Author of Salvation By Warren Zehrung – August 27, 2011

What are we to understand when we read that Jesus Christ is the “Author of Salvation”?

God is working out so many circumstances in our lives, and in society all around the world that are beyond our comprehension.  Even at this present time, God is intervening in so many ways, and His hand is in so many situations that we are totally unaware of.

Hebrews 5:9  "Being made perfect, [Jesus Christ] became the Author of Eternal Salvation unto all them that obey Him."

So we see one of the requirements. [obedience]

Let us understand that Jesus died in order for this process of eternal salvation to work in our lives.

What does it mean when it says that Jesus became the Author of Eternal Salvation?

Eternal salvation involves the ultimate, long range plan of God.

Hebrews 2 clearly shows what Jesus Christ is doing:

Hebrews 2:10  For it became Him [God the Father], for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation [Jesus Christ] perfect through sufferings.

This is the SPS, specific purpose statement, for today’s sermon: “in bringing many sons unto glory”.  Then it goes on to say that God the Father had Jesus Christ come to this earth and die for our sins, and work out this process so that it works for our good.

King David was a man subject to like passions as we are.  He was just as human, just as carnal, just as prideful, and he had lust, power and vanity.  We know, from the scriptures, that God has big plans for King David.  But David could not be used in the unconverted and carnal state that was natural to him.

How was David converted and changed to become a man after God's own heart?  Brethren, the answer is that God is the master engineer, and He is the Author of our Salvation.

We are going to look at lessons that we can learn from the life of Uriah the Hittite. Let us look at how God used Uriah the Hittite, one of King David's thirty-seven valiant mighty men, to help bring David to repentance and salvation.  None of these things were by accident, they were all by design.  God who is the author of salvation was causing these things to be worked out.  Even though the individuals had free moral agency, and they did what came naturally, when led by God’s Holy Spirit - they responded to God.

Here is the point that I want to drive home:

In the same way that God used Uriah and worked with David, He is working in our lives as well, in order to bring us to salvation.  Even though we may not see God’s hand in a situation, and we foolishly say to ourselves that we are not receiving the blessings of God -- He IS working.  We think that God is not hearing what is going on.  Brethren, God is very much a part of everything that goes on in the lives of His children, those who are led by His Holy Spirit.

II Samuel 11 will be our text for today.

Uriah was a member of David's “Special Forces” team, made up of skillful men, strong in body and sturdy in character and loyalty. The mighty men were brave honor guards, bodyguards who protected David with their very lives.  They were ready to die for him, and they were on his right hand and on his left hand.

II Samuel 16:6  …all the mighty men were on David’s right hand and on his left.

They would have given their lives for David, if need be. They were the Green Berets of the day, or the S.W.A.T. team, and they were highly respected for their skill, strength and courage.

Uriah was a Hittite.  The Hittites were not foreigners, but they were indigenous to the land of Israel when the tribes of Israel arrived after the Exodus, about 1400 BC.

Like the American Indians who were here when Columbus arrived, Uriah was no stranger to the land of Israel, nor were his people.

Uriah had a tremendous respect for his nation and the king that God had given him.

Uriah fell in love and married the girl of his dreams, the very beautiful daughter of Eliam, another of King David’s mighty men.

Bathsheba and Uriah made their home in downtown Jerusalem, in fact, right next door to King David’s home.

Uriah and Bathsheba, like most young people, had hopes and dreams. Uriah was a good man, dedicated to his young wife, and to his king and country.

The story of Uriah is a sad story, because someone took his wife and cut his life short.

With seemingly everything going well for him, the life of Uriah was about to take a tragic turn.

While Uriah was out of town on military duty, his wife and his king betrayed his faithfulness and loyalty.

David tarried still at Jerusalem, he should have been at the head of his troops, but he was in a spiritual slump.  David was letting down spiritually.  And as a result of that let-down, David was not attending to his business, but he was letting everything go. He was bored with everything, and he had taken his eye off God, and the great workings of God’s eternal plan.

David, as a young shepherd, had been shown so much by God, but he put that on the back burner, and forgot about it.

But, as we will see, God never sleeps, and God would use David’s weaknesses at this vulnerable time in his life to bring him to conversion.

It was a beautiful spring day, it was early evening, and David had had a nice afternoon nap.  Maybe he was going through some kind of depression as you would not think that a strong young man would need to nap.

II Samuel 11:2  And it came to pass in an evening tide, that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king's house: and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon.

