Turn to John 13. I have done this study before in the fellowship. These passages and these stories are things that probably almost all of you are familiar with. I would just like to give all of you a little encouragement, which is one of the purposes of this fellowship conference. We want to give a little encouragement to all of you who are working so hard to get this message out in these last days, all of you who, in different ways, are just working feverishly and diligently to get this message out.
So I would like to look at John 13, which is a passage about foot washing. Then I would also like to look at 1 Samuel 25, which is a very well-known story of David, Nabal, his wife Abigail, and the gracious and beautiful words that Abigail says as she comes to be David’s wife.
Starting in verse 1 of John 13, we read in John 13:1-16:
Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end. And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him; Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God; He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself. After that he poureth water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded. Then cometh he to Simon Peter: and Peter saith unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet? Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter. Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me. Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. Jesus saith to him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all. For he knew who should betray him; therefore said he, Ye are not all clean. So after he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments, and was set down again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you? Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you. Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him.
If you are standing on a busy corner or on the boardwalk or at the ramp as people are coming out of a football or baseball game and you are handing out tracts, maybe one of these thousands of people is a child of God. As you hand him that tract, you are washing his feet. You are ministering to him, whether or not he understands that he has come to salvation; and so, I would like to speak about his.
Here in John 13:8, Peter said to Christ:
…Thou shalt never wash my feet…
So Jesus tells Peter:
…If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me.
Certainly, this foot washing is a picture of salvation. I think that everyone here understands this. Christ says that unless He does this, we have “no part” with Him.
Just to look at one place where this same word is used, let us look at Revelation 20:6. It says:
Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.
“Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection.” All who are saved have “part” with Christ. But God uses the feet in the Bible to represent the way we move. They speak of our walk and our will.
Look at this passage in Acts 3 where Peter and John made this man to walk who had never walked. I will start in verse 1 of Acts 3. We read in Acts 3:1-6:
Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour. And a certain man lame from his mother’s womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the temple; Who seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple asked an alms. And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us. And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of them. Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.
Certainly, this is a picture of salvation. You all know this.
Then we read in verse 7, Acts 3:7-16:
And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God: And they knew that it was he which sat for alms at the Beautiful gate of the temple: and they were filled with wonder and amazement at that which had happened unto him. And as the lame man which was healed held Peter and John, all the people ran together unto them in the porch that is called Solomon’s, greatly wondering. And when Peter saw it, he answered unto the people, Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? or why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk? The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go. But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you; And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses. And his name through faith in his name hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know: yea, the faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.
This is “the faith” which is by Christ, of course. But, again, the feet just have to do with our will and our walk, and this foot washing is all about how God comes and washes our feet and causes us to now walk before Him perfectly, as He sees Christ in those whom He has saved.
In Romans 3:15-16, speaking of the wicked, God says:
Their feet are swift to shed blood: Destruction and misery are in their ways:
We could look at a lot of verses like this, which speak of how the feet represent our will and our walk. For example, in Psalm 37:23, we read:
The steps of a good man are ordered by JEHOVAH…
Romans 10:15 says:
And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!
Let us go back to John 13 and just stay in this for a moment. Again, Peter says to Him in verse 9, John 13:9:
Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head.
Then we read in verse 10, John 13:10:
Jesus saith to him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all.
This is a very spiritual verse, but I think that we can still understand this. Our will has to be changed; the way that we walk has to be changed. Anybody reading this carefully should understand that there was no reason that we should have ever been immersed in baptism. Baptism was simply a picture that was teaching us what we would hope that Christ would do in our lives.
Continuing on in John 13, Christ establishes a principle. We read in John 13:12-15:
So after he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments, and was set down again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you? Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.
Again, all of these people in this fellowship group, all of these Family Radio people, are working together, and Christ is our example. We read about this in 1 Peter 2:20-21:
For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:
We are saved to serve and we follow in Christ’s footsteps. We are “partakers of Christ’s sufferings” and Christ is our example.
We have already spoken about how we can encourage each other in these fellowships. We can encourage the weaker among us or those who are new and who are just beginning to learn and to grow in this knowledge.
