Amen, so again continuing on here with second Samuel chapter number 13. I'm not going to take the time to
go over everything that we went over last Thursday, but if you remember in the beginning of the story we had the
you know the plot that Jonadab gives to
Amnon in regards to you know, the fact that he has fell love sick for his half-sister Tamar
And of course we read about you know, what took place there the rape of Tamar
And we'll pick it up there in verse 19 and it says and Tamar put ashes on her head
And rent her garments of diverse colors that was on her and laid her hand on her head and went on crying
And Absalom her brother said under hath Amnon thy brother been with thee, but now hold thy peace my sister
He is thy brother regard not this thing. So Tamar remained desolate in her brother's Absalom's house verse 21
But when king David heard of all these things he was very wroth so
David when he finally gets news of all this he becomes very upset
He's very angry as the bible says he was very wroth
But you know really when you think about it on and we talked about this a little bit last week in regards to David
It's kind of too little too late for David. He's he's getting upset about something which
Uh, and you know, there's there's a reason behind it
But uh, you know, he seems to kind of have this lack of discernment in this chapter, you know
ever since of course chapter 12
We read about in chapters 11 and 12 we read about the sin with bashiba and david gets called out for it
By the prophet nathan, but and he's it's prophesied that you know
That he's going to raise up evil against him out of his own house
So you would think that if you heard that from nathan and you believe that he would be extra vigilant
You'd be looking for this. It's kind of surprising to me sometimes that that this caught david off guard
He would think okay. Well, this this evil is going to come from somewhere
And and where is it going to come from and then he sees these things begin to be put in motion
And it seems like he just doesn't doesn't get it. We'll see that here later in the chapter two
So we see a little bit of a lack of discernment here. And of course, we understand that that was
You know of necessity because of the fact that god was going to judge. David
But what we need to understand is that you know
We really don't have that excuse that david had at least, you know
We shouldn't that maybe the reason why david is not seeing things coming
Like he should is because of the fact that he's being judged by god, you know
We're not you know in all likelihood under the judgment of god
And we need to remember that we need to be a vigilant people
Okay, and of course we could apply this to the fact that you know david
There was seemed to be this lack of discernment when it came to
uh, you know sending tamar over to his house over to uh,
Amnon's house and and he was insisting that it was tamar, you know
And he was just kind of happy to go along with it and then and then we see what the results were
Okay, so we could apply it that way and we kind of talked about that
You know last thursday about the fact that we need to be
You know watching out where our children's are where our children are watching out
Where our daughters are making sure our children are living pure lives godly lives
And not just letting them go wherever they want and be whoever they want to be with because bad things can happen
but really I want to talk about more about uh, you know, the necessity of vigilance because of the fact that there are
Bad people out there that hate us that want to do us evil, okay
And we see that here with absolom and let me just say it real quick, you know abs what absolom does is not righteous here
You know in the flesh you might think yeah, you've got a sister back
You know, he paid he paid him back for for a sister
But you know, that's that's not what god would have prescribed the wrath of man worketh
not the righteousness of god and again
I understand all these things are being put in motion because of the fact that david is being judged
Okay
But we can learn something from this we can apply
Something from this chapter and that is that we need to be a vigilant people and be looking out for wicked people looking out for
Things that are going to work against us work out look out for evil in your life
This is a you know in the case of david. This is especially important for leaders
You know, it's required of a bishop. It says that he must be blameless the husband of one wife
Vigilant and we think about that word vigilant. You might think of the word like a candlelight vigil staying up all night
You know, what does that mean to be alert to be awake to be aware?
