 Today we're in chapter 12. We're going to look at verses 26 through 31. Then we're going to move into chapter 13 and Look at the entire chapter. Let's begin reading at verse 26 here in Second Samuel chapter 12. I'll read to verse 31. Give some introductory remarks and move into chapter 13 beginning at verse 26 Now you have fought against Rava of the people of Amon and took the royal city and And you have sent messengers to David and said I have fought against Rava and I have taken the city's water supply now Therefore gather the rest of the people together and in camp against the city and take it Lest I take the city and it be called after my name So David gathered all the people together and went to Rava fought against it and took it Then he took their king's crown from his head Its weight was a talent of gold with precious stones and it was set on David's head Also, he brought out the spoil of the city in great abundance And he brought out the people who were in it and put them to work with saws and iron picks and iron axes Made them cross over to the rickworks So he did to all the cities of the people of Ammon Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem now as we've been going through second Samuel We we got to the portion where David had committed his terrible sins in that he committed adultery with another man's wife a woman by the name of Bathsheba and then he conspired to have her husband Uriah Killed and so David was guilty of two very terrible sins Both of them were capital offenses one was the sin of adultery the second was the sin of murder And so we have seen what has taken place and as we've gone through Second Samuel in chapter 12 how that God had sent a prophet by the name of Nathan and Nathan spoke to David and said to him and that God was aware of what he had done and that and that the Lord was going to deal With him severely for what he had done and and he's going to be penalized for it in second Samuel chapter 12 verse 11 God had said I will raise up adversity against you from your own house and in chapter 13 We're going to see how this takes place Well, David is now doing what David should have been doing in the first place He is now once again leading his troops and he returns to leading his men and he completes the defeat of the Ammonites Now this more than likely is taking place between the death of his son and the birth of Solomon And so this attack this attack on this capital city Roa, which was the capital city of of the Ammonites that actually begun about a year before But David had remained in the city there where his soldiers had gone off to fight with the Ammonites now David is once again called into action And he's doing what he should have been doing all along. He's leading his troops Now as this is taking place notice with me that that according to verses 26 through 20 29 You have is is fighting against the people of Ammon. He's taken the the royal city and And he sends a message. He says I have taken the city's water supply Therefore he says in verse 28 gather the men of the people together and in camping gets the city take it I take the city and it be called after my name so he is a man who is saying listen if I Succeed in overtaking the capital city that I'm gonna get all the honor That's due to such a conquest and so he calls David and he says to his king come and take this so that you can take the Honor which David does he gathers his troops and goes reinforces the the existing Troops and and they take that city now as he does so he now brings Some justice if you will to when it occurred he brings justice as he it takes vengeance if you will on The king because in verse 30 and 31 it says he took the crown from the king's head And it weighed a talent of gold which was equal to about 75 pounds And so he comes and takes this king's crown the symbol of authority 75 pounds Plus it's encrusted with diamonds and other precious stones So as a value is worth over a million dollars by our standard today He takes it and in taking of that crown undoubtedly the king is dead And he avenges what was done earlier the humiliation that had taken place when when David had sent ambassadors to him And you they were there to comfort him at the death of his father And he had shaved off half of their beards and cut off their clothing and sent them away Humiliated well David now vindicates them. He avenges them and he is now in control And so that's basically what we're seeing take place here and then according to verse 31 It says David and all the people returned to Jerusalem Now as we enter into chapter 13 What we see is sinning its sad consequences because as I said earlier David had Committed this terrible sin and he had already been warned he had already been told by Nathan the prophet that the sword isn't going to Depart from your house You're gonna have problems with your own family and we see the fulfillment of that or at least the beginning of that in chapter 13 Beginning at verse 1 reading to verse 5 After this Absalom the son of David had a lovely sister whose name was Tamar and Amnon the son of David loved her Amnon was so distressed over his sister Tamar that he became sick for she was a virgin and It was improper for Amnon to do anything to her But Amnon had a friend whose name was John Adab the son of Shemaad David's brother Now John Adab was a very crafty man and he said to him. Why are you the king's son becoming thinner day after day? Will you not tell me? Amnon said to him. I love Tamar my brother Absalom's sister So John Adab said to him lie down on your bed and pretend to be ill and when your father comes to