In 1 Thessalonians 5:14, we read:
Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward all men.
These were directives for the church, but these directives still certainly apply now as we fellowship together.
There are people who are finding fault with these fellowships. If we get them a little too organized or if we print up a program or if we put flowers up front, people say, “This is a church; it is just another church”; but it is not. We do not have spiritual rule. It could be two neighbors gathering in one’s house simply to praise God on the Sabbath and to have a little Bible Study. EBible Fellowship is no more than this; it is just more people. I think that these gatherings and this interaction helps us and encourages us.
I also believe that God never rescinded this verse. Look at 2 Timothy 2:1-2. It says:
Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.
This goes down the line and I believe that this is still going on. As we gather together in these fellowships and listen to teaching, God’s people are still being edified by this interaction and this fellowship with those of like minds; and, again, as these people work so hard to get these tracts out, they are washing the feet of God’s people. They are ministering to them.
Let us now turn to 1 Samuel 25 and look at this beautiful story of David and this wicked man Nabal and his wife Abigail. In this, we can see things that are in accord with what is going on today. The Bible is a living Book and we can apply some of these things to what is going on today, even nine months and some days from the time when God comes in judgment.
In 1 Samuel 25:1-3, we read:
And Samuel died; and all the Israelites were gathered together, and lamented him, and buried him in his house at Ramah. And David arose, and went down to the wilderness of Paran. And there was a man in Maon, whose possessions were in Carmel; and the man was very great, and he had three thousand sheep, and a thousand goats: and he was shearing his sheep in Carmel. Now the name of the man was Nabal; and the name of his wife Abigail: and she was a woman of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance: but the man was churlish and evil in his doings; and he was of the house of Caleb.
At this time in the history of Israel, Saul was the king over Israel. He was a good king in some ways, and yet he was certainly a wicked man. Throughout his life as he was reigning as king, it was his objective to kill David. He knew that David had been anointed by Samuel to be king over Israel. Saul had sons and he knew that his sons were not going to be king in Israel, and so it was in his heart to kill David.
Certainly, again, there is a spiritual picture in this. As Saul was a ruler of Israel, we are to see the church—God’s corporate body—as they are under the rule of wicked men who are trying to kill Christ with their false gospels, with their works gospels, and with all of the other lies that they bring.
Let me repeat that we do not have to keep focusing on the apostasy of the church today and how the church is dead. We especially cannot be proud. We have to be humbled by how God, especially in these last days, is just opening up His Word. If we are able to see the things that He is opening up in these days, we have to be utterly humbled. We give God all the glory and we just stand amazed. We also need to understand what we are to do with this. But, again, we have to first see these things in the Bible; then we can relate them to what is going on out there in the world.
Saul is probably a picture of Satan or, at least, of when the wicked have rule in the church. David is always a picture of Christ in the Bible; he is probably the most prominent figure of Christ in the Bible.
So we read again in 1 Samuel 25:2-3:
And there was a man in Maon, whose possessions were in Carmel…Now the name of the man was Nabal…
Nabal actually means “fool,” so this definitely is an unsaved man. He is also a rich man, and we will look at this. But these places are, in all likelihood, in Judah. When David was escaping from Saul, trying to avoid him and eluding him constantly, he was almost always in the wilderness of Judaea with those who were in the inheritance of the tribe of Judah.
God uses Judah above all of the other tribes of Israel to represent his church, and yet here is this man who is a figure of Christ and he is being chased by this wicked king, a man who has the rule over Israel and who is trying to kill him. We will not turn there, but 1 Samuel 16:1 begins the account of when Samuel came to Jesse’s sons and picked David and anointed him to be king over Israel.
Again, Nabal means “fool” or “foolish,” but he is a rich man with flocks and herds. He is a rich farmer. I believe that he is also a picture of those in the corporate church whom God has blessed specifically with the Word. He came to Israel and picked them out over all of the other nations and tribes of the world and blessed them. He brought them out of their slavery in Egypt. He gave them His Word in the wilderness. God taught them many things about Himself to where they should have recognized Him when He came as a man to Israel, at which time they were so far from truth that they wanted Him dead. So, again, I believe that this man Nabal with his flocks and his herds represents the congregations that went apostate. As we continue to read on, we will see this.
