1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:11,000 One tiny grain of sand, turning into him, a whirling motion. 2 00:00:13,000 --> 00:00:25,000 You're a beyond the furthest morning star, close enough to hold me in your arms. 3 00:00:25,000 --> 00:00:37,000 And I, I lift up my heart and I cry. 4 00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:51,000 My love, you are a great garbage mowering, found through my heart, free of... 5 00:00:51,000 --> 00:01:01,000 Oh my, I'm not a guy. 6 00:01:01,000 --> 00:01:12,000 One timid fateful heart resounds upon the rock of ages. 7 00:01:12,000 --> 00:01:23,000 My jumping heart and soul becomes a song of the moon and the waves are dry. 8 00:01:23,000 --> 00:01:36,000 You come across the mountains and the seas, I enter from the deepest part of me. 9 00:01:36,000 --> 00:01:48,000 And I, I lift up my heart and I cry. 10 00:01:48,000 --> 00:02:02,000 My love, you are a great garbage mowering, found through my heart, free of... 11 00:02:02,000 --> 00:02:12,000 Oh my, I'm not a guy. 12 00:02:12,000 --> 00:02:21,000 From age to age you're ready to imagine things. 13 00:02:21,000 --> 00:02:34,000 When I miss the light, the night is dawning. When I'm slamming all the doors you've opened. 14 00:02:34,000 --> 00:02:46,000 Hold on to me. Hold on to me. 15 00:02:46,000 --> 00:02:59,000 Hold on to me when it's too dark to see you. When I am sure I have reached the end. 16 00:02:59,000 --> 00:03:13,000 Hold on to me when I forget I need you. When I let go of me again. 17 00:03:13,000 --> 00:03:25,000 When I don't feel like I'm worth pretending. When I'm tired of not pretending. 18 00:03:25,000 --> 00:03:47,000 Hold on to me when I start to break in desperation, underneath the weight of expectation. Hold on to me. 19 00:03:47,000 --> 00:04:07,000 Hold on to me. Hold on to me when it's too dark to see you. When I am sure I have reached the end. 20 00:04:07,000 --> 00:04:24,000 Hold on to me when I forget I need you. When I let go of me again. 21 00:04:24,000 --> 00:04:46,000 I could rest in your arms forever. Cause I know nobody wants me back. Hold on to me. Hold on to me. 22 00:04:46,000 --> 00:05:02,000 Be Better Bit Parts. 23 00:05:02,000 --> 00:05:21,000 So when all is said and done, after we have looked at a text that is really full of a fairly horrific event that took place, we will walk out of this room and I hope be better bit parts. That is the goal. We'll all sum up to that point. So memorize it now. I'm going to be a better bit part. 24 00:05:21,000 --> 00:05:37,000 So next, maybe give me a little hoo-dah-hah or amen if you're with me. Second Samuel 13. Amen. Thank you very much. So already some of you are going, wait that sounds a little bit familiar. That reference, Second Samuel 13. We have looked at it briefly on Tuesday night recently. 25 00:05:37,000 --> 00:05:52,000 But we are going to go back to an actual event. And when we were here Tuesday, I thought the Lord was leading me to this text for Sunday morning for today. And indeed he did. So we didn't read it then. But we did read what follows. So at some point in time I'll ask somebody to summarize a little bit of what follows. 26 00:05:52,000 --> 00:06:09,000 So here we go. Second Samuel chapter 13 verse 1. We've got some interesting characters. Now it was after that. After what? After war settled down. A period of peace developed. Everybody went home. Now it was after this that Absalom, the son of David, had a beautiful sister whose name was Tamar. 27 00:06:09,000 --> 00:06:38,000 Does anybody remember Absalom? Don't go forward in his life. Do you remember back in his life a little bit from Tuesday? Tell me something about Absalom that was here on Tuesday. Anything. Tell me something. There's one that's something. Anything about Absalom. I'm going to give you a little hint. What's the hint? No, he didn't commit suicide. He did get hung from his hair eventually. Yeah, you jumped forward in his life. What was that? He did betray David. Okay, so we know a little bit about him. But this is before all that actually happens. He didn't get hung from his hair yet, obviously, because the story is about what he's doing in his life right now. And he didn't betray David quite yet. 28 00:06:38,000 --> 00:07:03,000 Absalom, the son of David, had a beautiful sister whose name was Tamar. And Amnon, the son of David, loved her. Amnon was Absalom's brother. Amnon was the oldest child. So by rights, that makes him what? He's the oldest child of David. By rights, he is what? He is heir to the throne. He is next. Theoretically. We're not there yet. Thank God David is still king. But he is theoretically next. 29 00:07:03,000 --> 00:07:20,000 They are half brothers. And Tamar is Absalom's blood sister and Amnon's half sister. And she's beautiful. And Amnon, it says, loved her. Oh, it's going to be a romantic story. Or maybe not. 30 00:07:20,000 --> 00:07:36,000 And Amnon was so frustrated because of his sister Tamar that he made himself ill. For she was a virgin. And it seemed hard to Amnon to do anything to her. And truthfully, there really wasn't anything he could do because in the Old Testament in Deuteronomy it says very clearly that you're not to lay with your half sister. 31 00:07:36,000 --> 00:07:50,000 Now we know that David, his father, did some pretty bad things in his younger days. And we know that even Abraham took Sarai, his half Sarah, who was Abram and Sarai previously, took his half sister. Sarai was his half sister. 32 00:07:50,000 --> 00:08:00,000 And so even though God had said never do that, there were those before who had done that. There was precedent for it. But it seemed to him like he couldn't have her. And he was frustrated because of his sister's half sister Tamar. 33 00:08:00,000 --> 00:08:11,000 That he made himself ill. For she was a virgin. It seemed hard to Amnon to do anything to her. But Amnon had a friend whose name was Jonadab. He'll become a very important character before we're through. So remember that name. Jonadab. 34 00:08:11,000 --> 00:08:23,000 He was the son of Shimeah, David's brother. So that makes him cousin. So this is a cousin. So he's in the same household, same family. He's in the king's household. But he's a cousin. Not really in line for the throne. Maybe like 15th or something. 35 00:08:23,000 --> 00:08:36,000 Jonadab was a very shrewd man. He was wise. He could figure things out. He could get things done. Verse 4. And he said to him, Oh son of king, son of the king, why are you so depressed morning after morning? Will you not tell me? 36 00:08:36,000 --> 00:08:46,000 And then Amnon said to him, I am in love with Tamar, the sister of my brother Absalom. So basically he's just exposed his dark secret, if you will. That which is causing him so much frustration and messing with his health. 37 00:08:46,000 --> 00:09:05,000 And he exposes it to Jonadab. Verse 5. Jonadab then said to him, lie down on your bed and pretend to be ill. When your father comes to see you, that's his father David the king, say to him, please let my sister Tamar come and give me some food to eat and let her prepare the food in my sight that I may see it and eat from her hand. 38 00:09:05,000 --> 00:09:20,000 So he's been not eating. He's been sick to the point that he's not eating. And it's kind of a thing for wealthy children who are possibly descendants of the king to refuse to eat. Like if they're not getting their way. It's actually a thing that happens. Look it up. It's happened thousands of times historically. They refuse to eat because they have everything. 39 00:09:20,000 --> 00:09:38,000 So they punish themselves so that people go, oh but Amnon's sick. What are we going to do for Amnon? Everybody have a pity party for them. And Amnon's been making himself sick and he's not really eating. So he's being advised to tell David that she should come, Tamar the one that he is in love with, that is forbidden fruit if you will. 40 00:09:38,000 --> 00:09:47,000 She should come and prepare the food in his sight and then he'll take and eat. So he's going to get his way. So Jonadab advises him. Verse 6. So Amnon lay down and pretended to be ill. 41 00:09:47,000 --> 00:10:00,000 When the king came to see him, Amnon said to the king, Please let my sister Tamar come and make me a couple of cakes in my sight that I may eat from her hand. Then David sent to the house for Tamar, saying, Go now to your brother Amnon's house and prepare food for him. 42 00:10:00,000 --> 00:10:13,000 So Tamar went to her brother Amnon's house and he was lying down and she took dough and kneaded it, made cakes in his sight and baked the cakes. She took the pan and dished them out before him. But he refused to eat. 43 00:10:13,000 --> 00:10:23,000 And Amnon said, Have everyone go out from me. So now he's going to be alone in the room with Tamar and they probably think they're going to have a private conversation or that he doesn't want anybody to see him eat or whatever. 44 00:10:23,000 --> 00:10:33,000 So everyone went out from him and then Amnon said to Tamar, Bring the food into the bedroom and I may eat from your hand. This is not looking good. 45 00:10:33,000 --> 00:10:45,000 So Tamar took the cakes which she had made and brought them into the bedroom to her brother Amnon. When she brought them to him to eat, he took hold of her. He didn't take the cakes, he took her. And he said, Come lie with me, my sister. 