Temptation, Sin, And Consequences (Pt. 2) Series

Introduction:

A. The story is told of a young child at a Catholic school who went to confession.

1. Because the younger children at the parochial school often forgot their sins when they entered the confessional, the teachers would have the students write down a list of their sins.

2. As the boy prepared himself in the confessional, the priest could hear him unfolding a piece of paper.

3. The youngster began, “These are my sins: I lied to my parents. I disobeyed my mom. I fought with my brothers and...”

4. There was a long pause. Then a small surprised voice said, “Hey, this isn’t my list!” (Rev. Douglas F. Fortner in Reader’s Digest)

B. Today we will see that confession is, indeed, good for the soul, but only if it is our sins that we are confessing.

C. Let’s review for just a minute.

1. We are engaged in a study of the life of David, king of Israel.

2. He is such a significant biblical person that 62 chapters of the Old Testament are devoted to his biography.

3. And not only that, there are more than 50 references to him in the New Testament, by far more than any other biblical character, except Jesus.

4. Nevertheless, this great man after God’s own heart committed a series of terrible sins that led to terrible consequences.

5. David was about 50 years old when he committed adultery with Bathsheba.

6. Then, rather than immediately face it and admit it, he covered it up with premeditated murder.

7. For the better part of a year, he lived a life of hypocrisy and deception.

8. Then in a marvelous move on God’s part He finally brought to David a man of great integrity, a man who told him the truth.

9. As we will see, I don’t think any other confrontation, in the history of confrontation, has ever been so brief and so effective.

10. Four three-letter words did the job…but we’re getting a little ahead of ourselves…let’s look at the story.

I. The Story

A. Last week we exited the story with this Scripture: “But the thing David had done displeased the LORD.” (2 Sam. 11:27)

1. What displeased the Lord 3000 years ago still displeases the Lord today!

2. To cheapen marriage with an adulterous relationship is still a willful sin, even though many people do it.

3. This very night, in secret places, people with wedding rings given by another person, will be with individuals that are not their marriage partners.

4. Yes, this is still evil in the eyes of the Lord.

B. David may have pulled one over on everyone else, but he didn’t pull one over on the Lord.

1. God designed a strategy to bring David to his knees – God certainly knows how to do that.

2. We must understand that God doesn’t settle His accounts at the end of each month or, for that matter at the end of each year.

3. But when God does settle them, we realize that Scripture is right when it says, “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.” (Gal. 6:7)

C. Let’s consider for a moment what life was like for David between the time he sinned, and the time when he was confronted.

1. Was life enjoyable for David? Did he have long wonderful nights with his new wife, free from guilt?

2. Was David in a marvelous state of mind during that time?

3. All we have to do is take a peak at Psalm 32 to answer those questions.

4. David wrote: “Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit. When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer.” (Ps. 32:1-4)

5. No, life was not pleasant for David while he tried to live with the guilt of his sin.

D. Someone has described the way people handle guilt by illustrating it with the warning light on the dashboard of a car.

1. If you’re driving along, and the red light flashes on, it’s saying, “Take notice! There’s trouble under the hood.”

2. At that moment, you have a choice.

a. You can stop, get out of the car, open the hood, and see what’s wrong.

b. Or you can carry a small hammer in the glove compartment, and when the red light comes on, you can knock it out with the hammer and keep on driving.

c. No one will know the difference for a while…until you burn up the engine.