The name “Abigail” is made up of two words: “ab,” which means “father,” and “giyl,” which means “joy.” So this name probably means “joy of the father” or “the father’s joy,” or something like this. She is certainly a picture of the true believers, because it says in 1 Samuel 25:3:
Now the name of the man was Nabal; and the name of his wife Abigail: and she was a woman of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance…
Proverbs speaks a lot about understanding and how God gives understanding of His Word to His people. Proverbs 3:1-4 says:
My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments: For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee. Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart: So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man.
And Abigail was a woman of:
…of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance…
This word “countenance” is not the same word that is usually translated as “countenance” or “face.” It is another word that is translated a lot as “form.” It simply means that she was a woman of fair form, of a beautiful form.
The Bible uses this same word for “beautiful” to describe Rachel in Genesis 29:17, which says:
Leah was tender eyed; but Rachel was beautiful and well favoured.
This is the same word that we find in 1 Samuel 25:3. I believe that Rachel was also a picture of the believers, the wife of Christ, maybe the New Testament church; I am not sure. Certainly, she was a picture of a true believer.
Here, I believe that Abigail is a picture of the true believers as they are still under the dominion of the wicked in the church. So let us look at verse 3 again, 1 Samuel 25:3:
Now the name of the man was Nabal; and the name of his wife Abigail: and she was a woman of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance: but the man was churlish and evil in his doings; and he was of the house of Caleb.
In all likelihood, though we cannot say this for certain, when they sent the twelve spies to spy out the Promised Land before they went into it, only Joshua, the son of Nun, and Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, brought back a good report. They were, therefore, pictured as believers, as faithful men.
Caleb was of the house of Judah, so this man Nabal probably had the inheritance of his fathers when they originally came into Judah. Since it is for certain that Nabal was of the tribe of Judah, this just emphasizes even more that this is looking at the church. But Caleb and Joshua were the two spies who brought back a good report of the Promised Land.
Do you know what tribe Joshua was from? Joshua was from the tribe of Ephraim. (That is not an easy one.)
Continuing in 1 Samuel 25:4, we read:
And David heard in the wilderness that Nabal did shear his sheep.
It was a big event back then when a man with a lot of flocks sheared his sheep. He hired extra men and had to bring in a lot of extra provisions, because they had to cook for them. It was a big event.
Then we read in 1 Samuel 25:5-8:
And David sent out ten young men, and David said unto the young men, Get you up to Carmel, and go to Nabal, and greet him in my name: And thus shall ye say to him that liveth in prosperity, Peace be both to thee, and peace be to thine house, and peace be unto all that thou hast. And now I have heard that thou hast shearers: now thy shepherds which were with us, we hurt them not, neither was there ought missing unto them, all the while they were in Carmel. Ask thy young men, and they will show thee. Wherefore let the young men find favour in thine eyes: for we come in a good day: give, I pray thee, whatsoever cometh to thine hand unto thy servants, and to thy son David.
David was in the wilderness with all of these men who had followed him and they had to eat. They lived off the land and they foraged for what they could. They were probably sustained by a lot of generous people who supported David, but I am sure that it was tough.
Notice what it says in the second part of verse 8. He says in 1 Samuel 25:8:
…give, I pray thee, whatsoever cometh to thine hand unto thy servants, and to thy son David.
David is a son; he is a son of Judah.
Then we read in 1 Samuel 25:9-11:
And when David’s young men came, they spake to Nabal according to all those words in the name of David, and ceased. And Nabal answered David’s servants, and said, Who is David? and who is the son of Jesse? there be many servants now a days that break away every man from his master. Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and my flesh that I have killed for my shearers, and give it unto men, whom I know not whence they be?
Nabal asks, “Who is David?” Nabal does not think anything of David and is quite content with Saul as his king. Again, Nabal is a picture here of the corporate church, and he is not going to give any sustenance, any provision, to David’s men.