46 00:10:45,000 --> 00:10:56,000 But she answered him, No, my brother, do not violate me, for such a thing is not done in Israel. Do not do this disgraceful thing. As for me, where could I get rid of my reproach? 47 00:10:56,000 --> 00:11:08,000 And as for you, you will be like one of the fools in Israel. Now therefore please speak to the king, for he will not withhold me from you. So her plea to him is, Don't take me, don't rape me, don't force me. 48 00:11:08,000 --> 00:11:18,000 Don't ask me to do what's completely illegitimate because there's no peace for us after that. And she said, But ask David and if there is a way, he'll make it happen. So that's her plea. 49 00:11:18,000 --> 00:11:36,000 Verse 14, However he, that's Amnon, wouldn't listen to her, since he was stronger than she, he violated her and lay with her. Then Amnon hated her with a very great hatred, for the hatred with which he hated her was greater than the love with which he had loved her. 50 00:11:36,000 --> 00:11:49,000 And Amnon said to her, Get up, go away. But she said to him, No, no, because this wrong in sending me away is greater than the other that you have done to me. She's like, You're going to send me away now after you raped me? That's even worse. 51 00:11:49,000 --> 00:11:55,000 Now I'll be living in reproach for the rest of my life. Basically if he had claimed it, if he had owned it, maybe there's something could have been done, but she's begging him. 52 00:11:55,000 --> 00:12:07,000 Yet he would not listen to her. Then he called this young man who attended him, called this young man who attended him, Now throw this woman out of my presence and lock the door behind her. Now she had on a long sleeved garment. 53 00:12:07,000 --> 00:12:14,000 From this manner the virgin daughters of the king dressed themselves in robes. So it was very clear that they were not to be touched. They even had long sleeves all the time. 54 00:12:14,000 --> 00:12:25,000 Then his attendant took her out and locked the door behind her. And Tamar put ashes on her head. And she tore her long sleeved garment. She's no longer a virgin through violence. She tore her long sleeve garment which was on her. 55 00:12:25,000 --> 00:12:30,000 And she put her hand on her head and she went away crying aloud as she went. 56 00:12:30,000 --> 00:12:45,000 Then Absalom her brother said to her, this is Absalom who will later betray David. We understand that. Guy with the beautiful hair. Absalom her brother said to her, has Amnon your brother been with you? But now keep silent my sister. He is your brother. Did not take this matter to heart. 57 00:12:45,000 --> 00:12:52,000 So basically he's telling her to just sweep the whole thing under the rug. So Tamar remained and was desolate in her brother Absalom's house. 58 00:12:52,000 --> 00:13:04,000 Now then King David heard of all these matters and he was angry. But Absalom did not speak to Amnon either good or bad. For Absalom hated Amnon because he had violated his sister Tamar. 59 00:13:04,000 --> 00:13:09,000 That's through verse 22. And the story that some of us know from Tuesday picks up there in a minute. 60 00:13:09,000 --> 00:13:19,000 But before we do that we're going to look at these verses and I'm going to pick out a few things. Everything I'm about to share with you the Lord laid on my heart as a heavy burden to bring it today. So I hope you'll take this very seriously. 61 00:13:19,000 --> 00:13:29,000 The first one we kind of already know and that is that there is a tendency to accept kinds of love. I mean the story started out with Amnon saying I love Tamar. 62 00:13:29,000 --> 00:13:36,000 But does everything that we just read look like any kind of love that you think is love? That he would rape her? That he would make him sick wanting her so badly? 63 00:13:36,000 --> 00:13:41,000 Himself sick wanting her so badly? That's not love. That's not biblical love. We know that. We've studied that. 64 00:13:41,000 --> 00:13:47,000 But it happens that people declare different kinds of love. They say I love you when really what they mean is I desire to control you. 65 00:13:47,000 --> 00:13:54,000 They say I love you when really what they mean is I want you over somebody else. And usually physically. 66 00:13:54,000 --> 00:14:01,000 It happens. It happens that people define love in a variety of ways. And if we accept it we open the door to great problems. 67 00:14:01,000 --> 00:14:05,000 And we're going to look at some of those problems before we're through. The first one is this. 68 00:14:05,000 --> 00:14:16,000 How do we follow the commands of God to love? And God's commands to love are many. In fact Jesus sums up the Bible essentially by loving your neighbors, yourself, love the Lord, your God. 69 00:14:16,000 --> 00:14:20,000 Love the Lord, your God with all your heart, mind, and soul and then love your neighbors, yourself. That's how he sums up everything. 70 00:14:20,000 --> 00:14:28,000 But it's all over scripture that we are to love as God commands us. How do we do that if we lose God's intention for the word love? 71 00:14:28,000 --> 00:14:33,000 If we can't figure out what love is based on God's standards and we know that that's how God is commanding us to love. 72 00:14:33,000 --> 00:14:37,000 He's not commanding us to love some other kind of ways. He's commanding us to love by his standard. 73 00:14:37,000 --> 00:14:41,000 If we can't figure out what that means then how are we going to enact the command to love that God has given us? 74 00:14:41,000 --> 00:14:50,000 And I guess the answer is not well. You may be hit or miss. You may get it every once in a while but you're not going to get it if you allow for all these other definitions. 75 00:14:50,000 --> 00:14:56,000 How do we love as God intended someone who is engaging in loving with another kind of love? 76 00:14:56,000 --> 00:15:02,000 So if they have another definition of love then how do we love that person? You've heard the old illustration of the five love languages, right? 77 00:15:02,000 --> 00:15:09,000 People have a different kind of love language. Some people love through words of affirmation. Say kind things to others. That's how they show that they're loving. 78 00:15:09,000 --> 00:15:15,000 They receive kind words, words of affirmation. They know they loved. So loving for them that's their love language, right? 79 00:15:15,000 --> 00:15:20,000 And so they go around telling people nice things and saying good things to people because that's how they show them that they're loved. 80 00:15:20,000 --> 00:15:25,000 And there are five different love languages that have been identified in that book, the five love languages. 81 00:15:25,000 --> 00:15:31,000 But if this person's definition of love, if they're loving with another kind of love, then how do we love them as God intended? 82 00:15:31,000 --> 00:15:36,000 Well, it's going to bring into conflict the love that God has told us to have with the love that they say they have. 83 00:15:36,000 --> 00:15:40,000 If we love them the way God has told us to love them, then the conflict is going to exist. 84 00:15:40,000 --> 00:15:44,000 They're going to say, but that love you're loving me with, that's not the kind of love I love with. 85 00:15:44,000 --> 00:15:49,000 But the kind of love they love with is not the kind of love that God gave us or told us to love with. 86 00:15:49,000 --> 00:15:51,000 And so there's going to be a natural conflict, right? 87 00:15:51,000 --> 00:15:55,000 The third thing is when the dust settles, the question will linger. 88 00:15:55,000 --> 00:16:01,000 In other words, if we accept that there are other kinds of love, then when the dust settles, the question will linger. 89 00:16:01,000 --> 00:16:06,000 Did we orchestrate the undoing of all of the people who bought into that other kind of love? 90 00:16:06,000 --> 00:16:14,000 If I teach my daughter that loving is keeping your mouth shut while somebody abuses you, like Absalom trying to teach Neymar, right? 91 00:16:14,000 --> 00:16:17,000 Then she's going to grow up not knowing how to love people. 92 00:16:17,000 --> 00:16:27,000 And when she finally figures out that that thing I taught her is a lie, it's a falsehood, it's an evil, it's a wicked, you don't keep your mouth shut when someone's abusing you ever, right? 93 00:16:27,000 --> 00:16:30,000 That never is allowed to pass because that's not love. 94 00:16:30,000 --> 00:16:34,000 In fact, it's not loving of you to allow somebody to abuse you, you understand? 95 00:16:34,000 --> 00:16:38,000 Love does not act unbecoming, right? Love is kind and patient and so on. 96 00:16:38,000 --> 00:16:47,000 So we know these things, we've studied these things, and when the dust settles and that person comes back around to understanding that we have taught them is a form of wickedness, 97 00:16:47,000 --> 00:16:52,000 then they're going to wonder, did we orchestrate their undoing? Did we set them up to fail? 98 00:16:52,000 --> 00:16:57,000 I'm not going to say any more about that right this second, but we'll come back to it in the third point of the sermon. 