God's servant, David, was a man
of remarkable character. Grace had made him a remarkable
man of integrity, principle, and courage in the cause of God's
honor. He was a truly humble man, a
believing man, a righteous man. In his conduct, David stood head
and shoulders above all the men of his generation. He was no
better than anyone else by nature, but grace had made him a new
creature, and grace had caused him to walk before God in faith
and faithfulness. The Lord God declares of David,
I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart
which shall fulfill all my will. He was chosen, redeemed, regenerated,
born of God, called by the Spirit of God, justified and sanctified
in Jesus Christ the Lord. David was a man who was created
by God Almighty anew in Christ Jesus, and he lived as few men
lived upon this earth, walking in communion with the Redeemer.
He was a man through whom the Lord Jesus Christ himself came
into this world. What a remarkable privilege.
He who is the son of God came into this world as the son of
man through the direct lineage of David. He is called the son
of David. David was a remarkable, remarkable
man. But how do you remember David? When you think of David, I dare
say the first thing that comes into your mind is adultery, and
murder, the horrible crime that David committed in the matter
of Uriah the Hittite and taking Uriah's wife and then trying
to cover his sin. When Uriah wouldn't cooperate,
he sent Uriah out with a message to Joab to put him in the heat
of the battle and withdraw from him that Uriah might be killed. Why is this horrible blight upon
the name of an otherwise almost spotless man? Why is this horrible
blight recorded for us in Holy Scripture? What's the purpose? It's written in the book of God
for our learning and for our admonition that we, through patience,
and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. If you will,
open your Bibles to 2 Samuel Chapter 11. The title of my message is A
Fallen Saint and His Faithful God. And here we have it. 2 Samuel Chapter 11, Verse 26. 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 to
his house. And she became David's wife and
bear him a son. But the thing that David had
done displeased the Lord. The thing that David had done
displeased the Lord. And the Lord will show David
and all of Israel and you and me perpetually that the thing
that David had done displeased the Lord. I hear people Foolishly
say a man's character and conduct are insignificant. Don't ever
pay any attention to such nonsense. We are God's children. We who
believe wear the name of Jesus Christ. And our character and
our conduct speaks volumes concerning our God, the God we worship,
our attitude toward him, to all who observe us in all our lives. Now keep your Bibles open right
here at 2 Samuel in chapter 12. This chapter is not written to
sully the name of God's servant David, but it is written by inspiration
to teach us both to be aware of our own sinfulness and to
adore God's marvelous grace in Christ. Once David had committed
this horrible crime, he's taken Bathsheba. Bathsheba becomes
pregnant, and he calls Uriah to try to get Uriah to sleep
with his wife and cover his sin. And it didn't work, so he has
Uriah murdered, and then he takes Bathsheba. And the Lord God didn't
speak to David for at least nine long months, at least that, and
wouldn't allow David to speak to him. I'm sure that during
those long months of darkness in his soul, as David would lay on his bed
at night, He must have seen Uriah's face
a thousand times. And he cried out, roaring with
guilt, but God would not hear him. He said, my bones waxed
old through my roaring, and God wouldn't hear him. God left David
alone with the tormenting accusations of his own conscience and guilt. for nine long months. He found no comfort for his soul.
He penned no psalms for Israel to sing. His harp was out of
tune. His soul was like a tree in the
winter. The sap of life was there, but
there was no sign of anything that appeared to be like life
within him. He wrote in Psalm 32, when I kept silence my bones,
waxed old through my roaring all the day long. For day and
night, thy hand was heavy upon me. My moisture, he said, is
turned into the drought of summer. Then, after nine months of barrenness,
isolation, and desolation, these things that God sent upon him.
