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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