99 00:16:57,000 --> 00:17:02,000 Right now we're talking about the problems that arise out of accepting other kinds of love. 100 00:17:02,000 --> 00:17:07,000 The solution to this, we have studied love at length in recent months and the audio programs are online. 101 00:17:07,000 --> 00:17:14,000 You can go back and listen to the lengthy sermon series that we did through the love chapter, and we already know the solution. 102 00:17:14,000 --> 00:17:21,000 It is that we must know the difference between real, godly, everlasting, commanded and demonstrated by Christ love. 103 00:17:21,000 --> 00:17:27,000 If you're following Jesus, you're going to follow his example of what love is, and it got him killed. 104 00:17:27,000 --> 00:17:31,000 We're going to know the difference between the kind of love that God calls us to and the kind of loves, 105 00:17:31,000 --> 00:17:38,000 the many kinds of love that the world is pointing us to, and we're going to enact the kind of love that God is calling us to every moment in this life, 106 00:17:38,000 --> 00:17:45,000 every time, every opportunity, which of course is only possible by a miracle of God like being born again. 107 00:17:45,000 --> 00:17:52,000 And then we're putting ourselves fully at his mercy because as I said, when Jesus enacted that kind of love, it got him killed. 108 00:17:52,000 --> 00:17:59,000 When Paul enacted that kind of love, it got him beaten within an inch of his life many times and once, probably killed, 109 00:17:59,000 --> 00:18:05,000 after which he got up again and when it enacted that kind of love again, after they checked him and found out he was dead, he got up again. 110 00:18:05,000 --> 00:18:08,000 And so this love goes even beyond death. 111 00:18:08,000 --> 00:18:16,000 We're going to have to fully put ourselves at his mercy, which by the way is the only safe place to be. 112 00:18:16,000 --> 00:18:25,000 This miracle of being born again is offered freely through Christ and with it comes accepting God's definition of words and concepts. 113 00:18:25,000 --> 00:18:29,000 So we're talking about how men mar the word love, but the truth is how many of them are there? 114 00:18:29,000 --> 00:18:34,000 Mercy, kindness, forgiveness, self-defense, all words that are redefined. 115 00:18:34,000 --> 00:18:42,000 And we're going to see a lot more before we're through today that there are concepts and words that are being redefined to meet somebody else's purpose. 116 00:18:42,000 --> 00:18:47,000 And we cannot embrace them. We must adhere to God's definition of words and concepts. 117 00:18:47,000 --> 00:18:55,000 And so that leaves us no place to accept these other kinds of love as the legitimate loves that God has for us to be part of. 118 00:18:55,000 --> 00:19:02,000 The second thing that really came to light in this text for me was that there is in here a dying on the way to the battle line. 119 00:19:02,000 --> 00:19:07,000 And I could have been king. I mean, you know, David had half a dozen wives, right? He's good to be king. 120 00:19:07,000 --> 00:19:12,000 I mean, I don't know that that's good. It's probably these are the problems that arise because now you have half brother and half sister in the house. 121 00:19:12,000 --> 00:19:18,000 And there's a there's a certain thing that God built into when men and women who are the same family live in the same house. 122 00:19:18,000 --> 00:19:24,000 Like I've raised two daughters going on three and I've never had romantic feelings toward my kids. 123 00:19:24,000 --> 00:19:30,000 You understand? And it shouldn't be like that. And my daughters have never had romantic feelings toward my son. 124 00:19:30,000 --> 00:19:35,000 Even though all of my daughters and all of my sons are beautiful and extremely intelligent and shrewd and creative and so on. 125 00:19:35,000 --> 00:19:43,000 So there's a certain thing that's built in. But when men start to have multiple wives, now you have half brothers and half sisters that don't share the same DNA living in the same house. 126 00:19:43,000 --> 00:19:49,000 And it can arise that a half brother falls in love with his half sister and start thinking, hey, she's pretty hot, which is exactly what happened. 127 00:19:49,000 --> 00:19:57,000 Amnon fell in love. His version of worldly love fell in love with Tamar, his half sister, to the point that he made himself sick. 128 00:19:57,000 --> 00:20:02,000 He had to have her. They should have been living in the first house first place because they were living together. 129 00:20:02,000 --> 00:20:07,000 It was always going to be a potential issue because they were not technically of the same family. 130 00:20:07,000 --> 00:20:11,000 So had Absalom become king, he could have had a half dozen wives. 131 00:20:11,000 --> 00:20:15,000 Do you think there were any other beautiful women living in Jerusalem? I submit to you there were dozens. 132 00:20:15,000 --> 00:20:18,000 I'll bet there were more beautiful women than Tamar. Many of them. 133 00:20:18,000 --> 00:20:23,000 And Amnon could have had tons of them on his way to becoming king as king. 134 00:20:23,000 --> 00:20:28,000 Probably did. I submit to you that by the time he raped Tamar, he probably slept with a dozen women minimum. 135 00:20:28,000 --> 00:20:32,000 And some of them multiple times. And some of them were more beautiful than Tamar. 136 00:20:32,000 --> 00:20:36,000 He didn't want her because she was beautiful. He wanted her because she was forbidden fruit. 137 00:20:36,000 --> 00:20:39,000 And this is the problem that young people face. 138 00:20:39,000 --> 00:20:47,000 And so when you put young people, men and women in tight, close quarters, and she's kind of cute and he's kind of handsome, he starts thinking, I've got to have that. 139 00:20:47,000 --> 00:20:52,000 And she starts thinking, I've got to have that. And listen to me, it isn't true. It's a lie. 140 00:20:52,000 --> 00:20:56,000 And you'll wind up dying on the way to the battle line. Are you married in this room? 141 00:20:56,000 --> 00:21:03,000 Is being married easy? Is loving your spouse after they make certain decisions that offend easy? 142 00:21:03,000 --> 00:21:14,000 Marriage is the battle line. And so many young people already are dying before they ever get to the battle line because they fixate on something in the opposite sex that they think they have to have. 143 00:21:14,000 --> 00:21:21,000 And then after you have that, you get married and you wind up comparing your spouse to everybody you were ever with before. 144 00:21:21,000 --> 00:21:26,000 Not even consciously. Because consciously you prepare yourself. You think about the right things. You focus on the right things. 145 00:21:26,000 --> 00:21:31,000 You make vows. You intend to never look at a member of the opposite sex other than your spouse again. 146 00:21:31,000 --> 00:21:36,000 You're not going to have, if you're a boy, you're not going to have close friends who are girls because that's not appropriate because now I have a wife. 147 00:21:36,000 --> 00:21:41,000 And if you're a woman, you're not going to have close friends who are men because that's not appropriate because now I have a husband. 148 00:21:41,000 --> 00:21:44,000 And the battle ensues. But you already lost. 149 00:21:44,000 --> 00:21:48,000 But as born-again Christians, we don't have to fall to that. 150 00:21:48,000 --> 00:21:52,000 Let me illustrate it this way. And we have a couple of veterans in here who can attest to this. 151 00:21:52,000 --> 00:21:59,000 Soldiers get their physicals prior to going to basic training. The first physical is conducted before they ever go to basic training. 152 00:21:59,000 --> 00:22:07,000 In fact, not only do they go get their physical before they go to basic training the first time, but they also typically train before going to basic training. 153 00:22:07,000 --> 00:22:13,000 So you get your weight in line. You get your diet in line. You get your sleep in line. You get your hydration in line. Why do we do that? 154 00:22:13,000 --> 00:22:16,000 Why do you need to do that? You go to basic training. In basic training you're going to do all of that. 155 00:22:16,000 --> 00:22:20,000 So why do you need to get a physical and get training before you go to basic training? Michael, why? 156 00:22:20,000 --> 00:22:24,000 Prepare? Why? Why do you got to prepare? You're going to get basic training. That's preparation, isn't it? 157 00:22:24,000 --> 00:22:32,000 Because what? So you're ready when you get there? Yeah, because listen, basic training will kill you if you're not ready for it. 158 00:22:32,000 --> 00:22:44,000 You'll die on the way to combat. A person who can't breathe, who can't eat right, can't sleep right, can't drink right, who's 50, 60, 100, 200 pounds overweight, whatever, will literally not be able to complete basic training. 159 00:22:44,000 --> 00:22:55,000 Why waste the time? Why pay for the bus ticket? This guy can't do the job. So you do basic training before you go to basic training because otherwise you die on the way to the battle. 160 00:22:55,000 --> 00:23:05,000 We don't need soldiers who die in basic training. We need soldiers who can fight. And so you undergo efforts to improve yourself in preparation so that when you really are being trained, 161 00:23:05,000 --> 00:23:17,000 so you're really getting ready for the fight, you don't die in the process. The soldier who is not fit for training is definitely not fit for fighting because the soldier who is not fit for training may well die in the training. 