after nine months of darkness. Nine months seething in his sin
and in his guilt. We read in verse 1 of chapter
12, and the Lord sent Nathan unto David. And the Lord sent Nathan unto
David. Now what are we to learn from
this chapter. Number one, hold this book you have in your
hand. Take it and look at it. This is God's word. One of the greatest evidences
that this book is written by divine inspiration, is the way
that this book deals with the sins of its most eminent characters. David's sin is here recorded,
and there is not one word spoken to indicate any kind of an excuse,
not one word spoken to cover it up in any way at all, but
it is plainly dealt with, plainly dealt with. If we were writing
a book such as the scriptures, any of us, and we come to deal
with the faults and failures of the most imminent characters,
while we might be compelled to expose those things in writing,
we would most naturally find a way to excuse them, put some
gloss on it, to cover it in some way. If you write about someone
you love, you get a biography written by a son or a daughter,
you can be certain, you can be certain that the son or daughter,
while they may be compelled to expose something evil done, they
will put it in such a light as to make it less, appear to be
less evil than it is. Not in this book. Not in this
book. Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord. God delivered Noah. In his day,
Noah alone and his household knew God. Amazing. Noah alone and his household
were saved from the flood. Amazing. And shortly afterwards,
Noah falls into a drunken stupor and one of his sons defile him.
Abraham, the friend of God. Abraham, the father of the faithful. Abraham, that man with whom God
made a covenant by which the covenant of God's grace made
with Christ our substitute was represented. Abraham, called
out of Ur of the Chaldees. Abraham, before whom God appeared
in such a marvelous way. Abraham takes a sojourn and in
weakness goes down to Egypt and tells his wife Sarah to pretend
that she's just his sister and subjects her to be taken by the
king of Bimelech in adultery. Moses. Moses, the meekest man
who had lived up to his day. Moses, God's prophet, was privileged
of God to lead Israel out of Egypt, privileged of God to perform
wonder after wonder by the hand of God. And then one day, as
the rock that followed Israel through the wilderness, the rock
that had been smitten before, God commands Moses to speak to
the rock And Moses understood that rock was Christ. And in
a fit of anger, in a fit of anger with God, Moses smoked the rock. For which he was not allowed
to enter into the land of promise. Aaron, God's high priest in Israel,
that man that God sent to be Moses mouthpiece. That man who
stood imminently as a type of our Redeemer, Aaron, pressured
by the children of Israel while Moses was in the mount, took
their gold and cast it into the fire and made for them golden
calves and called for a feast to the Lord and let Israel, dancing
naked in idolatrous worship around golden calves he had made and
called it the worship of God. The Apostle Paul appears to have
been the most widely influential, most widely used man in all,
among all the apostles. He fought well the fight. He ran well the race. But he
comes to Jerusalem after struggling continually to teach God's people
our freedom from the law. And James says to him, Paul,
now we've got some brethren here who have a little problem. They
still think we're under the law. Now, I understand better than
that, but it'd be good for you not to cause any offense to shave
your head and take a vow. And he did. Peter, that stalwart
man, people often speak of Peter as though he's to be ridiculed.
Bob, I'd like to be half the man he was. I'd like to be half
the man he was. And yet Peter in one night denied
the Lord Jesus three times. Why are these things written
so plainly in this book? They're written to teach us that
God's saints in this world Are sinners still? All of us. All of us. Paul, after many years
walking with Christ, said, I am the chief of sinners. I am a
poor sinner and nothing at all, but Jesus Christ is my all in
all. These things are written to reiterate
and teach us, to confirm and establish us in this fact. Salvation is by grace alone. Not by something you do. And
it's not maintained by something you do. Grace chose us. Grace called us. Grace keeps
us. And when we fall, grace restores
us. The psalmist said the steps of
a good man are ordered by the Lord. And he delighteth in his
way. Though he fall, he shall not
be utterly cast down, for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand. A just man falleth seven times
in a day and riseth up again. God keeps us. And these things
are written to teach us that the whole of our acceptance with
God, the whole of our acceptance with God, is Jesus Christ, who
of God has made into us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification
and redemption. We have no atonement for our
sin, but his blood. No righteousness, but his righteousness. No holiness, but his holiness. No sanctification, but his sanctification. All right, here's the second
thing. We must learn from David that
we must never cease to be aware of our personal weakness arising
from the depravity of our own hearts. How often have you thought to
yourself when you see the things that people do or perhaps said,
I don't understand how a true believer could do such a thing. Now let me tell you what you
really are saying. I wouldn't do that. I don't understand that. I wouldn't
do that. I wouldn't do that. Larry Brown, there's nothing
you won't do if God leads you to yourself. Like that. Nothing. Same's true of Don Fortner
and Lindsey Campbell. Nothing you won't do in a heartbeat
and justify yourself in doing it. We all doctrinally acknowledge
the teaching of total depravity, but somehow we all have the foolish
notion that we are the exception. The great cause of Peter's fall
was his pride. He said, Lord, I'll go with you
to death and to judgment. The Lord told him, one of you
shall betray me and Peter's, if you read the scriptures and
read carefully, it seems obvious to me that Peter was saying,
though he didn't put it into words, I've always been a little
suspicious of Rex and John and James anyway. You know, they might do that,
but not me. And the Lord said to Peter, You
fixin' to find out. Before the cock crows tomorrow
morning twice, you will deny me three times. He had to learn
that he didn't love Christ more than the rest of his brethren.
