(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

The title of my sermon this morning is The Persistence Predator. The Persistence Predator. And in my sermon this morning, I'm going to focus on the life of Absalom, because he's a great example of a persistence predator in the Bible. There are other examples that we might touch on a little bit, but I'm going to focus mainly on Absalom. What does it mean to be a predator? Well, when we think of a predator, we think of a type of animal, right, that preys upon and devours other beasts. And predators also might remind us of the devil himself, when the Bible says, be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour. Well, there are people out there in this world, the devil's minions, and they themselves are predators, meaning that they seek to devour, to destroy, to harm, to hurt other people. They will do much damage. But there are more than one type of predator. There is the power predator, and then there is the persistence predator. Now what do I mean by that? Well, in this story, in 2 Samuel chapter 13, we have an example of a power predator, right, Amnon. I mean, here's a guy who just overpowers somebody, just right there in a moment, and he ends up committing this horrible act of raping Tamar, and he just does it by forcibly overpowering her, right? Now that's one type of predator. He was a predator, right? But then there are other types of predators, like Absalom, that are a persistence predator. Now out in the wild, there are animals that would just come upon a beast like a lion and just immediately overpower it and rip it apart. But then there would be other predators that would actually pray by persistence, meaning that they would slowly chase the animal for hours and hours and hours and wear it down and then find that opportunity, patiently wait for the perfect time to come in for the kill. And that's what we're going to talk about in the sermon this morning, the persistence predator. That's what Absalom was. And Absalom ends up doing a lot of damage, even more damage than Amnon, as wicked and filthy as he was. And when we stop and think about the world that we live in, there are a lot more persistence predators in this world than there are power predators. It's not that often that people are just assaulted and just overpowered. It's much more often a thing of people slowly being victimized and preyed upon and sucked in and conned and destroyed by wicked people. Number one this morning about the persistence predator. Number one is that the persistence predator often starts out as a victim themselves. That's often how they become so hardened and wicked and evil is that they start out by being a victim themselves. And that's the case with Absalom. The first time we're introduced to Absalom in the Bible is in verse 1 of chapter 13. And it says, it came to pass after this, that Absalom, so it was the first person mentioned in this chapter, Absalom. Even though the story is not about Absalom until later, he's brought up right away as being the focus. And it came to pass that after this that Absalom, the son of David, had a fair sister whose name was Tamar and Amnon, the son of David, loved her. So Tamar, who is abused by Amnon, it's brought up right away. This is Absalom's sister, making him the victim as well, right? Because someone that he loves is being hurt, is being harmed. Look at verse number 19. It says in Tamar, we already read the story about what happened to Tamar, but it says in Tamar put ashes on her head and rent her garment of diverse colors that was on her and laid her hand on her head and went on crying. And Absalom her brother said unto her, hath Amnon thy brother been with thee? But hold now thy peace, my sister, he is thy brother, regard not this thing. So Tamar remained desolate in her brother Absalom's house. But when David heard of all these things, he was very wroth. And Absalom spake unto his brother Amnon, neither good nor bad, for Absalom hated Amnon because he had forced his sister Tamar. So in the beginning here, we're not introduced to Absalom as being a bad guy, we're introduced to Absalom as being a victim here. His sister is abused by this wicked half-brother Amnon. He takes her in, he comforts her, he helps her out. So we start out by seeing him as the victim, not as the bad guy, right? So number one, we need to understand that persistence predators, they often start out as victims themselves and this does not justify their later actions. See a lot of people today, they would have us feel sorry for horrible predators and rapists and serial killers and abusers and say, oh well, you know, it's not their fault because they were victimized themselves. That is not an excuse for their later actions. You see, when something bad happens to us or someone that we love, there's a right way to handle it and there's a wrong way to handle it. And there's no excuse for the predator today. The predator is wicked and inexcusable, I don't care what happened to him when he was a kid, I don't care what kind of a childhood or what kind of a school year he had, there's no excuse for the predator. The Bible doesn't excuse this predator, Absalom, just because he started out as a victim himself. You see, when he saw this wickedness take place, he should have realized that the Lord, the righteous judge, will punish and that vengeance belongs unto the Lord and that the Lord will repay. But instead, he became bitter in his heart and he ends up not just hurting the person who actually did the crime, which, if that was the only person that got hurt, then you could make a case for him, okay, you know, he's just trying to avenge righteously what happened to his sister. But oh no, Absalom ends up harming many, many people beyond that, he just becomes a horrible person in general. So number one, persistence predators often start out as victims themselves, but number two, persistence predators are not in a hurry. Hence the name, persistence predator. They're very patient. Now this is something that is emphasized over and over again in the story about Absalom, the time keeps coming up over and over again. Look down at verse number 23 of chapter 13, here's the first mention of time in the story. It says, and it came to pass after two full years that Absalom had sheep shearers and Baal Hazor, which is beside Ephraim, and Absalom invited all the king's sons. So notice he waits two full years to take revenge. Very patient. I mean, you know, you would think to yourself, well if something like that happened I'd want to take care of it right away. No, no, no, no, he's very patient. He waits two full years and then he ends up assassinating his brother Amnon. But number, and we're going to get more to the fact that they're not in a hurry because the time element keeps coming up over and over again in the story of Absalom. But let me move on to point three. Persistence predators involve other people with their sin. So number one, they start out as victims themselves many times. Number two, they're certainly not in a hurry. And number three, they involve other people in their sin. Look at chapter 13 verse 28. Now Absalom