Well, it's good to see you out
seated. I appreciate Bruce reading that lengthy portion of Scripture
for me. 2 Samuel 18. Again, we'll look
at this passage of Scripture. The title of my message tonight
is, A Father's Love. In this passage, Absalom's army
has been decimated. The insurrection and attempted
coup has been thwarted. Absalom, David's son, is dead,
suspended between heaven and earth from the boughs of that
oak tree and then later buried in a pit. His lustrous long hair
was his undoing, tangled in the branches, three arrows firmly
ensconced in his heart. David's life is no longer threatened. David is safe, as it were. His enemy, the fruit of his loins,
is dead. The singular interest of David
was the welfare of his son, however, if you were listening to what
was being read, who is his sworn enemy. And the woeful words of
David, filled with pathos and grief, have often been the father
of many a commentator, often painting David in less than a
generous light David's words in verse 33 are amazing words. And the king was much moved and
went up to the chamber over the gate and wept. And as he went
thus he said, O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom, would
God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son." Now considering
Absalom and who he was and what he did and his attitude toward
his father David, some might have difficulty with these words
and think that David should be painted as less than generous.
These words are thought-provoking. And I think the normal reaction,
considering the circumstances, would be, why was David so upset? Why was he so upset? After all,
Absalom was out for David's head. He was out to kill his father.
He was a zealous enemy of the anointed king, the king whom
God anointed, and in flagrant enmity, presumed to overthrow
the will of God and have himself take the throne
that had been promised to Solomon. Was David against the providence
of God when he made this woeful statement in verse 33? Was David
an oversensitive snowflake? Who was David in this time? Most
of those who are familiar with the story are to some degree
at least confused by David's response. His common reaction
is due to two things. First, when we read the story
of Absalom and having the benefit of all of Absalom's thoughts
and designs openly displayed, we interject our own notion of
what we think our righteous indignation reaction might be. I'm glad he's
dead, we would probably say. It's the old, if I'd have been
there, I'd have reacted in such a way other than what David did. Secondly, having the full report,
every sense of justice seems to have been properly exercised
here. The man is dead because he went
against the king. It's a just end for this rebel.
And we are in agreement with God who had set his anger and
wrath against Absalom in this very book. To believe that Absalom
got what was due him is reasonable and correct. And correct. But David's soulful reaction
does not indicate that he was in conflict with the will of
God and the providential disposal of this seditious rebel that
was his son. We are not Absalom's father. We have not just heard of the
demise of a favored son, the fruit of our loins. David's reaction
is about the love of a father for a fallen son. His interest
is singular. That's all he wants to know about.
He didn't ask about how the battle went. He didn't ask how many
people were lost. When Cushiah came with the message,
he said, what about my son? Is my son safe? What about Absalom? His interest is singular throughout
this entire ordeal. If you read David's response,
David has not changed. It's always about his son, his
blessed son. He was grieved for his son, and
while all around him was a cry of vengeance against his son,
he grieved for his son. The rebel must die was the language
of the day, but the rebel has a father, and the rebel's father
loves his rebellious son. In rare cases, parents disown
their children. We see some of that. But the
case per se of a mother deserting her child is so rare that it's
used as an example of the fact that God's faithfulness is the
only faithfulness that exceeds even the love of a parent. In
Isaiah 49, he says, a mother may desert her children, but
your names are engraved in my hands. I will never desert you. I will never desert you. Considering
the natural state of the elect, born and bred in insurrection,
hating our Father from birth, it is important to remember that
even in the days of our rebellion and our hatred, we were never
forsaken of our Heavenly Father. It was always, what about my
children? What about my son? Examples of
that are throughout scripture. Hosea is probably the best. Read
about Ephraim and Hosea. Ephraim is a silly dove. Ephraim
is a cake half turned. Ephraim is full of lies. Ephraim
is full of rebellion. And then God says, how can I
let Ephraim go? How can I let Ephraim go? From
the moment of Absalom's plot against David, his father's desire
was his recovery. To bring him home. And that failure
Though through no fault of David, brought about David's words in
verse 33, my son, my son, Absalom, my son, I wish I had died instead
of you. That's what he said. I wish I
had died instead of you. His father's desire to recover
the loved one. What father or mother among us
would react differently if we loved our child? The singular
interest of David is to be considered in light of the declaration of
the gospel. For a moment, let us set aside
the rebellion and the mindset of Absalom and view him only
in light of this. His father loved him. His father loved him. He was
David's invested interest. In that scenario, we can envision