He had to learn, and we must learn, that there is no difference
between us and any other except the difference grace makes and
grace maintains. Children of God, the secret of
steadfastness, of steadfast commitment and consecration to Christ is
a genuine, unaltering awareness of our own personal depravity. Paul calls for us by the mercies
of God to present our bodies a living sacrifice, wholly acceptable
unto the Lord, which is your reasonable service. and he enforces
it with these words. For I say through the grace given
unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself
more highly than he ought to think. The Lord called Peter
to walk on the water, the raging sea. When I read those words
about Peter walking across the water, I can't help but to picture
ourselves walking through this world of woe and trouble. And as Peter walks across the
water, as long as he's looking to the Savior, he does just fine. But the moment he takes his eyes
off the Savior and begins to look at the waves and hear the
thunder and sees the lightning, or begins to look at himself
walking across the water. Down he goes, down he goes. Children of God, live constantly. Oh God, help me and help you
to live constantly in the awareness of our utter depravity, constantly
looking to Christ. Constantly looking to Christ,
trusting the Redeemer. All right. Look back in 2 Samuel
12. And thirdly, learn from David
that we are all naturally blind to our own faults, but quick
to see the faults of others. In verses one through four, Nathan
comes to David and tells him a parable. about a man who had
a visitor to come. And this rich man, the visits,
refuses to take of his own goods, but he goes to his neighbor who
had one little ewe lamb that he had nourished from its birth. And that one lamb he took and
sacrificed and gave to his neighbor. And when Nathan told David that
parable, David was enraged. Oh, what a man. What man would
dare do such a thing? Look at verse five. David's anger
was greatly kindled against the man. And he said to Nathan, as
the Lord liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely
die. And then in verse seven, Nathan
said to David, thou art the man. Oh, how quickly and foolishly,
how quickly and foolishly we form our opinions of our brethren
in their weakness. An old Indian proverb, you've
seen the sign many times, don't judge another man until you've
walked a mile in his moccasins. Our Lord put it this way. Judge
not that you be not judged. You see Bobby Estes act out of
character. Don't be too quick in judging
him. You see your pastor behave as you know he doesn't normally
behave as you don't expect him to behave. Don't be too quick
to judge him. The fact is you're just like
him. You're just like him. You see
your brother. behaving in a way that is contrary
to what he professes, be patient, be lenient, don't be severe,
don't do it. This is my prayer. Lord, teach me to be lenient,
merciful, and forbearing toward my brethren. God, teach me to be lenient merciful
and forbearing toward my brethren. If I have any severity, God, if I have any severity in
judgment, let the severity be against myself and not another. I pray that way and I pray that
way continually because I know that I am most naturally inclined
to be very lenient with Don and very severe with you. That's our natural inclination. Here's the fourth thing. This
sad event in David's life teaches us that we all need a faithful
preacher. And the Lord sent Nathan unto
David. What a blessing. What a blessing. What a blessing. Merle, if the
Lord hadn't sent Nathan to David, David would never have turned
again to the Lord. David was a prophet, but he needed
a prophet. David was a sweet hymn writer
of Israel, but he needed a preacher. David was king in Israel, but
he needed somebody to show him the things of God. You too. When God has grace to convey
to his elect, he sends a messenger to speak to him. How shall they
hear without a preacher? For wise and holy reasons known
only to himself, God allows his saints to fall into sin. I can't explain the reasons. And I won't dare sit in judgment
over God for doing it. But for wise and holy reasons
known only to himself, God allows his saints to fall into sin.