That's what it means to be vigilant and it's a requirement for the bishop, you know for the elder
And it's that he has to be a vigilant person. You can't just you know, sit back and assume that not that
Nothing bad is going to come his way
He has to be vigilant because of the fact that you know
There are evil men and seducers that want to creep in
And teach damnable heresies and do harm to the body of christ. And this is isn't just for the bishop, okay
Don't think well, I don't have to be vigilant because i'm not you know in a place of leadership, you know
We all are to some degree in a place of leadership
But the bible does prescribe this to all of us it says to be sober to be vigilant
Because your adversary the devil as a roaring lion walking about seeking whom he may devour
So, you know, it's not just that I have to be vigilant as an overseer of a flock
But that we all have to be vigilant because of the fact that we all have a common enemy
Okay, and we need to remember that people don't they lose sight of this
Okay
and they seem to forget that there is an enemy out there that walks about as a roaring lion called the devil and he
And he hates us. It's not just that, you know, the devil is just doing what the devil does
The devil hates us
He hates god. He hates god's people. He hates the work of god. He hates the word of god
He wants to destroy it. He wants to hinder it. God hates or excuse me. Not god
God loves what we're doing the devil hates what we're doing here
You know, that's why the bishop has to be vigilant because he has to look out
For the way the devil is going to try and attack and the devil is going to try and attack
But you know what the devil hates you too on a personal basis
He hates your righteous living. He hates your godly life. He hates your you know, your your your your marriage
He hates your children. He hates everything that you do for god. He hates everything about it and he wants to destroy it
So we need to be vigilant people
You know an absolom here is somebody that is is you know has been seething
in and wanting to exact revenge and when you read the
You know when you read the the story here remember in verse 24
He said absolom came to the king and said behold now thy servant hath sheep shears
Let the king I beseech thee and thy servants go with thy servant
So it wasn't you know, his original intent was to get king david there
To what purpose we might ask. I don't think that his intent was to kill david
But I think he wanted david to see how upset he was. He wanted david to see him
Slay his own son amnon. He wanted to know i'm doing this
Okay, and david needed to have a little bit more vigilance
But unfortunately he didn't
So verse 22 it says
Absalom spake unto his brother amnon neither good nor bad for absalom
Hate for absalom hated amnon because he had forced his sister tamar
So absolom here he is seething with hatred and he wants to bring harm. How does he do this?
You know, and this is and i'm trying to make an application here that
You know, we need to be vigilant and on guard because the devil and and the people that are going to
You know try to creep in and do harm in our lives in our churches. They don't just show up
And are just obvious. Okay, but you know, we can't always see people's intent
You know, and that's why we should never just judge people, you know
Good or bad, you know, we should always give people the benefit of the doubt, but you know as a growing church, too
I think sometimes
you know at least for myself I found that we can be a little too, uh,
A little too over anxious, you know when peep when you get that first time visitor when people first show up
you know and and we just want to
We just want to go above and beyond for them and that's great. But you know what sometimes we have to remind ourselves that
Some people that come are are not going to be good
There's going to be and i'm not saying we have anybody like that here
Okay, but there are going to be people that do come and and they're and they're not good
Okay, and you might find that out later. Okay
so we need to make sure that we
Always keep that in mind and while we can't always see what people's intents are
When people show up at church people come into our lives
We can't always see in their heart and see what's going on and in their minds of what they have
They intend to do but what you can learn to do is to observe their methods
Start to observe their behaviors and things that they like to do
and one of those things I want to talk about tonight is flattery because I believe you see that here in this in the
Story with absolom when he's got his own evil intent when he has his own plot
His own plans the things that he wants to do. What does he use? He uses flattery
If you would go over to proverbs chapter 10 when you get to proverbs keep a bookmark there
We're gonna we're gonna look at several passages in proverbs tonight
Look we can't always tell what people are going to be like when they show up
And we always give people the benefit of the doubt and people come to church for all kinds of different reasons
And usually it's good reasons
You know, they love the lord. They just want to you know, get they want to get right with god
They want to learn the bible. They want to go soul winning. They want to raise their family, you know
They have all these different reasons
You know, they're they're looking for some help. They're looking for some compassion
And things like that, but and again, I know i've already preached and touched on this but it's just coming up again
The scripture is that we need to be vigilant and on guard about the fact that people hate our church
People hate god's people and they're gonna do want to work evil against them
And we've seen it over and over and over and over again not just here in our church
but in other churches where evil people
plot and work
And and try to bring harm to the body of christ and one of the tactics and again
This isn't the only thing that they do
sometimes they are just wide out in the open with about their hatred for
God's people. Okay, but a lot of times they they mask that like an absolom, right?
Who did not speak evil or good to his brother for two whole years?
