Good morning, Bereans. We have been talking for the last several weeks about the sovereignty of God. We talked about God's sovereignty in salvation and the fact that nobody can come to Christ unless God chooses and draws him. We talked last week about God's sovereignty over everything that happens in our world.
I think that hearing about God's sovereignty can sometimes cause believers to become fatalistic. They may think that if God controls everything, does it really matter how we live? If all of our actions are controlled, then we are not responsible for how we live. This thinking is wrong. We are responsible for how we live. Understanding God's sovereignty doesn't excuse us from following his commands because Yahweh disciplines those he loves.
Another doctrine that may cause us to think that sin doesn't matter is the security of the believer. Once you become a Christian by faith in Christ, you can never be lost. Once you become a son of God, you will always be a son of God—no matter how messed up your behavior may get. Our sin does not affect our position.
For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous. Romans 5:19 ESV
It is through Christ's obedience that we are made righteous and through his obedience alone.
to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. Ephesians 1:6 ESV
We are blessed and we are secure because we are in the Beloved. We are as secure in our salvation as Christ is in the Trinity.
Christ took our sin and bore its penalty, and he gave us his righteousness. We stand before God perfectly righteous because we are in Christ.
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV
What kind of life does Christ give those who put their trust in Him?
that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. John 3:15-16 ESV
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. John 3:36 ESV
Believers receive "everlasting" life. Now, take a guess at how long "everlasting" life would last. Go ahead. Take a wild guess. The life of God that we receive by faith is everlasting. We cannot lose it!
Now, does believing in eternal security mean that we can sin with no consequences? Or let me ask it this way: If our salvation is secure, does it matter how we live? The answers to these questions are "no" and "yes" respectively. There is a consequence to sin, and it does matter how we live.
What is Sin? John makes that very clear for us.
Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. 1 John 3:4 ESV
All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death. 1 John 5:17 ESV
Sin is disobeying God. It is violating his Holy law. God is the Creator and lawgiver, and any violation of his moral will is sin, and sin has consequences. How do we know God's moral will? It is revealed to us in the Bible.
For our study time this morning, I want us to look at a biblical example of a great man of God and the severe price he paid for his sin. The story of David and Bathsheba is very familiar to most Christians. But what happened to David after he repented of this sin is not that well known. Let's look at what David's sin cost him and hopefully come away with a greater understanding of the heinousness of sin.
God said that David was a man after His own heart. Speaking of Saul, the Scriptures say:
But now your kingdom shall not continue. The LORD has sought out a man after his own heart, and the LORD has commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you." 1 Samuel 13:14 ESV
Saul's replacement, David, is to be a man after Yahweh's own heart. Paul says this of David:
And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, 'I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.' Acts 13:22 ESV
The NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible says, "After his own heart. Probably means 'of his own choosing.' The phrase does not necessarily reflect the piety of David, but demonstrates God's exercise of will in the rejection of Saul."
Commenting on "A man after my heart," Albert Barnes writes, "This expression is found in 1Samuel13:14. The connection shows that it means simply a man who would not be rebellious and disobedient as Saul was, but would do the will of God and keep His commandments. This refers, doubtless, rather to the public than to the private character of David; to his character as a king. It means that he would make the will of God the great rule and law of his reign, in contradistinction from Saul, who, as a king, had disobeyed God."
One characteristic especially distinguished David's rule—he rigidly guarded the people from idolatry and all the abominations which attended idol-worship and kept them faithful to the adoration of the pure and holy God of their fathers.
Notice what Soloman says about David in his prayer to Yahweh.
And Solomon said, "You have shown great and steadfast love to your servant David my father, because he walked before you in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart toward you. And you have kept for him this great and steadfast love and have given him a son to sit on his throne this day. 1 Kings 3:6 ESV
because David did what was right in the eyes of the LORD and did not turn aside from anything that he commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite. 1 Kings 15:5 ESV
As we'll see, David had his failures, but the bent of his life was to love and serve Yahweh. But then there's Bathsheba. Let's look at what David's disobedience cost him.
In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel. And they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem. 2 Samuel 11:1 ESV
In the spring, after the latter rains were over, it was customary to resume military activity. Although it was customary for kings to accompany armies, they did not always do so. David, for reasons not given, remained in Jerusalem. At this time, David had been the king for 17 years. He should have gone to battle with his men, but instead, he stayed behind and sent Joab. Joab was David's Chief of Staff, his four-star general.
