The End

“The End” - Mark 13:1-13 - Audio - Video

Last week, Pastor Bill talked about Salvation from Hebrews. He said it means to be redeemed, to be delivered from the consequences of our sin through faith in Jesus Christ.

To continue on that subject today there is a past, present, and future aspect to our Salvation. The past happened when Jesus Christ died on the cross and paid the penalty for our sin. The present occurs now, we are no longer under the power of sin. We have an advocate to strengthen us through our trials and temptations. And finally, the future. One day we will be removed from the presence of sin when we are in our eternal home.

Today’s Scripture from the book of Mark continues to look at the future and is directed to the disciples. This is a passage that's not easy to fully understand or interpret. Such passages have been the basis for a lot of books, sermons, and teachings on the end times. We need to approach them with caution, not making them say things we want them to say and mean. Of course, this is always true with the Bible, or should be for us.

Jesus and his disciples are leaving the temple or passing by it at least. Someone comments to Jesus about the beauty of the temple. Built by Herod the Great, it was magnificent. It had marble pillars some forty feet tall. It had elaborate stone work, engraved by the most skilled stone cutters and craftsmen. Gold all around it. In the entrance to the Temple was carved an intricate cluster of grapes, symbolizing Israel as the people of God. They were awe-struck by it, but not Jesus. He had already wept over the city (see Luke 19:41-44).

He somberly says, "The days are coming when this temple will not be left standing, not one stone on top of another." We know that day did come in AD 70 when Rome destroyed the temple and most of Jerusalem.

Jesus saw where the misplaced religious zeal and nationalism would lead his people. Even their views of the Messiah were greatly shaped by such concerns, for they wanted a military messiah, one to overthrow the Romans and set up Israel as the great kingdom it had been under David - and greater than that!

A magnificent temple, filled each day with many people and impressive rituals would not save them. The One who could save them was in their midst but only to be himself a temple they would seek to destroy. The irony here is that you may recall that one of the chief charges brought against Jesus when he was brought to trial is that he predicted the
destruction of the temple, taking it to mean by some that he and his followers would do it.

The disciples, always ready to ask the wrong questions at the wrong times, want to know more about all of this, especially when it will happen (vs 3-4).

Jesus begins by warning them that many will try to lead them astray when they ask and seek answers to such questions. Teachers and false messiahs will come in his name (claiming to be sent by him to try to get their support and following) claiming that they have superior knowledge of the end times, even to the point of saying that it is near
or here's a sign that surely means it is near. Jesus simply and bluntly says, "Do not go after them." In other words, don't listen to them. They don't know what they're talking about.

So Jesus warns about those persons who claim to know far more than they possibly can about such things. Uncertain times cause some people to look for messiahs, for persons to reassure them, to lead them. But then he goes on to say that there are some things that must happen before that time comes. It will not come right after the fall of the temple that he has just predicted. Neither will it come when they are hearing about wars and rumors of wars. They are not to let such idle talk and speculations terrify them. The end is still not yet (vs 7).

Jesus says before the end there would be great conflicts between nations (vs 8) and would even influence the natural world. But still this was not the end.

He warns them that far from being taken up to Heaven in the rapture, they will suffer. They will be arrested, persecuted, and tried (just like what was about to happen to him). Still this was not the end. Such times, Jesus says, you are not to seek to be delivered from but see as opportunities to speak on behalf of God's kingdom and will (recall how Jesus used his own trial to do that).

He seeks to reassure them that when those days come God will be with them, God will give them the courage and the words they need to make a good defense and witness. (Just recall some of the stories in Acts about how the disciples did just this when brought before the authorities, who were often astounded that these were just unlearned
individuals and how bold they were).

Jesus warns them that they would be hated because of their faith, because they go and live by his name. But in the end they were in God's hands and the authorities, as powerful as they were, could not finally harm even one hair on their heads (as elsewhere Jesus had assured them that God had numbered every hair on their head - see Luke 12:7). They
could kill the body, as they would with Jesus, but that was not the end of him, was it? They tumbled his temple but in three days God raised it up!

Note how Jesus ends: "By standing firm you will gain life." Continue to work, to serve, to be faithful. Do not become distracted by those who would mislead you, even coming to you in my name. Keep focused on the work at hand.

