Good morning. I'd like to read
1 Peter chapter 1, starting in verse 1. Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia,
Asia, and Bithynia, elect according to the foreknowledge of God,
the Father, through sanctification of the spirit, unto obedience
and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. Grace unto you
and peace be multiplied. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy
hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled,
and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you. who are kept
by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed
in the last time, wherein you greatly rejoice, though now for
a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold
temptations, that the trial of your faith, being much more precious
than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire,
might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing
of Jesus Christ. whom having not seen you love,
and whom though now you see him not yet believing, you rejoice
with joy unspeakable and full of glory, receiving the end of
your faith, even the salvation of your souls. Dear Heavenly Father, how we
long to receive the end of your faith. We thank you for your
faith and your mercy towards us undeserving sinners. We pray
that if it be your will, you reveal yourself to our children
and to our loved ones who have not seen your face yet. And we
ask that you continue to provide for those of your children who
are unwell or afflicted, and give them all that you know that
they need. In Christ's name we pray, amen. Let's all stand together again.
We'll sing hymn number 13 from the Spiral Gospel Hymns hymn
book. We're gonna use the hymn, What a Friend We Have in Jesus,
and we'll skip the refrain. No refrain. Mark the stain that soiled man's
nature, long the distance that he fell. Far removed from hope
and heaven, into deep despair and hell. But there was a fountain
open And the blood of God's own Son Purifies the soul and reaches
Deeper than the stain has gone Conscience of the deep blue ? Sinners wander in the night ?
? Though they hear the shepherd calling ? ? They still fear to
face the light ? ? This the blessed consolation ? ? That can melt
the heart of stone ? That sweet balm of Gilead reaches Deeper
than the stain has drawn All unworthy we who wander And
our eyes are wet with tears As we think of love that sought
us ? The weary wasted years ? Yet we walk the holy highway ? Walking
by God's grace alone ? Knowing Calvary's fountain reaches ?
Deeper than the stain has drawn ? And with holy choirs we're standing
? In the presence of the King ? And our souls are lost in wonder
? While the white-robed choir sings Then we'll praise the name
of Jesus with the millions round the throne. Praise him for the
power that reaches deeper than the stain has grown. Please be
seated. There's a verse of scripture
that sums up that hymn. Where sin abounds, grace doth
much more abound. I'm so thankful. So thankful
for the Lord's mercy and his grace. We need it. We're sinners, we
do. Let's turn in our Bibles together
to 2 Samuel chapter 11. 2 Samuel chapter 11. I love the fact that the Bible
does not hide or gloss over the sins of its heroes. As a sinner, I need to know that
there are other men who struggle with the same things I struggle
with. And that the Lord was merciful
in spite of their sin. And that's what grace is. Grace
is in spite of. I've never read the Koran, but
I would be willing to to bet money that there's nothing negative
in that book about Muhammad. I've never read the book of Mormons,
but I'll bet there's nothing negative in that book about Joseph
Smith. And you could say that about
every religious opinion of man and the writings of men attempt
to present Men in a light that is not true. It's just not true. So thankful
that we don't have to pretend to be something that we're not.
Men in religion do that. Actually went to the, years and
years ago, went to I think it's the largest Mormon temple in
America out in Los Angeles. And I felt like that I was in
the movie of Stepford Wives. Seriously. I mean, they were
dressed the same. They had the same facial expressions.
They walked in the same cadence. It was uncanny. It was weird. I mean, it was scary. And you see that among religious
people. Everybody feels like that there's a pattern that they
have to mimic. Not so. Not so among God's people. Where the Spirit of God is, there
is liberty. And we're looking in faith to the Lord Jesus Christ
and seeking to follow Him, but oh, We all have different personalities
and different backgrounds and different experiences and we
don't have to pretend to be something that we're not. We're sinners. And the Lord presents his saints
that way. He shows us all their ugly sin
and flaws. Not in a way of justifying that,
oh no, we're gonna see from this text the awful, awful consequences
of sin. But the Lord shows that, you
know, you think about Lot. If you just read the story of
Lot in the Old Testament, there'd be no way to conclude that Lot
was a believer. I mean, he set his tent towards
Sodom. He lived in that city. He was
part of the governing authorities of that city, because scripture
says he was in the gates of the city. The Lord had to grab him
by the hand and force him out of that city, because he lingered,
even after God said, I'm going to destroy the city. Then he
gets drunk and has incestuous relationships with his daughters.
