Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church,
located at 905 Yadkin Street in Kingsport, Tennessee, would
like to invite you to listen to a message of sovereign grace
by their pastor, Gabe Stoniker. And now, Pastor Gabe Stoniker. One of these days, if I belong
to the Lord Jesus Christ, I'm going to get to see my Lord face
to face. I'm going to get to touch his
scars, the scars in his hands that held him on the cross while
he paid the debt of my sin, the scar in his side where the soldier
pierced him and outflowed blood and water. I'm going to get to
see his eyes, look straight into his eyes and see what color they
are. I'm going to get to hear the
tone of his voice, hear his beautiful voice with my ears, hear him
speak. I can't wait to meet my Lord
face to face. And with my Lord, there are many
of our brethren that I'm looking forward to meeting. Just sitting
down and talking to them and telling them how much I love
them and thank the Lord for them. When the Lord brings all of his
people home to his kingdom, New Jerusalem, the city of God, we
will know everyone there as we've been known. We will not be introduced
to one person, not one person. We will know them. They will
know us. Not only will we be seeking their
company, they'll be seeking ours. Well, our Lord Jesus Christ is
everything. He's everything. And in him,
because of him, one of my brothers that I'm looking forward to meeting
is David. David. I'm looking forward to
sitting down and talking with him. What a blessed man by God
David was. He was a sweet and tender man. He was a songwriter, a poet.
He was a wonderful musician. He played the most soothing music
to the king. David was also a mighty man of
war. He killed a lion and a bear with
his own hands. He said, that lion came in and
took a lamb and I went after him and I grabbed him by his
beard and I slew him. Think about that. Can you imagine
that? Going after a lion, grabbing him, slaying him. David walked
straight up to the face of a giant named Goliath and killed him.
What a courageous man of war he was. David was chosen by God
out from among his brethren. When David walked in, the Lord
God said, arise, anoint him. He was made to be king and he
was a good king. All who were in debt could come
to David and he became captain over them and forgave all their
debt. The promise of his seed was made
to him. The Lord God told him, in your
line, I'm going to send the one who will establish the throne
of his kingdom forever. That's the Lord Jesus Christ.
Oh, how blessed of God David was. Spiritually, David was a
wonderful representative of our Lord and Savior. Our sweet, sweet
psalmist, the Prince of Peace, our mighty man of war, the Lord
is a man of war, our God and our King, the Anointed, a wonderful
representative. But physically, David was just
a man like you and me. He was just a man, just a sinner
like you and me. Now, 2 Samuel chapter 11, if
you want to turn with me, I'm going to read a little bit here
in 2 Samuel chapter 11. It says, And it came to pass
after the year was expired, at the time when kings go forth
to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him, and
all Israel, and they destroyed the children of Ammon, and besieged
Rabbah. But David tarried still at Jerusalem. 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.
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? 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. And the woman conceived and sent
and told David and said, I am with child. Now, if we were paying
attention very carefully at all, we understand what just happened.
We understand what David just did. Verse 6 says, And David
sent to Joab, saying, Send me Uriah the Hittite. That's Bathsheba's
husband. And Joab sent Uriah to David. And when Uriah was coming to
him, David demanded of him how Joab did, and how the people
did, and how the war prospered. 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. 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. He did not go home to his wife.
And when they had told David, saying, Uriah went not down unto
his house, David said unto Uriah, Camest thou not from thy journey?