The FUTURE is a major theme in our scripture today and the emphasis is on faithfulness in the midst of present troubles, not letting speculations about the future or the troubles of the present distract from the responsibilities of the present.

This still applies to us today. So often we get caught up in the minor troubles and annoyances in our lives, that we forget why we are here, which is to simply glorify God with all that we say and do. We have God’s Word, we know what the future holds. We simply need to continue in faithfulness.

Just talking about the future or prophesying the future is not living our lives out in faith. Trusting in a God who holds the future in his hands is how we live by faith. Jesus told us to BE READY. Jesus wants us to live out our faith.

Faith does not believe that God will make our lives comfortable and affluent. Faith knows that whatever situations we face God will be with us through those situations. Faith is not worrying about the future. Faith is believing and trusting God’s plan and carrying out His will for your life.
So when our circumstances shift from comfort to discomfort; when our world moves from certainty to uncertainty; and when perhaps even friends and family turn against us, these are not reasons to reject God or to cease to believe in him. They are the opposite. They are times to remind ourselves that Jesus predicted these events. They are times to stand firm.

Another theme running through the whole chapter is that of being alert and watchful. Verse 5 “watch out”, verses 9 and 23, “be on your guard”, verse 33, “be on guard, be alert”, and verses 35 and 37, “keep watch”.

Will Jesus return? Is He coming back? He said he will! He is coming back. Before that day, he’s told us what to expect. Jesus calls us to be alert, and not to worry even if circumstances are awful.
We need Jesus to stay on the right path and to live a full life! Let me give you an example.

Many years ago, the actor Charlton Heston had to learn how to drive a chariot with four horses for his part in the movie Ben Hur. He explained to an interviewer that after many weeks of chariot lessons he told the director, “I think I can drive the chariot all right but I’m not at all sure I can actually win the race.” The director, responded,” You just stay in the race and I’ll make sure you win.”

Today, Jesus asks us to stay in the race of life no matter what happens to us. And Jesus Christ promises us that as long as we are with Him …we will win the race of life. So the challenge for us this week is simply this. The disciples learned to live their faith one day at a time. Let us follow their example and the example of countless Christians who have gone before us—trusting, loving, serving—never knowing if this is our last day or not, but being assure that no matter what God is with us.

Applying what we’ve learned:

1. God has a glorious Kingdom waiting for us. He will be back to take us to the place he has prepared and to judge those whom have not accepted His gift of salvation. If you haven’t accepted Christ as Lord and Savior of your life, do it today. Don’t wait.

2. Whatever our current situation is, we are to remember why we are here. We are to glorify God. We are to go into all the world and spread the Gospel message. The best tool for spreading the Gospel is your life. Does it honor and Glorify God? Can people tell you are a Christian by the way you talk and act?

3. Remember, no matter how bad things get for us, and we know persecution will come to Christians before Christ returns, we are not to give up hope. Christ died for our sins and will be back for us.

4. Keep on living the spirit-filled life. We cannot simply sit around and wait for the rapture. We were put here to do a job, so lets do it to honor and glorify God.

Closing Prayer
Merciful God, we come before you this day as those who are often afraid to confess all the many ways in which we have disappointed and betrayed You. You have given us continual opportunities to serve and love others, but we have withdrawn into lives of selfishness and greed. We have turned our backs on others in need. We have denied the gifts you have given us. Your voice calls to us to come home, to come to you unafraid, to receive forgiveness and healing. Open our hearts this day to receive these magnificent blessings. Help us understand the many ways in which you love us, and help us share that love with all those whom we meet. For we ask this in the name of Jesus Christ. AMEN.

Merry Christmas or Happy Holiday’s?

Merry Christmas or Happy Holiday’s?

With “Black Friday” a few days away, many people are preparing for Christmas. Some will wish you a Merry Christmas, others simply say Happy Holiday’s.

So as not to offend anyone, some companies do not allow their employees to wish people a Merry Christmas, but are allowed to say Happy Holiday’s. Often times, this offends the Christian’s that want to keep Christ in Christmas.

But what does it really mean when you say Merry Christmas or Happy Holiday’s?

