I miss you all. I feel like it's been forever, so. If you would, turn to 1 Samuel chapter 30. 1 Samuel chapter 30. The title of the message this morning is Dated, Recovered, All. Let's read the first few verses here, and we'll look at the context. 1 Samuel 30, and pick up in verse 1. And it came to pass, when David and his men were come to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the south, and Ziklag, and spit in Ziklag, and burned it with fire, and had taken the women captives that were therein. They slew nine, either great or small, but carried them away, and went on their way. So David and his men came to the city, and behold, it was burned with fire. And their wives, and their sons, and their daughters were taken captive. Then David and the people that were with him lifted up their voice and wept, until they had no more power to weep. And David's two wives were taken captive. Say, you know them? The gentle wife of St. Abigail, the wife of Mabel, the Carmel. Now, I don't venture to guess that I just read what is likely the worst temporal fear of every man in this room. And I want you to try to put yourself in this position, let's say you left home on business, things like that, you're gone for a while, and you come back into town, and you find a place with smoke building up. And you drive up to your house, and it's gonna burn down everything you own, all your possessions. They are gone. You've been spoiled. And that is the least of your concerns, to the very least. The concern of this is that your family, your wife, your children, your spouse, they are gone. They have been taken by your enemy. They will likely be abused so your enemy can get back at you. And you don't know where they're at. Everything you loved, everything you cherished, everything you held dear was in utter ruin. That's a bad day. How'd he get there? When you read the preceding chapters, what you find is that David had been relentlessly pursued by Saul. Saul was jealous of David, so he pursued him time and time again. The Lord would deliver David out of Saul's hands. He'd get close, but the Lord would deliver him every single time. Several times, Saul was delivering in David's hand. David could have killed him on a handful of occasions, but David said, I won't. I won't raise my hand to God no more, and I won't do that. You get all the way to chapter 27, and here's what happens. David finally has had enough, and he forgets. He forgets all those times the Lord delivered him. He forgets all the promises of him being king, and things like that, and he doesn't inquire of the Lord. He just gets fed up and says, I'm gonna go my own way. And so he defects. He leaves Israel, he leaves Judah, and he says, I'm gonna align myself with the Philistines. He figures Saul won't pursue me. The Philistines are the enemy of Israel. all joined up with them, he will want to ignite a war with the Philistines, and so I'll be safe there. And so he goes, and the Philistines receive him for some time. They even give him this city, Ziklag, for him and 600 men to dwell on. And after a while, they say, now, we can't trust him. We can't trust him. If we go to war with Judah, he may take back up with him, so we've got to send him away. So him and his men go away. Once again, what are we going to do? and they come back to this utter ruin. And if you think things can't get any worse, look at verse six. And David was greatly distressed for the people's sake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters. Yeah, things get worse. Now his men, his 600, turn on him and they say, we're gonna kill him. Why? They blamed David, and the record looks up. David was to blame. David defected, he did not inquire of the Lord. David did not believe God. And in this moment, David's figuring out that's the case. Yes, I am in fact to blame. All this ruin, all this destruction, this is all my fault. But look what he does, look again at verse six. But David encouraged himself in the Lord his God. In the midst of all that ruin, In the midst of all that blame that he rightfully bore, he had kindled this fire at his feet, and he says, he encouraged himself to the Lord his God. And we do that, don't we? We set fires at our own feet. We make a mess of things. We always have reason to be encouraged in our Lord. Why? Because as long as he sits on that throne, ruling and reigning over all things, which he does, As long as he continually brings good out of evil, which he always does, as long as his mercies are sure to his people and new every single day, for Christ's sake, not for any reason in me, not looking for a reason in me, but for Christ's sake, they're new every day, which they are. As long as all those things are true, as long as the blood of Christ delivers us from every sin, and makes us holy and unblamable, unapprovable before God. No matter what circumstances, no matter what fire we kindle at our own feet, we have every reason to be encouraged in the Lord, and Dave was. And David said to Abathur, the priest, I pray thee, bring me hither the ephod. And Abathur brought hither the ephod to David. And David inquired at the Lord saying, shall I pursue after this troop? Shall I overtake them? And he answered him, pursue, for thou shalt, don't miss this, surely overtake them. And without fail, recovered all. David did what David should have done in the first place. He inquired of the Lord. He had a pulse for the ephod. This is the breastplate of the priest, the garment of the intercessor. He says, shall I pursue? And the Lord makes his promise to him. He says, go pursue. Without fail, you're going to recover everything that's been lost. All your flocks, all your herds, all your