King David was one of the most perplexing paradoxes of biblical history.
• He has been called the highest star in the Old Testament.
• He has provided our most beautiful scriptures in the Psalms.
• He was the greatest King of Israel.
• His life was such a paragon of all the virtues of leadership that he became a prototype of the Messiah in Jewish
understanding. Yet, it was this same David who yielded to the passions of the flesh, who committed adultery and who amassed deceit upon deceit to try to cover up his treachery.
We have many pictures of David in Scripture. This pathetic picture painted of David in our text for tonight comes long after his double sin of adultery and murder, although it was directly tied to it. With the stories of David’s sin and deceit no doubt part of the common court gossip when he grew up, Absalom overheard the whispered tales of his father’s guile from an early age. Thus, it is not difficult to understand why the growing disrespect Absalom had for his father exploded into rebellion and eventually motivated him to attempt to put his father out of power and gain the throne himself.
Absalom almost succeeded. The times had been difficult for David, but now the tide began to turn. A growing number of the people began to align themselves once more with David, and led by his talented general Joab, the forces of David had almost succeeded in recovering the kingdom of Israel.
The climatic battle was still to be fought. David’s troops, led by Joab, were to meet those of Absalom in the woods of Ephraim. David remained in the city, on the promise of his advisors that they would send him immediate word when the battle was over. David’s forces proved supreme that day, and despite his repeated warnings, Absalom, his rebellious son, was killed. The battle was over. The victory had been won. Absalom was dead.
Now word had to be sent to the king. The Bible says in 2 Samuel 18:19, that Ahimaaz asked Joab if he could take the message to the king. Verse 21 tells us that Cushi was sent instead. Ahimaaz persisted in his request in verse 22, however, and a few moments later, in verse 23, he was sent with the message as well.
I can imagine Ahimaaz as he stretched out his long legs and swiftly swept across the plains to the city. I can see him as he gave everything he had so he could reach the city first. He passed Cushi and came to the city first where King David was sitting out between two gates. Ahimaaz came and knelt before David and cried in an exalted voice in verse 28, “The victory has been won and you are king once more.”
But David, wanting to know about his prodigal son, asked in verse 29, “What about Absalom? Is he safe?” Ahimaaz said that he had seen a crowd but he did not know anything about Absalom. Remember, he had been there when Absalom had been killed. He had been there even after Cushi, but because he was afraid of the reaction of the king, he was afraid to deliver the full message.
As soon as Ahimaaz rose, Cushi came panting into the king’s presence. He, too, knelt at the feet of David. He, too, proclaimed the note of victory. Again, David asked about his son. Cushi, in verse 32, knowing of David’s love for his son and yet feeling an overwhelming urge to deliver the whole message said, “The king’s son is dead.”
Ahimaaz had run with all his might. He had come in first because of his zeal, but when he arrived in the city he did not deliver the full message. He delivered the message of victory, but he did not deliver the message of judgment. He told David his armies had won the battle, but he did not tell him the price that had to be paid for that victory ... the death of his precious son. Ahimaaz refused to deliver the whole truth.
That is happening in our churches today. This failure to deliver the full message to the world today is what one writer has recently called “the evangelical dilemma.” Many of our churches are growing, and people are being saved. The problem is that the conversions do not stick. The fruit does not remain. Six months later there is nothing to be seen for all the aggressive evangelism, and the children baptized in yesteryear are not actively involved in the life of the church today.
Many different reasons may be suggested for this curious phenomenon, but I believe that at the heart of the problem is a failure on the part of the Christian church to proclaim to the world the full message—in other words, The Truth, The Whole Truth, and Nothing But the Truth. We proclaim the message of victory but often fail to explain the price which must be paid for that victory. We present the challenge but do not mention the power that is available to meet that challenge.
No greater need faces the church today than to escape the “evangelical dilemma” by once more proclaiming to the world the full message of Jesus Christ. What is the full message of Jesus Christ?
Salvation
We can begin by affirming that the good news of salvation is certainly part of the message. Nothing I say should be taken as a contradiction to the unadorned affirmation of John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life,” or the precious promise of Romans 10:13, that “...whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
The good news that Jesus saves all those that call upon His name is at the very heart and center of the Christian message. That is where we must begin the proclamation of the message of Christ. We must start with the message of salvation because people still need to be saved.