He just said you know what i'm just going to let time go by people are going to forget about what happened
And then i'm going to go ahead and spring my trap, okay
Look at proverbs chapter 18 verse chapters 10 proverbs chapter 10 verse 18
He that hideth hatred with lying lips and he that uttereth a slander is a fool
So the bible's showing us here that there's people out there that what they hide their hatred with lying lips
You know, they'll tell you they'll tell you lies
But also, you know one way they they lie why they hide that hatred is through flattery
And look a lot of times if somebody's flattering you, you know, they're lying whether you know it or not
They'll be like, oh you're so good looking, you know, it's a lie
You're so smart another lie, right
But they'll tell you things that aren't true or they'll exaggerate something that might be true. That's a form of lying, okay
And what they're really doing is that they're hiding their hatred through flattery
They're trying to snow you and mask what they're really up to. Okay, and this is what people do
And look, I know it sounds crazy. But this is the kind of thing that goes on
You have to remember we're involved in a spiritual warfare. We're in a spiritual fight
We have spiritual enemies and these type of things do happen and I love the scripture because we get to see
You know different personality types we get to see different examples of different kinds of people in the scripture
And absolom is one of these people that does what that hides his hatred with lying lips
And you say well, how did he do that?
Well, absolom absolom in a sense if you would keep something proverbs go back to second samuel chapter 13
You know, he does lie in a sense about his intent, doesn't he?
Because he's using this this form of flattery through what preparing a feast, right?
He says hey
I've got my sheep shears over there bring yours with you bring the king's sons you come up
And your servants and we'll have a good time because remember in the story he tells them when you see
Amnon's heart marry with wine, right? So they're eating and they're drinking this is kind of like a big deal, right?
They're all getting together to shear the sheep. They might even cook a few while they're there
So they're getting together and he's inviting him not just to come do some work
But he's inviting them to come down and partake in the flock partake in
You know the fruit of the field to go and have kind of uh, you know
Like we like to do have a potluck or something, right?
He's inviting him over and just saying hey, everything's fine. Let's go have a good time together. Look, it's a form of flattery
You know, he's trying to say we're going to have a good time and and all that look at verse 23
And it came to pass after two full years that absolom had sheep shears and belhazor
Which is beside ephraim and absolom invited all the king sung and absolom came to the king and said behold now thy servant hath sheep
Shears let the king I beseech thee and his servants go with thy servant
So again, he want this is something he wanted to do in front of david
I don't believe his original intent was to kill david and david said absolom name my son. Let us not all go
Now go lest we be chargeable to thee and he pressed him howbeit he would not go but he blessed him
Then said absolom if not I pray thee let my brother amnon go with us
And again, this just is the lapse in david's discernment. That's my opinion and king david sent him. Why should he go with thee?
It's like duh
Why do you think he wants to go with him?
But you know, this is the flattery right? This is how flattery it works
Well, I mean he's inviting us to this feast. He wants to wait. He's just trying to bury the hatchet
You know, why should he go with thee?
It does sound like david maybe is a little suspicious and maybe he was leading up to this
But now it's kind of like hey, I just want amnon to come because you know, I just want to
You know, I haven't said anything in two years to him. I just want to catch up with them
Well, we're over that whole tamar thing. We're over that
Right. Just we I just want him to come to this feast
I just want to come to this sheep shearing and just you know, have a good time with him
You know david that should have if he was vigilant like we should be
That would have should have set off an alarm
Well, I know you've got history here with amnon
You know, I know about tamar I know how you know that you're
There's probably something's going on, okay
There's this lapse in judgment here go over to proverbs chapter 23 proverbs chapter 23
Because this is you know, another form of flattery, isn't it?
when people just start giving us a lot of things and just you know, and look it's it's
We have to learn to always discern between what's flattery and what's genuine
Okay, when people want to genuinely do something nice for us, you know invite us over for a feast
Have you know, give us something nice or present us with something just be out of a sincere, you know genuine heart, you know
Don't just instantly jump to the conclusion. Oh, you're you know, you're flattering me because you're trying to take advantage or whatever, okay
But you know there there is that element that is there if people are just going over the top
Trying to uh, you know flatter them through, you know, things like food and drink
And you know, it's not you're like really? Yeah, it's really out there
I mean, I remember when we had that wicked element in our church, you know up in tempe
a few years back and
They uh, they they brought you know, uh, there was there was the conference was taking place the missions conference
And this family invited one of the pastors over and they they knew that it was his birthday
And he had no like and they'd actually had it out before like they weren't on always best terms
They'd buried they buried the hatchet
over some other things
But you know when he showed up for that conference, they're like, hey, it's your birthday. We made you a cake
And now he's like obligated to go over to their house because they made him a cake
And they got him there and they just turned to a bunch of the back biting and talking
I want to go on to it
But it was an example of this kind of thing that goes on
Where people are actually using food and drink to flatter someone to get their put to let their guard down
And just bring them in over so that they can you know spring their traps, but so to speak
Proverbs chapter 23 verse 7
Oh, let me I got to get verse 60. Let me let me get the whole thing here. I don't think I copied that right
Verse 6 eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye
You know, there's some people they're going to offer you bread, but they've got the evil eye. They're eyeing you
They got evil intent, but what you know, they're giving him bread, right?
