Now, the title of tonight's message
is Good Counsel Gone Bad. Good Counsel Gone Bad. And I've
taken that title from 2 Samuel chapter 17. Look at verse 14. 2 Samuel 17 and verse 14. Here's speaking of Absalom and
all the men of Israel. 2 Samuel 17, verse 14. Absalom, of all the men of Israel,
says, the counsel of Hushai. You remember Hushai was David's
spy. He was a man who wanted to go
with David when David left Jerusalem. When David was on his way through
the brook Kidron onto Mount Olivet, in his sorrow and in his darkness,
and Hushai wanted to go with David, but who said I was an
old man and David said you'd be a burden to me you'd be better
off to go back to Jerusalem and you listen to what what this
man named Ahithophel who was prior to that one of David's
closest friends and closest advisors you listen to what he tells Absalom
and then you tell him something different and David prayed you
remember in 2nd Samuel 15 that the Lord would turn the wise
counsel of Ahithophel in the foolishness. And that's the way
it is with man's wisdom, isn't it? In God's sight, in God's
purpose, it is foolishness. So here Hushai, the Archite,
is better than the counsel of Ahithophel. That is, Athens will
listen to Hushai. I'll show you why in just a moment.
Listen to this last line in verse 14. This is where I got the title,
Good Counsel Gone Bad. It says, For the Lord had appointed,
commanded, ordained, to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel. Now what sense was Ahithophel's
counsel good? The Lord had commanded, had appointed,
to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel to the intent, or
for this purpose, that the Lord might bring evil upon Absalom. Good counsel gone bad. Can you think of such a thing?
That's what it's about. Now, let's go back to 2 Samuel
16. Now, I've just forewarned you, I'm not going to read through
all of 2 Samuel 17, but I am going to summarize a lot of it
for you. A lot of it's history, and you can go through and read
it yourself. We just don't have time to read it all, but I will
make some comments on certain verses. But look at 2 Samuel
16, verse 15. It says, "...and Absalom and
all the people, the men of Israel, came to Jerusalem, And Ahithophel
was with them. Remember, as I said, Ahithophel
was one of David's closest friends. He was well known in Israel to
be a wise counselor, held in high regard, high respect, one
of David's closest advisors. But he had turned traitor. He
had went with Absalom, who rebelled against his father. And so here's
Absalom. David's been cast out of Jerusalem,
off of his throne. He's out there in sorrow. And
Absalom and all the men of Israel that were with him, the majority,
came to Jerusalem and Ahithophel with him, not with David, but
with Absalom, with the rebel. He identified and united himself
with this man who denied and rejected God's appointed king. And it says in verse 16, it came
to pass when Hushai, the archite, David's friend, was come unto
Absalom that Hushai said unto Absalom, God save the king, God
save the king. Now, Hushai uses some wisdom
here. Absalom, he asked him, verse
17, so Absalom said unto Hushai, Is this thy kindness to thy friend,
speaking of David? And he says, Why wentest thou
not with thy friend? Why did you go with David? And
Hushai said unto Absalom, Nay, but whom the Lord, and this people,
and all the men of Israel choose, his will I be, and with him will
I abide. Now, Hushai is talking about
David in his heart. But Absalom is so full of himself
and so arrogant that he just knows, well, he's talking about
me. Here's a man lifted up in self-righteousness,
lifted up in arrogance. And so Hushai says in verse 19,
and again, whom should I serve? Should I not serve in the presence
of his son as I have served in my father's presence? So will
I be in thy presence. What should I say? I'm going
to serve David wherever I'm at. He just didn't mention David's
name, and Absalom said, well, he's going to be with me. It
says in verse 20, Then said Absalom to Hithophel, Give counsel among
you what we shall do. And Hithophel said unto Absalom,
Go in unto thy father's concubines, and this could be considered
with David's wives. Go in unto thy father's concubines,
which he hath left to keep the house, and all Israel shall hear
that thou art abhorred of thy father, then shall the hands
of all that are with thee be strong. So they spread Absalom
a tyrant upon the top of the house, and Absalom went in unto
his father's concubine in the sight of all Israel." Now I want
you to consider this, Ahithophel here being the traitor, the traitor
to the king. He's a type of Judas Iscariot. Just as David had his enemies,
Ahithophel being one of them, our Lord had his enemies. We
can think about the high court of the religious authority of
the Jewish court. That was his enemy. We can think
about the Roman government. We can think about Judas himself.
