 Amen. So tonight we're going to start a study, a two-part study tonight and next Sunday night on the man Joab. And Joab is one of, in my opinion, one of the most interesting characters in the Bible. There are some good things about Joab and some bad things about Joab, plenty of bad things about Joab. We're going to focus on the bad this evening. And you know, the first thing we need to look at, we just read one story in the life of Joab. There's a lot about Joab in the Bible. There's a lot of, he's David's captain of his army throughout David's reign. So I mean, the first thing that we're going to look at is just all the different characteristics and the things that Joab did when he interacted as David's captain. And just kind of, we'll begin to see a series of a pattern of behavior with Joab and we'll see what we can learn from that this evening. So first of all, turn to 1 Chronicles chapter 2. Who is Joab? Who is he? Where did he come from? And how did he get in the role that we see him in in 2 Samuel chapter 3? Keep your place in 2 Samuel chapter 3. We're going to be going between 1 Chronicles and 2 Samuel this evening looking at all the different stories about Joab in the Bible. But tonight we're going to focus on, you know, the shortcomings of this man Joab in the Bible. So if you're there in 1 Chronicles chapter 2, look at verse number 15. So we can get an idea here of who Joab actually is. And the Bible says in 1 Chronicles 2 15, Osum the 6th, David the 7th. We're talking about David's family and David whose sisters, now it's talking about whose sisters. We have a genealogy here. It's talking about David's genealogy and David's sisters in verse 16 whose sisters were Zariah and Abigail. And the sons of Zariah, Abashai and Joab and Asahel 3. So David's sisters, David's one of David's sisters, Zariah had these three boys and the boys were Abashai and Joab and Asahel. So Joab is David's nephew. Joab was David's nephew. So he's a close relation to David and turned to 1 Chronicles chapter 11. And we'll see, you know, so we see how he has a tie to King David right away. But he didn't actually just become the captain of the army because he was the nephew of David. And we'll see how Joab got the title or got the job of, you know, David's main general. Look at verse 5 of 2 Chronicles 11. The Bible says, And the inhabitants of Jebus said to David, Thou shalt not come hither. Nevertheless, David took the castle of Zion, which is the city of David. And David said, Whosoever smiteeth the Jebusites first shall be chief and captain. So David puts this challenge forth to whoever can go and win this battle for him. So Joab, the son of Zariah, went first up and was chief. So Joab, I mean, we see here he gets the job of a general because he was very brave. So Joab was not someone to be trifled with. None of these three boys, by the way, were anything to be trifled with. We'll see that later in maybe next week's sermon. But Joab was a warrior. He was a man of war and he was very brave, but he had some issues. Turn back to 2 Samuel chapter 3. Let's go back and look at the story that we just, we saw in 2 Samuel chapter 3. So basically what you have going on here in 2 Samuel chapter 3 is you have, Saul has died, his son Ispasheth is taken over the kingdom, and his son has this captain of his army called Abner. So David is now king, but everyone has not come and recognized David as king. Some people still are following, especially the tribe of Benjamin of which Saul was. They were following the son of Saul, which is Ispasheth, I'm sorry. And Abner is his general. Abner is to Ispasheth as Joab is to David. So we can see right there there's some conflict right away between Joab and Abner because they hold the same positions in these two conflicting divided kingdoms. So if we look back at 2 Samuel chapter 3, basically what happens is Ispasheth, he accuses Abner of something wicked, of having relations with a woman that he shouldn't have had relations with. Abner is super offended and Abner goes to make peace with David. And Abner goes to make peace with David saying, I will bring the kingdom together. I can bring everything to you. And David is like, okay, sounds good. So David accepts the offer and sends Abner away in peace. We'll look at 2 Samuel chapter 3 in verse 26. Joab is coming back from a mission, from a battle, from a skirmish of some kind. And when Joab was come out from David, he sent messengers after Abner which brought him again from the well of Sira, but David knew it not. This is after David the king has made peace with Abner. And when Abner was returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside in the gate to speak with him quietly and smote him there under the fifth rib that he died for the blood of Asahel, his brother. And afterward, when David heard it, he said, I and my kingdom are guiltless before the Lord, forever for the blood of Abner, the son of Nero. Let it rest on the head of Joab and all his father's house and let there not fail from the house of Joab one that hath an issue or that is a leper or that lenith on a staffer that falleth on the sword or lacketh bread. So David basically finds out about this, is extremely unhappy about it. I'll get to why David puts up with so much from Joab in a little bit towards the end of the sermon. But Joab, I mean, imagine how upset David must have been. David makes peace with a man, Joab calls him back. You know, he's the general. He's not, he's underneath the king. And Joab has some sort of a problem with Abner and I'll get there in a second, turn back to 2 Samuel chapter 2. One chapter back and he basically takes