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Second Samuel chapter 14 the Bible reads now Joab the son of Zeruiah perceived that the king's heart was toward Absalom and Joab sent it to Koah and fetched there a wise woman and said unto her I pray thee Fain thyself to be a mourner and put on now mourning apparel and anoint not thyself with oil but be as a woman that had a long time mourned for the dead and Come to the king and speak on this manner unto him So Joab put the words in her mouth now just to bring you up to speed in the story where we were from last week in chapter 13 if you remember Absalom had killed his brother Amnon and the reason that he had killed his brother Amnon is that his brother Amnon had raped his sister Tamar and so Absalom avenged that horrible crime and he fled Unto a foreign country and the Bible said at the very end of chapter 13 if you want to glance down at it It says in verse 38 So Absalom fled and went to Gishur and was there three years and the soul of King David longed to go forth unto Absalom for he was comforted concerning Amnon seeing he was dead So over the course of years David has finished mourning for his dead son Amnon And now he just misses Absalom Absalom has been you know Put into his own kind of self-inflicted exile He fled the country because of the fact that he had killed Amnon and it says David longed to go forth unto Amnon or unto Absalom and you know, you have to ask yourself. Why didn't he go? You know, he's longing after him his hardest toward him But maybe he just didn't want to swallow his pride or maybe it's just too painful. Whatever the reason He's not doing it Well Joab sees what's going on and it says in verse 1 Joab the son of Zeruiah Perceived that the king's heart was toward Absalom. He can tell that David had forgiven Absalom so he wants to try to find a way to reconcile the two He's kind of trying to be a mediator here to reconcile David with his son Absalom So he's gonna send this woman to tell a story Joab doesn't want to approach the king himself Because the king had not probably been receptive to this subject in the past coming from Joab So he wants to kind of get him through the back door Sort of like Nathan the prophet did with the story about the sheep and then thou art the man So he sends this woman so that David will be unsuspecting Just to try to convince him to call his son Absalom home So here's the story that she tells in verse 4 it says and when the woman of Tekoa spake to the king She fell on her face to the ground and did obeisance and said help O king and the king said unto her What aleth thee and she answered I am indeed a widow woman and mine husband is dead and thy handmaid had two sons And they two strove together in the field and there was none to part them But the one smote the other and slew them now when it says there was none to part them How many times have you seen people get in a fight and then somebody gets between them and starts kind of pushing them apart and holding? Them apart that's what she's saying here. So it's clear from the story that this was an emotional thing They're out in the field. They have an argument pretty soon. That's a fistfight. There's none to part them It escalates and one ends up killing the other it says in verse number 7 and behold the whole family is risen against thine handmaid and they said deliver him that smote his brother that we may kill him for the life of his brother whom he slew and We will destroy the air also and so they shall quench my coal which is left and shall not leave to my husband neither name Nor remainder upon the earth. She's saying I only have two sons One of them is already dead and now they're trying to execute the other one for killing his brother and they're gonna leave me No air there's gonna be no one to take care of me as an old widow What am I supposed to do here? Now if you look at this first of all, you might just at a glance say well You know justice needs to be served. I mean that guy's a murderer. He needs to be put to death. Sorry, you know, sorry mom But if you actually think about what the Bible teaches in the Mosaic law This guy is not worthy of death because of the fact that this is not a premeditated Murder now flip back to the law itself Exodus chapter 21 Because the Bible did not mandate the death penalty upon murder when it is not premeditated and Even in America we make this distinction today between first-degree murder and second-degree murder first-degree murder being that which is planned and premeditated and Second-degree murder being called what is a crime of passion? Have you ever heard that term before crimes of passion things that are done in the heat of the moment? But they're not premeditated. That is why lawyers are often going to great pains and trials To try to prove that there was premeditation in Order to get that first-degree charge as opposed to second-degree They try to find some kind of a planning or scheming and try to show that it wasn't done spontaneously Because then it's still a crime of course, but it's a lesser crime of second-degree murder Look what the Bible says in Exodus chapter 21 verse 12 he that smite at the man So that he die Shall be surely put to death And if a man lie not in wait But God deliver him into his hand then I will appoint thee a place whither he shall flee But if a man come presumptuously upon his neighbor to slay him with guile Thou shalt take him from mine altar that he may die So what he's saying is that if someone is killed, but it's not premeditated. It was not done Presumptuously and it was not done with guile or intent But that it was just something that happened in the heat of the moment or in a fight or what-have-you He says that they are appointed a place where they may flee now that place Primarily was the altar in the house of the Lord they could flee unto the altar and take hold the horns of the altar And they were to be free from Being Executed as long as they're in that refuge as long as they're in that sanctuary of God's house But it says in verse 14 that if it had been premeditated But if a man come presumptuously upon his neighbor to slay him with guile Thou shalt take him from mine altar that he may die So if a guy just murders somebody in cold blood and then goes and runs to the altar and takes hold of the horns What does he say take him from the horns of the altar and and go kill him, okay? Now flip over to Deuteronomy 19 because this is where it goes into the subject of the places That God would provide for them to flee because obviously Not everybody could make it to the altar because there's only one altar and that could be a hundred miles away You know depending on where you are in the region So God had to provide other places throughout the land that would be close enough for somebody to flee to and get there before Somebody kills them because remember in those days if you murdered someone Then the revenger of blood as the Bible calls it could just kill you as soon as he finds you I mean that that's how swiftly justice was executed under the biblical law So that's why God says look if you kill somebody by accident You