We read over there in Psalm 41, verse 9, which David probably
wrote during this period of time. When he made this statement in
verse 9 of Psalm 41, he said, Yea, mine own familiar friend,
that's a trusted friend, a close friend, in whom I trusted, which
did eat of my bread, that's a signification of fellowship and closeness,
hath lifted up his heel against me. And most commentators would
agree that David's probably speaking of Ahithophel there. Have you
ever had that happen to you, a close friend? who's turned
against you. Well, this is what's happened
to David. It's what happened to our Lord with Judas. Our Lord
even referred to that passage in Psalm 41 and verse 9 in the
upper room, speaking of Judas, whereas afterward he exposed
Judas. In John 13, 8, let me just read, or John 13, 18, let
me read it so you can mark it. When he's talking about his people,
his disciples, his sheep, And he said to the disciples in the
upper room in John 13, 18, he said, I speak not of you all. There were 12 there. But he said,
I know I'm not talking about all 12 of you. I know whom I
have chosen, he said. God knows them that are his.
Christ knows his creed. But he said, I'm not talking
about all of you. When I refer to my sheep, my disciples. He
says, but that the scripture may be fulfilled. And then he
quotes Psalm 41, 9. He that eateth bread with me
hath lifted up his heel against me. That was written by David
referring specifically to Ahithophel, but it was written prophetically
to refer to Judas Iscariot. And so Ahithophel here advises
Absalom to take his father's wife, his father's concubine,
proudly trained that he's now the king. That's what he would
be saying in that act. Not David. David's gone. And
I've got his kingdom. I've got his palace. I've got
his home. I've got his wives. I've got
his concubines. Now, counseling, what he's doing,
what Ahithophel's doing here, he's counseling Absalom to take
for himself what does not belong to him. And that's the way of
the natural man in all things. That's the way of Adam in the
garden. That's the way of Satan even before then. Man is always
reaching for, grabbing for, coveting that which does not belong to
him. We see that nowhere in all of its fullness more than in
man's desire of salvation, which would glorify himself. He covets
salvation, but he covets it in a way that would glorify man.
He wants salvation conditioned on himself. He says, Lord, let
me do something for you that I may earn or deserve the salvation
that you have. And God says, oh, no, oh, no,
that's not the way it's going to be. It's going to be free
and unconditional because you don't deserve it and you cannot
earn it. For all of sin comes short of
the glory of God. And that's why the Lord sent
his Son into the world, to do all for his people, which we
could not do for ourselves. And when man desires salvation,
apart from or without or not completely on the Lord Jesus
Christ, what he's doing, he's coveting something that doesn't
belong to him. He's coveting glory. He's coveting
credit. And the Lord will not give his
glory. He will not give credit to the sinner. All glory and
credit goes to Christ, the crucified one, the risen one, Christ the
mediator, the one who gave his life for the sins of his people.
Now we see also both the arrogance and the covetousness here of
Absalom. You know it was common back then
for a conquering king to do this, to go in, he would take the defeated
king's wives and the concubines, but Absalom was not yet a conquering
king. But you know, he thought he was. He thought it was in the bag.
He thought he'd already had it. And Ahithophel knew that once
this happened, once Absalom went in to his father's wives and
concubines and knew then, he knew that that would be the final
break between David and Absalom. They could never come together
again as father and son. That was it. Past the point of
no return. That was the final act of rejection
of Absalom to God's appointed king. And that's just an illustration
of how, if we reject Christ, there's no possibility of communion
between God and sinners, and the sinner who rejects Christ.