Literally Christmas means Christ’s Mass. Merry comes from the word Murg which means brief or short. Merry as defined today means joyful or cheerful. So have a cheerful Christ’s Mass.

How about Happy Holiday’s?

Happy comes from the word Hap, which means, by chance, fortune, or good luck. Holiday literally means Holy Day.

So whether you say Merry Christmas or Happy Holiday doesn’t really matter. Both have religious significance.

Thanksgiving is a Holy Day where we should give thanks to God for the things He has given us, is doing for us, and will do for us.

Christmas is a Holy Day where we should give thanks to God for the salvation He has given to us through His Son Jesus Christ.

New Years is a Holy Day where we should give thanks to God for another year of life and ask Him for continued blessings and His presence in our lives for the new year.

So the next time someone says Happy Holiday’s to you, rather than saying Merry Christmas, simply say, “Thank You, and I hope you too have happy holy day’s ahead as well.”

Forgiveness

Click here for the audio message of Philemon 17-20

Forgiveness

Philemon was a prominent member of the Colossian church. The church met in his house, so he was probably wealthy. This letter was for him, his family and the church. Paul writes about forgiveness even though the word is never actually used.

So what is the story here. Well, we don’t know all of the details for sure, but we can piece some things together. First, we know that Philemon received Christ through Paul’s ministry. We know that Philemon was wealthy enough to have the church meet in his house, meaning it was probably a larger house than most people had.

We also know that Philemon had a least one slave named Onesimus. Onesimus was apparently not a believer because he stole from Philemon, probably money, and ran away to hide out in Rome.

At the time, there were many slaves in the Roman Empire. Some estimates claim maybe about 1/3 of the population were slaves. Slaves in Rome were an accepted part of daily life. There were so many slaves around that nobody really knew who the slaves were because they all blended into society.

These slaves could be doctors, musicians, teachers, artists, librarians, accountants or pretty much any job they could do. Slaves were not considered people, but were tools of their masters. They could still be bought, sold, or whatever. Of course, their masters had control and power over the slaves and no doubt there were severe abuses that took place.

However, the Romans began to realize that a contented slave worked harder and was more productive, so many masters treated their slaves decently. When accused of a crime, slaves were even given the right to a trial. Being a slave in Rome could in some ways be better than a freeman living in poverty.

Anyways, back to our story of Onesimus, Philemon’s slave. He fled to Rome to blend in with the population. While in Rome though, he somehow ran in to Paul and also received Christ into his life.

Paul grew to love Onesimus and wanted to keep him for use in the ministry, but he knew the right thing to do was to send the slave back to his master. Remember, James 4:17 says, “Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.” That’s a tough portion of scripture for me and it was tough for Paul too.

Even though Onesimus was of great use to Paul in his ministry he knew what he had to do. By stealing and running away from Philemon, Onesimus had broken the law and defrauded his master. Paul knew those issues had to be dealt with, so he sent Onesimus back to Philemon with this letter.

As a side note, the New Testament never directly attacks slavery. Rather it simply recognizes it as a fact of life. Christianity does, however, undermine the evils that can occur with slavery by changing the hearts of both slave and master.

Had Paul or any other writer of the New Testament attacked slavery then the Gospel message, the Good News of Jesus Christ, the idea of repentance and a changed heart, would be hopelessly lost and confused with a message of social reform. Unfortunately, that is what many people are trying to do today.

So Paul writes this letter to his friend, his brother in Christ, Philemon, to accept his slave back and to treat him as a brother in Christ. Paul starts by appealing to the strong love and faith that Philemon has.

Paul knows that Philemon loves God, loves others, and loves himself. So if that is true, then here is your slave back. Yes, he did wrong and he realizes it but he has come to Christ and repented of his sin. Please accept him back not just as your slave, but as your brother.

Paul also says, hey you know I am an authority figure over you, I can simply command you to take back your slave, but I know I don’t need to do that because of who you are. I know that you too will do the right thing.

Paul also realizes that there was a physical or probably a monetary loss for Philemon, so Paul says send me the bill. I will repay it. Of course, Paul throws that little reminder in there that Philemon literally owes Paul his life because Paul is the one who brought him to Christ.