I mean, the life of Lot recorded in the Old Testament is horrible. And then the Holy Spirit reveals
Lot as just Lot, that righteous man who was vexed daily in his
heart by the ungodly deeds of those who were in Sodom. Peter
shows us that Lot was a believer. We've been in 1 and 2 Samuel
now for several months and what an encouraging thing it's been
to look at the life of David, God's chosen king. And even before he was coronated
after the death of Saul, he proved himself to be a man of faith.
He proved himself to be a man of integrity. He proved himself
to be loyal. Even after Saul had falsely accused
him, David remained loyal to Saul and faithful to God. He believed God. In the name of the God of Israel,
he went up against Goliath, that giant of the Philistines. And
by the power of God, he slew that giant and became the commander
of the army and the people loved him. He showed After his kingdom was established,
he showed kindness towards Mephibosheth. A threat to his throne, but David
wasn't threatened. Why? Because he was a man of
faith. He believed God. He believed that God had placed
him there. God had enriched him. God had blessed him. And he intended
to share the mercy and grace of God with whoever he could.
Even as last Sunday, we saw in chapter 10, where he tried to
show mercy toward his enemies and they rebuffed him. But that's
just the kind of man that David was. The Lord calls David a man
after God's own heart. He was a man of character. He
was a man of conviction. David lived in 1000 BC and for
the next 1000 years, Israel would long for the days of David's
blessed reign. Oh, they kept looking for the
reestablishment of the kingdom of David. And when the Lord Jesus
came into this world, he came as the son of David, fulfilling
everything that David's kingship represented and pointed to. The
life of David, I don't know this for sure, but I can't think of
another character in the Bible that more scripture is given
to. than David. He's the sweet psalmist
of Israel. He's the king. Much of the scriptures,
particularly in the Psalms, were penned by David. He was given
direct revelation from God and enabled by the Spirit of God
to write the Word of God infallibly. What an incredible, incredible
man. Incredible individual. No one with even a cursory view
of the Bible could ever conclude that David was anything less
than one of God's choicest saints. Yet, you knew that was coming,
didn't you? Yet. If 2 Samuel chapter 11 was
the only thing that we knew about David, our conclusion would be that
he was the most irresponsible, lazy, no control over his lustful
passions, adulterer, cold-hearted, even hard-hearted. A seared conscience
we would have to conclude. No regard for the life of others. He would do anything to protect
himself. He was an abuser of the power
that he had. And there was no fear of God
in his heart. That would be the only conclusion
we could come to if all we had was 2 Samuel chapter 11. What a contrast. Surely we have recorded here
in God's Word, David's darkest hour. And it proves one thing, where
sin abounds, grace does much more abound. It proves that man at his best, is but a man at best. And he gives comfort to sinners who have similar dark hours in
their life. Believers who need forgiveness
and need grace and need to be recovered. It proves that just as a man's
best moments cannot earn him favor with God, neither can his
worst moments cause him to lose favor with God. You didn't do anything to earn
your salvation. You can't do anything to lose it. and those who have a salvation
based on their works, their pretended righteousness, their outward
appearances, that which they attempt to do to impress men, they would say to what we believe,
if I believed what you believed, there'd be no restraint for my
sin. No, the greatest restraint that
we have for our sin is not the law, it's not religion, it's
not the opinions of other, it's not the need to put on a face
before man. The greatest restraint for sin
is grace, is grace. If the gospel of God's free grace
does not restrain us, there will be no restraint. I want my sin to be restrained. The heart is wicked, deceitful, desperately
wicked. The Bible says no man can know
it. Lord, the Lord removed his restraining
hand from David and allowed David to fall into the deepest, darkest
pit of sin imaginable. You have your Bibles open to
2 Samuel chapter 11, and it came to pass, verse 1, After the year
was expired at the time when kings go forth to battle, the
David sent Joab and his servants with him and all Israel. And
they destroyed the children of Ammon and besieged Graboth, but
David tarried still at Jerusalem. At the time when kings are supposed
to go to battle, David stayed in Jerusalem Not many people
there. All the men are gone to battle.
It's where David should have been. God speaks in several places
warning us of idleness, idleness. You know, sometimes the best
solution to depression and to distress and discouragement is
just go to work. I want to tell some people that,
you know, just go to work. Just go find something to do.
Quit sitting there and navel-gazing and quit, you know, you're looking
for something in yourself. It's like going down in a well.
The deeper you go, the darker it gets. Get your attention off
yourself. Don't be idle. An idle mind is
a devil's workshop. Idleness is not a good thing.