Why then didst thou not go down unto thy house? 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 encamped in the
open fields. Shall I then go into my house
to eat and to drink and to lie with my wife? As thou livest
and as thy soul livest, I will not do this thing. David's trying
to get this man to go home so David can get himself out of
trouble. Verse 12, And David said to Uriah, Tarry here to-day
also, and to-morrow I will let thee depart. So Uriah abode in
Jerusalem that day and to-morrow. And when David had called him,
he did eat and drink before him, and he made him drunk. And at
even he went out to lie on his bed with the servants of his
lord, but went not down to his house. And it came to pass in
the morning that David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it
by the hand of Uriah. And he wrote in the letter saying,
Set ye Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle and retire
ye from him that he may be smitten and die. David sent him right
back into battle. And it came to pass, when Joab
observed the city, that he assigned Uriah unto a place where he knew
that valiant men were. And the men of the city went
out and fought with Joab, and there fell some of the people
of the servants of David, and Uriah the Hittite died also." So now not only has David taken
this man's wife, David has now had this man killed. Verse 26
says, And 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 into his house, and she became
his wife and bear him a son. But the thing that David has
done displeased the Lord. The thing David had done displeased
the Lord. Man at his best state is altogether
vanity. The best men on earth are vile
creatures in the eyes of God. Vile creatures. But even though
it says the thing that David had done displeased the Lord,
it didn't displease David. He wasn't broken by it. Listen
to Romans 1 verse 29. It says, being filled with all
unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness,
full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity, whisperers. That's David. Verse 32 says,
"...who, knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit
such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have
pleasure in them that do them." That's David. That's David. When Joab obeyed David and had
Uriah killed, he sent a messenger to tell David about it. And in
2 Samuel 11 verse 22 it says, And the messenger said unto David,
Surely the men prevailed against us, and came out unto us in the
field, and we were upon them even unto the entering of the
gate. And the shooters shot from off the wall upon thy servants,
and some of the king's servants be dead, and thy servant Uriah
the Hittite is dead also. Then David said unto the messenger,
Thus shalt thou say unto Joab, let not this thing displease
thee, for the sword devoureth one as well as another. Make
thy battle more strong against the city and overthrow it, and
encourage thou him. David told that messenger, oh,
don't worry about it. It happens. You go tell Joab
it's okay. Encourage him. It didn't displease
David. He wasn't broken by it at all.
David was pleased. Pleased with the news. Oh, this
heart is deceitful above all things, and it's desperately
wicked. Wicked. Well, if the Lord God
had not made a promise to David, And if he'd not left him there,
David would have died in his sins. If God had left David where
he was, David would have died in his sins. But God had mercy
on David, and he sent the truth to David. Now listen to chapter
12 verse 1. It says, And the Lord sent 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 rich man had exceeding many
flocks and herds, but the poor man had nothing save one little
ewe lamb, just one little 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 man loved
his one little lamb. 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. A stranger came in from out of
town, and the rich man, he didn't take one of his own lambs and
kill it for the man to eat. He took this poor man's one little
lamb. And David's anger was greatly
kindled against the man. And he said to Nathan, as the
Lord liveth, the man that has done this thing shall surely
die. And he shall restore the lamb
fourfold because he did this thing and because he had no pity. 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. 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. 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 hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and
hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon." God's Word, which is sharper
than any two-edged sword, says to every single sinner, Thou
art the man. Thou art the man. I am the man. I am. I look at my brother David's
sin and I see my own. I'm no better than David. I'm not. David was vile and wretched,
and so am I. So am I. David deserved death. There was no excuse for what
he did, and so do I. I deserve death. How could God
be merciful to David after that? How? How could God be merciful
to me? How? I'll tell you how. Our Lord Jesus Christ became
David. He became David. And he suffered
for that. Oh, he suffered for that. God punished Christ for that
sin, the one we just read about. Oh, Christ suffered for that
sin, suffered the punishment of God. And my only hope is that
Christ became me and suffered for me. That's my only hope. Well, if
Christ took his place, Why would the Lord allow all that to happen
to David? He could have kept him from all
that sin and all that heartache. Why would He allow that to happen
to him? We'll turn to Psalm 51 and we'll
find out. Turn with me to Psalm 51. Right under the title, Psalm
51, there is a heading And this is what it says. To the chief
musician, a psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came unto
him after he had gone in to Bathsheba. Verse one says, have mercy upon
me, O God. Have mercy upon me, O God. Have mercy upon me. The Lord
allowed him to see his sin so he would cry out for mercy. That's
why. Verse one says, according to
thy loving kindness, the Lord allowed David to see his own
hateful cruelty. so he would cry out for God's
loving kindness. Verse one says, according to
the multitude of thy tender mercies. David had to see the multitude
of his hard, pitiless ways before he could see the multitude of
God's tender mercies. He said in verse one, blot out
my transgressions. Blot out my transgressions. I must see my sin before my Lord
will show me his blood, which blots out my transgressions. David says, if it's the blood
of Christ that cleanses me from my sin, verse 2, he says, wash
me throughly from mine iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. Is
that possible? Is it possible for a sinner as
bad as David to be washed throughly from his iniquity and cleansed
from his sin? Is that possible? Verse three,
David said, I acknowledge my transgressions. I acknowledge
my transgressions. We might as well. The Lord God
sees them anyway. There's nowhere to hide from
God. Nowhere. Verse three, David said, my sin
is ever before me. A person can know, a person can
be confident that all they've gotten a hold of is religion
when everybody else's sins are before them. That's how people
can know that they don't have anything other than just religion. when everybody else's sins are
before him. But when Jesus Christ gets a
hold of a sinner and says straight to his heart, thou art the man. Oh, that sinner says, I acknowledge
my transgressions and my sin is ever before me, ever before
me. Verse four says, against thee,
thee only have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight.
