32And the king said unto Cushi, Is the young man Absalom safe? And Cushi answered, The enemies of my lord the king, and all that rise against thee to do thee hurt, be as that young man is. 33And the king was much moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept: and as he went, thus he said, O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son!
I want you to notice particularly the question in verse 32, for therein lies my subject: "Is the young man safe?" And I want to ask you to consider the question today: "Is The Child Safe?"
My brothers and sisters, the text deals with the concern of a father for his son. King David was man of great political power and influence. As King of Israel, David advanced his kingdom to its greatest glory. But despite all of the greatness that David achieved, this is one of David’s weakest moments in his life. His son Absalom has turned on him and tried to overthrow David from the thrown.
I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that it’s a hurting thing when your child, after all you have tried to do for them, pays you back by literally biting the hand that has fed them. The Bible says that David had to employ thousands of men to protect him from his own son.
-- Imagine it. Having to run and hide from the child you have given life to!
-- Imagine it. Having to hire body guards to protect you from the child you have sacrificed and toiled for to put a roof over their heads!
-- Imagine it. Having to suffer the shame and embarrassment of fold who heard about Absalom¡¯s actions and as your walk down a public street hearing them whisper, "There goes David. It’s a shame how his son does him!"
I become incensed whenever I see or hear of a child treating it’s parent or parents in a disrespectful way. Some daytime television talk shows have given us a glimpse at what’s going on in some families today. Maybe you’ve watched some of them. I won’t give them a free commercial by mentioning their names, for their names are really not that important. They all pretty much do shows on the same topics: "Kids Out of Control!"... "Children Off The Hook!" ... "I’m Afraid of My Child!" ... The list could go on and on.
When I was a child, I didn’t always agree with everything my parents said to me. I didn’t always like the way I was disciplined. I even rebelled to a certain extent, but my parents were still my parents and I was their child. And as their child I dare not rise up against my mother and father! If I had, who knows what physical condition I’d be in today!
This story outlined in 2nd Samuel is one of those sagas which makes a parent’s blood boil, but at the same time - you have to sympathize with David. Even though David had not lived a model life (and I’ll get to that in a minute) David was still a parent and I can imagine the pain and mental suffering that David must have been dealing with.
On the battlefield David was given the victory when the odds were all stacked against him, but in his personal life he’s the subject of gossip because of what’s going on between him and his son. But you know... (and I say this for the benefit of all of the young people listening today) Your parents may not be the best parents (in your eyes) but make no mistake about it, the Bible speaks a great truth: ’Honor thy parents that they days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.’
Absalom disrespected his father and God punished him for it! One day, when Absalom was riding on his ass and heading out of the jungle, trying to lead an attack against his father, Absalom’s hair got caught on the limb of a tree, and the ass kept right on going, while Absalom hung there by his hair! And as, David’s army was defending themselves, they came upon Absalom strung up by the hair in a tree. They killed that boy and threw his body in a ditch and covered it with stones. And when the battle report came back to David that they had seen Absalom hanging by the hair from a tree one might think that David would have said, "Good for him! ... that’s what he gets!" But David asks the question: "Is the young man safe?"
But the reply comes back, "King... I wish that all your enemies and everyone who tries to hurt you would end up like him!" In other words, a messenger was letting David know (in so many words) that his son, Absalom, was dead! The record says that when David heard that he trembled and ran off to his room to cry. As he went, they could hear him saying, "My son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! I wish I could have died instead of you! Absalom, my son, my son!"
Yes. . . even with Absalom’s betrayal, David still loved his son, but now it’s all over! David has lived through it all, and now all he can do is sit in the corner, crying and weeping like a little child. Someone might say, "Well, it’s David’s fault also because of the circumstances in which Absalom was conceived." But I want you to know that it wasn’t all David’s fault, for this is a three-sided fault.
The first side is the sin of pleasure that David committed with Absalom’s mother, Bathsheba. David had no business even fooling with that woman in the first place! Bathsheba was another man’s wife, but David thought with his loins and not with his heart. (You know what I mean)
The second side is that David (as head of the house) allowed some junk to go on (in his house) and didn’t properly deal with it. You remember: David’s daughter was seduced by his son, and that son was killed by another son. And then, more trouble came when David’s sister’s sister in law was raped by Amasa, the foreigner who took command of Absalom’s army. A revolt took place within his own household, and even ten of his wives were seduced by Absalom his son.
