of our lesson this morning is
the two reactions to the kingship of Christ. Now, you remember
that David had allowed Absalom to return to Israel, but not
in justice. He ignored Absalom's sin and
he allowed him to return, and because of it, we'll see in this
chapter, David nearly ceased to be king. And that's what God
would do. He would cease to be king if
he unjustly and in an unholy manner showed mercy by ignoring
the sin of his people. David ends up with a disaster
on his hands because he ignored his son's sin. The sword came
to David's house just like God told him it would because of
his sin with Bathsheba and Uriah. But David nearly lost the throne
and this is a disaster to all of Israel. And I'm telling you,
we would have a bigger disaster, a much bigger disaster on our
hands if God ignored sin in an attempt to show mercy to sinners. That kind of salvation would
not be salvation at all. It wouldn't be any salvation
and it would never be certain because justice had not been
satisfied if God ignored sin in an effort to show mercy to
sinners. Now this dark, dark hour of David's reign is a picture
of the two darkest hours in all of human history. In this chapter
we'll see a picture of the fall of man and we will see a picture
of Christ the King suffering at the hands of the creature.
Now what brought on those two dark hours in human history? The fall of man and the crucifixion
of Christ. It's rebellion against God's
crown rights in both instances. Satan told Eve, now the day you
eat that fruit, God knows you'll be as God's. You'll know good
and evil, and you'll be as God's. You'll be equal with Him is what
Satan was telling her. And Adam and Eve wanted that.
Now they wanted to get out of this oppressive rule of God. Wasn't that an oppressive rule
Adam had? Just one law. Just one law. But they wanted
out. They hated God's kingship. And
it's cross. What was at the issue at the
hearts of men? We'll not have this man to reign
over us. We have no king but Caesar. Don't
write he's the king of the Jews. Write he said he's the king of
the Jews. We're not going to have his kingship. And they mocked
him as king and they crucified him as king. That's the reaction
of this flesh to the kingship of Christ. And we'll see that
in this chapter. But what we'll also see is how
that reaction changes. When God gives a new heart and
a new nature, a person lovingly and willingly bows in thanksgiving
to the kingship of Christ. We bow to him both as our Savior
and as our King. So let's see here what we see
in these first verses. In verse 1 of 2 Samuel 15, And
it came to pass after this, that Absalom prepared him chariots
and horses, and fifty men to run before him. Now the people
immediately should have recognized Absalom not acting like a king.
You can read this at your leisure in Deuteronomy 17. The Lord gives
instructions all those years prior to when you do have a king. When I do raise up a king in
Israel, that king's not to increase to himself horses and chariots
and men to run before him. And that's exactly what Absalom
does. He's not even king yet and he's doing this. Imagine
how far he'll go if he ever gets the throne. Matthew Henry said,
this is good, he who knows how to obey well will know how to
rule well. I absolutely didn't know how
to obey well. It's very reasonable to assume he would not know how
to rule well. Much unlike our Lord Jesus Christ. He obeyed
well, didn't he? He obeyed God's law perfectly. And he rules the same way. Perfectly. And just like the people should
have recognized Absalom not acting like a king, people should recognize
when they hear of God, little g, a God whose priesthood doesn't
act like God. Absalom is not acting like a
king. His way is not the way the Lord
Jesus Christ came. When our Lord came, He didn't
come and break God's law. He didn't come and ignore God's
law and act like he was above God's law. Not only did he keep
the law, he honored it and magnified God's law. And even though he's
king of kings, he didn't come with this great entourage like
Absalom did. How did he come? With shepherds
and fishermen. Look over at Matthew 21. This
is how our Lord came, not riding in a chariot, not riding with
all these men running before Him. In Matthew 21, in verse 1, And when they drew nigh
unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage under the Mount
of Olives, Then sent Jesus two disciples, saying unto them,
Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall
find an ass tied, and a colt with her. Loose them, and bring
them unto me. And if any man say aught unto
you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them, and straightway
he will send them. Now all this was done, that it
might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying,
Tell ye the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy king cometh." Oh,
aren't we glad for that? Behold, thy king cometh. He cometh
unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt, the
foal of an ass." Very much different than Absalom, didn't he? Coming
with all these horses and chariots and men running before him. And Absalom's whole problem was
this. He didn't want David to be king,
because he wanted to be king. And that was Adam's problem in
the garden, and that's our problem still today. Human nature has
not changed. We want to be king. We don't
want God to be king. Now, we don't care by nature.