him aside quietly and he murders him. He kills him. Okay? So Joab goes behind David's back and kills Abner. So why did he kill Abner? Look at 2 Samuel chapter 2. Look at verse 17. So in 2 Samuel chapter 2, this is before Abner has come and made peace with David. The kingdoms are still, you have Ishvishacheth. I'm having a hard time pronouncing that tonight. And then you have David. There's conflicting kingdoms here. Well, there's a battle in 2 Samuel chapter 2. Look at verse 17 between these two kingdoms and Joab is there and Abner is there. So these men have met each other in battle recently. Look at verse 17. And there was a very sore battle that day and Abner was beaten. So Joab's men defeated Abner's men. And the men of Israel before the servants of David. And there were three sons of Zariah there, Joab, Abishai, and Asahel. So these are all David's nephews. These are all David's nephews that are leading this battle. And Asahel was light of foot as a wild road. That means he was fast. He could run fast. And Asahel pursued after Abner. So they were beaten. Abner was fleeing with his army and he was running away. They were retreating. And Asahel, one of these nephews, Joab's brother, was chasing down Abner. And in going out he turned not to the right hand or the left from following Abner. So basically what was happening was this whole army was retreating and Asahel had picked out Abner and was just after him the whole way. He wasn't fighting the men to the left or the right. He was just chasing down Abner and he was very fast and he was catching him. Then, verse 20, then Abner looked behind him and said, Art thou Asahel? And he answered, I am. And Abner said unto him, this is interesting. Abner said unto him, Turn thee aside to the right hand or to the left and lay thee hold on one of the young men and take thee his armor. But Asahel would not turn aside from following him. And Abner said to Asahel, Turn thee aside from following me. Wherefore should I smite thee to the ground? How then should I hold up my face to Joab thy brother? So Joab is the captain of the host. His brother is chasing Abner. And Abner realizes that he's only after him. He's like, hey, just go fight one of these guys. Take his spoil. You'll have your victory. He's like, quit, look, Abner did not want to kill Asahel. He's warning him twice here. He warns him. How be it he refused to turn aside. In verse number 23, Asahel would not stop pursuing Abner. Wherefore Abner, with the hinder end of the spear, smote him under the fifth rib. That the spear came out behind him and he fell down there. And he died in the same place. And it came to pass that as many as came to the place where Asahel fell down and died stood still. So Abner finally is left with no choice. Asahel will not stop pursuing him. He kills him. So he kills Joab's brother. And Joab, as we'll see, just he had a real hard time letting things go. Joab was a man who was going to exact revenge himself. And that's exactly what he did in 2 Samuel chapter 3. He goes to David and he basically says to David, you know, hey, he just came here to spy on you. He just came here to get information on your kingdom. But really what Joab was upset about was that David was just, he was making an alliance with the man that killed his brother. And so Joab took things into his own hands. It even says it in 2 Samuel chapter 3 in verse number 27. It says, And he smote him under the fifth rib that he died for the blood of Asahel's brother. That's why he killed him. He killed him to get back at him for killing his brother. And we see that, you know, Abner basically killed Asahel in self-defense because he just wouldn't stop pursuing him when they were retreating. So we see that Joab kind of just did what he exacted his own revenge in this story. Now there's many other incidents turned to 2 Samuel chapter 14. There's many, you know, there's incidents where Joab was also very manipulative. And he was manipulative to David, his boss, his ruler. And look at 2 Samuel chapter 14. And well don't, no, turn to 2 Samuel chapter 20. I'll just tell you the story about 2 Samuel chapter 14. We don't have time to go through all of it. But basically what happened in 2 Samuel chapter 14 is he's manipulating David. Absalom has been banished by David. Absalom was David's son. And of course, you know, there was his brother. He killed his brother Amnon because his brother Amnon forced himself upon Tamar, their sister. Absalom couldn't let that go. So he killed Amnon. David banishes Absalom for that. Now Joab in 2 Samuel chapter 14, he wants him back. He wants him back so he hires a lady to go and tell David this story about these 2 sons that have been banished of hers. And, you know, David figures it out and he's like, did Joab send you here to tell me this story? She's like, yeah, he did. So Joab tried to manipulate David to bring Absalom back. And then, you know, David does bring Absalom back. But he was very manipulative to try to get David to do it. Joab was serving David like he should have. And he had a thought that he wanted David to do. He should have just went to David and said, hey, why don't you bring Absalom back? It's just Joab had an idea and he wanted to manipulate David to follow through with that idea in a manipulative fashion. So again, we see that Joab is not necessarily doing things in the right way in this fashion. You know, he just had a pattern of disobeying David and a pattern of just following what he wanted to do. Look at 2 Samuel chapter 20. So now in 2 Samuel chapter 20, we see that Absalom has come back and Absalom now leads a rebellion against David. So Absalom