The wages of sin is what? Death. No matter how you look at it. Wages of sin is death. It's unchanging. That even applies to us for an example. Sin is sin. Even though we are positionally covered in Christ's righteousness and blood, but you still sow seeds to the flesh, you reap corruption of the flesh. That's death. The flesh can only produce death. And that's why Galatians says that, that if you sow to the flesh, you shall of the flesh reap corruption, and that reaping is death, even for the believer, and we can't get away. I think there's a passage I was looking at at some point. Go to Jeremiah chapter two. I think it's Jeremiah two. I could be wrong. Let's see what I'm looking for. That goes yes, no doubt. We live, this world is the shadow of death. We're in it as you walk through this world. But there I'm pretty sure, I could be wrong, I've been in a bunch of different places. Here we go, I see it, I see it, I see it. This is what I'm looking at. I knew it, I was looking over it the whole time because I wanted to find it and didn't want to waste a lot of time. Look in 219, 219. Your own wickedness will correct you. And your backslidings will what? They will reprove or rebuke you. Know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and a bitter thing that you have what? Forsaken the Lord your God and the fear of me is not in you, says the Lord God. You hear that right there. See, if you sow to the flesh, you shall of the flesh reap corruption. And God says, oftentimes, your own wickedness will correct you. That saying, your own wickedness is gonna whip you. You're gonna reap from your own doings, and your backslidings will rebuke you. You throw the hands up and say, well, what's wrong? What's happening? Why is this happening? Well, it's happening because our own way has in turn put the belt on us. We're reaping what we've sown, and it's coming back. You reap what you sow. Your own wickedness will punish you, correct you, and your backslidings will rebuke you. Know therefore and recognize this, see this, that it is a bad thing, a bitter thing that you have forsaken the Lord your God, and the fear of me is not in you. God is, what he just said there is I don't have to spank you at times, your own doings will in turn spank you. That's what he said. I don't actually have to do something to get your attention, because he's gonna tell us even in those passages that he has done something, and he has rebuked them, he has corrected them, but they paid no attention to it. He was merciful and showing them discipline. So God says, okay, if you won't turn from me doing that, your own trouble's coming from what you've been doing, and it's gonna spank you. It's gonna whoop your butt, you know, from that perspective. And that's what we have to recognize. You can put beside that Galatians 6. Galatians 6, your own wickedness will correct you and your own backslidings will rebuke you because it's a terrible, it's an evil thing. It's a bitter thing to swallow. A bitter thing is something that's, it's bitter to the taste. It's got a bad taste to it. You want to spit it out. You don't want it. It's a bitter thing to what? To forsake God. It turns out bitterly to forsake God and not place him first. If you go over and look in Galatians, and we'll tie this back to it, look in Galatians six, and we'll make this reference while we're here. Use that pen. Use that pen. Mark your Bible up, and that'll help you when you're in there again at a later time, it will bless you. Galatians 6, look in verse number, let's just start in verse number six. Let's just start in verse number six. Verse number six, Galatians 6, 6. Let him who is taught the word, Share in all good things with him who teaches. That's just saying it's good to have, to be part of a group of people that is learning, amen? And share in the work, share in the journey, share in all that, partner in all that, be companions in that. In verse seven, it's important. Without good teaching, you're prone for deception. And even when you're being well taught and growing in grace, you're still prone for deception. So we have to be cautious and recognize that. Do not be deceived. God is not mocked. For whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. So when you invest in the work of the ministry, you're in partnership with that, you don't have to be misled to think there's not gonna be a reward for that. And then you don't need to be misled to think that there's not a consequence for not being part of the teaching ministry of the body of Christ. Verse eight, for he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh, that's what he just said in Jeremiah, right? Of the flesh, reap corruption, that is your own wickedness, your own backsliding is gonna correct you, gonna rebuke you. But he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. So either our flesh is gonna produce death or the Spirit's gonna produce life in us. One of the two, we're either leaning in on life or we're leaning in on death. Verse nine, if you're so into the Spirit and you're reaping life, but it doesn't seem like it's coming the way or fast as you want it to, what does he say in verse nine? And let us not grow what? Weary while doing what is right and good, for in due season, We shall reap if we do not lose heart. You know what that's saying? That's saying I trust God. I simply trust him. He promised me that I would reap good, I would reap life, I would reap fruit from God if I keep doing what is right in the eyes of the Lord. Even while I'm still reaping the corruption of the flesh. Because you're not gonna, even though we're forgiven, even