That is a debt that none of us can repay. The person that brings us to Christ should have a special place in our lives and Paul knew that. How can we repay that? We cannot. All we can do is to do the same for someone else and introduce them to Christ.

How this story ends we don’t know. But I like to believe that Onesimus returned to Philemon and was welcomed with open arms, not as a slave, but as a brother in Christ. Someone who received the full forgiveness of their sins.

Today we live in a world where people are so focused on themselves and are not concerned with others or forgiveness. For a Christian, unwillingness to forgive is unthinkable. We are to forgive others as God has forgiven us. Failure to forgive others has its consequences.

It keeps that pain alive. It robs us of the joy of living, the joy of our salvation. It also produces bitterness. The longer you dwell on that pain the more bitter you become. Bitterness is sin and it can infect your entire body. Your speech becomes negative, your thoughts are turned toward revenge and you shut out any type of kindness or love toward others.

When this happens, of course, the door is open for Satan to jump into the situation. Once this happens, look out. Our fellowship with other Christians and even God will be hindered.

Forgiveness restores the believer to the place of maximum blessing from God. It restores the purity and joy of fellowship with God. Forgiveness is an important theme throughout Scripture, but here we see it in action in the lives of a slave and his master. What a wonderful lesson for us all to learn.

Is this a lesson that you need to implement in your life. If so, why not today? Is there someone that you need to forgive? Do you still hold a grudge about something?

Let the pain go. Bring back the joy of living and the joy of your salvation. Forgive them as God in Christ has forgiven you.

Closing Prayer:

Lord, we thank you for this lesson in your word this morning. We thank you for the forgiveness that you have given to us. Help us to forgive others so that the pain will be healed and our bitterness is replaced with love, joy, and peace.

We ask this in your son’s name, AMEN

Happiness

Happiness - Mark 12:28-34

All of us have some needs in life beyond the basics of food, clothing, shelter, and security. We see this in our Scripture this morning. All people need some type of self-worth, intimacy with others, and of course intimacy with God. All other laws of Scripture really hang on this great commandment.

In other words, if we are loving God and loving others, everything else falls into place and life works out for us and not only for us but for the glory of God. If we obey the great commandment, then we are really obeying all other commandments. Love God, love your neighbor, and love yourself.

So how do we do this? How does this give us a happy, fulfilling, meaningful life. This morning I would like to look at several key ideas that should make your life better.

First of all, commit your daily life to be a walk with Christ. Use every day and every opportunity that comes your way to glorifying God. Start each day with a prayer of thanksgiving. Ask God for the opportunity to bring Him glory today. Pray for self-control and the strength to get through whatever situations arise throughout the day.

Spend time each day not only talking to God, but reading and meditating on His Word to us and of course apply what you have discovered.

It seems as though our brains are programmed from childhood to be selfish and sinful. It seems as though we automatically lean toward doing the wrong thing. The more we do the wrong thing, the easier it is to deny that we are doing anything wrong in the first place.

The prophet Jeremiah saw this. He said, (Jeremiah 17:9) “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked who can know it.” We need to reprogram our brains with God’s Word, with godly things. If we are going to live a happy, content life then we need to align our thoughts with God’s Word, not the ways of the world.

We need to get rid of the garbage that is bouncing around in our brain and replace it with the faithful Word of God. Some of that garbage comes from others. Ephesians 4:26 tells us to get rid of our grudges daily. We all get angry sometimes, but we need to deal with our anger in appropriate ways.

I am convinced that another key of a happy, meaningful life is taking time and building your relationship with your spouse and children. Sure other close relatives, like parents, siblings, and so on have a high priority, but your spouse and children should always be at the top.

Sometimes conflicts arise when we are with family. It is important to address the issue and do whatever you can to resolve the conflict. Don’t ever seek vengeance on family members. Instead, create an atmosphere of healing love and leave the rest up to God.

No doubt family relationships are important, but so are friends. Fellowshipping with other Christians is important to your overall well being and spiritual growth. In Proverbs 13:20 Solomon writes, “He who walks with wise men will be wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.”