So I mean something as literal as food and drink could be a form of flattery, can't it?
Neither desire thou his dainty needs for as he thinketh in his heart. So is he eat and drink saith he to thee
But his heart is not with thee
Right. He's saying hey eat up enjoy have what he wants some more
And they'll fill you up right but his heart is not with thee. What is that? That is a form of flattery
Oh, I look do you do you uh feed people that you don't like?
I mean do you invite them over and go through all the work of cooking and grilling and preparing everything and getting your house ready
For people you don't like no you invite people that you do like people you do want to spend time with right?
So you can see how this is a form of flattery
That he's inviting him over. Hey eat drink, you know, but you know what his heart is not with you
Because typically when that kind of thing goes on their heart is with you right so you can see how this is a form of flattery
So you can see how this is a form of flattery
That's what absolom is doing and he's trying to just fool everybody and hide what his hatred through lying lips
He's hiding his hatred through flattery
And what's the result it says eat and drink he saith it he but
His heart is not with thee the more so that thou is eaten thou shalt vomit up and lose thy sweet words
It's going to come back to haunt you, you know when we meddle and and mess around with people that are
Flatterers if we're not vigilant, you know, we're gonna we're gonna regret it at the end, okay
The vibe go over to proverbs chapter 26 proverbs chapter number 26
Because you know lying and flattery are related because flattery again is a form of lying, isn't it?
Absolom saying oh just come on down everybody come to
You know down to the sheep shearing. We're just gonna have a good time. It's gonna after everything's fine
He's lying he knows what he's gonna do
He's been plotting for this for two years
Waiting for everybody let their guard down and just think everything's fine. It's a form of flattery. It's a form of lying
They're related because they both work to the same end to deceive
people
The bible says in proverbs 26 verse 28
A lying tongue hateth those that are afflicted by it
And a flattering mouth worketh ruin
You know people don't just flatter people because they can't help themselves they do it because they hate those people
They they lie to those people because they hate those that are afflicted by it
And they want to do what to work ruin. That's what people do
And go back again keep something in proverbs go back to uh, second samuel chapter 13
That's what we see going on here with absolom this lying this flattering
And of course, you know david just you know, even though he has that little bit of suspicion
Why should he go with thee? Oh, don't worry about it. David. Everything's fine
He it says absolom pressed him in verse 27
That he let amnon and all the king's sons go with him. So he let him go verse 28
Then you see what absolom is really up to you. Okay
Now absolom had commanded his servant saying mark ye now when amnon's heart is merry with wine when I say unto you smite amnon
Then kill him fear not for have not I commanded you be courageous and be valiant
And the servants of absolom did unto amnon as absolom had commanded and all the king's son arose
Every man got him upon his mule and fled
So again, it's not like he was trying to take out everybody
But he had been seething he had been hiding his hatred
And he springs his trap through flattery and lying lips and that's how he finally kills amnon and gets him back
And again, we shouldn't think that this is a righteous thing that amnon did because it's not
Look at verse 30 and it came to pass while they were in the way that tidings came to david saying
Absalom has slain all the king's sons
And there is not one of them left
So I want to kind of shift gears here a little bit because there's another thing that we need to be vigilant about today
Is that the reality of hearsay or or receiving second-hand information?
Okay
Because a lot of another thing that that people who hate the lord and hate god's people what they like to do
Is just kind of put things out there that aren't entirely true
If not, it's not a lot of times aren't true at all
And a lot of times they'll just repeat things that they heard somewhere and look we should not be people like this
We should not be gossips. We should not be passing along, you know invalid information things that have not been validated
We should not just be
You know saying things that we're not sure of
Because look they have a result I mean they show up it says in verse 30
They came to pass while they're in the way that the tidings came to david saying absolom has slain all the king's sons
Is that what happened?
No, he slew amnon the rest of the sons all out on their mule and got out of there
But this other somebody else gets to david first before the the real news gets to him
And you know whether or not this person was lying or who knows what it's kind of like that telephone game, right?