see you Say to him, please let my sister Tamar come and give me food and prepare the food in my sight that I may see it and eat It from her hand and so what happens here is is David's Sin is going to find him out and what he had been told was going to occur begins to occur now We see a young man by the name of Absalom We see another young man by the name of Amnon and we see a young woman by the name of Tamar now Amnon is David's oldest son Absalom is his third-born son and Tamar is his little girl and so what is taking place here is you're seeing That Amnon is a half brother of Tamar But Tamar is the full sister to Absalom and we're going to see something occur in just a moment But that has to be said so that you understand what's taking place in this particular story And so Absalom the son of David has this beautiful sister now Her name is Tamar the word Tamar means palm or a palm tree and the reason she's referred to in that way is because that was a symbol of beauty and So it's it's a way of saying that not only was her name Describing a beautiful woman, but she indeed is a very beautiful young lady. Tamar is probably 15 years old 16 years old at this time. So she's a young lady. She's a girl really in many ways But she's a young lady and so you have Absalom you have Tamar his sister and you have Amnon Now notice with me in verse one how it says Amnon the son of David loved her That's an important thing to look at for just a moment because when it says that he loved her that that word love in In the Hebrew has various connotations The word love when it's used the Hebrew word is used it can speak of affection When somebody has a love for somebody in an affectionate way it can speak of a friendship You have a good friend of a buddy and and you you love them It speaks of a friendship love, but it also can be used in context to speak of sexual passion or lust And so when this says here in verse one that Amnon the son of David loved her It wasn't affection and it was not friendship that is being spoken of here What's being spoken of here concerning this man Amnon as he is lusting after his half sister So there's an incestuous Passionate lust that this man has during this time the young women the princesses would basically live lives of solitude the virgin Daughters would would basically not have that much Communication with with many people they certainly weren't having communication with outside males On occasion they would have communication or they would see their brothers And so what has happened here is Amnon has seen his sister growing up and as she's growing up He's developed this desire for her so over time a passion at lust has grown in his heart And so now he's desirous of having her to the degree that he's actually sick over it He's losing weight here It says in verse 2 Amnon was so distressed over his sister tomorrow that he became sick for she was a virgin That means she was hands-off to him and it goes on to say it was improper for Amnon to do anything to her It was improper because that was his sister and according to Leviticus chapter 18 verse 11 in the Old Testament law It is called incestuous and God forbids that he should have any Relationships with her and he knows that but he has this lust desire for her that's driving him crazy and making him sick Now it says in verse 3 Amnon had a friend whose name was John Adab this son of Shimea David's brother and John Adab was a very crafty man And so David's brother's son which made John Adab his nephew is a close friend of Amnon, which makes them cousins But notice how it says here that he was very crafty and as it says he was a very crafty man That word crafty simply means that he was a schemer. He was subtle Now he sees that something's going on with his cousin and what he's going to do is devise a scheme to help his cousin to Do what he wants to do This is the kind of guy he's you know He's the kind of guy who who is encouraging him to do evil and not right instead of encouraging Amnon to show restraint He advises him in a way that he can actually fulfill his lust. He's a creep. This kind of creep continues to exist today He's the one who's there with the guy when the guy saying man I'd like to get to know that that gal on the workforce or whatever. He said oh, I know her I know her very well, and you know, she falls for charm. All you got to do is charm her be nice flatter her and And actually schemes and helps you to fulfill your desire To take the purity from one of those co-workers of yours or somebody that you've seen in the neighborhood Whatever this guy's a jerk this guy's a creep and what he's doing is wrong Instead of being a friend instead of being a cousin somebody who fears God and saying you know, this is improper You know the law states that this is not to be so you need to deal with this He doesn't do that at all He actually gives him a plan to help him to to discover how to do what he wants to do notice verse 5 John adab says to him lie down on your bed pretend to be ill when your father comes to see you Sadie and please let my sister tomorrow come and give me food and prepare the food in my sight Then I may see it and eat from her hand. So he says this is the best thing you can do You know that your father David loves you and when he knows that you're not feeling well He's gonna come and see you so use the love of your father to get what you want Use the love in the affection of David who is a good king, but not a very good father Use the love of your father to get what you want and that's exactly what takes place He's gonna use his own father to satisfy his lust on his own