wives, all your children, you're going to go get every single one of them. Not a one of them is going to be lost. What a promise. A beautiful promise. But look what happens when to verse nine. So David went, he and his 600 men that were with him, and came to the brook Besor, where those that were left behind stayed. But David pursued, he and 400 men, for 200 bowed behind, which were so faint that they could not go over the brook Besor. So David takes off with his 600. They have the promise of God. You're gonna recover everything, David. Everything you lost, you're gonna go get it, and nothing's gonna be left behind. And they have that promise, and they go on, and they get this little lake, this little brook, this little river. And 200 of these men say, Dave, we can't do it. We're too weak. We're too feeble. We can't ford this river. We can't arch on anymore. We can't do it. We need you to go recover everything for us and bring us back. We can't be part and parcel of this. We've got no strength. Now, you think about this. That's 200 men out of 600. How do you think the 400 reacted to that? What were they saying to each other as they left those 200 back at the riverbank? Cows? Weaklings? Their wives and children that they can't muster the strength to get over Little Brook? What's their problem? Will they expect us to fight for them and bring everything back to them? Certainly, that was the conversation of the day. And that will play into the story later on. But first, when you first arrived. And they found an Egyptian in the field, and brought him to David, and gave him bread that he did eat. And they made him drink water, and they gave him a piece of a cake of figs, and two clusters of raisins. And when he had eaten, his spirit came again to him, for he had eaten no bread nor drunk any water three days and three nights. And David said unto him, To whom belongest thou, and whence art thou? He said, I am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite, and my master left me, because three days ago I fell sick. We made an invasion upon the south of the Chetroites, and upon the coast which belonged to Judah, and upon the south of Caleb, and we burned Ziklag with fire. And David said to him, canst thou bring me down to this company? And he said, swear unto me by God that the devil will neither kill me, nor deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will bring thee down to this company. Consider the cruelty of this master. This is Malachi. He's got his servant. They're leaving after the fire of Ziklag. And he's marching along, and all of a sudden, he falls sick. He falls ill, drops down to the ground. The master says, get up. He says, I can't get up. I can't go any further. Fine, leave him for dead. This master had absolutely no love for his servant. But the feeling was mutual, wasn't it? That servant didn't want nothing to do with that master. He said, I'll take you wherever you want to go. I'll show you this band. I don't mind at all, right? Just don't give me back my master. Don't kill me. Don't give me back my master. I don't want to go back to him. There was no love from the master to the servant, and no love from the servant to the master. But consider the graciousness and the mercy of David, This young man confesses to him, we just came from a little city called Ziklag, and we burned it with fire. Took all the women and children, took them all away. He has absolutely no idea who he's talking to. He has no idea that he is talking to the man whose city that is, who that whore took his two wives. He has absolutely no idea who he's talking to, but what does David do? He nurses him back to health. And he sets him free. If you were run through the sword, would anybody have had a problem with it? Meaning, what mercy, how gracious is David? Verse 16. And when he brought them down, behold, they were spread abroad upon all the earth. These are the Amalekites, eating and drinking and dancing because of all the great spoil they had taken out of the land of the Philistines and out of the land of Judah. And David smoked them from the twilight, even into the evening of the next day. And there escaped not a man of them, save 400 young men which rode upon camels and fled. And David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away. And David rescued his two wives. And there was nothing lacking to them, neither small nor great, neither sons nor daughters, neither spoiled nor anything they had taken of them. David recovered all. all, and David took all the flocks, and the herds which they drave before those other cattle, and said, this is David's spoil. David recovered all, everything that was lost. And notice that, the spoil, the spoil of the Philistines, everything they had, he took it, and David had the choice's spoil. Verse 21. were going back to the Brook Beasel. And David came to the two hundred men, which were so faint that they could not follow David, whom they had made also to abide at the Brook Beasel. And they went forth to meet David, and to meet the people that were with him. And when David came near to the people, he saluted them. What do you think these men were expecting? They're back there at the brook. They said, Dave, we can't do it. We can't be part and parcel of this. You've got to recover all for us. And they see him coming back. Some of those guys think he's going to be mad, right? He's going to berate us, call us weaklings. They're the best we can hope for. Maybe get our families back and just be exiled. But what did Dave do to these weaklings? He shows respect. He salutes them. What an amazing thing. Look at verse 22. Then answered all the wicked men, the men of Belial, these are the