Sometimes he leaves them to themselves for a long time. But he will not leave them forever.
Turn to Isaiah 57. Isaiah 57, verse 17. Isaiah 57, 17. For the iniquity of his covetousness
was I wroth and smote him. I hid me and was wroth. And he went on forwardly in the
way of his heart. That's what happens when God
leaves you to yourself. I have seen his ways and will
heal him. Is that mercy? I've seen his
ways and will heal him. I will lead him also and restore
comfort unto him and his mourners. Matthew Henry said, he sins after
us before we seek after him, else we would certainly be lost.
Nathan was the prophet by whom God had spoken so many good things
to David. In chapter 7, Nathan was the
man who told David his throne would be forever. His kingdom
established forever. Told David that Christ would
be in his lineage and sit on his throne and in his kingdom
forever. Nathan was sent of God and was
a faithful prophet. Faithful to God and faithful
to David's soul. He says, Nathan, go speak to
David. And when you get there, you give him a parable, this
parable, that's sure to enrage David's fury. And when David's
fury is most blatantly displayed, You stick your finger right on
his chest and say to the king, thou art the man. But Lord, don't you know who
David is? Don't you know what David could do to me? Don't you
know that I'm nothing and nobody, David's king in Israel? No. God sent Nathan, and Nathan went
with the word of God, faithful to God and faithful to David's
soul. You see, God's servants who speak
to you the word of grace must speak to you the word of judgment. God's servant who shows you the
righteousness of Christ must expose your sin. God's servant
who shows you the way of life must show you your corruption.
Nathan reminded David of all the great things God had done
for him in verses seven and eight. And he says, not only did God
make you Lord over Saul's house, God would have given you anything
you asked for. Anything you asked for. And that was only an aggravation
to what he was about to say. And then Nathan exposed David's
sin plainly and frankly told him what the consequences would
be. In verses 10, 11, and 12, he
said, now David, the sword's not going to depart
from your house. You've taken Uriah's wife secretly. I will raise up one out of your
own house who will take your wives publicly. You've done this
thing you thought in secret, but I will do this thing and
show my displeasure for what you've done before all of Israel. I'm going to make the whole nation
to see that what you've done is not right. And in verse 13, David said to
Nathan, I've sinned against the Lord." What a remarkable response. What a remarkable response. David,
whose bones have waxed old through his roaring day and night, says,
Nathan, you're right. I'm the man. That's a man after God's own
heart. That's a man after God's own
heart. That's a man whose heart has
been made new by grace. That's a man who's a new creature
in Christ. For if we confess our sin, he's
faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness. David says, I've sinned against
God. And Nathan's next word is, well,
David, God's going to get you. You're going to have to pay for
it. The Lord's never going to let you forget it. No. No. No, that's the next word
of a Baptist preacher or a Papist preacher, not of God's servant. Nathan's next word is, Nathan
said to David, the Lord also, now look at that word, H-A-T-H. That's one of the best words
in the English language. Hath, already done, before you
ever committed the sin. And before I expose the sin,
and before you confess the sin, the Lord hath put away thy sin. Thou shalt not die. Turn to Psalm 32. That night,
David went into his chamber and he took out his pen And he sat
down and wrote two great hymns, Psalm 32 and Psalm 51. Blessed is he whose transgression
is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom
the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit is no guile.
