You Are the Man
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
ILL: When we here the words, “You are the man!” we feel like we have achieved and accomplished something. That is, unless we are being called out for doing something we should not have done.
ILL: Many moms have called to their children…just in case they were unaware of who they were, they are sure to insert the middle name!
How many of you know that others sin and do wrong? Don’t you just wish they would admit it sometimes?
How good are you at admitting you were wrong?
Read text: 2 Samuel 12:1-15
One day, things were going along really well for King David. His kingdom was expanding. His children were growing up. He was getting wealthy. People were following his lead. The nation was happy. Surrounding nations respected Israel. Many of Israel’s enemies were defeated…that is, until, “Yoo-hoo!”
If you were the king, and a preacher came and told you you had sinned and done wrong, how would you respond?
God wants history and life to petitioned us by His love, His plan, and His invitation.
The story of King David plays itself out as a repeated theme in our own lives.
The maxim of history says that “those who fail to learn from the past are doomed to repeat it.”
King David learned, and he repented of his sin!
Oh, that we would learn to repent again!
Proposition: Repent of your sin.
Proposition: Repent of your sin.
1. Keep God on the Throne
1. Keep God on the Throne
David sinned by following his own heart.
God said, “Thou art the man.” This is a reminder to David that he is just a man.
God gets our attention—He reminds us when we have sinned!
How?
First, a Guilty conscience.
Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;)
Second, the Word of God. When the scribes and Pharisees tried to trick Jesus by bringing a woman caught in the act of adultery—they asked if she should be stoned. His answer was, “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her” (John 8:7), and then Jesus wrote on the ground.
And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.
The reason the world wants the Bible removed is because it reminds them God is trying to get their attention, and many do not want to listen!
The “cancel culture” wants to cancel the Bible and Christianity, erroneously saying the Bible is oppressive.
No, the Bible brings liberty. It is the foundation of true American liberty, not the “false” freedom BLM, the Marxists, the anarchists, and the Neo-Nazi groups preach.
Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
Third, Law and Consequence.
King David realized that he was not above the law—he tried to live that way for a short time, but God let him know that David’s throne was a human throne.
Laws are not created for righteous people—they are for unrighteous people!
Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
Proper use of law is enforced when there are consequences.
Consequences play out for the lost but especially for God’s children, Whom He loves He corrects and chastens (Proverbs 13:12).
Knowing God is on the throne, we know He is watching:
He that soweth iniquity shall reap vanity: And the rod of his anger shall fail.
Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.
2. Remember You Are Temptable Flesh
2. Remember You Are Temptable Flesh
“Thou art the man.”
Don’t ignore sin or blame God for your temptations and sins.
We saw how Adam and Eve kept passing the blame to God and others for their sin.
Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:
Being people gets us into trouble!
Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
AND, Satan knows how to get our attention to tempt us to sin.
And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:
How many of you wish your flesh would stop tempting you?
Satan has honed his evil craft with 3 temptations: 1. the lust of the eyes, 2. the lust of the flesh, 3. the pride of life.
For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
We must deal with temptation (which is not sin) and sin in spiritual ways. It is not a mind over matter issue. You cannot just “turn over a new leaf.”
O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.
3. Give God Ownership of Your Sin
3. Give God Ownership of Your Sin
“Thou art the man.” David took ownership—”I have sinned against the Lord” (2 Samuel 12:13).
Every time we see David sin in the Bible, he comes back to the Lord to claim God’s grace.
Sometimes we say, “Take ownership for what you do.” This is good, general advice.
God says,
He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: But whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.
The problem of taking ownership is that there is no way to let go of our sin each time we own it! It grows bigger every day! Owning your sin makes you miserable.
For I acknowledge my transgressions: And my sin is ever before me.
People also want to nail our sins to us—and, yes, while we commit sin, sin that is forgiven is able to be released.
God told David,
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.
Forgiveness doesn’t happen just because you try to forget your sin. No, God needs to forget it for you.
And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;
We forget that God wants everything, including our sin. God does not want your sin, so He can hold it over your head!
Yes, God hates sin, and that is why He created a way for sin to be forgiven in Christ!
Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.
Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, And passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? He retaineth not his anger for ever, Because he delighteth in mercy. He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; He will subdue our iniquities; And thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.
Conclusion:
Conclusion:
David was called “a man after mine own heart” by God. Why? David was good at repenting and staying humble before God.
David wrote Psalm 51 on the heels of being confronted by Nathan.
1 John was written to remind Christians how they can walk with God faithfully.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Will you continue to hide your sin, or will you confess it and forsake it today?