"Weak in Faith" - 2 Samuel 4

Good News: The Women's Association voted to send you a get-well card.

Bad News: It passed 31 to 30.

Good News: The church board accepted your job description the way you wrote it.

Bad News: They also formed a search committee to find someone capable of filling the position.

Good News: Your stand on nuclear disarmament has won the respect and admiration of many people.

Bad News: None of them go to your church.

Good News: Mrs. Jones loves your sermons.

Bad News: Mrs. Jones also loves "The Gong Show" and "Texas Chain Saw Massacre."

Good News: Your women's softball team won their first game.

Bad News: They beat your men's softball team.

Good News: Church attendance rose dramatically the last three weeks.

Bad News: You were on vacation.

Good News: Your deacons want to send you to the Holy Land.

Bad News: They are stalling until the next war.

Good News: It's Sunday!

Bad News: It's Sunday ...

We have heard it before right… We got good news and bad news for you. Which would you like first? The Good or the Bad. Many of us will pick the bad news first. But what kind of mess would we be in if the good news was not really good news and the bad news was not really bad news? What kind of mess would we be in if we could not tell the difference between good news and bad news? The kind of mess we are in today. False Gospels are in abundance today…can we recognize them? Do we even know that it is out there? The false good news claim to be good news, but they are not and in the end, it will end in destruction before the King of kings. The Apostle Paul warned us in the book of Galatians of the seriousness of false gospels, good news that’s not good news at all. Prosperity gospels, social gospels, coexistence or unity gospels, self-help or positivity gospels, formalist/moralist gospels, works righteousness gospels, and the list goes on. This was so so serious that he declared that all who proclaim a false gospel will be anathema or utterly condemned. This is a problem we face today do we realize it? Well we will see it clearly illustrated in our passage today.

Last week we saw the murder of Abner captain of the army of Israel, by Joab, who will be judged later by Solomon. Abner negotiated with David and it ended with a celebration… Abner left in peace. Joab set a trap and killed Abner. David and the people lamented the death of Abner and buried him in Hebron. Word got to Ishbosheth the king of Israel and he was weakened.

When Saul’s son Ishbosheth heard about what happened to Abner, he fell into despair, all of Israel trembled in fear, insecure. Two of Ishbosheth’s men Rechab and Baanah, devised a plan. Rechab and Baanah sought to be heros. They thought, the king and the kingdom is weak; so we better align ourselves with David who grows stronger each day. Let’s do something good for him. The king of Israel was taking a nap and they both pretended that they were just going to get some wheat and they instead stabbed him in the stomach and then cut off his head. They both escaped and brought the head of Ishbosheth to David in Hebron. They presented the head to King David declaring the good news of the work of the hand of the Lord in this act and how the Lord had finally brought David victory over the house of Saul. (This was told to David to be the Lord’s plan and not their own) We brought this good news here for you today! But they did not receive the response that they were hoping from king David. They were hoping for reward and they got it, just not the one they were expecting. There was once a man who came to me and brought me the good news that Saul was killed…he thought that this would be good news for me and hoped for reward. I rewarded him. I seized him and had him killed. Then David went on to say … now how much more should I reward wicked men who come to me and present “good news” that is no “good news” at all? David had them killed.

2 Samuel 4:7–8 NLT

They went into the house and found Ishbosheth sleeping on his bed. They struck and killed him and cut off his head. Then, taking his head with them, they fled across the Jordan Valley through the night. When they arrived at Hebron, they presented Ishbosheth’s head to David. “Look!” they exclaimed to the king. “Here is the head of Ishbosheth, the son of your enemy Saul who tried to kill you. Today the Lord has given my lord the king revenge on Saul and his entire family!”

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of our God stands forever.

The False Gospel

The Reward

The first thing we will do today is compare the deception of Rachab and Baanah with the reality and similarity of false gospels we face today. Finally, we will be looking at the rewards that come with the false gospels and the reward that comes with the Gospel according to Jesus.

Thesis: Now the evils and deceptions of this world coupled with our remaining sin may lead us into believing we are strong when we are weak, obeying God when we are not, and though we face the judgement of the King, it is the King who takes our punishment, sheds his own blood for the evil we have done, and we are now declared righteous because of His wonderful grace becoming citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven.

I. The False Gospel

- A gospel that is no gospel at all.

A. Baanah and Recab are looking at the house of Saul. Ishbosheth and Mephibosheth the sons of Saul are weak and crippled. This is their future? No way. They conjure up a plan to do something heroic to bring admiration from David and hopefully be men of high standing in his kingdom. They wanted to have feet that brought good news.