sister Now what says in verse 6 Amnon laid down and pretended to be ill and when the king came to see him Amnon said to the king, please let tomorrow my sister come and make a couple of cakes for me in my sight Then I may eat from her hand these cakes that he's talking about are similar to our pancakes And they were usually fed to people who were not feeling well. So he's seen it's almost a medicinal thing I wanted to serve me in this fashion and David sent home to tomorrow saying now go to your brother Amnon's house and prepare food for him. So he deceives his own father. David doesn't have a clue What's going on David doesn't realize that his son has taken advantage of him and his love for him to get what he wants He doesn't understand that at all. And so that plan tell you dad You're hungry and have tomorrow bring you something to eat is going to work Now according to Isaiah 32 verse 7 the schemes of the schemer are evil And that's exactly what we see taking place here the evil now notice how it says that However come and bring me something David's love Being used against David Now it's possible that Amnon being aware of his father's sin simply no longer respected David You see David had broken the law himself David had had committed adultery and David had been guilty of murder And there's no doubt in my mind that that his son Amnon knew about it There's no doubt that he knew that his father had done this and so what had happened is in David's Sin he's also lost moral authority You see as a father. I know that my sons and my daughters respect me Because they perceive me in a certain way The way that I respected my father and I was growing up and and I've shared this with you before perhaps some of you remember me saying this but as I grew up my dad was one of these One woman men. I mean my dad didn't have eyes for anybody other than my mom and my whole life I never saw my dad one time looking at another woman when we'd have get-togethers and friends would come over and They'd walk into the house and in our home like yours perhaps there's a when you're when you have deep friendships You know there's that customary greeting we kiss one another and and that's the way it is And so when you see your aunts or your uncles or whatever and there were always kisses exchanged in our home Was very warm and everything but my dad was not one of these men when when one of the friends of the family would enter in My dad didn't allow the women to give him a greeting like that. My dad just wasn't that way He was a one woman man. He didn't have eyes for anybody else I was with my dad often as a young boy up to a young adulthood I never saw my dad ever look at anybody else. My dad had tremendous Responsibility my dad had great integrity. My dad had super character. My dad loved my mom He gave us the greatest gift that we could have ever received. He loved our mom And as I watched my dad he taught me how to love a woman He taught me how to care about a woman how to be faithful to a woman because that was my dad My dad had a tremendous moral authority in my life He was a kind of guy didn't have to say anything to give you a lecture. My dad just was the way he was you see But if my dad would have failed If my dad would have gone out on my mom My dad would have lost his moral authority my dad in my sight would have lost all the respect that I had for him And I believe that's what took place with David David had that moral authority and his oldest son Amnon more than likely grew up respecting his father But David fell and when David fell he gives to Amnon I believe permission to do the same if it's good for dad Why isn't it good for me and I want this woman and I'm more than willing to do anything to have her And if I have to use the love of my father to get to her so I can fulfill my lust I'm gonna do that and that's exactly what we're gonna see takes place here David losses moral authority and so Amnon follows John Adab's advice and David falls for the line that is given to him by his son So in verse 8 tomorrow went to her brother Amnon's house It was lying down and then she took flour and kneaded it made cakes in his side bake the cakes She took the pan and placed them out before him, but he refused to eat Amnon said have everyone go out from me and they all went out from him Amnon said to tomorrow bring the food into the bedroom that I may eat from your hand And tomorrow took the cakes which she had made and brought them to Amnon her brother in the bedroom Now when she had brought them to him to eat he took hold of her and said to her come lie down with me my sister But she answered him no my brother do not force me for no such thing should be done in Israel Do not do this disgraceful thing and I work at I take my shame and as for you You would be like one of the fools in Israel now therefore, please speak to the king for he will not withhold me from you And so his plan is brought into action. He springs into action here And he gets everybody to leave he in now hazard alone in his bedroom And and she's bringing these pancakes which again are just typical of of of a medicinal kind of meal She she has no suspicion whatsoever that he has these kinds of plans But he makes his move on her and he openly is making it clear I have sexual desire for you and I want to be satisfied in In that much he begins to panic and as she begins to panic she tries a reason with him And as she's trying to reason with him to keep him from doing this horrible deed She actually gives him four reasons why he shouldn't do what he's about to do She says one this is a wicked thing This is a wicked thing