God had told David, through Nathan the prophet, that all of this would all come to pass, and David watched, but did nothing, as these prophesies took place before his eyes. David was a leader that was caught up in being king that he forgot to be a father. David simply did not face reality. And I’m sure that deep down within David knew that all of this had come to pass because of his own sin of allowing things to go in his house, and he not do anything about it!
Here’s a major piece of advice to all parents: take SOME responsibility for actions of your child and make sure that your kids know that some stuff just won’t be tolerated in your house!
The third side of the fault lies with Absalom himself. Absalom didn’t suffer because of his father’s sin, for Absalom had enough sin of his own to get exactly what he deserved. The point is that God pulled His protective hand off of David’s family when he murdered Uriah, and God allowed David to pass judgment on himself.
My brothers and sisters, it’s a sobering thing when God pulls His protective hand off your family. It doesn’t matter whether it was in David’s time, or in our generation today - and I’m afraid that if we - as believers, heads of homes, and leaders in the church - don’t take more responsibility for our OWN actions... an entire generation of young people will be lost to the sins of the world. That’s why I stopped by the ask the question today? "Is The Child Safe?"
I pray that the hour will soon reach us as a church when we will take a fresh look at our young people and how our actions affect them. My beloved, we stand at the door of opportunity today, but we also stand at the door of disaster. The enemy is on the prowl! He hasn’t come for our building, or for our logo. He hasn’t come for our moms and dads. The enemy: (the devil, the evil one, the one who knocks at every door, seeking whom he may devour) has come and he has come for our children! He has come for our boys, he has come for our girls who are not yet established in the faith. He’s come for those who do not yet have the equipment that they need to deal with the pressures in this life.
The enemy has come I tell ya, and he doesn’t just want to TAKE your children, he wants to make bond servants out of them! He wants to make slaves out of them. He wants them to be the slaves of sin, the slaves of sexual disease, the slaves of drug addiction, the slaves of alcohol, the slaves of homosexuality, the slave of every putrid thing that he can come up with. He wants to capture our kids. So I ask you again in this message, "Is The Child Safe?"
There are 3 areas that I want us to consider with this message:
Number 1: IS THE CHILD SAFE MORALLY?
In other words, are our children safe in this new morality in which we live? - because we seem to have a new ethical code today: a new standard of what’s right and wrong set by the crowd right on the spot. "Is the child safe?"
I recently read somewhere that:
- 43% of teens have engaged in sexual intercourse by age 18.
- 36% of the youth said they were NOT able to state that sexual intercourse was morally unacceptable before marriage.
- At least 40,000 pregnant girls drop out of school each year, not returning and jeopardizing their future.
- Each year almost 2 million teen girls will become pregnant in U.S.
- Teenagers lose their virginity at the average age of 16 years.
- More and more young adults would rather shack-up than get married.
- We have more young men in prison than we do in college.
Where do you think they get it from? I tell where they get it from, they get it from their peers and from watching the behavior of some adults (maybe their parents) who ought to know better!! Parents, fathers, mothers, here’s some more free advice: don’t expect your kids to live a upright life if your life is in the gutter!!
It’s time as believers, as the body of Christ, that we get under the anointing of God, and get a fresh vision of our youth. We need the spirit of God to flow not only in our lives, but out of our lives and reach to those young people. And show them there is something greater than a rock of crack cocaine or a marijuana cigarette, or a glock 9mm.
We’ve got to get them back in church, surrounded by people who don’t just come to church out of tradition, but who come to get an anointing because they know that "it is the anointing that destroys the yoke!!"
The second thing we need to consider is:
IS THE CHILD SAFE SPIRITUALLY?
Sad to say, but it’s true: the attitude that too many adults project about church is that Church is dead and boring. I guess that’s why some people come to church and go to sleep! But you see, it’s easy to go to sleep in church when you come to church with no expectation!