B. But instead they brought a false Gospel. It was not good news for David and he uses this imagery when dealing with the Amalekite. He said...

2 Samuel 4:10 NLT

Someone once told me, ‘Saul is dead,’ thinking he was bringing me good news. But I seized him and killed him at Ziklag. That’s the reward I gave him for his news!

C. You both thought that you were bringing me good tidings of the work of the Lord through you both, but just like this man, you both were very very wrong. You brought me a false gospel. The Lord was going to bring me the kingdom Himself… I did not need you guys to bring it to me. You wrongly thought I was looking for heros…I was not singing, I need a hero, I’m holding out for a hero till the end of the night…he’s gotta be strong and he’s gotta be fast. I did not!

D. They came to David with the intent of showing that they are servants of Jehovah who were executing His justice upon the enemy of David and bringing to him the very throne of the kingdom of Israel. But what they did was reprehensible and deceptive. They were using the Word of the Lord to mask their true heart and motives. The Lord avenged you this day. They were using the Lord to mask what it was that they really wanted. They were using theology to cover their sins whether they knew it or not.

E. Dr. Dale Ralph Davis states - They come with blood on their hands but theology on their lips, expecting that the latter will magically bleach the former. Murder always seems more pleasant when wrapped in religious considerations.

F. One of the best ways to cover up sin or to minimize the conviction of sins is to slap a Scripture on it and cover it or shade it with theology. Now if you were to deceive a man after God’s own heart than the best way to his heart is God. The best way to win him over is appeal the Lord. The best way to deceive a Christian is through Christ or making them believe that it is Christ. The best way to get a Christian to do something that you want them to do… get them to believe that it is obedience to Christ. Theology!

G. What want to get them to give you money… tie it in to Christ. You want to get them to go along with your ideologies. If you want them to follow the way and philosophy of post modernism, grab a hold of the tenants of individualism, and swallow hook line and sinker the principles of secular consumerism. Use, abuse, twist, and co-exist the Scriptures, say it is the word of God and you got um. Everyone has a doctrine.

H. Like Rechab and Baanah, there are those in this world that are trying to deceive you, take from you, manipulate you, rob you, use you, and abuse you. They will use the Scriptures and they will call it the Gospel. And it is a false one. Think about it… you really can twist a Scripture to say what you want it too.

I. That is why there are quotes that say… “All heretics quote Scripture” and “Every Heretic has his verse.” I mean… think about it. If you were going to be tempted to sin and there was a guy standing there with horns a bifurcated tail and red skin and scales tempting you with a Johnny Depp gotee… probably not going to happen. But what if it is and angel telling you to do it? The principle is simple and Satan is a lot smarter than that.

2 Corinthians 11:14 NLT

But I am not surprised! Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.

J. Like Recab and Baanah, they bring good news that is no good new at all. They preach another gospel which is no gospel at all.

Galatians 1:6–7 NLT

I am shocked that you are turning away so soon from God, who called you to himself through the loving mercy of Christ. You are following a different way that pretends to be the Good News but is not the Good News at all. You are being fooled by those who deliberately twist the truth concerning Christ.

Like Racab and Baanah, a false “good news” was there in Galatia. Today it is all around us as well. False gospels everywhere. Did you know that?

K. As a pastor it is my duty to identify false gospels. One who cannot do this is probably disqualified, especially today. It is our duty.

Titus 1:9 NLT

He must have a strong belief in the trustworthy message he was taught; then he will be able to encourage others with wholesome teaching and show those who oppose it where they are wrong.

L. There are false gospels out there brought to us by our modern day Rechab’s and Baanah’s. Ones that promise health, wealth, and prosperity based on lies and Scriptural distortions. We got those who distort Christ relieving us of the consequences of sin. Those who distort the law of God to bring friendship with the world by redefining stuff or eliminating stuff. Those who cause the people of God to help men build legacies and empires. Those that communicate that Jesus came to save our lifestyle not our lives. Those that tell people that there will be no judgement in the end. Those that support the sinful ways of self and society. Those that cause us to find hope in things other than Christ. Those that say that you can be your own person making your own decisions and ethics, deciding right and wrong for yourself. Those that tell you that you have the right to have what you want when you want. And the worse and most prevalent are those who cause us to be encouraged and hopeful with things we have control over, that cause us to hope and trust in ourselves and only go to God when life is out of control. False Gospel’s like Rechab’s and Baanah’s are everywhere.

M. All of this is like Baanah and Racab. Deceiving with the seal of the name of Jehovah. It is there… do you recognize it? Deceptions with the name of Christ.

