Lessons from David pt 6
“A Fallen King pt b”
David’s sin came because he stopped doing what he was supposed to be doing, because he did not listen to the warnings, he allowed sin into his home and he tried to cover sin up with more sin.
A nobody became a somebody who became a fugitive who then became a king and then forgot that he was accountable to God for all his actions!
Scripture Text: 2 Samuel 11
Summary of last week’s message:
The last few weeks we have been studying the life of David. We discovered that a nobody became a somebody, a somebody became a fugitive, a fugitive became king and the king grew the kingdom and now the king falls into sin because he thought he was somebody special and above the law of God.
Swindoll states, The Bible never flatters its heroes. All the men and women of Scripture have feet made of clay, and when the Holy Spirit paints a portrait of their lives, He’s a very realistic artist. He doesn’t ignore, deny, or overlook the dark side. Personally, when I step into this chapter in David’s life, I am forever grateful that God has finished writing Scripture. There is not a person I know who would want to have his failures and vices recorded for all generations to read and discuss and make movies about and write books on and preach sermons on down through the centuries “(David, 179).
MacDonald states, “We can be thankful that Scripture deals openly with failure. The defects of the saints are not edited out. The dark sides of people who made a difference in their generations are there for all to see: King David’s adultery and murderous scheming, Elijah’s loss of nerve, Jonah’s vindictive spirit.”
What causes leaders in the Kingdom of God to fall?
Answer: They quit guarding their hearts 4 ways!
• The 1st thing to guard against is to make sure you are where God wants you to be at all times (2 Samuel 11: 1, 2).
• The 2nd thing to guard against is the attitude of not being willing to hear the warnings of those who are around you (2 Samuel 11: 2, 3).
• The 3rd aspect to guard yourself against and watch out for is that when you open the door for sin into your house it will come in like a flood (2 Samuel 11: 4-26).
• The 4th point to guard yourself against is that if you try to cover it up – God promises to expose you (2 Samuel 11: 27; Luke 12:1-3).
The Bible is about real life. It shows us the good with the bad. This is was God’s intention was when He had it penned for us. We need to use it to grow in life because it is filled with wisdom and insight. It will give us insight and direction in what to do and what not to do. If we learn its lessons well then we will save ourselves a lot of heartache.
T.S. – When we discover that we have fallen prey to the deception of sin we end up experiencing the domino effect. When we find ourselves spinning out of control we need to take the steps necessary to bring revival to our lives.
Scripture Text: 2 Samuel 12
Nathan Rebukes David
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 deserves to die!
He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity.”
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 the house of 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 upon you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will lie with your wives in broad daylight.
You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.’”
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.
But because by doing this you have made the enemies of the LORD show utter contempt, the son born to you will die.”
After Nathan had gone home, the LORD struck the child that Uriah’s wife had borne to David, and he became ill.
David pleaded with God for the child. He fasted and went into his house and spent the nights lying on the ground.
The elders of his household stood beside him to get him up from the ground, but he refused, and he would not eat any food with them.
On the seventh day the child died. David’s servants were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they thought, “While the child was still living, we spoke to David but he would not listen to us. How can we tell him the child is dead? He may do something desperate.”
David noticed that his servants were whispering among themselves and he realized the child was dead. “Is the child dead?” he asked. “Yes,” they replied, “he is dead.”
Then David got up from the ground. After he had washed, put on lotions and changed his clothes, he went into the house of the LORD and worshiped. Then he went to his own house, and at his request they served him food, and he ate.
His servants asked him, “Why are you acting this way? While the child was alive, you fasted and wept, but now that the child is dead, you get up and eat!”
He answered, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept. I thought, ‘Who knows? The LORD may be gracious to me and let the child live.’
But now that he is dead, why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me.”
Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba, and he went to her and lay with her. She gave birth to a son, and they named him Solomon. The LORD loved him;
and because the LORD loved him, he sent word through Nathan the prophet to name him Jedidiah.
Meanwhile Joab fought against Rabbah of the Ammonites and captured the royal citadel.
Joab then sent messengers to David, saying, “I have fought against Rabbah and taken its water supply.