We don't care if God has some power, he has some ability to
work miracles for me, but now we don't want him to be sovereign
over me. We don't want him to be absolutely sovereign over
my soul. And so the natural man rebels
against the kingship of Christ, just like Absalom's rebellion
against the rule of David. Absalom rose up early, he stood
beside the way of the gate, and it was so that when any man that
had a controversy came to the king for judgment, then Absalom
called unto him, and said, Of what city art thou? And he said,
Thy servant is of one of the tribes of Israel. And Absalom
said unto him, See, thy matters are good and right, but there
is no man deputed of the king to hear thee. Absalom said moreover,
O that I were made judge in the land. That every man that hath
any suit or cause might come unto me, and I would do him justice. Absalom went and stood in the
way of the gate. That's the place of judgment.
People had disputes that needed to be settled. This is where
they would come. And the king would hear the dispute and settle
these matters. And Absalom went there, trying
to set himself up as judge. And just like people should have
recognized Absalom is not acting like a king. They should have
recognized he's not a good judge. He's a bad judge. He's announcing
judgment after hearing just one side of the dispute. That's not
a good judge. But he was telling people what
they wanted to hear. So he tried to set himself up
as judge. And he also tried to set himself between the people
and David. He tried to set himself up as
a mediator between David and the people. And he didn't do
it to help people. He was trying to block their
way to David. He wasn't trying to help them. He was blocking
their way to David. And make the people dependent
upon him, not David. Does that sound familiar to you? That's exactly what Catholic
priests do. They block the way to God. To make people dependent upon
them. And what they're doing is, I
have in my notes, just as sinful. Really, it's more sinful. And
just as self-serving as what Absalom was doing. You don't
need a man. You don't need a man like us
to go to God. You do need a man. It's the man
Christ Jesus. He's the way. He's the one way
to God. There's one mediator between
God and men, the man Christ Jesus. But Absalom is trying to put
himself in that way to block the way to David. And he's trying
to take over the kingdom and he's doing it with a lie. He
said, well, there's no man deputed of the king to hear that. Yeah,
there is. It's the king. Just like Satan trying to take
over the kingdom with a lie. Now, if you want to know if man's
telling the truth or not, find out if what he says matches God's
word. This is the standard of truth.
Find out if what he says matches God's Word. Here's the truth.
The truth is the Lord Jesus Christ. Find out if what he says is consistent
with the person and the character and the Word of the Lord Jesus
Christ. But Absalom is using a lie. And with that lie, what he's
doing is trying to lower David in the eyes of the people. And
that is exactly how false prophets steal the hearts of men and women
by lowering the sovereign in their eyes." You see, Absalom
couldn't steal the hearts of the people by openly blasting
David. They wouldn't recognize that,
so he goes about it a different way. He's so subtle, and he made
people unhappy with the way David was ruling over them. He questions
the way David's governing. And that's exactly what Satan
did in the garden. God shall not surely die. Is
it fair that God gives you this? He's just trying to give you
this rule to keep you from being equal with him. He's questioning
God's government. And people hear the gospel of
God's sovereign grace, and they say, I won't have that Savior.
I will not have that Savior. God does not have the right to
say whom he will. That's not fair. It's not fair
if everybody doesn't have a chance to make a decision for themselves.
