As a rule, I study and work on a message. Each message I preach from this
pulpit a week or two. And then usually, on Friday and
Saturday, I write out both my messages for the Lord's Day. And on Tuesday, write out the
message for Tuesday night. And sometimes I start to write
the message out after studying for a week or two and realize
this is not what God has for us and what God would have me
to give to you on that particular occasion for various reasons. Such was the case as I tried
to prepare my message from Isaiah 30 for this morning. Lord willing,
we'll come back to it another time. This morning, I want you
to turn to the book of 2 Samuel. Second Samuel. I want to talk to you about God's
servant, David. David was a man of remarkable,
remarkable character. Grace had made him a man of integrity,
principle, courage, and faith in the cause of God's honor.
He was a humble man, a believing man, a faithful man. a holy and
righteous man. David stood head and shoulders
above all his peers. The Lord God himself tells us
that David was such a man. He was no better than any other
man by nature, but grace had made him a new creature. And
the Lord God declares, I have found David, the son of Jesse,
a man after my own heart. David was a man chosen of God
and everlasting love, redeemed by the Lord Jesus Christ, called
and born again by God the Holy Ghost. He was a righteous man. He was greatly and mightily used
of God in his generation as no other man in his day was. He
was a man through whom God had ordained that Christ should come
into this world, the one through whose loins our Savior, that
one who is the Son of God, would come into this world the Son
of Man. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
Son of David. David was a remarkable man. But
how is this man remembered? What do you First think of, when
you see or hear or read or think of the name David. For most people,
I know the answer. When David's name comes to mind,
you automatically think about adultery and murder, deceit and
sin. David took another man's wife. Not only another man's wife,
he took the wife of a man who would willingly give his life
for David, the wife of Uriah Bathsheba. When Uriah, in great
faithfulness, refused to give himself privileges that other
men on the battlefield did not enjoy, David arranged for Uriah
to be murdered. He plotted, he planned, and executed
the murder of Uriah. And when Bathsheba had finished
a proper period of mourning in the eyes of others, David sent
and took Bathsheba for his wife. These things are written in the
word of God not to sully the name of David in our minds. But they're written for our learning
and our admonition that we, through patience and comfort of the scriptures,
might have hope. Have you found 2 Samuel? Look
at chapter 11, verse 26. Our text this morning will run
from here through chapter 12 and verse 25. When the wife of Uriah heard
that Uriah her husband was dead, she mourned for her husband.
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. David was as accepted of God
at this time as he was before Bathsheba was born, or he was
born. He was accepted of God, perfectly
accepted in Jesus Christ the beloved, as are all God's elect. Let me make that perfectly clear.
But the thing David had done displeased the Lord. And the
Lord God would must and did demonstrate that the thing David had done
displeased him, while at the same time showing to David and
to the world around him his infinite goodness, mercy, and grace toward
his chosen. Here we have a fallen saint and
his faithful God. Now keep your Bibles open to
chapter 12. Once David had committed his
horrible crimes, God left him alone for a long time. God didn't speak to David, and
God wouldn't allow David to speak to him. He wrote no Psalms. His harp was out of tune. His
heart was out of tune. The heavens were brass before
him. I have no doubt that David went to bed night after night
after night after night. He'd close his eyes and try to
sleep, and all he could see right here was the face of his friend
Uriah, whom he had murdered. Guilt lay heavy on him. his conscience
constantly screaming at him. God left David alone for nine
long, dark, torturous months to seethe in his sin. During
those months, David found no comfort for his soul. In fact,
this is what he says about it. When I kept silence, my bones
waxed old, through my roaring all the day
long. For day and night, thy hand was
heavy upon me. My moisture is turned into the
drought of summer. Then, after nine months of barrenness,
desolation, and isolation from the Lord God, After nine months
of not hearing from God or being heard of God, God intervened
in mercy. And we read in verse one of chapter
12, and the Lord sent Nathan unto David. What mercy. And the Lord sent Nathan unto
David. As we look together at David,
this man after God's own heart, this righteous, godly, redeemed,
sanctified man, I want us to observe some things that obviously
the Spirit of God intends for us to learn from this event in
the history of David. Learn this first. I know of no greater evidence
that this book, this book, the one you have in your lap, the
one before you, the one we're reading from, this book is the
inspired, inerrant, infallible word of God. This is the book
of God. Were it only a book of religious
morals compiled by men, it certainly would not record the example
the most wicked examples, the most vile base examples of its
noblest men in their conduct. But the book of God does. One
of the greatest evidences of inspiration is the fact that
the Bible makes no attempt to conceal the sins of God's most
eminent servants. Rather, it states them plainly
and gives no excuse for them. They're just written. There they
are. No excuse given. No extenuating circumstances.