though we're forgiven, And even though we may be filled with the Spirit, you still reap the consequences of sowing to the flesh. While you reap life at the same time. That's part of the paradox of walking with the Lord. And so, a lot of times people look, man, God's on me, boy, he's just. He's just tearing me up, man, discipline me. Well, it may not necessarily just be God doing this. This is the consequences of what you've been sowing. What you've been sowing. It's correcting you. It's manifesting. It's become bitter in your mouth. And you're putting the blame off on God, but it's all been on you. You're the one. I'm the one. We're the ones who've been doing. And lack of, you know, unbelief. The scripture says that unbelief, Unbelief is wickedness. The scripture says that when we teeter and totter in unbelief, the scripture says that that is wickedness, a wicked heart of unbelief. So if you wanna reap life, you gotta keep enduring, amen? Gotta keep trusting. As I point that out, that goes along with some of the things we've been looking at about King Saul. and David and Nabal and Abigail. Old Nabal was reaping, isn't he? He reaped. He sowed to the flesh, what did he reap? He reaped death. Because the wages of sin is what? You cannot get away from it. It's always death. Sin has one payment. And that payment will always be death. It's always gonna be death. even for that temporary pleasure, it's got the consequences of death that's going to come with it. It just always will, always has, and until God puts away sin as a whole, death and the grave and they're cast in the lake of fire, and there would be no more wages of sin, for they'll be done in the sense for those that live in the presence of the Lord. But think about those that are separated from Him. What will they have to suffer the consequences for an eternity of those wages of sin? And that is that separation from God for So those are just a couple of things that... were brought to mind on that. So I would put by Galatians 6, where we've just read, Jeremiah 2.19, Jeremiah 2.19 would be a good point of reference there. And you can, when you're reading at it, you can go back and look, and it'll help you with other people. Because if we all sit down with people on a consistent basis that are going through some troubles, and we know that God delivers us to death to manifest the Lord Jesus Christ out of us, But if I'm not being consumed and following hard after the Lord and I'm doing my own thing, then oftentimes we find where Hebrews 12 says that God corrects us, He disciplines us, He chastens us for our own benefit, that it may produce righteousness. And then there are times when our own doings is putting the belt on us as well. And none of us escape it. We're all part of this. It goes back to just taking, what did Abigail do? Abigail didn't blame it on her husband, did she? She said it was me. Forgive me. I should have been paying attention more. She said, my husband is who he is, but this is on me. And you see, that's how we wanna approach the Lord, that yes, this world is the way it is. These fools are the way they are. They don't pay any attention to you, but this was on me. Forgive me, forgive me, this is on me. And boy, just a great picture, just that meek, humble spirit of this sweet woman that God richly blessed. So where'd I say Jeremiah what? 219. You got that Carolyn? Amen and amen. Anybody else got anything you want to add to that? All right let's go look in Samuel then. Anything out of Samuel? Anything you notice? Anything you picked up on? Anything you want to share? We've read, what, 24, 25, 26 today. Anything that just stuck out to you, that just blessed you? Saying, you know, forgive me for what I've done. He's trying to be a humble spirit. Yeah, you're talking about Saul to David. Yeah, yeah. Saul to David. Right. That you're a better man than I am. You rewarded me good for evil and I rewarded you evil for good. Yeah He's already done it once I What I'm trying to say is, there's a point where you know that they're going to do it again. They just, you, I'm sorry, we didn't do that, we shouldn't have done that, we didn't do this. They get apologetic for what they've done. But you know if you wait long enough, it's coming back down the road at you again. You know what that tells me is that we can't do or we're not gonna do what's right without the leadership of God over our life. It's inevitable. Man has to have a new heart. Now Saul had a new heart given to him. Also, the Spirit came upon him. But see, he didn't cultivate that though. So without cultivating and nurturing, and remember, you have to feed that. What we just looked at in Galatians, if you feed the Spirit by the Spirit, you reap life. But if you feed the flesh with the flesh, you reap death, corruption. And I think, legitimately, What does the Bible teach us for an example? The spirit is willing but the flesh is, I think Saul had the right spirit. He wanted to do right when he realized what David had done. David took his spear and took the water jug. Remember when David cut the garment off? Slipped in there. Saul already said, we make a vow. Now David made the vow that he wouldn't harm. Why is David making a vow? It was Saul who was pursuing. Just think about it from that perspective. David talked to his men and said, Well he didn't want to go down that a way as if he was taking the kingdom from Saul. Well, you don't touch what God has placed His anointed upon. And David didn't want to be known as that type of guy who stole the kingdom from Saul. That's why he stayed away and stayed on the run. Let God deal with it. And when Saul