had commanded his servants saying, Mark ye now when Amnon's heart is merry with wine. I say unto you, smite Amnon, then kill him. Fear not. Have not I commanded you? Be courageous and be valiant. And the servants of Absalom did unto Amnon as Absalom had commanded. Then all the king's sons arose and every man gat him up upon his mule and fled. Now notice, persistence predators, they're cowards. They hide behind other people. They blame other people and they use other people to do their dirty work for them. I mean look, it's one guy. It's one guy that he wants dead, Amnon. Why didn't he just do it himself? I mean why doesn't Absalom just creep up on him, sneak up on him, lay and wait for him and just kill him himself? Notice he gets other people to do his dirty work. He hides behind other people. He wants to be able to blame other people. He's a coward. And notice what he tells them. Be courageous. Be valiant. It's like, well right back at you, buddy. Why don't you be courageous? Why don't you be valiant? Why don't you go do your own dirty work? No, no, that's not how persistence predators are. Why? The persistence predator is persistent because he wants a low risk for himself because he's a coward. See, the power predator has taken a big risk, right? The power predator who just, you know, some woman's jogging in the park and he just grabs her like Amnon did to tame her, right? I mean that's a big risk. There's a pretty good chance he's going to get arrested or go to prison. He's going to get caught. Somebody's going to beat him up. Somebody's going to kill him. I mean that's a big risk. But see the persistence predator, he likes the low risk, having somebody else do the dirty work in this situation or other ways and we'll get into it more in the sermon as we go here. But they're cowards. They like to hide behind other people, blame other people, use other people for their dirty work. So he has his servants kill Amnon for him. Look down at verse 38. So Absalom fled and went to Gishur and was there three years. So look, notice how much time is passing here. Two full years go by before he kills Amnon. Then three more years go by, right? Look at chapter 14 verse 1. Now Joab, the son of Zeruiah, perceived that the king's heart was toward Absalom. Verse 21. And the king said unto Joab, Behold now, I have done this thing. Go therefore and 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 knoweth that I found grace in thy sight, my lord O king, and that the king hath fulfilled the request of his servant. So Joab arose and went to Gishur and brought Absalom to Jerusalem. So let me just bring you up to speed in the story here. So Amnon defiles his sister Tamar. Absalom is angry. He plots revenge. He patiently waits two years. He has other people do the dirty work of assassinating Amnon. And he goes and flees into another country, right? So he's off in that other country for three years. Well Joab, who is one of David's men, he intercedes for Absalom trying to get David to bring Absalom back. You know, bring him back. Bring him back. David didn't want to bring him back. He kind of wanted to on one hand, but he didn't want to on the other hand. So Joab comes in and talks David into bringing him back. And you notice how Joab is just saying, oh, thank you so much. I'm so glad that you're willing to grant my request and bring him back. Everybody following the story? So this brings me to my fourth point, number four. Bad leaders expose other people to the persistence predator, but they protect themselves. OK. More leaders expose others to the persistence predator, only protecting themselves. Let's see that in the story. Verse 24. 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's face. 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's 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. I mean, I guess that's a reason to get a haircut, right? Your hair's just too heavy. Therefore he pulled it. He weighed the hair of his head at 200 shekels after the king's weight. And unto Absalom there were born three sons and one daughter whose name was Tamar. She was a woman of a fair countenance. So Absalom dwelt, here's the time element again, two full years in Jerusalem and saw not the king's face. So we see here that the bad leader, David in this case, who's being a bad leader throughout this story, is that he will be glad to expose other people to the persistence predator, all while shielding himself. He doesn't want to see Absalom's face. Absalom never sees his face. But notice how the whole rest of Israel is looking at this guy, thinks he's great, loves this guy, he's such a pretty boy, he's so beautiful, he's such a wonderful guy. And how will we apply this? Well what about pastors today who they know that there are predators at their church, they know about the child molesters or the pedophiles or the registered you-know-what offenders that are in their church and they don't mind having those people in their church, right? But they're not going to have it around their family. They wouldn't bring that into their own home. They're not going to have their kids go for the sleepover at that house. But they're fine having those kind of people in their church exposing other people to that danger. Why? Because they don't want to take a stand. I mean David is so wishy-washy in this story of just, well, you know, okay, I guess, well I don't want to see him though, but yeah, I guess we'll bring him back, you know. He's just, he's just going with the flow here. You know, a strong leader stands up and says, look, if there's somebody who's a predator, if there's somebody who's a registered offender, some pervert, some pedophile, some sodomite, they need to be out. They need to be gone. Why? Because it's not just about me protecting myself. Well, I know they're bad. Okay, does the visitor know they're bad? Does everybody know they're bad? Do all the children know they're bad? Do all the teenagers know they're bad? No, you know, you can't just bring in predators and say, well, they're not going to come to my house and I'm not going to see their face. Yeah, but you're exposing other people to the danger. Number five, helping or enabling the persistence predator gets you burned, gets you burned. Now who was the guy who interceded for Absalom and helped him out and brought him in and enabled him? What was his name? Joab. Joab, right? 