THE ABISHAI ANOINTING: SUPPORT THE PASTOR
2 Sam. 23:18-19
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR
1. Mary Brumbaugh told about her pilot husband; “My husband, an airline pilot, often has difficulty locating items around our house. One day he asked me where the salt was. Annoyed, I responded, ‘How on earth can you find Detroit at night in a blizzard, but you can’t find the salt in your own kitchen?’”
2. “Well, Darling,” he replied, “they don’t move Detroit.”
B. TEXT
1. WHO WAS ABISHAI? “Abishai the brother of Joab son of Zeruiah was chief of the Three. He raised his spear against three hundred men, whom he killed...” 2 Sam. 23:18.
2. Abishai was David’s nephew. The Bible says he was the captain of 30 of David’s mighty men. He was more honorable than some and less honorable than others.
C. IDEA
1. David symbolizes (in his spiritual type) the man or woman of God who are key people in advancing God’s Kingdom in a city or a country. Davids spend time with God, bring God’s Word, and bring liberty to those under their authority. We’re always in desperate need of the David anointing. Why aren't there more “David” anointings today?
2. I believe it’s because another vital anointing is missing: the anointing of those who stand with the leader who’s called of God. These people aren’t Davids, but they have an anointing that releases and empowers God's man or woman to fulfill God's calling. This is the Abishai anointing.
3. We’re going to look at four characteristics of Abishai and see how huge a part he played in David’s success. The Title of this message is, “The Abishai Anointing: Support the Pastor.”
I. ABISHAI JOINED WHEN THINGS WERE BAD
A. WHEN ABISHAI FIRST FOLLOWED DAVID
1. “David left Gath and escaped to the cave of Adullam....All those who were in distress or in debt or discontented gathered around him, and he became their commander. About four hundred men were with him”1 Sam. 22:1-2.
2. The Abishai anointing is an anointing that is born in tough times. David had a price on his head. He was a fugitive, running for his life.
3. The church that Abishai joined at Adullam was the First Church of the Discouraged, Distressed and in Debt. There were no personal guarantees of comfort, security, position, prestige, or recognition.
4. That was just fine with Abishai. He’d not come for what he could receive, but for what he give to the leader he believed in.
B. COMPARISON TO CHURCH HOPPERS TODAY
1. How different are church shoppers today! For them it’s not about "the cause," "the cross," or "the King," it's about “US.” If our family can get a better deal at some other church, then we abandon the leadership at Adullam and head for a place of ease. But that’s not Abishai; his anointing was born in tough times.
2. Today, when the going gets tough, many Christians go away. They go away OFFENDED. They go away HURT. They go away CRITICAL. They go away COMPLAINING. When they leave their David, they forfeit the Abishai anointing and the chance to be a part of something greater than themselves. It’s often been said that you can tell the level of a person's commitment by what makes him or her quit!
3. All pastors are humans; they make mistakes. David made mistakes, yet he was still God’s man. Moses made mistakes, but he was still God’s man. For many Christians today, it doesn’t take much to walk away.
4. No wonder Jesus demanded, upfront, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it” Matt. 16:24-25.
C. ADVERSITY MAKES YOU GREATER
As Ted Engstrom says, in Pursuit of Excellence:
* Cripple him, and you have a Sir Walter Scott.
* Lock him in a prison cell, and you have a John Bunyan.
* Bury him in the snows of Valley Forge, and you have a George Washington.
* Raise him in abject poverty and you have an Abraham Lincoln.
* Strike him down with infantile paralysis, and he becomes Franklin Roosevelt.
* Burn him so severely that the doctors say he’ll never walk again, and you have a Glenn Cunningham—who set the world’s one-mile record in 1934.
* Deafen him and you have a Ludwig von Beethoven.
* Have him or her born black in a society filled with racial discrimination, and you have a Booker T. Washington, a Marian Anderson, a George Washington Carver.
* Call him a slow learner, “retarded,” and write him off as uneducable, and you have an Albert Einstein.
II. ABISHAIS ARE WILLING TO TRY THE IMPOSSIBLE
A. A CHALLENGE THAT TESTED
1. “David set out and went to the place where Saul had camped. He saw where Saul and Abner son of Ner, the commander of the army, had lain down. Saul was lying inside the camp, with the army encamped around him. 6 David then asked Ahimelek the Hittite and Abishai son of Zeruiah, Joab’s brother, “Who will go down into the camp with me to Saul?” 1 Sam. 26:5-6.
2. King Saul was pursuing David to kill him. Ahimelek & Abishai knew that David’s idea was a suicide mission. Saul was surrounded by 3,000 elite troops and they were there to destroy David. The only strategy David verbalized was: "We’re going right into the middle of the [enemies’] camp."
3. The other warrior, Ahimelek, remained silent. Abishai, with no hesitation, answered, "I'll go with you!" Abishai had an advantage over Ahimelek. Since he was a kid, he’d sat at his mother's feet with his brothers and heard of uncle David's exploits. He’d heard how his Uncle had beaten the odds and turned impossible situations into opportunities for God's miracles. He was willing to take a chance and see what God would do!
4. In spite of all the odds, the danger, and the personal risk, Abishai cried, "I'll go!" Abishai knew the glorious adventure of attacking the impossible with the anointed man of God.
B. THE IMPORTANCE OF A COMPANION
1. The Lord Jesus commanded us to go 2 by 2 (Mark 6:7; Mt. 18:16). Moses had his Joshua, Gideon had his Purah, and David had his Abishai!
2. I don’t believe David would have gone to the enemy’s camp alone or he would have gone immediately. He needed an Abishai who was ready to go because he knew miracles happen when God’s men or women step out and do something unconventional.