I will not have that God. Or you hear them say, well, I
can never worship a God that lets this catastrophe happen,
or this catastrophe, or this tragedy. I can never worship
a God that allows these horrible things to happen. Be very careful. Be very careful. That's questioning
God's government. That's questioning His right
to rule. Now, listen. God's not to be
worshipped for what He's done. God's not to be worshipped for
the things that He does for me. God's to be worshipped for who
He is, simply because of who He is. Now, I'm unspeakably thankful
for what He has done for me in the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm so
thankful it's just beyond human words. But that's not why we
worship God. It's one reason we give thanks,
but it's not why we worship Him. We worship Him because of who
He is. He's the sole object of worship.
There can be no true worship when men try to bring God down
to our level. He's not on our level. He's so
higher than us that the heavens are higher than the earth. He
cannot be brought down to our level, but that's what false
prophets used. That's what Satan used, trying
to bring God down to steal the hearts of the people. In verse
5, it was so that when any man came and lied to him to do him
obeisance, he put forth his hand and took him, and he kissed him.
Now Absalom probably did let people bow down to him, but then
he picked them up and he said, no, no, you don't have to do
that. You don't have to bow down to me. He's trying to win them
over by puffing up the flesh, by puffing them up and making
them feel good about themselves. If you want to steal people's
hearts, fawning over them is a real good way to do it. Just
fawn all over them and you'll be able to steal their hearts.
That's exactly what man's religion does. They tell men, you don't
need to bow to King Jesus. Now you have to make a decision
to accept Him, but they never talk about bowing to the King,
the One who will do with you as He pleases. And they do that
to exalt the flesh. But now, if you don't get anything
else from what I'm saying this morning, you get this. We must
bow to the King. We must bow before King Jesus. We must. One day, Every knee's
going to bow, and every tongue's going to confess, He's Lord,
to the glory of God the Father. God help us. God cause us to
do it now, and not have to be broken to do it then. We must
bow to Him. In verse 6, it goes on, On this
manner did Absalom do all Israel that came to the king for judgment.
So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel. Now let me
give this warning. to parents. I cannot go on without
giving this warning to our young parents. You know why Absalom
just went on, and on, and on, and on, and on? David never checked
him. David never stopped him and said,
what are you doing? And because David didn't stop
him here, he went a little further. And David didn't stop him, he
went a little further. And he went a little further, and he went
a little further, until in complete rebellion to God, he stole the
hearts of the men of Israel. And you could say it's David's
fault. Anyway, you get that for free. Ultimately, Absalom was
able to steal the hearts of the people of Israel. Of Israel! How quickly men forget. We're
just like these people of Israel. How quickly do we forget? The
attitude of the flesh is always, what have you done for me lately?
What have you done for me lately? That's why a man could coach
college football and win the national championship three years
ago and be fired today. How quickly we forget. David
was forgotten. They forgot all the songs they
sang about David. How David killed his 10,000.
They forgot how David delivered them from Goliath and the Philistines
and the Amalekites and every enemy that came against Israel,
David delivered them. Conquered every enemy. And they
forgot. And Absalom stole the hearts
of the people with flattery. Not with truth, with flattery. Flattering the flesh. This is
the way false prophets operate. Flattering the flesh. And here's
the scary thing. It was the hearts of Israel that
Absalom stole. It wasn't the Philistines. It wasn't the Malachites. It
was Israel. Israel. David's own people. And brethren, this is our natural
heart. I'm speaking to believers now.
The natural heart we're born with is this heart that we see
pictured here. Our heart is not toward God. It's dead. It's dead and that's
why it can be easily led astray because it's dead. Can your heart
be seduced and stolen from the Lord Jesus Christ? Can it? Well, I suppose that depends
on the answer to this question. Are you satisfied with Christ?
