The Severity Of Sinfulness
II Samuel 12:1-15
If you have turned on your T.V in the past couple of weeks you have heard about several NFL players who have been suspended as a result of their detestable actions in their personal lives. Some of these men may potentially be banned for life, some are facing criminal charges that may result in prison time, they may lose multi-million dollar contracts as well as other consequences from their poor decisions. They are not the only ones who are suffering as a result of their actions. Their choices have had an impact on their families, their teams and the NFL as a whole.
In life, there are severe consequences to bad decisions. And the Christian life is no different. Today we have read a portion of scripture that covers a difficult time in the life of King David. Several months earlier he faced temptation and did not even put up a fight. He committed adultery with another man’s wife. Bathsheba became pregnant and David was in trouble. To try and hide his sin, David arranged the murder of her husband Uriah. After all this, David spent a great deal of time away from the Lord. He had ample opportunity to repent and be restored but he continued in his rebellion. As a result of his sin, great trouble came into his life. I want you to understand that David’s sins did not just impact him, they affected his entire family.
Some of you may be in a situation similar to what David faced. You may have rebelled and turned away from the Lord. You must comprehend the fact that your sin has far reaching consequences. I want to look at this time in King David’s life and preach on this subject: “The Severity Of Sinfulness” Let’s begin in verses 1-4 and see:
I. THE CONFRONTATION OF YOUR SIN v1-4
If you have sinned against the Lord, you can rest assured that your sin will be confronted. In verse 1 we see:
A. THE PROCESS OF THIS CONFRONTATION- v1a And the LORD sent Nathan unto David.
The Lord will get His message across to you when you have sinned. There are ways that He will confront your sin.
1) HE WILL USE HIS MAN
In times past God used Prophets & Apostles. Praise God He still has some men who will stand and boldly preach the truth. God may use His man to say something to confront your sin. If the man of God confronts your sin; it will be because He is declaring the Word of God. This shows us another way that God will confront your sin.
2) HE WILL USE HIS WORD
Nathan was a Prophet called by God. God sent Nathan to confront David. But Nathan was just a vessel that the Lord used to deliver HIS message. If David received this message, he would be receiving the Word of God. If David rejected this message, he would have been rejecting the Lord… not Nathan.
In Ezekiel Chapter 3, the Lord told Ezekiel that He had a message for him to share with the people. The Lord told Ezekiel that the people wouldn’t listen to that message. Regardless of their response, Ezekiel was to give them the Word of the Lord. Many people rejected the Word spoken by the Prophets. Many people rejected the Word spoken by the Apostles, Many of you reject the Word that I speak each and ever week. But you are not rejecting me, you are REJECTING THE WORD OF YOUR HEAVENLY FATHER! - Not only will the Lord use His Man & His Word to confront your sin…
3) HE WILL USE THE HOLY SPIRIT
When you have sin in your life (as a believer) you don’t need anyone to tell you, IT HAS ALREADY BEEN REVEALED TO YOU! If you walk out of those doors today refusing to repent of your sins: You are walking away from a loving God who has revealed your backslidden condition to you! You are walking away from an opportunity to be restored. You are walking away from an opportunity to regain that peace, hope and joy that you once knew!
Some of you are telling the Holy Spirit “leave me alone, I don’t want to deal with you right now”! Would you say that if Jesus was standing in front of you? When you quench the Holy Spirit you are doing the exact same thing!
That is the Process of this confrontation, notice also:
B. THE PURPOSE OF THIS CONFRONTATION- v1b …And he came unto him, and said unto him, There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor. 2 The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds: 3 But the poor man had nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up: and it grew up together with him, and with his children; it did eat of his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter. 4 And there came a traveller unto the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man that was come unto him; but took the poor man's lamb, and dressed it for the man that was come to him.
This portion of scripture is often referred to as “Nathan’s Parable”. A Parable is defined as a short simple story, designed to communicate a spiritual truth, religious principle, or a moral lesson. Nathan approached David and tells him this simple story in order to explain the issue at hand. The reason that Nathan is confronting David is because God has had enough! The reason that God will confront you sin is to reveal the issue so that you will repent and return to Him.
It is not a pleasant thing to be confronted by a Holy God about sin and transgression in your life. But the purpose behind the confrontation is beautiful! When you stop and think how amazing it is that God loves you enough to give you an opportunity to return to Him, it should bring joy to your heart! As we move a little further in the text I would like to consider:
II. THE CORRUPTION OF YOUR SIN- v5 And David's anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As the LORD liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die: 6 And he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.