You ever played the telephone game?
When you start out at one person says one phrase and by the time it gets through a dozen people
It comes out something completely different at the end
And that's probably what's going on here
You know someone someone's seeing all these people go everywhere. There's this tolma and they're like what's going on? Oh amnon killed
You know killed the king's son and they heard killed all the king's son and then they tell somebody else
Did you hear he killed all the king's sons?
And then it gets back to david. Hey, everybody's dead, right?
And what they're doing is they're just passing on second-hand information
Just speculating just giving in their two cents. They have their their they have no evidence
They have no nothing to back up what they're saying. They just that's just what they heard
You know, we don't want to be people like that who just pass on second-hand
unverified untrustworthy information
You know and definitely, you know, don't repeat it, but also don't act on that
You know, we shouldn't just form judgments about situations or people based on second-hand information
Unverified information because you know a lot of times we don't know all the facts about things
Go over to proverbs 18
If you're still in proverbs proverbs 18 a very famous verse on this
You know, the bible's adamant about this about making sure that the things that we say and the things that we act on are verified
Okay
The bible says in deuteronomy 17 at the mouth of two witnesses or three witnesses
Shall he that is worthy of death be put to death
Right one person cannot just stand up for a witness against another don't you think that's a pretty important principle?
That there should be some accountability just people just can't go around accusing one another of murder and all kinds of other things
proverbs 19 one witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity nor for any sin
And any sin that he sent at the mouth of two witnesses or at the mouth of three witnesses
Shall the matter be established? What are you saying? There's got to be evidence
You can't just falsely accuse people you just can't act on second-hand
Unverified information, you know, you don't want to act on it and you don't want to you don't want to repeat it either. Okay
proverbs 18 verse 13
He that answer at the matter it says
Before he heareth it it is folly and shame unto him, you know, it's a folly to answer a matter before you know
all the facts
You know, what about maybe, you know forming an opinion about something we see some situation
We don't have all the facts and we just jump to a conclusion
You know, we could end up being wrong. We could come out the other side and say well i was dead wrong about that
You know if we've gone around just saying oh, you know, here's what I think about this and here's what I think about that
And here's what I heard and start just start saying whatever we think and then it turns out the complete opposite is true
Everyone's going to look at us and go that guy's a fool
That guy ought to be ashamed because nothing he said was true
And we don't want to be known as people who just act on and repeat what second-hand unverified informations
And here's the thing, you know in a lot of instances, uh, this kind of this kind of behavior deserves to be called out
You know the bible gets real specific about that go to proverbs chapter 25 proverbs chapter 25
You know one instance that it should be called out and is in person
You know if someone's trying to come to you and pass along unverified second-hand information
You know, you should call them out for that
That's my opinion
If they're backbiting. Oh, did you hear about so-and-so?
And it's like well, do you have any evidence that any of this is true, uh, no
Well, you know, that's not the time for you to just go. Okay
That's the time to get mad. That's what the bible says
To get angry and rebuke that person to their face on the spot and look it's uncomfortable
But you know what if if we just allow that type of thing go on eventually it goes on
And it goes on and just gets bigger and bigger and more out of hand and you know what people end up getting hurt
And people start forming opinions that about other people in situations that aren't true
When that type of thing goes on we need to nip it in the bud
That's what it says in proverbs 25. Look at verse 23 the north wind driveth away rain
So doth an angry countenance a backbiting tongue
He says that the north wind, you know, come in comes in and just blows that storm right out
The storm clouds up and the you know, the thunder's rolling lightning's coming down the rain's coming down
But then it comes in that strong north wind and just you know blows it away
So does an angry countenance a backbiting tongue. What's the backbiting tongue?