3. In the United States the Church has been reduced to the boring and the mundane; “Just give us our three songs, a sermon, and the benediction.” We need more Davids supported by Abishais!
C. ILLUS.: HOW WE CAN HELP
1. A converted cowboy put it very well when he said, "Lots of folks, wanting to do right, think that serving the Lord only means attending church and praising His name.
2. Let me tell you how I look at that. I am working for Jim here. Now if I would do nothing but sit around the house telling Jim what a good fellow he is and singing songs to him, that would not suit Jim.
3. But when I buckle on my straps and hustle among the hills and see that Jim's herd is all right, not suffering for water or food, or being driven off the range and branded by cow thieves, then I am serving Jim AS JIM WANTS TO BE SERVED." It’s the same with God.
4. We ought to be going into the highways and hedges and compelling them to come in – with the Gospel. We ought to bring cheer to the sad, assist the poor, defend the weak, and restore the fallen. That’s where God’s heart is. We ought to build up the church, call on those we have missed, encourage those who’re down, pray for revival and assist the pastor – and do all we can to make Jesus’ church a success! [Anonymous]
III. ABISHAIS HAVE A TEACHABLE SPIRIT
A. TREATMENT OF ANOINTED PEOPLE
1. As David and Abishai stood in Saul’s Camp looking at the sleeping king, Abishai said to David, “Today God
has delivered your enemy into your hands. Now let me pin him to the ground with one thrust of the spear; I won’t strike him twice” 1 Sam. 26:7-8.
2. But David said to Abishai, “Don’t destroy him! Who can lay a hand on the Lord’s anointed and be guiltless? As surely as the Lord lives,” he said, “the Lord himself will strike him, or his time will come and he will die, or he will go into battle and perish. But the Lord forbid that I should lay a hand on the Lord’s anointed.” 1 Sam. 26:9-11.
3. The phrase “the Lord’s anointed” is used many times in the O.T. “Touch not my anointed ones & do my prophets no harm” (1 Chr. 16:22 & Ps. 105:15). This was first applied to Abram (Gen. 20:3-7), Jacob (Gen. 31:24), & to Saul (as God’s anointed King, 1 Sam. 26:9-11); also to prophets (1 Kg. 19:16), priests (Ex. 30:30, etc.) and kings (1 Sam. 16:6, 13).
4. The point here, is when GOD sets up a Shepherd over a flock, people need to be very careful how they treat the man of God. David saw this as God’s area of jurisdiction and we should defer to God unless there is a clear violation of morals, finances, or doctrine.
B. ABISHAI ACCEPTED CORRECTION
1. In 1 Sam. 26:8, Abishai thought that GOD had given them the opportunity to strike Saul and end his unjust pursuit of David, plus other crimes.
2. But David corrected him and Abishai accepted the correction and offered no argument. Are we teachable? When we have a word, an idea, or a plan – can our leadership veto it and not offend us?
3. The Abishai anointing submits to God's leadership that lines up with the Word. If you can’t submit to correction, then either you’ve not found your David, or you need to repent.
IV. ABISHAIS ARE LOYAL TO THEIR DAVIDS
A. ABISHAI DEFENDED DAVID
1. “Ishbi-Benob...said he would kill David. But Abishai son of Zeruiah came to David’s rescue; he struck the Philistine down and killed him.” 2 Sam. 21:16-17. Evidently as David entered this battle and fought this giant, Abishai positioned himself in battle so he could be near the King.
2. David had become older; he no longer had the stamina he once had. He suddenly became faint. In a flash Abishai was between David and the giant with his sword drawn and stopped the destruction of the man of God.
3. When we genuinely love our leaders, we’re there for them in all the seasons of life – when they’re faint, when their load is heavy, when they’re challenged emotionally, spiritually, or physically.
4. We’re there for them when their son is arrested or their daughter gets pregnant. We stand in between them and those who would destroy them. Countless men of God have fallen because there was no Abishai to save them from discouragement, crisis, or their enemies.
B. HE LOVED THE KING, NOT THE PALACE
1. In 2 Sam. 16:5-14, Absalom, David's son, led a coup that successfully removed David from the throne. David was once more running for his life.
2. As Abishai marched beside David out of Jerusalem, he knew the great days in the Palace were probably over. No more royal parties, buffets, and perks.
3. They were back where they started -- fugitives with a price on their heads. But it didn't matter to Abishai; his joy had never been set on the Palace, but on the Man God had appointed. God’s favor had not been removed from David, despite those troubles!
4. No matter what befalls the Davids, the Abishai anointing will remain true, in relationship, and will bear his rejection, as well as his victories.
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUS.: Raising the Bell
1. Now a lot of people will say, “But Pastor, what can I do to make a real difference?”
2. The story is told of a heavy bronze bell that had sunk into a river in China. The efforts of various engineers to raise it had been of no avail. At last a clever native priest asked permission to make the attempt - on the condition that the bell should be given to his temple. The authorities said “yes.”
3. He then had his assistants gather an immense number of bamboo rods. These are hollow, light, and practically unsinkable. They were taken down by divers, one by one, and fastened to the bell.
4. After many thousands of them had been thus fastened, it was noticed that the bell began to move, and, when the last one had been added, the buoyancy of the accumulated rods was so great that they actually lifted the enormous mass of bronze to the surface.
5. You may think your bamboo rod is too small and light to make any difference, but You ARE necessary in God's sight to help in lifting souls to God and to lend strength to the others.
B. THE CALL
1.Will you commit to being a vital part of God’s church? Don’t be a sailor without a ship, a bee without a hive, or a baseball player without a team!
2. Will you be an Abishai? Will you give your best for the Lord Jesus?
[This is an abridgment of the booklet, “The Abishai Anointing” by Denny Duron.]