The principle that we see here is like what we find in Matthew 25:44 where Christ is addressing those in the church who were to be bringing the Gospel all throughout time and washing the feet, as it were, of God’s people, and Nabal does not want to do this. I believe that this is the principle in Matthew 25 as God separates the sheep from the goats. We know that this separation is going on right now and that the culmination of this is going to be on May 21st when all of these goats are going to be in horrible and utter shock, in stark terror. So in Matthew 25, as He puts the goats on His left hand, we read in Matthew 25:41-45:
Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: For I was an hungered, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
All throughout time, the church should have been ministering, sustaining, providing food, washing the feet, as it were, of God’s people
Let us go back to 1 Samuel 25. David is very angry because of Nabal, and so he is going to wipe out the whole house of Nabal. We read in 1 Samuel 25:13-15:
And David said unto his men, Gird ye on every man his sword. And they girded on every man his sword; and David also girded on his sword: and there went up after David about four hundred men; and two hundred abode by the stuff. But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, saying, Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to salute our master; and he railed on them. But the men were very good unto us, and we were not hurt, neither missed we any thing, as long as we were conversant with them, when we were in the fields:
Nabal’s men were out in the fields shepherding and tending to the flocks. This was the wilderness and it was very dangerous. There were robbers and thieves, marauders; but David’s men actually helped to protect them. Here this man is telling Abigail in 1 Samuel 25:15:
…neither missed we any thing…
David’s men did not strong-arm these men. They did not try to take anything out of the flocks for themselves. They were very respectful of the possessions of this man.
1 Samuel 25:15 continues on to say:
…neither missed we any thing, as long as we were conversant with them, when we were in the fields:
In other places in the Bible, this word “conversant” means “as long as we walked with them,” and this is referring to walking with David’s men.
Then in 1 Samuel 25:16, they say:
They were a wall unto us…
David’s men were “a wall” unto Nabal’s shepherds. It continues:
They were a wall unto us both by night and day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep.
This particular word for “wall” is used a lot to represent the wall of salvation.
In Isaiah 60:18, we read:
…thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise.
This is a picture of the Gospel and Christ is also spoken of as “the wall.” In fact, many of these cities had protective walls around them, and these men were saying that David’s men were like “a wall” unto them out there in the wilderness.
As we continue, this is still Nabal’s men talking to Abigail. They are referring to Nabal, and we read in 1 Samuel 25:17-24:
Now therefore know and consider what thou wilt do; for evil is determined against our master, and against all his household: for he is such a son of Belial, that a man cannot speak to him. Then Abigail made haste, and took two hundred loaves, and two bottles of wine, and five sheep ready dressed, and five measures of parched corn, and an hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs…
Abigail is going to give David’s men provision; but if you work through these words, these things all represent the Gospel. It continues:
…and laid them on asses. And she said unto her servants, Go on before me; behold, I come after you. But she told not her husband Nabal. And it was so, as she rode on the ass, that she came down by the covert on the hill, and, behold, David and his men came down against her; and she met them. Now David had said, Surely in vain have I kept all that this fellow hath in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that pertained unto him: and he hath requited me evil for good. So and more also do God unto the enemies of David, if I leave of all that pertain to him by the morning light any that pisseth against the wall. And when Abigail saw David, she hasted, and lighted off the ass, and fell before David on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, And fell at his feet…
Look at all of these expressions: she “fell before David on her face,” she “bowed herself to the ground,” she “fell at his feet.” She did all of this in obeisance, in worship.
Then we read in verse 24, 1 Samuel 25:24-25:
And fell at his feet, and said, Upon me, my lord, upon me let this iniquity be: and let thine handmaid, I pray thee, speak in thine audience, and hear the words of thine handmaid. Let not my lord, I pray thee, regard this man of Belial, even Nabal: for as his name is, so is he; Nabal is his name, and folly is with him: but I thine handmaid saw not the young men of my lord, whom thou didst send.
She is asking for forgiveness for this sin, but she is not interceding and praying for Nabal. She is asking that they would be forgiven for this sin, this denial of giving provision to David’s men. Again, she is a picture of the true believers in the church who are going to be brought out from under the dominion of the wicked as they have rule in the church.