the person is just repeating unverified things the person is just
You know saying things that are just hearsay second-hand information
Things that are unverified or just you know, making up straight up lies about people
And look when we come across that, you know, we should have what an angry countenance don't come to me with that information
How do you know that's true. Do you have any evidence and look I know people have put this into effect
I know people that they somebody came to them and they started talking smack about somebody else
And and she just straight up told her I got angry. She thought about this verse
And she got mad. That's my wife. I'll just admit it. She's the one that got mad
She does get mad sometimes folks
You know, she got that angry countenance and she just said look I don't want to hear it, you know, take that somewhere else
You know, that's just backbiting. I don't know exactly what she said, but it worked that person shut their mouth and never came to her again
To to backbite other people or to pass on information this thing type of thing works
No, now i'll say this that's where it ends. Okay
You know if if that if you find yourself in that situation where someone brings you second-hand unverified information
They start backbiting on other people
You know and you you cloud up on them you get that angry countenance you drive them off
Right. That's not the time for you to go around i'm gonna tell everybody about that
Because now you're that person. Okay, you know, that's where it begins and ends. It's in person. Okay
Go to first timothy chapter five. However
There are certain instances where everybody should know about how certain people are backbiting false accusers
You know bringing second-hand information
Unverified information and slandering people slandering very specific people specifically the man of god
Specifically an elder right a bishop these people when you you know
Well, they just read it second first timothy chapter five verse 19 first timothy 5 19 against an elder
Receive not an accusation before what two or three witnesses?
Again there's the importance of having verified information people were there. Yes. I saw it
So-and-so was with me. We both saw it. We both heard it, you know, it's verified
We have evidence, okay
Against an elder receive not an accusation like just like we should drive away that that north wind that angry countenance
Should drive away that backbiting tongue. It should not be what received
Rather it should be driven away. Okay, but notice here
In this instance, that's not where it ends when it's when it's an act false accusation that's brought against an elder
Okay, a man of god. All right
It says in verse 20 then that sin and again 20 is related to 19
This isn't a hard change here in the scripture
He says against an elder received an accusation before two or three witnesses them that sin
Rebuked before all that others also may fear
So he's saying what's the sin there that he's talking about when people bring a false accusation against an elder
They are to be rebuked before all that others may fear
That others may fear and do what not receive false accusations
Or repeat false accusations to other people
About specifically about another say well, what makes the elder so special?
What makes the pastor so special that you know, he gets to rebuke all them, you know
Gets to rebuke them before all he's talking about before the church
You know, that's that's what's what's going on here
Well, it makes him so special is because the elder the bishop that you know
He is somebody that is going to have false accusations brought against him on a regular basis
He's got a big target on his back
And look if you if you think that that that type of things never it never happens. You just haven't been around long enough
It happens all the time
People are constantly bringing false accusations against pastors that I know
all the time
And you know what I
Why would I receive any of them?
You know, especially like think about it, especially when that person's going through some kind of a trial
Or you know, they're going through some kind of a persecution
Like think about when pastor bruce mahia first works baptist church was being protested by the sonomites and had a bomb thrown through his building
Do you think that maybe somebody made some might have made some false accusations?
Maybe wrote a few emails to the church left some voicemails to accuse him of some some ungodly sin or something. Yeah
You know and when I heard that or when I read it it was just like delete
Why?
Because he's got a target on his back because obviously all that is is the work is the enemy at work
Trying to bring down a man of goddess. I'm not going to receive that
I'm not going to give that a second thought that's just instantly going to be dismissed out of hand
Now look if somebody wants to come to to the you know
Like it says in in first timothy in the beginning of the chapter that we should what you know
And treat the elders as a father, you know, you know rebuke not an elder but and treat him as a father
You know if there's some kind of flaw there's something was done wrong or is incorrect, you know
You go and say hey respectfully like you would your father
And say I just want to bring this to your attention
You know, i'm not and just gently humbly make that bring bring that to people's not just like, you know
You're you're way off base here. Who do you know and just
Would you talk to your dad that way? You know, I hope not
You know, you should do that with some respect i'm not saying that there they if there isn't a genuine concern that that can't be brought
To people's attention, but it has to be done in a certain way
And you know what else has to be there two or three witnesses
You know someone comes to me with an accusation against some pastor i'm gonna say where's where's your witnesses?
You know, I saw pastor so and so coming out of a liquor store with a bottle in his hand and a brown bag
You know, he's drinking
Okay, do you have two more three more witnesses?
No
Then get out of here
And you know what? Let's and if it persists, you know, we might just go to the place like hey
Let's just tell everybody that you're a false accuser
Why so that everybody else can learn to fear and to not just receive false accusations about a man of god
So there is a time to you know, call these type of things out and you know, what's what's the the main point here
To understand the reality of hearsay understand the reality of second-hand information
Understand that false accusations are real
And especially when it comes to a preacher to a man of god, somebody who's trying to do a work for god
Go back to our story there in uh
In uh second sam and chapter 13 it says in verse 30 it came to pass
Well, they were in the way that the tidings came to david saying absalom has slain all the king's sons and there's none
Not one of them left
verse 31 of the king of rose and terrace garments, you know
I maybe if you'd only heard it was amnon. I don't know. Maybe he wouldn't have tore his garment
You could have you see you see what happens when you bring the false the false information clothes get torn
And he tear in his garments and he lay on the earth and all his servants stood by
with their clothes rent
And verse 32 and then this character comes back in and john adab, you know, I remember from thursday night
John adab was the one that gave amnon the idea of
of putting uh
Tamar in that compromising situation, right?