162 00:23:17,000 --> 00:23:27,000 I ask you, when the serpent was talking to Eve, did she demonstrate something about a willingness to sin against God before she actually fell into sin that would stick to mankind forever? 163 00:23:27,000 --> 00:23:37,000 So the sin was eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And Adam ate, and it's really Adam's sin right, that sticks to us forever. It says through that one man we all have sin because we were all present in him. 164 00:23:37,000 --> 00:23:46,000 But did Eve demonstrate something about a willingness to sin before she ever took the fruit and ate of it? Now if you know your Bible at all, you know she absolutely did. 165 00:23:46,000 --> 00:23:59,000 She was looking, she looked at the tree and started to praise, oh that looks good for wisdom. All the tree in the garden tastes good. All the trees in the garden eat their fruit, it's good for nutrition. But here is a tree that's good for something more. 166 00:23:59,000 --> 00:24:08,000 And she started to think about that. And when the serpent said, did God really say you can't eat of any tree in the garden, or eat of any tree? 167 00:24:08,000 --> 00:24:18,000 And she said, no, God said we just can't touch or eat of the trees in the center of the garden. But is that what God said? No, that's not what God said. God just said they couldn't eat of it. 168 00:24:18,000 --> 00:24:27,000 They were supposed to tend to every tree. You know who tended the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? Well apparently not Adam and Eve. At least not from the moment that Eve said they weren't allowed to do that. 169 00:24:27,000 --> 00:24:42,000 So already in her was the ability to fall before she ever reached the battlefield. I submit to you that she demonstrated her lack of integrity when she misquoted God. When she looked on that forbidden fruit and saw how useful it was for knowledge. 170 00:24:42,000 --> 00:24:50,000 Now that's not inaccurate. It was useful for knowledge. It was good. But it was still very much wrong. And she knew it. 171 00:24:50,000 --> 00:25:06,000 In 1 Corinthians 10, Paul writes this beginning in verse 1. He says, For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud, all passed through the sea, all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food and all drank the same spiritual drink. 172 00:25:06,000 --> 00:25:17,000 For they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them, and the rock was Christ. Nevertheless, with most of them God was not well pleased, for they were laid low in the wilderness. 173 00:25:17,000 --> 00:25:28,000 Now these things happened as examples for us so that we would not crave evil things as they also craved. Do not be idolaters as some of them were as it is written. The people sat down to eat and drink and stood up to play. 174 00:25:28,000 --> 00:25:43,000 Nor let us act immorally as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in one day. Nor let us try the Lord as some of them did, and were destroyed by the serpents. Nor grumble as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer. 175 00:25:43,000 --> 00:25:58,000 Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction upon whom the ends of the ages have come. Therefore, let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he does not fall. 176 00:25:58,000 --> 00:26:14,000 No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common demand, and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with temptation will provide the way of escape so that you will be able to endure. Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. 177 00:26:14,000 --> 00:26:28,000 So what is idolatry? Therefore, after all of that, all of that is summed up. He says therefore, flee from idolatry. So what is idolatry? It's entering into a loving relationship, quote unquote loving, by somebody's definition of love. A loving relationship. 178 00:26:28,000 --> 00:26:41,000 A declaring the worth of anything at all other than God, and letting that thing stand in the presence of the living God. Now we have to be careful here because when I say thing, what part of speech am I using? If it's a thing, it's a what? It's a noun. 179 00:26:41,000 --> 00:26:53,000 So immediately we think idolatry only pertains to nouns. So it's a person, place, or thing. So we can only worship a person, place, or thing. But that isn't true. It's anything. So it includes verbs. 180 00:26:53,000 --> 00:27:04,000 Give me a verb that could be idolatry if you enter into a loving relationship with her, you begin to declare its words. Lust. Now lust can be a noun, lust is a thing. But lust as a verb is idolatry. 181 00:27:04,000 --> 00:27:17,000 Lust as a noun is idolatry if you declare the worth of that thing. So there are no verbs that also cannot be idolatry. So I'm glad it stops there. But what about adjectives? Is there an adjective that can be idolatry? 182 00:27:17,000 --> 00:27:27,000 Watch out for this because we have a whole bunch of this in us and we could very easily have it as idolatry if we're not careful. How about handsome? You with me, Haley? How about pretty? These are adjectives. 183 00:27:27,000 --> 00:27:38,000 Can handsome or pretty become idolatry? Can we enter into a loving relationship? I'm so worried about looking good that I'll let it interfere with my ability to do good or to be good. You understand? 184 00:27:38,000 --> 00:27:50,000 How about old? If a person is old, they automatically deserve respect because you must respect your elders. Right? But be careful because if being old is the standard, it's really easy to make it idolatry. 185 00:27:50,000 --> 00:28:03,000 To love the old, to love being old, to enter into a respect relationship with people just because they're old. And the list goes on. How about adverbs? An adverb is something like this. Quickly. Oh my goodness. 186 00:28:03,000 --> 00:28:13,000 We live in the days of idolatry of quickly. We want everything quick. I'm working on my computer and it takes 47 seconds to load the next file and I'm flipping out. What is going on? 187 00:28:13,000 --> 00:28:23,000 Or you go to the McDonald's and you go through the drive-thru and they ask you to pull forward a little stop and you're like, is it fast food or not? We're living in the day of idolatry of adverbs. Why? 188 00:28:23,000 --> 00:28:32,000 Because it's pretty clear to us that if we worship people, places, or things, that's idolatry. And the enemy knows that we are forewarned, forearmed against worship. People, places, and things. 189 00:28:32,000 --> 00:28:42,000 So now he's going to get us into worshiping adjectives and adverbs and verbs. You think you're strong, suddenly your strength becomes your idol. You think you're smart, your smartness becomes your idol. 190 00:28:42,000 --> 00:28:55,000 You think you're capable or incapable. You start making excuses for yourself. You have a diagnosis. My diagnosis tells me I can't, therefore I don't. God tells me I can't. I'm sorry God, you're wrong. I can't. I have a diagnosis. 191 00:28:55,000 --> 00:29:13,000 We are living in the day when Satan has crafted all of these wonderful plans that he has been working on for millennia to create in us a form of idolatry that is the very thing that Paul was warning against and the very thing that resulted in the death of the Hebrews as they came out of Egypt. 192 00:29:13,000 --> 00:29:20,000 And they wandered in the desert until they died. After having a first-hand experience with God and his son Jesus Christ. I didn't say it, Paul said it. 193 00:29:20,000 --> 00:29:34,000 Careful, we ought to take heed lest we who now stand by his grace should fall. Idolatry is entering into a quote unquote loving relationship where I'm declaring the worth of anything type relationship at all other than God. 194 00:29:34,000 --> 00:29:47,000 And letting that thing stand in the presence of the living God. You catch that? I didn't say, people always say, well I'll never put my, let's insert my recreation, my sports, my money, my relationships, my looks, my boyfriend's looks, my social media. 195 00:29:47,000 --> 00:29:55,000 I'll never put that above God. That's not the standard. Above God is not the standard. Baby if you think idolatry is putting something above God, repent now. 196 00:29:55,000 --> 00:30:06,000 Because you are missing the teachings of scripture. The standard is when something rises into the presence of God. That's why when the Ark of the Covenant was put into the temple of Dagon, Dagon fell down overnight. 197 00:30:06,000 --> 00:30:14,000 And they went in and oh no, Dagon fell down. They put him back up again. They go in the next day and he fell down overnight again and he broke into pieces on the floor in front of the Ark of the Covenant. 198 00:30:14,000 --> 00:30:22,000 And they put him back up again and they called all the craftsmen and they put the statue together again, fixed it all up the best they could. You can see where it broke and stuff, you know. 199 00:30:22,000 --> 00:30:29,000 But they fixed it all up the best they could. And then they had to create a tradition that said you can't step on the threshold if you are a faithful follower of Dagon. 