After Nathan shared the story of this evil man stealing the only precious lamb that his neighbor owned and feeding it to his guest, DAVID WAS FURIOUS!! David’s sin had corrupted him! Sin turned David into a hypocrite! Let’s not forget who we are talking about!!. This is King David, God’s man! A man that God described as being a “man after mine own heart”. David was hand picked by God to be the King of Israel. There are countless examples of David’s integrity in the Word of God. There are many verses that speak of his uprightness and loyalty to the Lord. David’s sin had corrupted him to the point that he didn’t even realize his hypocrisy! He didn’t even comprehend the fact that what he had done was much worse than the man who stole a lamb from his neighbor. Sin is a slippery slope.
David’s sin began with lust.There was covetousness in his heart. Then came adultery, then came murder... Intertwined was a great deal of lying. In the process he walked away from his Lord.He rebelled and spent almost a year away from his Heavenly Father. Now he is a hypocrite judging the actions of the man in Nathan’s parable.
You may be in a similar place in your life.One sin became two and then the sin in your life began to snowball. Now you are at a place where you have been away from the Father for some time and you refuse to acknowledge it! But chances are you are like David and you can point out the faults and failures of others in a heartbeat! My friend, sin will corrupt your entire life! You may be so prideful as to say that you will never get to that point.If it can happen to King David… IT CAN HAPPEN TO YOU! (and for some of you it has already happened)
- We have seen The Confrontation Of Your Sin and The Corruption Of Your Sin, look with me to verses 7-9 as we see:
III. THE CONVICTION OF YOUR SIN v7-9
Rest assured if you are a child of God and there is sin in your life… THERE WILL BE CONVICTION! Notice:
A. THE REVELATION INVOLVED - There are several things that God’s conviction will reveal in your life.
1) GOD WILL REVEAL WHAT YOU HAVE DONE TO HIM - v7 And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man.
Nathan interrupted David’s moment of self righteous hypocrisy with a startling revelation. He said “DAVID YOU ARE THE ONE WHO DID THIS!!”. I believe that this revelation hit David like a ton of bricks. It is possible that David had turned so far away from the Lord and that his heart had become so heard that he didn’t even realize the extent of his sin. Well now he knows just where he stands! Notice his realization in verse 13 And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD.David didn’t say “I have sinned against Nathan”... or “I have sinned against Bathsheba”… or I have sinned against Uriah”. He knew that ultimately HE HAD SINNED AGAINST HIS LORD!!
One of the most painful aspects of conviction is when you realize that you have sinned against your heavenly Father. If you are one of His children it should break your heart to know that you have offended your Heavenly Father. In fact this is also an element in conviction.Not only will God Reveal What You Have Done To Him… we also see that:
2) GOD WILL REVEAL WHAT HE HAS DONE FOR YOU- v7b Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul; 8 And I gave thee thy master's house, and thy master's wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things.
Here the Lord gives David a long list of the many blessings that He had provided the King with. And to top it off He says “David, if this wasn’t enough I would have given you even more”. When you revert to a lifestyle of sin and the Holy Spirit begins His convicting work in your life, you too will be reminded of all that God has done for you!
Think about this for a moment my backslidden brother or sister:
- God sent His only Son to die for you.
- He has delivered your from your sins
- He has rescued you from Hell
- He has given you eternal life
- He walks with you and He talks with you
- He is there for you and with you!
- He has a home in Heaven prepared for you
And how do you repay Him?
* By living life your way
* By ignoring what His Word tells you not to do
* By refusing to do what His Word tells you to do
* By living a life in direct opposition HIS WILL!
When you do these things you WILL FACE CONVICTION! Not only do we see the Revelation Involved in conviction we also see:
B. THE REBUKE INVOLVED - v9 Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in his sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon.
The Lord told David exactly what caused him to be in this position. The Father addressed every sin that David had committed. And the same is true concerning the conviction that we face. The Holy Spirit will not just pour out guilt and shame upon you, He will reveal every sin that needs to be repented of.Jesus says in - Revelation 3:19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten…
> When I was disobedient as a child my father would tell me why he was going to spank me then spank me and then spend an hour telling me why he spanked me. He did this because he wanted me to know what I had done wrong so I could learn from the discipline and NOT DO IT AGAIN!
That is exactly what the Heavenly Father will do for those children of His who have been disobedient! When there is sin in the life of a believer there WILL be Conviction. But as we move further we will also see:
IV. THE CONSEQUENCES OF YOUR SIN - v10-13, 14 - If there is sin in your life, there are bound to be consequences to those sins.