You can’t usually choose your family, but you can select your friends. Choose wisely. You will find that your friends will have an influence on you. If they are fellow Christians progressing on their spiritual journey then you feel that effect on your life as well. If on the other hand, they are Christians in name only, then you too will feel that effect on your life.

Now, that isn’t to say that we shouldn’t be friends with non-Christians because we should. In fact, our life should be a witness to those nonbelievers. We just need to make sure their worldliness doesn’t rub off on us. In fact, we need to rub off our Christ-likeness on them.

The idea is to obviously love others and be friendly and peaceful with all, but try to cultivate those deep relationships with other Christians that are also maturing in their faith. We all need friends. You know how you get friends? You go out and be friendly! We have to earn our friends.

Today, I think it is tough to have time for family and friends because our lives are so cluttered with stuff. They’re filled with activities and other things that just suck up our time. I find this especially true with families. It is like Mom and Dad are simply chauffeurs for their children taking them from one event to another, but never actually spending any time with them.

Many people’s lives seem to be very haphazard today. I think we all need a daily routine. One that includes a nice balance of the topics I have mentioned here this morning, but one that is also personally satisfying to you. It is the idea of being convinced that this is what God wants for your life and you find joy, peace, and satisfaction serving your Lord through your daily routine activities of life.

Your daily routine should include time for God, time for yourself, time for your family, time for your job, and of course time to glorify God through your life.

Finally, you want to be happy, you want to feel like you have a meaningful life, then each week do something nice for someone. It doesn’t matter who and it doesn’t matter what, just do something nice.

It can be a physical activity like raking leaves or cutting the grass. It can simply be a visit to someone who doesn’t get out much or maybe a phone call or card. It doesn’t have to be expensive or time consuming, just do something nice for someone.

Ask God at the beginning of the week to show you someone who needs something this week and see it through. Do something nice for someone else. Not to get a pat on the back, but because this is what God wants from us.

I truly believe that if you love God, love others, and love yourself you will find doing all of the ideas mentioned here to give you that happy, meaningful, fulfilled life. Of course, for anyone who truly knows Jesus Christ and receives Him as Lord and Savior of their lives will indeed have a happy, eternal life with Him.

Closing prayer

Lord, we thank you for our time in your word this morning. Help us this week to focus our life on living out your will. Help us to love you, to love others, and to love ourselves. Make your desires our desires so that you will be honored and glorified through us.

AMEN

I Can’t Handle This

Click here for the audio message of 1 Corinthians 10:1-13.

In our Scripture this morning Paul reminds the Corinthians and us about the difficult situations that the Israelites went through. These things happened to them to provide an example for us, so that we would not fall into those same evils.

But all of us go through periods of struggles. Maybe you are struggling now. You know the Scripture lays out clear principles, but all you can think is, It’s just too hard, I can’t do this. I just can’t handle this anymore. We grumble just like our ancient ancestors.

Or maybe you’re not struggling with sin at all but rather a very painful circumstance—an illness, death, financial crisis, or conflict—that feels like it’s too much for you to handle. Whatever situation you’re in, God has a message for you.

I want to focus on one particular verse this morning. 1 Corinthians 10:13.

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. (1 Corinthians 10:13) ESV

This passage has five hope-giving truths you must embrace in the midst of your struggle.

1. No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man.
You are not alone. You’re not the first person to go through whatever you are experiencing. Whether you’ve lost a loved one, your job, your marriage, or your battle against sin, there are millions of people around the world and throughout history who have experienced essentially the same thing. This should give you an incredible amount of hope.

You’re probably thinking, What hope is there in that? The answer is simply this: common problems have common solutions. Your situation has details that are unique to you, but at its core it is just like what many other people experience. Scripture was written to people who were in many ways like us.

They experienced pain and death; they had bad marriages and problems in church; they struggled with the same kinds of sin we do. Therefore, the solutions God gave them apply to us as well. Whatever your struggle is, the solution is in the Bible. You simply need to search for it and commune with God to provide the strength to find His solutions.

2. God is faithful.
No true Christian would deny God’s faithfulness. But maybe you’ve been tempted to wonder if He’ll be faithful to you. Make no mistake, “if we are faithless He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself” (2 Timothy 2:13). God’s very character is at stake, and God will never be found lacking.

