Obedience — A Secret of Recovery
OBEDIENCE A SECRET OF RECOVERY
WE are returning again and again to the three words of our title because we believe with all our hearts that God has a message in this small fragment for us all. There are many things which are not made clear to us al first, but after many days, or months, or even years, they become clear. Though we may not fully understand what has been said so far, one day we shall be made to understand.
Now these words "David recovered all," have a message both for those who are not yet saved and also for the saved. As long as we are without the Lord Jesus Christ, whatever we do and whatever we have, is wasted and is-spent, and we find that many great men when they come to die without Lord Jesus Christ, arrive at the same conclusion.
A very well-known philosopher, Herbert Spencer by name, who lived many years ago, used to mock God and the Bible. He thought he was very clever. When he was about to die his relatives came to him one day and said, ‘Spencer, what is your last wish? And what are the words which you would like to be engraved on your tombstone?’ He answered: Write these words, "Most Unhappy.” Today you will find those words on his grave. All his cleverness and prosperity made no I difference, because he died without the forgiveness of his sins. If you are living and dying without the Lord Jesus Christ, whatever you are doing in life 15 a waste. You can take nothing with you, and you will die without peace, without joy, and without God.
: Our Lord Jesus Christ rose again from the dead to I give us His life. He conquered death in order to do this and now when we accept Lord Jesus into our hearts, 7 the new life He gives is called the new birth. When you receive Lord Jesus Christ, it will take you all eternity to understand how much you receive by faith in Him. He not only forgives us our sins, but Fie wants us to have everything that He has, and He wants us to be where I He is. He wants us to have all the heavenly inheritance that He has been preparing for us long before the I universe was ever created,
fb In some countries before young girls get married they have in their home a very large box called a Hope Chest’, Even though the girl may not expect to be married for several years, yet she keeps making things for babies, like napkins, frocks, etc., and also many things tor herself and her home, and very secretly she puts these things in the box. Nobody in the family except the girl knows what is in the box, but with hope and expectation she goes on making things and putting them away, maybe for many years
This is a simple illustration of how long before the earth or man were created, our Lord knew us, and loved us and began preparing for us a heavenly inheritance. Though He knew our weaknesses and failures and shortcomings, yet He planned for us, and is now preparing us on earth ta enjoy that inheritance.
We see in 1 Corinthians 2:9-10 that eyes have not seen, nor ears have heard the things which God has prepared for them that love Him. All these great and good things have been prepared by the Lord and the enemy tries hard to prevent us from enjoying that spiritual inheritance. But our Lord also knew beforehand the trials and attacks of the enemy, and made preparation to help us to conquer those attacks.
Now those who live among thieves have to take extra precautions against robbery. They require extra strong locks and strong iron bars to keep the thieves out. They know the thieves and their tricks, so they make provision to trap them. Now the devil is far more cunning and clever than any worldly thieves are. You cannot conquer him by human devices or weapons. You require heavenly and spiritual weapons. God has recorded the story of David in the Bible to show us both the warfare and the weapons. David suffered from two kinds of lasses, personal loss and national loss. Whatever we have seen of David's personal loss was because of his own failure, carelessness and neglect, yet God wanted him to recover all. Also, Gad wanted everything to be recovered that had been lost nationally because of his failure and folly.
We have heard of a great and fertile land which the Lord God had given to Elis people Israel. The story begins in the book of Genesis chapter 12. There was a man called Abraham of the city Ur of the Chaldees. Chaldea was a highly civilized country, which has been I proven by the archaeologists. Abraham was a wealthy man, and had plenty of gold and silver, servants, property and lands, but he was a pauper spiritually. At that time he did not know God, nor worship Him nor follow Him; but one day the Lord suddenly appeared ta him and he heard the voice of God very clearly saying: ‘Abraham, get thee out of thy country and from thy kindred and from thy father's house into the land that I shall show thee.
Abraham believed that word and when he came heme he called his wife, and his servants and said: ‘Come, let us pack up everything; we are going on a journey. His wife must have asked him, 'Where are you going?! Fe said: "T don't know!