recognized David could have killed him, but didn't, Saul and his spirit wanted to do what was right and said, I'm not going to, I'm not going to pursue you. You're a better man than I am. but it didn't take him long to get around people and start feeding that thought again, and all of a sudden, whom he said he would never harm, now he's right back at it again. You know how many times people do this in life? How many times you've done it? We've all done it. I'm gonna do this. The spirit was willing, but then the flesh was weak. That's just man. That's man operating without the Lord. That's what we see here. That's exactly what Saul's gonna do again. And we're all that away. Saul is that picture of a man who's been changed by God, who's been given a new heart by him, but does not cultivate and nurture and feed what God transformed and changed. And then he operates in life without the Lord. He operates like a fool. Not that he doesn't believe in God, he just functions as if there is no God. That's what a fool does. For the scripture says, for a fool says in his heart there is no God. They say in his heart governs him. And he does what he wants to do as if there is no consequences or if there is no God. So he was acting like a fool just like Nabal. That's what Nabal was doing. And Nabal, his name meant fool. He was a scoundrel. He was a son of Bilal. And that's what we see going on with King Saul at this same time. He wanted to do it in the moment. He knew it was the right choice. He knew it would be the right thing to do. But soon as you get away and you get on your own again and you start thinking about the thoughts and all of a sudden that which you wanted to do, then the flesh gets involved and the flesh is always gonna overcome. If you don't have the active work of God leading you scripturally and spiritually, you are not gonna overcome the flesh. The flesh is, you're just not, it's too sneaky. It knows way too much about you. And it doesn't know anything about the Lord. That same way that picture with Nabal, he's that fool. What did he say? Who's David? But then he's gonna acknowledge that David was just like any other person that broke away from their master. See, he attributed that David separated himself from his master, who was David's master? In Nabal's eyes, King Saul. He was rebelling against King Saul. Well, he said, anybody can do, who is this guy? Well, you see, Abigail knew all about him, didn't she? Nabal did too. But neighbor wanted to live as if it didn't matter. That's what the fool does. what we do even at times in the journey. Now, that's what we wanna see a contrast with. There's a lot that we can pick up in chapter 25. I mean, there's so much. There's so many different images and pictures and circumstances and situations that we find ourselves. You can find the difference in relationships with a fool of a husband and a wise, wife and how she works these things out you could look at it from that perspective you could look at it even as a picture of redemption of her being enlightened by the message that come and told her what took place with David and her husband and how her husband mocked him and ridiculed him. And she was standing between the knowledge that she had of a future king that was gonna reign over this nation just like a king that's gonna reign over this world like Jesus. then you had a fool that you was intimately connected with and you had to make a choice of what was I what what am I gonna do and the scriptures describe Abigail was what a woman that had great insight and understanding she was very attractive and obviously she had some wisdom and she was meek and humble she bowed herself before David brought him gifts and and It's a great picture of the work of redemption, of these messengers that come back. When that husband was dead to her, he died, these messengers would come and says, David wants to take your hand. David didn't even go see her. He sent messengers to her. that he would like for you to be his wife. And what does she do? She packs up, leaves everything behind. And I tell you what, Nabal had a lot of stuff, didn't he? I mean, he was really, the scripture said he was a rich man. I mean, when you got 3,000 goats and 1,000 other heads, you got a lot of stuff, not just then, today. If you had that kind of livestock and all, you would have to have some resources. Think about all the stuff that she brought to David so quickly. How many loaves of bread she brought? 200 loaves of bread and all that. That tells you that she had resources at her beck and call that she normally would be feeding the servants that kind of stuff, that to be able to produce that that quick, that amount of time those that were working for Nabal would have normally been fed with all that but she brought it out to David to meet him and the scripture says David accepted her and then accepted what she brought and there was peace between them and she went on her way and when that husband died and he sent messengers say I want to marry you come follow me she left and followed the messengers out to David that's just a picture of of the gospel call ain't it? I'm telling you, he said, I'll wash the servant's feet. I'll do whatever's necessary. The same kind of spirit. So you could look at it from that way. There's just so many neat ways we can look at this one particular chapter, but just something that I wanted to just draw out tonight is to show the difference between the beloved, David, a man after God's own heart, And then you have Nabal, the fool, and you had Abigail, the sweet voice of wisdom, that stood between them. Wisdom separated the beloved