200 00:30:29,000 --> 00:30:35,000 They didn't stop following their idols. They just said we're also going to follow God. We're going to follow God and Dagon. 201 00:30:35,000 --> 00:30:46,000 And people are doing the same thing now. I'm following God and whatever, whatever it is that's a big deal in your life. And when that big deal begins to take on a presence, when it matters. 202 00:30:46,000 --> 00:30:55,000 If there is some reason that you can fathom, a logical extension, right now, if you go right now, this is what would keep me from worshipping the Holy God collected with the body. 203 00:30:55,000 --> 00:31:02,000 That's your idol baby. You better be careful because it may get you killed before you ever reach the battlefield. 204 00:31:02,000 --> 00:31:10,000 This is the royal before me in the Ten Commandments where God says you will have no other gods in my presence. That's what he means. 205 00:31:10,000 --> 00:31:18,000 He says you shall have no other gods before me. Don't wimp out on the modern English to put something before somebody means above or ahead of them because that's not what it meant. 206 00:31:18,000 --> 00:31:30,000 It means if you have somebody, anything, something, a verb, a noun, an adverb, an adjective, anything at all, timeliness, victory, freedom, respect, honor. 207 00:31:30,000 --> 00:31:41,000 Any of those things begin to rise up into the vicinity of our God. That's idolatry and it very well could result in your dying before you ever reach the battlefield. 208 00:31:41,000 --> 00:31:46,000 James 4, 4 to 8 says this way, you adulteresses, written to Christians by the way, you adulteresses. 209 00:31:46,000 --> 00:31:55,000 Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? That's why it's so dangerous that we live here on planet earth serving God because all around us are all kinds of things. 210 00:31:55,000 --> 00:32:00,000 That if we have friends with those things, we become friends with those things, then that's hostility toward God. 211 00:32:00,000 --> 00:32:08,000 Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Make your choice Christian. Who are you friends with? 212 00:32:08,000 --> 00:32:14,000 And if you're friends with the world, understand that you're making yourself out to be an enemy of God. Shall I read the verse again? 213 00:32:14,000 --> 00:32:21,000 Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you think that the scripture speaks to no purpose? 214 00:32:21,000 --> 00:32:29,000 He, that's God, jealously desires the spirit which he has made to dwell in us. But he gives a greater grace. God gives a greater grace. 215 00:32:29,000 --> 00:32:39,000 Therefore, it says, God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble. Submit therefore to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 216 00:32:39,000 --> 00:32:47,000 That is the battlefield. Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 217 00:32:47,000 --> 00:32:54,000 And so we must not willingly waste the presence of God in us, nor dismiss his willingness to abide in us. 218 00:32:54,000 --> 00:33:00,000 The battle line is where we represent God in his eternal effort to win souls. That's the battle line. 219 00:33:00,000 --> 00:33:08,000 If you haven't gotten there yet, it's possible that you died along the way and you need Jesus Christ to rebirth you again and to begin to live for the Lord like you said you would. 220 00:33:08,000 --> 00:33:17,000 If you haven't gotten to the battle line yet where we represent God in his eternal effort to win souls, then it's possible you died along the way. 221 00:33:17,000 --> 00:33:23,000 There, at that moment, we will go toe to toe with demons and evil spirits. Let me say it again. 222 00:33:23,000 --> 00:33:35,000 We will go toe to toe with demons and evil spirits to free souls of the lost and to capture the value of another day lived for a holy and gracious and insert infinite possible positive adjectives there. 223 00:33:35,000 --> 00:33:45,000 God, are you living this day that way? God says this, the battlefield is where the light shines in the darkness and the darkness cannot comprehend it. 224 00:33:45,000 --> 00:33:53,000 But if we are faithful to God, we may just go in there and carve off another serving of darkness. And God may make that darkness into light as well. 225 00:33:53,000 --> 00:33:59,000 You got that picture in your mind? If we are found faithful to God, we may go into the darkness where the darkness cannot understand us because we are the light. 226 00:33:59,000 --> 00:34:06,000 John 1, the light, we are not understood. So we go into the darkness, people can see they are probably going to be against us because they are the darkness. 227 00:34:06,000 --> 00:34:13,000 They don't understand us. And if we are lucky, we just might carve off another serving of darkness and God will turn it into light. 228 00:34:13,000 --> 00:34:25,000 The battle requires wholeness. It requires us 100% submitted to God. And God gives that wholeness at rebirth and builds it daily in us so that we can stand in the day of evil. 229 00:34:25,000 --> 00:34:32,000 Piece by piece we reach new heights in Jesus until seemingly bigger and bigger monsters fall when sent against us. 230 00:34:32,000 --> 00:34:39,000 And ultimately we are ushered into glory by our death or by Jesus coming again. This is no game. 231 00:34:39,000 --> 00:34:52,000 Souls are at stake. Our experiences build us up when we are walking in Christ and only serve to undermine us and give us another opportunity to fail to glorify God when we are not walking in Christ. 232 00:34:52,000 --> 00:34:58,000 I run role playing games for the Christian games team and I did that all the way back before I ever got saved. 233 00:34:58,000 --> 00:35:07,000 One of the games that I run, there is a character called a Cavalier and basically it's a knight like a knight from, you might be familiar with Sir Lancelot or King Arthur. 234 00:35:07,000 --> 00:35:17,000 And the knight must wear the best available armor. And if he does not wear the best available armor during one of his adventures, then he gets no beneficial experience. 235 00:35:17,000 --> 00:35:26,000 Which means no matter what he does, he can kill Satan himself or conquer dragons or save damsels in distress and he gets no beneficial experience. 236 00:35:26,000 --> 00:35:30,000 So he's not going to get more strong, he's not going to go up in levels, etc. We are like that. 237 00:35:30,000 --> 00:35:39,000 Take up your armor daily and when you face the great big demons or difficulties that others have, when you lead souls to Christ, you will gain from the experience. 238 00:35:39,000 --> 00:35:50,000 But let's say you go into a conflict, you're not reading your Bible, you're not praying, you're not serving, you're not giving, you're not doing the things that God would have you, you're not exercising your spiritual gifts, you're not part of a local church, you're not worshiping together faithfully. 239 00:35:50,000 --> 00:36:00,000 The list goes on. You've got your idea of what it means to be a Christian, you're following the Lord the best you know how to on a daily basis, but you're not doing all of these other things that Scripture has taught us that we're supposed to do. 240 00:36:00,000 --> 00:36:08,000 If you manage to slay Satan himself by running a sword through his chest, which would be impossible. But if you manage to, you would benefit by it in no way at all. 241 00:36:08,000 --> 00:36:14,000 Hence, our works of righteousness are as filthy rags because they are our works of righteousness. 242 00:36:14,000 --> 00:36:22,000 But Jesus' single work of righteousness where he sacrificed his life on the cross is sufficient for us and it calls us to the battle line. 243 00:36:22,000 --> 00:36:31,000 And we must wear the armor, we must understand the words and the concepts that Jesus is teaching us and put them into application to serve the Lord on the battle line. 244 00:36:31,000 --> 00:36:38,000 Do not allow your temptations or your idolatry or your lusts or your desires or your own definitions of words to stop you from ever getting there. 245 00:36:38,000 --> 00:36:44,000 The third thing in the text then for you to see, that was a big one, you are a bit part in most people's lives. 246 00:36:44,000 --> 00:36:51,000 I learned this the hard way by the way. I went to visit a woman who had just accepted Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior at one of our block parties. 247 00:36:51,000 --> 00:36:59,000 And as I was sitting there and I was witnessing with her and trying to get her in church, trying to get her to move forward in her faith, that kind of thing, her teenage daughter was 17 years old and pregnant, unmarried. 248 00:36:59,000 --> 00:37:04,000 She was in the kitchen and she was listening in. And I was sharing this with the Gospel with this woman. 249 00:37:04,000 --> 00:37:09,000 I was sharing from the Bible why it was important to get moving in your faiths similar to what we've just seen in this text. 250 00:37:09,000 --> 00:37:13,000 And she just basically said, okay, maybe, maybe, maybe, maybe. She kept saying maybe. 