That was the one that said that amnon what that amnon had a friend right this jonadab the son of shimei david's brother
So jonadab is just conveniently there among the king's servants. Okay
And he hears this and the brother answered and said let not my lord suppose that they have slain all the young men
The king's sons for amnon only is dead now
Remember at the beginning of chapter this said that amnon had a friend and it says that that friend is john adab
Listen to how john adab is talking about the the death of his so-called friend
For amnon only is dead by the appointment of absalom had this been determined from the day that he forced his sister
Tamar verse 33 now therefore let not my king to take this thing to heart
To think that all the king's sons are dead for amnon only is dead
He's like, it's not as bad as you think it's just amnon
Some friend, right?
There's no grief here
You know are his clothes rent. Is he laying on the ground?
Weeping for his friend
I mean he's culpable in this thing this whole thing is is he had he shares some of the blame doesn't he?
You know for amnon for absalom rising up and and and slaying amnon for what happened to tamar, you know
Uh, uh, john adab here, you know, he was uh, you know, he played a part in this he's culpable, you know, he's worthy of blame
And you see how he just conveniently lays out all that information
He says that at the end of verse 32
And he says for by the appointment of absalom had this been determined from the day that he forced his sister tamar
Which you know was kind of my idea
Maybe not the forcing but you know to to make that whole situation even possible
I was one they gave him the bright idea to fake sick and ask for her to be sent there and eat at her hand
And it went from there
But here so he is culpable
But you know what? You know what?
What guilty people are never going to do a lot of times when they're in these type of situations is implicate themselves
They're never going to put themselves in that situation and say yeah, I I had something to do with that
He's not doing that here
He's just kind of like deflecting like oh, uh, you know, this is just all them. I mean
I didn't have anything to do with it
And he's some friend and remember what how jonadab was described in beginning the chapter. He was a subtle man, right?
So what's what's he doing here? What I believe he's doing is that he is
Seeking favor with david now was this his plan from the start?
I don't think that he could have foreseen how everything was going to go
But he definitely saw the opportunity didn't he?
He saw how he set helped set those wheels in motion
He saw I mean he knew that this was determined from the day that he forced tamar that absolom hated him
He he might have just saw what was going on observing the situation
And started choosing sides getting closer to david and just you know being ready to be somewhere when an opportunity to present itself, okay?
He's very subtle and what he's doing here is he's seeking favor with david, right? He's using a situation
That he himself, you know is culpable in and he's doing it to seek favor with david
And you know, this is a lot this is an attribute of wicked people
People who do what they have men's persons in admiration
Because of advantage, you know, they they they see what other people can offer them
And they don't admire them because of or they don't love them because of who they are or what they you know
How they can help them in some way, but they they have men's persons in admiration. Why because of advantage
That's what's going on with with I believe, you know, uh, jonadab here
He's seeing a situation and he's getting close to david and saying hmm
I could use this
To get on the king's good side and look look like the good guy and i'm i'm there counseling the king. Oh, don't worry
It's just amnon my friend
You know don't worry about it
Everything's fine stand up. Let's get you some needle and thread mend that garment
We see no sorrow except but what he's really doing is he's just seeking for favor look at verse 34, but absalom's fled
And the young men that kept watch lifted up his eyes and looked and behold there came much people by the way
Uh the hillside behind him and jonadab said to the king behold the king's sons cometh as thy servant said so it is
I mean, he's just there at the perfect time at the perfect place to just let david know that everything's okay. It was just
It was just uh amnon see everybody else is coming david as thy servant hath said so it is I mean he's calling himself
david's servant
If david knew
The part that he played in this whole situation. Do you think that he would consider him a servant?
No way
You know who knows what he would have done to jonadab if he knew the truth of everything
How jonadab was the one that kind of said all this whole thing in motion, right?
But here's jonadab presenting himself as some kind of counselor
some kind of
You know sympathetic ear someone who's just there to help the king and this, you know and and soothe him
And he's calling himself a servant. He's anything but but why is he doing that?
