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🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 Alright, good evening everyone. Welcome to First Works Baptist Church. Let's all make our way inside and find a seat. Let's grab a song book. Open that song book up to song number 90, Jesus, Lover of My Soul. Let's all stand together, if you are able, for this first song. Song number 90, Jesus, Lover of My Soul. Everyone, all together, nice and strong on that first verse. Jesus, lover of my soul, let me to thy bosom fly. While the near waters roll, while the tempest still is high. Hide me, O my Savior, hide, till the storm of life is past. Safe into the haven guide, O receive my soul at last. Other refuge have I none, hangs my helpless soul on thee. Still support and comfort me, all my trust on thee is stayed. All my help from thee I bring. Cover my defenseless head with the shadow of thy wing. Thou, O Christ, art all I want, more than all in thee I find. Raise the fall and cheer the faint, pill the sick and lead the blind. Just and holy is thy name, I am all unrighteousness. Vile and full of sin I am, thou art full of truth and grace. Plenteous grace with thee is found, grace to cover all my sin. Let the healing streams abound, make and keep me pure within. Thou of life, the fountain, are freely let me take of thee. Spring thou up within my heart, rise to all eternity. Amen. Let's open our service with a word of prayer. Father, thank you, God, Lord, for allowing us, Father, to be here tonight, Lord, and hear your word preached unto us, God. I pray, God, that you would bless the service, Lord, every aspect of it, God. I pray, Lord, that you would fill a past from here with your Holy Spirit, Lord, as he preaches to us, God. I pray, God, that you would give us ears to hear, Lord, and apply that which we hear preached unto us to our lives, Lord, that we would leave here edified and changed, Lord, differently than when we came in, God. We love you, Lord, and it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. You may be seated. Song number 147. Leaning on the everlasting arms. Song number 147. Leaning on the everlasting arms. Everyone, all together, nice and strong. What a fellowship, what a joy divine. Leaning on the everlasting arms. What a blessedness, what a peace is mine. Leaning on the everlasting arms. Leaning, leaning, safe and secure from all alarm. Leaning, leaning, leaning on the everlasting arms. Oh, how sweet to walk in this pilgrim way. Leaning on the everlasting arms. Oh, how bright the path grows from day to day. Leaning on the everlasting arms. Leaning, leaning, safe and secure from all alarm. Leaning, leaning, leaning on the everlasting arms. What have I to dread? What have I to fear? Leaning on the everlasting arms. I have blessed peace with my Lord so near. Leaning on the everlasting arms. Leaning, leaning, safe and secure from all alarm. Leaning, leaning, leaning on the everlasting arms. All right, great singing. Thank you for being here this evening. Welcome to First Works Baptist Church. Just a few announcements here before we sing our next song, which will be song number 29 at the cross. If you want to get that ready in your song book, song number 29. If you did not get a bulletin, go ahead and raise your hand and one of the ushers can get one for you. Some important information on there as well as the prayer sheet where the markers are going to come on up in just a bit to pray over the needs there. Our Sunday morning service is at 1030. Sunday evening is at 5 p.m. And then we have our Thursday night Bible study at 7 o'clock. Currently going through the book of 2 Samuel. You see the sowning times and teams. If you want to learn how to preach the gospel, we have the service to be placed on the team on Sundays. That way you can get some, you can be equipped to go sowning and learn how to share your faith with your family, friends, and strangers. And so hope to see you on Sunday afternoons for that. You see the list of expecting mothers there. Please continue to pray for them. And the important reminder is there at the bottom. We have Barstow sowning coming up this Monday, January 16th. We'll meet here at the building at 1130 for lunch. And then we'll head out to Barstow for a couple hours to go preach the gospel. We'll have dinner out there. If you're interested in participating in that, you can see Brother Ulysses Hernandez for more details. You can either meet us out there, as some have already, or you can just meet us here and you can catch a ride with us. And so hope to see you there. Ladies' prayer breakfast is coming up on Saturday, February 4th. That'll be here at the building. And then we have the Belize missions trip on Saturday, February 26th through Sunday, March 5th. And so please be in prayer over that. The team there would get a lot of people saved. We would collect a lot of information. And that, Lord willing, we can have a preaching service in November. And so just be in prayer over that. We're looking forward to what the Lord's going to do there. And then something that's not on the bulletin is on Sunday after the service around 1230, we have just a 10 to 15 minute lesson on sowning. And so typically on an annual basis we go over a booklet on how to sown. We have somewhat of a seminar, but this time we're just going to break it up into 15 minute bits and pieces on Sunday afternoon. So I want to encourage you to stay around for that. And we'll hand you a lesson that you can fill out. And so hope to see you there. No food or drink allowed in the main auditorium except for water and coffee. Make sure you're not loitering in the four-year fellowship hall during the preaching service. And of course, please make sure you silence your phones during the preaching so as to not be a distraction during the service. Go ahead and pull out your prayer sheet there. We'll go over that briefly and then Marcos is going to come on up in just a bit. Of course, continue to pray for God's favor on our church. Pray for the sowning for this year that we get a lot of people saved, not just here in our area, in our immediate Jerusalem, but also abroad as we go to Belize twice this year. And pray for the missions, protection. Pray for a church van. And continue to pray for the spiritual and American growth of the new people that are in our church, that they would continue in the grace of God, and that they would just remain steadfast and unmovable. And then, of course, you see the church families there, just different families, salvations, different needs there. Please continue to pray for Brother Chevy's father. He's had some more health complications and he's still in the hospital if you can keep him in prayer. They would greatly appreciate it. If you have any additional prayer requests, you can put that at the bottom there, and we can make sure that it gets on the bulletin for the following week. And that is pretty much it. Brother Marcos is going to come on up and pray over these needs. Let's bow our heads and pray. Dear God Almighty Father, we thank you so much, Lord God, for just allowing us to be here in your house this evening, Lord God. Thank you so much for bringing everybody here safely, Lord God. We do pray that you please, Lord God, that we would continue to find favor in your eyes, Lord God. As a church, Lord Heavenly Father, I do pray that you would please allow us to continue to do great works for you. I pray that you would please continue to use us in a mighty