When I kept silence my bones waxed old through my roaring
all the day long, For day and night thy hand was heavy upon
me. My moisture is turned into the drought of summer. I acknowledge my sin unto thee. I acknowledge my sin unto thee. No attempt to cover it. No attempt
to blame it on Eve or Bathsheba as Adam had done. no attempt
to blame it on his parents, no attempt to blame it on God's
providence, is I acknowledge my sin unto thee. And mine iniquity
have I not hid. I've acknowledged what I am,
and have acknowledged my breach of your law. I said, I will confess
my transgressions unto the Lord, and thou forgavest the iniquity
of my sins. All right, look back at our text,
2 Samuel 12. Learn this fifth thing. None of us lives to himself. Our lives affect a lot of people
and a lot of things. Everything we say And everything
we do affects other people, our companions, our children, our
husbands, our wives, our brothers, our neighbors, our friends, and
our enemies. All are watching us, watching
to see what we will do, how we will behave in every circumstance. What we say, what we say, What
we say matters little if what we do is contrary to what we
say. Matters little. I told you many
times when our daughter got old enough to start going out
on her own with friends without our supervision, I said it to
her once, I said it to her hundreds of times, faith don't ever forget
who you are, and whose you are. Every place you go, every word
you speak, everything you do reflects on Don and Shelby Fortner,
your parents, and reflects upon the gospel of God's grace, and
reflects upon the people of Grace Baptist Church, and reflects
upon the God we worship. Don't forget it. Don't forget
it. We don't live to ourselves. Well,
this is just me. Nothing is just you. Nothing. The scandalous lives of people
who profess faith in Christ and the scandalous deeds of people
who possess faith in Christ are matters of grave concern. And
the more prominent and influential a person is, the more severe
the consequences are. I'm a gospel preacher. I'm your
pastor." I said, well, he's just a man who puts his pants on just
like I do, one leg at a time. You're exactly right. You're
exactly right. But my behavior influences you,
your family, your sons, and your daughters. The examples under the flock. We're told. It's the responsibility
of every preacher, every preacher. This is my private life. I don't
have a private life. You don't either. No. Well, it doesn't matter how we
behave at our house. Oh, yes, it does. Oh, yes, it
does. Parents, you moms and dads, your sons and daughters see everything
you do. and they hear the thunderous
voice of your deeds far more greatly than they hear the whispers
of your words. You men and women of this congregation,
you go to work at Walmart, you go to work at Toyota, or you
go to work for the city or for the state, it doesn't matter.
You represent God Almighty, Christ our Redeemer. and for the people
who work with you. For many of them, all they know
about God is what they see and hear from you. That's all. God
didn't punish David for his sin personally. David's sin was punished
in Christ, but it did chasten him publicly. The thing that
David had done caused the name of the Lord to be blasphemy. Oh God, keep me from that. That's what we read in verse
14. Therefore David's child, the child of his lust was killed. God said, this boy's going to
die. David fasted and prayed. He said, who knows that the Lord
may be gracious, but the child died. And then the Lord told
David in verse 10 of chapter 12 that the sword would never
depart from his house. And it never has. He said, you
despise me. You've taken the wife of Uriah.
So the sword won't depart from your house. David reaped the
consequences of his actions. Verse 11, thus saith the Lord,
behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own
house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes and give them
to thy neighbors, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight
of this sun, for thou didst it secretly. But I will do this
thing before all Israel and before the sun. And in chapter 16, Absalom,
had his men to pitch a tent before all of Israel. And he took David's
wives one at a time. Amnon learned to live by his
lust by watching his daddy. Absalom learned to despise his
father because his father despised God. Ahithophel learned to betray
his trusted friend As David betrayed Uriah. You can't sin against God and
get by. And you don't want to. Your sin
and mine has its consequences. Not that God's going to punish
us. He punished our sins and our
substitute. But it has consequences upon
the name of God. the family of God in all who
are under our influence. Look at verse 13. Here's a sixth
lesson. The Lord our God is merciful
and gracious to forgive our sins. David said to Nathan, I've sinned
against the Lord. And Nathan said to David, the
Lord also hath put away thy sin. Thou shalt not die. It is still
true. If we confess our sin, he's faithful
and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Who is a God likened to thee
that pardoneth iniquity? Our God is God who delighteth
in mercy. Now watch this. God's forgiveness
of David's sin was an immediate act. No sooner did David acknowledge
his sin than the Lord spoke peace to his soul. No sooner did David
confess his sin than the Lord declared to David, your sin has
been taken care of. God forgives sin immediately. Immediately. His forgiveness
was complete. The Lord has put away your sin,
his iniquity, his transgressions. David said, thou forgave us the
iniquity of my sins. You forgave completely everything. Oh, hear me, children of God.