No justification. This is what they did. We read
of Noah, that man who found grace in the eyes of the Lord. That
man used of God to build the ark. The whole world still astounded
at Noah. Noah, that great man of faith
came out of the ark and one day is found in a drunken stupor.
Abraham, the friend of God, lied to Abimelech. In doing so, he
subjected his wife to adultery. And where it looked like God
would not fulfill his promise of giving him a son, he took
Hagar and tried by the arm of the flesh to get the child of
promise. Moses, the meekest man in the
earth. That man used of God to bring
Israel out of Egypt. That man used of God to bring
Israel across the Red Sea. Oh, what a man. Moses, in a fit
of temper, with his rod and anger, smote the rock. representing
Christ Jesus when God said, speak to the rock. He spoke it. Aaron, God's chosen anointed
high priest. While Moses is in the mount receiving
the word of God, the law of God for the people of God, Aaron
makes a molten calf of gold and calls for the children of Israel
to keep a feast unto Jehovah and says, this is your God. Peter. Peter was a chosen apostle. He is that one upon whose confession
the Lord Jesus said, I will build my church and the gates of hell
shall not prevail against it. Peter was the first man, the
first man to show remarkable courage in the garden. In fact,
he's the only one who did. When they came to arrest our
Lord Jesus, Peter drew out his knife and cut off the high priest
servant's ear. That man, Peter, the apostle
to the Jews, a remarkable man, in one dark, dark night, denied
the Lord Jesus openly three times and swore he didn't know him,
Paul. it appears from the scriptures,
was the most widely used of all the apostles. He wrote more of
the book of God than any other single man, this man Paul. Paul,
that one born out of season, that one who's chosen of God
to be the apostle to the Gentiles, that one who was most influential
among those who served God in his day. Even Paul, fell into
a snare of legalism at Jerusalem. Why has the Holy Spirit recorded
these things for us from the pages of Holy Scripture? What's
his purpose? What's his intention? Why is
there no attempt made to cover up what they had done, to minimize
their actions, to make it appear maybe they weren't really all
that bad? I'll give you three reasons. These things are written
to teach us again and again and again and again that God's people
in this world are sinners still. Skip. We are no better today
by nature in our fallen state. We're no better than we were
when we came out of our mother's womb. Grace does not change a
man's nature. Grace gives him a new nature.
But the old nature is still there. Grace does not alter the depraved
heart. Grace gives us a new heart. Grace
does not change the depraved will. Grace gives us a new will. So that the believer is a person
born of God and a person born of the devil. A righteous person,
perfectly righteous, perfectly holy. That man created in you
is created in righteousness and in true holiness. And the believer
is a completely sinful man by nature, utterly corrupt. I am a poor sinner and nothing
at all, but Jesus Christ is my all in all. Second, these things
are written to teach us and to teach us forcibly that salvation
is by grace alone. We contribute nothing to get
God's salvation. We contribute nothing in the
process of God's salvation. We contribute nothing in the
keeping of God's salvation. And we contribute nothing in
the finishing of God's salvation. By grace are you saved. That's all. Sinners are saved
only by the work of God. It is he who chose us, he who
redeemed us, he who gave us life, he who gives us faith, he who
works faith in us, he who keeps us, he who preserves us, he who
restores us and keeps us and preserves us, and he who will
present us perfect, faultless before the presence of his glory
at last. And third, these things are given
to teach us and teach us plainly that our great God, the God of
all grace, accepts us only in, with, and because of Christ. We are accepted in the beloved. Oh, thank God that never changes. Thank God that never changes.