God’s faithfulness always overcomes sin and persecution. God promised His faithfulness to Israel, even after they’d committed unspeakable acts of idolatry (Ezekiel 16:59-63). God was faithful to David even after he sinned with Bathsheba. God was faithful to Peter even after he denied Jesus three times. Sin and impossible circumstances are no match for God’s faithfulness.

Maybe your are thinking God has abandoned you. Or maybe you feel guilty that you have abandoned Him. Well stop thinking that. God is there and has always been here. You may have ignored Him, but His arms are open and ready to welcome you once again.

3. He will not let you be tempted beyond what you’re able.
Whatever you’re facing right now, God’s grace is sufficient for you (2 Corinthians 12:9). It may not feel like it’s possible, but on the basis of God’s character and by His strength you can overcome your trial.

Maybe you’ve observed others going through difficult times and thought to yourself, I could never go through that. The truth is if God placed it into your life, He would give you the grace to go through it. Whatever you’re experiencing now, God gives you the grace to endure it. Once again, ask Him for the strength, the grace, and the mercy to endure through your trial, struggle, or temptation.

4. With the temptation He will also provide a way of escape.
This makes me think of the paratroopers dropped into enemy territory during WWII who need to make their way back to safety. He has no trap door or tunnels to crawl through; he won’t be rescued by helicopter or beamed to safety. He has to find a way through enemy territory.

In the same way, God has provided, in every situation, a path for you to take. There is always a choice of roads to travel. When faced with the temptation to sin, you can choose to succumb to it or you can choose to resist and flee.

When you are confronted with a difficult ordeal, you can succumb to despair and anxiety or you can endure with the strength He provides. Whatever your situation, God’s Word will light the way of escape and show you the path to follow to get you through the situation and out of enemy territory. Trust Him.

5. You will be able to endure it.
After reminding you that your situation is common, God is faithful, and He will strengthen and guide you through difficult times, Paul assures you if you follow God’s path, you can and will endure. If you’re weighed down with the pressures of life, God may not remove the burden, but He will strengthen your mind, body and soul to endure.

Think about it. The Bible isn’t only for people with simple problems—getting cut off on the freeway or plumbing issues. The Bible addresses all people and all problems, whether trivial (bad traffic, clogged faucet) or severe (life dominating sins, terminal illness).

The apostles had personally evangelized and taught many of the people to whom they wrote. Reading their letters you quickly realize people and churches had very difficult problems and they needed apostolic instruction.

In fact, the Hebrew Scriptures were for New Testament believers what the entire Bible is to us—“Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come” (1 Corinthians 10:11).

So when you read 1 Corinthians 10:13, know for certain that no matter the depth of your temptation or trial, the Lord is faithful, He has provided your way of escape, and you can endure it.

Closing prayer

Lord, we thank you for our time together this morning. We are thankful for your grace, your mercy, and your love even when we can’t understand or make sense of the things that are happening in our lives.

Help us to trust you more fully with our lives knowing that you have a plan for each and every one of us individually and collectively.

AMEN

God’s Severe Mercy

Click here for the audio message of 2 Samuel 12:13-23

Last week we examined the incident with Bathsheeba. It essentially goes like this: David saw and desired Bathsheeba. He got what he wanted and then tried to cover things up at first by making it look like the husband was the father, then by simply having the father/husband killed.

So we see a few “small” sins cause a lot of problems. And as we saw last week and will continue to see today these problems didn’t just affect David. Bathsheeba lost her husband and as we will look at today, her child. Uriah lost his life. Joab, the commander of David’s army lost some integrity with the troops, and probably some loyalty among them as well. For sure, his leadership ability was called into question by the soldiers. And finally, several of David’s soldiers lost their life as well.

All because David saw, wanted, got, and covered up. Sometimes this type of thing happens to us as well. Hopefully, our actions don’t escalate to the level of David’s, but they could.

The idea of last week’s lesson was that these little sins can wear down our consciences to allow in more and more sin eventually severing our relationship with God. And that is exactly what Satan wants.

Now when we do sin, and we all do, we know that we can go to God for forgiveness and He will forgive. However, that does not mean that we won’t suffer earthly consequences for our actions. And that is today’s lesson.

