1 Samuel 25:36-38 WARNING!

 ”Now Abigail went to Nabal, and there he was, holding a feast in his house, like the feast of a king. And Nabal’s heart was merry within him, for he was very drunk; therefore she told him nothing, little or much, until morning light. So it was, in the morning, when the wine had gone from Nabal, and his wife had told him these things, that his heart died within him, and he became like a stone. Then it happened, after about ten days, that the Lord struck Nabal, and he died.“

‭‭I Samuel‬ ‭25‬:‭36‬-‭38‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

a. There he was, holding a feast in his house: Nabal lived up to his name; he was a fool. His life was in imminent danger – his wife knew it, all his servants knew it, but he didn’t know it. He eats and gets drunk as if all were fine, and he didn’t have a care in the world.

i. In this regard, Nabal is a picture of the sinner who goes on rejecting God without regard to God’s coming judgment. David certainly would have killed Nabal and it is certain that God will judge the sinner who continues to reject Him.

b. Like the feast of a king: All Nabal had to do was invite David to this tremendous feast and Nabal’s life would have been spared. Nabal’s own greed and foolishness was his undoing.

c. His heart died within him, and he became like stone…. the LORD struck Nabal, and he died: Abigail’s wise action saved Nabal from David and saved David from himself. But it could not save Nabal from God’s judgment. Nabal was never out of God’s reach and when it was the right time, God took care of him.

i. In 1 Samuel 25:33, David was grateful that Abigail’s appeal had kept him from avenging myself with my own hand. This proves that David did not need to avenge himself with his own hand; God was more than able to do it.

ii. Jesus may have had Nabal in mind when He taught the Parable of the Rich Fool (Luke 12:15-21). That parable describes a man who dies with everything – and nothing.

iii. “All which time he lay like a block in his bed, without repentance or confidence in God; but condemned of his own conscience, he went to his place without noise. Let this be a warning to drunkards.” (Trapp)

(Guzik)

Warning!

We’ve all been given a warning and if we don’t heed it we may end up as a man who dies with everything - and nothing!

”Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”“

‭‭John‬ ‭3‬:‭3‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

I’ve been mocked by some Christians that say, oh you’re one of those that say you have to be born again! 

But those are Jesus’ words speaking to the religious ruler of the Jews!

Are you born again?

“Regeneration is a subject which lies at the very basis of salvation, and we should be very diligent to take heed that we really are "born again," for there are many who fancy they are, who are not. Be assured that the name of a Christian is not the nature of a Christian; and that being born in a Christian land, and being recognized as professing the Christian religion is of no avail whatever, unless there be something more added to it--the being "born again," is a matter so mysterious, that human words cannot describe it. "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit." Nevertheless, it is a change which is known and felt: known by works of holiness, and felt by a gracious experience. This great work is supernatural. It is not an operation which a man performs for himself: a new principle is infused, which works in the heart, renews the soul, and affects the entire man. It is not a change of my name, but a renewal of my nature, so that I am not the man I used to be, but a new man in Christ Jesus. To wash and dress a corpse is a far different thing from making it alive: man can do the one, God alone can do the other. If you have then, been "born again," your acknowledgment will be, "O Lord Jesus, the everlasting Father, Thou art my spiritual Parent; unless Thy Spirit had breathed into me the breath of a new, holy, and spiritual life, I had been to this day 'dead in trespasses and sins.' My heavenly life is wholly derived from Thee, to Thee I ascribe it. 'My life is hid with Christ in God.' It is no longer I who live, but Christ who liveth in me." May the Lord enable us to be well assured on this vital point, for to be unregenerate is to be unsaved, unpardoned, without God, and without hope.” 

C. H. Spurgeon 

I love this quote from John Newton! “I am not what I ought to be, I am not what I want to be, I am not what I hope to be in another world, but still I am not what I once used to be, and by the grace of God I am what I am.”

Will you take this warning lightly?

Blessings