kill somebody in the heat of the moment and it wasn't premeditated You need to immediately flee to one of these Cities of refuge in order to get judgment and then they'll judge you and decide whether you legitimately belong there Or whether you did it premeditated Lee and presumptuously in which case you will be put to death, okay? So it says in chapter 19 verse 1 when the Lord thy God hath cut off the nations whose land the Lord thy God giveth thee and thou Succeedest them and dwellest in their cities and in their houses thou shalt separate Three cities for thee in the midst of thy land Which the Lord thy God giveth thee to possess it thou shalt prepare thee away and divide the coasts of thy land Which the Lord thy God giveth thee to inherit into three parts that every slayer May flee thither so the Bible is not using the word of murderer because this is not someone who commits premeditated murder This is someone who slays someone and the Bible uses the term also Manslaughter Manslayer we still use that to this day, but also second-degree murder is Under this canopy as well So it says the Slayer may flee thither and this is the case of the Slayer which shall flee the leather that he may live Who so killeth his neighbor ignorantly whom he hated not in time past so this is someone who kills someone by accident You know let's say you're driving the car And you accidentally run somebody over and kill him or let's say you know you get in a fistfight And you punch somebody and and you just think that you're punching them But you actually punched him a little too hard and kill it. I mean people have died from being punched my parents knew a guy who he was fighting with his brother on the front lawn and a police officer came and tried to pull them apart and one of them punched the police officer in the stomach and Then the policeman later died as a result of just being punched in the stomach because you know you just hit him in the In that certain spot it is possible to be killed by being punched in the stomach like Houdini died right So it says in Deuteronomy chapter 19 in verse number 5 It says as when a man goeth into the wood With his neighbor to hew wood and his hand fetches a stroke with the axe to cut down a tree and the head Slippeth from the health and lighteth upon his neighbor that he died he shall flee unto one of those cities and lives He's just giving examples of you know you're chopping wood and the axe head flies off and hits somebody in the head and they die You weren't trying to kill that person. That's not murder Lest he says he shall flee into one of those cities and live verse 6 lest the avenger of blood pursue the slayer while his heart is hot and Overtake him because the way is long and slam. He's saying you don't want the city of refuge to be really far away Because then the revenger of blood might just be so upset and so passionate And he's not even thinking straight about the fact that it was an accident He's just going to come and pursue you and get you and kill you before you can get there because it's a far-off place So he says I wanted to be close I wanted to be easy to get to that's why we're going to provide three of them in the nation of Israel now just to Give you an idea of the size of the nation of Israel when you're reading about the the the the old testament Nation you'll often see this phrase from Dan even to Beer Sheba Whenever they kind of want to talk about the whole land all the tribes they'll say from Dan to Beer Sheba because that's kind of a northern and a southern landmark and those two places are about 144 miles apart just to give you kind of a reference point about 144 miles Long and then obviously it's not as wide as it is long so that just gives you an idea we're not talking about a huge nation here not that big at all and Within that he said we're gonna put three of these cities of refuge to make it easy for you to get there It says you know we don't want the way to be long So it says in verse 7 wherefore I command thee saying thou shalt separate three cities for thee and if the Lord thy God Enlarge thy coast as he hath sworn unto thy fathers and give thee all the land which he promised to give unto thy fathers if thou Shout keep all these commandments to do them which I command thee this day to love the Lord thy God and walk ever in his Ways then thou shalt add three cities more for thee beside these three say let's have six of them Just to make sure that it's easy for somebody to get there And he says let's have another additional Three why verse 10 tells us why that innocent blood be not shed in thy land Which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance and so blood be upon the what's he saying if people who commit Manslaughter or second-degree murder are put to death then that would be the shedding of innocent blood Because those people do not deserve to die for their crime And he says we need to have these cities of refuge close enough to get to so that that innocent blood is not shed But verse 11 if any man hate his neighbor and lie and wait for him and rise up against him and smite him mortally that He died and fleeth into one of those cities Then the elders of his city shall send and fetch him thence and deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood that he May die thine eye shall not pity him But thou shalt put away the guilt of innocent blood from Israel that it may go well with thee He's saying don't feel sorry for the guy don't pity the guy If someone commits premeditated murder they have to be put to death because if you don't put them to death Then you're not taking away the innocent blood there There's going to be a curse on the people for not executing judgment and justice Now flip back with all that in mind to second Samuel chapter number 14 Second Samuel chapter 14 now that we understand that we see that according to the story that this lady's telling This guy does not deserve to be put to death at all because they're out in the field There's no one to part them they get in a fight He hits him and he dies, but it was not something that was a planned premeditated thing that was done with guile So putting this guy to death would be shedding innocent blood. Okay, so let's keep reading here It says in verse number eight and the king said unto the woman go to thine house that I will give charge Concerning thee now in verse eight there. It doesn't sound like he's giving her a clear answer one way or the other He says go ahead and go home and I'll pass judgment on this. I'll give charge concerning thee You know you could take that as he's gonna do it. He's gonna protect her He's gonna give charge concerning her so that they don't but it's not really a clear enough answer to her because here's what she says in the next verse and The woman of Tekoa said unto the king my lord o king the iniquity be on me and on my father's house and the king And his throne be guiltless. So she's saying look if you're concerned about that curse of an unresolved murder And that innocent blood, you know Let that curse be upon me. It's not gonna be on you. It's gonna be on me I'm taking responsibility here And