The story starts off at the beginning of Chapter 12 with Nathan coming to David to tell him a story. He says, there once was a rich man and a poor man. The rich man was having a dinner for a friend and took the poor man’s only lamb and slaughtered it for the meal.

As we have seen before David was the best King that Israel has ever had and he tried to be fair to all. So, David didn’t like this story about a rich man taking what little a poor man had. So he told Nathan that this rich man should be punished, in fact, he deserves to die, but the law required that the man repay 4 times the price.

Nathan replies, well David you are that man! David was the rich man, Uriah the poor man, and Bathsheeba was the lamb. Nathan used a story or parable to get his point across to David. Jesus also used many parables, the only difference is most people didn’t understand the meaning. David clearly got the message here.

It is difficult for any of us to be truly objective about our own sin. I think we all realize that we aren’t perfect, but on the other hand we also think we aren’t that bad either. We don’t want to see our sin for sin because of our ego, our pride, or maybe even out of embarrassment.

Here is David, a man after God’s own heart. God has given David everything and has promised to continue to be with him throughout his life. But David wanted something else. David wanted Bathsheeba, even though he already had his three wives and all of King Saul’s wives.

He wanted more. David thought his way was better than God’s. How many times has that happened to us? We look and saw and said we want that, rather than looking at all that we do have.

Right after this story from Nathan, David goes to God and confesses his sin. Of course God forgives him as He forgives all of us, but David still has to suffer the consequences of his actions.

David committed adultery and murder, both offenses were punishable by death. Now David was spared by God, but his ancestors were plagued with violence. As we read this morning, his son with Bathsheeba died. Later David’s son Amnon is killed, so is his son Absalom and Adonijah.

Now many people always have the question why did this child die? Why did God do this? Didn’t God say he would not punish the child for the father’s sin? I cannot answer any of these questions and I don’t believe anybody can. We do not know the mind of God.

We do know that David had to live with the death of this child on his mind for the rest of his life. Maybe some of you have experienced this. That is no doubt a very tough thing to deal with.

Anytime someone starts talking about a situation like this I jump to verse 23, But now he is dead. . . Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.” That is such a powerful statement.

The death of a loved one is always difficult to deal with, but we know that if they received Jesus Christ into their life as Lord and Savior, then we too can say with David, they will not return to us, but we shall go to them!

For children there is no if statement. Children go to be with God in heaven immediately upon death. And I don’t say that just to make someone feel good. I believe it to be true based upon God’s word and obviously David does too.

We look at the death of David and Bathsheeba’s son as a very sad, upsetting, terrible thing. And it is, don’t get me wrong, but look at the lives of the rest of David’s family. This child was spared all of that.

Why does God do the things He does? I have no idea, but I know that He has a plan and it’s a good one. Sure some things may seem wrong or crazy to us, but I trust God knows what He is doing.

God is good to us, even though we sin against Him. God is indeed merciful to us even though we will suffer for our actions. God is gracious to us, even when we turn our backs to Him.

Let us truly put our trust in God’s hands. Let us submit our lives to Him knowing that He does what is best, right, and just.

Closing prayer

Lord, we thank you for our time together this morning and these past several years. We are thankful for your grace, your mercy, and your love even when we can’t understand or make sense of the things that are happening in our lives.

Help us to trust you more fully with our lives knowing that you have a plan for each and every one of us individually and collectively.

AMEN

Facing Temptation

Click here for the audio message of 2 Samuel 11

Last time we left off with David bringing home the Ark of God to Jerusalem. He started off doing it his own way, but when God’s wrath was made known to them. David stopped and returned to God’s ways of doing things.

David gets the Ark to Jerusalem and decides he wants to build a temple for the Ark to stay in. God says no, but his son will do that. Instead God has much bigger plans for David.

God says to David that He will make his name great. He will give Israel a place to live. He will give David rest and make him victorious. Finally, God tells David that He will give him a son to succeed him, but also a Son that would rule forever. Of course, the immediate son was Solomon and Jesus Christ is the Son that rules forever.

After this David starts to see God’s Word come true. He is continuously victorious in battle and his name is made great. Then one day, David goes up on his roof and sees this beautiful woman and says, “I want that.” And as king, you pretty much get what you want.