When the neighbours and friends saw the things being packed, they must have asked him where he was going. Ie said again: 'l don't know'!' His relatives came and saw Sarah and everybody in the home packing their things, and must have asked Abraham: 'Where are you going? We see you are packing your things. It seems as if you are going on a long journey. Where are you going?' Again he replied: 'f don't know.’ 'But who knows if you don't?! ‘Nobody knows!' Just imagine those
neighbours and friends whispering among themselves, and looking very sad, saying, ‘That man Abraham is mad, can you suggest some good doctors to make him well? Imagine they are going away, leaving their house, land and everything, and are not coming back. Above all they do not know where they are going!
Everybody must have been quite sure that Abraham was mad, and were surely feeling sorry for him. Perhaps his wife was feeling sorry too. 'My dear husband, he. was such a good man. What has happened to him?! But I Abraham knew he was not mad. He knew he had heard the voice of God, and that is why he had obeyed. God had given to Abraham a great promise in. Genesis 12:2, 3: 'I will make of thee a great nation, I will I bless thee and make thy name great and thou shalt be a blessing. I will bless them that bless thee and curse them that curse thee and in thee shall} all nations of the earth be blessed.’ Here are seven great blessings promised by God to Abraham.
When a man obeys God, He blesses him. Can anyone receive a greater blessing than God gave to Abraham? I Even though God spoke so clearly, only after many centuries did the children of Abraham understand the meaning of the words of God's promise. When those people left Egypt to go to Canaan, God told them through Moses in Deut. 7:1, that there were seven nations living in the land, who were enemies corresponding with the seven blessings. More than four hundred and fifty years before, God had promised to give that land to Abraham and to his seed. God had not forgotten. God never forgets. Whatever God says, He remembers, and will do. What promises He makes, He will keep. But He had to spend I many, many centuries preparing his people for that inheritance.
In the same chapter of Deuteronomy, God told His people that all seven nations would be completely driven out from that land. This was said for a double purpose. First of all, those people who were living there had become slaves to every defilement, sin, and every kind of darkness. There is a long list of their sins in Leviticus 18, horrible, terrible, and shameful sins of all kinds. God waited patiently for over four hundred years, but they would not repent, so the time came when they must be judged and punished, and God used; His own people to judge them.
God spoke to His people through Moses: 'Oh ye people, you are my people, my chosen people, my precious people, my peculiar treasure. You are my partners. Now you go and drive out the seven sinful terrible nations. The time is come that they must be dealt with, and punished! Then God said also: 'Do not make any covenant with them or league. Do not take their daughters to be your wives nor give your daughters to them in marriage. Break down their groves and their images.’ God spoke so clearly, and still they did not obey fully. That was their first failure.
How often, though we seek to obey God, we do not obey Him fully. It may be that just in a few things we do not obey Him. It may be through human sympathy, or affection, or human wisdom that we do not obey God. So it was here. Having made one mistake, the people went on making more mistakes. Joshua 1:12 shows this. They said: 'Now these men are our slaves. We shall use them to draw water for us.' Thus the devil gained ground. Later came mistakes in marriage, and then the people of God began to worship idols also. Even though they came into the land they could not enjoy the land.
That is the condition of many believers. They are born again, and know the Word of God, but are not enjoying what God has given them because of their partial obedience. How many believers become married to unbelievers! In many cases the parents are responsible for these wretched marriages. They themselves are in darkness, and their own married Life is a failure, so they drag their born-again children into darkness to live a life of misery also.
Sometimes, however, the young men and women make their own choice. They argue that although the other is not born again yet, perhaps gradually he or she will be born again! But when they enter into marriage the unconverted begins to pull the converted to his way. That is why, many believers are shedding tears all their lives. They have been ruined by their folly, weakness and blindness.
The men of Benjamin allowed a few Jebusites to remain in Jerusalem. They were first living there as slaves. Later they became a very strong nation. We read in 2 Samuel 5, that when David and his men came to Jerusalem, the Jebusites began to mock David. David was a mighty king and he went there with mighty men, but the Jebusites at that time had become a mighty and strong nation. When they heard David had come, they began to say, 'Who is David? Even a blind man can go and fight with David.' They had gained so much ground in Jerusalem that they were mocking and ridiculing David, the man of God.
Because of these Jebusites the whole nation of Israel ° had incurred a very great loss. Even though they were: God's chosen, peculiar and precious people and His treasure, they were blind spiritually, and because they did not find out God's purpose, and because every man did those things which he thought right, they had lost their understanding of God and how to worship Him,: and God was unable to work fully in them any more.