then she and then the king says in verse 10 Whosoever sayeth odd unto thee bring him to me and he shall not touch thee anymore So here he gives her an unequivocal answer of I'm gonna make sure that nothing happens this to this kid You know, I'm gonna make sure that nobody messes with him or you Says in verse 11 then said she I pray thee let the king remember the Lord thy God that thou wouldest not suffer The revengers of blood to destroy any more lest they destroy my son and he said as the Lord liveth There shall not one hair of thy son fall to the earth so he keeps getting stronger in his assurances to this woman as She pleads with him. It says in verse 12 then the woman said let thine handmaid I pray thee speak one word unto my lord the king and he said say on and the woman said wherefore then has thou thought such a thing against the people of God for the king doth speak this thing is One which is faulty in that the king did not fetch home again his banished For we must needs die in her as water spilt on the ground which cannot be gathered up again Neither does God respect any person yet that he devised means that has banished be not expelled from him now It's interesting that she says this about God So she ties in the illustration with God and says that God does not respect any person Yet that he devised means that is banished be not expelled from now That's very true that God does not respect any man's person the Bible tells us in Romans chapter 2 That God does not respect any man's person. He says it this way. There's no respect of persons with God Now whenever someone's talking in the Bible, we don't always know if what they're saying is true or not We have to compare scripture with scripture just because a woman cut now First of all, we know that some of the stuff this woman saying isn't true because the story is a made-up story Joe Abb put all these words into her mouth. So let me just make it clear here She doesn't have a son who killed the other son the whole story is made up, you know And here I am spending all this time explaining to you, you know exactly how it should have been handled Even though it didn't even happen she's just telling the story to make a point and to get David in a certain merciful frame of mind and Then to bring up the situation with Absalom that was the whole point here So whenever you hear someone in the Bible make any kind of a statement that's doctrinal You always have to check it with scripture and make sure that it's right Because there are a lot of people in the Bible who say a lot of false things like for example What about when Mary said to Jesus thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing. Was that really true? No, because Jesus corrects her in the next verse He says how is it that you sought me wish she not that I must be about my father's business That was his father. Joseph was not his father. So when Mary called Joseph Jesus father, she was incorrect So it's funny. Sometimes people will base doctrinal points on Statements in the Bible that are not made by God or that were not made by the Holy Spirit or that were not made by Jesus but just because someone in the Bible said something I mean even the devil speaks in the Bible and the Bible says there's no truth in him So one of the most important things to remember when you're studying the Bible is to see. Okay, who's talking here? if the narrator of the Bible is talking we know it's absolute truth if God is talking if the Lord is speaking if Jesus being or if the Bible tells us You know that the Spirit of the Lord came upon someone and he spake by the Holy Ghost or you know Wording like that then obviously we know that that's coming from the Lord through the Holy Spirit But when we're just reading and it says and Mary said and Joab said and Absalom said and David said, you know Those things must be compared with Scripture and taken with a grain of salt So when I see this profound statement that this wise woman says Neither does God respect any person, you know I can reference that with Scripture and see many verses that say that God does not Respect any man's person that that is true what she said and then the next thing she says is that God Does devise means that his banished be not expelled from him now What did she mean by that when she said well God? devises means Whereby his banished will not be expelled from I believe she's clearly talking about salvation there Because those that are banished would be like those from whom Jesus will you know will he'll say to them depart from me I mean, isn't that like a banishment of saying depart from me. I never knew you Okay, so when she says here that he devises means that that his banished will not be expelled from him basically, what that's talking about is that we are all guilty before God and We would be banished from the presence of the Lord if We were to get what we deserve as sinners because we've all sinned and come short of the glory of God yet God devises means whereby his banished will not be expelled from him. That's why the Bible says that Jesus is the author and Finisher of our faith that's him devising the means being the author of eternal Salvation to all them that obey him the Bible says and so Jesus Christ is the author and the one who has designed our Salvation, okay, that is by grace through faith You see God is not a respecter of persons But he devises means whereby his banished will not be expelled from now that means whereby People would not be expelled or banished from him That means is not based on Who we are because if so, then that would be God respecting persons What does it mean when it says God's not a respecter of persons? It's saying that God is not impressed by what you do or who you are. God doesn't say well You know, I would have sent you to hell for what you did But because you're such a great guy or because you're such an important person I'm gonna make an exception for you. See that would be God being a respecter of persons Go to Romans chapter 2 keep your finger here in 2nd Samuel Of course Romans is a great book on salvation there's so much doctrine in the book of Romans about how we've all sinned and about how salvation is is by grace through faith that were justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus and Roman chapter 2 is a chapter where he's explaining How everyone is guilty before God in chapters 1 & 2 those are the themes and then in chapter 3 begins to explain salvation by Faith and by grace and he continues that in chapters 4 5 & 6 But if you look at chapter 2 there where we have the statement in verse 11 For there is no respect of persons with God in verse 11 But look at verse 12 for as many as have sinned without law Shall also perish without law and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged By the law for not the hearers of the law are just before God But the doers of the law shall be justified for when the Gentiles which have not the law Do by nature the things contained in the law these having not the law are a law unto themselves Which show the work of the law written in their hearts their conscience also bearing witness and their