four hundred, of those that went up with David and said, Because they went not with us, we will not give them aught of the spoil that we have recovered, save that every man his wife and his children, that they may lead them away and depart. Then said David, ye shall not do so, my brethren, with that which the Lord hath given us, who hath preserved us, and delivered the company that came against us into our land. For who will hearken unto you in this matter? But as his part is to go with them to the battle, so shall his part be that it tarry by the south. They shall part alike. And it was so from that day forward that he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel unto this very day. These 400 men, these strong men, these capable men, what are they so mad about? They hated grace. They hated the idea that a man who didn't earn anything, who was too weak, who is too feeble, would be given the same thing as them, that are thinking of themselves so strong, so capable. You know who hates grace? People who don't need it. You know who loves grace? People who need it. Now, in every Old Testament story, after we read it, we always have to ask the same question. Where's the gospel in the letter? Where is Christ in all this? The story picks up with Ziklag being attacked. It was attacked by a band of people known as the Amalekites, and that is so important. Who are the Amalekites? Well, in the scripture, in spiritual matters, what they represent is this. They represent flesh. This is what Galatians 5, 17 says, for the flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh, and these are contrary to one to the other, so that you cannot do the things that you would. The flesh, that old, sinful, wicked, dead nature, dead in trespasses and sins, that every man is born with. The Amalekites represent the flesh. And I find this interesting. When did the Amalekites attack? Do you remember? Look at verse 1 again. And it came to pass when David and his men were come to Ziklag on the third day that the Amalekites invaded. It was on the third day that the Amalekites attacked. What's the significance of that? The resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. He died. He was put to the earth. Three days later, his father raised him from the dead. Why? Romans 4.25 says, He was delivered for our offenses, and raised again for our justification, or rather because of justification. He went to that cross, bearing the sins of all His people. He was put down into that earth, and in three days He emerged victorious, alive, resurrected, and all His people in Him. And the reason that was done is because He's a just God. Because he did what he came to do, because he put away all the sins of all his people, he had to be raised from the dead. And here's my point. This is when the Amalekites attack. This is when the flesh attacks. When this resurrected Christ becomes all your hope. When you don't have anything but this, this is my hope, this is all I've got. This isn't overly simplified, this is really it. My hope is that Christ came and He kept the law for me and I kept it in Him. My hope is that He was made my sins. I died on that cross with Him. When He died, I died. That's where I was punished. And when He was raised again because of justification, because the just God had to raise Him from the dead, I was raised again in Him. That is all I've got. And that's all you've got. You know what that means? It means you have the Spirit. There is a new man dwelling inside of you, a perfect man, a holy man, a man who does not sin. The very Spirit of God dwelling in you, the evidence of that is faith. That resurrected Christ is everything you've got. And you know what? That's exactly when the battle begins. That's when the flesh is going to attack and the war inside the believer begins, once that new man's there. If all you have is the old man, there is no battle, there's nobody to fight. It's only when that new man is given that the war happens inside of you, and it rages on your entire life. I'll give you another example. Let's turn over to Exodus chapter 17. You'll find this interesting. When the children of Israel were delivered from Egyptian bondage, who do you think the first tribal people was that attacked in the New Orleans? It's the Amalekites. As soon as they were delivered from bondage, the Amalekites attacked. And you guys know this story real well, more than likely. The Amalekites attacked. Moses goes to Joshua, and he says, you go down there, you go and fight with me. Take the choices, man. You go on to the battle. I'm going to go up on this hill with Aaron and Herb. I'm going to view the battle. And he got up there, and he watched the battle. Moses had the rod of God in his hand. And when his hand was up in the air, Children of Israel prevailed. When his hand fell down, the Amalekites prevailed. So what happened? He gets tired, right? That arm's up. It's getting shaky. Aaron and Herb come up, and then they put a rock underneath him. Aaron gets on one side. Herb sits on the other, holds his hands up just like that. The Amalekites, for that day, were defeated. What does it tell us? Believe you're going to have victory, because the victory is already won. Christ already accomplished this victory, your sins have been put away. Temporally they're here, but eternally they have been put away by the very blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And you are going to persevere to the very end. You're gonna win this battle. What does winning this battle look like? Until your very last breath, this is your hope, Jesus Christ after me. That's it. And why are you going to win that battle? Why are you going to persevere to