No matter how cold your heart, no matter how insensitive your
soul, no matter how dead your spirit, no matter how corrupt
your mind, no matter how evil your actions, if you're in Christ,
your acceptance with God never varies. The things we do. I started to
say often, that's not right. The things we do, David, the
things we do in our minds and in our hearts especially, displease
the Lord. But we are in Christ. if we're
in him, if we're born of God, if we believe him. And in Christ,
God says, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. And that never varies. I made
this statement as a young man. Many, many years ago, I was a
young man. I was preaching to a bunch of preachers. And I made
the statement. Well, actually, I asked the question.
When was David most accepted of God? When he was bringing
the ark of God up to Jerusalem, leaping and dancing before the
ark because of God's election and God's salvation? Or when
he was in the arms of Bathsheba and plotting the murder of Uriah? And I actually had preachers
to say, when he was dancing before the ark, and I responded, no,
He was accepted in the arms of Bathsheba just exactly as he
was accepted dancing before the ark because of Christ, because
he's one with Christ, because we are accepted immutably from
eternity, accepted in the beloved. But preacher, that'll make folks
want to see it. Oh, no. Oh, no. Oh, a thousand times no. Can a gracious God, a merciful
God, a forgiving God, a loving Father, a God whose love and
mercy and grace never changes, make the object of his mercy,
love, and grace want to dishonor him? Oh, no. No. I know plainly what the scriptures
teach. And I know plainly what I know
about myself. And I thank God, my acceptance
with God is only in the person of his son, because of his blood,
because of his righteousness. All right, here's the second
thing we must learn. You and I must never cease to
be aware of our personal weaknesses arising from the depravity of
our hearts. How often have you thought to
yourself or said to others, I don't understand how a man could do
such a thing? Or more particularly, I don't
understand how a true believer could do something like that. I'm guilty. I'm guilty. I'm guilty. I've forgotten the name of the
fellow who hung himself, the rich fellow accused of child
slavery and the horrible things he was accused of. My first thoughts,
I try not to say what I think lest I affect other people around
me, especially my wife. My first thought, how could a
man do such a thing? Now let me tell you what I'm
really saying when I say such a thing. Even to myself, I wouldn't
do that. I wouldn't. I wouldn't behave
like that. Not me. I know doctrinally we all believe
in total depravity. But by some proud, foolish imagination,
every one of us thinks I'm the exception. I'm not really that
bad. That's our natural horrid pride
and self-righteousness. The great cause of Peter's fall
was his pride. The Lord said, Peter, you're
gonna deny me before the sun comes up tomorrow. And he said,
Lord, everybody else might, but I won't. James and John might,
but not me. Now, Thomas, you know, he's a
doubter, not me. And Peter had to learn by bitter
experience. He had to learn by bitter experience.