David must have been pretty close to be able to tell that she was very beautiful to look upon.

II Samuel 11:3-4  And David sent and enquired after the woman. And one said, Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite? And David sent messengers, and took her; and she came in unto him, and he lay with her; for she was purified from her uncleanness: and she returned unto her house.

I do not know that this taking was by force, but rather an invitation to maybe come to supper.

That phrase “purified from her uncleanness” means that this was a time when she was very likely to become pregnant.

Unaware of the illicit sexual affair between David and Bathsheba, Uriah remained loyal to his king and country.

II Samuel 11:5  And the woman [Bathsheba] conceived, and sent and told David, and said, I am with child.

Bathsheba said to David, ‘We have got a big problem here, what are you going to do about it to protect my reputation and your own?’

II Samuel 11:6-7  And David sent to Joab, saying, Send me Uriah the Hittite. And Joab sent Uriah to David.  And when Uriah was come unto him, David demanded of him how Joab did, and how the people did, and how the war prospered.

Brethren, I submit that David did not care one iota how the war prospered, but David was hatching a plot to get out of his predicament.  This was a very unconverted and evil mind, and Satan was very much involved with what was going on here.

II Samuel 11:8  And David said to Uriah, Go down to thy house, and wash thy feet  And Uriah departed out of the king's house, and there followed him a mess of meat from the king.

That phrase, “wash your feet,” is a euphuism for “go to your wife, go sleep with your wife.”  David sent a basket of food so that they could have a real nice time, and have a relationship at home.   But Uriah was not that kind of man.  Not that there would have been anything wrong with going home to his wife.  But there were many other concerns on Uriah’s mind.

II Samuel 11:9  But Uriah slept at the door of the king's house with all the servants of his lord, and went not down to his house.

Uriah did not leave the palace. David assumed that Uriah would go to Bathsheba and then they would be in the clear and Uriah would never be any the wiser about what was going on.  The child would have just come a little bit prematurely, and David would be in the clear.  But it did not work out that way.

II Samuel 11:10  And when they had told David, saying, Uriah went not down unto his house, David said unto Uriah, Came thou not from thy journey? why then didst thou not go down unto thine house?

David said, ‘Have you not been gone for a while?  Are you not anxious to see your wife?’

II Samuel 11:11  And Uriah said unto David, The ark, and Israel, and Judah, abide in tents; and my lord Joab, and the servants of my lord, are bivouacked in the open fields; shall I then go into mine house, to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife? as thou live, and as thy soul lives, I will not do this thing.

Uriah was very bold, and a man of character.  You see when David conspired to deceive Uriah into believing that Bathsheba's illegitimate child was naturally his, Uriah responded to David, ‘I will not go to my wife while all of this is going on out here in the field.’

Uriah refused to take personal time out, with his wife, while his fellow soldiers were at war.

The mighty men had a strict code of honor among themselves, and it was a matter of rigorous discipline that they abstained from their wives in times of battle.

Uriah was focused and determined.

David tried everything under the sun to make Uriah go home and spend the night with his wife, even making him drink way too much, and the Bible says that he made Uriah drunk.  But the character of Uriah was unshakable, and he would not yield and go to his wife.

David sank to the lowest point, in my estimation, in his life and conspired to kill Uriah.

David was so contemptible, and so despicable, that he placed the instructions for Uriah’s own murder in Uriah’s hand to be carried out by Joab.

II Samuel 11:14  And it came to pass in the morning, that David wrote a letter to Joab, [the commander and chief of the special forces] and sent it by the hand of Uriah.

How callous can you be?  Here is Uriah who would give his life for David, and David is taking his life and actually putting the murder warrant in his hand.  David was basically saying to Uriah, ‘Carry this back to Joab so that he can kill you’.  That is so crude, ugly and despicable.

II Samuel 11:15  And he wrote in the letter, saying, Set ye Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retire ye from him, that he may be smitten, and die.

Uriah was the kind of man that would volunteer for that kind of duty.  But David had taken it upon himself to have Uriah put in a high risk and very vulnerable position.

Joab followed David’s orders, and Uriah the Hittite was killed. Joab sent word back to David saying, ‘Look, I did this terrible thing that you commanded me to do’.  Joab wants David to understand and remember, because maybe Joab had some experience with David giving commands and forgetting what he said.

David wrote back to Joab and said, ‘Don’t sweat it, it could have happened to anyone.  That is the way that war is, some good people die’.  David put it out of his mind, and told Joab to forget about it.