actually kicks David out of the palace and he actually takes over the kingdom from David for a while. Well, in 2 Samuel chapter 20, we have the battle where the three generals that David, you know, invokes to prosecute this battle against Absalom. They win the battle and they fight against Absalom to regain the kingdom to David. And his three captains were Joab and Abishai, two brothers, the two brothers that remain, and then of course Itai. And we've talked about Itai in the past. So look at 2 Samuel chapter 20 in verse number five. The Bible says this, it says, and the king commanded, this is before the battle. This is before the battle to re-retake the kingdom and the king commanded Joab and Abishai and Itai saying, deal gently for my sake with the young man, even Absalom. And all the people heard when the king gave all the captains charge concerning Absalom. So before the battle, he tells his three generals in front of everybody, he's like, go easy on the kid. Basically, you know, don't kill him is what he's saying. Now look down at verse number nine. The Bible says in verse number nine that Absalom met the servants of David and Absalom rode upon a mule and the mule went under the thick bows of a great oak and his head caught hold of the oak and he was taken up between the heaven and the earth and the mule that was under him went away. So they were fighting in this wooded area and Absalom is riding this mule and he gets caught up in this tree, he doesn't die. And a certain man saw it and told Joab and said, behold, I saw Absalom hanged in an oak. So notice how a certain man saw this. So a certain man during the battle saw where Absalom was and knew that he was in this tree and Joab said unto the man that told him, and behold thou sawst him and why dost thou not smite him there to the ground? And Joab says, why don't you just kill him right there? Joab was one of the ones that David directly told to not kill him. So we see again here just Joab doing his own thing. Joab doing what he thinks is right. He says, and I would have given thee ten shekels of silver and a girdle. Joab said, if you would have just killed him, then I would have just paid you a nice reward. But look at this man. Now we don't even know this man's name, but look at this man, what he says. And the man said unto Joab, though I should receive. So he said, I would give you ten shekels of silver. But look at what the man said. He said, though I should receive a thousand shekels of silver in my hand, yet would I not forth my hand against the king's son? This guy just basically says, he's like, look, there's no amount of money that would ever get me to put my hand against the king's son because I know what he said that we're supposed to do. That we're supposed to go lightly with, you know, deal gently with my son. The, you know, David said, look, this man, whoever he was, he's not even named in the Bible. This man has much more loyalty to David than Joab ever did. So this man says there's no amount of money. For in our hearing the king charged thee in Abishai and Itai saying, now he tells Joab, he's like, the king told you in Abishai and Itai, saying, beware that none touch the young man, Absalom. Otherwise I should have wrought falsehood against my own life, for there is no matter hid from the king, and thou thyself would have set thyself against me. Then said Joab, I may not tarry thus with thee, and he took three darts in his hand and thrust them through the heart of Absalom while he was yet alive in the midst of the oak. So Joab kills him himself. Joab goes and he finds where he's at and he kills the king's son. He kills Absalom. And then even after that when they tell David that his son is dead and David is mourning his son, then Joab basically rebukes the king. Think of the boldness of this man. He goes and he defies the king's orders, and he kills the king's son, and then David is lamenting his son after this battle. You could say that it was decent advice that Joab was giving, but Joab basically feels bold enough and he feels comfortable enough with David to just rebuke him for mourning his son after this battle. Look, people died in the battle. People definitely died because of Absalom's rebellion. They died in the battle to try to win the kingdom back. And Joab says, hey, don't be crying over your son. You know, when all these people have won this great victory for you today, you're very bold with David. After he defied David and killed Absalom. Look at Samuel chapter 20. But wait, there's more. So we see that Joab is just kind of doing his own thing. Look at 2 Samuel chapter 20 in verse number 9. So here we have another man in verse number 9 where after Absalom, Absalom's general, when Absalom took over was this man named Amesa. So after David wins the battle, you know, David, he comes back and he makes peace with Amesa, the general of the person, you know, of Absalom's army that took over his kingdom and he just wanted peace. So he makes peace with Amesa. Well, Joab doesn't agree. Once again, Joab doesn't agree. Then there's another uprising. Amesa is given an order to go do something. Amesa, he takes longer than he's supposed to and Joab goes to do it. But then Amesa follows behind Joab's army and, you know, because Joab doesn't necessarily like, you know, this Amesa guy. Look at verse number 9. Joab goes up to Amesa when he meets him again and he says, And Joab said to Amesa, Art thou in health my brother? And Joab took Amesa by the beard with the right hand to kiss him. But Amesa took no heed to the sword that was in Joab's hand, in his left hand. So he smote him therewith in the fifth rib