Second Samuel 15, I'd like to
read verses 6 through 9. Or verse 7 through 9, and 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 have vowed unto the Lord in
Hebron. For thy servant vowed a vow while
I abode at Gesher in Syria, saying, if the Lord shall bring me again
indeed to Jerusalem, I will serve the Lord. And the king said unto
him, go in peace. So he rose. and went to Hebron. Let's go ahead and read verse
10 as well. Now, under this religious language,
the vow I'm going to vow and pay, but Absalom sent spies throughout
all the tribes of Israel saying, as soon as ye hear the sound
of the trumpet, then shall you say, Absalom reigneth in Hebron. Now we see the hypocrisy of this
man. He makes this religious vow,
and that's all it is, is hypocrisy. He had no intention of doing
what he said he was going to do. His only reason was this
conspiracy. Now let's pray together. Lord, we come into your presence
in Christ's name, and Lord, we ask that we might be heard through
him We ask that you would speak to us from your word. We ask
that you would give us receptive hearts, understanding and hearing
ears. And Lord, we pray that your gospel
would be preached and that you would deliver us from hearing
merely the words of a man, but that we might be blessed to hear
from thee, from your word. Lord, we confess our sins there
ever before us. We pray for forgiveness and cleansing. Lord, we ask that you would work
in us both the will and to do your good pleasure. Bless this
time for Christ's sake, be with all your people wherever they
meet together in Christ's name we pray. Amen. Absalom speaks of a bargain,
a promise he made to God. It was a bargain. He was in the
land of Gesher. He was in exile at this time.
This is when he had fled for his life because he had murdered
his brother Amnon and he was in exile. And he speaks of a
deal he made with God. He said, if you do this, if you
bring me back to Hebron, I'll serve you. His intention was to overthrow David, his father. As a matter of fact, I imagine
he would have killed him. That was his intention, but he dresses
it up in religious language, and David bit the hook. Now,
this is probably going to sound somewhat cynical. And it, I guess
it is cynical. Anytime someone makes a religious
promise and it has the I will in it, I'm going to do this,
I'm going to do that, it's always wrong. Watch out. When someone says I'm going to
do this and I'm going to do this in the name of the Lord, I'll
serve the Lord, I will, anytime you have an I will, in someone's
religious language. I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna
promise to do that, I'm going to. Anytime you have anything
like that, one of two things are true. Number one, it's just
deception. Just deception. Like Absalom
here. He was deceiving his father.
Under the guise of religious language, his only motive was
to take the throne. He'd stole the hearts of his
people, the parts of David's people, and they, as a matter
of fact, go on reading in this chapter, and David has to flee. And the only people that were
with him were those 600 men who were from Philistines, that were
his guards at the time. Not one man of Israel at the
time went with him. And you can see how David is
a type of Christ there. everybody forsaking him, and
so on. But if somebody makes some kind of religious promise,
I promise I'm gonna do this, watch out, it's deception. That's
what it is, it's deception. Or it's someone who is completely
ignorant of themselves. Lord, I promise I'll do this.
Oh, really, really? Have you ever kept a promise
that you made to the Lord, even once? Now, David, I mean Absalom
here is making this promise. Now, turn with me to Exodus chapter
24. I'm gonna look at some examples
of this in the scripture. Exodus 24. This is after Moses gave the
law. The Ten Commandments and all
the ceremonial commandments. He gave the law at this time.
Then we read in verse 3, And Moses came and told the people
all the words of the Lord, and all the judgments. And all the
people answered with one voice and said, All the words which
the Lord hath said will we do. Anybody believe him? Look in Joshua chapter 24. Any religious statement based
upon my personal resolve and initiative, I'm going to do this,
I resolve to do that, is doomed for failure. It's doomed because
of us. Look in Joshua 24. Verse 18, and the Lord drove
out from before us all the people, even the Amorites, which dwelt
in the land. Therefore will we also serve the Lord God, for
He is our God. We're going to serve Him. He's
our God. And Joshua said unto the people, you can't serve the
Lord, for He's holy. He's holy. They made this promise
about what they were going to do. Turn to Luke 9. Luke 9. Now I want you to notice, I'm
going to read four or five verses here at the end of the chapter,
and I want you to notice when someone said, this is what I'm
going to do, look how the Lord responded. And look how the Lord
responded when he said, this is what you're going to do. Now
look here, beginning in verse 57. And it came to pass that
as they were in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will
follow thee whithersoever thou goest. And Jesus said unto him, foxes
have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the son of man
hath nowhere to lay his head. And he said unto another, follow
me. But he said, Lord, suffer me
first to go and bury my father. Jesus said unto him, you let
the dead bury their dead, but go thou and preach the kingdom
of God. You do what I tell you to do.
And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee. Here's another
thing based on personal initiative. I'll follow thee. But let me
first go bid them farewell, which are at my home, at my house.