It was a tragic ending to a good man’s life. Here is a man with tremendous potential, loyalty, and many good characteristics and traits, and he is dead.

But, brethren, in God’s great master plan there is great purpose to Uriah’s life.  The purpose was not over, it was not finished.   God was using Uriah in a very special way.  He was using Uriah to bring about the conversion, and the development of David.

II Samuel 11:26  And when the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she mourned for her husband.

Bathsheba had a lot to mourn about, didn’t she? She sure could not move in with David the next day, could she?

II Samuel 11:27  And when the mourning period was past, David sent and fetched her to his house, and she became his wife, and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD.

So the child that was conceived out of wedlock and adultery was born.  There is no name given to the child.

Uriah is among the select few Biblical personalities who are a type of Christ. We will not go into all of the different ways that Uriah was a type of Christ, but we will touch here and there on a few of them.

It will be more than a thousand years from now before Uriah knows and finds out that he was used as a type of Christ.  That he was used by the author of salvation to bring King David to a fuller conversion and salvation.  But, when Uriah comes back to life, it is the same time that he will learn that he was betrayed by everyone that was close to him.  He was betrayed by his wife, by his king, and by his commander. That is when he will know that his marriage covenant was broken, and that his wife married the adulterous king David.  That is when he will find out that he was murdered.  Uriah was sacrificed for the sins of others.  That makes him a type of Christ.

II Samuel 12:1  And the LORD sent [the prophet] Nathan unto David. And he came unto him, and said unto him, There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor.

The first few times that I read this, I thought that Nathan was the kind of guy who walked in and started telling stories.  That is not what was going on.  Keep in mind that King David was an Appellate Court Chief Justice, and Nathan is bringing a lower court case to David to rule on.  David is hearing a case brought before him for a judgment in the matter.

II Samuel 12:2-3  The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds: But the poor man had nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up: and it grew up together with him, and with his children; it did eat of his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter.

This was a very precious little lamb belonging to a poor family.  They had a name for the lamb, and a special place for it to sleep, and it was part of the family.

II Samuel 12:4  And there came a traveler unto the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man that was come unto him; but took the poor man's lamb, and dressed it for the man that was come to him.

Usually if you have a visitor you kill the fatted calf, so the rich man did not take any of his animals, even though he had hundreds of them.  The rich man took the poor man’s lamb, and he killed it and dressed it for the man who was come unto him.  This was the lamb that was such a personal pet to the poor family.  When David heard that he came unwound.

II Samuel 12:5  And David's anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As the LORD lives, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die:

Do you realize that David has just pronounced his own death sentence, in a bonafide [good faith] legal court of law?

II Samuel 12:6  And he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.

David starts remembering back to what God’s law requires.  He will have to give the poor man four sheep back because he did this thing, and he had no pity.

Now the utterly amazing thing here is that David, obviously a very intelligent man, has not put two and two together.  He is just oblivious to what is going on.

How can David be so blinded? How does he rationalize and justify his actions? How can he not apply real spiritual principles to his own life?  He is living in a vacuum.  Has he not questioned his actions? Does his conscience not bother him? How could he commit adultery, and how could he kill, and not have it be eating at him?  Was his conscience seared?  He seems to be oblivious to the concept.

Brethren, could that be me or you?  Do we say, ”That would never happen to me, I am more alert and more wide awake”?  Brethren, these things are written down for us, so that you and I can judge our conscience and judge every action, whether acts of omission, whether acts of just outright neglect or being mean, or dealing with others.  Do we judge ourselves fully against God’s way?

Now we see where the prophet Nathan drops the hammer on David.  ‘Oh, by the way David, I did not mention who the rich man was.  It is you, David.  You are the rich man who took the poor man’s lamb.  You could have had anything and you took his little ewe’.

II Samuel 12:7  And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul;

God told David that He prospered him, and that He gave him everything, and protected him: ‘I advanced you and anointed you to this position’.

II Samuel 12:8  And I gave thee thy master's house, and thy master's wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things.

All of them became David’s concubines, and the lands that they owned became David’s land, and he became a great king.  But David took it and he became an adulterer and a murderer.

You can imagine that the occasion has become very stark and somber.

II Samuel 12:9  Why have you despised the word of The Lord, to do what is evil in His sight? You have smitten Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and have taken his wife to be your wife, and have slain him with the sword of the Ammonites."

If David has not understood that he is the man, and what he has done, then Nathan is spelling it out right here in this legal court of law.