2 Samuel 14 verse 29, therefore Absalom sent for Joab. Remember, this is like seven years in, a lot of years are going by. Therefore Absalom sent for Joab 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 sent him to his servant. See, Joab's field is near mine and he hath barley there. Go and set it on fire. And Absalom's servant set the field on fire. Whose field? Joab's field. Then Joab arose and came to Absalom unto his house and sent it to him. Wherefore have thy servant set my field on fire? What serves you right, you bleeding heart idiot? You're the bleeding heart predator enabler who brings this guy back who's a wicked person. He's a long haired, rebellious punk. He's a predator. He's got a wicked heart and you helped him. You enabled him. Now you're getting burned. You're getting burned. Let's review number one. Persistence predators, they often start out as victims themselves. Number two, they're not in a hurry. Number three, they involve other people with their sin. Number four, poor leaders will bring these people in or allow them to come in, but they'll just shield themselves and their family. And number five, if you help or enable the persistence predator, you're going to get burned. The Bible says in verse 32 of chapter 14, And 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, Geshur? It had been good 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. So Joab came to the king and told him. And when he had called for Absalom, he came to the king and bowed himself on his face to the ground before the king. And the king kissed Absalom. In Samuel 15, verse 1, And it came to pass after this, that Absalom prepared him chariots and horses and fifty men to run before him. Now notice, Absalom's followers, they don't run behind him, right? He gets together his fifty followers to run before him as human shields. And this brings us back to point 3, about how the persistence predator loves to use other people. He's a coward who will hide behind other people, blame others, use others to do his dirty work. So he gets fifty men to run before him. Number 6, persistence predators often use flattery or gifts to get you to let your guard down. They will use flattery or gifts to get you to let your guard down. Let's see this in the life of Absalom. Chapter 15, verse 2, And Absalom rose up early and stood beside the way of the gate. And it was so that when any man had a controversy, came to the king for judgment. Then Absalom called unto him and said, Of what city art thou? And he said, Thy servant is of one of the tribes of Israel. And Absalom said unto him, See, thy matters are good and right. But there's no man deputed of the king to hear thee. Now that's flattery. You know why that's flattery? Because every single person, what does he tell them? Your matters are good and right. Didn't anybody show up with dumb matters? Didn't anybody show up who's wrong? I mean, do you think everybody who goes to court for judgments is always right all the time? No, I guarantee you there's a ton of people who go to court to sue someone and they're totally wrong. They're the bad guy. They're on the wrong side. But every single person that comes to him, he gives them this fake insincere, Oh, man, you're so right. Your matters are good and right. Oh, man, you are right. Everybody's right. Why? Because he's flattering them. Because he's trying to get something from them. He's trying to use them. He's getting them to let their guard down. So he uses flattery or gifts to do that. Absalom said, Moreover, in verse four, Oh, that I were made judge in the land, that every man which hath any suit, like a lawsuit, or cause, might come unto me, and I would do him justice. And it was so that when any man came nigh to him to do him obeisance, he put forth his hand and took him and kissed him. So he's the son of the king. He's a prince. So people are showing him respect by doing obeisance to him. You know, they're going to kneel before him, right? So when these people come to the king for judgment, Absalom intercepts them. And when they come to do obeisance unto him, he stops him and picks him up. No, no, no. Just call me Steve. Right? He picks him up. And what does he do? They come nigh to do obeisance. He puts forth his hand and takes him and kisses him. So basically, they're going to kneel before him as being a great ruler. So he picks him up, gives him a big kiss. I mean, he gives them a greeting that makes them feel special, right? Not like they're before a great man. No, no, no. He's just so down to earth. He's just so approachable. He's just so easy to talk to. Why? Not because he loves you, but because he's using flattery or gifts to get you to let your guard down. He's trying to build confidence. Have you ever heard the term con man? Guess what con stands for? Confidence. The con artist. It's an art form to build confidence in the people around him. He's a con man. Confidence. That's what Absalom is doing here. But he is a vicious predator who is conning them. He took him and kissed him. He's making people feel special or important. By the way, this especially works well on women and children. The persistence predator will use this on children. Why? Because, you know, pedophiles. Think about it. Because children aren't used to getting attention from adults. You know why? Because it's not normal for adults to lavish attention on children unless it's their own children. It's weird when adults want to lavish a whole bunch of attention on someone else's child. So children, they're not used to getting a lot of attention from adults or older kids. So when that older teenager, that older kid gives them attention, it makes them feel big. It makes them feel older. It makes them feel important. It makes them feel special. And the predator will capitalize on that. And not even just pedophiles. How about just college guys who would go down to the high school girls, right? Show them attention, make them feel special because they're just, you know, a young high school girl. And college guys are interested in them. But these college guys are just total scumbags that want to use them and discard them. Look, Absalom is every bit like Amnon. They're both wicked. No wonder they're both half-brothers. They have a lot in common. They're both predators. They're both wicked. They're the same way. One of them is just the power predator. And the other is the persistence predator that'll give gifts and that will flatter and compliment the little high schooler that he wants to use and abuse and discard. Just like Amnon did. He's every bit as wicked. And so this works especially on women and children. Well, you know, people will lavish women with gifts or give them compliments, tell them that they're beautiful. And oh, my husband hasn't told me that in I don't know how long. And they seduce them into adultery. High school girls or even young children, boys or girls that are getting attention from someone older or cooler, right? That cool uncle or that cool college guy or that cool senior and you're a freshman and the senior wants to hang out with you. But next thing you know, he's getting you to drink. Next thing you know, he's getting you to do drugs. Next thing you know, he is using you for whatever person. Maybe he'll get you to commit crimes for him. Maybe he'll buddy up to you. And next thing you know, he's telling you, hey, go into that store and steal that for me. Isn't that what predators do? They love to use other people to do things for them. Go steal this. Go do this. Right. And if you're cool, you'll do it. So the persistence predator will often use flattery or gifts to get you to let your guard down. We see that in the story. Verse six, and on this manner did Absalom to all Israel that came to the king for judgment. So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel and it came to pass after 40 years. Now this is not Absalom doing this for 40 