Because we just don't learn much except by experience. He had
to learn that he was no better in any way than James, John,
or Thomas. He was not superior to them in
any way. He had to learn the depravity of his own heart. And so before the sun came up,
Peter said, I don't know him. I don't know him. And then he
cussed and said, I don't know that man. We must always be aware of the
depravity of our own hearts. Listen to Romans chapter 12,
verse three. Just listen. Here is the secret
of real commitment to Christ. The secret of devotion. the secret
of steadfast faith. I say through the grace given
to me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself
more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly,
according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. Now let me tell you when you
think soberly. When you think of yourself, know
more highly than you ought to think. Not when you just say
it, like I'm talking to you now. Not when you say it so people
hear you. But when you know and think in
your heart, I am sin. I do nothing but sin. I can do nothing but sin. There is no one on the earth
worse than me. I am the chief of sinners. That
person is in grave danger who imagines that he or she is above
committing some sin that would bring reproach on Christ, upon
his gospel, and upon God our Father. Let us ever look to Christ. Like Peter walking across that
water, look to him. Always focus on him. The moment
you take your eyes off him and start looking here, you're gonna
sink. That's just fact. There's far too much preaching by men who ought to know better
that leaves folks looking at themselves. I call it introspective
preaching, looking for evidences, looking for things that will
give them assurance, looking for things by which they can
measure themselves godly. Don't look to yourself for anything
but sin. That's all you're gonna get from
yourself. Look to Christ and Christ alone. Here's a third lesson we learned
from David. Verses one through four of chapter
12. It becomes obvious as you read these verses that all of
us are naturally blind to our own faults. but very quick to
see the faults of others. When Nathan came to David and
drew an illustration of David's sin by telling him a parable
of a rich man who had many lambs, but stole the only lamb of his
poor neighbor, David was enraged. I can picture David, he did what? He did what? You tell me who
he is. He's going to restore fourfold
and I'll have him killed. I'll put him to death. His head
will be taken off his shoulders. Look at verse five now. David's
anger was kindled greatly against the man. And he said to Nathan,
as the Lord liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely
die. Verse seven. And Nathan said
to David, thou art the man. Oh, would to God I could preach
to you like that every time I preach to you. I pray for grace to speak
to every one of you just like Nathan spoke to David. I want
to put my finger right on your heart and talk to you. Mark Henson,
I'm talking to you. I'm talking to you. Jerry Sadler,
I'm talking to you. Lindsay Campbell, I'm talking
to you. Thou art the mayor. The message is intended for you. Every now and then, I'm pretty
sure I've succeeded. Somebody will greet me at the
door and they'll say, somebody's been talking to you about me,
haven't they? Yeah, God has. God has. Thou art the man. We ought never make ourselves
the judges of others. I mean by that, I know people
say, well, I don't judge anybody, I wouldn't condemn them, this,
that. I mean by that, we ought never try to decide who is godly
and who is not, who is faithful and who is not, who knows the
Lord and who does not, who walks with God and who does not. That's
not our business. That's not our prerogative, and
it's certainly not our ability. The fact is, I don't know what I would do
if I'd been where he was. And you don't know what you would
do if you had been in the same circumstances. with the same
opportunities as any other man. You just don't know. Unless God
holds you fast, you'd behave exactly the same. This is my
prayer. Lord, teach me to be lenient,
merciful, and forbearing toward my brethren. If I have any severity,
let it be directed against myself. teach me to forgive, overlook,
and excuse the weaknesses, failings, and sins of my brethren. Here's the fourth thing we ought
to learn. This sad event in David's life
teaches us that we all are in need of a faithful preacher. The Lord sent Nathan unto David. David was a prophet, but he needed
a prophet. David was a king, but he needed
a prophet. David was a writer of inspiration. Nathan was not, but Nathan was
a prophet and David needed a prophet. The fact is when God has grace
to convey to his elect, he sends a messenger to speak for him. How shall they hear without a
preacher? Now I say this to you, and I
say it to congregations all over the world as I have opportunity. You need a preacher. A man sent from God to teach
you his word, his will, and his way. You need a preacher. And if you think you can get
along without one, you're just fooling yourself in your pride. I've run across a good many folks
who presume they don't need a preacher. And folks will meet me at the
door, say, you've given me a lot of things to think about. I didn't
come here to give you something to think about. Well, I'm gonna
consider that. I didn't come here to give you
something to consider. Well, I'll take that into consideration
and compare things and see what I can learn. I didn't come here
for that purpose. I came here to give you a word from God you
need to hear and you must hear. Everyone needs a preacher. God
always sends a preacher to the lost one he will save, to the
languishing one he will revive, to the fallen one he'll restore.
And if you think you can get along without him, you got another
thing coming. It's not gonna happen. For wise
and holy reasons known only to himself, God allows his saints
to fall into sin. Sometimes he leaves them to themselves
for a long time, but he will not leave them forever. At his
appointed time, he will send his word and heal his child. Nathan was a faithful preacher. Oh, I'd like to be a preacher
like Nathan. Having received the word of God
to give to David, Nathan was fully aware of David's power. Do you know how easy it was for
David to arrange Uriah's murder? Just took out a post-it note,
said give this to Uriah. So it was. Nathan was fully aware. How can I go talk like that to
King David? What is it you want me to tell?