This is breaking God's law God's law against incest in Leviticus 1811. It's a wicked thing. Don't do this Second thing she's saying that if I have intercourse with you outside of marriage Then I have shame and you don't want to bring shame to me Please think about this for a moment the shame that I'm gonna have to bear and then third she says you're gonna Be regarded as a wicked fool when people find out for what you've done and then finally she says to him If you have a desire for me then lawful marriage is a way to fulfill that desire now She's trying to buy time with that because she knows that it's not lawful for her to marry her half brother It's incestuous, but she's trying to do anything she can to get out of that room to save her purity to be protected She's trying to reason with him and she's trying to say no, this is a wicked thing. Don't do it It's gonna bring shame. You're gonna be a fool do the right thing in this He doesn't care This guy's fire is going. There's nobody around. He's been Longing for her sexually passionate desires lust for her for a long time now It's his opportunity and there's no way he's gonna stop and and and he doesn't in verse 14 He would not heed her voice and being stronger than than she he forced her And he lay with her that word forced there he raped her He raped her. She was not a willing participant in this at all He forced her he was stronger than her and he forced her into the act of sexual intercourse He took full advantage of her. She resisted she did all she could But she was unable to save herself But the thing that is Even worse is verse 15 Amnon hated her exceedingly So that the hatred with which he hated her was greater than the love with which he had loved her Amnon said a rise be gone get out of here. I'm done get out of here Interesting have this great passion. I can't do anything. I can't you know, I can't even eat. I can't even sleep. I want you But once it's done, it's all over There have been many a girl who's been seduced by some guy who's told her over and over again How you know how beautiful she is how wonderful she is how pure she is how good she is and how she makes him a Better man in the whole nine yards and then when he finally gets hold of her and does what he wants with her Then he says, you know what? There's always somebody else get out of here. That's what he did to her This man raped her. He took her he forced her he humiliated her. He rapes her and now notice What he's saying get out of here and notice what happens in verse 16. She said to him no indeed This evil of sending me away is worse than the other other that you did to me but he wouldn't listen to her Then he called this servant who attended him and said here put this woman out away from me both the door behind her Now she had on a robe of many colors for the king's virgin daughter's wore such apparel and His servant put her out bolted the door behind her Then Tamar put ashes on her head tore her robe of many colors that was on her And laid her hand on her head and went away crying bitterly Absalom her brother said to her has Amnon your brother been with you? But now hold your peace my sister. He's your brother Do not take this thing to heart So Tamar remained desolate in her brother Absalom's house. That means that she remained unmarried and childless But when King David heard of all these things he was very angry Absalom spoke to his brother Amnon neither good nor bad for Absalom hated Amnon Because he had forced his sister Tamar you're kicking me out. She says and my shame will be worse He says I really don't care I'm tired of you get out of here Tells one of his attendants take her and put her out. I don't want to see her face and As this little 15 year old girl is being taken out of his room. They put her outside there Bolt the door so she can't turn and come back in and there's this little baby girl There she is weeping and crying. They're outside the door She has this this this garment that she wears that was of many colors A many colored garment was indicative of her of her purity in her standing and So what she does is she she tears it She tears it because it's a picture of her over losing her purity It's a picture of her pain that she is now suffering because of what he has done to her This special beautiful robe is now torn. She's disgraced She puts ashes on her head because that reveals her sorrow That torn robe represents her ruined life The hand over the head represents the exile the loss of position But now as she's out there in mourning in her brother Absalom her older brother sees the pain that his little sister is going through It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know what is taking place. And so we asked has Amnon been with you So it would seem apparent that Absalom was aware of the fact that Amnon had desire for his sister and now He asked that question And he protects her he takes her and puts her under his covering But he's the older brother now the father is Absolutely angry But the older brother is livid Later on we're going to see this in verse 32 that this is going to be one of the Things that that Absalom uses when he tries to take over the kingdom. It's something that he plans from the very beginning While he's going to deal with Amnon Because Amnon was the firstborn and under normal circumstances the firstborn son Would be in line to inherit the kingdom as the as the king Absalom's the thirdborn he wants to eradicate Amnon for several reasons not the least being of what he did to his sister and He hates him according to verse 22 and doesn't speak to him He just holds his