years. The 40 years is 40 years into the reign of David. David reigned for 40 years and six months. This all takes place like in the last year of his reign. Absalom is about 40 years old and David the king is 40 years into his reign. That's the 40 years. So we don't know exactly how long that went on for, but presumably it went on for years. We know that the other time frames are like two years, three years, two years. So more years go by and then we get down to verse eight. It says, this is Absalom talking to David, for thy servant vowed a vow while I abode at Gishur in Syria, saying, If the Lord shall bring me again to Jerusalem, then I will serve the Lord. And the king said unto him, Go in peace. So he arose and went to Hebron. But Absalom sent spies throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, As soon as ye hear the sound of the trumpet, then ye shall say, Absalom reigneth in Hebron. And with Absalom, watch this, went 200 men out of Jerusalem that were called. Look at this phrase. They went in their simplicity and they knew not anything. Now that's a pretty indicting statement. They went in their simplicity and they knew not anything. So number seven, persistence predators are followed by useful idiots. Useful idiots. Now what is a useful idiot? Well that term, useful idiots, was first used about the Soviet Union. It's attributed to Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, whether he actually said it or not. But it's attributed to him. And a useful idiot was basically a person from the United States or other Western countries who thinks communism is wonderful, thinks the Soviet Union is wonderful, and they're basically like a helper or enabler of the Soviets. A useful idiot is like that guy who goes to North Korea or whatever. You know, he's this bleeding heart libtard, and he goes to North Korea to prove it's not that bad, and he ends up getting lobotomized and sent home. With no brain. Remember that guy? What was that, a couple months ago? You know, these useful idiots are the libtard Bernie Sanders supporters, right? Who are basically like enabling these communist dictators who are just murdering millions of their own people, right? But they don't actually love murder or violence. They're just stupid. I mean not every Bernie Sanders supporter is a reprobate. Many of them are just stupid. They don't understand history, they don't understand politics, they don't understand economics, they don't understand communism and socialism, and so they're a useful idiot. Well, persistence predators, they love to use people like this. See, everybody who defends and helps and follows the predator is not a horrible person. Some of them are just being stupid, right? Some of them are, like, when the Bible says they did it in their simplicity and they knew not anything, here's what he's saying. They're not doing it because they're wicked. They're not doing it because they hate God. They're not doing it because they hate God's man, David, the ordained of the Lord, the king that God set up who pictures Jesus Christ, the son of David. It's not that they hate him or that they're wicked or bad, it's that they're stupid. They're useful idiots. So persistence predators are followed by useful idiots. They went in their simplicity. They knew not anything. Verse 12, Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gileanite, David's counselor, from his city, even from Gilo, while he offered sacrifices, and the conspiracy was strong for the people increased continually with Absalom. Why? Because flattery works. Giving gifts works, right? Buying people dinner, giving them money, making a donation, you know, that works. So a lot of people fall for that and he ends up with a huge following, okay? And that's why the Bible says that by reason of their pernicious ways, these predators, false prophets, false teachers, infiltrators, Judases, by reason of their pernicious ways, it says that the way of truth will be even evil spoken of. It says many will follow their pernicious ways in 2 Peter 2. So false prophets, Judases, predators, infiltrators, Absaloms, many will follow their pernicious ways by reason of whom the way of truth will be evil spoken of. Why? Because the flattery, the gifts, it works, and, you know, there's a sucker born every minute that will fall for it, okay? So the useful idiots. But number 8, persistence predators are perverted. Persistence predators are perverted. Look, they're wicked, they're rotten, they're disgusting, they're capable of anything. They just get lower and lower. Look if you would at chapter 16 verse 21. While you're turning there, I'll give you a quick review. Number 1, the persistence predator often starts out as a victim himself. Number 2, persistence predators are not in a hurry. That's why we're calling them persistence predators. Two years, three years, two years, many years. No hurry. Number 3, persistence predators involve other people in their sin. They're cowards, they hide behind others. Number 4, poor leaders will expose others to these predators but they'll protect themselves and their family. Number 5, you helping or enabling the persistence predator gets you burned, like Joab. Number 6, persistence predators often use flattery or gifts to get you to let your guard down. Look, these are all straight out of the scripture. They're all straight out of the life of Absalom. I mean, which of these did I make up? You saw it right there. You turned in your Bible and you saw this. And you know what? You open your eyes and look around 2017, you'll see all these points in the predators of our day. I don't even have to make application. You put the dots together. Number 7, persistence predators are followed by useful idiots. You know, they fall for the flattery, the gifts, the making them feel special, whatever. But number 8, and so far you might be thinking, well, I just don't know if Absalom is that bad of a guy. Well, this is where we get to number 8, persistence predators are perverted. They are perverted. They're wicked people. Look at chapter 16 verse 21, and Hithophel said unto Absalom, go in unto thy father's concubines. Now, what's a concubine? A concubine is like a wife but you're not married. So it's basically like a live-in, when a man has a concubine in the Bible, it's like a live-in girlfriend. It's what we'd say today, his common law wife or his live-in or whatever. But kings throughout history would often have concubines because obviously most kings throughout history have practiced polygamy, right? All that power goes to their head and they think they're entitled to have more than one woman. But the reason why they don't just have all wives is because kings also have this attitude that certain women are kind of beneath them, right? So they, you know, for example, when they're a king of England and I don't follow all the royals and all that, I think there's a whole magazine about it. But anyway, I don't follow that stuff, you know, or what dress Princess Kate is wearing or whatever. But where was I going with that? Remember there was a king of England in the 20th century and he wanted to marry this commoner woman and