thoughts the meanwhile Accusing or else excusing one another in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ Now jump down if you would to verse 17 says behold thou art called a Jew and restest in the law and makest I boast of God and Knowest his will and approve us the things that are more excellent being instructed out of the law and are confident that thou thyself Are to guide of the blind a light of them which are in darkness an instructor of the foolish a teacher of babes Which has the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law thou therefore which teaches to another teaches thou not thyself Thou that preaches to man should not steal does thou steal Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery does thou commit adultery thou that a porous idols does thou commit sacrilege Thou that makest thy boast of the law through breaking the law dishonor is thou God for the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles Through you as it is written for circumcision verily profiteth if thou keep the law But if thou be a breaker of the law thy circumcision is made uncircumcision Therefore if the uncircumcision keep the righteousness of the law shall not as uncircumcision be counted for circumcision and shall not uncircumcision which is by nature if it fulfill the law judge thee who by the letter and Circumcision doth transgress the law. What's the point that he's making here going on and on about this? He's saying look it doesn't matter if you're a Jew or a Gentile because there's no respect of persons with God and it doesn't matter if you keep part of the law and Then break the other part you've still broken the other part and there's no respect of persons with God So God's not gonna look at you and say well you kept the part about circumcision So I'm gonna overlook the fact that you're stealing or you kept this other but you you know, you instructed the foolish You're a teacher of babes You you went out and taught the Bible or whatever and taught people to do right, but he said over here You're committing adultery or over here. You're committing sacrilege or worshiping isles. What is he saying? He's teaching here that in order to go to heaven on your own righteousness in order to be justified by your works You would have to keep the whole law. That's why the Bible says if any of you is circumcised He's a debtor to keep the whole law That's why the Bible says that whosoever shall keep the whole law and yet offended one point. He's guilty of all so in Romans 2 He's saying, you know theoretically if you lived a perfect life and kept all the works you'd be justified by that But then he explains how it's impossible in chapter 3 and he says for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God so we all Have sinned it doesn't matter whether we're Jew or Gentile It doesn't matter how important we are how many good works we've done how much Bible we've taught I mean there are gonna be people who stand before Jesus and say Lord we've prophesied in thy name In thy name we've cast out devils and in thy name done many wonderful works and then will I profess unto them I never knew you Depart from me that work iniquity. See those are people that are trusting in their works They're saying before Jesus saying look what we've done. We've preached. We've done works. I never do you Because we're not saved by works. We're saved by grace through faith You see if you're gonna be saved it has to be on God's terms not your turn You don't make your own way of salvation, you know, it's not like in marching to Zion You know when when Rabbi Abram, he says, you know you do what is right and you save yourself at every moment You save yourself at every moment by doing what is right No, no, that's not how you get saved you get saved one time not every moment He didn't say you must be born again and again and again and again and again and again You have to be born again It's a one-time deal when you get saved by believing in Jesus Christ salvation is by grace through faith Not of works and God is not a respecter of persons Look when Abel did great works and offered them unto the Lord it says God did not have respect unto Abel's offering Why he's not a respecter of persons he wants what he has devised as the means for bringing his expelled back and and and Bringing those that are banished by sin. They have to come on God's terms. He devises the means Whereby he brings his banished again. He's not a respecter of persons. You cannot work your way to heaven You cannot do good deeds to get to heaven now What did God devise in the Old Testament to basically save these people? Who had been a slayer? How did he devise the means to save them? Well by creating these cities of refuge and basically the Manslayer could flee to that city of refuge, right? And if he could get to that city of refuge, he would receive grace He would receive mercy and that is a picture of salvation Okay Now one thing that's interesting about the city of refuge is that God said I want it to be easy to get to So think about this. Does God want salvation to be easy or hard? And it's amazing how people will try to make salvation hard today false teachers and false prophets will make it difficult now Let me say this if you had to work your way to heaven. It would be hard. I would phrase that it would be impossible But a lot of people want to make it hard and in fact these modern versions of the Bible What I would call perversions of the Bible They will change scripture to make salvation hard for example in the King James Bible It says that it's it's hard for them that trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God Whereas in the new versions the New King James even the NIV they'll just change it to well It's just hard to enter the kingdom of heaven They'll leave out the part where it said it's hard for them that trust in riches Mark 10 24 and then another place Where they'll make salvation hard is in Matthew 7 when the discussion is about the fact that few people are saved He says enter you in at the straight gate For broad is the way and wide is the gate that leadeth to destruction and many there be which go in there at Because straight is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life and few there be to find it Straight there is spelled S T R A I T It's not GHT because this does not mean something that's not crooked Straight means narrow like the Straits of Gibraltar for example is that narrow passageway between Spain and Morocco That is what it means and when he says straight is the gate and narrow is the way he's restating the same thing They're two different ways. Just like he says broad and wide isn't that a restatement of the same thing broad wide Straight narrow those are synonyms and it matches, but what they'll do in the modern versions of the Bible is they'll change that to Narrow is the gate and difficult is the way Now that's a completely different meaning because that which is narrow or straight has to do with the fact hey It's a narrow way There are few that be saved and in fact that question was asked to Jesus point-blank in the book of Luke Are there few that be