peace and he just waits for a while But he will use this tragedy to further himself and you'll see that in a moment now in verse 23 It came to pass after two two full years So there's enough time to have passed that everybody thinks that tempers have cooled That Absalom had sheep shears and Ba'al Hazor, which is a city just north of Jerusalem Northeast which is near Ephraim. So Absalom invited all the king's sons Absalom came to the king and said kindly note your servant has sheep shears Please let the king and his servants go with your servant when they would be there shearing the sheep It was a time of feast and festival So this is a normal time that the families would get together and and have a banquet And so he's using this time to try and get get his brother over there It says in verse 25 the king said to Absalom know my son. Let us not all go now lest we be a burden to you There's too many of us. It would be too costly Then he urged him, but he would not go he blessed him Then Absalom said if not, please let my brother Amnon go with us and The king said to him, why should he go with you? But Absalom urged him So he let Amnon and all the king's sons go with him now Absalom had commanded his servant saying watch now When Amnon's heart is merry with wine and when I say to you strike Amnon then kill him Do not be afraid. Have I not commanded you be courageous and valiant So the servants of Absalom did to Amnon as Absalom had commanded Then all the king's sons arose and each one got on his mule and fled and so what he's going to do is it's going to do Basically what his father had done you know David had said to Yohab Put your eye in the heat of the battle with draw yourself and let somebody else kill him Well, that's what's taking place here Absalom is saying Have him killed. I want him killed But Absalom isn't the one raising his hand physically what he does is he orders other people and he's saying listen I'm the king's son. I can protect you. You'll have no problem And I want you to do it at a specific moment. I Wanted at the moment when he is least suspicious When his heart is lifted up and merry when he's partying and enjoying himself at the all when everybody's laughing When he's having the best time of his life, that's when I want you to kill him He will be totally Unsuspecting and you'll get him the irony of this is just perfect because what is giving him pleasure is going to end up With his death because he took pleasure in my sister I want you to make sure that he dies when he's in the midst of his pleasure And so he says so kill him the minute I give you the command and you can almost see this table filled with brothers and there's Amnon amongst his brothers And when families get together sometimes we laugh with one another and we tease each other And you have a great time like we did on Christmas like we do and thanksgiving birthdays or whenever the family gets together There can be times when you're around the table and you begin to tease each other and laugh with one another It's just a great time. Can you imagine what takes place? I mean there they are in a family meal at time of a festival and and and there's Amnon totally unsuspecting and You've got Absalom there just playing the part smiling and making him laugh probably enjoying himself with him Just waiting for that moment and then when he sees that it's the perfect moment He gives that look to one of his guys and bang They're on this guy and he's killed on the spot in front of all the rest of the brothers and suddenly that That that table just is this erupts in chaos and and the people just running from the table They're jumping on their mules and they're getting out as fast as they can because they don't know if they're the next one to Be killed these are all king's sons and they would make assumptions that he's going to kill every one of us so that he can have the throne And so they're not aware of what's taking place They just are afraid that they're going to be they're going to be massacred and so they all take off well verse 30 says it came to pass Well, they were on the way that news came to David saying Absalom has killed all the king's sons and not one of them is left So the king arose tore his garments lay down on the ground and all his servants stood by with their clothes torn Which is a symbol of mourning and grief John Adab the son of Shimea. We've seen him before David's brother answered and said let not my lord Suppose they have killed all the young men the king's sons for only Amnon is dead for by the command of Absalom This has been determined from the day that he forces sister tomorrow. This has been something. He's planning on doing two for two years So John Adab obviously is aware of the plot Obviously knows what's going on and he is strategically there Minimizing what is taking place. He's doing some some controlling here now Therefore let not my lord the king take the thing to heart to think that all of the king's sons are dead only Amnon is dead You didn't lose them all you only lost one So he's minimizing well absalom fled and the young man who was keeping watch lifted his eyes and looked and there Many people were coming from the road on the hillside behind him And John Adab said to the king look the king's sons are coming as your servant said so it is And so it was as soon as he had finished speaking that the king's sons indeed came and they lifted up their voice and wept and The king and all his servants wept very bitterly This is the beginning the beginning of the pain that David is going to endure the father He lost his daughter She was painfully abused