251 00:37:13,000 --> 00:37:20,000 The whole time her daughter was listening from the kitchen, 17 years old, probably 7, 8 months pregnant. She was big, big as they come in the middle, about ready to pop. 252 00:37:20,000 --> 00:37:24,000 She was listening intently. Finally I said, come in here. And the mother started talking. 253 00:37:24,000 --> 00:37:29,000 And I said, if I could just ask you to be quiet for a minute because we just talked for 20 minutes and you said maybe, maybe, maybe. 254 00:37:29,000 --> 00:37:33,000 And I'm cool with that. That's where you're at. So that's fine. But I need to talk to her. It's okay if I talk to her for a minute. 255 00:37:33,000 --> 00:37:38,000 She said, it's fine. The 17 year old daughter, 7 or 8 months pregnant, comes out of the kitchen and she's got tears on her face. 256 00:37:38,000 --> 00:37:42,000 I don't know what she was crying about before, but if it was what I was talking about, that's pretty cool. But maybe not. I don't know. 257 00:37:42,000 --> 00:37:47,000 Maybe she had tears on her face. She started talking. I shared the Gospel with her and she accepted Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior a few minutes later. 258 00:37:47,000 --> 00:37:54,000 She's 17 years old. She's off and on living with a guy and we're talking about it very bluntly. And she said, we're regularly having sex. 259 00:37:54,000 --> 00:37:59,000 I said, well that's going to be a problem. And she said, what do you mean? I said, well do you think that's what Jesus wants you to do? 260 00:37:59,000 --> 00:38:02,000 You just accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Do you think that's what Jesus wants you to do? 261 00:38:02,000 --> 00:38:06,000 And she said, no, that doesn't sound like something Jesus wants me to do. 262 00:38:06,000 --> 00:38:11,000 She's been saved for all of like two minutes and she already knows it doesn't sound like something that Jesus would want her to do. 263 00:38:11,000 --> 00:38:19,000 And I said, so what are we going to do about that? And she said, well, I need him in my life. I need my boyfriend in my life. 264 00:38:19,000 --> 00:38:22,000 And if I tell my boyfriend that we're not going to have sex anymore, he's going to dump me in a hot minute. 265 00:38:22,000 --> 00:38:27,000 And I said, really? I said, well, you know, you're going to have his child. So that's something. 266 00:38:27,000 --> 00:38:31,000 You know, he's just going to walk away. She goes, yeah, he doesn't care. He doesn't care about the baby. 267 00:38:31,000 --> 00:38:34,000 And the truth is, I don't really think he cares about me. 268 00:38:34,000 --> 00:38:40,000 And she says, I don't know what's going to happen, but I'll talk to him and I'll tell him we're going to have to stop having sex at least until we figure out what's going on. 269 00:38:40,000 --> 00:38:45,000 Between us, are we going to get married or whatever? At least we until we get married or part ways. 270 00:38:45,000 --> 00:38:49,000 That statement was made roughly, I'd say, 11 minutes after she got saved. 271 00:38:49,000 --> 00:38:59,000 Now, seriously, come on, you're in this room. Teenagers, the rest of us still got the strength after weeks or months or years after accepting Jesus to say Jesus is your Lord. 272 00:38:59,000 --> 00:39:09,000 Do you still have the strength? Are you still proceeding toward the battlefield so that you understand that many activities that the world might push you toward, tempt you toward, lead you toward, bring you and I to their knees? 273 00:39:09,000 --> 00:39:16,000 They're not acceptable by God's standards. Are you willing to say God says I should not do that, therefore I'm not going to do that? 274 00:39:16,000 --> 00:39:29,000 You know, God doesn't even say you can't do it. You're still physically capable of doing all kinds of things, stealing, lusting, sex outside marriage, quitting your job when you don't have another job, not knowing how you're going to pay your bills, holding back your tie, lying to get your way. 275 00:39:29,000 --> 00:39:34,000 You're still capable of doing all of those things even after you're saved. You shouldn't. You're still capable of doing all those things after you're saved. 276 00:39:34,000 --> 00:39:39,000 Jesus is not meant to be a bit part in your life and I don't want to be a bit part in your life. 277 00:39:39,000 --> 00:39:45,000 And I don't want you to be a bit part in my life. But the truth is we come into some of these lives and really they just make a pause. 278 00:39:45,000 --> 00:39:52,000 The older woman I share the gospel, she never did come to church, not once. And I never saw that young lady who accepted Jesus Christ that day in person again. 279 00:39:52,000 --> 00:39:57,000 She messaged me later I think on social media and she was living like in California or something and they did not stay together by the way. 280 00:39:57,000 --> 00:40:05,000 But the point is I was just a bit part in her life. But my bit part was to bring the gospel and Jesus is not a bit part. 281 00:40:05,000 --> 00:40:09,000 Notice that your motivations will be questioned at every turn. 282 00:40:09,000 --> 00:40:15,000 Salesmen are trying to sell you something. Spam calls are trying to get under your skin to get you to buy this, that or the other thing or get access to your credit card information. 283 00:40:15,000 --> 00:40:18,000 Clickbait online wants you to click because they get paid if you click. 284 00:40:18,000 --> 00:40:23,000 Commercials, once you go buy your product or begin to at least yearn for your product so eventually you'll buy their product. 285 00:40:23,000 --> 00:40:31,000 Sales that end today are designed to rush you out there so that you'll go buy it before the sale ends when you probably don't even need it right this second anyway. 286 00:40:31,000 --> 00:40:38,000 People will distill your entire life down to the little bit that you played. They're going to, whatever they know about you. 287 00:40:38,000 --> 00:40:42,000 And if that points to a question they will probably think the worst. 288 00:40:42,000 --> 00:40:49,000 They'll say well he only did that because he was only like that because she only did that because she only said she was a follower of Jesus. 289 00:40:49,000 --> 00:40:55,000 But I see all these times when she really didn't follow him so I don't really have to listen to the truth that she's teaching me and so on. 290 00:40:55,000 --> 00:41:02,000 Now you're looking at this story, the story of Amnon and Absalom and Jonadab and Tamar and you're going like where is he getting that from exactly? 291 00:41:02,000 --> 00:41:06,000 Where does it come from out of the story? Well the truth is what I read it kind of doesn't. 292 00:41:06,000 --> 00:41:13,000 But right after this, right after what I read beginning in verse 23, it's two years later and there's a certain sheep shearing incident. 293 00:41:13,000 --> 00:41:15,000 Now if you're here on Tuesday you kind of remember this incident right? 294 00:41:15,000 --> 00:41:24,000 So Absalom who hates Amnon because of what he did to Tamar asks David that all the king's sons will come out to the sheep shearing. 295 00:41:24,000 --> 00:41:26,000 That would include Amnon who is in line for the throne. 296 00:41:26,000 --> 00:41:31,000 And we know Absalom hates him and the scripture says he hates him because of what he did to his sister. 297 00:41:31,000 --> 00:41:34,000 At first David says no, no it would be too much of a burden for you. 298 00:41:34,000 --> 00:41:36,000 And he says well just let Amnon come. 299 00:41:36,000 --> 00:41:39,000 And then David relents and he says okay all the sons can come. 300 00:41:39,000 --> 00:41:45,000 And at the sheep shearing an incident takes place that involves Absalom and Amnon and Absalom's men. 301 00:41:45,000 --> 00:41:50,000 And Alex what was that incident? What happened at the sheep shearing? Do you remember? 302 00:41:50,000 --> 00:41:54,000 Amnon was there, got a little drunk, Absalom was there. Jason can you help him? 303 00:41:54,000 --> 00:41:58,000 What happened at the sheep shearing? Amnon was there. You were, it was this Tuesday. 304 00:41:58,000 --> 00:42:04,000 Caleb go ahead. No that's a different story. Go ahead RJ. Wait maybe, maybe you got it? 305 00:42:04,000 --> 00:42:07,000 What happened at the sheep shearing? Were you there? You got it? They killed him. 306 00:42:07,000 --> 00:42:10,000 Who did they kill? Come on we all know this one. Amnon, right? 307 00:42:10,000 --> 00:42:15,000 They killed Amnon. You got the revenge against Amnon. Absalom told his men when he's drunk, 308 00:42:15,000 --> 00:42:19,000 I'm going to tell you when, and you go and kill Amnon. Right? Were you there? 309 00:42:19,000 --> 00:42:22,000 No. No you missed that one? Oh you were with the preschoolers? Okay that happens. 310 00:42:22,000 --> 00:42:28,000 Alright so the point is at the sheep shearing when he's a little drunk, Absalom has his men kill Amnon. 311 00:42:28,000 --> 00:42:31,000 And the story could stop there right? Revenge has been taken. Sounds good. 312 00:42:31,000 --> 00:42:33,000 Absalom did that. But guess what? 313 00:42:33,000 --> 00:42:39,000 The part of the story you may or may not have focused on when we studied it is David receives news of what happened. 314 00:42:39,000 --> 00:42:44,000 The first news he receives is that all of his sons have been killed by Absalom. That's the first news right? 