he had to, or she was divorced or something, and he had to step down from being king because it wasn't right for him as the king to marry this woman of low degree. And throughout history there have been other stories like that. Does anybody know what I'm talking about? What's the woman's name? No one knows her. My wife knows. Check your magazine. No, I'm just kidding. What's the name? This is like a trivia question. All right. So, all right. Operators are standing by. Whoever calls in with the answer within the next five minutes will win nothing. So anyway, so, so basically kings, they've got their wives, which would be like the daughters of other kings that they want to make alliances with, right? Like political marriages where they'll have the different queens and wives that they make alliances through marrying royal blooded women. And then there's just the women that just look good. And their lust and their carnal appetite for that which does not belong to them gets the better of them. So they've got their concubines. The word concubine comes with a word meaning to lie with. It's one that they're lying with, but it's not an official wife. It doesn't have that status. And by the way, if you're living with some dude that you're not married to, that's where you are. You're his concubine. How do you feel, concubine? Because if he loved you, he'll put a ring on it and marry you and make you his wife. Don't settle for being some dude's concubine. He's not a king. You don't need to be his concubine. Okay. That's another sermon. So the concubine is like a wife in the sense of the way it looks, the relationship, but it's not official. It's not legal. Does everybody understand that? So the Bible says in 2 Samuel 16, 21, And Ahithophel said unto Absalom, Go in unto thy fathers concubines which he had left to keep the house, and all Israel shall hear that thou art a hoard of thy father, then shall the hands of all that are with thee be strong. So they spread Absalom a tent upon the top of the house, and Absalom went in unto his fathers concubines in the sight of all Israel. Now what Absalom did here is perverted for two reasons. Two reasons this is super perverted. Number one, he lay with his fathers concubine. You say, what's the big deal? It's perverted. Now how do I know it's perverted? The Bible tells me it's perverted. This is put in a list of perversions in chapter 18 and chapter 20 of Leviticus. Let me just quote these scriptures to you. You don't have to turn there, but the Bible says in Leviticus 18 verse 8, The nakedness of thy father's wife shalt thou not uncover. It is thy father's nakedness. Leviticus 20 verse 11, And the man that lieth with his father's wife hath uncovered his father's nakedness, both of them shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them. I mean this is the death penalty. Deuteronomy 22 30, A man shall not take his father's wife, nor discover his father's skirt. Deuteronomy 27 20, Cursed be he that lieth with his father's wife, because he uncovered his father's skirt, and all the people shall say amen. Now if this were not super wicked, then why are there four verses condemning it? He's saying over and over again, don't do it, don't do it, don't do it, don't, four different times. It must be super wicked. And then he brings it out in the New Testament in 1 Corinthians 5.1, It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife. He's saying that's a worse fornication, that he's having his father's wife. Now you say, well wait a minute Pastor Anderson, I think that the reason why God's telling you not to lie with your father's wife is because it's adultery. Wrong. Wrong answer. That is not what. Look, adultery is wicked, but that's a different sin. There's an additional sin of lying with your father's wife. How do you know that? Because the word fornication, is it about people that are married or not married? Look the word fornication is consistently different in the Bible than the word adultery. Adultery is when you're lying with another man's wife. Fornication is what? Two unmarried people having that carnal relationship that is to be reserved for being inside of marriage. Look in 1 Corinthians 5, this guy's dad is no longer around. He has either divorced her, or he's dead. One of the two. But for some reason, it's no longer that they're married. I would say, because it calls it the father's wife, that he's probably dead. He's probably passed away, and the son is now fornicating with his father's wife. Now why? Because the Bible says that when you're sleeping with a woman that has been with your dad, that's super perverted. That's super wicked, and it's the death penalty. I mean look, there's five scriptures. That sounds like a pretty obscure sin. You think like, who would think of such a thing? Who would even dream up such wickedness? Look, it's super obscure, but yet it's mentioned five times in the Bible. Why? Because God's making a point here that it's bad. So that makes Absalom super perverted, not because it's adultery, because these are just concubines, but he goes up and actually fornicates with 10 women. He does this wicked sin 10 times. Super perverted. But number two, it was perverted because he'd be an exhibitionist. Look at 2 Samuel 16 22. So they spread Absalom a tent upon the top of the house, and Absalom went in unto his father's concubines, watch this phrase, in the sight of all Israel. Super wicked. Not only is he committing fornication, but he's committing a fornication that's not even named among the Gentiles, that one would have his father's wife. He's violating two commandments in Leviticus, two commandments in Deuteronomy, a future rip in 1 Corinthians 5, but he does it publicly. He sets up a tent on top of the roof so that he can go in unto these 10 concubines in the sight of all Israel. Look, that is a perverted thing to do. It's called exhibitionism. What's an exhibition? An exhibition, you know, it's where you're basically showing off something. So, like, let's say you have a boat company or something and you're showing all the new boats or a car, showing all the new cars, you know, exhibitionism is when people would take what goes on in the bedroom and want to show that to other people, right? And look, you say, well, you know, there's a tent around it. No, no, no, yeah, there's a tent around it. It's still super wicked. Hey, everybody, look at me. You shouldn't even, look, you shouldn't even talk about what goes on in your bedroom. I'm not saying doing it publicly, I'm saying don't even talk about it. Why? It's to be kept private. Your marriage life, even within the confines of marriage, should be kept private. It should not be blabbed about and talked about. Why? Perverted people, they love to talk about what goes on in their bedroom, they get kicks doing that. It's wicked. Now, let me give you a modern day example of this, of an Absalom type of a predator-pervert exhibitionist. Pastor Ed Young, Fellowship Church in Dallas-Fort Worth. There's a Christian, quote unquote, evangelical pastor, super popular, thousands of people go to his church, Ed Young, pastor of Fellowship Church in Dallas-Fort Worth. He