The only way we can know God and commune with God as a loving
Father is through the Lord Jesus Christ, and without Him, there's
nothing. But notice verse 23 of 2 Samuel 16. He says, "...and
the counsel of Ahithophel which he counseled in all those days,
was as if a man had inquired at the oracle or the word of
God. So was all the counsel of Ahithophel,
both with David and with Absalom." You know what that's saying?
Here's how people looked at Ahithophel and his word. That's the word
of God. Whatever Ahithophel says has
got to be right. That's the word of God. And you
know what's happening here? What you see is that the man
is elevated above that which he should be." Now, Hithophel
had been a wise counselor to David, been a friend to David,
but now he had turned. Now he was not going by God's
word. He was pointing the people of Israel to Absalom and not
David. And yet the people still looked
upon his word as, well, that's the word of God. And Hithophel
wouldn't lie to us. He's told us the truth all these
years. Ahithophel, he preaches the word of God. Why would he
not preach it now? But you see, the moment Ahithophel
turned from pointing people to David and God's word according
to David and pointed them towards Absalom, he stopped preaching
and speaking and counseling the oracles of God. And that's why
the scripture says in Isaiah 8 and verse 20, to the law and
to the testimony, if they speak not according to this word right
here. I don't care how long they've
been telling you the truth. I don't care how trusted they
are, how close they were. If they speak not according to
this word, it says there's no light in them. Test the spirits. Test the spirits. And here's
the bottom line for us today. Any preacher, any counsel, any
counselor, any teacher, any witness who does not point us to Christ
and his word alone for all salvation and life." Don't listen to him. Don't say what he's speaking
in the oracles of God. I guess I felt stopped and turned
toward Aptos. So don't look at the man, you
see. I don't care how long you've
known him, how long he's preached. Don't look at the man. Look to
Christ. and his authority and his word. So whatever they advise
you, whatever they counsel you, if you can't find it in agreement
with God's word and God's word alone, you don't listen to them.
Try the Spirit. And that's one thing about it.
All good counselors, all godly counselors will point sinners
to Christ and to his word alone, not their opinions. Now here
in chapter 17 we see the advice of both Ahithophel and Hushai.
And the first four verses gives us the counsel of Ahithophel.
He says, moreover, Ahithophel, he had already given Absalom
some advice, but here's the next. He says, moreover, Ahithophel
said unto Absalom, Let me now choose out twelve thousand men,
and I will rise and pursue after David this night, and I will
come upon him while he is weary and weak-handed, and will make
him afraid. And all the people that are with
him shall flee, and I will smite the king only. What Ahithophel
is saying is, you go after David, David specifically, you kill
David, you've got the rest. And you won't divide Israel because
you won't slaughter the people. Kill David. And it says in verse
3, he said, I will bring back all the people underneath. The
man whom thou seekest is as if all returned. So all the people
shall be in peace. And the same pleased Absalom
well, and all the elders of Israel. Now think about Ahithophel's
counsel here. Quick strike. Don't allow David
time to get over the River Jordan and re-muster his troops and
re-press him, but go after him now and get him. And what Hippophel's
just saying here, he's saying this, he's saying cut off the
head and you'll kill the body. That's what he's saying. Now
listen, let me tell you something. Now you know that's real good
advice if you're going to win the war. But the problem was
this. It was against God's appointed,
revealed will. Isn't that right? And mainly,
it was against God's appointed king. But I guess that was right. You cut off the head, you kill
the body. Think about this, about Christ and the church. Christ
is the head, and we're the body. And if you cut off the head,
what do you do? You kill the body. What's that teaching? Our
life is in Christ. Without Christ, we're nothing.
Now listen, if Christ could be defeated, what would that mean? It means our whole church would
be defeated. The whole body would be defeated.
Our life is in Him. Our breath is in Him. He's our
salvation. Without Him, we don't have anything.
But He cannot be defeated. That's the key. Now let me tell
you something, David couldn't be defeated. Now it wasn't because
David was so good and powerful. It's because of God's purpose,
we'll say. God's plan. But you see, Christ, because
of who He is, and because of what He's accomplished for His
people, He cannot be defeated. He will not be defeated. He was
not defeated, even on the cross. He was victorious. Don't look
at the cross as a cross of defeat. It's a cross of victory. And
His success is our success. His word. is the cleansing of
all our sins. His righteousness is our justification
before God. We stand before God eternally,
unchangeably righteous in Christ. And he's our covenant head. He's
the rock upon which the church is built. He's the chief cornerstone.