We see then a bunch of what we would call small little sins continue to build up into a massive web of deceit and lies.

First our account of David and Bathsheeba starts off with David maybe being a little bit lazy or arrogant or egotistical. It is spring time and that is when the kings go off to war because during the winter it is cold and there is not as much food available. So kings go to war in the spring.

But not David. He stays back at his castle. Wakes up from a little nap and decides to go for a walk on his roof. So sin number one is David wasn’t doing what he should have been doing. He was idle and he got into trouble.

I’ve never been in the military, but I know some of you have been and I’ve talked with some of my friends who were. They would always tell me about how the Sergeant or whoever was in charge would always give them stupid ridicules things to do.

Why? Because if you have a bunch of soldiers sitting around doing nothing then they are going to get into trouble. This applies to any of us. This is what happened to David. But his sin doesn’t stop there.

David sees this beautiful women, now remember David is married already to a couple of other beautiful women, but he wants her. So David’s next little sin is desiring something that he doesn’t have.


Wow, how often has that gotten us into trouble as well. Even if we don’t act on that desire it still makes us feel bad that we can’t have whatever it is we want. David of course, being King can get what he wants, so little sin number three is David pursues Bathsheeba. Then comes sin number four, David sends for Bathsheeba, even after he finds out she was married.

Think about it. This entire situation could have been avoided if David had simply gone to war with his troops. Or didn’t look at Bathsheeba, or inquiry about her, or send for her.

Since David ignored his conscience through these little sins, he was good to go when Bathsheeba arrives at his bedroom. And that’s the point. Satan doesn’t attack us with this really massive temptation. He uses these small little sins as we call them to enable us to justify our actions.

Satan wears down our defenses and before you know it you are knee deep in some serious sin and separated from God. If you go home and read this entire chapter this afternoon or this evening you will see that God’s name is not mentioned until the very final sentence where it says, “But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord.”

And that is what Satan wants. He wants to separate us from God. He wants us to do things that displease the Lord.

So now we have David committing several little sins that lead to adultery. I would like to say that it is at this point that David gets on his knees in prayer and repentance to God, but that isn’t what happens.

Instead of confessing his sins, he tries to cover them up by sending for Bathsheeba’s husband and tries to get him to sleep with her so it will look like the child is the husband’s. But Uriah is an honorable man and will not sleep with his wife no matter how hard David tries.

So David comes up with another plan. He sends a letter to his commander to have this man Uriah killed during battle. Unbelievable isn’t it! Here we have a man after God’s own heart, lusting after a married woman, impregnating her, trying to cover it up, then killing her husband. Unreal.

As you look at this web of lies and deception that David had built you see how many people it involved. Obviously David and Bathsheeba, but also David’s servants had to know what was going on and were no doubt sworn to secrecy. The king’s commander also had to realize that something was fishy with the letter that he received to have Uriah killed.

Of course Uriah has to pay for David’s sin with his life and not just Uriah but other soldiers died during the battle as well. Finally, we see next time that David and Bathsheeba’s child dies as a result of all this as well.

This is what happens when we stray from God. There is a lesson here for all of us to learn this morning.

One author wrote, “The process works like this. First, the thought is allowed to enter into our minds. Second, the imagination is sparked by the thought. Third, we feel a sense of pleasure at the fantasy and we entertain it.

Fourth, and finally, we engage in the evil action [giving in] to its urges. This is how little by little, temptations gain entrance and overcome us if they are not resisted at the beginning. The longer we let them overcome us, the weaker we become, and the stronger the enemy [is] against us.”

There’s an old saying,
Sow a thought – reap an action.
Sow an action – reap a habit.
Sow a habit – reap a character.
Sow a character – reap a destiny.

How true that is. We need to remember that we are what we make ourselves to be. We can be children of God or we can be children of Satan. Who are we going to listen to and trust with the everyday matters of life.

Closing prayer

Lord, we come to you now seeking your guidance in our everyday matters of life. Help us to turn from our temptations that we face. And when we do happen to give in and mess up, strengthen us to not cover up our sins, but to come to you for forgiveness. Grant us the grace, mercy and peace that you desire for us. AMEN.