literally set up a bed on the roof of his church, okay, identical to Absalom. Sets up a bed and a tent on top of the roof of his church to be in bed with his wife for a 24-hour bed in on top of the church, identical to Absalom. So that he can copulate with his wife publicly and look, you say, well, why even bring that crazy guy up? Oh, I don't know, because he just has thousands and thousands. Isn't that one of the most popular churches in the whole Dallas-Fort Worth area? Look, this is the world we're living in today. Welcome to 2017 America. In fact, his book that he wrote, he's up there doing this Absalom stunt in order to promote his new book called Sexperiment. This is a Christian pastor, evangelical right-wing Christian pastor. And guess what? His book is a number one New York Times bestseller. Why? Because that's the kind of junk that sells today. That's the kind of junk that modern Christianity just eats up with a fork and a spoon. This is the kind of... Look, they love... Why? Because they're useful idiots. Why? They're so simple, they don't know anything. And they just pile in to the fun center to the... And I'm going to get to our local Absalom here, our local Ed Young right here in the Phoenix area. But this guy, he sets up this bed, and then guess what his latest book is called? Because he figured out that Perversion sells. His latest book is called Fifty Shades of They. I don't even know what it's about. I don't even care what it's about. But I'm just telling you, these people are sick, they're wicked, they're perverted. Ed Young, go on the website of his church, he looks like a faggot, he's a pervert, he's a predator, that's why he's literally modeling his life and ministry after a pervert in the Bible Absalom. I mean look, even my son, my young son, and I'm glad my children know the Bible, and I'm glad they're growing up getting the whole Bible cover to cover, not just the highlights. About four years ago, my son Isaac, he's 14 now, or maybe it was three years ago, he's probably like 11 at the time. We were out in the parking lot here, outside the church, and there was a building nearby that was under construction, and because it's so hot here, construction workers will often set up those easy up canopies, just so that they don't have to work in the heat. My son Isaac and I are out in the parking lot, we're getting in the car, and somebody had set up an easy up canopy on top of a building, they're just doing construction work, and my 11 year old son elbows me and says, hey dad, look, it's Absalom. Why? Because he knew that Bible story. And he'd read that story in the Bible, in his daily Bible reading, he sees a tent set up on top of a building, and it was just jogged in his mind, Absalom. You know what, all of the morons walking into Ed Young's church every week, they don't know the story of Absalom. So they don't think it's super weird or super wicked or super perverted when their pastor is setting up a bed and a tent on top of the building to copulate publicly. You know what, it's disgusting, it's perverted, it's wicked, and he says, I just don't think you should criticize, get out of here you pervert enabling idiot, you're gonna get burned! Get out of here, Joab! And you know what, David's kingdom would have been a lot better off if he would have got rid of Joab way sooner. Joab was an idiot, Solomon had to deal with him, David should have got rid of him. You know, if you're sitting here like, shut up and get out of here, you sick person. I'm sick and tired of people defending reprobates, I'm sick and tired of people defending perverts, hey, they're wicked, they're ungodly, they need to be called out for the Absalom's that they are, Ed Young is gonna rot in hell! He's wicked! He preaches lies! For filthy Lucre's sake, he makes over a million dollars a year being a humble servant of Jesus Christ. It's wicked. But we have our own pervert church right here in Phoenix, it's called Cornerstone in Chandler. Who knows what I'm talking about? Cornerstone. And look, if you drive down the San Tan freeway, the 202 eastbound to Gilbert, you will see their billboard, it's always something sick, it's always something, it's a church, Cornerstone Christian Church or whatever down in Chandler, they always have a super perverted billboard, I can't even tell you what the billboards are, I can't even tell you, but it always has something to do with the bedroom every time. It's like, here's our new series on S-E-X, here's our next series, oh, here's another series on that. Who's seen the billboards? Who knows what I'm talking about? Yeah, the people who live out on that part of town. I mean, my wife's always going and doing errands down there and she's just like, I can't even believe what they put up now. It's unbelievable. Why? Because they're, out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh, and these perverts, their folly shall be manifest unto all men just like Janice and Jamboree's. They can't help but speak the things they've seen and heard and so all they want to do is just talk about just what goes on in their bedroom, why? Because they want to be seen by people as being these studs or whatever, why? Because they're predators, because they want to commit adultery, because they want to be a predator, because they are super wicked. And listen to me, if anybody comes to you and tries to tell you about their love life in that area, just tell them, no, shut up, I don't want to hear this. Tell them that is TMI. I don't need to know anything about your bedroom life. And you know, don't you dare talk about that. And you know what, it's a shame today how even Christians today will think it's okay to just chit chat about what goes on in their bedroom. It's wicked. You know, and if anybody ever tries to talk to you about that, shut them down. And say, hey, that is totally inappropriate. You need to have some discretion. You need to keep that private. You know, marriage is honorable and all in the bed undefiled, but let's keep that in the bedroom where it belongs. Not publicly display that. It's super wicked. The last point, number nine, is don't sympathize with the persistence predator. So let me go through the points again. Number one, persistence predators often start out as victims themselves. These are all straight from the life of Absalom. Number two, persistence predators, they're not in a hurry. Number three, persistence predators involve other people in their sin. Number four, they are exposed to others by bad leaders who allow them to be around and bring them in. Number five, helping or enabling them gets you burned. Number six, persistence predators will often use flattery or gifts to get you to let your guard down. Number seven, they're followed by useful idiots. Number eight, they're very perverted. And number nine, don't sympathize with the persistence predator. Chapter 19, verse 1, and it was told Joab, behold, the king weepeth and morteth for Absalom, and the victory that day was turned into mourning unto all the people. For the people heard say that day how the king was grieved for his son, and the people gapped them by stealth that day into the