raped by her own brother and she's living with absalom And now he's lost Amnon At first he's thinking that he lost all of his sons But John Adab the schemer is there just kind of Making sure that he actually minimizes the evil by saying all the rest of your sons are all alive Don't worry about that. It's only one It's only one You know sometimes I joke about this I have to be careful not to I Joke about this Which one of your kids if you had more than one your parent Would you want to give up? If you had a choice between this one and this one, which one would you want to give up? Sometimes I've said both let's start over again, but I'm just kidding You can't You know those situational ethics Kinds of situations where they say you're on a boat and you've got your kids with you and your wife One of you has to get off which one is it you guys probably went through that in class But they begin to make you think that ethics are basically based on the situations you find yourself in and there are no such Things as moral absolutes and therefore it's not wrong to kill somebody's got to go because everybody else has to survive And they convolute and twist the logic for all of that to make you start thinking that it's okay to Do some bad things because good things will happen Well the bottom line is is this which one of them would have to go I don't know a single father who loves their kids would say That one. I just don't believe that if you had my two my two sons or my four children And you said which one of them is gonna have to die the rest can live. I'll say take my life You can kill me But you can't kill my children. You can't take me. I'll jump off the boat. Okay. I'll die I've lived a long life. I'm fine. I'm going to heaven, but don't touch my children Any Christian father would think that way any parent thinks that way. Yeah, they drive us crazy. We love our kids Sometimes we don't like them, but they're ours What are you gonna do? You know, they don't have gift exchanges. You can't re-gift them I'm gonna take my son and give him to you. You give me your daughter. You can't do that. You're stuck with them and You love them David loved Amnon David loved tomorrow. David loves Absalom as a matter of fact Many commentators believe and I happen to agree with them that out of all the kids that David had The one he loved the most may very well have been Absalom because Notice verse 37 Absalom fled and went to tell my the son of Ami would King of guess sure This was this was Absalom's grandfather. He went in other words to his mother's Family and David mourned for his son every day Absalom fled and went to get sure and was there three years and King David longed to go to Absalom For he had been comforted concerning Amnon In other words, he had healed in his morning time for his son because he was dead So David had healed over the loss of Amnon, but he every day Missed his boy every day David mourned Every day he wanted to see Absalom It is fairly apparent to me that Absalom was the apple of David's eye and The apple didn't fall very far from the tree either Because it was willing this apple Absalom was willing to do whatever he could to secure what he wanted He wanted the kingdom. We'll see that in him in next studies as we continue on in 2nd Samuel He wanted the kingdom and he wanted vengeance and he's going to do his best to get both He got the vengeance. He had Amnon killed at the right moment And when he did that he fled David was angry great-king bad dad David was angry didn't know what to do about it. Obviously had no moral authority over him and It just broke his heart to see this take place. I mean, I've lost the son I've lost my daughter and a third is alive, but I can't see him It's been said that sometimes it's easier for us to see someone go home and be with the Lord At least you know where they're at Then to have him alive and not be able to see him physically And in some ways that may be true David knew his son was there, but David wouldn't go to him and his son didn't come to him So for three years every day David's heart is broken Every day David is weeping David loved his boy David loved Absalom There's just something about the love that a dad has for his sons and David loved him and sons Naturally and normally love their dads and there's that bond that is so intense. It's so great. It's so powerful And every day David would mourn every day David was concerned And I was a young man. I went into the military. I went through jump training. I Was in Fort Benning, Georgia going through Airborne school and My dad I didn't know my dad was concerned about this. I didn't know he was concerned so my mom Wrote me a letter and she said She said David. She said your dad is really concerned about you She said because you know I was training to jump out of airplanes And so she said your dad is very concerned about you He is so concerned that he's taking me out to dinner every night for the last two weeks And she said will you do me a favor? Could you make him concerned for a little bit longer? That was my mom My dad every day was worried about me because he thought for some reason I could get hurt dads have this tremendous love for their sons and Under normal circumstances the son has a tremendous love for their dad And in the case of David David's heart was broken Not only did he lose Amnon And not only did his little girl get so torn up I mean when you see a picture of this baby girl standing outside of the door weeping ripping her beautiful Gown of purity and saying I'm just no good anymore Can you imagine the pain that that baby girl went through the pain