Because he has men's because because he has a man in admiration because of advantage
Well, you know i'm the king's nephew if I could just get close and you know do a solid for him
You know, maybe he'll exalt me or get some kind of reward
And really what what jonadab is I believe he's an example of a sycophant
A sycophant and these are this is a real type of person that's out there
And what is a sycophant? That's not something we probably use a lot but it's it's definitely something that's real
It says a person who acts, uh, obsequiously
obsequiously towards someone important in order to gain advantage
So, you know, it's somebody who's trying to be obedient it's somebody who's trying to be attentive
It's somebody who's being excessive
to a servile degree
right
In order to gain advantage right and there and it's towards somebody important. That's what a sycophant is
Somebody who's going to be very obedient and isn't that what he's doing here? He's being very attentive to david
He's right there at this moment when david hears this second-hand information. That isn't true to
He just happens to be there to clarify the situation
And then he happens to be there near david within earshot and tell him
Hey, look, everyone's coming just as thy servant said he's being very attentive to david a man of somebody of great importance
a man of power
And they do this type of thing so that they can gain advantage
And look i've seen this type of thing happen
You know, i've never i've never personally experienced it because I guess i'm just not that important
But i've seen it happen to other people i've seen other people, you know, try to just get close to our pastor pastor anderson
You know and and just try to find out what's going on with him and his family and just buddy up with them
Just so they can get me on the inside
And it's super weird
But it happens
It's creepy that there's people out there that are like this, but i'm telling you they're out there
I mean, why does the bible take us time to tell us the story so we can learn about people like absolom
Who are going to lie to us flatter us because they have evil intent
Because we so we can learn about people like john adab who just want to you know, exalt themselves
They're just going to get close to to people of importance, you know
Even if maybe we don't consider ourselves somebody important
Maybe somebody's just going to get close to you and pretend to be your friend
Just because you they think that you can do something for them
Just because you can get them ahead at the job or whatever
They're going to flatter you they're going to lie
They're going to you know act like they care be super attentive
To an excessive point i'm saying i'm not saying
You know from hopefully we don't take the sermon everyone just walks out and just starts giving everybody cold shoulder at church
Like I don't want to be too inattentive to people's needs, right?
You know, but we need but when it's when it's excessive
When it's just over the top
You know, that's a red flag when the flattery is just over the top when the compliments are just
You know, they're lying like you're like, I know that's not true. Well, you just said about me. There's just no way
Right because i've got six other people telling me the opposite. No, i'm just kidding
Right, but what about you know, when people are just being overly attentive to every detail acting like they care so much
They don't care
These type of people exist and look we need to be vigilant
Okay
And in verse 36 it says and it came to pass as soon as he had made an end of speaking
That behold the sons the king's sons came and they left up their voice and wept and the king also and all his servants
Wept very sore. I don't know that jonadab was among those weeping probably not but absalom fled and went to talmai
the son of
Ami amahud king of geisha
And david mourned for his son
every day
And he's mourning for amnon or excuse me for absolom
So absolom fled and went to geisha and was there three years in the soul of david
King, david longed to go forth to unto absolom for he was comforted concerning amnon seeing he was dead
So he's like well, i'm glad amnon's dead
But he's longing after absolom
And he doesn't even realize that absolom is the very one that's going to stab him in the back
And and start a civil war and split, you know his own kingdom run him out of his own country and and put him
You know, just like just like saul did
It's another saul, but he just can't see it because what he's been blinded by the flattery
He's been blinded by these the sycophant named
Uh, you know amnon he's gotten near him or excuse me. Jonadab has gotten near to him
And he's just you know, there's just this lack of discernment
And look we don't and again I understand in david's case it's because he's being judged by god, okay
But you know, hopefully we haven't done anything like david's done to where we deserve to be judged by god in that way
But that doesn't mean that we don't have to be vigilant. We have to be vigilant people
And understand that there's people like this out there in the world
People that are just going to pass on second-hand information unverified people that are just going to
You know flatter us and lie to us people that are just going to try to get close to us
Because they just want some kind of advantage because they think we have something to offer them
you know and let's not be
You know, we don't want to be cold-hearted towards people but you know what?
We don't want to be too big of softies either
We want to do what be vigilant, you know and make sure that we're using discernment when it comes to
Relationships, okay. Let's go and pray