city, as people being ashamed steal away when they flee in battle. But the king covered his face, and the king cried with a loud voice, oh, my son, Absalom, oh, Absalom, my son, my son. And Joab came into the house to the king and said, thou ashamed this day, the faces of all thy servants, which this day have saved thy life, and the lives of thy sons, and of thy daughters, and the lives of thy wives, and of the lives thy kind of, because see, now Joab's wised up now and figured out after his field got burned down that this is a bad guy. You know, once it affects him personally, now all of a sudden he's not a bleeding heart liberal anymore. And that thou lovest thine enemies and hatest thy friends, for thou has declared this day that thou regardest neither princes nor servants, for this day I perceive that if Absalom had lived and all we had died this day, then it had pleased thee well. Now therefore arise, go forth, and speak comfortably unto thy servants, for I swear by the Lord if thou go not forth, there will not tarry one with thee this night, and that will be worse unto thee than all the evil that befell thee from thy youth until now. So what's he saying? Quit whining, quit sympathizing, quit crying about the guy. He was wicked. He had to get what was coming to him. Get over it. Move on, is what he's saying. Now look, the persistence predator is real today. He's real, and there are more of them than ever. We're living in perilous times. You say, well, I've known someone for a long time. There's no way they could be a predator. Oh, this person went to church for a long time. There's no way they could be a predator. I'm going to have my kids go sleep over at their house. You know, I'm going to trust them with everything. Hold on a minute. How long did it take for Judas Iscariot to spring his trap? Judas Iscariot was a devil from the beginning. I mean, Jesus, at the beginning of his ministry said, have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil? We get little glimpses throughout Christ's ministry where Judas has wickedness in his heart, right? For three and a half years, he walked the walk and talked to the talk. No one suspected him, to the point that at the last supper when Jesus said, one of you shall betray me, they said, is it I? They didn't say, it's Judas. They said, is it I, right? That's how convincing it was. Look, isn't that patient? I mean, three and a half years is a long time. So Judas shows up at church and he's a model church member for three and a half years to the point where he's trusted with the money. He's the treasurer. He had the bag. Why? Because he's a persistent predator. Does he kill Jesus himself? No, he uses other people, right? Maybe the Romans do it. And there are a lot of parallels between Judas and Absalom. I don't have time to go into them. Like David flees across the Brook Hydron from Absalom. Jesus crosses the Brook Hydron and that's where Judas betrays him. A lot of the geography is the same. David crossing Hydron, Jesus crossing Hydron. You know, Jesus is pictured by David, Absalom pictures Judas. That's a whole another sermon. But Judas was a persistence predator. Absalom is a persistence predator. So these people, it's hard to believe, but they've got nothing else to do with their lives. They've got bitterness in their heart. They hate the Lord. They hate the pastor, whatever. They hate the Bible. They hate Christianity, whatever is motivating them. They've got some kind of a gall of bitterness and wickedness in their heart. And they have become a rotten person. They've become a toxic individual, but they are willing to be nice and they will schmooze you for years. I mean, what did Absalom do? He'll kiss you and hug you and be sweet to you and treat you so well and give you gifts and make you feel special. And then when he gets busted, then when you see him up there with the 10 concubines, right? Then you tell yourself, well, but he was such a nice guy. I just can't believe it. Believe it. Believe it. And so the moral of the story is don't be naive. Be sober and be vigilant because your adversary, the devil, walketh about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. And he's not always going to grab you in the park and force you into a car and drive off with you like Amnon. Many times like Absalom, he'll come to you, he'll give you gifts, he'll say sweet things to you, he'll be nice to you, and he will lure you into a trap and you will go like a lamb to the slaughter. Don't be deceived by the persistence predator. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for your word, Lord, and for these warnings. I thank you that the story of Absalom, Lord, is such a great warning, it's so relevant to the day we live in, and I can think of numerous examples of Absalom, numerous examples of Judas' that fit these nine points to a T. And Lord, I pray that we would all be wise as serpents and harmless as doves, and that we would not be naive about the world that we live in or about church or anything else. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. So my sermon this morning is the persistence predator, the persistence predator, and in my sermon this morning I'm going to focus on the life of Absalom because he's a great example of a persistence predator in the Bible. There are other examples that we might touch on a little bit, but I'm going to focus mainly on Absalom. What does it mean to be a predator? Well, when we think of a predator, we think of a type of animal, right, that preys upon and devours other beasts. And predators also might remind us of the devil himself when the Bible says, be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil as a roaring lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour. Well, there are people out there in this world, the devil's minions, and they themselves are predators, meaning that they seek to devour, to destroy, to harm, to hurt other people. They will do much damage, but there are more than one type of predator. There is the power predator and then there is the persistence predator. Now what do I mean by that? Well, in this story in 2 Samuel chapter 13, we have an example of a power predator, right, Amnon. I mean, here's a guy who just overpowers somebody just right there in a moment and he ends up committing this horrible act of raping Tamar and he just does it by forcibly overpowering her, right? Now that's one type of predator. He was a predator, right? But then there are other types of predators like Absalom that are a persistence predator. Now out in the wild, there are animals that would just come upon a beast like a lion and just immediately overpower it and rip it apart. But then there would be other predators that would actually pray by persistence, meaning that they would slowly chase the animal for hours and hours and hours and wear it down and then find that opportunity, patiently wait for the perfect time, person who actually did the crime, which if that was the only person that got hurt, then you could make a case for him. He's just trying to avenge righteously what happened to his sister. But oh no, Absalom ends up harming many, many