So that's what Ahithophel's saying. Now, you cut off the head, you've
got them all. And he was right. But look at Hushai. Look at verse
5. Then said Absalom, Call now Hushai. the Archive also, and
let us hear likewise what he saith. And when Hushai was come
to Absalom, Absalom spake unto him, saying, Ahithophel hath
spoken after this manner. Shall we do after his saying,
his counsel? If not, speak thou. And Hushai
said unto Absalom, The counsel that Ahithophel hath given is
not good at this time. Hushai said, Now I've got another
way of looking at this thing. And he disagreed. And he presents
a counter-plan to defeat the council of Ahithophel. Remember
when David prayed, Lord turn the council of Ahithophel into
foolishness. This is what's being played out
here. And Hushai, he told them, he said, look at verse 8, he
says, Verse 8, Hushai, thou knowest thy father and his men, and they
be mighty men. This is David's band of mighty
men. And they be chaste in their minds, they're troubled in their
minds, they're angry. Like as a bear robbed of her
whelps in the field. That's how angry and powerful
David is. Thy father's a man of war and
will not lodge with the people. Behold, he's hid now in some
pit or in some other place. It'll come to pass when some
of them be overthrown at the first and whosoever hears it
will say there's a slaughter among the people that follow
Absalom. They'll think Absalom's being defeated. You see what
Hushai's doing there. He's singing the praises of his
king. He's singing the praises of his
King. That's what we do in our battle, isn't it? We go through
this life. We sing the praises of our Savior,
King. And as long as we do. And everything
Zushai's saying here is correct. And he advised Absalom not to
go the way of Ahithophel. And so Absalom takes Zushai's
advice. Look down at verse 14. Well,
Hushai advises Absalom to raise a huge army and get David in
person. And he appeals to Absalom's vanity. He tells Absalom, he said, you
go in person. You go and you be the leader
and you be in front of all the people. And that appeals to Absalom's
vanity. Now, Hithophel's plan, if Absalom
was going to really win this battle, Hithophel's plan was
really a better plan. But you see, Hushai's plan appealed
to Absalom's vanity. And you know, I thought about
that. That's the way all false gospels do. They appeal to the
flesh, don't they? They appeal to self-righteousness,
the ways of man. But Absalom takes Hushai's advice. Verse 14, Absalom and all the
men of Israel said, the counsel of Hushai, the Archite, is better
than the counsel of Ahithopheth. Now, it wasn't better strategically.
It wasn't better as far as a general was concerned to defeat, to have
victory. But it was better in Absalom's
eyes because it lifted him up and gave him some glory. And
this is what the Lord says. This is not Absalom speaking
here in verse 14 when it says, For the Lord had appointed to
defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel to the intent that the Lord might
bring evil upon Absalom. The Lord had appointed. I thought about that verse in
2 Thessalonians where it talks about the man of sin. 2 Thessalonians
2, you can read it sometime, read the whole chapter. Where
it talks about in the last days how the man of sin will be revealed.
Antichrist. And how people will fall prey
to his lying wonders. And what the Bible calls in 2
Thessalonians 2, the deceivableness of unrighteousness. Now, you
know what the deceivableness of unrighteousness is? It's also
called the mystery of iniquity. It's an iniquity and it's an
unrighteousness that man by nature does not recognize and cannot
see. In other words, if you see this
unrighteousness that he's speaking of and this iniquity that he's
talking about, it'll have to be revealed to you by God. It
has to be uncovered. And what is that iniquity and
unrighteousness that man by nature cannot see? It has to do with
all the efforts of fallen, unbelieving men and women to work their way
into God's favor. Just like Absalom in his self-righteousness
and in his area. You see, that kind of message,
that kind of religion lifts up the flames. It feeds the flames.