We see some of the repercussions of sin:

II Samuel 12:10   Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife.

This is a very important verse, brethren, when we understand what God here is saying here. This kind of sin, whether it is the murder or the adultery, is despising God.  When David did this he despised God, he despised His Law, he despised His way, and he despised His plan.  God could not use a man like David.  Jesus Christ is the Author of Salvation, but you cannot use a man that is doing these dastardly deeds.

II Samuel 12:11  Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbor, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun.

If we studied the rest of the life of David we would see how God did that.  God is giving David just retribution.

II Samuel 12:12  For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.

God told David that everybody would see him shamed the way that he shamed Uriah.

In II Samuel 16, you can see how Absalom took David’s concubines, and did exactly what God said that he would do, right out in the open for everybody to see it.  It amounted to total humiliation for King David.  But God is merciful, compassionate and good, and God is interested in being the author of salvation to King David. Uriah was used mightily to bring David to this point.  Not that Uriah knew that he was being used mightily, but God used him.  When we belong to God, God can spend us as he wishes.  If you have a dollar, and it is your dollar, you can spend it on whatever you want. This is how God chose to spend Uriah.  He spent Uriah so that David could be made whole.

II Samuel 12:13  And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. And Nathan said unto David, The LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die.

Can you see here that Jesus paid the death penalty in David’s stead?  David had applied the death penalty to himself, and when he did he was sure to die. But Jesus died that we might live, and that applied to David.  So God said, ‘Your sin has been put away, you shall not die’. David lived a long life, learned many lessons and was useful to God.

II Samuel 12:14  Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die.

So even before the baby is born David is told by the prophet, the words of God.  He will be born alive, he will be a beautiful baby, but he is not going to survive. We understand that had the child lived people would have pointed fingers. They would have retold the story about counting back how many months it was when Uriah died, and who really fathered the baby. That would have blasphemed the name of God, and it would have given them occasion to speak evil against God.  It would have brought torment to that baby, so God chose to take the baby.

But even though God said that the baby was going to die, David fasted seven days.

II Samuel 12:18  And it came to pass on the seventh day, that the child died.

David prayed that God would spare the innocent child.  But God, in His wisdom, took the child.   The child will live again, and will understand the story, and give glory to God.

II Samuel 12:24  And David comforted Bathsheba his wife, and went in unto her, and lay with her: and she bore a son, and he called his name Solomon: and the LORD loved him.

We can see this great plan, this great work that God is doing in Israel.  This is being worked out by God, the Author of Salvation. God shapes these things in spite of the foibles of man.

We can draw some hope and understanding from this lesson that we see David going through. It is God who is working out things here below in ways that we cannot fathom, in ways that we cannot yet see, and in ways that we do not understand.  That is why when things are going “bad” we should get down on our knees and say, “Father I know that you are working out things through Jesus Christ and it is going to work out to the good as it says in Romans 8:28”.  These things are not out of God’s control, run amuck, but they are working in ways that show clearly that God is the Author of Salvation.  They are working for our good, and God’s hand is in it.  He wants us to see, learn, experience and grow.

Like Jesus Christ, Uriah was betrayed by those closest to him. Like an innocent lamb he was led to the slaughter.  He was obedient unto death.  He was cut off in the prime of life.  There are so many parallels between the life of Christ and the life of Uriah.

Uriah’s wife was unfaithful.  Jesus’ wife, ancient Israel, was also an adulteress.

Jeremiah 3:8  And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I [Jesus] had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also.

The word of God says that Israel, because of their idolatry and wrong practices, committed adultery.   They had a covenant and Israel broke the covenant and that was adultery. There are other scriptures that say that Judah sinned even worse than Israel did.

So we see again this type of Christ in Uriah, the innocent faithful person who was betrayed. It is clear that Uriah was used mightily by God. God is the Author of Salvation.  He used Uriah in a way that brought about David’s deep repentance and conversion.

Thankfully, Uriah never felt the pain of betrayal during his lifetime. You might say that he never knew what hit him.

I think that Bathsheba will be in the same resurrection as Uriah, as I do not see any evidence in the scriptures that she was converted.  I do not believe that she will be in the First Resurrection and live throughout the Millennium.

All of the people that have died will come forth out of the grave, the breath will be put in them, and they will live.  They will remember everything that is going on like you and I remember everything that is going on. What will Uriah think as he regains his life?  Uriah is going to feel the pain of betrayal of his wife and of his king.  He is going to think, ‘I thought we were happy together, I thought things were going good, I thought that we had a future, I thought that you loved me and I thought that we were going to raise a family together’.