the very end? Because you're seated on a rock. That rock, Christ Jesus. Because Aaron holds up your arm. Aaron, the priest. The intercessor. The priestly work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Him making intercession for you. You know what Herb means? I never looked up that name before. It literally means a hole in the earth. Because Christ died and he was put in that hole in the earth and he was resurrected again. You're going to persevere all the way to the end. You must. The very spirit of God must strengthen you and hold you up. You're not going to persevere because you're strong, because you're capable, because you're going to muster it. You're going to persevere because you were bought with a price. Because the price paid for you, therefore, he must have you. And you're going to persevere all the way to the end. It has nothing to do with our strength. It has to do with his strength and what he's done and what he's purchased. That's it. But look at this promise at the end. Look at verse 13 in Vectors 17. says in Joshua discomforted Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword. And the Lord said unto Moses, write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua. For I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. That's exactly what happened at the cross. The sins of everybody Christ died for, put out, gone, not to be remembered anymore. But listen to this, verse 15. And Moses built an altar and called the name of it Jehovah Nisi, for he said, because the Lord has sworn that the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation. You're going to have to fight this battle your entire life. The flesh lusting against the spirit, the spirit lusting against the flesh from generation to generation, but one day, When you close these eyes for the last time, that old man is going to die away. He's going to be gone. And that new man, that perfect man in Christ Jesus, he's going to live on. The victory is then. He was accomplished at the cross, but we're still going to have to deal with it this entire time, this flesh, this sin. Here's what that looks like. Turn over the room. We have to set up in front of it. The best way I can describe this is this. What I'm about to read makes me feel like I'm home. Let's see if you feel home when you read this. Romans 7, verse 17. For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold on our sin. For that which I do, I'll outmark. For what I would, that do I not, but what I hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would not, I consent on the law that it is good. Now there is no more either to do but sin that dwelleth in me, for I know that in me that is in my flesh, that old man, dwelleth no other thing. For to will is present with me, but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would, I do not. But the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that, I would not. There's no more I that do it but the sin that dwelt within me. That's sin in nature. I find in the law that when I will do good, evil is present with me. That I won't do evil? I would. I would never sin again? I would believe God perfectly. I would never worry. I would never feign to trust my Savior. I would love Him with a full heart, with every fiber of my being. I find it not. What I do, I hate. The motivations I have, even though the best work is backed by self-serving motivations, sinful thoughts, sinful actions, I hate all those things. And that's the war. that war that's going, that rages inside every believer. I'm gonna rage like this to the very day we die. But then, no more war. It's over with, and we will see Christ face to face. Now, there's an advantage to this. When you have this new man, and this battle rages, you see things that you could not see before, before that new man was given. When David went to Ziklag, what did he find? He found that everything he loved, and everything he cherished, and everything he found so dear, was ruined. It was a heap. It was in rubble. Do you know how that bite works? Have you seen it? That the very best thing I do, it's sin before God. It's just evil, it's just wickedness, it's just another sin that had to be atoned for on that cross. from me, those things we cherish so much. Well, at least that's true. At least that was a good thought. At least there was a good motivation there. When you have that new man, you have the eyes to see, it's just sin. There's nothing good about me. You can actually see things for the way they are, in part. We don't see our sin for the release. And I'm thankful for that, don't get me wrong. Just enough that Christ could be everything to me. But you see for the first time. What else does David see? For the first time he saw this, it was all his fault. He got there, the rubble heap. This is all my fault. I did this. This is the other thing you see. Everything you held dear, your works, it's all ruined. It's just rubble. It's just sin. And it's all my fault. I can't blame Adam, I can't blame the sovereignty of God. My sin, it's my fault. I'm doing exactly what I want to do. I want to control it all, and yet I do what I want to do. Now, it's kind of boring, but what did David say at the end of verse six? I'm gonna read it again. The last words there. but David encouraged himself in the Lord, his God. You know, everybody who's like this, who has this battle raging inside of them, they are nothing but a sin, they have no good works, it's all their fault. You don't have every reason to be encouraged because that's exactly who Christ died for. Now think back to that broke visual. These men go to David. We can't forward the river. We can't get across. We don't have the