The old folk used to say it like this: "If you don’t bring nothin’ in, you won’t get nothin’ out!" My beloved, we’ve got to show up at church with an expectation that we’re are about to hear from God and whatever God has to say is not designed to make you bitter, but it’s designed to make you better! So what if the preacher steps on your toes... just draw them up and recognize that God sends His word to reprove, rebuke and exhort!!
When I come to God’s house I come with an expectation that I’m about to be blessed! Is there anybody here today, besides me, who came to be blessed? You can sleep through YOUR blessing if you want, but I came for a fresh anointing that will allow me to go back out into this wicked world and rebuke the devil in every aspect of my life!
Not only that, but our children need to know that we’re not just "put on a show Christians," but we’re the real deal. Too many of us profess to be super spirituals, and say that we love everybody, but yet, we look down our spiritual noses at people who don’t dress, walk, or talk like we do! We’re not showing our young people that we know Jesus when we act that way and hence, we have a generation of young folks who don’t know who Jesus is! "IS THE CHILD SAFE?"
I’m gonna leave you alone in a minute, but finally... we need to ask ourselves:
IS THE CHILD SAFE EDUCATIONALLY?
- Are they safe in a society where some educators think it’s alright to teach them the story of Harry Potter, but not what the Bible says?
- Is the child safe where schools sponsor assemblies and classes on alternative lifestyles, new ageism and witchcraft?
- Is the child safe in a world where some believe and teach that we came from monkeys (and by the way, I interviewed one at the zoo, and he said, "I wish you would stop blaming us for all your problems!"
- Is the child safe when they know the words of every song that Snoop Dog puts out, but don’t know the words to "Jesus loves me, this I know... for the Bible tells me so."
I’m not here today to tell you to write your congressman to break the walls of church and state. I’m here to try to help us wake up to the need to put God back in His proper place in our homes, our schools and even our church! I hear God speaking to us this morning, as a good father to His child. What is He saying Pastor? I hear Him saying: "If my people which are called by my name shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from there wicked ways. Then will I forgive their sin and heal their land."
I’m closing here, but if David could come back and speak to us today, I’m sure that David could answer the question better now - "Is The Child Safe?" I’m sure that David would tell us that the responsibility of making the child safe starts with parents!
I believe that the greatest problem in America today is spiritual orphans. We’ve not been raised by parents, we’ve been raised at day care centers, by electronic baby sitters. Youth are not being told that they are wonderful, valuable, gifts from God.
Some of them are looking in the mirror and not feeling good about themselves... and there’s nobody at home to give them a blessing! There’s a generation looking for the Old Testament blessing and they’re not getting it!
David could have saved himself a lot of anguish by obeying God from the very beginning. And I want to tell every parent listening to this sermon that parents need to live Godly lives in front of their children, lest sin becomes a generation curse.
. . . But I also recognize that even parents who live Godly lives before their kids... still sometimes have children whom they just can’t seem to get through to. Someone listening to this message may have a child or grandchild that no matter how much you’ve tried they still rebel, they still act out, they still run wild, they still disrespect you. Maybe, as a parent or grandparent, you’ve done all you know how to save that child and still it seems like their lost.
Well... I want you to know, as I leave you, that the very thing that David wanted to do - but could not do - and that was save his son Absalom, is that which God has the power to do through His Son Jesus! And in so doing, has made many sons.
I’m going to my seat now, but in chapter 18 and verse 33, David expresses his wish that he could have died in Absalom’s place, but it could not be so, and even if it were so, it would not have benefitted Absalom.
David could not save his son Absalom any more than we can save our children. But God has accomplished what man cannot accomplish. God gave up His sinless Son, Jesus Christ, to suffer and die on the cross of Calvary, as the payment for the guilt of our sins. He gave up His beloved Son so that our sins might be forgiven, and so that we might become His sons.
What no man can do (save their loved ones), God can do! God has provided the forgiveness of sins and sonship which we desperately need. He has provided this through only one means, the sacrificial death, burial, and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ.
Somebody said that, "God specializes in things that seem impossible!" Yes... the child can be safe: safe in the arms of Jesus! And not just the child, but we all can be safe also if we would be reconciled to God, acknowledge our sins and rebellion against God, and accept the free gift of the forgiveness of our sins and the eternal life which He offers to us this day.
"Is The Child Safe?" You answer the question in your own home and in your own life. Only you know the answer.