I mean, is your soul satisfied with the Lord Jesus Christ? Or
are you interested in something better? Are you interested in
something new and improved? You cannot be stolen. Your heart cannot be seduced
and stolen from Christ if we're satisfied with him. Now verse
7, it came to pass after 40 years, that Absalom said unto the king,
I pray thee, let me go and pay my vow, which I vowed unto the
Lord in Hebron. Now this is 40 years after Saul
was first anointed king. And remember the people, when
Saul was anointed king, they wanted something new and improved,
didn't they? Forty years later, it hadn't changed. And how many
ever years it was from then until today, nothing's changed. People
are still looking for something, you know, the next new thing.
And he goes on in verse 8, he says, For thy servant vowed a
vow when I abode at Gesher, and Sirius, saying, If the Lord should
bring me again indeed to Jerusalem, then I will serve the Lord. See
how Absalom's hiding behind religion? He's hiding his sin behind a
cloak of religion. This is the way Satan operates.
You know, like Henry says so many times, Satan doesn't operate
in the bars and the honky-tonks. It's in the pulpit. He makes
his ministers angels of light. He covers this in a cloak of
religion, and that's the way he operates. That's the exact
way Absalom is operating. But David didn't see that. In
verse 9, And the king said unto him, Go in peace. So he arose
and went to Hebron. But Absalom sent spies throughout
all the tribes of Israel, saying, As soon as ye hear the sound
of the trumpet, then ye shall say, Absalom reigneth in Hebron. See, the whole point of this
rebellion comes down to this. Who's going to reign? Who is
it that's going to reign? Who's going to be king? And Absalom's
problem is our problem by nature. You know why men and women refuse
to bow to Christ and they refuse to bow and submit to Him? It's
because we want to be king. We don't want someone to be able
to tell us what to do. The first time somebody tells
us what to do, we're going to do the exact opposite. It's just
our nature to rebel against it. Don't tell me what I can and
can't do. That's our problem. This is our nature. In verse
11, and with Absalom, went 200 men out of Jerusalem that were
called, and they went in their simplicity, and they knew not
anything. Now that's so sad. They didn't
know what was going on. They just were following after
Absalom. They didn't know. And that's
why spiritually dead men and women follow a false gospel and
a false prophet. Because they don't know any better.
They just don't know any better. They're dead. They can't see.
They don't understand. And that's why we are so insistent
here on teaching the Word, preaching the Word, going verse by verse.
Do God's Word so you'll be taught. So you can't be led astray in
your simplicity. like these men were. But not
everybody wasn't deceived. Look at verse 12. And Absalom
sent for Ahithophel, the Gilonite, David's counselor, from his city,
even from Gilo, while he offered sacrifices. And the conspiracy
was strong, for the people increased continually with Absalom. Now
some people were deceived. This man Ahithophel was not deceived. He partakes in this rebellion
willingly. Just like Adam, went into this
rebellion against God willingly. And just like Judas, went into
his rebellion willingly. Now, this man of Hippophila had
been a close friend of David's. He's been one of David's counselors.
And now he joins as one of the heads in this rebellion against
David's kingship. As we go through the next couple
chapters, you'll see, you know what happens to him? He suffers
the exact same thing as Judas, hangs himself, takes his own
life. But if you look over in Psalm 41, this is the psalm that
David wrote during this very time. In Psalm 41, verse 9. Yea, mine own familiar friend,
in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted
up his heel against me." Now look over in John 13. This is
the very scripture that our Lord applies to himself, showing us how clearly, now what
we're looking at here in 2 Samuel 15 is a picture of Christ. In
John 13, verse 18, our Lord says, Not of you all. I know whom I
have chosen, but that the scripture may be fulfilled, he that eateth
bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me."Judas. And this man Ahithophel, he joins
in one of the heads of this conspiracy and this rebellion against David.
In verse 13 in our text, And there came a messenger to David,
saying, The hearts of the men of Israel are after Absalom.
And David sent unto all his servants that were with him at Jerusalem,
Arise and let us flee, for we shall not else escape from Absalom.