315 00:42:44,000 --> 00:42:50,000 But then there's a guy there and he says not at all. It really, I guarantee you it wasn't all of your sons. 316 00:42:50,000 --> 00:42:56,000 It was just Amnon. Absalom had Amnon killed because he was mad over the rape of Tamar. Right? 317 00:42:56,000 --> 00:43:01,000 And then the message comes and the servant or the person who was there said, 318 00:43:01,000 --> 00:43:07,000 See I told you and then the sons come and he says, See I told you, I told you it was just Amnon who was killed. 319 00:43:07,000 --> 00:43:12,000 And guess who that person was that was telling David it was just Amnon who was killed? 320 00:43:12,000 --> 00:43:14,000 No. It was the cousin, Jonadab. 321 00:43:14,000 --> 00:43:19,000 How do you think Jonadab knew that it was only Amnon who was killed at the feast? 322 00:43:19,000 --> 00:43:22,000 Now we don't know but you see how you can distill their motives? 323 00:43:22,000 --> 00:43:25,000 And by the way Jonadab, real good friends with Absalom. 324 00:43:25,000 --> 00:43:33,000 Oh and who was it that advised Amnon to pretend to be sick and have Tamar come and make the bread? 325 00:43:33,000 --> 00:43:35,000 Who was that? Jonadab. 326 00:43:35,000 --> 00:43:40,000 So Jonadab advises Amnon to go right to the brink. He never advised him to rape her. 327 00:43:40,000 --> 00:43:43,000 But to go right to the brink and have her make bread in front of him. 328 00:43:43,000 --> 00:43:46,000 Then Amnon takes it upon himself and he rapes her. 329 00:43:46,000 --> 00:43:53,000 Fast forward, Absalom, two years, Absalom has him killed at the feast and Jonadab is there to comfort David and say, 330 00:43:53,000 --> 00:43:59,000 See I told you my lord, I'm the one who was right. I'm your wise servant. 331 00:43:59,000 --> 00:44:04,000 I'm the one who told you that it was only Amnon not all of the king's sons who were slain. 332 00:44:04,000 --> 00:44:12,000 See how you can distill that all down to was there a plot between Absalom and Jonadab to lure Amnon to the point that he would rape Tamar? 333 00:44:12,000 --> 00:44:16,000 Oh and by the way who was Amnon again? Heir to the throne. 334 00:44:16,000 --> 00:44:21,000 And who was Absalom third in line for the throne and now suddenly second? 335 00:44:21,000 --> 00:44:26,000 And he eventually is able to take the throne. Now he dies because of that right? Ultimately. 336 00:44:26,000 --> 00:44:36,000 But my point is you can look at it from here and see did Jonadab arrange the possibility that Amnon would rape Tamar? Maybe. 337 00:44:36,000 --> 00:44:44,000 Did he then put himself in the right position to report that it was only Amnon that was slain, not all the king's sons so he could gain favor with the king? Maybe. 338 00:44:44,000 --> 00:44:49,000 You see how we do that? We look at people's motivations and people are doing the same thing to you. 339 00:44:49,000 --> 00:44:55,000 I want to know what are you about? What are you up to? But the truth is they think they can figure you out. 340 00:44:55,000 --> 00:45:06,000 Theologian and historians the world over question if maybe the whole thing was in an orchestrated plot on behalf of Absalom and Jonadab to have Amnon killed so that Absalom could ascend to the throne. 341 00:45:06,000 --> 00:45:09,000 And we know that he wanted to. In this case it kind of makes sense right? 342 00:45:09,000 --> 00:45:17,000 Remove a competitor from the throne. Reason it can be like no one can fault him for wanting to kill Amnon for raping Tamar because it was wrong that he did so. 343 00:45:17,000 --> 00:45:23,000 He had a right to seek justice didn't he? Oh and by the way when he rises to the throne what is the platform he stands on? 344 00:45:23,000 --> 00:45:29,000 He stands at the city gate and judges people's and he says I will judge for you and he doesn't let people go to David. 345 00:45:29,000 --> 00:45:35,000 He judges their court cases right? He says I am a man of justice. So it all makes sense. 346 00:45:35,000 --> 00:45:45,000 Charles Dickinson wrote in the book Oliver Twist he says to do a great right you may do a little wrong and you may take any means which the end to be attained will justify. 347 00:45:45,000 --> 00:45:52,000 But James the brother of Jesus wrote whosoever keepeth the whole law and yet offends in one point he is guilty of all. 348 00:45:52,000 --> 00:45:58,000 You see what happened? Justice is redefined. Well there's a lot of people who want justice. In fact doesn't everybody? 349 00:45:58,000 --> 00:46:04,000 Well not everybody who knows what they would get if justice were served. If justice were served to me I would spend eternity in hell. 350 00:46:04,000 --> 00:46:09,000 How about you? Do you realize that if justice were served to you you would spend eternity in hell? That would be just. 351 00:46:09,000 --> 00:46:16,000 Did you sin against God? The Bible says we all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. So we would suffer in hell for eternity if justice were served. 352 00:46:16,000 --> 00:46:22,000 But justice was served. It was served in the killing of Jesus and he died for us and now we can have that grace. 353 00:46:22,000 --> 00:46:30,000 When they examine you when they distill you down to a cup of what was Haley or a cup of what was Michael Brister. 354 00:46:30,000 --> 00:46:33,000 When they distill you down to a cup of what was that what will they find? 355 00:46:33,000 --> 00:46:39,000 Will they find that you live your life so that what they see there will be about Jesus and not really about you at all? 356 00:46:39,000 --> 00:46:45,000 Because that is what we're called to. That's what it means to live the life and to live it in the world where the world can see it. 357 00:46:45,000 --> 00:46:49,000 That's what it means to be salt of the earth. That's what it means to be the light. 358 00:46:49,000 --> 00:46:53,000 Then they will glorify our Father when at Jesus' next coming. 359 00:46:53,000 --> 00:46:58,000 Did you try to take no responsibility and hide behind your small part in others' lives? 360 00:46:58,000 --> 00:47:08,000 Will you say, well they'll never know that I didn't tell them about Jesus? When you go out to eat and you're kind to the server and you give a nice tip but Jesus is never mentioned? 361 00:47:08,000 --> 00:47:19,000 What if you stand in heaven in front of the throne and Jesus says, here I bring to you all the waitresses, whoever served you that you never talked to about Jesus. 362 00:47:19,000 --> 00:47:23,000 Here's your mailman, the long line of them that served you the whole time you lived in your house. Seven of them. 363 00:47:23,000 --> 00:47:32,000 One after another. Some of them came to your house every day for ten years straight and you never did anything about making sure that they had the chance to know Jesus. 364 00:47:32,000 --> 00:47:36,000 Here they are. Here's the ten guys or gals that you never said a word. 365 00:47:36,000 --> 00:47:42,000 You see, if they distill it all down to a cup of you, what will they find? Will they find Jesus or will they find you? 366 00:47:42,000 --> 00:47:48,000 We must be about Jesus through and through and never compromise on any idolatry or the world system. 367 00:47:48,000 --> 00:47:55,000 And that would include this idea that they'll never find out that we never mentioned the single most important thing that could ever be mentioned. 368 00:47:55,000 --> 00:47:59,000 They'll never find out that we never mentioned the person who lived in us. 369 00:47:59,000 --> 00:48:03,000 Oh, they'll find out. They'll find out when they go to hell because nobody talked to them about Jesus. 370 00:48:03,000 --> 00:48:13,000 Right is not to be taken lightly. When we are saved, our names are written in the book of life and there will likely be no entry describing our lives. 371 00:48:13,000 --> 00:48:19,000 But our name itself will represent everything that we are and everything that we've ever done. 372 00:48:19,000 --> 00:48:24,000 Good, bad, and ugly. And ultimately that we were called a child of God. 373 00:48:24,000 --> 00:48:30,000 So the question is when your name is written in the book of life, what will it represent? 374 00:48:30,000 --> 00:48:41,000 When Chris McRory is read out in the halls of heaven, will it represent he packed a lot of packages or he pulled a lot of stock or he fixed a lot of cars or he paid the bills? 375 00:48:41,000 --> 00:48:44,000 He took care of his children. He protected them from themselves and from others. 376 00:48:44,000 --> 00:48:49,000 Will it represent those things? Will it represent he was a bearer of the image of God? 377 00:48:49,000 --> 00:48:53,000 He stood up when no one else was stood up. He said what needed to be said. 378 00:48:53,000 --> 00:48:58,000 He represented Jesus in all kinds of crazy situations where most people would not even want to be. 379 00:48:58,000 --> 00:49:02,000 Is that what your name will represent when it's written in the Lamb's book of life? 380 00:49:02,000 --> 00:49:06,000 It's written there because of the saving blood of Jesus, not because of your works. 