Uriah will be resurrected back to life only to be immediately crushed!  It is going to be a horrible pain, and he is going to sob, and he will cry bitterly. Perhaps he will even reason for a moment or two that his God also betrayed him.  But do not worry brethren, God is merciful and loving and God’s spirit will be working very much to the full.  You and I, God willing, will be there to encourage, lift, explain and show him these things.  Even King David, who he is not going to want to see, will be there.

Can we imagine Uriah's consternation and rage?  He is going to be beside himself. Everything that Uriah held sacred was defiled.  Did you ever think of that?

Brethren, there are more trials to come in the Last Great Day.  It will not all be peaches and cream even though this earth will have been turned into a veritable paradise when Uriah and Bathsheba come back to life.

Uriah's greatest trial is yet to come.  His dilemma will just be starting as he learns of the history that has transpired during the four thousand years that he has been dead.  Uriah will find out every stark and sordid detail.

Luke 12:2  For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known.

Uriah is going to know exactly what took place. In his mind’s eye, Uriah will see Bathsheba on the roof bathing.  And King David, up above in the palace, watching her bathe.

Will Uriah want to kill Bathsheba for her adultery and her unfaithfulness?  Brethren, there is no greater pain than betrayal by those you love the most.  That is the worse pain that exists.  It is an emotional and mental pain, not a physical pain.  It is a deep encompassing pain.

So we see that for Uriah, the worst hurt, the worst pain is yet ahead of him, and ahead of us, in the resurrection.  His greatest trial is yet to come.

David not only took his wife, Bathsheba, but David also ruled as a great king for many years while Uriah was decomposing in the grave.  There is something not right about that. Uriah may wonder, “Why didn’t God strike David dead?  It is not right.”

Let us understand the greater overall plan of God. God wanted David alive!  Satan was involved here.  If Satan could destroy David he could prevent the Messiah from being born.  The scriptures are very clear that Jesus Christ was going to be born of the loins of David.

King David serves mightily in God’s plans, and it is prophesied so!

Ezekiel 34:23  And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd.

We are talking about the time of the Millennium.  Who is this one shepherd?  Keep in mind when Uriah is looking at this he is seeing that David ruled as God’s shepherd after doing him in.  There is something wrong with this picture, and there is no equality, justice or righteousness here.  How is this going to be rectified in Uriah’s mind?

Uriah dealt prominently in enabling David to come to repentance and ultimately to salvation.  David would have been lost had it not been for God using Uriah to bring David to the point of total submission, humiliation, and repentance.

Ezekiel 34:24  And I the LORD will be their God, and my servant David a prince among them; I the LORD have spoken it.

David is called a prince here, because Jesus Christ will be King of Kings at that time.

Only with the outpouring of God's Spirit, in power, knowledge, wisdom, and understanding will Uriah be able to understand his great contribution to the plan of God.  Then it will start to make sense to him.

In Romans 15:12, Paul calls Jesus the root of Jesse (David’s father).

While Uriah slept in the grave throughout the one thousand years of the millennium, King David will have reigned over the twelve great nations of Israel.

Ezekiel 37:24-25  "David my servant shall be king over them... And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant..., and my servant David shall be their prince forever. "

Jeremiah 30:9  They shall serve the Lord their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them."

David has this very big and prominent position in the Kingdom of God and in the Millennium.  Uriah made it possible, but he sure got the short end of the stick. He missed out on all of these things.  He missed out on so much and he will not be in the First Resurrection. While Uriah was suffering the shame of corruption in the grave, Bathsheba was in the lineage of Jesus Christ.  Her blood flows in Jesus Christ the Messiah.

In the New Testament, Matthew makes it clear that Jesus came from the union of David and Bathsheba!

Matthew 1:6  ...David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Uriah.

Matthew 22:42  "Saying, What think ye of Christ?  Whose son is he?  They say unto him, The son of David."

All of the disciples and all of the people in Christ’s day knew that Jesus Christ was born of the house of David. Where is the fairness in that, with Uriah in the grave?  King David will be resurrected immortal, made king over the twelve apostles at the return of Christ, while Uriah was robbed of his life, his wife, his family, and his future.  Where is the justice for Uriah?  Where is the righteousness in the system?  How can this terrible situation be rectified?  We are told in the scriptures that all things are done in righteousness.  How can it come together?