David, the king, the future king, and the fool. And wisdom who rejoices the Father's heart, that's what Abigail means, that which rejoices the Father's heart. Here's David, who when he hears of what the news of Nabal, what did Nabal say? I'm not gonna give him nothing. Why would I give up my resources? Why would I do anything for somebody I don't know nothing about who most likely left his master and now asking for this? And it was custom in those days from the things that you read that when people would provide some protection and not like extortion, he wasn't extorting them like say the mob would that I'll protect you if you give me some resources. That was not it. He never took anything from the man. but he protected them because that was just the character of David and those that were with him. So when he asked for a little bit, custom wood, they would give him some. Well, this guy mocked him and scorned at him. And when they came back and told Abigail about it, what did Abigail, she put all this stuff together as fast as she could and she went out to meet him. And David says, had not you come out to meet me and run toward me, By daylight tomorrow morning, there wouldn't have been a male left of Nabal's family or Nabal's servants. We would have killed every one of them. Now, David realized, though, that what he did was he was acting like a fool. He was acting like a fool. He acknowledges that. He recognized that. But see, that's the difference between a man after God's own heart and a fool. David stopped in his tracks, put the brakes on. A man full of rage and passion and he was going to kill everybody, everybody. connected with Nabal. And to this sweet little tender voice of wisdom stopped him in his tracks. And you know what David did? He changed his heart. He changed his whole mindset of what he was gonna do. But you know what Nabal You see the fool, he rages on. There's a passage, I think it is. Go look in Proverbs real quick before we go. Proverbs, Proverbs chapter number 14, I think it is. Proverbs chapter number 14. Proverbs 14, I want you to see this. David was prudent. Prudence is a word that those who have knowledge, or exercise common sense, they use knowledge and common sense rightly, sensibly, wisely, they think on their feet, they're quick-witted, they're God-fearing, they act with caution and consideration. But a fool is totally different. Verse 15 says, and this is Proverbs 14, 15 says, the simple believes every word, but the prudent considers well his what? His goings, his steps. Where was David going? He was going to a slaughter. He was filled with passion and rage. The man had scorned him, mocked him, and shamed him. Whereas, what did David do when he left all these other places? Remember what the people at Goliath just did to him? They were gonna turn him over. Same way with the people at Ziph. But David didn't get filled up with wrath and anger about that. What did they do? They just moved on. They kept moving on. Great victory. in the Spirit and in the flesh. But then they go down here near Carmel, just south of Hebron a little bit, not far from where they're from, and one man, just one man, pokes and makes fun at him. And boy, he gets in the flesh. And he's gonna take care of business. That's something we need to remember. Yesterday's victories, yesterday's victories can't substitute hearing the fresh word from God today. Those great big victories sometime in our life, if we're not careful, they'll set us up for failure in the little bitty small things. And this is a picture of that. Well, David, he's taken off, but remember, wisdom. Abigail, speaking wisdom to him, stopped him in his tracks. Why? Because a prudent man will consider his goings. He'll consider it, he'll think about it. Notice what verse 16 says. A wise man fears and departs from doing what? Evil. But a fool, on the other hand, rages and is self-confident. Whoa, does that sound like Nabal? What did Nabal do? He was proud of himself after turning down this vibrant young future king of Israel and all his stuff. He says, I ain't giving him nothing. Matter of fact, I'm gonna go home and throw myself what? A big old party. And boy, he threw him a big old party and went to hitting the booze and drinking the wine. And when Abigail went home to him that night, she wouldn't even talk to him. She couldn't talk to him, was no use to talking to him. Why? A fool has no desire to hear wisdom. See, here's the picture. You know, the Bible always speaks of wisdom in the feminine sense. Always using the feminine sentence. I want you to see a picture of Abigail as that voice of wisdom and reason in stopping David. David heard what she said, listened to what she said, thanked God for Abigail stopping him from doing something that he shouldn't do, and then he thanked her. Scripture says that wisdom cries out in the streets, in the highways and the byways of life to turn a man. and the wise hear it. People of understanding, the prudent hear it and turn from going the wrong way. What did David say in Psalm 141 in verse number five? You don't wanna turn there. David said this, Lord, send the righteous to me and let them strike me. Let them rebuke me and don't let my head refuse it. See, that's the heart of a wise man. Abigail, being that picture of wisdom, that picture of righteousness, was sent to David and that little bitty woman, that pretty woman, that wise woman was able to squelch the fuse that was burning toward the dynamite in his heart. and the man considered his steps and turned. He even says it, look in verse number 20, look in chapter 25, look in verse number 32. And we're not