and shed out his bowels to the ground and struck him not again and he died. So Joab and Abashai, his brother, pursued after Sheba the son of Bikri. So they continued on their path. So basically he sneaks, once again, it's very similar to Abner. He goes up to him and he grabs him with his right hand to hug him and to kiss him and to greet him. And in his left hand, you know, we know how many people are left handed, not that many. In his left hand, which was not expected, he pulls out a sword and he basically, you know, his bowels were shed out to the ground. I don't have to go into detail on that, but he kills him right there. So he murders Amesa. Again, it was not a fair fight. He just, surprise attack, just murdered him without the permission of David, once again. So what do we know about these stories from Joab? First of all, we know that Joab was very manipulative. We know that he was very manipulative. When he wanted his way, he didn't just ever go to the king and just say, hey, I think this. He was very manipulative when he wanted to bring Absalom back. He was sneaky. He was very secretive in the way he killed Amesa, in the way he killed Abner. These were not fair fights. He basically murdered these two men very subtly. So there wouldn't even have been a fight. So Joab, number two, he was manipulative. Number two, he was self-willed. He was a self-willed man. Throughout his life, when you read about Joab in the Bible, we looked at a few of the main incidents tonight, but throughout his life, one thing you will notice about Joab is he was a man that was just pushing his own agenda. I mean, he wanted something and he just made it happen. He just did it, and he was just basically doing whatever he wanted. You know, killing Abner was his agenda, not David's. Killing Abner was revenge. It was his agenda for Asahail of revenge. He went directly against David's agenda, which was to unite the kingdom. That was David's agenda. So, turn to 2 Samuel chapter 11. I read you all these things that he did. He went against David. I mean, he killed David's own son without David's permission, and David, you're just reading this and you're just like David just puts up with it. He just puts up with it. He just puts up with it. So, did he just put up with it because he was his nephew? I don't think so. And I'm going to show you why I believe that David put up with it and probably the strongest evidence in the Bible that David did put up with Joab for so long. And you know, this is my opinion of this part of the Bible, but I mean, turn to 2 Samuel chapter 11. There is something that Joab went through with David that I believe gave him the confidence to be as bold as he was and to defy David in so many different ways throughout his entire life. In 2 Samuel chapter 11, we see one of the saddest stories in the Bible and this story is the story of a man named Uriah. And of course, David, when Uriah and Joab were off to war, they were in this great battle. David stayed home and he commits adultery with Uriah's wife. And he commits adultery with Uriah's wife and the story goes that it turns out that she becomes pregnant from this affair that they had and then David sends right away for Uriah to come home from the battle. So, Uriah comes home from the battle and David tries to get Uriah to go home. Go home to your wife. Take a couple days. Take a break. Go spend time with your wife and Uriah. The story gets so sad because the man wouldn't do it. The man would not go because he said, how? How? And I'm paraphrasing the story for the sake of time. He's like, how could I go home and spend time with my wife when all the other men and all my brothers are laying in the field in battle? When all my brothers are out fighting a war? How could I go and just, you know, spend time and be with my wife? He's like, how could I do it? So, David's plan is not working out. So, David, he goes to plan B. And plan B is he writes a letter. He writes a letter and the contents of the letter are where I'm going to read for you, but he writes a letter basically ordering the death of Uriah and he writes this letter to Joab. And the saddest part of the story is the man that delivers the letter is Uriah himself. This man who just would not, I mean, Uriah was an honorable man. You could see that just from this part of the story. Look at verse number 14. So, Uriah would not go home. He would not go home to visit his wife. In verse 14, the Bible says, when he came to pass in the morning, that David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah. And he wrote in the letter saying, set ye Uriah at the forefront of the hottest battle and retire ye from him, that he may be smitten and die. Imagine, first of all, David knew the type of man that Joab was in order to send him a letter like this. Joab knew the type of man that Uriah was. These men were the mighty men. These were the elite of David's army. They knew who each other was. I imagine they had a brotherhood here. And he knew that if he ordered Joab to do whatever he wanted, Joab would just do it no matter how backwards it was, no matter how wrong it was. And he sends this letter and he basically says, put him in the front lines, not just put him in the front lines. Put him in the front lines and then leave him there. And then back away from him so he'll die. Put him out there and everybody, so look, I mean other people must have been part of this. And verse 16, and it came to pass when Joab observed the city that he assigned Uriah into a place where he knew that the valiant men were, the hottest part of the battle. And the men of the city went out and fought with Joab