I Because of this, as a nation, they were constantly attacked and defeated by people of other nations.
How sad it is to see that we as believers are also suffering many losses. I am not talking about nominal Christians, who are not born again. They are still in darkness, and they do not know what they are losing. lam talking now to those who say they are born again. No doubt for a short time they had abundant joy, great zeal, great peace, and a great hunger for God's Word; but now we find them in darkness, defeat, failure, jealousy, and barrenness, because not only one but many Jebusites have found their way into their hearts, into their homes, and into their families.
Those Jebusites were mocking David. You will find the same when you allow Jebusites to come into your hearts and homes. They will mock our heavenly David, our Lord Christ; and you will be mocked by your neighbours and friends and even by your relations. They will say, ‘In what way are you better than we? These people call themselves believers and are living in I adultery.’ No doubt there are such Jebusites who are mocking the Lord Jesus Christ today in many places. I
It was not an easy job for David to drive out those; Jebusites. God had to prepare him in His own way. First of all God took David through eight long years of I painful suffering through Saul and Absalom and others. Then He brought him to Hebron. There He kept him for seven years and six months and from there He I brought him to Zion. Only then was he able to drive out the Jebusites. At fast the Jebusites were driven out from Zion. Then came the heavenly plan, then came I the temple and then came the glory. I
Now there are two very strong weapons required to drive out the Jebusites. One is called Hebron and the I other Zion. With these two weapons David was able I to recover all.
Now what is Hebron? What is Zion? As you understand the meaning of these you will learn how to recover all the things you have lost. I can say to God's glory that through these two weapons of warfare, Hebron and Zion, we can recover every loss; whether individual loss, family loss or church loss. May God teach us how to recover our losses through Hebron and Zion. I am speaking of the spiritual Hebron and Zion. I Will you not pray that God may teach you fully all about these two weapons? 66 '
First of all we must know what we have lost and how great the loss is. Then we must know how the loss can be fully recovered, and something added as well.
For example, there was a man called Job. He was a worldly man at first. He was truly a good man and a wealthy man, but he was blind. Before men he was a " great and perfect man, but before God he was spiritually blind, deaf, poor and imperfect. He did not know this himself until God took him through the fiery furnace. In one day he lost all his children. In one day his buildings were burnt down. In one day hts cattle were destroyed. Hie had a great and terrible loss. His own friends began to accuse him falsely. Even his own wife was against him. Why did God permit such a fiery trial? He did it so that Job could see his true condition and come into his true inheritance. Read Job 42:5, 6, 12, and you will understand why God permitted such suffering in Job's life. Through it God had become real to Job, and now he knew how to pray and talk with God, and in the end he got much more than he had lost. At first, like Job, we do not know. what we are losing. We do not know our real condition spiritually, and God has to use some painful means to open our eyes that we may see ourselves as He sees us.
Take another example. Mount Everest, in the Himalayas, is the highest peak in the world. It looks very beautiful early in the morning at sunrise. There is a place called Tiger Hill near Darjeeling, from which you can see Mount Everest, and people come from all parts of the world to see the peak. In 1856, three of us
. 6? went there, two of us and our guide. We had ta go very early that morning to climb up to the top, which we did with great difficulty. There we found gathered more than two hundred people from all parts of the world. Then the sun arose and the whole sky was beautifully lit. One by one the people all went away after seeing that sight, till only four of us were left behind. I asked my friend, 'Can you tell me where the peak of Everest is?’ He pointed and said, ‘It is there, there.’ So I looked and I saw a beautiful white point. As [looked it began to move and I said, 'How can that be Mount Everest? It is moving. It must be a cloud.’
So again I asked somebody else, 'Please tell me, where is mount Everest?! He said, 'Look behind you and wait for a while, and when the mist rolls away you will see Mount Everest.’ I turned around and after a few minutes the mist fully cleared. Then we saw Mount Everest. It was a wonderful sight. Yet more than two hundred people saw only the cloud and thought it was Mount Everest and went away saying, ‘We have seen Mount Everest! We have seen Mount Everest!
That is our state spiritually. We think we have seen the Lord, but actually we have not yet seen Him. That is why God has to take us through some painful situations, in order to give us eyes to see.
David recovered all. God's glory came down. God too will come down to us and we will become His people and through Hebron and Zion we will recover every loss.
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Chapter 8