Make speed to depart, lest ye overtake us suddenly, and bring
evil upon us, and smite the city with the edge of the sword."
Now it kind of seems like David is acting in a cowardly way here.
But I don't really think he's acting so much as a coward as
he's so ready to flee because he knew God's judgment was upon
him. This is exactly what God told him would happen and David
feels like he can't fight it. You know, the Lord promised David,
I'm going to raise up evil out of your house. The sword's not
going to depart from your house. And now it's happening. David
felt like he couldn't fight it. It's a judgment of God. So he
just flees. And I think David also knew that God was just in
sending this judgment upon him and he just flees. But all's not lost. All is never
lost because God has reserved for himself a people. Look at
verse 15. And the king's servants said
unto the king, Behold, thy servants are ready to do whatsoever my
lord the king shall appoint. In the midst of all this rebellion,
now we see faith and loyalty. And David's earned this kind
of loyalty from his men, haven't he? How much more has our Lord
earned the faith of his people? the love of his people, the loyalty
of his people. False professors are going to
leave. They're going to come and they're
going to leave, they're going to join in this rebellion, so don't
be shocked. Be disappointed, but don't be
shocked. And take confidence in this,
the believer will never leave the Lord Jesus Christ. He will
not allow it to happen. This is what we looked at last
Sunday in Colossians 1. The evidence of real salvation
is this, that you continue in the faith, grounded and settled,
and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you've
heard. And that's what these people are saying. These servants
of David were ready to do whatever you appoint. And that word appoint
means choose. What does Christ the King appoint?
What does he choose for his people? Well, it's nothing complicated.
It's faith. Just believe God. Believe that
God is. Believe that God is who He says
He is and follow Him. Trust Him. Depend upon Him. As long as the Lord gives me
breath, I'm going to tell people, look to Christ. Look to Christ. Look to Christ. and keep looking
to Him. Look to Him and never take your
eyes off of Him. Come to Christ and keep coming
to Him. To whom coming? Keep coming to
Him and never leaving. Whatever He appoints, this is
what we're going to do. That's the heart of a true believer. Are we really ready to go wherever
He appoints? Are we really ever to suffer?
Whatever he requires for his namesake. Are we really ready
to do whatever he requires? Hope so. I believe so. I believe
so. Is our desire to be wherever
Christ is? Is our desire to be wherever
he's preached, no matter the cost? I believe it is. I believe
so. Verse 16, And the king went forth,
and all his household after him. And the king left ten women.
which were concubines to keep the house. And the king went
forth, and all the people after him, and carried him to a place
that was far off. And all his servants passed on
beside him. And all the Cherethites, and
the Pelethites, and the Gittites, six hundred men which came after
him from Gath, passed on before the king. Then said the king
to Attei the Gittite, Wherefore goest thou also with us? Return
to thy place, and abide with the king, for thou art a stranger,
and also an exile. Whereas thou camest but yesterday,
should I this day make thee go up and down with us, seeing I
go whither I may? I don't know where I'm going.
Return thou, and take back thy brethren. Mercy and truth be
with thee." Now, David is just like our Lord. He's not forcing
anybody to follow him. He's not forcing people to follow
him out here in the wilderness and go up and down, not know
where he's going and hiding in rocks and caves and dens like
he did, you know, earlier in his life. He's not forcing anybody
to go with him. Our Lord has a 100% volunteer army. He didn't force anybody to follow
him. You remember in John chapter
6, the Lord was preaching and the people said, now this is
a hard saying. Who can hear it? And from that day, many of his
disciples left. They all left him. They didn't
follow him anymore. And the Lord turned to the twelve and said,
you're free to go. Will you also go away? Will you? And Peter said, Lord, to whom
shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal
life. We believe and are sure Thou
art that Christ, the Son of the living God. No, we're not going
anywhere. To whom shall we go? Where else are we going to go
but Him? Where else are you going to find life but Him? And David
tells this man, Atai, now you go back home. Just go back home. But Atai is just like Peter.