I think we can draw a principle from what we see here: When you are where you shouldn't be, you become subject to temptations that you wouldn't experience if you were where you belonged. Does that make sense?
It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king's house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful. 2 Samuel 11:2 ESV
David is looking at a woman he shouldn't be looking at. He should have been at war. David had three beautiful wives, but he was very tempted when he saw Bathsheba.
And David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, "Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?" 2 Samuel 11:3 ESV
Instead of fleeing the temptation, David pursued it. He should have done what Joseph did in Genesis 39:11-12 and run away. That is the proper way to respond to temptation—run!
So, David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he lay with her. (Now she had been purifying herself from her uncleanness.) Then she returned to her house. 2 Samuel 11:4 ESV
This is adultery! This great man of God violated two of the ten commandments.
"You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's." Exodus 20:17 ESV
"You shall not commit adultery. Exodus 20:14 ESV
David began by coveting, and then he committed adultery.
Notice the parentheses at the end of 2 Samuel 11:4. The NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible says, "She was purifying herself from her monthly uncleanness. This notice indicates that Bathsheba has just finished menstruating, eliminating any possibility that Bathsheba could have been pregnant by her husband, thus complicating David's attempt to cover up his misdeed."
And the woman conceived, and she sent and told David, "I am pregnant." 2 Samuel 11:5 ESV
David's sin has gotten him in trouble. It started by David's not being where he should have been. Then he began to covet which led to his commission of adultery and the resulting conception.
Many Christians would say that David must not have been a Christian if he did this. Can a Christian commit adultery? Yes! Apart from the grace of God, a Christian can commit any sin that an unbeliever can, except for rejecting Christ. Most sins that are condoned by Christians are just as bad as what David did.
David should have confessed his sin, but he didn't. The longer you stay in sin, the worse it gets.
So, David sent word to Joab, "Send me Uriah the Hittite." And Joab sent Uriah to David. When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab was doing and how the people were doing and how the war was going. 2 Samuel 11:6-7 ESV
The crisis brought by the pregnancy required some kind of suitable resolution, so David determined to "legitimize" the impending birth by bringing Uriah back from the Ammonite campaign, thus making it possible for him to spend time with his wife and, thereby, cover up the adultery.
Then David said to Uriah, "Go down to your house and wash your feet." And Uriah went out of the king's house, and there followed him a present from the king. But Uriah slept at the door of the king's house with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house. 2 Samuel 11:8-9 ESV
David's plan to cover his sin failed. Why should he, Uriah argued, be allowed the comforts of home and a conjugal visit while his friends in combat were deprived of them?
And David invited him, and he ate in his presence and drank, so that he made him drunk. And in the evening, he went out to lie on his couch with the servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house. 2 Samuel 11:13 ESV
Even after David got him drunk, Uriah's sense of loyalty to his comrades prevailed over his desire for his wife.
In the letter he wrote, "Set Uriah in the forefront of the hardest fighting, and then draw back from him, that he may be struck down, and die." 2 Samuel 11:15 ESV
David moves from adultery to murder. Uriah wouldn't sleep with his wife, so David had him killed.
And the men of the city came out and fought with Joab, and some of the servants of David among the people fell. Uriah the Hittite also died. 2 Samuel 11:17 ESV
David is now a murderer. He has broken another of the ten commandments.
"You shall not murder. Exodus 20:13 ESV
So, David, a man of God, commits adultery and murder.
When the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she lamented over her husband. And when the mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD. 2 Samuel 11:26-27 ESV
This translation is kind of weak. NASB Translation says, "But the thing that David had done was evil in the sight of the LORD." Not once in all of this did David confess his sin. His sin just keeps piling up. He goes from one sin to another trying to cover his sins.
Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy. Proverbs 28:13 ESV
Lest you think that David is just having a great time sinning it up, look with me at Psalm 38. This Psalm is supposed to have been composed by David after his sin with Bathsheba.
O LORD, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath! For your arrows have sunk into me, and your hand has come down on me. There is no soundness in my flesh because of your indignation; there is no health in my bones because of my sin. Psalms 38:1-3 ESV
Does this sound like David is enjoying his sin? He feels like a human pin cushion because he is experiencing pain and loss of health. This is the joy of sin.
