. She then proceeds to inform or remind Joab of the history of their city. It's a city known for wisdom. It's a city known for where people would go in times of difficulty to find answers to solutions. She then says she is among the peaceable and faithful. Here she's not just saying I am peaceable and faithful, she says I am among, she is representative of the people of the city. those who seek for peace and faithfulness to God. And then she says, why would you swallow up the inheritance of the Lord? Here she's speaking to the reality of Israel as God's covenant people in the promised land that God had given to them. Why would Joab, she says, and his army try to destroy God's covenant people? Juab's words are so rich with irony and hollowness, it would be laughable if it wasn't so tragic. Look what he says. Far be it from me, far be it from me, that I would seek to destroy. Meanwhile, his cousin, Amasa, his body hasn't even started to decompose, and the men are building a siege warfare against a city in Israel. I think of people who have tried to harm our church in the past and to respond like Joab. Far be it from me to cause any harm in the church. Meanwhile, they're causing much harm. Words here by Joab are so contrary to how he lived his life. And yet Joab displays self-restraint when he says all he wants is Sheba. So he says, deliver Sheba and we'll leave. One woman promises the head of Sheba will be thrown over the wall. And then in her wisdom, she went to the people and they agreed that to shelter a scoundrel like Sheba was not wise. And thus in a city for ending disputes, they grab Sheba, cut off his head and throw his head over the wall. Now, there's three things that we should note here from this. First, what a blessing this woman was to her city. It's fascinating to note that this unnamed wise woman is really the hero of 2 Samuel 20. She's a woman who acted not in self-interest, as Joab had done, but instead with wisdom. And she understood the big picture. She understood what was at stake. She's a wise woman, resulting in her being peaceable and faithful. We think of Proverbs 14.1, the wise woman builds her house, but the foolish pulls it down with her hands. A woman like this is a treasure indeed to the people of God. We think of Proverbs 31, how it ends, charm is deceitful and beauty is passing. But a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised. Give her the fruit of her hands and let her own works praise her in the gates. We may remember the impact another faithful woman had upon the people of God later in Paul's time. In the book of Romans, in chapter 16, verse 1, Paul says, I commend to you Phoebe, our sister, who is a servant of the church in Centuria, that you may receive her in the Lord in a manner worthy of the saints and assist her in whatever business she has need of you. For indeed, she has been a helper of many and of myself also. But the second thing that we need to consider here is that being peaceable and faithful does not mean being passive and inactive as we often think of it as. Both peace and faithfulness require intentionality. But our default is to not pursue peace, true peace, and not pursue true faithfulness, but instead our own desires. But true peaceableness and faithfulness requires reliance upon the Lord and taking action. Just think about what these people who are peaceable and faithful did. They grabbed a living man and lopped his head off. That was being peaceable and faithful in this situation. Sometimes obtaining peace requires difficult things. Here we think of our Lord and Savior Jesus. Was anyone more peaceable and faithful than Jesus? And yet he dealt with one conflict after another from the Jews, from his family, from the religious leaders, from the disciples, from the Romans, from Satan, from demons. And yet he constantly took wise action in these various situations and in doing so brought true peace and faithfulness. This was ultimately seen at the cross. Immense, intense action to produce peace. At the cross of Christ, where he willingly went to die for our sins, to pay the penalty that should have been ours to bear. He went there, enduring the mocking, enduring the suffering, enduring the horror of suffering God's wrath, in order that we could have peace, peace with God, peace with one another. We read in Romans 5.1, And this brings us to the third thing that we should see from this little dialogue right here. And that's this, we should strive to be peaceable and faithful as well. We should strive to be peaceable and faithful as well. Jesus, having brought us peace, calls us to peace. In fact, he says in Matthew 5, 9, Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. I think here of the many saints that I have been blessed to have in my life or to work with over the years who were peaceable and faithful, and maybe you can think of some as well. I think of one older woman in particular that I was blessed to work with many years ago, who recently went to be with the Lord. She sought to love her husband. She sought to love her children. She sought to love her grandchildren. She selflessly ministered in the church to the elderly, doing whatever she could. She was always joyful, constantly thankful, continually faithful, and always steady. What a gift she was. When she went to be with the Lord, what could be said of her is she was peaceable and she was faithful. Well, returning now to Joab, one who is not peaceable nor faithful, we see him blow the trumpet, pull back the troops, and return to David in Jerusalem. At least we can say here of Joab, he was faithful to his word to the woman. He leaves. And it's interesting to note that the story of Sheba's rebellion is bookended, chapter 20 is bookended by the blowing of trumpets, verse 1 and verse 22. We're going to return to that in just a minute. Now this chapter concludes with a list of men. A list of men who are in charge in David's kingdom at this time. We'll talk about this more next week, but chronologically, the end of chapter 20 is the end of the chronological story of David. The next few chapters are like footnotes or end notes, however you want to view that. So we read here in verse 23, and Joab was over all the army of Israel. Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, was over the Kirithites and the Pelathites. Aduram was in charge of revenue. Jehoshaphat, the son of Ahilud, was recorder. Sheva was scribe. Zadok and Abiathar were priests. And Ira the Jirite was a chief minister under David. Now this is interesting to note. These are the men who are now in charge as David's kingdom chronologically has come to an end. And we need to remember that there was another list like this too. And that was at the peak of David's reign at the end of chapter 8. And so the author in a sense has given us a list of people, a list of men in charge at the peak of David's ministry, or I'm sorry, his kingship and at the end of his kingship. And there's a lot of similarities, but there's a couple of distinct differences that the author seems to want us to see. So if we go back, we're not going to read all of the one in chapter 8, but if we look at the beginning of it, we read, so David reigned over all Israel, And David administered judgment and justice to all his people. Joab, the son of Zurich, was over the army. Jehoshaphat, the son of Helod, was recorder. Now the most glaring difference between chapter 8 and chapter 20's lists is the absence of David reigning over Israel with judgment and justice. Instead, the list starts with Joab in chapter 20. A man who is a rebel to a certain degree and has forced himself back into the list. He's still in command despite David's action to replace him. But the second thing we see here in this list in chapter 20 is a man named Adoram, or Adoram. He's in charge of revenue, but the word actually means forced labor. In fact, if you have an ESV, it will say this, Adoram was in charge of the forced labor. This is a new addition into David's kingdom that was not there at the peak of David's kingdom. And likely this isn't a positive one. And what the author seems to be telling us by having this list here at the end of David's reign and comparing it to the one at the peak is that David's kingdom is not what it once was. It is now fractured. It is now fragile. The judgment and justice and the beauty of that that was there before is not there anymore. John Woodhouse puts it this way, this is a somber moment in biblical history. David's kingdom will, in fact, never recover. And thus, once again, our eyes are forced forward, ahead, away from the things of this earth. And away from the things that we so constantly look for, for peace and security. They're forced upward to the kingdom of God in Christ that will never fail. A kingdom that's only going to grow stronger and stronger and never break down. The author of Hebrews puts it this way in chapter 12, Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken. David's is shaken and will crumble. but not God's. And thus, let us offer to God acceptable worship with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire. And yet we admit that right now, with our eyes, the kingdom of God seems shaky. It seems vulnerable. We struggle and we wrestle with the brokenness of this world and the sinfulness of our own hearts. It seems like the kingdom of God is indeed shaken. And the reason is because we live between the two trumpets of chapter 20. In between those trumpets, we see selfishness, we see division, we see self-interest, we see corruption, we see desolation, we see suffering because of the sins of others, and we see the destructiveness of sin. But we also see a wise woman. We also see some people who are peaceable and faithful. And also in this list here at the end of chapter 20, we still see the faithful priests ministering faithfully to the people of God. This is life between the two trumpets. But there's a day coming when there will be another trumpet to sound, the final trumpet. It will be the trumpet that takes us home to be with the Lord forever, where we will there know wisdom and peace and unity and faithfulness. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15, Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. And then, a few verses later, he writes this, Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, always knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. It's not in vain, because we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken. And thus we're to strive to live faithfully for that kingdom. I think Richard Phillips' words are fitting. He says this, as he reflects on 2 Samuel 20. We serve that cause and that kingdom now, the kingdom of God. For all our failings and sins, as we trust in Christ, take our stand on his gospel word and continue to love and serve the church that he has bought with his blood and for which his trumpet will soon sound. Let's pray. Father God, we praise you that in the midst of The many difficulties we experience in life between the trumpets. There is a day coming when a final trumpet will sound. And we will go to be with you forever and ever. And all of the things that we experience between the two trumpets we see in Chapter 20 will go away. The self-interest, the grumbling, the complaining, the disunity, Our selfish desires, the hurt caused by others sin. The need for. Negotiating conflict, as we see this wise woman doing. The need to defend one city. The need to to flee the need to chase after those who are being divisive, those will all go away. And so, Father, help us to keep that perspective, Lord. I pray that you would help us to live for that final trumpet, knowing that you are going to call us home to be with you forever, and that we are part of a kingdom, if we're trusting in Christ, that cannot be shaken. And Lord, if there's anyone here who cannot say that, that they know they are a part of God's kingdom, Lord, would you please open their eyes, that they might be able to see Christ. And to see that the way into the kingdom is through Christ. That Christ establishes and secures the kingdom through His sacrifice on the cross. in order that we might have peace with you and peace with one another and look forward to an eternity with you, our great God. And so, Father, please work in our hearts in these things. Grow us, help us. We desperately need you in order that we would grow to love you more and love each other better. And we pray this in Christ's name. Amen.