the love and singular interest of God for His Son, the Lord
Jesus Christ. The Scripture is clear that God's
interest is in His Son. It is His Son who recommends
us to God. And only His Son who recommends
us to God. Nothing we do can recommend us
to God. Nothing. His Son does. Our Lord said it, God said at
the Lord's baptism, this is my beloved son in whom I am well
pleased. In John 3.35, the father loveth
the son and put all things in his hands. This is the language
of scripture when it comes to the Lord Jesus Christ. At the
Mount of Transfiguration when Peter thought it wise to honor
the law and the prophets along with Christ and build pillars
to all three. A fog came over the place. I
don't know whether you know much about that, but we live up in
the mountains and sometimes a fog can come over a place and in
a moment you can't see your hand before your eyes. While they
were around, a fog rolled in and a voice came from heaven
saying, No, not the law and the prophets. They all gave testimony
of my Son. This is my beloved Son in whom
I am well pleased. You hear Him. As David was interested
in the death of his son, so likewise God has made it so by His gospel
that those who worship His Son do so with primary and paramount
emphasis on one thing. Did He die? Did He die? It's the death of
Christ that's interest to God because there in that death was
what God was owed. a death for sin. And so our gospel
is about the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. When we take the
Lord's table, what do we do? We show forth His death until
He comes again. When we go into the waters of
baptism, it's a picture of dying in the Lord Jesus Christ. The
satisfaction of law and justice is accomplished by the death
of the Lord Jesus Christ. We rejoice in His life, in that
He was perfect in His life. But we're not saved by His life. His life made Him the perfect
sacrifice. His life made Him the perfect
dyer, the one who must die and pay the sin debt for His people.
The ordinances of baptism of the Lord's table are rehearsals
of His death. The mercy seat was covered symbolically
with death, sprinkled with blood of the substitutionary sacrifice.
And when the gospel is preached, God's requirement for the preacher
is the accurate reporting of something. When I stand here,
I'm to accurately report of something. When Drew stands here, or Bruce
stands here, they're to accurately report of something. And what
to report is the death of his son. Well, this is the gospel
we preach. In Isaiah 53, verse 10, it said,
It pleased the Lord to bruise him when he made his soul an
offering for sin. He put him to grief. And he shall see his seed, and
prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in
his hand. And he shall see of the travail of his soul, and
shall be satisfied. That's about his death. It pleased
the Lord. Does that mean he got some vindictive
pleasure out of the death of Christ? No, he got the payment
that he required for sin. It was a propitiatory death.
In Hebrews chapter 10, it says, He has perfected forever them
that are sanctified by what? By one offering. He offered Himself
for His people. That's the death. Concerning
the accurate depiction of the death of God's Son in our passage,
there are two messengers set forth here. Two men came to tell
the king about the Son. His interest was in the Son.
What about my son? What about my son? Is my son
safe? Tell me about my son. This is
what God says to you and me. Tell me about my son. One of them was sent. One of
them was not. One of them ran on his own. One
of them was sent. First time I preached from this
text was about 35 years ago down in Silicaca, Alabama. I can't remember the name of
the old fellow who was pastor there. It was a wonderful, what
do you remember his name? No, it wasn't Danny Blair. It
was for Danny Blair. He was an old fellow. An old fellow. Remember
that fellow that sang, Oh How Merciful, sang in person that
night playing the guitar. One person is sent and one person
is not. Both of them come. Both of them
show up. Both of them have something to
say. One of them has a message and one does not. The sent one
delivers the truth. The other one does not. The one
who takes it upon himself is not able for fear of censure
to deliver the truth. When he's asked by the king,
what about my son? He says, well, I really don't
know. It was a big tumult going over there. There's a big thing
going on, but I really don't know what happened to your son.
The one who takes it upon himself is not able for fear of censure
to deliver the truth. The one sent tells the truth.
Both of these men know the facts. Both of these men. Ahimaaz knew
the facts and so did Cushiah that the son was dead. They knew
this. They knew about the state of
Absalom, but only one was warranted to deliver the message. Joe Abbott
sent Cushaw, not Al Mayhez. Al Mayhez says, I want to tell
it. Let me tell it. I'll go tell it. And he was evidently
a fairly famous fellow. fairly famous. His name was Elmehaz
and he was one of the runners who brought the news to David
that the counsel of Ahithophel had been rejected. He was evidently
known for the speedy prowess that he had. He was a fast runner.
Cushiah left first. Elmehaz overtook him and got
there first. He was fleet of foot and so well
known that when he approached he was recognized by the way
he ran. That fellow running, he looks like Elmehaz runs. And he was the foremost. He was
up front. He was jazzed about the news
of Absalom. He wanted to tell the king. But
when he got there, when push came to shove, when the rubber
hit the road, he couldn't do it. You see, he was not chosen.