way to reach people in Anaheim, to reach people in other cities, as in Tustin, Lord God, Paramount, Downey, and other areas. Lord God, I pray that you would please just continue to use us. I pray for the soul winning of our church, that you would help us, Lord God, continue to keep that fire in our hearts, Lord God, for the lost. I pray that you would please help us, Lord Heavenly Father, also to just reach people, Lord God, that want to hear, Lord God. Lord, I pray that you would please, Lord God, just continue to use our church. I also do pray for the missions, Lord God, of our church. I pray that you would please, as Bill Ulysses and the team, Lord God, prepare us to go to Belize, I pray that you would please, Lord God, prepare their hearts, Lord God, and give them a strategy, Lord God, and give them a plan, Lord God, to just reach many people, Lord God, and to prepare the hearts of the people for November, Lord God, as well, as they prepare for a service out there, Lord God, for November. I do pray that you would please, Lord God, just instill the hearts of the people of Belize, Lord God, that they would be willing and wanting to just go to a church service, Lord God, and just to do something great for you, Lord God, as well. I pray that you would also just please continue to protect our church, Lord God, from the enemies, from reprobates, Lord God, that want to disrupt your work here, Lord God. I do pray that you would please just destroy those individuals, Lord God, and specifically Ryan Gallagher, Lord God, Leslie Romero, and Seth Bookow. I pray that you would please just destroy those individuals, Lord God, that you would please just help them go down into hell quickly, Lord God. And I pray that you would also just be also with just our leadership here, Lord God. I pray that you would please just be with our pastor. Continue, Lord God, to use him in a mighty way, be with his family, Lord God, put a hedge of protection around them, Lord God. And I pray that you would also just be with the sowing teams, Lord God, be with the sowing team leaders, Lord God, as well, that you would please just allow them, Lord God, to just continue to have a heart for their people, Lord God, to have vision for their people. And I pray that you would please, Lord God, also just be with the new people that are here in our church, Lord God. Lord, I do pray that they would continue to stay in the faith, Lord God, that they would continue to just want to grow in their faith, Lord God, as well, to draw closer to you. And I pray that they would just take the next step, Lord God, and not just come to church, Lord God, not just to go sowing, Lord God, but be of service, Lord God, here in your house, Lord God. And I pray that you would please, Lord God, just move them, Lord God, to do something great, as well. And I pray for just our families, Lord God, here, and specifically for Brother Chevy, Lord God, tonight, and his family, Lord God, and his father. And I pray that you please just be with him as he continues to be in the hospital, Lord God. I pray that you would please, Lord God, help him, Lord God, to get better. I pray that you would, please, just give the doctors wisdom, Lord God. And I pray that you would please just heal Brother Chevy's father, Lord God. I pray that you would please just be with them, Lord God, as well. I pray that you would comfort them, Lord God, give them a peace, a past of understanding, Lord God, as it is a scary time for them, Lord God. And I pray that you please just be with her the rest of our church. We've got tonight as we Continue we've got to sing unto you and continue to get prepare our hearts for The preaching of your word of God as well. We pray now these things in Jesus name. Amen Please turn your hymnals to song number 29 at the cross Song number 29 For a third song song 29 at the cross song number 29 everyone all together nice and strong Alas, and did my Savior bleed and did my sovereign die Would he devote that sacred head for such a worm as I? At the cross at the cross where I first saw the light and the burden of my heart rolled away It was there by faith. I received my sight and now I am happy all the day Was it for crimes that I had done he groaned upon the tree Oh amazing pity grace unknown and love beyond degree At the cross at the cross where I first saw the light and a burden of my heart rolled away It was there by faith. I received my sight and now I am happy all the day While might the Sun in darkness hide and shut his glories in When Christ the mighty maker died for men the creatures At the cross at the cross where I first saw the light and the burden of my heart rolled away It was there by faith. I received my sight and now I am happy all the day But drops of grief can Repay the debt of love I owe Dear Lord I give myself Away tis all that I can do At the cross at the cross where I first saw the light and the burden of my heart rolled away It was there by faith. I received my sight and now I am happy all the day And this time the ushers will collect the offering tonight will be in 2nd Samuel chapter 14 You You You You Good evening, we're in 2nd Samuel chapter 14 The chapter reads Now Joab the son of Zirariel perceived that the king's heart was toward Absalom And Joab sent to Tekoa and fetched thence a wise woman and said unto her I pray thee find 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 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 aileth thee and she answered I am indeed a widow woman and mine husband is dead and thy handmaid had two sons They two strove together in the field and there was none to part them But the one smote the other and slew him 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 So they shall quench my coal which is left and shall not leave to my husband neither name nor remainder upon the earth And the king said unto the woman go to thine house And I will give charge concerning thee and a 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 and the king said Whosoever set out onto thee bring him to me and he shall not touch thee anymore Then said she I pray thee let the king remember the Lord thy God Thou wouldst not suffer the revengers of blood to destroy anymore lest they destroy my son And he said as the Lord liveth there shall not one hair thy son fall to the earth 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 hast thou thought such a great Such a thing against the people of God For the king doth speak this thing as one which is faulty that the king doth not fetch home again his banished For We must needs die and are as water spilt on the ground which cannot be gathered up again Neither doth God respect any person yet doth he devise means that is banished be not expelled from him now therefore that I am come to speak of this thing unto unto my lord the king is because the The people have made me afraid and I handmade said I will now speak unto the king It may be that the king will perform the request of his handmaid Where the king will hear to deliver his handmaid out of the hand of the man that would destroy me my son together out of the inheritance of God Then thine handmaid said that the word of my lord the king shall not 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 a 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 hath spoken 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 hath thy servant Joab done this thing and my lord is wise According to the wisdom of an angel of God to know all