Ralph Neighbors, who carried out one of the most creative ministries in our convention when he was pastoring a church in Houston, TX, said, “This generation of non-churched people is the most needy in the history of the human race! They have not found any answers, and they are looking desperately for some way out.”
He told of visiting one house where a number of people lived in a commune type atmosphere. He was impressed by the fact that every room in the old, dilapidated house which was the scene of action for some fifteen or so “dropouts” from our society, had at least one hand-painted picture of Christ on the cross. These were youth who had been violent in their condemnation of the church, but they were obviously haunted by Christ.
That is a picture of our generation ... people who are on the outside who are hard and cold and sophisticated and apparently self-reliant, but who on the inside are confused and broken, with their emptiness screaming for something or someone to give order to the confusion, to put the broken pieces back together again, and to fill the emptiness.
I see it every week as I counsel with people.
I see it every day as I go into the homes of people in our city. People still need Christ. They still need to be saved.
We must start with the message of salvation because Jesus is still in the business of saving people.
A young girl experienced new life in Christ. Shortly after that she gave her testimony. “I was a nobody, but God made me a somebody.” God is still in the business of making “somebodies” out of nobodies through the transforming power of Jesus Christ.
Whenever we call upon the Lord we will be saved. And when we are saved we are born into a new life from which we cannot be unborn. We Christians have planted within our heart the love of God from which nothing ... neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us.
We must never forget that the note of victory, the promise of freedom, the good news of salvation is part of the message of Jesus Christ.
But we must go on quickly to say this is not the full message. We have a large number of people who claim Christ as Savior and ask Him into their heart. But we have so few that really serve the Lord. We have so few who live victorious lives. We have so few like the first disciples who are powerful in their influence, bold in their witness, and pure in their living. Why? Because like Ahimaaz, we have only delivered part of the message. Salvation is available to every person, but there is more the message than that.
No Salvation Without Repentance
We must add this important word: there is no salvation without repentance. From the time Jesus initiated His ministry with the words in Mark 1:15, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent ye and believe the gospel,” to the time Jesus answered a probing question of His disciples with this retort, “No, but unless you repent you shall all likewise perish,” to the time Simon Peter answering the piercing question asked by the Pentecost penitents, “What must we do?”
with His challenge to repent ... the message is always the same: there is no salvation without repentance.
It is one thing to agree we are sinners. It is another thing to be willing to give up our sin. It is one thing to acknowledge we are going in the wrong direction. It is another thing to turn from that way and begin to go the way of Christ.
A young boy was scoldingly asked by his mother one morning, “Aren’t you ashamed at staying in bed past noon?” To which the boy answered, “Yes, I am ashamed. But I would rather be ashamed than to get up.” Many people are ashamed of their sins, ashamed of what they are, ashamed of what they have done, but they would rather be ashamed than to give these things up.
It takes more than shame to be saved. It takes repentance. If we say we want to be saved but are not willing to turn from our sin, we are only fooling ourselves. There is no salvation without repentance.
What is repentance? Sam Jones was close when he said, “Repentance means that you are so sorry for your sins that you ain’t going to do them any more.” There is no salvation without that.
No Salvation Without Power
We must also add this positive note: there is no salvation without spiritual power. When we turn to Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit comes to set up residence in our life. What does this mean?
It means when we become a Christian...
• We no longer have to face life alone.
• We no longer have to solve our problems alone.
• We no longer have to meet temptation alone.
• We no longer have to relate to the world alone.
• We no longer have to face death alone.
We have the promise of God’s Holy Spirit living within us. I am convinced that most Christians live in defeat because they don’t realize that at conversion the Holy Spirit comes to live within them.
The tragedy of the church today is that we have only proclaimed a partial message. Why is that a tragedy? The proclamation of salvation without repentance is a tragedy because it is a mockery to the cross. But the proclamation of salvation without the Holy Spirit is the greatest tragedy of all because in proclaiming such a message, we have stripped the Gospel of its power.