and there fell some of the people of the servants of David and Uriah, the Hittite also. So Joab was the one that carried out the hit on Uriah. He was the one that did it. So look, David, David had, and then look at verse 27. Verse 27, Joab comes back from the war and what does he see? He sees verse 27. So did Joab, Joab, there's no indication that Joab even knew why David did what he did. He just saw the letter that Uriah, he's like, he saw the letter from Uriah, basically kill Uriah. And he does it, and then he comes back from the war and this is what he sees. And when the morning was passed, David sent and fetched her to his house and she became his wife and bear him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord, you think? So Joab comes back from the battle to see that David, the king, has married Uriah's wife. I'm sure he put it together at that point. So look, Joab knew a lot of things about David that nobody else knew. And ultimately, look, I mean, he knew where the skeletons were buried in this man's life because he was part of David's treachery and David's, you know, worst part of his life in this area. And ultimately at the end of his life, ultimately, so David likely felt powerless against Joab. And that's why Joab was so bold with David throughout his entire life and it also explains why at the very end of David's life he orders the death of Joab. At the end of his reign, turn to 1 Kings chapter 2, at the end, so David, David has not forgotten this. He put up with it. He put up with it because Joab knew where the bodies were buried. Joab knew all the ugly things, the ugly thing that David did. And of course, God always knew and we know how God dealt with that with David. That's another story. But look at 1 Kings chapter 2. In David's orders to Solomon to get the house in order, Joab is one of the first on the list. Look at 1 Kings chapter 2 in verse number 5. Moreover, moreover, he's talking to Solomon. This is David to Solomon, the one who's going to take over the kingdom. Moreover, thou knowest also what Joab, the son of Zariah, did to me. And what he did to the two captains of the host of Israel, unto Abner, the son of Neer, unto Amesa, the son of Jethar, whom he slew and shed the blood of war and peace. He's saying that he murdered them and put the blood of war upon his girl that was about his loins and in his shoes that were on his feet. Do therefore according to thy wisdom and let not his whorehead go down to the grave and peace. Whore meaning gray, his white hair. He's saying do not let him. Look, Joab's an old man at this point. David's an old man at this point. Joab's an older man at this point. He's saying do not let him die in his old age. He's like you execute him is what David is saying. Then of course Joab, he flees to the temple to try to, you know, not be killed. But then verse 32, and the Lord shall return his blood upon his own head who fell upon two men more righteous and better than he and slew them with the sword. My father David not knowing thereof to wit Abner, the son of Neer, captain of the host of Israel and Amesa, the son of Jethar, captain of the host of Judah. Their blood shall return. Now Solomon's talking to Baniah saying because they came back and they're like, he's holding onto the horns of the altar. What should we do? He's like, and he repeats David's order. That's what he's doing here. David's order to kill him for the blood of these two men. Their blood shall therefore return upon the head of Joab and upon the head of his seed forever. But upon David and upon his seed and upon his house and upon his throne there shall be peace forever from the Lord. So Baniah, the son of Jehoida, went up and fell upon him and slew him and he was buried in his house in the wilderness. So look, Joab had a lot of problems. And we see that there's a pretty strong reason why David put up with Joab doing what he was doing. Joab, I mean, Joab fought some great battles. He won some great victories. But he defied David. He manipulated David. I mean, the conclusion of Joab's life, if we were going to wrap it up in one problem is this. That Joab had serious issues with authority. He had serious issues with authority. He only followed authority when it suited him or when it agreed with his will. That's the only time he ever followed authority in his life. Turn to Hebrews chapter 13. So the application we can take from Joab's life here, when we look at Joab's major problems, was his problem with authority in his life. Look, here's the thing, folks. Everybody, I don't care who you are, everybody has authority in their life. Everybody. Look at Hebrews chapter 13. Hebrews chapter 13 is talking mainly about spiritual authority, but it's talking about God-ordained authority here. Look at verse 17. Obey them that have the rule over you and submit yourselves. Why? For they watch for your souls as they must give account that they may do it with joy and not with grief. For that is unprofitable for you. It's talking about obeying spiritual authority in your life. Look, your life, the Bible teaches very clearly that there is... Look, we all are subject to God. We know that. But look, there is man-made authority over your life here on earth. And it's not just... Look, it's not just your pastor. Look, it's talking about Hebrews 13 is the best fit for your pastor. That's spiritual authority that's over you. But ladies, ladies, your husband is a God-ordained authority over you. That's a God-ordained authority in your life. You know, don't be... Ladies, don't be a Joab at home. You know, everybody, don't be a Joab at church. You have authority in your life. Turn