the 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 Absalom again and Joab fell to the ground on his face bowed himself and thanked the king and Joab said today thy servant knoweth that I have found grace in thy sight my lord a king that the king hath fulfilled the request Of his servant so Joab arose and went to Gecher 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'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 was no blemish in him When he palled his head for it was at every year's end that he palled it because the hair was heavy on him Therefore he palled 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 two full years in Jerusalem and saw not the king's face 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 on to his servant see Joab's field is near mine, and he hath barley there Go and set it on fire and Absalom's servants set the field on fire Then Joab arose and came to Absalom unto his house and said unto him Wherefore hath thy servant set my field on fire and Absalom answered Joab behold I said unto thee saying come hither that I may send thee to the king to say wherefore I might come from Geshur That been good for me to have been there still now therefore Let me see the king's face 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 Thank you Heavenly Father for the King James Bible dear God We thank you for his wonderful church You've given us wonderful brothers and sisters that you've given us we thank you for our pastor Please bless him as he preaches your way tonight in Jesus name we pray. Amen Amen Okay, we're continue this evening with the book of 2nd Samuel chapter 14 tonight And let me just give you a little bit of review to get us caught up on what's going on here in this particular story In chapter 13 we have the tragic story of Amnon Essentially raping his half-sister Tamar and the repercussions of that is the fact that Amnon ends up getting murdered by his brother Absalom because of the fact that he raped his sister and so Of course, we gave a lot of cautionary principles in chapter 13 and We see that already the punishment upon David's house is already coming upon him swiftly You know, this is essentially the prophetic statements that were made by the prophet Nathan upon the house of David for his sin with Bathsheba And his murder of Uriah it's gonna come back until I'm fourfold because essentially at the end of the day All four of those sons will be put to death They're gonna get killed in some way shape or form and it's a fulfillment that the sword shall not depart out of the house of David and so we begin with that story in chapter 13 now he Forces Tamar and Absalom wants revenge and he actually he wants revenge he wants to kill Amnon, but he's very patient and he essentially takes two years before he does anything and We saw in chapter 13 that he holds a celebration with a lot of his servants He invites his father and his servants, but his father and his servants refused to come And so instead, you know Absalom decides to ask him to invite his other brothers And really the reason he wants to have this celebration is to have Amnon come to the to the party to the celebration so that he can be Vulnerable and then they can kill him right then and there they can ambush him and put him to death and that's exactly what takes place in chapter 13 so Absalom then he flees into the land of Gesher and The soul of David the Bible says long to go forth into Absalom He was comforted regarding his the death of his other son Amnon But he longed after Absalom And so this is where we find ourselves here in chapter 14 now Keep in mind from the time that the rape took place all the way to the time that Absalom sees the face of his father. It's a total of seven years. Okay, because you have two years after where Absalom kills Amnon and then he's in Gesher for three years, but then when he actually comes back to Jerusalem It's another two years Before he actually sees the face of his father. So just keep in mind this is taking place between Essentially a chunk of time of seven years and I'm gonna explain to you why that that's important to know So tonight we're gonna look at David's partial reconciliation in chapter 14 you know Absalom is gone and all of a sudden Joab takes an interest in bringing Absalom back now if you follow Joab's track record, okay If you know his character if you've done an analysis on who he is as a person His character and his integrity, you know right off the bat. This is not for any noble reason. Okay He's not trying to you know Reconcile Absalom to his father David because you know He just loved seeing a father and a son get along once again and have the kingdom United He obviously has some underlying motive as to why he's trying to bring him back now look at verse number one It says now Joab the son of Zeruiah perceived that the king's heart was toward Absalom and Joab sent it to Koah and fetched thence a wise woman and said unto her I pray thee feign thyself to be a mourner. Now. What does it mean to feign? In other words is fake yourself Okay, a mourner is referring to a person who essentially you know in those days They would actually hire people who are mourners to actually weep and cry and wail if there is some sort of tragic event that took Place such as the death of a family member and so he's telling this woman Hey fake as though you are a mourner over a specific personal Event that happened in your in your life because you're gonna take this Problem that you're having and you're actually gonna bring it before the courts of the king You know in those days if the immediate judges weren't able to resolve some sort of conflict People can go to the courts of the king to go make an appeal to the magistrate there. So Joab He calls for this woman Says feign 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 So we're gonna see in just a bit that this woman comes to David with essentially this parable this story and We'll get into that just a bit. But the question is this why is Joab doing this? Why is he trying to bring Absalom back from Gesher and trying to get him to reconcile his differences with his father Well, let me just say this. It's I don't believe it's for any noble reason Here are three possible reasons as to why and obviously the scriptures doesn't don't explicitly tell us as to why But taking jobs character into account. These are some pretty likely reasons. Okay, number one being you know, he's trying to avoid a rebellion You see if Absalom is out there and he's the king's son We see later that he's actually favorable in the eyes of Israel Israel actually like they like Absalom He could create some sort of rebellion and some you know, there could a civil war could break out essentially Okay That could be a reason why he's trying to avoid that So he wants Absalom to be reconciled to his father not because he loves the king and not because he loves the king's son But just because he doesn't want you know some civil war to break out Another reason could be the reason he wants Absalom to come back is because Absalom is the next in line to be king So if he's the next in line to be king Joab is essentially securing himself a job For when David dies he has it in good with the next king, which is Absalom Okay, that could be a reason but I think the main reason why he's doing it is Essentially just to gain favor with David. Okay, because you said well, how do you know he doesn't care for Absalom? How do you know he doesn't care