Then 1 Samuel 25:26-28 says:
Now therefore, my lord, as JEHOVAH liveth, and as thy soul liveth, seeing JEHOVAH hath withholden thee from coming to shed blood, and from avenging thyself with thine own hand, now let thine enemies, and they that seek evil to my lord, be as Nabal. And now this blessing which thine handmaid hath brought unto my lord, let it even be given unto the young men that follow my lord. I pray thee, forgive the trespass of thine handmaid: for JEHOVAH will certainly make my lord a sure house…
This is speaking of how God the Father is making David “a sure house.” It continues:
…for JEHOVAH will certainly make my lord a sure house; because my lord fighteth the battles of JEHOVAH, and evil hath not been found in thee all thy days.
These words apply to Christ and they are speaking of Christ.
Then 1 Samuel 25:29 says:
Yet a man is risen to pursue thee, and to seek thy soul…
This is speaking literally of Saul, and yet this is certainly speaking of Satan, is it not?
It continues:
…but the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with JEHOVAH thy God; and the souls of thine enemies, them shall he sling out, as out of the middle of a sling.
This language is speaking of Christ.
Then we read in 1 Samuel 25:30-31:
And it shall come to pass, when JEHOVAH shall have done to my lord according to all the good that he hath spoken concerning thee, and shall have appointed thee ruler over Israel; That this shall be no grief unto thee, nor offence of heart unto my lord, either that thou hast shed blood causeless, or that my lord hath avenged himself: but when JEHOVAH shall have dealt well with my lord, then remember thine handmaid.
We will continue on to verse 34; then I want to note something about Abigail again. We read in 1 Samuel 25:32-33:
And David said to Abigail, Blessed be JEHOVAH God of Israel, which sent thee this day to meet me: And blessed be thy advice, and blessed be thou, which hast kept me this day from coming to shed blood…
He is not going to wipe out all of the men of Nabal’s household for this sin, as he says of Abigail:
…which hast kept me this day from coming to shed blood, and from avenging myself with mine own hand.
Then in 1 Samuel 25:34, we read:
For in very deed, as JEHOVAH God of Israel liveth, which hath kept me back from hurting thee, except thou hadst hasted and come to meet me, surely there had not been left unto Nabal by the morning light any that pisseth against the wall.
He was going to wipe them out. But here, again, Abigail is a picture of the true believers, the wife of Christ, as it were.
Let us look at Proverbs 31. Proverbs 31 speaks of the “virtuous woman.” I think that you all know that Proverbs 31 is speaking of the Bride of Christ. I will start in verse 25; but starting in verse 10, this is speaking of the Bride of Christ, the “virtuous woman” and her attributes. Proverbs 31:25-26 says:
Strength and honour are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come. She openeth her mouth with wisdom…
This is referring to the Word of God. It continues:
…and in her tongue is the law of kindness.
Then Proverbs 31:27 says:
She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.
In this story in 1 Samuel 25, Abigail is looking well to her household. She has pleaded for them, although she did not plead for Nabal, which you will be able to see if you read over those verses again.
So in 1 Samuel 25:35, we read:
So David received of her hand that which she had brought him, and said unto her, Go up in peace to thine house; see, I have hearkened to thy voice, and have accepted thy person.
We do not accept Christ. Instead, there are verses in the Bible that speak of how He accepts us.
Look at Job 42:9. Let us start in verse 7. Job 42:7-8 says:
And it was so, that after JEHOVAH had spoken these words unto Job, JEHOVAH said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends: for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath. Therefore take unto you now seven bullocks and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and my servant Job shall pray for you: for him will I accept: lest I deal with you after your folly, in that ye have not spoken of me the thing which is right, like my servant Job.
We know that Job is a picture of Christ. Job had everything and it was all taken away from him, and yet he did not find fault with God; he remained faithful.
So Job 42:9 says:
So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went, and did according as JEHOVAH commanded them: JEHOVAH also accepted Job.
Again, we read this word.