381 00:49:06,000 --> 00:49:16,000 You can't earn it being there, but if it's there then when they distill you down, when they judge you for the small bit parts you played in their life, you only saw them once ever. 382 00:49:16,000 --> 00:49:23,000 Don't kid yourself. If a person sees you once in this lifetime, then is going to hell, standing at the right, right throne of judgment. 383 00:49:23,000 --> 00:49:31,000 And there you are dressing your pretty white robe. They're going to pick your face out of the crowd and say, I met you just once back in 2015. 384 00:49:31,000 --> 00:49:36,000 We were there for five minutes. We talked substantively about football or health. 385 00:49:36,000 --> 00:49:41,000 We talked about the weather, but you never mentioned Jesus. How could you do that to me? 386 00:49:41,000 --> 00:49:44,000 That was your bit part, five minutes in 2015. Now they want to know. 387 00:49:44,000 --> 00:49:48,000 You only had five minutes of my life, but you couldn't bring up the single most important thing. 388 00:49:48,000 --> 00:49:54,000 And now I go to hell for an eternity because you couldn't be bothered to mention the guy that was walking around living in you day in and day out. 389 00:49:54,000 --> 00:50:01,000 People are distilling our lives and judging us and they just the same as we can judge Jonah Dab and wonder, oh, it's pretty suspicious. 390 00:50:01,000 --> 00:50:06,000 Just the same as we can look at Absalom and think even here, oh boy, he's better. He's going to die before the battlefield for him. 391 00:50:06,000 --> 00:50:09,000 The battlefield was trying to keep his kingship and he lost it. 392 00:50:09,000 --> 00:50:16,000 And Amnon pushed close to the edge, played with temptation and then ultimately gave in and raped Tamar and two years later died. 393 00:50:16,000 --> 00:50:22,000 Probably didn't even die because he raped Tamar, probably died because he was first in line for the throne and had no integrity. 394 00:50:22,000 --> 00:50:28,000 That brings us to our conclusion. You need to accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior now. 395 00:50:28,000 --> 00:50:31,000 A Lord is a person who tells you what to do when you do it. 396 00:50:31,000 --> 00:50:36,000 A Savior is a person who is the only way your sins can be forgiven, the only way you can go to heaven for eternity. 397 00:50:36,000 --> 00:50:44,000 It's no game. There are no extras, no clauses, no subtext, no Roman numerals, just Jesus as Lord and Savior. 398 00:50:44,000 --> 00:50:51,000 And then having accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior, you will live by God's definition of words and concepts day in and day out. 399 00:50:51,000 --> 00:50:57,000 You say, well I don't know all gods. No, it's a journey. You grow a little more, a little more. That's what Reaching New Heights is all about. 400 00:50:57,000 --> 00:51:02,000 We will study our Bibles together. We will spend time doing the things that God has called us to do together. 401 00:51:02,000 --> 00:51:09,000 We will walk out to the best of our ability in whatever place that we are at that time what it means to be a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, 402 00:51:09,000 --> 00:51:16,000 including accepting the definition of words and concepts that He gives us when that is extremely inconvenient in the world. 403 00:51:16,000 --> 00:51:20,000 And they hate you for it. If you take the light into the darkness and the darkness does not comprehend you 404 00:51:20,000 --> 00:51:26,000 as it did not comprehend the light that was Jesus, then they just might try to kill you just the same as they did Jesus. 405 00:51:26,000 --> 00:51:30,000 And He said, when they hate you, do not be surprised for they hated Me first. 406 00:51:30,000 --> 00:51:36,000 Also He said, in this world you shall face trials and troubles, but fear not, for I have overcome the world. 407 00:51:36,000 --> 00:51:40,000 Never dismiss His presence from being the primary consideration in every decision. 408 00:51:40,000 --> 00:51:48,000 Everything you think you want to do, every time you think I might want to do this, I might want to eat that, I might want to watch this, 409 00:51:48,000 --> 00:51:54,000 I might want to play this for a few minutes longer, every time you think of anything you want to do, 410 00:51:54,000 --> 00:52:02,000 you need to take into account the fact that the God of the universe through His Holy Spirit and Jesus' personality is living in you. 411 00:52:02,000 --> 00:52:04,000 That's what it means to have Jesus as Lord and Savior. 412 00:52:04,000 --> 00:52:11,000 You can't sleep with your boyfriend, and you can't not pay back your debts, you can't disrespect other human beings, 413 00:52:11,000 --> 00:52:17,000 you can't lie or steal or cheat, even though technically you can, but you won't. You will not allow it. 414 00:52:17,000 --> 00:52:24,000 That's the battlefield. You will fight there to do the things that God would have you to do, to be the person that God would have you to be, 415 00:52:24,000 --> 00:52:29,000 and your primary consideration will be the fact that the God of the universe is in you, that He has offered His presence, 416 00:52:29,000 --> 00:52:34,000 that He has authored His presence, and that He is preparing you for the battle of your life. 417 00:52:34,000 --> 00:52:38,000 If you're still alive here, you will face a bigger enemy before you are done. 418 00:52:38,000 --> 00:52:44,000 And just the same, if you do not die in facing that great big enemy, whatever it is that God's pitting you against, 419 00:52:44,000 --> 00:52:47,000 then you will spend eternity with God in heaven immediately. 420 00:52:47,000 --> 00:52:50,000 Following, if you do die, or afterwards, you'll be able to say, 421 00:52:50,000 --> 00:52:59,000 Oh, it's good. I have learned. I have grown. I am stronger. I am salt. I am light. And the enemy has fallen at my feet today. 422 00:52:59,000 --> 00:53:05,000 Be prepared for the battle of your life, which if given the opportunity, he will win in and through us. 423 00:53:05,000 --> 00:53:09,000 When Jesus handed us over the keys, He expected us to take these things into account, 424 00:53:09,000 --> 00:53:14,000 to understand that accepting other kinds of love will bring about other problems, 425 00:53:14,000 --> 00:53:18,000 and that we are called, commanded to love the way He would have us to love, 426 00:53:18,000 --> 00:53:24,000 that dying on the way to the battlefield will ensure that you will not win the fight when the time comes. 427 00:53:24,000 --> 00:53:31,000 And the surest way to ensure that you will die on the battlefield is to give in to the temptations of idolatry, such as they are, 428 00:53:31,000 --> 00:53:35,000 and to realize that you are just a bit part in most people's lives. 429 00:53:35,000 --> 00:53:40,000 But sometimes the bit part is the part. It's the part that brings the gospel. It's the part that brings salvation. 430 00:53:40,000 --> 00:53:44,000 It's the part that wins souls. It's the part that stomps demons into the ground. 431 00:53:44,000 --> 00:53:47,000 That's the kind of bit part I want to be. That's the kind of bit part you want to be. 432 00:53:47,000 --> 00:53:52,000 And you're going to have to put down some things, and you're going to have to pick up some things, and Jesus will show you what they are. 433 00:53:52,000 --> 00:53:56,000 Repent today, and if you're not a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ in earnest, become one. 434 00:53:56,000 --> 00:54:04,000 And if you are one, then say, I will today live according to that decision, that act, that time at which God may be born again. 435 00:54:04,000 --> 00:54:10,000 I got off track somewhere, but I am going to today and tomorrow, and every day that I am the decision maker in my head, 436 00:54:10,000 --> 00:54:15,000 I will make the decision to represent my Lord. And we will not embrace the concepts of this world. 437 00:54:15,000 --> 00:54:20,000 We will not become friends with the world system, because we are not of that kingdom. We are of God's kingdom. 438 00:54:20,000 --> 00:54:25,000 And He wants to live in us. And believe me, I want nothing more. You want nothing more. 439 00:54:25,000 --> 00:54:27,000 So we will take into account in every decision His presence. 440 00:54:27,000 --> 00:54:33,000 I ask the praise team to come forward at this time. We're going to close with a hymn, a song that we've prepared. 441 00:54:33,000 --> 00:54:37,000 I'm asking you today, have you made this decision? Have you turned yourself over? 442 00:54:37,000 --> 00:54:40,000 There's lots of good things in life. I get that. There's lots of good things. 443 00:54:40,000 --> 00:54:44,000 But if it's a good thing and it's not of God, it's not a good thing. It doesn't matter how good it looks. 444 00:54:44,000 --> 00:54:50,000 If it's a good thing in your eyes, but not a good thing in your soul, then it's got to go, because Jesus is there. 445 00:54:50,000 --> 00:54:56,000 Don't force the God of the universe to sit with you while you watch things you shouldn't watch, and do things you shouldn't do, 446 00:54:56,000 --> 00:55:02,000 and be a person you shouldn't be. Rather, invite Him in. Embrace His concepts and His words, and live eternally in Christ. 447 00:55:02,000 --> 00:55:07,000 Would you stand with me if you're comfortable and able to do so, and as we sing this song, Alicia's going to lead us.