INTRODUCTION: Though we do not generally know much about Abiathar, he is mentioned 31 times in the Bible. He served as priest under David beginning at the time of his exile from Saul. He was faithful to David until the end of David’s reign when he went after Adonijah. Because of his unfaithfulness, he lost the blessings he had enjoyed under David. As such, Adonijah is a type of the hypocrite. By studying his life, we learn much about the hypocrite. This is important because of the warnings of scripture:

1 Corinthians 15:1-2 [1] Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; [2] By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.
See All... Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.

2 Corinthians 13:5Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?
See All... Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?

1. THE HYPOCRITE’S POSSESSION OF BLESSING
1. A Place Near the People of God (1 Samuel 22:20-23 [20] And one of the sons of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped, and fled after David. [21] And Abiathar shewed David that Saul had slain the LORD's priests. [22] And David said unto Abiathar, I knew it that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul: I have occasioned the death of all the persons of thy father's house. [23] Abide thou with me, fear not: for he that seeketh my life seeketh thy life: but with me thou shalt be in safeguard.
   See All...) – temporarily escaping wrath (verse 20)
2. The Provision of the Word of God (1 Samuel 23:6-9 [6] And it came to pass, when Abiathar the son of Ahimelech fled to David to Keilah, that he came down with an ephod in his hand. [7] And it was told Saul that David was come to Keilah. And Saul said, God hath delivered him into mine hand; for he is shut in, by entering into a town that hath gates and bars. [8] And Saul called all the people together to war, to go down to Keilah, to besiege David and his men. [9] And David knew that Saul secretly practised mischief against him; and he said to Abiathar the priest, Bring hither the ephod.
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3. The Privilege of Serving God (2 Samuel 15:24-29 [24] And lo Zadok also, and all the Levites were with him, bearing the ark of the covenant of God: and they set down the ark of God; and Abiathar went up, until all the people had done passing out of the city. [25] And the king said unto Zadok, Carry back the ark of God into the city: if I shall find favour in the eyes of the LORD, he will bring me again, and shew me both it, and his habitation: [26] But if he thus say, I have no delight in thee; behold, here am I, let him do to me as seemeth good unto him. [27] The king said also unto Zadok the priest, Art not thou a seer? return into the city in peace, and your two sons with you, Ahimaaz thy son, and Jonathan the son of Abiathar. [28] See, I will tarry in the plain of the wilderness, until there come word from you to certify me. [29] Zadok therefore and Abiathar carried the ark of God again to Jerusalem: and they tarried there.
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4. A Position in the House of God (2 Samuel 15:35And hast thou not there with thee Zadok and Abiathar the priests? therefore it shall be, that what thing soever thou shalt hear out of the king's house, thou shalt tell it to Zadok and Abiathar the priests.
   See All...; 1 Chronicles 27:32-34 [32] Also Jonathan David's uncle was a counsellor, a wise man, and a scribe: and Jehiel the son of Hachmoni was with the king's sons: [33] And Ahithophel was the king's counsellor: and Hushai the Archite was the king's companion: [34] And after Ahithophel was Jehoiada the son of Benaiah, and Abiathar: and the general of the king's army was Joab.
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2. THE HYPOCRITE’S POINT OF DEPARTURE
1. A Final Rejection of His Master (1 Kings 1:5-10 [5] Then Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, I will be king: and he prepared him chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him. [6] And his father had not displeased him at any time in saying, Why hast thou done so? and he also was a very goodly man; and his mother bare him after Absalom. [7] And he conferred with Joab the son of Zeruiah, and with Abiathar the priest: and they following Adonijah helped him. [8] But Zadok the priest, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and Nathan the prophet, and Shimei, and Rei, and the mighty men which belonged to David, were not with Adonijah. [9] And Adonijah slew sheep and oxen and fat cattle by the stone of Zoheleth, which is by Enrogel, and called all his brethren the king's sons, and all the men of Judah the king's servants: [10] But Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah, and the mighty men, and Solomon his brother, he called not.
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2. The Common Sign of a Hypocrite (1 John 2:19They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.
   See All...; Hebrews 10:38-39 [38] Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. [39] But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.
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3. A Return to the Ways of the Heart (2 Peter 2:20-21 [20] For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. [21] For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.
   See All...; Matthew 12:43-45 [43] When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. [44] Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. [45] Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation.
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3. THE HYPOCRITE PARTS FROM HIS BLESSINGS
1. He Loses his Place of Nearness to the King (1 Kings 2:26And unto Abiathar the priest said the king, Get thee to Anathoth, unto thine own fields; for thou art worthy of death: but I will not at this time put thee to death, because thou barest the ark of the LORD God before David my father, and because thou hast been afflicted in all wherein my father was afflicted.
   See All...) – Get thee to Anathoth (about 3 miles north of Jerusalem)
2. He Loses his Provision From God (1 Kings 2:26And unto Abiathar the priest said the king, Get thee to Anathoth, unto thine own fields; for thou art worthy of death: but I will not at this time put thee to death, because thou barest the ark of the LORD God before David my father, and because thou hast been afflicted in all wherein my father was afflicted.
   See All...) – unto thine own fields
3. He Loses the Privilege of Service (1 Kings 2:26And unto Abiathar the priest said the king, Get thee to Anathoth, unto thine own fields; for thou art worthy of death: but I will not at this time put thee to death, because thou barest the ark of the LORD God before David my father, and because thou hast been afflicted in all wherein my father was afflicted.
   See All...) – thou art worthy of death
4. He Loses his Position in the House of God
1. He is thrust out from being priest (1 Kings 2:27So Solomon thrust out Abiathar from being priest unto the LORD; that he might fulfil the word of the LORD, which he spake concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh.
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2. His room is taken by another (1 Kings 2:35And the king put Benaiah the son of Jehoiada in his room over the host: and Zadok the priest did the king put in the room of Abiathar.
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4. THE HYPOCRITE’S PROBLEM IN THE END
1. He Has the Wrong Father (1 Kings 2:27So Solomon thrust out Abiathar from being priest unto the LORD; that he might fulfil the word of the LORD, which he spake concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh.
   See All...; 1 Samuel 3:12-14 [12] In that day I will perform against Eli all things which I have spoken concerning his house: when I begin, I will also make an end. [13] For I have told him that I will judge his house for ever for the iniquity which he knoweth; because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not. [14] And therefore I have sworn unto the house of Eli, that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be purged with sacrifice nor offering for ever.
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2. We Can Have the Same Problem (John 8:44Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
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3. There is Only One Solution (John 1:12But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
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CONCLUSION: 2 Corinthians 13:5Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?
See All... – “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?”