Now muster the rest of the troops and besiege the city and capture it. Otherwise I will take the city, and it will be named after me.”
So David mustered the entire army and went to Rabbah, and attacked and captured it.
He took the crown from the head of their king—its weight was a talent of gold, and it was set with precious stones—and it was placed on David’s head. He took a great quantity of plunder from the city and brought out the people who were there, consigning them to labor with saws and with iron picks and axes, and he made them work at brickmaking. He did this to all the Ammonite towns. Then David and his entire army returned to Jerusalem.
T.S. – Our Scripture text shows us how to be revived when sin has caused us a heart attack and killed us spiritually in the sight of God.
Thesis: David has had a spiritual heart attack caused by sin so he now needs to be confronted by God’s messenger so he can come back to life. Love motivated god to send Nathan no hatred so that David could be revived from the impact of sin.
Hands on Illustration: Hands on pull out the defibrillator and talk about what it does – it gives you an electrical shock to restart your heart. It brings you back to life if your heart stops.
You could say David that David’s sin caused his heart to stop – when he sinned and sinned he stopped his heart after God – it caused a heart attack which actually killed him spiritually. Therefore God sends his prophet Nathan to give him a shock to his dead heart to bring him back to life.
I. David’s life models for us how to receive revival in the midst of our failures from sin (II Samuel 12).
a. The proper understanding of the revival is:
i. In the New Testament, revival is a translation of the compound word anazao, which literally means, “again to live”. It is used in the spiritual sense of bringing life to a Christian who has fallen asleep, or rebelled against God.
ii. Wilkerson states, ‘ In this law (The law of revival), revival refers to the process of bringing back to full life a Christian who has fallen into sin and is living in known disobedience to the Lord.”
b. Nathan’s as a prophet of God models for us how to bring revival to a fallen king or queen. David models for us how to receive revival even after we have fallen. (The following information is taken and adapted from Dr. Wilkerson’s book The Seven Laws Of The Learner.)
i. Step one in revival starts when God decides to send someone to the fallen person to point out their predicament.
1. II Samuel 12:1a – “The Lord sent Nathan to David…”
a. Nathan was commissioned by God to go to David.
i. Commissioned means to be given authority to carry out the task at hand. He was granted certain power and position by God to deal with the king.
ii. When Nathan appeared before the king he knew he was doing God’s will.
iii. Our direct commission from God is what gives us the right to confront in love when someone is wrong.
2. The key to seeing people restored is found in the fact that God still does love fallen individuals.
a. That’s demonstrated in the cross!
3. The Lord will send people to confront them and ask for a change of heart so He can restore them. It’s actually an act of love and not hate! Here this –let it sink in NOW!
a. But if you confront – you make sure you have God’s permission and if it’s in the church the permission of the leadership!
ii. Step two of igniting revival in a person’s heart is confrontation.
1. II Samuel 12:1b-9 - A fallen person must come to the realization that they are wrong.
a. It’s the idea of pointing out a boundary that has been illegally crossed and violated.
b. Confrontation brings the individual face to face with the truth of their boundary violation.
c. Nathan in our passage did this with David. His confrontation helped David see himself in God’s true spotlight. And conviction flooded down upon David.
d. The Prophet lead David to discover his error by doing three things:
i. He confronted him with a parable to drive home how unjust this person was (II Samuel 12:1b-6)
ii. He confronted through describing the nature of God (II Samuel 12:7-8).
iii. He confronted by listing specific sins (12:9-10)
e. Nathan knew that to be effective in confronting sin you had to be direct, specific and true. He did not beat around the bush he shared the truth in love right there and then!
f. Confrontation is not easy for anyone, but the Lord admonishes us to do it.
i. Just remember these valuable lessons:
1. Make sure God has commissioned you to be the confronter.
2. Always use the Biblical word for the sin they have committed.
3. Do not move beyond this step of revival unless the person admits their sin.
iii. The third step in revival caused by them admitting they have sinned against God and the teachings of the Biblical.
1. We should confront fallen individuals when we are sure they have broken clear Biblical mandates.
a. The Bible is God’s word. There are no absolutes without the Bible. But, with the Bible, we can all know whether an act is a sin or not.
b. The Word of God establishes those boundaries not man.
i. This is not about what you or I think!
ii. We see what happens when there are no absolutes in a society.