Look what he says in verse 21. And Atai answered the king. Instead,
as the Lord liveth, and as my Lord the King liveth, surely
in what place my Lord the King shall be, whether in death or
life, even there also will my servant be." I love this man,
Taya. I've been looking at this and
looking at this. I love this man. He tells David, I'm not
going to leave you. I don't care if it costs me my
life. In life or death, where you are is where I'm going to
be. loves David. He doesn't love
what David can give him. He's not staying with David because
David's going to be able to keep giving him things. David left
it all behind. He's on the run. This man loves
David. He loves the person of David. He's not following David for
hope of gain. He's following David for love's
sake. He loves David. And this is how
a believer loves the Lord Jesus Christ. I stand up here every
week and look. Y'all keep coming back. Week
after week after week. You just keep coming back. Keep
coming back. Keep coming back. Why? The love of Christ constrains
me. That's why. It's His love. To
whom shall we go? It's just like Peter. Whom shall
we go? Just try as little as the human mind can comprehend
of this. Try to think about the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. the person of God's Son, how
he humbled himself for his people, how he loved his people with
an eternal love, and he humbled himself to be clothed in human
flesh, to make himself our substitute, to give himself a ransom for
your sin, for your soul. He did it for nobody else. He
did it for you if you're a believer. Just ponder that this afternoon.
I bet you'll say of the songwriter, love so amazing, so divine, demands
my life, my soul, and my all. To whom shall we go? I'm in love
with the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. And this man at Teai,
he's a Philistine. He was born a Philistine. Now he's become a Jewish proselyte,
but this man's a heathen by birth. Just like you and me. And you
could say the same thing of Attei that our Lord said about that
centurion. I have not found so great faith,
not in Israel. But I found it in this heathen.
I found it in this heathen. I was found of them that sought
me not. And all Attei wanted was to be where David was. So
I went. Not just when David was on the
throne. But when David was in the wilderness, if he's going
to reign with David, he's very willing to suffer with David.
He doesn't know if David's ever going to reign again, but he's
going with David. Now, is that my desire? Oh, I
pray it is. I pray that the Lord will make
me like this Philistine, a Tai. My desire is to be with the Lord
Jesus Christ. Spurgeon told a story about a
little boy. And he told of his desire to be with Christ. And
they said, was that in heaven? And the boy said, yes, it is.
He said, what if he leaves heaven? The boy said, I'll go with him.
He said, what if he goes to hell? And the little boy said, it won't
be hell anymore. Christ is there. That's where I want to be. God help us that our desire is
to be where Christ is preached, to be where He is, to be where
His people is. Now, do you have that kind of
faith? I think you do. If we have this kind of faith,
who makes us to differ? Oh, faith is the gift of God.
We give thanks for this gift of faith and pray that the Lord
will cause it to grow. And today I'm serious about this.
This is not just words he's saying to try to butter up David or
try to gain, you know, favor with David. He's serious about
this. I know he's serious about it
because he publicly identifies with David. Look at verse 22.
And David said to Attaiah, go and pass over. And Attaiah the
Gittite passed over. And all his men and all the little
ones that were with him. He went and passed over this
brook. We'll come back to this passing over this brook again
next time. But what this is, It's a picture of baptism. He
said, you passed over that brook and a Teai went through the waters.
He went over the waters. Can't go back now. He cannot
go back now or Absalom will kill him. He publicly identified himself
with David. And that's what the believer
does. God gives us faith. Like I said at the beginning,
He gives us a new heart, a new nature that lovingly, willingly
bows to the Lord Jesus Christ. And that person will and they
must publicly identify with Christ our Savior. When He was killed,
when He was crucified, when He was slain, He was slain for my
sins. I was slain in Him. When He was
buried, I was buried in Him. He was buried for my sins. And
when He arose, I rose in Him. He's all my salvation and all
my desire.