And Jesus said unto him, no man, having put his hand to the plow
and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. Now when
this man initiated it, the Lord said, you're not fit. You've
looked back. Now here's the point. And this
is the point behind this story of Absalom. Anything that begins
with me, my initiative, my will, my resolve, is doomed for failure. Do you believe that about yourself?
Anything that begins with me is doomed for failure. Now, Absalom
was being dishonest. This was pure deception on his
part, guised under religious language. Pure deception. He was not honest. As a matter of fact, did you
know that the only honest man is the man of Romans chapter
7? He's the only honest man. Let's turn to Romans 7 real quick. In verse 14 of Romans chapter
7, we know that the law, God's holy
commandments, is spiritual, but I am carnal, fleshly, sold under
sin. Now, Paul is saying this about
himself. I'm sold as a slave to sin. That's how I feel myself to be. Verse 15, for that which I do.
I allow not, I don't approve of it. For what I would, what
I want to do, be perfectly obedient, that do I not. But what I hate,
that do I. If then I do that which I would
not, I consent unto the law that it's good. Now then it's no more
I that do it, but the sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that
in me, that is in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing. For to will is
present with me, but how to perform that which is good, I find not,
for the good that I would, I do not, but the evil which I would
not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not,
it's no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find
then a law that when I would do good, evil is present with
me, for I delight in the law of God after the inward man.
But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my
mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin, which is in
my members. O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from
the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ
our Lord. So then, with the mind, I myself
serve the law of God, but with the flesh, the law of sin." Now,
there is the honest man. Any man that makes a claim greater
than that is not being honest. Now, with these things in mind,
turn with me to James chapter 5. A couple of scriptures I want to
look at. This man Absalom said, I'm going
to Hebron. I've made a promise to the Lord
and I'm going to keep my promise. I'm going to keep my vow. I'm
going to do this. Now, sounded good. Sounded good,
but we know that underneath it all, it was deception. Now, with
all that in mind, this thing of anything that begins with
an I will, or I promise, I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna do that.
You know, the very fact that I say I promise I'll do this
means I'm a liar. That's what it means, really. It means I
gotta promise this because I don't always tell the truth, but I
promise I'm telling the truth right now. Now, James chapter five, verse
12. But above all things, my brethren, Now that's a pretty strong statement,
isn't it? Above all things. James is saying this is what's
really important. Above all things, my brethren,
swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither
by any other oath, but let your yea be yea and your nay be nay,
lest you fall into condemnation. Now, Does this mean that I should
never make a promise to a man? Is that what that means? Now,
when I perform a marriage ceremony and I say, do you promise that
you'll be true and faithful and so on? Do you promise you'll?
How am I going to respond if somebody says, no, I can't go
that far? I'd say, let's go ahead and end this right now. We're
not going to go through it. If somebody is in a court of
law, and they're supposed to be giving a testimony, and they
say, do you promise to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing
but the truth? What if they said, no, I can't go that far? Well,
you're no good. You're no good. Your testimony
can't be believed. This is not talking about being honest and
truthful toward men. Perjury is a great sin. And this is not talking about,
I want to be somebody that you can count on. I want to be somebody
who's yes is yes and who's no is no. We all desire to be that
way. We want to be faithful people. I don't want you to, whatever
I say to you, you think, well, I don't know if he's telling
the truth or not. He's such a liar. Oh my, I don't want to have a
character like that. May the Lord deliver me. I know
in and of myself that's all I am is a liar in and of myself. And
you know that about yourself too if you're a believer. You
know something of your sinfulness. You're like Paul was in Romans
chapter seven. But before men, in my relationship
with men, I want honesty. So James is not talking about not being honest and faithful
to your word before men and don't make promises. He's talking about
our attitude toward God. Don't make promises to God. Don't make vows to God. Let your yea be yea, let your
nay be nay. Turn to Matthew chapter five. I made a vow to the Lord, Absalom
says, and I'm going to go pay it. I told him, if you get me
out of this mess, I'm going to serve you. Would you not have
served him if he didn't get you out of the mess? This kind of
vow taking is altogether wrong. You remember back a few years
ago, maybe more than a few years ago, that one of the big things
was the promise keepers. the promise keepers. Real men
are promise keepers and they would make promises and hold
each other accountable and so on. I'll be accountable to you,
you'll be accountable to me. We're going to keep these promises
and real men are promise keepers. I tell you what I feel a lot
more comfortable with is being a promise believer. Believing the promise of God. Promise keeper I don't much feel
like one. Not before the Lord. I've made