God's forgiveness is complete. Hear me, you who are without
Christ. God's forgiveness is immediate
and complete. He freely and fully forgives
sin. This is the strongest argument
under heaven to promote what people call practical holiness.
Turn to 1 John 2. 1 John 2. I want you to see this. 1 John 2. religious legalist had the foolish
notion that if you want folks to live right, then you take
out the whip of the law and you scourge their backs. That's not
the way of God or his servants. The greatest motive there is
in this world to behavior that's becoming a believer is the declaration
of free, full, complete forgiveness by Christ. First John chapter
two, my little children, These things write I unto you that
you sin not. You see his motive? See what
he's doing, James? He's don't, don't sin. Don't
sin. Children of God don't sin. Don't,
don't make light. Don't make light of sin. What
I'm writing to you, I'm writing to you that you sin not. And
Notice he didn't use a conjunction that says but, he uses a conjunction
that says and. And, if any man sin, God will
get you. No? And if any man sin, we have
an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and
he's the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only,
but for God's elect scattered over the whole world, also for
the sins of the whole world. And this forgiveness that Nathan
proclaimed to David was forgiveness with the promise, thou shalt
not die. Thou shalt not die. God forgave David's sin freely,
but an innocent victim must die in his place. David had a son,
an innocent son, one who had nothing to do with David's sin,
but he was the product of David's sin. And he was put to death
instead of David. That's a pretty good picture
of our Redeemer. who came into this world, that which necessitated his coming
was our sin. He knew no sin, he did no sin,
and yet he was made sin for us and he died in our place under
the wrath of God because of our sins that were made his. Grace
is free, but it's not cheap. It cost our Savior everything. God's justice must be vindicated
and it must appear to be vindicated. And so God killed David's son. And God killed his own son that
he might be just and the justifier of him that believeth. And David
and this innocent one who died in his place, who died for his
sin will someday be reunited. When David found out the boy
was dead, in verse 23, his servant said, David, we don't understand.
We don't understand. While the baby was alive, we
couldn't get you to eat. And when he found out the baby
was dead, he said, bring me some groceries. And he washed his
face and he ate and he drank and he went to the house of God
and worshiped. And David explained, now he's dead. Why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I
shall go to him, but he shall not return to me. And soon, Soon, oh soon, I shall go to Him who
died for me and see Him face to face forever. What a day that will be when
my Jesus I shall see, when He takes me by the hand and leads
me through the promised land. One more thing. Learn this. The Lord our God is faithful
to, even to, especially to his fallen saints. Look at verse
24. David comforted Bathsheba, his
wife, and went into her and lay with her. and she bear a son. And he called his name Solomon,
which means peace. And the Lord loved him. The Lord
loved Solomon. Verse 25, and he's sent by the
hand of Nathan the prophet. And Nathan the prophet called
his name Jedediah. David hears this word from God. He said, call him Jedediah. He didn't take away the name
Solomon. He said call him Jedidiah. Jedidiah means beloved of the
Lord. Call him Jedidiah because of
the Lord. God sent his prophet to him.
And he said, David, now this will be hard for you to get hold
of, but you're still beloved of the Lord. You're still beloved of the Lord
because God's love for you and God's acceptance of you and God's
receiving you has nothing to do with what you do. You're beloved
of the Lord. Solomon was the great type of
our Savior. Not only that, He was himself
the man through whom Christ the God-man, the son of David, came
into this world. The blessing of redemption and
grace and salvation came to David through the very child of David
and Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah. Surely, the wrath of man shall
praise thee, and the remainder of wrath wilt thou restrain. What more can we say? What more
can we say? Oh, how good, how gracious is
God our Savior. Amen.