You remember when Paul, when he was when he was describing
what a believer really is in Philippians chapter 3 and verse
3. He said we're the circumcision, that's the new birth, that's
a symbolic term for the new birth, circumcision of the heart. We
are the circumcision, we worship God in spirit and we rejoice
in Christ, that means our confidence Our boasting is in Christ and
we have no confidence in the flesh. You see, the true gospel
of God's grace does not leave man any confidence in the flesh
or any room to boast. And when men seek God's favor
by their works and their efforts to keep the law and don't realize
the self-righteousness and arrogance that's in that, that's the deceivableness
of unrighteousness. That's the mystery of iniquity.
Well, in 2 Thessalonians 2, Paul writes this, he says that those
who fall prey to that, they do so because of one thing, they
receive not the love of the truth. Now, it's one thing to hear the
truth, it's one thing to agree with the truth, it's one thing
to talk about the truth, it's one thing to memorize the truth,
but it's another thing to love the truth. Love the truth of
God's gospel. Love the truth of Christ and
Him crucified. It's my life. I'm feeding on
it right now. Feasting upon the truth that
I love. And that's a gift from God. And
it goes on there in 2 Thessalonians 2 to show that those who reject
the truth, who receive not the love of the truth, it says this,
it says God will send them as a judgment strong delusion that
they might believe a lie. That's God's judgment against
those who receive not the love of the truth. That's what's happening
to Absalom. He's being sent strong delusion
because he's rejected God's King. He's rejected God's way. And
it's God's purpose to defeat the good counsel of Ahithopheth
for this purpose that the Lord might bring evil. That means
disaster upon Absalom. Absolute planning. He's plotting. I guess the fail is counseling.
But here's the facts of the matter. No matter what he does, he cannot
stop or hinder or frustrate the mind and purpose of God to accomplish
his sovereign will. No matter what he does. He's
got all the people with him, just about all of them, except
David and his band. But he can't stop or frustrate. the purpose of God. Man, neither
with his wicked intentions and devices, nor with his best intentions,
nor by his sin and failure, in David's case, nor by his successes,
he cannot frustrate or hinder the purpose and mind of God.
Think about it, isn't that, really that's a theme throughout the
Bible. The fall of man didn't frustrate
God's purpose, it fulfilled it. That's right. That's why God
said, the seed of woman will come. Joseph and his brethren. Think about that. That's one
of the most famous passages that we can think about here. Joseph
was sold into slavery. The intentions of his brother
were wicked, but it didn't frustrate the purpose of God. Joseph saved
you men and for evil, but God meant it for good to save much
people alive. And we could go on and on with that, culminating
where? At the cross of Calvary. We read
it last week, last Sunday evening. How men by wicked hands crucified
and slain the Son of God, but they fulfilled the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God. Nowhere do we see that truth
and that glory of His than we do in God's purpose to save His
people through Christ. Why had the Lord purposed to
defeat the good advice of Ahithophel here. I'll tell you why. Because it was his purpose to
accomplish his will, ultimately to bring the King of Kings into
this world, the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, through the
line of David. David as king, not David as a
defeated king. The throne of David, not the
throne of Absalom. And in all this, there was a
severe chastening for David. You know, David, through this
passage, he's going through severe chastening here now. And he knew
it well. That's why he wrote those Psalms.
That's why he's solid. He knew that he sinned greatly
against God. That's why he told, back there
in chapter 16, that's why he told Abishai, don't go over there
and cut off that fellow's head that's cursing me. I deserve
it, he said. and that great picture of Christ
who was made a curse for us. He said, I deserve it. Somebody
say, well, what he's saying about you is a lie. But he said, well,
there's enough of me that's a lie that he'll hit it somewhere.
I deserve it. David knew this. Yet, God in
all this did not forsake David during this time of chastening.