He was not sent to deliver the message. Why Joab refused him,
we don't know. He said, you don't have the message.
You can tell some news later on, but you can't tell this news
today. Why Joab refused him is not known. Several things might
have entered into Joab's decision, but chief among them was that
Joab's knowledge that the tidings might cost the head of one who
brought them to David. This is pretty serious business.
David made an edict, don't touch Absalom. Don't touch a herald
on his head. Don't kill my son. If you kill
my son, I'm going to kill you. That was the edict that David
had handed out. So Joab might have thought, well, if Ahab-Mahaz
goes, and he's kind of a popular fellow, if he goes and tells
a story, he might lose his head. Why not send Cushah? He ain't
worth much anyway. Ain't much to him. No indication
that A.M.S. was an eyewitness. Cushaw was
probably the one who said to Joab, I saw Absalom hanging in
a tree. He's the one, because Joab says
later, you can't tell what you haven't seen. He saw something. Whatever the reason, A.M.S. was
not sent. He was not sent. His name may
give an indication to his desire to run. His name means, my brother
is anger. My brother is wrath. He might
have thought that the king had been angry with Absalom and he
would gladly take part in that anger, but he was not sent. This
is absolutely important, that those who preach the gospel are
sent. In fact, God makes it paramount
to anyone actually calling upon the name of the Lord to be saved.
Romans 10 said, Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord
shall be saved. But how shall they call on Him
whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe on
Him whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear of him without a preacher. And
how shall they preach except they be sinned? All those things
are qualifications that must be met before a person can call
upon the name of the Lord to be saved. All of those things. And one of them is that the preacher
be sinned. Joab sinned a man named Cushiah,
a descendant of Cush, an Ethiopian, commonly referred to in the English
language as a black mover. Some Jewish historians have conjectured
that Cushiah was the man who told Joab that Absalom was hanging
on the oak, and I think he probably did. But he was unwilling to
kill him for any price. You saw him hanging. He's an
enemy of the king. Why didn't you kill him? I ain't
killing him. I'll give you ten shekels or
several. You can give me a thousand shekels or several. I ain't killing
him. He's the king's son. He's the king's son. David commanded
that his son be not harmed. It appears from the Word of Joy
back in verse 21 that Cushah had been an eyewitness of the
death of Absalom. He had the message. He had the
message. The Son is dead. The Son is dead. Kushai was something else that
teaches us about Kushai was the manner in which he comported
himself upon receiving a commission compared to that of Amaz. When he had finally allowed to
run, Kushai didn't take off running. He bowed down. He bowed down
to Joab and then he ran. Amaz just lit out. Just lit out. Kushai, the man
who had the message, had the warrant. and was sent and appears
as a servant. While Ahimeh asks, he's running
fast. He's out in front. A man without
a message, but on the run. Without a warrant. And he did
nothing that would designate him as a servant. But this is
the child of God who is a minister of the gospel. He's a servant.
We're talking about this today. What does that mean that the
pastor's a servant? We know he's the leader of the flock. We know
that. There's three things represented in Scripture, the pastor, the
preacher. Paul said all three of them.
One, they're a servant. What does that mean? The buff
stops there. Anything bad happens, we get
the fault. And it's okay, because we're
the servant. The master shouldn't be blamed, we should be blamed.
But it's also said to belong to the church. Paul said, we
are yours. The pastor belongs to you. We
belong to our congregations. And we're also an authority.
We're a ruler in spiritual things. We must give account for your
souls. But with all those things, but
primarily, The minister of the gospel is a servant. Look at
how many times Paul declared that he was a servant in his
epistles. I'm a servant of the Most High
God. Cushiah comported himself as
a servant. And Cushiah is typical of those
whom God has sent out with the gospel. They are servants. Men of no renown, whose name
literally means their blackness. They do not fit the bill of the
famed orator, and are most assuredly assigned their tasks because
they lack the skill to do it. You see, when somebody like me
or Drew stands behind this pulpit, this is what we know about ourselves.