Unfaithful David and Bathsheba had tens of thousands of offspring, while faithful Uriah remains childless.

David, as a glorified spiritual Son of God, will be in the first resurrection, and enjoy one thousand Passovers with Jesus.

Luke 22:16 “For I [Jesus] say unto you, I will not any more eat [the Passover] thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God.”

How will Uriah be able to forgive?  Forgiveness is not possible under these circumstances, because forgiveness is not a human attribute.  It will be only with the outpouring of God's Spirit that Uriah will be able to understand his great contribution to the plan of God.  He will understand how he was useful to God in a very enormous way.

Uriah will come to see, very quickly, that God had dealt very stringently with David.  David paid some severe prices. David did not have a happy ending. David was humbled and suffered much, and justice was served. 

Jesus Christ will show Uriah the penalties that came upon David for his sin. With God's help, Uriah will see, and be fully convinced of David's whole-hearted repentance.

Brethren, I look forward to the day, and it will come, when Uriah hugs David, and we see the two men coming together.  Think of what will transpire when those two men come together.  What should have been in David’s heart was always in Uriah’s heart.  Then the thankfulness that is in David’s heart, because of where he is and what God has done through him because of Uriah.  Uriah will be fully redeemed, and the rewards that God will pour out on Uriah are unfathomable.  He will have his children, he will have his glory, and he will have his spiritual wealth.

Best of all, Uriah will see how he was used mightily by God to play a pivotal role in David's conversion.   If it had not been for Uriah, David would not have been saved. Before his repentance, David was useless to God.  Uriah changed that.  In His mercy, God needed to chastise and humble David, so that David could become a man after God's own heart.

Let us realize that without us even knowing, God is providing the Uriah’s for us. God is making it possible for us to repent.  He is making it possible for us to draw close to God.  God is going to use us mightily.  So when we have headaches, sickness, depravation, betrayal, heartbreak, and pain, let us understand God’s hand, as the Author of Salvation, very actively working in our lives for the good.   In David’s case, Uriah made it possible.  Uriah was the instrument of David's fall, that God might redeem him. As a result, David's heart and life were turned around, and he became exceedingly useful to God.  God in His infinite wisdom allowed Uriah to be "used up" for this majestic purpose, but in God's infinite mercy, Uriah is not forever used up.

Through God's miraculous intervention, at that great resurrection, Uriah will be able to see God's spiritual plan from a magnanimous perspective, and then he will be able to completely forgive all offences.  Uriah will completely and totally let it go, because God was instrumental in David’s salvation and now in Uriah’s salvation.

Acts 2:30  Therefore [David] being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ [Messiah] to sit on his throne;

This is such a fantastic thing that Uriah made it possible for the Messiah to come.  I cannot imagine the reward and the gifts that God is going to pour out on Uriah. Uriah's reward will be exceptionally great, and exceed anything that we can possibly imagine, because he was used to bring about King David's repentance, and ultimately David's salvation.

I Peter 4:13  "But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when His glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy."

That is exactly what Uriah did; he took part in Christ’s suffering.  Uriah will have that exceeding joy.

Let us ask God to help us understand that as the Author of Salvation, He is working out His vast plan in ways that we cannot yet fathom, so that we might have the faith to believe in His intervention.  When things are going along in our lives and we do not particularly understand or appreciate what is going on, we need to understand that God is the Author of Salvation, and that He is working it out.

David searched his soul thoroughly and repented, and this was achieved by God using Uriah. David realized that he was a murderer, that he was an adulterer, and that he was not pleasing in God’s sight.   He came to this fantastic repentance that we have recorded for us.

Psalm 51:1-14  O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.  For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.  Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou might be justified when thou speak, and be clear when thou judge.  Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.  Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.  Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.  Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.  Deliver me from blood-guiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation:

David had the blood of Uriah, and also the baby died because of David.  David and Bathsheba did not live happily ever after.  But, David never did any of these terrible sins again.

Best of all, Uriah will see how he was used mightily by God to play a pivotal role in David's conversion.

Before his repentance, David could not be used by God.  In His mercy, God needed to chastise and humble David, so that David could become a man after God's own heart. Uriah is the one who made this possible.  Uriah was the instrument of David's fall that God might redeem him.  As a result, David's heart and life were turned around, and he became exceedingly useful to God.

Uriah's reward will be very great, because he was used to bring about King David's repentance, and because Jesus Christ is the Author of Salvation, he helped to bring about David's salvation.

WZ/pp/sl

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Sermon:

"Author of Salvation"