He didn't utterly forsake him. God, even in this chastening
of David, he was there for David. all the time, working his counsel,
working all things, Ephesians chapter 1 verse 11, working all
things at the counsel of his own will. All of it aimed toward
bringing Christ into this world to save us from our sins. But,
here in verse 14, what about Absalom? He meant to destroy
Absalom. Because you see, without Christ
there is nothing but destruction from God. Christ is our only
hope. Absalom rejected that hope when
he rejected David. Absalom was lifted up with his
own pride, his own works, his own earning power, his own deservedness.
And that's destruction. That's the way that seems right
unto a man, but it's death. In the rest of this chapter,
let me just summarize it for you. We confront in verses 15,
16, Zadok, Hushai, he goes to Zadok and Abiathar, these are
the priests that David sent back to Jerusalem. And Zadok and Abiathar,
they sent word of warning to David to cross over Jordan quickly,
Absalom's coming, cross over quickly, don't wait, and regroup
and prepare for Absalom's attack. Just like we're told to prepare
by putting on the whole armor of God. God keeps us informed
that those things that he wants us to know and then what he holds
back, he holds back, but he's working his plan. And then David
is warned here in verses 17 through 22. Look down at verse 22. I
love these passages, several passages in this history that
are like this. Look at verse 22. It says, Ben David arose
and all the people that were with him and they passed over
Jordan. And by the morning light there
lacked not one of them that was not gone over Jordan. Every last
one that was with David crossed over Jordan." That's a picture
of the salvation of Christ's sheep. Who passed over Jordan? That's safety. That's the place
of refreshing to get over in Jordan. Remember that was over
into the promised land. Who passed over? All that were
with David. My friend, that's a great picture
of how all who are with Christ are safe and secure. Saved. Saved and secure in Him. With no possibility of defeat,
no possibility of falling utterly unto perdition, apostasy, they're
safe in Christ. Safe under the blood. You sing
that song there, under the blood of Jesus. Under His wings, under
the blood. clothed in his righteousness,
filled with and kept by his Spirit unto glory." And look at verse
23, now listen to what happens to Ahithophel. And when Ahithophel
saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his ass
in a rose and gave him home to his house, to his city. He put
his household in order, and hanged himself, and died, and was buried
in the sepulchre of his father. Now, Hippophel wasn't just upset
over the fact that Absalom didn't take his advice. He knew this. He knew that if Absalom was defeated,
that he as a counselor would be killed. And so he committed
suicide. You remember I told you that
a Hippophel was a type of another traitor who hanged himself in
Judas Iscariot. What that's teaching us is that
the way of life without Christ, the way of counsel without Christ,
is always a way of death, horrible death. He hanged himself. And
so, in the last part of this, Ahistophel, he commits suicide. Absalom, he crosses the Jordan
to pursue David. David, in this, you read it,
he finds some supporters in helping Gilead. And many of them were
Gentiles. That's significant, again foreshadowing
the great truth that our Lord has a people out of every tribe,
kindred, tongue and nation who look to the King, who serve the
King, serve Christ as our Savior and our Lord. That's who belongs
to spiritual Israel, isn't it? All those who glory in the cross
and who serve the King. And so we see that what may seem
like good counsel may go bad. Many people today, and they're
preaching, they counsel people to work hard. Work hard and God
will save you. Work hard and God will reward
you. Doesn't that seem like good counsel? Well, for the natural
man it does. Again, there's a way that seems
right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.
And then when we come along and preach the gospel of God's free
and sovereign grace, that God chooses his people and sent Christ
to die for them and do for us what we could not do for ourselves,
that we don't earn it, we don't deserve it, that it's all by
grace through faith in Christ. Well, that just doesn't seem
right to the natural man. It doesn't seem like good counsel
to me. It makes sense to me that we
ought to work hard and at least get something out of it. But
let me tell you something. God's way is always the best
way. God's way is always the only
way of life. And God's way is always the way
that exalts Christ and puts us in the dust where we belong.
And God's way and His counsel is always look to Christ. Keep
your eyes on Christ. Rest in Him. You have no forgiveness,
but by His blood you have no righteousness but in Him. Look
unto Christ. All right. Let's sing a couple of verses
of He Leadeth Me, hymn number 295. He leaves it to me. With a stamp, please.