My wounds stink and fester because of my foolishness, I am utterly bowed down and prostrate; all the day I go about mourning. For my sides are filled with burning, and there is no soundness in my flesh. I am feeble and crushed; I groan because of the tumult of my heart. O Lord, all my longing is before you; my sighing is not hidden from you. My heart throbs; my strength fails me, and the light of my eyes—it also has gone from me. My friends and companions stand aloof from my plague, and my nearest kin stand far off. Those who seek my life lay their snares; those who seek my hurt speak of ruin and meditate treachery all day long. Psalms 38:5-12 ESV
For I am ready to fall, and my pain is ever before me. I confess my iniquity; I am sorry for my sin. Psalms 38:17-18 ESV
Finally, David has had enough, and he confesses his sin. Believer, the sooner you come to this point, the better off you will be. When you sin, don't try to cover it up, but confess it.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9 ESV
"If we confess our sins"—"confess" is a compound Greek term homologeo which is from "to speak" and "the same" so this literally means "to say the same thing." Confessing, therefore, means saying about our sins what God says about them, namely, that they are indeed sins, offenses against Him. It is present tense, which implies ongoing action. Believers continue to agree with God that they have violated His holiness.
Some say that believers are already forgiven of all sin and that they don't need to confess their sins. What do you think? Well to not confess your sins would be to not agree with what God says about sin.
I think that the believer's life should be marked by continual confession of sins. It begins at salvation and goes on throughout one's life. It seems clear that confessing sin is a crucial part of walking in the light.
Let's continue on with David's story. God sent a prophet to David to confront him in his sin.
And the LORD sent Nathan to David. He came to him and said to him, "There were two men in a certain city, the one rich and the other poor. The rich man had very many flocks and herds, but the poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb, which he had bought. And he brought it up, and it grew up with him and with his children. It used to eat of his morsel and drink from his cup and lie in his arms, and it was like a daughter to him. Now there came a traveler to the rich man, and he was unwilling to take one of his own flock or herd to prepare for the guest who had come to him, but he took the poor man's lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him." 2 Samuel 12:1-4 ESV
The case presented by Nathan may appear to have nothing to do with David's crimes, since it deals with neither adultery nor murder. But what Nathan's case demonstrates is that adultery and murder were only the end results of a more serious crime—abuse of power. David is formally indicted by the divine counsel (speaking through the prophet) not only for taking another man's wife but for believing that he could take whatever he wanted and for being dissatisfied with what God had given him.
Then David's anger was greatly kindled against the man, and he said to Nathan, "As the LORD lives, the man who has done this deserves to die, 2 Samuel 12:5 ESV
What a hypocrite! It's interesting how easily we can see the sin of somebody else but don't see it in our own lives. David just pronounced judgment upon himself.
and he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity." 2 Samuel 12:6 ESV
David would like to be able to sentence the offender to death, but the law was clear enough. The fourfold compensation is consistent with the law for the theft of a sheep.
"If a man steals an ox or a sheep, and kills it or sells it, he shall repay five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep. Exodus 22:1 ESV
Please remember what David says in verse 6: "He shall restore the lamb fourfold."
Nathan said to David, "You are the man! Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, 'I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul. 2 Samuel 12:7 ESV
Nathan tells David that the parable is all about him. Then God reviews the grace that He has demonstrated toward David. God had given David everything, but he wasn't satisfied.
And I gave you your master's house and your master's wives into your arms and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah. And if this were too little, I would add to you as much more. Why have you despised the word of the LORD, to do what is evil in his sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and have taken his wife to be your wife and have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.' 2 Samuel 12:8-10 ESV
Now, notice carefully what verse 11 says.
Thus says the LORD, 'Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house. And I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. 2 Samuel 12:11 ESV
"Out of your own house"—keep this in mind along with verse 6,"He shall restore the lamb fourfold."
Now, finally David repents.
David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the LORD." And Nathan said to David, "The LORD also has put away your sin; you shall not die. 2 Samuel 12:13 ESV
This is where we pick up Psalm 38:18: "I have sinned." David confesses his sin, and God forgives him. Notice what Nathan says in response to David's confession—"Yahweh also has put away your sin; you shall not die." When we confess our sin, God forgives us, and we are restored to His fellowship.
Now, someone is bound to say, "Boy, David sure got away with a lot. He got to enjoy the pleasures of sin, and then upon confession, God forgave him." If you think that, you are, first of all, forgetting about Psalm 38 and how miserable David was while in sin. And second, you are forgetting that what one sows has consequences.
Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. Galatians 6:7 ESV
The law of the harvest is that you reap what you sow. When David confessed his sin, God forgave him and restored him to fellowship, but this did not remove the consequences of his sin.