A. THERE WILL BE SOME PERMANENT CONSEQUENCES - v10 Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife.
Because David had seen to it that Uriah had been killed with violence; violence would never depart from David’s family.David repented of all of his sins. And just as soon as he did, GOD FARGAVE THOSE SINS. But this period of sinfulness had a lasting impact on David’s life. You may repent and be forgiven of your sins before you leave here today. But there may be some consequences to those sins that will last the rest of your life. There are people that at one time you may have had an influence on and now, that influence is damaged beyond repair. Because of the period of separation from God you have lost valuable weeks, months and years that should have been spent growing closer to your Father. Your sin has a lasting impact on you and others as well.
- Your sin will have a negative effect on:
- Your spouse
- Your children
- Your extended family
- Your friends
- Your church
- Your school
- Your community
- Your place of employment
Every area in your sphere of influence will be affected by your sin! Not only will there be some permanent consequences:
B. THERE WILL BE SOME PAINFUL CONSEQUENCES- v11 Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun. 12 for thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun………v14b the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die.
The sins that David had committed were done in secret Not doubt he thought he had hid them from everyone He was wrong, and the consequences that came as a result of his sin we witnessed by the whole nation! And the consequences were very painful for him to bear.
- The baby that was conceived in the affair with Bathsheba died
- His son Amnon raped his half sister Tamar
- His other son Absalom arranged the murder of Amnon as a result
- David was separated from Absalom for several years.
- Then Absalom led a rebellion against David and ascended to the throne.
- David fled for his life from his own son.
- Absalom went in to his father’s wives and concubines in front of all the people
- Eventually Absalom died bringing much sorrow to David.
- He also lost his son Adonijah in a violent death
- And many other issues plagued David’s life from this point on.
Friend, you may think that you can sin and get by but you are sadly mistaken. THERE WILL BE SEVERE CONSEQUENCES AS A RESULT OF YOUR SIN! And those consequences may be very painful! Is that a chance that you are willing to take? If David could talk to you for a moment I am sure that he would say that THE PLEASURE OF HIS SIN WAS NO WHERE NEAR WORTH THE PAINFUL CONSEQUENCES THAT HE FACED!
After the Confrontation and the Conviction and the Consequences if we will come to a place of repentance then those sins can and will be washed away. Notice:
V. THE CLEANSING OF YOUR SIN - v13 And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. And Nathan said unto David, The LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die.
As soon as David confesses He is told that his sins have been forgiven. Nathan says that he will not be put to death as the Law demanded in Leviticus 20:10 ¶And the man that committeth adultery with another man's wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbour's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death. - Instead of justice, David received mercy!
Praise God when we come to a point of repentance we have been promised MERCY as well - 1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
No matter where you have been or what you have done, YOUR SINS CAN BE CLEANSED TODAY! Nathan tells David that God has “put away” his sin. God took David’s sins and took them away from him. And the Father can and will do the same for you today! The confrontation of David’s sin illustrates the grace, mercy and love of our Heavenly Father. You have the opportunity to experience His grace, mercy and love today! We have seen several elements of “The Severity Of Sinfulness” today... Before we close there is one more that I would like to examine. Notice in verse 14:
VI. THE CALAMITY OF YOUR SIN- v14 Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme…
One of the worst consequences of David’s sin was that he dishonored the name of the Lord. This had a great impact on the people of God. But it also had an impact on the unbelievers as well. If God were to allow David to get by with his sin and not address it, the heathen would say that the Lord was unfair in His judgment of sin. They may look at the situation and say many other things about the Lord that was untrue. This is the blasphemy that Nathan spoke of.
When you sin, you are not just damaging your reputation and witness, you are dishonoring the name of your Father in Heaven.
> If we go out to eat here in just a little while and my children begin to throw a fit and act in a disobedient manner in front of everyone at the restaurant that makes them look bad but it makes me look worse. They are my responsibility. How they act is a reflection of me.
Is your life and actions a positive or a negative reflection of your Father? Is your life one that is based on gratifying self or glorifying your Father? As believers, we are “ambassadors for Christ”..... Are you representing Him well today? Or would you be honest and admit that you have followed in David’s footsteps? Temptation came and you fell into sin. That sin began to grow and you went farther and father away from the Father. You began to do things that you once said you would never do. You began to go places that you never thought you would go.Do you realize the negative impact you are having on others? Lost people that you should be reaching for Jesus are being neglected. Saved people that you should be helping in the discipleship process are being neglected. You are having a negative influence in the lives of your spouse, your children, your family and friends. Your church is affected greatly by your sinful lifestyle. The jobs you should be doing are not being done. Your actions are bringing shame and reproach on this assembly And worst of all you are disgracing the name of your Heavenly Father. Friend, there are consequences for your disobedience. But you have a Father who desires to restore you… RIGHT HERE,RIGHT NOW!!!
My prayer today is that you grasp “The Severity Of Sinfulness”