strength. We don't have the ability. We can't do it. David, we need you to go and recover everything for us. We can't put our hand in this. We don't have the power. We don't have the strength. And David left. He recovered everything, left nothing, brought it all back, gave it to these men. And when he saw them, what did he do? He saluted them. He showed these men respect. I remember a story about that. Two brothers approached the Lord. One's name was Cain. Cain was the tiller of the ground. And he went up to the altar, and he brought the best that his hands could do. He's a farmer, so he brought the best fruits, the best vegetables, the best flowers. He laid them all on that altar, and he said, this is the best I can do. I'm seeking acceptance based on this, what I've done. for the best I can come up with. That's major religion. Lord, this is the best I can do. This is what I've done. Give me acceptance because of what I've done. How did the Lord react to that? On the cane and his offering, he had not respect. There was no salute. None of the others stepped up, though. Able. On that altar, he put one thing, one thing. the slain lamb alone. What was he saying? I am so weak. I am so helpless. I am so sinful. The only thing I have, the only thing that could possibly appease you, the only thing that I have is Christ and Him crucified alone. That's it. And it says, unable in His offering, God have mercy. You know everybody was like that. Sinner, weak. I can't do it. I can't keep the law. I can't take a step forward. Not one time, not on any job, not on any title. I can't believe God. I can't muster the strength. I can't muster love. I can't muster spiritual life. I can't give myself life. I can't continue on. David, you have to go. You've got to go and recover everything for me. Christ says to every sinner, respect. I'll be your servant. This world's religion is wrong. You're just wrong. The religion of this world will tell you this. Salvation is dependent on what you do in some way. And there's various forms of that, but there's only two religions of this world. There's great and there's worse. And everything from this world is worse. Somehow or another, salvation is dependent on what you do. But you know our text, it actually tells salvation's true story, and it begins with the origin. Look here at verse seven in your text. David's a very powerful type of Lord Jesus Christ here. And David said to Abathur, the priest, and Melech's son, I pray thee, bring me hither the ephod. And Abathur brought hither the ephod to David. And David inquired of the Lord, saying, shall I pursue after this troop? Shall I overtake them? And he answered him, pursue, for thou shalt surely overtake them, and without fail recover all. You know what that's talking about? That's talking about that covenant of grace that it took place in eternity before the world ever began. David called for the ephod, the priestly garment, the garment of the intercessor, the breastplate of the intercessor. In that covenant, he became our surety, our intercessor, our mediator of that better covenant, that covenant of grace. And I love this. It put Christ on the offensive in this thing. He said, shall I pursue? Father, just give me the word. Just say the word, I'll go save every single last one of them. Everybody you gave me, I'll go take every single one of them. The Father says, go pursue. Without fail, you shall recover all. Why? Because Christ can't fail. It is impossible. Now, let me give you another commentary on this. This is a beautiful passage. Turn over to Isaiah 59. These are complementary verses to what we just read. Isaiah 59, pick up at verse 15. Isaiah 59, 15. Yea, truth faileth, and he that departeth from me will make himself prey. And the Lord saw it, and it displeased him that there was no judgment, there was no righteousness, there was no justness, there was no justice. And he saw that there was no man, and he wondered that there was no intercessor. Therefore his arm brought salvation unto him, and his righteousness, it sustained him. For he put on righteousness as a breastplate and an ephod, and a helmet of salvation upon his head, and he put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and he was clad with zeal as a cloak. According to their deeds, accordingly he wore pay fury to his adversaries, recompense to his enemies, to the islands he shall or will pay recompense. Now don't misinterpret that. It's not like man fell and the Lord pivoted Plan B, and it became the wonderful purpose and plan of God. No, this is it. This language is given here to show the loving kindness of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is great mercy. He is great love to his people. His father was displeased. There's no righteousness. We need judgment amongst the people. Righteousness for the people. And he looked down and he saw no man. They don't have surety. None of them can honor the law. None of them could put away their own sins, let alone the sins of many. That's impossible. There was no man. He saw there was no man. And he saw they had no intercessor. No intercessor for God's people. And when he saw nothing, he took it upon himself. And he put on that ethan, that breastplate of the intercessor, making effective intercession for his people by his own blood. He put on the helmet of salvation. What does that helmet do? Same thing a shield does, it takes the blows so the head is protected. It's exactly what happened on the cross. He became our helmet. He took the blows and the body is protected. And I love this. Read that last verse again. This is beautiful. According to their deeds, accordingly he will repay. Fury to his adversaries, recompense