Now Then Do It

• 2 Sam 3- Now then do it. Sauls house getting weaker- Davids house stronger, The kingdom is divided north and south. In this time- who your king was is everything- provides protection. Abner is 2^nd to ishbosheth, but ish is losing- must make a move. So Abner makes a big move- sleeps with the concubine- power move to get over on him-  Goes to david- make a covenant with me- I’ll help you be king- I’ll bring isreal. David says- if you bring me back my wife. Goes to the elders of Israel- go to david- tells them the prophetic words. So he goes to David- says- I talked to Benjamin- its all good. Abner goes with his 20 men- They make him a feast- Abner says Ill go gather isreal- . Joab comes back from a raid and the men tell him that abner was there (Abner killed his brother Asahel) . Joab disrespects David- and says that you had your chance to kill him, but you didn’t. Joab meets him at the gate to kill him. David hears about it- distances himself from Joab. He mourns over abner- follows the coffin- they weep- they realize that it was joab that killed abner and not david
• Let me walk you through this story- Explain it all and then go back (explain story)

• So what do we focus on?
• 2 sam 3:17 Now Abner had communicated with the elders of Israel, saying, “In time past you were seeking for David to be king over you. 18 Now then, do it! For the Lord has spoken of David, saying, ‘By the hand of My servant David, I will save My people Israel from the hand of the Philistines and the hand of all their enemies.’ ”
• Now do it. Abner speaking words he should have spoken to himself, but also to Joab, Elders
• Now then do it- Quit living for yourself
• Micah 2:1-2 READ This is the heart of Abner
• Abner was completely self seeking in this story- He sleeps with Rizpah to pull a power move on Ishbosheth- He’s the one who installed him! Why? V1 Sauls house was weaker and Davids stronger- He knew that he had a limited time to act to secure his place within the new administration- he gets so incensed that Ish. Is afraid of him! (This is narcissistic behavior- its meant to push it on Ish. As the perpetrator- not that Abner did this unrighteous act)
• He had been talking to the elders, he knew the truth- david was to be king, not ish
• From 10k feet, it appears that Abner has a change of heart- he goes to David-
• BUT- “make a covenant with ME”…. “I will bring Israel” Abner doenst make kings, GOD does!
• Proverbs 3:27  Do not withhold good from  those to whom it is due, When it is in the power of your hand to do so. (He should have just repented and helped David with no return)
• Not going to be talking a lot about David today- but he makes the feast- Honorable to do 4 enemy. Shows again- his heart- But he HAD to because of the unification of N/S Kingdom
• Abner goes to the Elders and says ‘Now then do it” for them to make David King

• Take that advice yourself Abner! You make David King! Quit with your negotiations and self-seeking behavior. Quit vying for influence and position. SUBMIT TO HIS LEADERSHIP
• Same as the disciples in NT- Whats in it for ME? (Luke 9, mk 9, mt 18- Least- Like a Child)
• Posturing, scheming, conniving, are not what God intends for his people.
• David is a Christ figure (Son of David). Ultimate king and authority and Abner REFUSES to submit
• What does it mean to you?
• You cant live for Jesus and yourself at the same time. This is a constant theme in preaching because it’s a constant theme in the Bible. OT stories of Baal worship, idol worship, Its all self seeking- because they wanted to control their Gods, not be controlled by Gods
• People set limits in their relationship with God. “I’ll serve you until this____) and then they stop serving God, because there is a demand they don’t want to meet.  Death to self is key
• Philippians 2:3 Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.
• Abner was not doing this. He was not esteeming David. He was esteeming himself
• Its like being nice to someone for what they can do for you, not because it’s the right thing to do. JESUS- Don’t even sinners do that? Be nice to others for their benefit?
• How you treat those who can do nothing for you says a lot about your character.
• 2 Cor 5:14 For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; 15 and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.