We read of this also in Ecclesiastes 9:7:
…for God now accepteth thy works.
This is speaking of someone who has been saved.
Let us continue on in 1 Samuel and finish up this chapter. In 1 Samuel 25:36-38, we read:
And Abigail came to Nabal; and, behold, he held a feast in his house, like the feast of a king; and Nabal’s heart was merry within him, for he was very drunken: wherefore she told him nothing, less or more, until the morning light. But it came to pass in the morning, when the wine was gone out of Nabal, and his wife had told him these things, that his heart died within him, and he became as a stone. And it came to pass about ten days after, that JEHOVAH smote Nabal, that he died.
Again, I am sure that Nabal either represents the wicked in the church or the spirit of Satan. I am not sure which.
Then 1 Samuel 25:39 says:
And when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, Blessed be JEHOVAH, that hath pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and hath kept his servant from evil: for JEHOVAH hath returned the wickedness of Nabal upon his own head. And David sent and communed with Abigail, to take her to him to wife.
She is now going to become the Bride of Christ.
Now look at 1 Samuel 25:40-41:
And when the servants of David were come to Abigail to Carmel, they spake unto her, saying, David sent us unto thee, to take thee to him to wife. And she arose, and bowed herself on her face to the earth, and said, Behold, let thine handmaid be a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.
It was her desire to minister, to wash the feet of the servants of David her lord, which represented the fellow believers.
Again, this is what we are doing. No matter what kind of work we are doing to serve the Lord, we are washing the feet. We are ministering to those whom God has chosen out of all of the masses out there to be saved, whether they are aware yet of their salvation or not. We could spend a long time just looking at different verses in the Bible that tell us that this is what a true believer wants to do and will do, and that this is what we are commanded to do by the Lord.
Turn to 1 John 3. 1 John 3:16-17 says:
Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?
This is a convicting verse. We are to examine ourselves constantly whether we be in the faith. If we do not have this desire to be serving the Lord, we have to look at ourselves.
Look at 1 John 4:18-19. It says:
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. We love him, because he first loved us.
“We love him, because he first loved us.” Then we read next in 1 John 4:20-21:
If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.
We are commanded in 1 Peter to have a “love of the brethren.” If we love them, we will be ministering to God’s people and searching for them.
We looked at Ecclesiastes 11 during last year’s conference. This whole chapter is a commandment. Ecclesiastes 11:1 says:
Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days.
What is our bread? It is the Gospel. Christ is the Bread of Life and we will find Him “after many days” if we are His child.
Then we read in Ecclesiastes 11:2:
Give a portion to seven, and also to eight; for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth.
He goes on in these verses to speak of God’s sovereignty in salvation.
Then He says in verse 5, Ecclesiastes 11:5:
As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all.
We do not understand how it works, and yet He commands us to just get the Gospel out.
Then He says in verse 6, Ecclesiastes 11:6:
In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good.
You see two people out there whom you have tried to minister to and you do not know if one of them will be saved, both of them will be saved, or neither of them. This is all in the hands of God entirely. Your commandment is to get the Gospel out, but salvation is entirely of the Lord.
In Proverbs 31, before it speaks of “a virtuous woman,” we read in Proverbs 31:8-9:
Open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction. Open thy mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy.
The “poor and needy” we have now learned are those who are coming to salvation. Mr. Camping refers to them as those who are out there in no man’s land as yet. They are not yet aware that they are saved. God has not yet begun to work in them, but they are out there.
There are still elect out there and it is still the day of salvation, and so we are commanded in Proverbs 31:9:
Open thy mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy.
Intercede for them. Bring that Gospel.
I have one more passage and then we will close with this. Proverbs 3:27-28 says:
Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it.
The good that is spoken of here is salvation as we go out with the Word of God. It says:
Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it. Say not unto thy neighbour, Go, and come again, and to morrow I will give; when thou hast it by thee.
This is a commandment that should be in all of our hearts. We should want and we should desire to wash the feet of our fellowman, to be his servant. We are washing his feet as we go out with the Gospel. We are ministering to those who are still out there who are God’s people.
Let us close.