You Are The Man
Notes
Transcript
Last Time:
Last Time:
We Saw the Great and Righteous David Commit a Terrible Sin
Then He Tried to Cover Up His Sin Instead of Repenting and Confessing it
This Cover-Up Led to the Premeditated Murder of Uriah and the Deaths of Several Other Innocent Men
David’s Conscience Became Hardened and He Didn’t Recognize the Evil He was Walking in
But God Noticed, and He was Displeased
2 Samuel 12:1-14
2 Samuel 12:1-14
The Lord sent Nathan to David. When he came to him, he said, “There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.
“Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him.”
David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, “As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this must die! He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity.”
God Sends Nathan the Prophet to David
We Met Nathan in Chapter 7 When God Told David that He was Going to Build Him a House (Royal Dynasty)
Nathan Begins Telling David about 2 Men, One Rich and the Other Poor
The Rich Man had Next to Everything and the Poor Man had Next to Nothing
We First Learn about the Character of the Poor Man
He had a Little Ewe Lamb that He Raised and Cared for like His Own Children
Then We Learn about the Character of the Rich Man
He would Rather Steal and Slaughter His Poor Neighbor’s One Pet Lamb than Slaughter One of His Many
This Story Makes Any Decent Human Being Angry
David is Angry and He Demands Justice for the Poor Man
This Story Allows Us to See How Ugly & Hideous Sin Really Is
This Story Allows Us to See How Ugly & Hideous Sin Really Is
David’s Anger Stemmed from the Man’s Wicked Act and His Lack of Pity
David Sees the Ugliness of the Rich Man, but He Doesn’t See His Own Ugliness
We All Tend to Struggle with this
“Do not judge so that you will not be judged.
“For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you.
“Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?
“Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye?
“You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.
When Paul was Writing to the Jewish Christians in Rome about How They Believed Themselves to be Living Righteously by the Law, He Said...
you, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that one shall not steal, do you steal?
You who say that one should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?
You who boast in the Law, through your breaking the Law, do you dishonor God?
It’s Easier to Look Out a Window than into a Mirror
We would Probably be a Lot More Humble, Merciful, and Forgiving if We Made Ourselves Aware of Our Own Sins, Weaknesses, and Shortcomings More Often
So David Hears the Story of the 2 Men and Quickly Judges the Rich Man as Guilty and Deserving of Death
Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave your master’s house to you, and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you all Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. Why did you despise the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’
“This is what the Lord says: ‘Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity on you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will sleep with your wives in broad daylight. You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.’ ”
After Declaring Judgement on the Rich Man, David Finds Out, He is the Rich Man
Bathsheba is the Little Ewe Lamb that was Stolen and Devoured
Uriah is the Poor Man Who Loved His Little Lamb
God had Given David Everything He could Ever Want/Need
He Anointed Him King Over Israel
He Protected and Delivered Him from Saul
He Gave Him Saul’s House and Wives
He Gave Him All of Israel and Judah
And God would have Given David Even More if He had Only Asked
But David Dispised (Considered Worthless) God and His Word
Notice that God Doesn’t Mention the Sin of Sleeping with Bathsheba
What David did to Despise God’s Word was the Cover-Up
He Killed Uriah and Took Bathsheba as His Wife to Cover Up His Sins
Now David is About to Find Out that Sins have Consequences
Now David is About to Find Out that Sins have Consequences
The Sword will Never Depart from His House
His Family will be Plagued with Violence
We will See in the Coming Weeks Some of the Terrible Violence that will Take Place in David’s House
David’s Sins were Kept Secret, but His Consequences will be Dealt Out Openly
Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.
For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.
Our Actions Always Have Consequences and We See that No Where as Clearly as Here
Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.”
Nathan replied, “The Lord has taken away your sin. You are not going to die.
Confession Leads To Forgiveness
Confession Leads To Forgiveness
David’s Eyes are Finally Seeing Clearly
He Recognizes His Guilt and Immediately Owns Up to it
He Didn’t Offer Any Excuses or Explanations
He Doesn’t Try to Cover Up His Sins Any Longer
He Doesn’t Scramble His Brain for a Way to Rid Himself of the Problem of Nathan
He Simply Says, “I have sinned against God”
Is There Really Anything Else to Say?
David Confessed His Sin and God’s Grace was Immediately Made Available to Him
God Took Away His Sin (Passed it by or Passed Over it)
David would Not Die for His Sins
Notice How Immediate God’s Grace is
As Soon as David’s Heart was Convicted of His Sins and He Confessed that He was Wrong, God Immediately Forgave Him
That’s the Kind of Forgiveness We Have in Christ Jesus
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
But because by doing this you have shown utter contempt for the Lord, the son born to you will die.”
Forgiveness Doesn’t Remove Consequences
Forgiveness Doesn’t Remove Consequences
The Previous Consequences Still Stand and a New One is Added Here at the End
The Baby that Bathsheba is Pregnant with will Die
David was Now Pure in God’s Sight, but There were Still Going to be Consequences for His Wicked Actions
His Family is Going to be Ravaged by Violence and Several of His Children are Going to Die
If David had Only Known What would Come about Because of His Lustful Actions, He would Never have Stepped Foot on His Roof that Day
In this Section, We Learn from David that:
Sin is Ugly
Our Sins Don’t Seem as Ugly to Us as the Sins of Others
But if Our Eyes to the Truth, We will See the Hideousness of Our Own Sins
Sin has Consequences
The Consequences of Our Sins are Often the Last Thing We Think about When We are Being Tempted
But We can Rest Assured that There will Always be Consequences for Our Actions
And the Sin that Brought Them on is Never Worth it
Confession Leads to Forgiveness
When We Acknowledge and Confess Our Sins, God will Forgive Us
Forgiveness Doesn’t Remove Consequences
Consequences aren’t Something that is Removed by Forgiveness
Let that be a Reminder to Us the Next Time the Devil Tempts Us
There will be Consequences and the Sin is Never Worth it
But God’s Mercy is Always There Through the Sacrifice of Jesus
Even When We Do Fail, God is Ready and Willing to Forgive