to Romans chapter 13. Turn to Romans chapter 13. And the way to... I mean, the methodology for that authority is very simple. It's very simple. In Romans chapter 13, verse 1, the Bible says, let every soul be subject under the higher powers. For there is no power but of God, the powers that be are ordained of God. Look, these powers in your life, but it says the higher power. So what that means is God is ordained authority over you. But you're always subject to the higher powers, meaning your husband can't tell you to do something that goes against God. Your husband can't tell you to do something that goes against God. I can't tell you to do something that goes against the Bible. Because you're subject to the higher powers, always. But look, Joab... This is Joab's major miss right here. Everyone, I don't care who you are, has authority over them in their lives. From work, to church, to your family, there is this God-ordained authority that is there for you, to look out for you. And Joab put his agenda... He didn't just put his agenda over God's. He put his agenda... Look, God says, you know, vengeance is mine. I will repay. You know, Joab... He's like, no, I'll do it. He didn't just put his agenda over David's. He put his agenda over the Lord's in his life. You know, Joab thought he should be in charge. I mean, you can hear it the way he talks to David sometimes. I mean, he talks to David like you're an idiot. You can almost hear it when you're reading the Bible. He's just like, you're a moron. You know? But most people... Most of the time, in my experience, by the way, most people that think that they know better and think that they should be in charge, it's a good thing that they aren't. It's been my experience. So look, this one reason for Joab. Think about Joab. Think about Joab. Think about the man that he was. You could be the most skilled person. You could be the smartest person. You could be the bravest person. You could be, you know, this warrior that is just unrelenting warrior. But this one thing could ruin your whole life. Not being able to follow authority. Could just take all that to nothing. And I mean, for us as well, it doesn't matter how good we are, how, you know, whatever we have, this one thing could be the end of you. If you don't get this right. I mean, it could be the end of your job. I mean, if you think, if you're the type of person, I've met many people like this. They can't hold a job. Why? Because they think that they should be in charge. The second day, they're telling everybody what to do. They don't know anything. They're telling everybody what to do and they're fired eventually. This attitude of not being able to respect authority over you will end your job. If you take that at work. You know, I mean, look, there may be times where you think you know better. There may be times at work, man, where you think that you know better. You know, but here's the thing. Maybe you don't see his perspective. Your boss's perspective. You know, here's another thing. Maybe you are right. Maybe in that one case, you do know better. You know what? It doesn't matter because you're not the boss. You know, the same thing, ladies. Same thing, ladies. You know what? Ladies, don't try to rule your home. It's not going to work out well. I mean, I hate to break it to you ladies. I mean, the ladies in this church know, but in a biblical home, the husband is in charge. That is the way God has ordained it to be. I mean, ultimately, it's his decision. Which way you go? Which way the family goes? You know, you ever met these women that treat their husband like idiots? You know, thankfully, I mean, that's not a Christian attitude. And thankfully, I can't really think of any saved Christian Bible believing ladies that do that. But I've certainly met plenty of these women that speak of their husbands and talk of their husbands like they're idiots. But it's common in the world today. It's common. But I mean, I'm sitting there and I listen to this type of thing and I hear this type of thing and I'm just thinking, you're just making yourself sound stupid. Because why in the world would you marry an idiot? Why in the world would you go around talking about your husband, you know, like he's an idiot, you know, I married a moron? Well, I mean, what does that make you? You know, maybe he is a moron. Maybe he doesn't lead well. But you know what? Here's one for the single ladies. You should have thought of that before you married him. You should have thought of that before you chose him. You know, you chose to have God ordain him as the leader of your family. Look, after you get married is not the time to realize this. Because now, now as you marry that man and you don't want to follow him and you're just, I'm just doing things, now you're just the Joab. It's all you are. A disobedient wife is bad for the family. It's bad for the kids. It's bad for the husband. It's bad for everybody. You let him lead. It's his role. Hey, support him in it. Support him in it. You know, be part of the solution. But it's God ordained. It's supposed to work that. There's nothing worse than a female Joab. But look, here's the thing. If he's in church and he's following the Lord and he's learning the Bible, look, he's going to lead you in the right direction. Just follow and just listen to God's ordained authority in your life. I mean, it's very simple. So back to the main point of Joab. Back to the main point. You could be skillful. You could be smart. You could be hardworking. But if you cannot respect and follow the proper authorities in your life, you're pretty much done. That one thing can just, it