Lord, you shouldn't have told me to tell David that. No, David
received the word from God and faithfully delivered the word,
walked right up to David and said, David, thou art the man. He was faithful to God, faithful
to God's word, faithful to God's will, and faithful to David's
soul. He reminded David of all the
great things God had done for him. Verses 7 and 8, he said,
I gave you the houses of Israel and of Judah. He said, if that
hadn't been enough, I'd have given you whatever else you wanted.
I gave you your master's wives. I gave you his kingdom. And I
would have given you anything else you asked for. and he plainly
exposed David's sin for what it was. Look at verse nine. Wherefore
hast thou despised the commandment of the Lord to do evil in his
sight? Thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite
with the sword, and has taken his wife to be thy wife, and
has slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon. Oh,
what a great man. What a great benefit to David's
soul. What a great benefit to God's honor and glory this man
Nathan was. He frankly told David what the
consequences would be. Verses 10, 11, and 12, now therefore
the sword shall never depart from your house. And then he
said, this child that's coming from Bathsheba, God's gonna kill
it. And then he said, David, God's going to cause your own
son to take your wives publicly before all Israel. You did this
thing secretly, but this shall be done publicly so that everybody
in Israel knows that the thing David did displeased the Lord. Now look at verse 13. David responded just like you'd
expect a fellow to. He said, well, I can get me another
prophet. I don't have to listen to this nonsense. There are plenty
of churches around. I can go to a church somewhere
else. No, David said to Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. He bowed to God's word. bowed
to God's revelation, bowed to God's exposure of himself, made
no excuses, made no pretense, didn't talk about any extenuating
circumstances. He said, I have sinned against
the Lord. And Nathan said unto David, the
Lord also hath put away thy sin. Thou shalt not die. When Nathan left, David went
to his chambers, fell on his face before God, and he wrote
Psalm 32 and Psalm 51. And this is the sum of them all.
Blessed is the man. will not impute sin. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord will not impute sin. Learn this also. Our lives, yours and mine, have a profound effect a lasting
effect upon the people we influence. The more prominent the position
you're in, the more effect it has. None of us live as an island
to ourselves. Everybody likes to think, well,
I can do what I want to. I'm an adult. I can make whatever
choices I want. Oh, no. You can't take fire to
your breast and not be burned. You can't despise God's word
and hold God in contempt and get by. You can't rebel against
God and get away with it. It won't happen. And what you
do will have an effect on the people you influence. Your sons
and your daughters, your husbands and your wives, your neighbors
and your friends, the folks who work for you and the folks who
work with you. They're watching. And I'll tell you what they're
watching for. I'll tell you what they're watching for. They're
watching for you to slip up. They're watching for you to say
the wrong thing. They're watching to see what
you'll do so they can despise even more openly our God and
the gospel of his grace. The name of the Lord was blasphemed
by what David did. Look at verse 14. By this deed
thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to
blaspheme. And then the Lord told David,
the child that is born unto thee shall surely die. The child of
David's lust was killed. When he got word from Nathan,
he, fasted and prayed, stayed to himself. And then he got word
seven days later, the child was dead. The sword would not depart
from his house. We're told in verse 10, David reaped the consequences
of his action. in his children. Absalom rebelled against him. Took his father's wives and paraded
them before Israel. He said, come here, honey. I
want everybody to see I'm taking my father's wives. And he'd take
them into his chambers. Come here, honey! I want everybody
to see what I'm doing. I hold my father in contempt.
And he took his wife before all Israel. Amnon learned to live by his lust,
by watching his father fulfill his own lust. Absalom learned
to despise his father by his father's deeds. A Hithefeld-learned
betrayal by David betraying a trusted friend. Be aware all the time. What you do affects the folks
whose lives you touch. The sixth lesson to be learned
from this is the fact that our God, the God of all grace, He's
the God of all grace still. He's merciful and gracious to
forgive. The Lord, we read in verse 13,
hath put away thy sin. As soon as David confessed his
sin, Nathan said, David, your sin is forgiven. Your sin is
forgiven. Your sin is forgiven. It is still true. If we confess
our sin, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sin. His forgiveness
was immediate. His forgiveness was complete.