Our presence in the pulpit to declare the gospel of God's grace
is a sure representation that salvation is by grace. It's a
sure representation that a preacher is called by grace, not because
he's somebody. Because he's nobody. God hasn't
raised up great men. He's raised up men with a great
gospel. With a great gospel. Those whom God has saved by His
grace are trophies of what? They're trophies of grace. Not
merit. They're cushias. Every one of
them. They're cushias. and their persons
exhibit the truth that salvation is by grace. They could not merit
this position. Cushi was nobody. He was nothing. In fact, those
who were sent to preach the gospel usually finished last in a two-man
race, and that's just it. Cushi did. But they have the
message. What's the message? The message
is the Son is dead. The Son is dying. They know the
death of the Son and the results of that death. They know that. Ahimeh has arrived first full
of zeal, wrath, next of kin, but when it came down to the
message, he could not deliver because he didn't know and because
he was afraid. However, because he was esteemed
a good man. David said he's a good man. It
was like I was expecting that he would have good news, but
good men don't have good news. This is generally expected of
those who have fame and exude enthusiasm, that they have something
good to say. And they usually deliver. A.M.A. has said, all is well. All is well. What's the mark
of a false prophet? Speaks peace when there is no
peace. A.M.A. has said, God loves you
and has a wonderful plan for your life. The mark of the false
preacher is they speak peace when there is no peace. Thousands
have lost their lives. The king's son is dead and he
declares that everything is just fine and dandy. Everything. He had a message but it was false. It was false. He was fast and
he was talented and he was well known and he was the first there. with the lie. He was not sent,
so he couldn't deliver the truth. He couldn't tell the truth. Why?
He didn't know what was the singular interest of the one to whom the
message was intended. What is the singular interest
of God the Father? The death of His Son. You see,
this is how God has glorified Himself in the salvation of the
elect. Through the death of His Son. Through the death of God. God didn't die. He said He shed
His own blood in Acts 20, 28. He purchased His people with
His own blood. Don't ask me to explain that.
I can't explain it. Nobody can. This is a wonder
and an amazing thing. He didn't know what was the singular
interest that God has. He said, honor the Son and I'll
honor you. His message was really a verbal message. He asked the
real question. He realized that the answer could
cost him everything and he excused himself by claiming there was
so much going on that he really didn't know what was happening.
That's the language that false preachers use. Well, there's
so much going on in this Bible, you know, it's just kind of confusing.
I'm really confused. I don't really want to talk about
predestination because it's a confusing thing. It's not. Is it? How much predestination did you
use today to get right here tonight? Everything you did was predestinated.
You predetermined beforehand that you was going to get up
this morning. You probably set an alarm, maybe. Sometime during
the day you were going to have some lunch so you would have
some vitality. You predetermined that you were going to get in
a car. You predetermined that you were going to turn on that
car. You predetermined that you were going to guide that car
to this place where you had predetermined to sit and hear some man speak.
That's all predestination. Predestination is hard to understand.
But in the matter of salvation, it's impossible to swallow apart
from the work of grace. Election. I don't understand
election. You do too. Stop that. You certainly
understand election. What does election mean in the
matter of salvation? God chose whom he would save
before the world began. How does God save a sinner? One
way, by walking down an aisle By decision some man makes? No. By free will? No. How does God
save a sinner? Two thousand years ago, on Calvary's
tree, God saved His people by the death of His Son. Because
you see, that's what we owe God. We owe God a death. The soul
that sinneth it shall die. And our death would not have
paid. Would not have paid the debt. That's why hell is eternal.
Because the debt is never paid. Dying he shall die and die and
die and die and never die. The debt can't be paid. One death
of one man, the Lord Jesus Christ, paid the sin debt of his people
and God was satisfied, propitiated. Propitiated, that's what satisfied
means. One man had enthusiasm, but he
didn't have the message. He knew, but his interest in
promotion was, let me run. Let me do it. Let me do it. Every preacher who stands behind
his pulpit just before he gets up here said, I shouldn't be
doing this. Somebody else should be doing
this. Old Scott Richardson, bless his heart. I remember one time
we were sitting and talking. He says, you know the thing I
worry about most? is that people will discover I'm just a fraud.
Every preacher believes that. That's what Cushi believed. He
bowed down and he took the message. Cushi showed up, pulling up the rear, second in
a two-man's race. He didn't win the race. He was
not a popular figure, but he knew what the singular issue
was and he knew what the interest of the king was. David said,
what about my son? Is he safe? Because I said, well,
everybody that's against you should be like your son. And
David knew what he meant. David knew that he was dead.
David said, what about my son? This is the mark of those who
are sent. They have an answer to this question. What think
ye of Christ? This is my beloved son. What
think ye of him? We have the answer. He died. And we celebrate it. Because this is our salvation.
This is the mark of those who are sinned. Those who have the
truth. Those who come in last and exhibit no qualities for
the job. And draw men to them. They know
that they have a singular task. They speak concerning the only
interest of the Father. This is what God is interested
in. For we are not as many, Paul said, which corrupt the Word
of God, but as of sincerity, But as of God, in the sight of
God, speak we of Christ. The ones who are sent have a
singular message that never changes. It's always the same. The Son
of God has died and God is satisfied. Herein is love, not that we love
God. But the Father loved us and sent
His Son, the propitiation for our sins.