for David? Well, because then he brings Absalom back to Jerusalem and he just like leaves him there Okay, and then Absalom was just like hey, let me see my dad's face Let me go talk to my dad and Joab just ignores him the entire time. He doesn't care about reconciling them He doesn't care about you know, whether they resolve the conflict or not. He's like my job is taken care of You know David has essentially recognized him as doing a great deed and having wisdom for bringing Absalom back. So that's why and look if you study the character of Joab he is You know constantly seen as being a person of deceit. He's conniving He is selfish. He's self-willed He's an individual who's not doing things for the benefit of Israel nor for the benefit of the magistrate Nor for the benefit of anybody else but to only benefit himself Okay, and we know that he is this type of person because even though Absalom later on takes over the kingdom You know, he kind of usurps the authority of his father He still follows David, but then later on Adonijah takes over and then he follows after Adonijah So, you know we see there that he obviously is a person who has self-interest He's trying to exalt himself and promote himself He's always looking for a way to do so So I just want to make myself very clear that Joab is not doing this because he's a good person or he has the best Intentions for the kingdom. He obviously has a selfish reason why he wants to do these things Okay, and so let that be a lesson to us all that you know, obviously as Christians, you know We naturally as human beings do things to benefit ourselves But the Bible also tells us to esteem others better than ourselves, you know Our natural propensity is to lift ourselves up or do that which benefits us Or do that which you know will cause us to have success But we need to put ourselves in a state of mind and walk in the spirit to realize Hey, we need to make sure that we put ourselves last right and put others first We need to put our families first. We need to put the brethren first. We need to put the loss first We need to have us last and not be like a Joab where you're just doing things and serving others For the sake of how it might benefit you in the long run okay, and so he has this arrangement with the woman of Tekoa to fake being a mourner in order for her to Essentially catch David in his words. Okay. So now we're gonna see her come before the king and then she essentially gives us analogy of Absalom and Amnon through a fake story of her two sons. Okay. Now Joab is really sneaky Because he obviously understands he can't have because he's the one who puts the words in her mouth. Okay. What does that mean? He's like this is what you're gonna say This is the story that you're gonna put forth So this didn't stem from the the mind of the woman at Tekoa this came from Joab Joab is the one who construed this story. He made up all these details and It shows that Joab is pretty smart because of the fact that if David if the story was too similar to David's situation David will obviously be suspicious and he would know right off the bat. Hey, what's going on here type of a thing So that the story had to be altered just a bit the difference being or the similarities being that you know You have two sons one killing the other now. Let me just say this. Okay David obviously, he's a wise man, but he's lacking some wisdom here. Okay, because look, you know Just a bit ago. He was confronted by Nathan who gave him a parable and Then it was like thou art the man Okay, and so, you know, I'll be really suspicious of anybody else bringing parables to me if I was David and be like, okay Well, first of all, are you talking about me? You know me like before you bring any story up to me Are you using this against me? You know what I mean? Does this have to do with my family or something like that, but he's completely oblivious to that And you know if I was him, I'd be like no more meetings, you know You know, I want some names to be dropped. You know, I don't want a These anonymous people to come up to me these anonymous stories or whatever, you know this better be a real thing because it's happening again to him and You know as Nathan the woman at the Ko is gonna say basically thou art the man. I'm talking about you and your sons Okay, so look at verse number four It says and when the woman of Tekoa spake to the king She fell on her face to the ground and did obesions and said help O King obesions simply means honor reverence to the king Verse five says in the king sentence her what Aleth thee and she answered I am indeed a widow woman and mine husband is dead and I handmade had two sons and they too Strove together in the field and there was none to part them but the one smote the other beat the other okay and slew him and behold the whole family is risen against thine handmade 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 So she brings this conflict where she says, you know my sons were basically fighting one kills the other with his bare hands and One side of the family wants that individual dead but not just that individual they want to kill even the air of that individual and just kind of wipe off that lineage off the face of the earth and I'm caught in this conflict. Okay, and He says in verse number eight and the king said unto the woman go to thine house I will give thee charge concerning thee. So he's just like I'll fix this later. Let me think about this for a minute, you know 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 and the king said whosoever saith ought unto thee bring him to me and he shall not touch thee Anymore Then she said I pray thee let the Kings remember the Lord thy God that thou wouldest not suffer the revenger's of blood to destroy Anymore lest it destroy my son so on and so forth. So what's going on here? Basically, she's trying to get him To pardon the son who killed the other son So that she could essentially bring that to David and say, okay, I'm talking about Absalom and Abner. Okay Trying to keep the revenger of blood From essentially killing the individual you say now, why would they do that? Why would she go along with this? Why? Because we see later on that she seems to be very distressed over the actual situation between Ammon and Absalom What we'll see later on is because Israel likes Absalom. He's actually a man who is praised in Israel He's a man who is honored there people like who he is And so it could be that they want the king to pardon Absalom of the murder that he committed Okay Now when when David gives in and says, yeah, no one's gonna touch him. It's gonna be okay. What is he doing? He's essentially securing the safety of Absalom right now look at verse number 12 it says then the woman said let that handmaid I pray thee speak one word unto my lord the king and he said say on and the woman said Wherefore then hast thou thought such a thing against the people of God for the king doth speak this thing as one which is faulty And that the king does not fetch home again his banished Finally the the truth comes out and he basically says well, you know if you're willing to pardon my son Who you know committed this crime and say that no one's gonna touch him then? Why don't you fetch Absalom and make sure and you secure his safety as well? Okay, very tricky here And it says in verse 14 for we must needs die and ours water spilt on the ground which cannot be gathered up again Neither does God respect any persons