His forgiveness came with no conditions attached. His forgiveness
was accompanied with a promise. Thou shalt not die. And when
God forgives sin by Christ Jesus, He forgives sin with a promise,
you shall not die. David was freely forgiven, but
the child born as a result of his sin died. You see, God forgives sin and
God's grace is free, but God's grace and God's salvation is
not cheap. It comes at a price. Justice must be satisfied. Righteousness must be vindicated. And that innocent child, that
innocent child died in David's stead because of David's sin. I don't know what all is implied
by that, but I know this. because God is just, because
God is righteous, because God is true. He cannot and will not
forgive sin, except by the death of an innocent, righteous man,
the God-man Christ Jesus. As David's child died in his
stead because of his sin, God's son, died in my stead because
of my sin that God might be just and the justifier of this sinful
man. I cannot pass up the opportunity
to say this as well. David's child that died in his
place, David was confident that one day soon He would be reunited
with that child. Look at verse 23. Now he is dead,
wherefore should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I
shall go to him, but he shall not return to me. David found
great comfort and great satisfaction in the fact that that one he
loved, He would see again very soon. And that one who loved me and
gave himself for me, that one who's called me to believe him
and love him. shall never die again, but soon
I will go to him and see him face to face. What a day that
will be when my Jesus I shall see, I shall look upon his face,
the one who saved me by his grace. But as David's child, was in
glory. So too is every infant dying
in infancy. Every child taken in innocence,
if I can use that word in a very loose way. We recognize the children
even dying in infancy are born sinners. They must be redeemed
by the blood of Christ. They must be born again by the
Spirit of God. So that can't be, they're not
adults. Unlike the Arminian who charges us, unlike the will worshiper
who charges us with saying that infants go to hell, and they
know they're lying when they say it. They believe that in
order for a person to be born again, he's got to choose to
believe. And we know that's heresy. Those
who are born again are born again by God's sovereign grace. And
the scriptures are very clear in both implication and in statement. Those who sin not after the similitude
of Adam's transgression shall not perish under the wrath of
God. I suppose in part, I was moved
to bring this message particularly for Jesse and Mindy. You lost
that baby. And when I heard about it, my
heart broke for you and rejoiced. And rejoiced. What a rare privilege
you have. What a rare privilege. You have
been given the privilege of having one child. redeemed, chosen of
God, washed in the blood, born of his spirit. You remember when
Elisha was helping that mad woman who had no child and she asked
for a child, Elisha said, all right, about this time next year
you're going to have one. When the child started to grow,
he was about seven years old, I think. You can read it in 2
Kings 4, I believe it is. The child went out in the field
one day with his daddy. And he said, daddy, my head, my head. And he fell dead. And the woman
came to Elisha. And Elisha sent his servant Gehazi
to go meet her. And he said, when you see her,
ask her, is it well with thee? Is it well with thy husband?
Is it well with the child? And when he met her, he said,
is it well with thee? Is it well with thy husband?
Is it well with the child? And this was her response. With
her dead boy laying on the bed, she said, it is well. It is well. It is well. It's well with me. It's well
with my husband. It's well with the child. We're
gods. It is well. Oh, rejoice in God's
goodness, children of God. One more thing. I'll quit. Learn this. The Lord God, our
God, is faithful. even to his fallen children. No, especially to his fallen
children. He's faithful. He's faithful. He said, I will never, no never,
no never leave thee, nor forsake thee. He abideth When we stray from Him, He comes
after us. When we run from Him, He comes
after us. When we defy Him, He comes after
us. When we will not return to Him,
He comes after us. If He didn't come, we would never return to Him. If we confess our sin, He is
faithful and just to forgive us our sin. I bid you my fallen
brother, my fallen sister, whatever it is, confess your sin. And God will immediately speak
to you forgiveness. I call on you who do not know
my God, Oh, God help you where you are
right now. Confess your sin. If you can, God will immediately
speak forgiveness to your soul. Forgiveness with a promise of
life eternal. Amen.