Let's say that you go out and get involved in fornication (sex outside of marriage), and because of this sin, you contract AIDS. Then you confess your sin, and God restores you to His fellowship. Does God automatically heal you of AIDS? He could! But the chances are good that you're stuck with AIDS even though God has forgiven you. You do reap what you sow. David paid way beyond what he experienced in Psalm 38. David was disciplined "four-fold" (2 Samuel 12:6) "out of his own house" (2 Samuel 12:11). Let's look at what happened to David because of his sin.
1. DAVID'S FOUR-MONTH-OLD CHILD DIED
Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the LORD, the child who is born to you shall die." 2 Samuel 12:14 ESV
On the seventh day the child died 2 Samuel 12:18 ESV
David's four-month-old child of Bathsheba died because of David's sin. Think about this, parents. Can you imagine how you would feel if your child died as a result of your sin?
Believers, this is something we must all understand—our sin affects others. Let's say that your sin is drunkenness. Will it affect others in your home? It sure will if you are verbally or physically abusive to your family because of it. You might even lose your job and thus not be able to provide for your family. Worst of all, you might drive drunk and actually end up killing some or all of your family. Our sin affects others. What if you commit the sin of adultery? Will it affect your family? It sure will! You could possibly bring an incurable disease home to your spouse and could end up in a divorce because of it. Our sin affects others, and David's sin destroyed his family. Remember "four- fold" and "out of your own house."
2. AMNON RAPED TAMAR
Now Absalom, David's son, had a beautiful sister, whose name was Tamar. And after a time, Amnon, David's son, loved her. 2 Samuel 13:1 ESV
Love here is the Hebrew word ahab [Ah-hov] which is a very general word for love, like our word for love. What is interesting is that the LXX translates ahab as agapao.
But he would not listen to her, and being stronger than she, he violated her and lay with her. 2 Samuel 13:14 ESV
Amnon loved (agapao) Tamar so he raped her and then sent her away. How does that fit your view of agape?
When King David heard of all these things, he was very angry. But Absalom spoke to Amnon neither good nor bad, for Absalom hated Amnon, because he had violated his sister Tamar. 2 Samuel 13:21-22 ESV
David's son, Amnon, raped his half-sister, Tamar. David knew that he was the cause of Tamar's pain. So, we see death and sexual sin in David's household. David reaped what he had sown.
3. AMNON WAS MURDERED BY ABSOLOM
Then Absalom commanded his servants, "Mark when Amnon's heart is merry with wine, and when I say to you, 'Strike Amnon,' then kill him. Do not fear; have I not commanded you? Be courageous and be valiant." 2 Samuel 13:28 ESV
David's discipline is severe. We can only imagine his great pain as his family is being destroyed.
4. ABSALOM WAS KILLED
Absalom had been working on winning the support of the people. He had been weaning the people away from David. Absalom effected a coup, and David fled the city, running for his life from his own son. But no matter what Absalom did to David, David still loved him very much. David asked his men to deal gently with Absalom in battle.
The king said to the Cushite, "Is it well with the young man Absalom?" And the Cushite answered, "May the enemies of my lord the king and all who rise up against you for evil be like that young man." And the king was deeply moved and went up to the chamber over the gate and wept. And as he went, he said, "O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son!" 2 Samuel 18:32-33 ESV
I think that David is wishing that God would have killed him for his sin. What could be more painful for a parent than years of pain watching his family destroyed because of his sin. David knew that the pain was his own fault. David paid "four-fold, out of his own house" because of his sin. David was held to a high standard because he was the king. His chastening was severe because his sin was severe. God had a purpose in the discipline. He wasn't just punishing David but was teaching him not to sin and helping him to grow and mature.
And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? "My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives." Hebrews 12:5-6 ESV
Believer, mark this down: sin brings discipline; sin causes pain; sin is destructive. Don't ever take sin lightly because sin is an affront to God, and it will always cost you. Our salvation is secure, but God will chasten us in this life if we fail to walk in obedience to Him.
Believer, if we don't spend time with the Lord in His Word it becomes easy to drift into sin and away from his fellowship. This is one of the reasons I'm always harping on you to read your Bibles on a daily basis.
My hope and prayer this morning is that we all realize the pain and destruction that sin brings and, therefore, turn from it, and live a life of obedience to God. There is no joy like the joy of fellowship with Yahweh. Sin brings discipline, but obedience brings blessings.
You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Psalms 16:11 ESV
When David said to the Lord: "In your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore," he meant that nearness to God Himself is the only all-satisfying experience of the universe. God created us, and He created us to live in fellowship with Him. Only as we do that, will we know true happiness.