saved he said strive to enter in at the straight gate Because yes, the answer is yes few are saved the majority of people in this world are not safe the majority of this people in This world don't even claim the name of Jesus Christ Only only about one-third of the people in the world even claim to believe in Jesus And we know that a great number of those who claim to believe in Jesus are actually trusting in their own deeds They're trusting in their own works, or they believe in another Jesus You know when you look at when you look at the Jesus of Mormonism for example It's a very different Jesus you know and all you know we could go through all the different false You know religions that that would fall under the canopy of Christianity in some people's minds, but the bottom line is That the new versions are changing scripture when they say salvation is hard Salvation is difficult. That's not true in fact salvation is easy and people will often attack Me or attack our church and really attack any gospel preaching man who actually makes salvation free and This is what they call it easy believe ism. I heard that term before He are you're one of those easy believe ism. Amen. Yes. I am easy. I believe in easy believe ism You know whatever people throw these these these terms at you to try to attack you usually I just end up embracing The terms it's funny because the negative terms that have been hurled at us as God's people throughout history We've worn them as a badge if you think about it because look Christian even Christian was something they were called by others They were called Christians first in Antioch and of course now we embrace that As a great label, or you know people that were called Anabaptist You know and then they just embrace that label re you know re baptizer Because they're baptizing people again because that little sprinkling as a baby was not recognized by them You know what the cat you know the Catholic style baptism. You know versus a real Baptism the only kind of baptism which is baptism by immersion and let me just let me just come right out and say this Any any preacher who doesn't believe in baptism by immersion? I would say that they're probably not saved I would just immediately because how can you read the Bible and Walk away thinking that salvation is by anything other than by immersion I mean to me to be that you'd have to be unsaved to be that blind To just do this weird Catholic sprinkling pouring or whatever and it always cracks me up You know these Jesus movies that that you know they put out different Jesus movies. You know they they always want to please everybody So that you know they don't want to show John Duncan M And they don't really want to show John sprinkling M. So I remember one time. I was a kid I was watching this Jesus movie and John did everything he goes to John in this Jesus movie He goes to John you know John always just has like a fro. I mean what is up and Peter? You know all of Jesus disciples look look fairly normal, but then Peter's always is like wow you know and then John the Baptist is like You know huge hairdo so anyway in this movie Jesus goes to John the Baptist be baptized and John basically Sprinkles him then pours because you know some religions do pouring some do spring He sprinkles pours and then dunks him. I mean just cover all the bases just please everybody okay Then there's this other one That's that's real famous called the Jesus film who's ever heard of this one And it's one where they they were trying to put it into every language on the planet the Jesus film and and basically in this one Okay, Jesus goes to John the Baptist and this is Jesus being baptized by John the Baptist quote-unquote He walks up to him and gets on his knees and just like bows down underwater Before John the Baptist and John the Baptist is standing there going like literally with this look on stage and Jesus just walks up to him I Mean Joseph Smith style baptizing himself and And forward-facing you know I mean, it's just the garbage that's out there You know what we don't need a movie about Jesus. We need a book about Jesus the Bible You know faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God and of course everything about the movie Jesus is walking around in a summer dress. You know he's got long hair He looks girly, and you know he's baptizing himself Face forward he's bowing down to John the Baptist. I mean what you know what's that about? But there's so much garbage out there What in the world does this have to do with anything about second Samuel 14 can somebody help me figure out? How did I get off on that come on help me out folks help me land the plane Yeah, God divides the way of salvation he divides the way he divides the way of baptism is by immersion Okay, I'm we're getting warmer So let's see here man, I sometimes these These rabbit trails just go way way far away from the the actual subject of the sermon Yeah, we were in we were in Romans 2. That's right. That's true So God divides the me oh yeah, yeah, right, okay? The labels the labels that the world tries to put on us. You know remember Christian Anabaptist that's how we got off on baptism. You know and then they'll then they'll throw at us You know easy believism or armor or you know this this TV reporters like you know you're a religious zealot And I said yep, that's right. I'm a religious zealot. Why would anyone not want to be called zealous for the things of God? I mean, that's a cop. I mean if somebody said you're very zealous You know well good. I want to be like that disciple. That was called Simon's elotes right Simon the zealot Great, we're zealous and then and I saw my to design your replacement theology Yeah, replacement theology of course the Christ rejecting Jews have been replaced by the Christians I Love that term amen replace Perfect you know the the physical nation has been replaced by the spiritual nation Okay, but they throw all these things at you, but they'll say ah you believe in easy believe ism Here's another thing they'll say cheap grace and whenever somebody says that to me who's heard that one cheap grace Yeah, look at all the hands. Here's what I always say to that one. It's not cheap. It's free Just lower the price just a little bit Because it's not cheap. You know what's cheap grace salvation by works is cheap grace You know when you teach oh you have to turn from your sins to be saved Then you have to you know you got to live a good life Or you have to join this earth that's cheap because your righteousness as the Bible says or as a filthy rag And so if you're saved by a filthy rag that's pretty cheap If that filthy rag is gonna get you to heaven that's cheap grace You know what's not cheap the blood of Jesus because the blood of Jesus is more precious than a Oh precious is the flow That cleanses white as snow no other fount I know nothing but the blood of Jesus that is the most valuable commodity in the universe and Anyone who would call that cheap is Blaspheming God because the blood of Jesus is priceless, and that is what saves us see if it's free. It's not cheap see if I gave you my car, and I said here, I'm