going over the whole chapter because I know you've read it and where we are. Verse 32 of 25, David says, then David said to Abigail, blessed is the Lord God of Israel. who sent you this day to what? To meet me. Anytime ever God gives wisdom to us, remember wisdom cometh from what? Above. When God gives you a solid word of wisdom, you know who you need to thank? You need to thank him, amen? Because God gave it to you, God sent it to you, That's exactly what David did. David said, blessed be the Lord God of Israel who sent you, Abigail, this day to meet me. And verse 33, and blessed is your what? Your advice. And blessed are you because you have kept me this day from coming to bloodshed and from avenging what? Myself with my own hand. Oh, see, David was acting out of character. But God sent him a word, didn't he? And because David was a man after God's own heart, you know what he did? He put the brakes on that locomotive. He shut her down. He stopped it. He stopped it. Now a fool, what would a fool have done? He would have kept on going. He would have kept on going. And that's what we see Nabal. He's the fool. So that's the point. The man after God's own heart and the fool and what separates the two is what? God separates the two with His wisdom. That Word came. What we see in this, we see a passion from David. We see a plea from wisdom. We see peace brought to this where David and wisdom, the Abigail now at peace. He receives what she brought, there's a feast there, there's a picnic there, they eatin'. Wisdom comes with treasures. The Bible's pretty clear on that. Wisdom always brings treasures to you, and they're treasures that are better than gold and silver. It's a feast that wisdom brings before us. They are there, look, verse 34. For indeed, as the Lord God of Israel lives, who has kept me back, from hurting you, unless you had hurried and come to meet me, surely by morning light, no males would have been left the navel. So David did what? He received what she brought to him, these goods from her hand that she had brought to him. And he said, go on up in peace to your house, see that I have heeded your voice and respected your person. Man, what a difference that made. What a difference. See, a just man is sensitive to God and he puts on the brake and changes his calls at the word of wisdom. A just man, a wise man hears the rebuke of the wise. but a fool is a companion of fools. A fool is committed to his path and nothing's going to deter him, nothing's going to change him from it, and that's the other side. Then we see a party going on. Nabal throws a party and she don't even speak to him because wisdom is not gonna speak to you in that condition, in that place. When she finally goes in, in verse number 37, so it was in the morning when the wine had gone from Nabal, and his wife had told him these things that had just taken place the day before, that his heart died within him and he became like stone. He was like a paralyzed parasite. No humility. Verse 38, so then it happened after about 10 days, the Lord struck Nabal and he died. There was a passing. And then we see a parting. It appears as if Abigail left it all behind to go follow after King. It may have seemed like a whole lot that Nabal had until she met David. But she foresaw who David was gonna be, and what he was, and what was coming. And she left it all, and she followed after a king. And what a, just what a great picture here. What a great picture. And how important it is. Remember when God told Adam in the garden, it is not good that man shall be alone, so God brought him a woman, A companion, well, it's not good that man be without wisdom. God brought him wisdom and it stopped him. Just a great picture. A great picture for all of us just to continue to look at in our own journey, amen? A wise man increases learning, but a fool only likes to vent his own ways, this pours forth. How many of you ever acted like a fool? David was acting like a fool, that's what he said. But I thank God that he sent a righteous word to me, amen? But God, but God. We're all prone to do it, but the difference between a man of God after God's own heart and the fool is, is that God stops the wise man in his foolishness and turns him back. But the fool keeps going on toward his death, toward his death. Help us, Lord, amen. Help us, Lord. Father, we thank you tonight. Bless you. We praise you. We thank you for all these wonderful things we've been picking up on and seeing and gleaning in your revelation to us. We praise you and thank you for it. We know that through the patience and the comfort of the scriptures, we find hope in this day that we live in and that you are, shepherding and guiding and leading us. And we wanna be like David. Send the righteous. Let them strike us if need be with the rod. Let them rebuke us and turn us so that we can stay in right fellowship with you. This won't be the last time David needs a man to intervene the wisdom of God to come between him and his foolishness, and it won't be the last time for us either. Thank you for sending a word to us, for helping us look to you and lean in on you. We pray for all these that'll be in the path of this storm, those that we know and those that we don't, those that are part of our family and those that are part of the family of God and those that are still yet to come to know you. Lord, we just pray that through all these things that are yet to come, that you'd send forth your message, and they'd be willing to lay it all down to follow after you. Be your bride, and we give you the praise for it, in Jesus' name, amen. Love y'all, y'all have a good night.