to his enemies, and to the islands he will Everybody's going to get exactly what they deserve. To his enemies, wrath, judgment, recompense, but he's gonna recompense his people as well. I say this reverently, but this is the truth of the scripture. We're gonna get exactly what we deserve. Favor, acceptance, the very love of God, being kings and priests unto God. That's what's right because Christ made it that way. You know what this world never wants to talk about? They never want to talk about the justness and the justice of God. It's too terrible a thought. A God who is holy and he will accept nothing but perfect righteousness? Even an unconverted man can say, yeah, I've sinned, yeah, I've done some things that are wrong. Even if he doesn't have eyes to see that he is in utter ruin, he will at least admit he has made some mistakes. He's a holy God who can accept anything but perfect righteousness. Nobody wants to talk about that just God that must punish sin, except for us. I don't wanna talk about that just God all day long. Because that means if Christ put away my sin, it is only just, it is only right that I be received by the Father favorably in Christ Jesus. That just God is all my hope. Now, this point is, continue on our text. Go back to your text, look at this again. We saw the origin of salvation there with the covenant. Now read this, 1 Samuel 30, look at verse 16. And when he had brought them down, behold, they were spread out abroad upon all the earth, eating and drinking and dancing, because of all the great spoil that they had taken out of the land of Philistines, out of the land of Judah. And David smoked them. See, this is salvation's accomplishment right here through smiting. David smoked them from the twilight, even unto the evening of the next day. And there escaped not a man of them, say 400 young men, which rode upon camels and fled. And David had recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away. And David rescued his two wives. And there was nothing lacking unto them, neither small nor great, neither sons nor daughters, neither spoil, nor anything that they had taken of them. David recovered all. Christ recovered all God had left. Everything he promised in that covenant, he did when he came to this earth. and did it through smiting. Smiting. What does that sound like? Sounds like Isaiah 53, four and five. Surely he had borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we had seen him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted, but he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our inequities, the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are presently healed. It was through this great smiting, this great offering of himself. Don't let this ever go over your head. If you're a believer, this is your hope going to happen. Before the world began, Christ agreed to be your surety. He, a holy man, was willing to be made your sin. Don't let us just jump over that and say, well, you can't bring the gospel to us without that. You're right, you can. He didn't want to be made your sin. He's going to be estranged from God for you. He's going to suffer the equivalent of eternity in hell for you on my cross. Don't let it ever go over your head. It was through this smiting that we are presently healed, if you're believing. You owe nothing, absolutely nothing. And David made full recovery through this fighting, and David took all the choice spoils for himself. The Swistians raided many villages, had a whole bunch of stuff, and David took it all. They were actually better off after this than they were before, because David recovered all. You think about that in this context. We lost everything to Adam, right? Adam was born an upright, he was born innocent, but he wasn't holy. Being recovered by Christ is so much better. We've been spoiled. We have perfect union with Christ. We have holiness in an immutable state. That state between God the Father and his people, it cannot change. It is sealed in blood for eternity. We can't mess this thing up. It's perfect, it's so much better. We have all these spoils. David got all these spoils. David had the choice of spoils for himself, as Christ will have all the glory in this thing of salvation for himself. But notice what he did with these spoils. Look at verse 26, this is amazing. And when David came to Ziklag, he sent the spoil unto the elders of Judah. Even to his friends, saying, behold, a present for you of the spoil of the enmity of the Lord. David took all these great spoils. As the spoiler, he gets them. David recovered all. It doesn't say David, 400 men recovered all. It says David recovered all. So David took all the choice spoils for himself, and what did he do with them? Shared them with his friends. You think about that. This is talking about union with the Lord Jesus Christ and how real it actually is. What is Christ to have? He is fully glorified. He has reached the pinnacle. I don't understand. I don't understand how there's a pinnacle in this picture. He has reached the pinnacle. He is fully glorified. Right now, you and I are glorified in Him. That's what Romans 8 says. Romans 8, 29 and 30 says, for whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that we might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom He did predestinate, them He also called, and whom He called, them He also justified, and whom He justified, them He also glorified. It doesn't say He will glorify them. It says they are presently Right now, glorified, our union with Christ is so real that as he sits fully glorified in the heavenlies right now, we sit there too. Someone should explain that. I couldn't possibly. Nobody