yet doth he devise means that his banished be not expelled from him now Let's talk about a couple things here. Let's give some application First of all, she says that it says water spilt on the ground Now, what does that refer to well, you know I preached a sermon a couple years ago called as water spilt on the ground and I explained essentially that when you spill water on The ground you can't gather back together. It's just the damage is done right and what she's referring to is the fact that Absalom killing Amnon is a situation where the damage has been done. There's no reconciling that anymore You know, sometimes there are certain situations in life where maybe you messed up or you know Someone messed up or did something wrong and you know what? There's always forgiveness and there's always a even opportunity to forget but sometimes the damage is so bad There's no coming back from that right? It says water Spilt on the ground which cannot be gathered again Now you say well, what's the point of that? You know, are you trying to give me hope? Well, I'm trying to warn those who have not yet spilt the water Okay, those are you young people who haven't screwed up your lives You haven't you know gotten involved in drugs gotten involved in drinking you haven't gotten involved in fornication You haven't gotten involved in some wicked sin that can take you out of God's will and destroy your life You essentially still have the water in the bottle You know what the moment you decide well I'm gonna just spread a little here and spread a little there then here's the thing You're not gonna be able to gather that up together Once you decide to sleep around and whore around and be a whore monger Okay, that water spilt on the ground. Just just just kind of see that as your purity and your virginity You can't gather back back together again. Once it's spilled to spill right your purity is spilled. It's gone You can't gather it back up to get again. Okay, and there's so many conflicts that people can have Situations decisions that they've made and I guarantee you the room I'm not saying the room is filled with this tonight But I'm sure there's a lot of people tonight that can look back and say you know what? There's a situation in my life that at the end of the day. It can't be fixed. There's no fixing it You know what? I mean? I can still serve God. I can still love the Lord I can still succeed in the Christian life But this aspect of my life is like water spilt on the ground that cannot be gathered to get Excuse me, cannot be gathered again. Okay, and so this is a warning to you young people to make sure That you are vigilant you walk circumspectly and listen to your parents One of the greatest things you could do as a young person is You give heed to the advice of your parents, okay, obviously if your parents are telling you to do something sinful You know, that's not what I'm referring to. It's like well, my dad said, you know a couple beers here and there It's not gonna hurt anybody You know, obviously that's wrong. Obviously, that's foolish and you know, I don't think anybody in this room is placed in that situation. Okay However, you know, there's a lot of good advice that parents give even if they're not saved my friends Okay, even if they're not saved they don't have the Word of God and I can't speak for everyone here But listen to me in general Parents do lead you in the right direction. And even if your parents are not fundamental Baptists, they don't believe the Bible They're not zealous for the things of God as you are just mere subjection to your parents brings God's blessing upon your life Okay mere obedience to your unsaved parents Will essentially give you longevity of life according to the Bible, okay Listen to your parents, you know if your parents tell you hey, you know, don't date this girl Don't say well I want to though. I love her Don't be like an amnib Okay, because you know what your parents have been around the block. They know things they they have Wisdom they have experience and maybe they see something in that girl There is not necessarily what's best for you and you can't see beyond tomorrow and so it's best to just listen to mom listen to dad about that guy or that girl and You don't want to be looking seven years down the road and look back and look at the the water that was spilt on The ground that cannot be gathered again Okay, and so, you know, this is a scary warning and you know what David understands this Because he can't bring amnim back he can't go back to that rooftop where he saw Bathsheba bathing and Like look away and just not commit that wicked sin of adultery and not murder your right that's been done with He spilt that water in the ground. It's over and done with he's reaping the consequences of his actions You know, you know what, you know what helps us to stay right with God Obviously looking at God's blessings and seeing how God will bless you for your obedience But you know what also helps us to get right with God and stay right with God fearing God or fearing the consequences of our actions Nothing wrong with looking at a decision and saying what are the consequences to this if I commit this sin? If I if I you know take this action, what is this gonna do to me in the long run? You know, the Bible says that the prudent man for seeth evil and hide it himself. Are you prudent today? Are you actually foreseeing the evil in 2023? In your spiritual life in your marriage with your children, you know at work here in church You know God expects for us to actually take into account the actions that we are planning to make the decisions that we're planning to do Because all actions have consequences Okay, and again, you don't want to look back and just see water spilt on the ground and just be regretful Oh, man, I wish I'd made a better decision. Oh, man. I wish I had done this. It's too late It's too late It's too late David. You already made the decision You sin your son's dead and your other son is banished. I mean David was a godly man He's a man who loved the Lord. He's a man after God's own heart, but you know what? He was a bad father though He sucked as a dad. Let's just be honest with you. Okay, his parenting was terrible. He was a good king You wrote a lot of good Psalms You know, I mean we sing them He was a great warrior He he's one of the favored characters in the Old Testament But this is one little thing that he just lacked on and that was his parenting. Okay he obviously was a bad parent and didn't take these things into account and so she she just has this boldness to just kind of like confront him to the face about this and Say basically that she's talking about him now I want you to notice verse 14 look what it says for we must needs die and are as water spilt on the ground Which cannot be gathered up again? Listen to this neither does God respect any person Yet that he devised means that is banished be not expelled from him So she's obviously trying to make a comparison here and say, you know, even when God punishes his children When they're away from him, he devises means by which to reconcile his children once again unto him right and What is this referring to? Well, you know just the the the the phrase here Can be essentially explained as you know We as God's children save people when we sin we do wrong when we get out of God's will we don't lose our salvation Obviously this is impossible to lose it The Bible says I give it to them eternal life and