gonna give you my car as a gift and And you said here. Here's 50 bucks for it. That'd be pretty cheap for a car right 50 bucks But what if I gave you a car, and I said it's free would you call that cheap? No, you'd say oh, that's a big gift. That's a valuable gift That's an expensive gift see you only cheapen it when you try to pay for it with a small amount of money That's when you cheapen it And that's how you cheapen salvation is when you try to pay for it with your filthy rags of your works That's cheap grace. No I believe in easy Believism why is it easy? You know why it's easy because God wants people to be saved He's not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance, so he's not trying to make it hard Okay, he wants to make it available and and free to all so that whosoever will may take the water of life Freely said it's free the water of life is free to all those who believe it's a free gift now look What does that symbolize when he takes these six cities of refuge and puts them there? He says I want it to be easy for you to be saved Look you're guilty you've committed this crime. You know you got in a fight you hit somebody You didn't mean to or you were negligent with your with your car or with your axe head or whatever Whatever the case may be you hurt somebody and now I don't want you to perish for that I don't want you to die for that I want to devise some means whereby you might be saved so you have to flee to the city of refuge But let me make it easy for you, and he said I don't want it to be far And what does it say in Romans 10? The word is neither It's near unto you. He says Even in thy mouth and in thy heart that is the word of faith Which we preach he says salvation is near to you the word of God is near to you Salvation is easy. It's available. It's not far off It's right there where you don't have to travel to some distant place to get it. No. It's right local to you It's near you That's what the city of refuge symbolizes and it's on God's terms that were saved and God made it easy For us he did the hard part by living a sinless life He did the hard part by dying on the cross, okay? He did the hard part rising in from that all we have to do is just receive that finished I mean how is it to receive a gift? How hard is it to take a drink of water? How hard is it to open a door and walk through it how hard is it to take a bite of a piece of bread? And these are all the things That the Bible compares salvation to all these easy things. He said it's like the faith of a little child You know well how hard could it be if a little child can do it? So let's go back to 2nd Samuel chapter 14 now that we've justified that long rabbit trail Let's go back to 2nd Samuel chapter 14 and finish the chapter here God does devise means that his banished be not expelled from him verse 15 now therefore That I am come to speak of this thing unto my lord the king it is because the people have made me afraid and thy Handmaid said I will now speak unto the king It may be that the king will perform the request of his handmaid For the king will hear to deliver his handmaid out of the hand of the man that would destroy me and my son together out of the inheritance of God Then thine handmaid said the word of my lord the king shall now be comfortable For as an angel of God so is my lord the king to discern good and bad Therefore the Lord thy God will be with thee then the king answered and said unto the woman hide not from me I pray thee the thing that I shall ask thee and the woman said let my lord the king now speak and the king said Is not the hand of Joab with thee in all this and the woman answered and said as thy soul liveth my lord the king None can turn to the right hand or to the left from aught that my lord the king has spoken That was a really long way of saying yes So is Joab with you on this and then she gave the really long yes answer for this for thy servant Joab He bade me and he put all these words in the mouth of thine handmaid to fetch about this form of speech at thy servant Joab done this thing and my lord is wise according to the wisdom of an angel of God to know all things that are in the earth and The king said unto Joab behold now I have done this thing Go therefore bring the young man Absalom again and Joab fell to the ground on his face and bowed himself and thanked the king and Joab said today thy servant know it that I found grace in thy sight my lord o king and that the king had fulfilled The request of his servant so Joab arose and went to Geshur and brought Absalom to Jerusalem and the king said Let him turn to his own house and let him not see my face So Absalom returned to his own house and saw not The king says now the whole point was that he was supposed to bring him back from being banished and you know They're gonna be reunited and things are gonna be great, but he says well, let's bring him back to Israel But he says, you know, I don't want to see him. I Don't want to see his face. Just let him go to his own house And I don't want to see his face, you know Which is kind of odd because you remember his heart's yearning for his son But for some reason he's just not comfortable, you know seeing his son. He's just not ready to see him So it says in verse 25 But in all Israel there was none to be so much praised as Absalom for his beauty From the sole of his foot even to the crown of his head. There was no blemish in him and when he pulled his head For it was at every year's end that he pulled it because the hair was heavy on him therefore he pulled it He weighed the hair of his head at 200 shekels after the king's weight So we always think of Absalom as being one who has long hair, right? But he did get a haircut once a year whether he needed it or not So if you met him if you met him at the right time of year, he was a clean-cut guy Okay, because when it says pulled when it talks about pulling your head This is talking about cutting your hair short cutting it not bald Because remember the Bible said in Ezekiel they did not want the priests to shave their heads completely bald He said they're not supposed to suffer the locks of their head to grow long and he said they're not supposed to be completely bald But they're supposed to pull their heads. Okay, and it just means to trim it short but not to cut it all off So he did get a short haircut once a year But his hair just grew so quickly that by the end of the year He would have very long hair and then he would cut it every year and weigh it You know, I mean, I always weigh my hair after every haircut But yeah, he's just weighing it obviously because it's so much He wants to I guess brag about it or he thinks it's cool how much it weighs So, you know, he cuts it off and then weighs it and it weighs this huge amount So he did have very long hair, you know certain times of the of the year So it says he weighed the hair of his head and so on verse 27 and unto Absalom were born three sons And one daughter whose name was Tamar. So he names it after the sister that was defiled This was a big deal to him and it says she was a woman of a fair countenance So Absalom dwelt two full years