can just trump all those things in your life. And I've seen it. I've seen it ruin everything for people. Just that one thing. You need to be able to put yourself under authority. I mean, it's very simple. You say, oh, it's easy for you to say, you're in charge here. No, I'm not. No, I'm not. I'm not in charge here. I'm the leader of this satellite ministry. I'm not the pastor of this church. Look, I do this all the time. Just put myself under authority. I mean, I have authority. You say, oh, you're the boss at work. No, I'm not. I'm the boss of some people, but there's a lot more people I'm not the boss of. You got to put yourself under authority. And here's the thing. You think that I agree with every decision at work that people make above my head. No. But I mean, if I have a better way in my, you know, if I have a better way, I might bring it up at work one time. One time. But if they don't take that idea, then it's over. Look, and as far as the church goes, and as far as being under the authority of the pastor, here's what I know. Here's what I've figured out. Look, I know the agenda of this pastor of this church. I know his agenda. And, you know, it's pretty easy to follow that agenda. Once you know that agenda, it's pretty easy to get on that program. I mean, look, I mean, here's the thing. When, you know, God willing, we become an independent church, it's going to look a lot like it does right now. Because I agree with that agenda. Because that agenda is a good agenda. But I'm not in charge here. Look, if we spend 20 bucks at this church, I run it by the pastor. Because I know that's his agenda, that he runs a tight ship, that he's very well organized. That's what I like it. So, I mean, look, it's a sign of maturity being able to put yourself under authority. And as far as the church goes, folks, you've got to put yourself under the authority of the pastor. But here's the thing. No one's forcing you to be here. This is an occult. You know, so you have to find a church where you can respect the pastor and you can respect his agenda. And then, you can willingly put yourself under that agenda. And that agenda becomes your agenda. Being successful in a church is so easy. I mean, you just figure out the agenda that you agree with and that your conscience agrees with and you find a church like that and then you just push that agenda. It's very simple. It's very simple. But look, think of Joel F. He was very smart. He wasn't an idiot. You can see that in the Bible. He was very smart. So what did he use it for? He used it for manipulation. He used it to push his agenda. You know, he was very hardworking. He was very skillful. But ultimately because he couldn't respect authority, it ended badly for him. So you have to learn to put yourself under authority. It's a very simple message. But look, I think, you know, I like to think maybe, you know, maybe they have a different perspective, you know, they see a more complete picture. This is kind of the things that I think about at work. You know, when somebody does something at work that I was like, I wouldn't do it that way. Because I mean, do you think that, I mean, I'm trying to remember how many bosses that I've ever had that did things exactly how I would have done none of them? Never. I mean, never. Because they're different person than I am. But I'm just like, yeah, they must, you know, they see things a different way. You know, I'm not in charge. They probably see a different aspect. You know, they have bosses that are expecting things from there. Maybe I don't see that picture. These are things that I think about to make myself feel better when somebody's doing something that I don't necessarily agree with. Look, I'm not talking about something that violates my conscience. My conscience is mine. And the higher powers always rule me. So no one will ever tell me in the secular world to do something that goes against God. Ever. That's Romans 13. That's the point of Romans 13. But here, go turn to Colossians chapter 3. Ultimately, this is how you deal with it. This is how you deal with work situations, even home situations, whatever. This is how you handle people not doing things the exact way that you would do them. Look, I'm not working for men. Did you know that? I'm not working for men. You say, how do you stay motivated when you work for men that maybe don't do things the same way you would do them? Because I'm not working for men. That's how I do it. Look at Colossians chapter 3. Look, this is how you need to think about your job right here. This is how you need to think about men. This is how you need to think about your career right here. This is how you need to think about your trade right here. This is how you need to think about how you support your family right here. And then it doesn't matter what other people do. You know, you're subjected, you're subject to the higher powers and then Colossians 3. Look at Colossians 3, verse 23. And whatsoever you do, do it heartily. Why? As to the Lord and not unto men. Look, I'm serving God when I'm at work. Look at verse 24. Knowing that of the Lord, you shall receive the reward and the inheritance for you serve the Lord Christ. Look, when I go to work, I don't care what stupid job it is. I don't care what I'm building. I don't care where it is. I'm working for Christ. I don't care what you do for a living. If you're supporting your family and you're doing what the Bible says you're supposed to do, you're working for Christ. So all these little details of why did the Boston, forget that. Just work for Christ. Submit yourself to the authorities in your life and work for