listen to this they shall never perish Neither shall any man including yourself? Pluck them out of my hand Saying he's given eternal life Bible tells us he that believeth on the Sun hath everlasting life He that believeth not the Sun shall not see life But the wrath of God abideth on him one of the strongest Passages or concepts and doctrines in the Bible regards to salvation to prove you can't lose it is the fact that once we get saved We become what children of God? But as many as receive them John 1 12 But as many as receive them to them gave you power to become the sons of God even unto them that believe on his name You know the Bible tells us in 1 John chapter 3 You know what behold what manner of love the Father had bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons of God okay, and Don't you know just kind of overstep that those those passages because it's essentially telling us It's proof that we can never lose that gift You say well, how do you know, you know? Well because of the fact that you know, my mom I can never stop being my mom's son I can never stop being my father's son Even if we don't get along which we do. Okay, put that out there, you know, let's say we don't get along. We're fighting We're just you know We have conflict and and whatnot. I can't change the DNA in my arm in my my body You know to say that I'm not their child their offspring I will always be their offspring even if the relationship isn't right Well in like manner when you get saved you become a child of God and you can't change that you become regenerated and You say well, what are you saying though? Are you saying you can just sin and nothing will ever happen to you? And this is a common accusation that people will bring to us because we believe in once they've always saved They'll say you're saying that you can believe on Jesus Christ and just live however you want with no consequences But you know what you can scour hundreds of my sermons that I've never said that before and No one here actually believes that at all. Okay, you know what we believe is if you believe on Jesus Christ for salvation You'll never lose your salvation. However, God will chastise you on this earth He will punish you the Bible says whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth and scourgeth listen to this every son whom he receiveth So if you're a Christian And you're living in the world. You're you're getting involved in sin You're a fornicator You're acting like a whore or whatever may be as the Bible puts it The Bible says if you're not punished for that the Bible actually says in Hebrew chapter 12, then are you bastards in those sons? and a bastard is someone who's illegitimate and The the interpretation of that is that you're not saved, right? you know, for example, I remember a couple months ago someone came to our church and They thought they were saved, you know, but but they weren't We I had asked her a couple questions and she just you know She felt like she you could lose it and there's a bunch of things you have to do to keep it and whatnot But then they give her the gospel She ended up getting saved. But prior to that she said well, here's my number one reason why I know I'm saved You know, she's like because I've been involved in all kinds of sin and God's never punished me for it She's Like I've never actually suffered any like punishment for the sins that I've committed and I'm like, well, you know what? That's it That's actually an indication that you're not saved and I went to Hebrew chapter 12 and I showed her what the Bible says She was like, oh man, I didn't know that I'm like, yeah, you know cuz God's not gonna chastise Someone who's not his child you understand, but if you are his child if you are a safe person You know, he is going to punish you here on this earth He's gonna allow you to suffer the consequences of your actions and let me say this when God chastises you you know it Okay, he hit you where it hurts whether it's in your health your finances Whatever may be God allows punishment to come upon you for your disorder for your open rebellion and disobedience Against him now. Listen what it says. It says that he devises means right That is banished be not expelled from him This is referring to God So this means that even when a person gets away from God he devises means to essentially get those who have been expelled Essentially to be reconciled back up to him So, you know when someone gets away from God they get out of church they get away from the Bible They get away from godly living Don't worry about it Because God is already devising means to get that person back on track Okay, now we often think you know Oh, we got to love that person and be kind to that person and show the love of God to that person Actually, what you need to do is just pray that God punishes that person You're like why because that's what gets their attention best You know if they're out there and they're succeeding and they're doing well they have no reason to get back into God's will They're like look I could be an open rebellion and everything's going great But folks anybody who has been outside of God's will for any length of time can tell you God's punishment or anybody who's been out of the will of God and then They were reconciled back into the will of God They can tell you you know what this happened to me and it got my attention And it made me get back on track and made me get back into church and back into the will of God Why because God devises means by which to do so, okay? He's not a respecter of persons He said what if that person just refuses that punishment though like they just refuse to repent refuse to get right well Did you know that God kills people? Now he kills unsaved people But you know what he also kills his own people too because the Bible says in Romans chapter 12 You know avenge not yourselves vengeance belongeth unto me saith the Lord I will repay and he's referring to like your enemies and my enemies however in Hebrew chapter 10 He quotes that same exact verse, and then he says the Lord will judge his people So that that verse applies to you as much as it applies to your enemies as well God will strike vengeance upon you for your disobedience for your Rebellion against him for your unwillingness to get right with God. He will strike you with vengeance, okay? Why because he devised means by which you know he can Essentially reconcile his banished once again and So she's saying this because of the fact that you know she's basically telling David you should be this way devise a way To get Absalom back into you know your graces back to Jerusalem Reconcile this fix this okay 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 my handmaid said I will now speak unto the king It may be that the king will perform the request of his handmaid But the king will hear to deliver his handmaid out of the hand of the man that will destroy me and my son together out of the inheritance of God Then the dine handmaid said the word of my lord the king shall now be comfortable For as an angel of God so as my lord the king to discern good and bad therefore the Lord thy God Will be with thee now I want you to pay attention to verse 18 Then the king answered and said unto the woman hide not from me I pray thee the thing that I shall ask thee 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 So he's like this is this is very very sneaky of you to say all this It has Joel abs fingerprints all over it