God gave work before the fall. Adam was to tend the garden even
before sin. Work is a good thing. It's a
good thing. And it'll keep you out of a lot
of trouble. And this is the beginning of
David's fall. Just simple idleness. have anything
to do, send somebody else do all my work. And it came to pass in the even
time that David arose from off his bed and 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. And David sent and inquired after
the woman. And one said, is not this Bathsheba
the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite? David, it's not for you. This servant
knew what David had in his mind. And even he is warning David,
David, don't go there. And David sent, I'm sorry, verse
four. 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 into her house and the woman conceived and sent and
told David and said, I am a child. And in verse six, the real evil
in David's heart begins. The first five verses, we can
understand all that. It was the cover-up that is despicable. It's the cover-up that's inexcusable,
unconscionable, the things that David did. David's sent to the battlefield,
get Uriah, bring him here. David brings Uriah in under the
pretense of wanting to know how the battle's going and David
says to Uriah, you know, give me a report. Uriah was a commander,
he didn't have to, David was getting reports every day from
the battlefield. He didn't have to do that, but
what's he doing? He treats Uriah kindly, he says
to Uriah, go down to your house and wash your feet, which means
you wash your feet to go to bed. Uriah, go down to your house,
so be with your wife tonight. We'll cover this thing up. Uriah
goes out of the king, Uriah is a man of, Uriah in this text
is completely opposite of David. He's a man of integrity, he's honorable, he's got principles, He abides by the law. He's loyal. He's disciplined. And he's the victim in this case.
And Uriah leaves David's presence and he goes out the door of David's
house and sees David's servants there that night and he doesn't
go home. He lies down with his servants.
And the next morning, David finds out he didn't go home to be with
his wife. David's hoping to blame this thing on, you know, say,
well, that's Uriah's child, not mine. David confronts Uriah. The next night he gets Uriah
drunk. and he's hoping now maybe he'll
go home, he'll lose some of his sensibilities about his loyalty.
Uriah says, how can I go and be with my wife when your servants
are out on the battlefield fighting and losing their lives and the
Ark of the Covenant is out there and my master Joab is out there,
how can I do such a thing? You see the integrity of Uriah? I mean, he was such a stand-up
man. David's trying to cover up his
sin. Uriah refuses to go again. Sleeps with the servants at David's
door. Oh, the cover-up's getting worse.
David is so hard-hearted at this point and so desperate to cover
up his own sin that he writes Uriah's death sentence in a letter
gives it to Uriah. Now here's a, David has such
confidence in the integrity of Uriah that he doesn't believe
that Uriah will even open the letter on his way back to the
battlefield. He's confident that this man
is so loyal and so honorable that the letter was addressed
to Joab and Uriah's not even gonna read it. And the letter
says to Joab, take Uriah and his men and put them at the front
of the battle. And when the battle gets hot,
withdraw from them and leave them in the heat of the battle.
And Uriah did exactly what David told him to do. Joab did exactly
what David told him to do. Uriah did exactly what Joab told
him to do. Uriah's killed. Uriah's killed. with his men. Word comes back to David that
we've lost a battle and we've lost some of our men. And David
in his calloused, sinful heart says, well, that's the way war
is. Sometimes good men die, sometimes
bad men die. It is what it is. And David thinks
it's all hid now. And David sends to Uriah's house
and gets Bathsheba and takes her home and makes her his wife. Can you think of a darker story? Particularly in light of who
did it? Three simple points relating
to this story. Number one, the cause of sin. The cause of sin. Now often we
say sin is what we are, and we do what we do because we're sinners.
And the cause of our sin is our sinful nature, and that's true.