1. Look at this election.
2. Look at the court cases.
3. Men and women are deciding what they think is right and wrong.
c. The point here is to get the individual to admit they have broken God’s law to give them its Biblical name.
d. To get them to come clean and be willing to confess their sin.
iv. The fourth step in revival is to restore but let the individual know that there are consequences for their sin (II Samuel 12:10-14).
1. When a person disobeys God’s Word, they underestimate two things.
a. The seriousness of their sinful behavior
b. The negative consequences of that behavior to themselves, their family, their friends, their relationships, their church, and their community.
2. Confrontation that leads to revival helps the person see the past and its sinful acts, consequences help the person see the present and future harm of the sin’s results.
a. Nathan noted five categories of consequences.
i. Consequence to the individual.
ii. Consequence to the immediate family.
iii. Consequence to the Community- Israelite or Christian
iv. Consequence to the Community- non-Israelite or Christian
v. Consequences to the Lord God- His pain as a result of our sin. He experiences it too!
v. The fifth step to revival is when the fallen one confesses (II Samuel 12:13) and experiences God’s grace.
1. Confession means to undeniably make known to others, one’s error or wrongdoing. David states in verse 13 “I have sinned against the Lord!’
a. Confession is the first step on the positive side of revival, and represents the hinge swinging between revival and rebellion.
b. David’s full confession is found in Psalm 51
i. Note especially verse 17a, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart…”
c. Many want to put the pressure on God for Revival when in essence revival has to do with our actions or lack of action when it comes to sin.
d. II Chronicles 7:14 “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and heal their land.”
1. In this passage of Scripture God makes it clear that there are 4 conditions to revival.
a. Will you humble yourself?
b. Will you pray?
c. Will you seek God’s direction?
d. Will you turn from your wicked ways?
ii. Dr. Wilkinson states, “But how could turning from my wicked ways be a condition of revival? I had always thought acts of repentance and obedience were the results of revival, not the conditions for it. I had incorrectly thought that when God finally decided, in his sovereignty, to send revival, then I’d finally have the power to overcome my sins. So ultimately, then, who was I blaming for my wicked ways? In my confusion, who did I feel was responsible for not sending revival and solving all my problems? God! I sought for away to escape full responsibility for my action-and found none. If I wanted God to hear, forgive and heal, then I must first turn from my wicked ways. Could revival be that clear? Could revival be within the grasp of any of us who choose to obey God’s conditions? Yes, II Chronicles 7:14 forever answers the question of who is responsible to act so that revival can and will occur” (353).
II. What are four conditions necessary to have revival in your heart? (2 Chronicles 7:14)
a. “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.”
i. A humble heart!
ii. A heart of prayer!
iii. A heart seeking after God’s direction and plan!
iv. A heart that turns from wicked ways!
Conclusion: What have we learned today?
We have learned to guard against steps toward sin so that we don’t fall into sin’s deadly grip?
1. We are to be where we are supposed to be, not where we are not suppose to be!
2. We need to be receptive and listen to the warnings from those around us!
3. We need to learn that if we allow sin in the door it usually rolls in like a flood! And when sin is in the house it breeds more and more sin that affects everyone!
4. When you sin you need to understand, it will be exposed in time!
What are the five steps to seeing revival in a fallen individual’s heart?
1. The first step to revival happens when God sends someone to deal with sin.
2. The second step to revival is when that someone confronts and individual who sinned and they admit it.
3. The third step to revival is that when the sent one confronts sin it’s done through Biblical standards not their own standards and there is true repentance.
4. The fourth step to revival is to restore but then be honest and share the consequences of their sin.
5. The fifth step to revival is where the individual confesses his/her sin and asks for forgiveness and they experience the grace of God, mercy and deliverance of the Lord.
What are four conditions necessary to have revival in your heart? (2 Chronicles 7:14)
1. A humble heart!
2. A heart of prayer!
3. A heart seeking after God’s direction and plan!
4. A heart that turns from wicked ways!
Once we learn these principles then we will experience revival!