Christ. Because that's what's been ordained for you but you're ultimately not working for men. You're working for Christ. So every, look, because of Colossians 3, I mean, this isn't true, but it should be. Because of Colossians 3, you ought to be able to go to every workforce and within in any workplace. And you should be able to pick out the saved Bible-believing Christian within like a day or two. You should be able to. Because you'd have certain people like, oh, I should be the boss. I should be making more money. You know, there's companies not treating us right. And then you'd have the people that are like, we're working for Jesus here. They're going to work like they're working for the Lord Jesus Christ. I mean, you'd think you would notice a difference. But I don't think you do. Why? You should. I mean, that's motivation right there. I mean, just when you get in that point where you're like, yeah, everybody else just watches YouTube all day at this job. Yeah, I guess I could be lazy too. No, not you. Because you're working for Jesus. You're not getting away with anything. You're working for the Lord Jesus Christ. I mean, you should be able to pick these people out. Worldly, secular employers should be hunting and paying bonuses and all these finders' fees for Christians. That's what should be happening. That's what should be going on. Because you know what? They're honest. They don't cheat. They don't steal. They're not going to do anything that disobeys the higher powers, which is God. They're going to try to follow the Bible and do all these things. And they work, man. They work like they're working for Jesus himself. You would think that they would just be hunting these people down. Ladies, you're like, yeah, you're really ripping on the guys today. Ladies, you should want to serve your husband and submit to him and serve him like he is your head. But ultimately, you know what? You're working for Christ too. You're working for Christ too. You're working for Christ too. So when you're sitting there and you're like, oh, you know, I've got this husband and he's not doing exactly what he's supposed to be doing. You do what you're supposed to do because you're working for Christ. You're working for Jesus. He's your higher power. Colossians 3 applies to you too. You're serving Christ. There's not a person in this room that isn't under the authority of man somewhere in their life. And look, it's going to be this way until you die. It's going to be this way until you die. And if you can't get this philosophy right, you'll ruin your life. Imagine being a saved, smart, eager young man but not being able to submit to authority and getting kicked out of church when you're 21 years old or 22 years old. Look, it's a tragedy. It's a tragedy. It's a life gone wrong. It's a life gone wrong. A whole life ahead of you. You can't put yourself under the leadership of a pastor so you're just going to throw it all away. It's so sad. I mean, look, a pastor who's there, he's not there to lower it over you. He's there to help you. He's not there to take advantage of you. He's there to guide you. He's not forcing you to be there. He's there to love you and help you be successful. But you can't put yourself under authority and you're going to throw it all away. I mean, what could you think of a worse story? All because you have an issue with authority. This Joab complex. Look, this Joab complex can ruin everything for you. Everything. Next week, we'll talk about the good side of Joab. You're like, what? What in the world? You're like, you're all red in the face. You're like, this guy's horrible. This guy's the worst guy ever. He's going to ruin my life. We're going to talk about the good side of Joab. I've never heard a good sermon about Joab. You're going to hear one next Sunday night. Before next Sunday night sermon, I want you to go to, write this down if you have a pen. I want you to go to 16 personalities. Google that. And you're going to take the personality test there. You're going to find out what kind of personality that you have and it will help you. I'm going to preach a sermon series on that test. I've been given that test in way more complicated tests like that several times in my life. And here's the thing. I'm pretty sure that I'm the exact same type of personality as Joab. You're like, I'm not a murderer. That's not what I'm talking about. Those are character flaws. The authority thing. The murder. All that. Those are character flaws. But Joab has a very unique type of personality. And I've been told that I'm this type of personality. That's why I recognize some good things. So I'm going to show you, look, Joab is generally a bad character in the Bible. This one thing destroyed his life that I'm talking to you about tonight. But there were some good character traits that he had. And I want to show you what those are next week. So we'll talk about Joab the good next week. But go find out what kind of personality you are. And then when I tell you what kind of personality I am, please don't leave the church. My wife cried. I'm just kidding. She took the test and she sent it. She sent me the website or whatever. And the test is something like 30 questions or something like that. It's very simple. But I've taken these tests that are hundreds of questions. And they give you a quadrant of personalities. And I'm always way down here in the far lower left. The HR people, they see it and they're like, but I'll explain all that next week. And we'll talk about Joab's personality and some of the traits that we see in Joab that can be good. All right, let's bow our heads and have a word.