But acting on our sinful nature is never justified by God. God
never says, well, you know, it's okay, I know you're just a sinner,
you can't help yourself. God never says, you know, I'm
gonna bring good out of this, so it's okay. Acting out on the sin of our
heart is never a good thing. And we can't say, well, you know,
God, you know, I'm a sinner, it's God's fault. Turn with me to James chapter
1. The cause of sin. Verse 13, James chapter 1. Let
no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God. For God cannot be tempted with
evil, neither tempteth he any man. But every man is tempted
when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed. And when lust hath conceived,
it bringeth forth sin. And sin, when it is finished,
bringeth forth death. Now, our God is so absolutely
glorious and sovereign that he works all things together for
good for them that love him and those that are called according
to his glory. We see that most clearly at the
cross. The greatest evil is not what
David did in 2nd Samuel 11. The greatest evil that ever happened
among men was taking the Son of God and crucifying him, putting
him to death on Calvary's cross. And the greatest evil that man
ever did turned out to be God's greatest glory and our greatest
good. Do we need any more evidence
that God will take evil and make good out of it? That being true,
that does not make evil good. does not justify our sin. We can't say, well, you know,
God ordained it so that that excuses me, is that not? Let no man say, let no man say,
when I am tempted of God I No, every man is tempted when he's
drawn away of his own lust, and lust when it is conceived bringeth
forth sin, and sin bringeth forth death. Now, David's a believer,
no doubt about it. Sin in a believer's life can
never bring about Spiritual death. Separation from God. Can't do
it. David didn't do anything to earn
favor with God and this will not cause him to lose favor with
God. And so it is with every child of God. When the Bible
says sin bringeth forth death. Eternal death cannot happen for
a child of God. regardless of their sin, regardless
how dark and evil it is. But there are other deaths that
come as a result of a believer's sin. You can have the death of your
testimony as a result of your sin. You can have the death of
your comfort and joy and hope Turn with me to Psalm 32. Psalm
32. Verse three. when I kept silent. Now it's
gonna be nine months to a year before Nathan comes to David
and confronts David and God exposes his sin and David's brought to
confess that God is true and that he had sinned. I've sinned
against God. That's what he owe with a broken
heart. And David's gonna live in misery for nine months to
a year. I can only imagine the offerings
that David brought trying to salve his conscience. You wouldn't
want to have been around David during those nine months because
this kind of sin will cause anger, it'll cause resentment, it'll
cause a man to act out and all the stuff that David Look
what David says, he writes this as a result of this in verse
three, when I kept silent, 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. Turn over just a few pages to
Psalm 51, Psalm 51. David writes Psalm 51 in response
to this sin. One of the good things that God
brought from this dark, dark, wicked thing that David does
is he gives to us, sinners, this Psalm. And David prays in this
Psalm in verse eight, and he says, oh, make me to hear joy
and gladness at the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice,
hide thy face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities. Create
in me, create in me, Lord, a clean heart, oh God, and renew 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. What died as a result of David's
sin? His joy, his hope, his comfort,
his peace. Sin always does that. Sin bringeth
forth death. It can kill your testimony. It
will kill your peace, your hope, your comfort. bring about the death of relationships,
the death of a marriage. Sin does that. And some sins
will bring about the death of your body. So when sin is completed, bring
it for death, even for a child of God, believer, It's a wonderful thing when the
Holy Spirit causes us to feel the way Joseph felt when Joseph
was tempted by Potiphar's wife to lie with her. And that was
just the opposite. I mean, this is a woman going
after a man in Joseph's case. And Joseph said, how can I do
this evil and sin against my God? It was the love of Christ
that constrained him. He could not bring himself to do
such a thing and it's a wonderful thing when that happens. But if that restraint is not
there, let the restraint of fear keep you from acting on the sinful
desires of your heart. Because there are consequences
to sin that you... Joab never respected David again. Ahithophel, Joab knew what David
did. Ahithophel, who was David's primary
advisor, was the grandfather of Bathsheba. And Ahithophel hated David after
what David did. And Ahithophel sided with David's
son and led in a coup against David's throne because of his
hatred for David, because of what David did. David killed
his relationship. Child's going to die. The Lord says, be not deceived. What a man sows, that shall he
also reap. The Lord's given us these stories, these events,
the record of these things, in part, yes, to show us God's grace,
to show us his forgiveness, but in part to warn us Look at, go back over into our
text. Go back, go over with me to chapter
12. Nathan's gonna speak, speaking
for God. Nathan says to David, David,
God gave you everything and if that wasn't enough, he would
have given you more. Why did you take something that didn't
belong to you? Why did you do it, David? You
just ask God, he would have provided whatever. You could have more
wives. Verse nine, therefore, chapter
12, wherefore hast thou despised the commandments of the Lord
to do evil in his sight? Thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite
with the sword and have taken his wife to be thy wife and has
slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon. Now, therefore,
the sword shall never depart from thine house. because thou
hast despised me and has taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite
to be thy wife." What? The Lord's telling David there's
some horrible consequences to this sin and you've got to live
with them the rest of your life. And David on his dying bed is
going to say, although my house be not so with God. And he's
thinking about the tabernacle of his flesh and the sin of his
own heart and what he had done but he's also thinking about
the consequences of that sin lived out in his children's lives
which was a mess, a mess. And David says, although my house
be not so with God yet He has made with me an everlasting covenant,
ordered in all things, ensured this is all of my salvation and
all of my desire, all of my desire. I can't find any hope of my salvation
looking at my life, looking at my heart, looking at what I've
done and what I haven't done. I can't get any comfort there. But when I look to Christ and
what he did for me, in ordering the covenant and making it sure
and providing everything necessary for the salvation of my soul,
then I have hope that the grace of God has been in spite of me. God's not justifying our sin
here, brethren. He's telling us that we're fully
responsible for everything we do. Everything we do, we bear
the full responsibility of it. We can't blame anybody else,
can't blame God. Truth, Lord, it's me. He's telling
us that there's consequences. Look at verse 11, Thus saith
the Lord, Behold, I will rise up easily against thee out of
thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes and
give them unto thy neighbor. Ahithophel is going to advise
David's son in the coup. to take the wives of David and
put them in a tent in a public place and go into his wives and
shame David by being with his father's wives. And he does it. The fulfillment of this prophecy.