in Jerusalem and saw not the king's face Therefore Absalom sent for Joab to have him sent to have sent him to the king But he would not come to him and when he sent again the second time he would not come Therefore he said unto his servants see Joab's field is near mine and he hath barley there go and set it on fire Now this is where we begin to see the evil side of Absalom begin to come out because up until this point in the story I mean, I totally sympathize with Absalom. You can see where he's coming from You know, you can see him as the victim of the story But here at this point is where we see that turn of him becoming Evil vindictive vengeful because look Joab is the guy who even got him brought back to Israel in the first place This is his friend. This is someone who's helpful to him and Joab has already pleaded before the king for him and The king has made it clear to Joab. I don't want to see Absalom. I don't want to see his face Just let him go to his house. I don't want to see him and So Absalom keeps sending for Joab saying hey, you need to go talk to David so I can go see him and Joab's like No, I'm not gonna do it and Joab's just not listening refusing to hear him And he calls him the first time calls him the second time he will not come so he tells his servants go set his field on fire because he basically he's not returning my calls I Keep calling him and leaving voicemails, and I'm not getting a call back go set his field on fire now Look, I never return hardly anybody's phone call So I hope I hope nobody sets my barley field on fire because you know people are constantly I keep emailing you I keep you know I you know I just wish people would just look at my voicemail and Look at my email, and I show them. There's thousands of messages Thousands of voicemails thousands of you know I can't just I can't just put on a headset and be in like a call center all day Faithful we're Baptist Church. You know pastor Anderson speaking. What's your emergency? You know and so there are times I mean I and here's the thing a lot of people do have legitimate reasons for calling me I wish I could answer them and I do try I do try to at least filter through the emails And you know I try to kind of filter through all the you're a disgusting human being You're the Taliban. You're evil. You're isis. You know you're for genocide You're you know you hate homos, and you this and you know bleep you I try to you know get through all those and then get through all the people who are telling me I'm afraid I'm the antichrist I'm one of the two witnesses. I'm moses. I'm elijah. I was abducted by aliens You know I I want to I want to talk to you on the phone about your revelation series You know about it I want to go through verse by verse revelation over the phone with you and just just kind of fine-tune my understanding of it I mean, it's just so many phone calls so many emails. You know that. I just can't get back to them all and You know somebody's going to burn my barley field one of these days to try to get my attention But it's just you know it's stupid though To get mad at somebody for not returning your call or returning your text or returning your email Because you know sometimes people are just busy, and you know what who should I neglect you or my family? Who should I neglect you or the bible? You or prayer you or preaching you or soul winning you know what I mean and by the way who should I neglect my? church members that actually physically come to the church or People who I've never met in a distant state in a different kind you know I mean the obviously I have to get priority With my time and with my affection to the people that are here the local flock here That's the actual church that I'm the pastor of you know I have to give priority to those phone calls and to those emails And things like that that that's where my priorities have always been But see here's this guy. Oh, you're not gonna. You're not gonna return my text message You're not gonna, and by the way sometimes when people don't return your text message Maybe they didn't get the text or didn't get the message because you know a lot of times People swear that they emailed me texted me called me, and then it's like I don't have that it's not in my phone It isn't there. You know you have to show it to them like you deleted it not but honestly there, you know You can't just sit there and start burning barley fields Because somebody didn't like your post on Facebook Or you message them, and they didn't get back to you, so it's like I'm gonna light your field on fire I'm gonna get your attention you know But that's what people do and here's a good rule of thumb don't ever get mad at people for what they didn't do I Mean if you're gonna get listen to me now if you're gonna get mad at somebody get mad at them for what they did Not what they didn't do he didn't shake my hand She didn't say hi to me. She didn't wish me a happy birthday She didn't return my call return my text I know that she saw my message because a little checkmark came up, and it said seen at 3.53 p.m. You know on April the 14th, and I know That she saw it and did not get back with me But like you don't know what was going on and you don't know if that's a glitch and there are glitches out there Where text messages don't get and you know what else happens? I mean I I got real mad at Paul the other day because I got a text message from him Like it was days later It was about something from days before and I got that text message days later, so I misinterpreted it And I'm like man. I can't believe what is Paul doing you know you know and I'm like Paul What's going on? I didn't send you that that was days ago because sometimes you'll send a text message and then like four days later It arrives Okay, in fact my wife. It was so funny my wife sent me a text message The other day, and it was she was it was it was like a loving text message saying something about you know How much she loves me or how great? I am or something like that she was saying me a nice text message the kind of text message husband and wives that love Each other send back and forth and so you know she sent me this text message, and then literally 20 minutes later I Get a text message for that says no actually I don't Why what but what it was was that it was it was one she had literally texted me that no actually I don't like the Yesterday it was like the day before About something totally unrelated because I was running and I asked her you know hey Can you put a ginger ale on the front porch for me so I can just run by and grab it and then she says Oh, okay, I'm gonna get you a call. You know cuz I said to get it from a certain place She's like no no no actually I'm gonna get you a cold I have a cold one for you in the fridge, and then she went to right back. No actually sorry actually I don't But I literally I showed her my phone where it said like oh, I love you so much It's like no actually I don't I Wonder how many relationships have been destroyed? How many friendships have been to suck yeah? So that's why we can't just be so touchy and where our feelings are asleep, and we