all kinds of promises to the Lord before. If you do this,
get me out of this mess, I'll do it. It's no good. No good. A believer is a promise believer. Now let's look at these words
of our Lord in Matthew chapter 5, verse 33. You've heard it said by them
of old time, thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto
the Lord thine own. That's in the scriptures, but
I say unto you. I love the way the Lord, he says,
you've heard it said, but here's what I say. I love the way the
Lord says that, don't you? The authority with which he speaks,
I say unto you. Well, what's he say? Swear not at all. That's what
I say. Don't swear at all. Neither by
heaven, for it's God's throne. You don't have any right to swear
by heaven. It's God's throne. You're taking
a position you have no right to when you do something like
that. What if I said, I swear to you that if I don't keep my
promise, I'm going to give you every bit of Tom's money. I've
got no right to do that, do I? It's God's throne. I could have
no right to swear by heaven. No right at all. nor by earth,
for it's his footstool, neither by Jerusalem, for it's the city
of the great king, neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because
thou canst not make one hair white or black." I promise I'm
going to do this. I don't know if I'll be alive
when the time comes for me to keep that promise. I don't know
what's going to happen to me. I might get sick. I might be
in the hospital. I might be dead. I mean, who knows? And this is
what he's saying. Verse 37. But let your communication be
yay, yay, nay, nay, for whatsoever is more than these cometh of
evil. Now, false religion, works religion,
human religion, Has salvation somehow been dependent upon me
doing my part? I've got to do this. I've got
to resolve to do this or it won't work. It may be Christ died for
me and God wants to save me and God wants to give me mercy. But
if I don't do whatever it is I'm supposed to do, all that's
going to be for naught. Now, what kind of comfort do
you get from that? Any? I don't get any comfort
at all on me doing my part. Salvation being dependent on
me doing my part. But let me tell you what I do
get comfort from. God's promise of salvation for
Christ's sake. 2 Samuel 23 5, David said, although
my house be not so with God, yet hath he made with me an everlasting
covenant, ordered in all things and sure. This is all my salvation and
all my desire, though he maketh it not to grow. Now, a believer's
hope is in God's promise. His promise of salvation for
Christ's sake. That's where all my salvation
is. That's where all my hope is. Let your yea be yea and your
nay be nay. Anything else is evil. Now turn
with me. One final scripture I'd like
us to look at is 2 Corinthians chapter 1. Verse 17, When I therefore was
thus minded, did I use likeness, or the things that I purpose?
Do I a purpose according to the flesh, that with me there should
be yea, yea, and nay, nay, saying yes and no to the same thing?
You know, that is what would describe most preaching. But
as God is true, verse 18, our word toward you was not yea and
nay, for the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among
you by us, even by me and Silvanus and Timotheus, was not yea and
nay, but in him was yea, for all the promises of God in him
are yea, and in him, amen, unto the glory of God. Now, most preaching
would be described as yea Do you believe salvation is by
grace? Yes. Yes. All of grace? Yes. Do you need to do your part?
Well, I guess it's not all of grace. No, yes, it's all of grace,
but no, you need to do your part to make that grace work. That's
called yea, nay preaching. Is the blood of Christ really
enough to wash away all my sins? Oh, yes, yes. But no, if you
don't accept Him as your personal Savior, He might have shed His
blood for you, but it won't work. You need to do your part. That's
yea, nay preaching. Is faith alone enough? Oh, yes.
Yes. Faith alone is enough. But you
better have works to prove your faith. If you can't see your
faith by your works, that faith, naked faith in Christ is not
enough. That's yea, nay preaching. Yes and no to the same thing. I don't want to hear yea, nay
preaching. Do you? Is a believer under the law?
No. You better try to keep it. You better try to keep it. Beloved, does this mean it's
okay to break the law? Of course not. We love God's
law and we delight in it after the end of man, but I don't try
to keep it, I've kept it. When Jesus Christ kept it, I kept
it. I'm perfect before that law. And I'm dead when Christ died.
What does the law have to say to a dead man? Nothing. No, a
believer is not. Is grace 100% grace alone enough? Yes. It's the work of Christ alone. All that's needed to make me
saved. Yes. Yes. Is faith alone, looking to Christ
only, is that enough? Yes. Not yea, nay, but yea. For all the promises of God in
him are yea and amen to the glory of God by us. Oh, Absalom. We're going to see
more of him and his deception in the next several chapters,
how he steals the hearts of the people and what he does. He makes
this religious vow, this religious promise that sounded good to
David. David said, yeah, go in peace. Go perform your vow. I started this by saying I'm
very cynical of any religious promise anybody says they're
going to make. I'm going to do this. Will you
now? Lord, work in me both to will
and to do your good pleasure. Cause me to do your will. Cause me, order my steps in your
word. And let no iniquity have dominion
over me. Lord, if you will, You can make
me clean. Not, Lord, I'm going to let you
make me clean, if you will. May God give us grace to have
our yes as yes and our no as no before Him. One last statement. Do you believe someone can be
saved that doesn't hear the gospel, the gospel I'm preaching on God's
grace? And what the answer to that is, no. Let your yes be
yes and let your no be no. Okay.