that David went through when he heard it What had happened concerning this baby and concerning his son? And and that that sword is not parting departing from his house His sin is coming back to haunt him Listen sin has consequences We live in a time When people will speak of the grace of God almost as if it's permission to continue in sin God's grace has never been given to us to continue in sin God forbid that should we should continue in sin The Apostle Paul made it very clear what should we continue in sin that grace may abound God forbid How can we who have died to sin live any longer therein? in other words grace has been given to us in order to set us free from the power of it not to give us permission to stay in it There are so many who've misunderstood that they don't understand the grace of God They think okay now I'm safe I can continue doing the things that I've been doing and there there'll be no repercussions That's not true Paul said listen. He said if you sowed of the flesh from the flesh you will reap corruption If you if you live in the flesh You will reap the consequences of the flesh and it and it doesn't even have anything per se to do with with grace itself What it is is repercussions for poor choices in God Disciplining you and I've had too many people who have who've misunderstood that they've thought that they could continue in sin That grace may abound even the deeper the sin the greater the grace That's not true guys That's not true I've had people approach me one lady in particular comes to mind when I share like this who said to me Can you pray for me pastor? And I said of course what what can I pray for she said that I had her she says to me I had a relationship with a guy. I think I'm pregnant. Can you pray for me and I asked her What do you want me what do you want me to pray for? That you'll miss carry. What do you want me to pray for that? You will miraculously not have a child What what are you asking me for pray for you in one way because she was hoping that somehow she would come up not pregnant Like you was going to be able to avoid the consequences of choices that lead to pregnancies And I have to tell you that is a common thing where people will come up and say, you know What can you pray for me because I have an alcohol problem and this is a person who basically lives in a bar They don't really they're not doing anything to get away from it. So they come and ask for prayer What are you doing to avoid it? Are you fleeing it pray for me because my relationship with my girlfriend isn't working right now We're falling into sin as far as I know you don't trip and fall into bed. You make some choices to get there You know you make choices to get there You go to the house. There's nobody there. It's just you and her you stay longer than you ought to you start kissing And you start doing things you know you're not supposed to do and then you ultimately enter into sex I don't think you fell. I think you made some choices that led you there and yet we use this Christian language I know why I fell you didn't fall you weren't walking tripping. Oh, how'd I get here? Where am I now you know where you are and you scheme to get there you know that I know that But sometimes you come on and try and talk to me and others like me and say oh I fell you didn't fall You planned on getting into that position God put red lights every step of the way and you pushed yourself through every one of them until you got What you wanted and now you have the consequences just like Amnon hated that girl more than he loved her You now have the consequences. You got what you wanted. Is it what you needed? No, and now it's God's fault. I don't think so David suffered consequences for sin He you will and I will too because if I sew corruption, I will reap corruption That's why that's why God says To flee fornication. That's why God says that we're to avoid these things. Why? Because God loves us so much He will deal with us a father who loves a child chasens the child The writer of Hebrew says that a child who isn't chasing isn't chasing because that child doesn't belong to that person But a dad will chase him a son and If I'm God's son God is going to chase in me. I'm aware of that guys 39 years 39 years today of walking with the Lord. I can tell you God chasens. I Can tell you I've had more spankings than I want to admit And I've got more in the future. That's what scares me. I mean I'm still a bad boy The Lord is still gonna deal with me and I know that But I get less spankings now than ever before Because I'm trying to learn my lessons more than ever before You sew to the flesh You will reap from the flesh consequences You will Whether it is that unwanted pregnancy whether it is that std Whether it is that drug habit or the alcohol problem or whether it's the lung cancer or whatever it is You sew to the flesh long enough. You will reap the consequences. You know that and I know that But sometimes we pretend that's not true in the life of David We see it very clearly David loved his son Absalom David loved tomorrow. David loved amnon, but david sinned greatly And david paid the price He paid the price And I do too And we do too Because we reap what we've sown And david longed to see his son He missed him like a daddy A daddy who loves his son would miss him This is a special boy. It's a beautiful beautiful baby boy And he couldn't see him But we're gonna see something about absalom We're gonna see that daddy loved his son a lot more than the son ever loved the dad We're gonna see something about absalom as we continue through our study in second Samuel