N. Now in this instance we may see ourselves in the position of David with Rechab and Baanah trying to deceive us. But do we ever think that we might be Rechab and Baanah? Do we use the scriptures and theology to cover up our sin and folly? Do we use our knowledge to justify ourselves?

O. I remember in high school we talked about being aggressive and fighting against our rival schools to which our teachers would say, but you guys are Christians. Ok fine we will use crosses. In our quest to gain scriptural and theological knowledge is it really for knowledge or is it something else? Being transparent…I am the earliest of what many will call the young restless and reformed. Over the years many of us have paved a path that has been unbecoming of a proponent of the doctrines of grace. Some of them I know well and am still in contact with.

P. Many have used their knowledge and doctrinal precision as a weapon against those who do not believe the same way. Instead of deep conversations in love, it leads to embarrassment, humiliation and further division. Why? Are we not supposed to be trying to bring unity to the faith? Are we not trying to win over a brother who may be in error over to truth? Or are we just trying to win an argument? Are we just making ourselves feel better by making another look bad? Have we grown up in the Scriptures just to be a bully? And are we going to use our knowledge of the scriptures to use scriptures to justify our use of the scriptures against what is commanded of the scriptures against another brother of the scriptures. We use the scriptures to defend our actions, but in the end we strain out the gnat but swallow the camel. In our venture to love God, we did not love our neighbor? Is this possible?

Q. But for some of us… we might be brought before the church leadership because of immoral actions, doctrinal error or unbecoming behavior. When the church member is unrepentant… what do we hear? Theology. “I am to obey God rather than man. Submit one to another. God is loving and compassionate you’re not. You judge me, but only God can judge. Judge not lest ye be judged. You have no right from God to treat me this way. Jesus said you will have no power over me.

R. But for some of us…Are we using theology when we sin and justify ourselves? Even when we do good things for others… Are we really doing good things for them or ourselves? But Shane the Lord said to love our neighbors, yeah but if you are loving your neighbor so that you can get the approval of God, then your act was not loving to neighbor, but loving self. In other words, We are to love our neighbor as ourselves, but instead we love our neighbor for ourselves.

S. And here is the biggy… sometimes we do good works because we want to be pleasing to God because we are afraid of God not being pleased with us and being condemned. But if we believe that, then the first step we take to doing the good work is already sin no matter what scripture you used to defend it. Why? Because if you are a Christian then you are not condemned, if you do anything for fear of being condemned then you don’t believe God. You are calling unclean what God made clean.

T. But James said “faith without works is dead”… yes but the problem here is not the work but faith. If you misunderstand James then you will be in a tight spot. If you think its… “well you aren’t doing good works then you are not saved.” Well then I better start doing works so that I can be saved. NO!!!! Faith without works is dead. Why do we concentrate on the works part… its faith. If you have no works than your faith is dead. The problem is a dead faith. The result is to fix faith not fix works. We have to stop hiding behind the scriptures and let the truth of the Scriptures resonate in honesty.

II. Reward for Bad News

- The wages of sin is death

A. So we see here many examples of false good news brought to us and by us. We have assumed the position of David and of Baanah and Rechab and there is a reward for bringing such good news? David had Baanah and Rechab were killed for this. Did you know that we deserve the same punishment for all that we do in this? We have all sinned. What is our reward for it? The wages of sin is… death. The reality of all of this is death. The reality of all the false gospel that we are told and that we tell ourselves bring destruction. Paul even says that false gospel preachers are accursed. And he said it twice.

B. It is amazing what we will the do for sin. The lengths we will go to. The mountains we will climb how easy we go blind. This is how bad it is and it is how easy it is. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and the wages of sin is death. Like Rechab and Baanah we faced and have been sentenced by the King. But this king that we worship today sentenced us to death, but stepped in front of the sword and died for us. Jesus died for our sins according to the scriptures and he was buried and was raised on the third day according to the scriptures. This is the gospel of Jesus.

C. Do we see the reality of the good news of Christ? This is the gospel we share and this is the gospel we declare. It is the gospel for salvation. This is what the author wants us to see.

D. The reward we get for news. We receive the good news of Jesus and we receive a reward. Life and life more abundant. The King that pronounces the judgement of death, but the King takes the punishment for us. The King… the descendant of David, Jesus died for us, who were like Rechab and Baanah and did give us a prominent place in His kingdom. Co-heirs with the king. That is our reward. But it is not a reward for what we have done. But one that the Lord has done and it is given to us by his grace.

E. Salvation is here. All who call upon the name of the Lord… If you confess with our mouth and believe in your hearts…

F. This is the gospel of Jesus the good news that brings life. It brings us life and life more abundantly. Not a false gospel, but one that even angels long to look