I've sinned against God, a true sinner who sees God's holiness,
and God's righteousness, and God's purity, and God's Son. That lamb, that lamb that was
slain for me, A true sinner will say, against thee, thee only
have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight, that thou
mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou
judgest. Lord, whatever you do with me
is right. It's right. You are justified
when you speak against me, and you're clear when you judge me. Lord, I stand before you a guilty
and convicted man. God be merciful to me, a sinner. God be merciful to me, a sinner. Well, listen to 1 John 1, verses
8 and 9. If you're a sinner, then listen
to 1 John 1, verses 8 and 9. It says, if we say that we have
no sin, we deceive ourselves. And the truth, who is the truth? Our Lord said, I am the truth. The truth is not in us. Christ is not in us. But verse
nine says, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just
to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. All unrighteousness. That's the best news I've heard
all day. That is the best news I've heard all day. Isn't that wonderful? If we confess
our sins, He is faithful. I'm not faithful. He is faithful. And just. to forgive us, forgive
us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. That's
the best news I've heard all day. 1 John 2, verse 1 says,
My little children, these things write I unto you, that you sin
not. And if any man sin, we have an
advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. Has any
man sinned? Has any woman sinned? Dear listener,
have you sinned? You have an advocate with the
Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the mercy of God. He is the mercy of God. Now let's close by looking at
2 Samuel 12 one more time. 2 Samuel chapter 12 verse 13
says, And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord.
And Nathan said unto David, The Lord also hath put away thy sin. Put away thy sin. Nathan said,
Thou art the man. And as soon as David confessed
to the Lord, Nathan said unto David, The Lord also hath put
away thy sin, thou shalt not die. Thou shalt not die. He is a God ready to pardon,
gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness. Great kindness. Oh, the Lord has been so kind. He was so kind to David. He's been so kind to me. Dear
sinner, he'll be kind to you. Does that give us reason to sin?
Does that give us an excuse to sin? God forbid. God forbid. The next verse here
in 2 Samuel 12 verse 14 says, how be it 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. David, because you've brought
reproach on the truth, because you've given the enemies of God
great reason to blaspheme, this child is going to die. It's going
to die. Does that give us reason to sin?
Oh, God forbid. God forbid. David was excused
from the punishment. The punishment of his sin, but
he was not excused from the pain. Not at all. He had to deal with
that for the rest of his life. But God was merciful. Christ
became David. Christ paid that price for him.
Christ set David free. Christ is the only one who can
set any sinner free. I'm a sinner just like David. God be merciful to me. May God be merciful to me. May
God be merciful to you. Until next Sunday morning, may
the Lord bless His Word. You have been listening to a
message by Gabe Stoniker, pastor of Kingsport Sovereign Grace
Church in Kingsport, Tennessee. If you would like a copy of this
message or to hear other messages of Sovereign Grace, you can write
to our physical mailing address at 905 Yadkin Street, Kingsport,
Tennessee 37660 or log on to our website at kingsportsovereigngracechurch.com. If you would like to come and
worship with us, our service times are Sunday morning Bible
study at 10 o'clock a.m., worship at 10.45 a.m., and 6 o'clock
p.m. Wednesday evening at 7.30 p.m. Please tune in next Sunday morning
at 8.30 for another message of God's free and sovereign grace.