So he's like you know you asked me something. I'm gonna ask you something the jaw put you to this now What does this tell you it shows us? That David is very familiar With Joe abs tactics and methods. He's very familiar with his deceit with his his cunning behavior You know the fact that he's discreet and not in a good way He obviously sees that Joe ab is not a good person and that he's essentially the one who put This woman up to this okay, 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 ought that my lord the king had spoken for thy servant job He bade me and he put all these words in my mouth of thine handmaid To fetch about this form of speech and so on and so forth so she's basically saying you know what? Everything I told you came from the mouth of Joe ab so you know even after she confronts him She even says later on like oh, man these people want to kill me because of my sons But that's not even true because she doesn't even have this this is these are all it's a fake story Okay It's a fake story that came from the mouth of Joe ab now I Want to talk a little bit about the fact that? when David Brings Absalom back because you know he goes to Joe ab and he says go get Absalom fine Go get him bring him back, and then Joe ab is just like oh King. You know and he's like praising him He's just kind of flattering him, and he's happy about it or whatever but then Absalom comes back and He stays in Jerusalem for a full two years Without ever seeing his father's face He said what's the problem with that? Well, this is a partial reconciliation Okay, and I think this teaches a really important principle when it comes to conflict okay? You see when we have conflict with in with our children and marriage with one another It's important that we resolve the conflict immediately and listen to this completely not partially Okay When you chastise your children for their disobedience to you? Chastisement is only one part of the equation Spanking your child is only one part of the equation. He said what's the other part actually reconciling with them? Confirming your love toward them and You know actually talking to them and letting them know that it's forgiven and forgotten you see when we sin against God and The Bible tells us that if we confess our sins He's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness You know one thing that God doesn't do he doesn't keep rubbing our sin in our faces Right he doesn't loom over us over our failures Who does that Satan does that he's the accuser of the Brethren right? God doesn't do that as soon as you're forgiven you're forgiven. It's all done with let's move on. Let's keep serving God and You know the mercies of the Lord are new every day the Bible says So whatever happened yesterday is all done with and if you've confessed that you got it right with God you repented guess what today's a new day and You can serve God and being his good graces and experience the love of God in your life And and and serve him with the clear conscience why because when God resolves a conflict he resolves it just immediately Just like it's over and done with he separated your transgressions as far as East is from West He's cast them into the deepest part of the ocean never to be remembered again I mean he's constantly reiterating the fact that once you get right with God. It's over and done with We need to follow that pattern my friends, okay? Let me give you some examples. Okay way to apply this You know when you spank your children You know there shouldn't be Blocks of time after the spanking where you just don't talk to your kids or something You know growing up. I didn't grow up in a Christian home. It was kind of like that. You know I mean You know it's just you catch a really bad whooping Like one of those really bad ones you know And I deserved it For sure looking back. I'm like yeah, I deserved that for sure You know, but there's times when I got whoopings, and then you know like we didn't talk to each other for like three days or something And Even when we started talking it wasn't like hey, I'm sorry You know forgive me. It was like. There's your food eat it. You know come out for dinner Or something you know and then that was like our way of like okay now. We're in talking terms again Understand and it wasn't just with Mike my mom who's like that with my siblings as well Anytime my siblings, and I would fight would get in a really big argument or a physical altercation of some sort You know and we were at odds one against one another No, you know once it was resolved or once someone got beat up or something like that You know it would the conflict was not resolved because there was no apologies There was no confirming one loved one toward another it was just this this awkward silence between one another for like a couple days and Then you just bring up something random, and then now you're on talking terms again or something Okay How many you know what I'm to or am I the only one who is who went through that abuse? Am I you guys know what I'm talking about okay? And one of the reasons why is because you know just unsaved people don't know how to resolve conflict and it's awkward and You know and and but here's the thing as parents we need to resolve conflict immediately after chastisement because we create we can create Bitterness and anxiety in the life of your child Because then they're just like you know Are they still mad at me am I still in trouble am I still gonna get it? You know what's there's this there's this constant question looming in their minds as to like what's gonna happen now You know I mean, and then when dinner's on the table, and you're addressed and not in relation to your crime You're like okay I think everything's okay now you know and then you just you know you eat And then maybe like a month later you guys are good again or something like that you know But you know you need to make sure that When you chastise your child because obviously we want to place a heavy emphasis on on chastising children because the Bible teaches us that amen The Bible says if you don't spank your child, then you hate your child so the Bible says okay It's important that parents chastise their children But here's the thing it's equally as important to make sure that conflict is resolved even after that Okay, you say well. What do you mean by that? Well when the spanking is done There needs to be reconciliation forgiveness Confirming your love for your children hugging them helping them to move on from the conflict. That's what they need okay, and So it's not just like you know and by the way spanking you know should only be on the bottom Okay You know don't take that that spanking so far It's just like well for me is five across the face or something like that you know and You know that people do that you know it's the ringing of the hair It's smacking across the mouth or whatever you know now. You know I get it you know there's some teenagers and some adults today that need a smack across the mouth sometimes and It's just like you need a smack across the mouth because you were never spanked on the bottom when you're a little That's what it is So you spank them on the bottom when they're younger. They don't need a smack across the mouth when they're older You know I mean especially this generation this younger generation coming out They just have no fear of people because they've never been punched in the mouth You know I mean like I've been punched in the mouth, and