• 1 Peter 4:1-5 READ
• There are people who use Godliness as a means of gain- Bible says to withdraw yourself from them (1 Tim 6)- You can act like a Christian and not have the heart of Christ- Not that hard.
• Ro 12:10b in honor giving preference to one another; Eph 5:21  submitting to one another
• How? Give people your TIME and ATTENTION. Help them. Love them. Serve them. Like Jesus

• Now then do it- Quit twisting the truth
• People want scripture to serve them- they don’t want to submit to their authority.
• Here’s whats happening with Joab- He’s also trying to position HIMSELF for the future. He doesn’t really care about David- He cares about himself-
• Two things in this interaction- He completely destroys David’s leadership- disrespects him deeply-  3:24 Then Joab came to the king and said, “What have you done? Look, Abner came to you; why is it that you sent him away, and he has already gone?
• There is a sexual sarcastic undertone to this in the Hebrew- much like ish accuses Abner of relations with his conc. Same language- (Men degrade other men by saying they were made a woman by being taken advantage of intimately- been happening for millennia)
• He is the second in command- He is threatened by Abner- He must be destroyed-
• So what does he do? He kills Abner in the same way his brother Asahel was killed- at the city gate- in Middle east- This is the place where justice happens- that’s why he killed him there-
• He mixes local tradition (at the gate) to justify murder and going against God’s word.
• Much like todays laws supporting sexual immorality, drugs, alcohol, pornography, and such Christians use as justification to why they are acceptable

• What does it mean to you?
• What unscriptural godless things are you doing and allowing based on the twisting of truth?
• What sins do you commit that you justify with the laws of the land and scripture?
• Joab justified murder to reach his own conclusions for his own gain- 2^nd in command
• Matt 23: 1 Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples, 2 saying: “The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. 3 Therefore whatever they tell you [a]to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do.
• The necessity for us to live in this world while not taking on the look and beliefs of the world is a real challenge
• What we believe, how we live is against what the world believes
• The world celebrates sexual immorality and condemns the adulterer, and we condemn sexual immorality and forgive the adulterer! Its counter to the worlds ways- they have False piety!
• 2 Peter 3:16  as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.
• Don’t do that. Somethings in this world may be lawful- but not expedient- just because the law says you can- doesn’t mean you should- We honor God. That’s what we do!
• Titus 1:16  They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him, being [a]abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work.

• Now then do it- Quit fighting the King
• How long will you resist the king? Abner resisted. Joab resisted. Isreal resisted.
• Its interesting that Abner knew the truth- 18 Now then, do it! For the Lord has spoken of David, saying, ‘By the hand of My servant David, I will save My people Israel from the hand of the Philistines and the hand of all their enemies.’ ”
• Abner knows the prophecies and the truth- 9 May God do so to Abner, and more also, if I do not do for David as the Lord has sworn to him— 10 to transfer the kingdom from the [b]house of Saul, and set up the throne of David over Israel and over Judah, from Dan to Beersheba.”
• Abner knew this all along- but made Ish king and refused to submit to Davids Kingship.
• Josh 24:14-15 Choose this day who you will serve ABNER HAD TO HAVE KNOWN THIS
• This society was a society of story – The bulk of OT is stories about lack of submission
• Isaiah 63:10 But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit; So He turned Himself against them as an enemy, And He fought against them.
• This is Israel- When they submitted they prospered and when they didn’t they didn’t and God did not like it at all. Did Jesus come as son of David to reign so you can live for yourself?
• What does it mean to you?
• Are you fighting the king? Are you resisting his kingship? What rule does he not have?
• Acts 7:51  “You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you.

• Let that not be said of us!- stiff necked is unable to turn to the will of God in our lives
• Who in the Bible has fought God and won? Who can stand against the Lord? NO ONE
• You may gather unto yourself- Thinking you’re in control- but in the end- you will not win
• The level of control and submission that Jesus demands of us is more than most realize
• John 5:40  But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.
• 1 Peter 2:13-17 READ God tells us to submit to earthly kings, but we aren’t to submit to Jesus?
• Titus 3:1  Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good work,
• Elders of Isreal- go and do it- go and make David king- US- GO AND MAKE JESUS KING and LORD
• Romans 10:3 For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God.
• Do you quote scripture you have no intention of following? Agree but do not act?
• Submit to King Jesus today!

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