should never Become enraged about something that people don't do at least if you're gonna get mad about something Let it be something that was actually done You know a sin of commission not a sin of omission and so what do we see here? He calls and doesn't get an answer. He calls a second time. It doesn't get an answer light the field on fire You know so then all of a sudden look what the Bible says here It says in verse 31 then Joab arose and came to Absalom unto his house and set it up wherefore why have thy servants set my field on fire and Absalom answered Joab because I texted you and yeah, that's what it says in the modern versions You know are they modernizing the Living Bible because thou has not liked my facebook post This Absalom answered Joab behold I sent unto thee saying come hither That I may send thee to the king to say wherefore am I come from Gishur it had been better for me to have been There still now therefore let me see the king's face, and if there be any iniquity in me Let him kill me look at the bad attitude just disrespectful to his father bad attitude rebellious Biting the hand that feeds him Okay, now the Bible warns us not and I'll close with this thought because next week We're going to get the whole rebellion of Absalom and all that and what he's going to do the in his vindictive way Because he becomes very evil, and he does very wicked things in the next chapter But what we see here is what the Bible warns about a root of bitterness That will trouble us okay, and that's why the Bible warns us don't let the sun go down upon your wrath And that's why the Bible warns us to forgive others and to For Christ's sake as as Jesus Christ has forgiven us we need to forgive when I said be kind one to another Tender-Hearted forgiving one another even as God for Christ's sake had forgiven you and you know it amazes me How someone can sometimes call themselves a Christian and then make statements like well? I just can't forgive him you know about their brother or sister in Christ. Have you heard people say this I mean or about their spouse I? Just can't forgive her. I just cannot forgive him. I just will not forgive I just cannot move on you know what that is a wicked thing to say because the Bible and there's a great story It's one of my favorite chapters the part about Where the the lord of the servant forgives him of the debt a huge debt And then he goes out and takes his fellow servant by the throat and says pay me that thou always and the Bible tells us That if we do not forgive everyone his brother from their heart He says that God will do the same to us. He will torment us He will punish us and it's so Important that we forgive and just remember that if you're going to make these kind of statements about your brother and sister in Christ And remember it says a brother and sister in Christ if you're to make that kind of a statement well I'm just can't forgive him. I just will not forgive them or her Then you know what just be prepared for God to punish you and torment you because that is what he has said he will do God has put a serious curse on those who refuse to forgive their brothers and sisters in Christ And so we need to keep that in our mind And you know what if you want to get a lot of grace from the Lord and you want God to go easy on you When you sin, and you then the Bible makes it clear We have to forgive one another as we forgive our debtors is how God's gonna forgive our debts And so if you want God to cloud up and rain on you every time you commit a little sin To just come down on you like a ton of bricks and chastise you and chasing you then just be an unforgiving person And that's a that's how that's gonna happen And if you want God to go easy on you when you mess up because we all mess up If you want God to go easy on you then you have to be and it says to forgive them from your heart If you forgive not from your heart Every man his brother there trespasses that means that it's real not just well. I forgive you I forget I forgive her but Doesn't mean that I am you know doesn't mean that I'm gonna treat her good at church when I see her you know I Forgive her, but you know I'm still mad Still gonna pay her back. You know or him But we need to be a forgiving person as a Christian That's an attribute that we need to have and you know what we see Absalom I don't think that he started out as a bad guy at all But what happened he got real bitter not even against Amnon the one who is the guilty party, but he got really bitter at his dad David and this bitterness just festers and Years go by I mean here first. It was years before he killed Amnon, then he's over in exile for years then he's in Jerusalem for two years, and you can just feel just the bitterness and You know and it's just gonna get worse And it's going to consume him and destroy him and destroy everyone around him. That's the lesson here We need to learn to not be like Absalom is number one get a haircut more than once a year and number two You know every three weeks or four weeks would be nice, but number two You know we need to be a forgiving person that doesn't just and I can see where he's coming from on meeting out justice on Amnon, but to sit there and just years later be all angry at your dad And I mean that that's that's a wicked thing and so let me just challenge you That if there's any bitterness in your heart tonight toward any person You know if any brother or sister in this church or outside this church or our family or whatever your spouse You know you need to get rid of that from your heart tonight, and you need to say you know I'm not going to be like Absalom. I'm going to be merciful I'm going to be forgiving and you know what when you forgive you need to forgive and forget Okay, and and I mean literally Forget it, and you know what it's possible to forget things if you know how you forgive and forget You just stop thinking about it, and if you stop thinking about things you'll forget about them I mean it, but it's you know what makes you not forget when you keep revisiting it Keep keep talking to people about it, and then keep thinking about it and just otherwise You'll just forget about it because our minds are programmed to forget stuff It's only when you make a point to just keep thinking about keep thinking about look let it go You have done bad things in your life, so you don't have to sit there and just you know Take every bit of bitterness with you to the grave when other people don't let that goal of bitterness Springing up trouble you and thereby many be defiled. Let's buy rides and have a word of prayer father We thank you for this chapter Lord, and we thank you that you have devised means Whereby you're banished would be brought home to you again Lord, and of course that means is through the blood of Jesus Christ Thank you for salvation Lord and Lord Thank you for the forgiveness that we have in Christ help us to extend that forgiveness Lord and Help us not to get that gall and bitterness inside of us that will that will consume us and the people around us Lord Help us to forgive others as we've been forgiven by you and in Jesus name we pray amen