people beyond that. He just becomes a horrible person in general. So number one, persistence predators often start out as victims themselves. But number two, persistence predators are not in a hurry, hence the name persistence predator. They are very patient. Now this is something that is emphasized over and over again in the story about Absalom. The time keeps coming up over and over again. Look down at verse number 23 of chapter 13. Here's the first mention of time in the story. It says, and it came to pass after two full years that Absalom had sheep shearers and Baal Hazor, which is beside Ephraim, and Absalom invited all the king's sons. So notice he waits two full years to take revenge. Very patient. I mean, you would think to yourself, well if something like that happened, I'd want to take care of it right away. No, no, no, no. He's very patient. He waits two full years and then he ends up assassinating his brother Amnon. But number, and we're going to get more to the fact that they're not in a hurry because the time element keeps coming up over and over again in the story of Absalom. But let me move on to point three. Persistence predators involve other people with their sin. So number one, they start out as victims themselves many times. Number two, they're certainly not in a hurry. And number three, they involve other people in their sin. Look at chapter 13 verse 28. Now Absalom had commanded his servants saying, mark ye now when Amnon's heart is merry with wine. And when I say unto you, smite Amnon, then kill him. Fear not. I commanded you, be courageous and be valiant. And the servants of Absalom did unto Amnon as Absalom had commanded. Then all the king's sons arose and every man got him up upon his mule and fled. Now notice, persistence predators, they're cowards. They hide behind other people. They blame other people and they use other people to do their dirty work for them. I mean, look, it's one guy. It's one guy that he wants dead, Amnon. Why didn't he just do it himself? I mean, why doesn't Absalom just creep up on him, sneak up on him, lay in wait for him and just kill him himself? Notice he gets other people to do his dirty work. He hides behind other people. He wants to be able to blame other people. He's a coward. And notice what he tells them. Be courageous. Be valiant. It's like, well, right back at you, buddy. Why don't you be courageous? Why don't you be valiant? Why don't you go do your own dirty work? No, no, that's not how persistence predators are. Why? The persistence predator is persistent because he wants a low risk for himself because he's a coward. See, the power predator is taking a big risk, right? The power predator who just, you know, some woman's jogging in the park and he just grabs her like Amnon did to Tamar, right? I mean, that's a big risk. There's a pretty good chance. He's going to get arrested or go to prison. He's going to get caught. Somebody's going to beat him up. Somebody's going to kill him. I mean, that's a big risk. But see, the persistence predator, he likes the low risk, having somebody else do the dirty work in this situation or other ways. And we'll get into it more in the sermon as we go here. But they're cowards. They like to hide behind other people, blame other people, use other people for their dirty work. Why did the servants kill Amnon for him? Look down at verse 38. So Absalom fled and went to Gishur and was there three years. So look, notice how much time is passing here. Two full years go by before he, to come in for the kill. And that's what we're going to talk about in the sermon this morning. The persistence predator. That's what Absalom was. And Absalom ends up doing a lot of damage. Even more damage than Amnon, as wicked and filthy as he was. And when we stop and think about the world that we live in, there are a lot more persistence predators in this world than there are power predators. It's not that often that people are just assaulted and just overpowered. It's much more often a thing of people slowly being victimized and preyed upon and sucked in and conned and destroyed by wicked people. Number one this morning about the persistence predator. Number one is that the persistence predator often starts out as a victim themselves. That's often how they become so hardened and wicked and evil is that they start out by being a victim themselves. And that's the case with Absalom. The first time we're introduced to Absalom in the Bible is in verse 1 of chapter 13. And it says, it came to pass after this, that Absalom. So it was the first person mentioned in this chapter, Absalom. Even though the story is not about Absalom until later, he's brought up right away as being the focus. And it came to pass that after this that Absalom, the son of David, had a fair sister whose name was Tamar and Amnon, the son of David, loved her. So Tamar, who is abused by Amnon, it's brought up right away. This is Absalom's sister, making him the victim as well, right? Because someone that he loves is being hurt, is being harmed. Look at verse number 19. It says in Tamar, we already read the story about what happened to Tamar, but it says in Tamar put ashes on her head and rent her garment of diverse colors that was on her and laid her hand on her head and went on crying and Absalom her brother said unto her, hath Amnon thy brother been with thee? But hold now thy peace, my sister. He is thy brother. Regard not this thing. So Tamar remained desolate in her brother Absalom's house. But when David heard of all these things, he was very wroth. And Absalom spake unto his brother Amnon, neither good nor bad, for Absalom hated Amnon because he had forced his sister Tamar. So in the beginning here, we're not introduced to Absalom as being a bad guy. We're introduced to Absalom as being a victim here. His sister is abused by this wicked half brother Amnon. He takes her in. He comforts her. He helps her out. So we start out by seeing him as the victim, not as the bad guy, right? So number one, we need to understand that persistence predators, they often start out as victims themselves, and this does not justify their later actions. See a lot of people today, they would have us feel sorry for horrible predators and rapists and serial killers and abusers and say, oh, well, you know, it's not their fault because they were victimized themselves. That is not an excuse for their later actions. You see, when something bad happens to us or someone that we love, there's a right way to handle it and there's a wrong way to handle it. And there's no excuse for the predator today. The predator is wicked and inexcusable. I don't care what happened to him when he was a kid. I don't care what kind of a childhood or what kind of a school year he had. There's no excuse for the predator. The Bible doesn't excuse this predator, Absalom, just because he started out as a victim himself. You see, when he saw this wickedness take place, he should have realized that the Lord, the righteous judge, will punish and that vengeance belongs unto the Lord and that the Lord will repay. But instead, he became bitter in his heart and he ends up not just hurting the