God said, this is what's going to come, David. You see, when
When the love of Christ doesn't constrain us, when we can't say
with Joseph, oh, how can I do such a thing? Let us be afraid
of God. Let us be afraid of the consequences
that come as a result of sin. And let us plead with God to
restrain us. The Lord's given us this for
that, isn't he? Your neighbor's gonna take you,
his son did it. And he shall lie with your wives
in the sight of the son. For thou didst secretly, but
I will do this thing before all Israel and before the son. And David said unto Nathan, I've
sinned. I've sinned against the Lord. David's not being harsh, Nathan's
not being harsh with David. Nathan's just telling David,
this is the chastisement of it. And Hebrews chapter 12 tells
us that if the heavenly father does not chastise us when we
sin, it's because we're not his. We're not His. He does it not
punitively. These consequences of sin and
the ones that you and I suffer as a result of our sin are not
punitive. The punishment for our sin fell on the Lord Jesus. Every bit of it. Every bit of
it fell on Him. When He died on Calvary's cross,
God was satisfied with the judgment that was required to put away
our sin by the sacrifice that He made of Himself. Our Heavenly
Father will correct us. He will correct us. He will chastise
us. And that's a good thing. That's
a good thing. No chastening for the present
seemeth joyous but grievous. Hebrews chapter 12, the chasing
of God is not joyous, it's grievous. Nevertheless, nevertheless, it
produces the peaceable fruit of righteousness to them that
are exercised thereby." Oh, what a terrible exercise it is to
suffer the correcting hand of God but it's always, it's always
for our good. It's always to bring about. David had lost, we saw that in
Psalm 51 and Psalm 32. You read Psalm 130, it's the
same. David's writing these Psalms as a result of what he's experiencing
during these dark months. Now the Lord has restored the
joy of his salvation. And Nathan said unto David, The
Lord also hath put away thy sin and thou
shalt not die. Thou shalt not die. I love that little word also. Nathan's not saying to David,
well now David that you've confessed your sins, God's willing to put
it away. He's waiting for you to repent.
No, the Lord also, David, he's already put it away. He's already
put it away. Where'd he put it? Where'd he
put it? He cast it into the depths of
the sea. He separated it from you as far
as the east is from the west. He put it on his sinless son,
the sacrifice for your sin. who bore in his body upon that
tree the sins of his people and put them away by the sacrifice
of himself." David, your repentance is not the cause of your sin
being put away. Your sin being put away is the
cause of your repentance. Your sin, David, has been put
under the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's been cast behind the back
of God. It is gone. Gone. You can come in spite of what
you've done, David. You can come boldly before the
throne of grace and find help in your time of need because
God has put away your sin. You don't have to try to cover
it up anymore. You don't have to try to pretend to be something
that you're not. You agreed with God. I have sinned. And yes, there'll be some consequences. And some of those consequences
will be the means by which the Lord will restrain future sins. David was restored and became the man that he was by the new
birth. man after God's own heart. King,
oh it's not not gonna be his last fall we're gonna see as
we get towards the end of 2nd Samuel another great fall of
David when he counted the people. God slew thousands of Israelites
as a result of God, of David's sin. Where sin abounds and it abounds
in every one of us. grace does much more about. Our Heavenly Father, thank you
for your precious, precious promise. Thank you for the successful
work of our Lord. And Lord, thank you for the gift
of your Holy Spirit. and for the word of your prophet
who says thou art the man. Thank you for the grace that
enables us as sinners to take sides with you against ourselves. Lord, thank you for putting away
our sin. We ask it in Christ's name, amen. 125, let's stand together. I hear the Savior say, Thy strength
in need is small, Child of weakness, watch and pray, Find in me Thine
all in all. Jesus paid it all, all to Him
I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow. Lord, now indeed I find Thy power
and Thine alone Can change the leper's spots And melt the heart
of stone Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe Sid had left a crimson
stain, he washed it white as snow. For nothing good have I,
whereby thy grace to flame, I'll wash my garments white in the
blood of Calvary's Lamb. Jesus paid it all, all to Him
I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow. And when before the throne I
stand in Him complete, Jesus died my soul to save, my lips
shall still repeat, Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain
He washed in white as snow