takes that. But that's the truth of the matter. We are fully glorified in Christ. When he came back from doing his father's will, saving his people, he was greeted with his father full acceptance and full honors of heraldry. You imagine that? Coming back, this conquering king, this one who had done the Father's will. And you know what? That same acceptance, the Father taking him and embracing him and loving him and holding him up, that same acceptance, we have it in Christ. David shared all these stories. We have it in Christ, that full acceptance. It says we're going to reign as kings and priests with God. Can you imagine that? What's that all about? I have no idea. No, I can do what you want. But as he reigned, we reign in him for all of one. Therefore, he's not a shame cause, brother. That's backed up here. Look at verse 24. David is talking to those men of Bealiel, the 400, who were so strong, they hated grace. Said, for who will hearken unto you in this matter? But as his part is that goeth down to the battle, so shall his part be that deterioreth by itself. They shall part alike. We tarried by the stuff. Weak, wounded, couldn't cross the river, couldn't recover for ourselves. Just tarried by the stuff. And David, Christ, went and recovered all. But the part that he got, the one who did it, we get the exact same part. Talking about things right now is just hot water. Couldn't possibly understand. What we have here is a beautiful illustration of the grace of God. And I'm gonna leave you with this, this final thought. The greatness of grace. What I'm about to tell you is your story, if you're a believer. If your only hope is in that resurrected Christ, that's all you've got. This is your story, it's the story of that Egyptian boy that you found along the way. He's an Egyptian, bondage. We're all born the same way, in bondage to a cynical nature, and in bondage to a law he can't keep. This man's master carried nothing for him and left him for dead. I want to be as respectful as I can be. I love God's holy law. It declares the righteousness of God. It declares the holiness of God. It's perfect. But folks, the law don't care. The only thing that an Amalekite master cared about is whether that servant could keep up. March. I can't march. I'm sick. I'm falling down, leaving for dead, and I don't care. You either meet the standard or you don't. The law don't care. The law demands full obedience, every job, every title, every single time, your entire life. And if you're offended in one point, you're offended in the entire thing, and the law says, leave him for dead. And here's the one thing the wall can't produce. There's many things the wall can't produce. All the wall does is declare our guilt. That's it. But here's one thing the wall can't produce, love. There is absolutely no love from that servant to his master. He says, just don't give me back my master. But David, Christ, this is what produces love right here. David becomes the wall's boy. He's face down in the ditch, almost dead. Can't move, can't speak. David's not so good, but he knows this is one of the men who attacked his village. And he comes up, and he feeds him, and he gives him water. Once he was done dealing with him, he said, all right, tell me what you did. And he said, we went, and we destroyed Ziklag. Same thing he does for his people. He says, tell me about who you are. I'm the enemy of God. I made myself his enemy. I possess that nature, that fallen, evil nature. If I would have been there at the cross, I would have driven him in the nails through his hands and spewed myself. I would have killed God. It's all one nature. It's all the same. And David says, OK, you're free. I'm not going to give you back to your master. You're free from the law. You're free. Full mercy, full compassion. Go your way. Go any way you want. That's how the devil beats on us. came to us where we were at, not seeking him, had compassion on us, nursed us back to health, and said, now you're free. You're free from that law. The law's been satisfied. It's over. Just go do as you please. You're free, complete and utter liberty, myself. If David had just kept on riding, see that boy in the ditch, that same one who had rented his bills and taken away his wives and all that. If he had just kept on riding, left him alone, Does anybody in this room have a problem with that? Why do people get so upset with election? What's wrong with God passing by and just leaving a man to do what he wants to do? It's an election of race. He came to us where we were at. He nourished us back to health. He said, you're free. You know what he said that to Barnabas? Barnabas had an interesting response. Says, when Jesus said unto him, go thy way, thy faith hath made thee whole. And this was Barnabas's response. And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus in the way. Everybody he does this for, everybody he sets free, you're free from the law, you don't have to go back to the master. Here's what they all do. They just follow him. How do you follow him? You just keep looking at him. You just keep trusting Christ day in, day out. You just trust that he has done everything that is necessary for a sinner to be safe, and you just trust him. Just hold on to the very last breath. And I implore you, if you're like these men of Beazle, these men who can't continue on, these men who are weak, unable, frail, you need David to recover all for you. Please know he did. This is a faithful saying worthy of all expectation that Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners. of whom I am chief. Therefore, trust them, although they regard the Lord. I'm going to leave you there, son of a blood.