it taught me things The pain taught me like you know what I'm not gonna open my mouth like that again I'm not gonna say the wrong thing to the wrong person. I don't want my mouth to call for strokes amen And so obviously there's there's a lot of rebellious people out there disrespectful people I mean folks social media is filled with accounts that literally thrive on pranks I mean really bad pranks Where they're just disrespecting strangers left and right now given some of them are staged I get that, but I don't think all of them are staged though I've seen some pretty crazy ones where it's just like this person's gonna get killed one day This is one guy who's just like he goes to Some of the most ghetto areas Yes, I already know where I'm going with this they go to some of the most ghetto areas And he just approaches like some gang member looking guy as if he's gonna like fight him and the guy like pulls out a gun He's like oh, it's just a prank. It's a prank. It's a prank. It's like all that for views You're gonna die Doing something stupid like that But it's created a culture in our society Where young people are not afraid to disrespect their elders to disrespect Just any Joe Schmoe on the street and just mouth off to anybody because they were not disciplined when they were younger Okay You know I'm you say why are you a pastor not a gang member because I got whooped when I was younger You know one of the reasons I got saved is because of the fact that my mom actually disciplined me She spanked me, and it delivered my soul from hell. It taught me that life has consequences now You know she didn't do it the fundamental Baptist way Per se you know what I mean on the bottom. She she was very creative in her disciplines She had various weapons that she would use And Obviously, I'm not condoning that at all, but you know what if You say if you could go back would you change that no I wouldn't You know if I could choose between no Spanx at all or those types of Spanx I would now if I were to choose that now I would say I'll still It still taught me something amen and So I don't know where I was going with that, but it's always good to talk about Disciplining your children discipline their children your children, so they don't become brats later on when they grow up spoiled disrespectful brats Okay, you know spoiled disrespectful teenagers that don't know how to shake a grown man's hand Yes, sir. No, sir. Yes, ma'am. No ma'am, and just you know think that they could just live life without any consequence whatsoever This is not the way to live my friends Teach your children to be respectful Punish them and chastise them discipline them when they do wrong Okay However once that punishment has been distributed Reconciliation is a need okay Confirming your love towards them because at the end of the day They know they need some form of discipline for their actions But they want to know that they're in right standings with you thereafter okay, and So once the discipline has been issued you need to make sure you reconcile Thereafter love them move on take them out for ice cream play with them, whatever well, how about in marriage well You know what marriage is the same thing? Because you know a husband and wife you know It's like the flesh versus the spirit And depending how you're wired you might be the flesh you might be the spirit I'm just kidding. You know there's there's conflict in marriage as well, okay, and You know obviously there's no discipline in marriage, okay? It's just like who's the disciplinary in this you know situation here, but obviously there's gonna be conflicts and when there's conflict Reconciliation is in need don't let the don't let the Sun go down upon your wrath men okay, it was like all right my wife made me so upset and she did X Y & Z and You know now. I know why the Bible says be not bitter against them Because I'm bitter right now don't let the Sun go down upon your wrath though Grow up suck it up Don't be a victim Well she needs to understand my needs shut up and get up and go to work Go get some go get some sleep go apologize to your wife Go have harmony in your home and go to work tomorrow and forget about the whole thing thereafter Okay, look I understand that in marriage Disrespectful things are said sometimes or There's conflict, but you know what we can't just allow conflict to go unresolved perpetually Okay, and if you want harmony in your home if you want peace in your home It's important that the man of the house the one who's in charge the boss The Lord I mean what else can I say here the head honcho the big cheese? What else what the hefe Come on. Give me another one the king of the home of course the 15 year olds gonna He picks the highest position in the land Surprised he didn't say like God or something you know you know the king Now these are all great titles right oh, but hold on a second it's important for that man to initiate And go apologize and have you know Benevolence towards his spouse towards his wife, and you said well, what if she was wrong? We'll just be the bigger man and just say look. I'm sorry and And you know what who cares whose fault it is You know when it's my wife's fault, and this is you know often of course You Know Even if it's my wife's fault, and she's the one guilty of something I Don't even care honestly. I just want to get along with my wife So I'll often tell her like you know what I'm just sorry for my attitude towards you That's what I'll tell her I'm sorry because I've had a really bad spirit towards you because of you know X Y & Z or whatever and And I'm really sorry you know what that provokes her to apologize as well And it's not like we're just trying to get the last word in either. You know I mean you're like. I'm sorry, but Just want to say this though I'll finish with this you know you know X Y & Z I didn't really like what he said that but I guess you know oh We just apologize we kiss and make up and then we just move on with our lives thereafter Why because it's important you don't have to get the last word in in your marriage You don't need to get the last word in because this is not a competition of who could be the better spouse You guys are a team. We're a team working towards the same goal fighting against the same enemy and no I'm not talking about your spouse Talk about the world the flesh and the devil So instead of trying to get the last word in really trying to figure out who started it all just Apologize and say you know what I messed up forgive me And you know what when you're willing to be the bigger man and do that guess what your wife will be the bigger woman Right and do the same and then also apologize and say you know what I messed up, too I shouldn't have said this or I shouldn't have done that and then it's just more important to actually resolve the conflict my friends Instead of just trying to get the last word in You know what in marriage your marriage could just improve that much better if you just realize don't try to get the last word in It man it's quiet. I'm gonna. I'm done on this chapter. I'm gonna spend the rest of the sermon on this You don't have to get the last word in I know you're an apologist I know you can come up with all types of good arguments. I know you've memorized Ephesians 5 You know, but you know you need to just humble yourself and just say I'm sorry Forgive me because it's far more important to just resolve the conflict Than to perpetuate a conflict where you're the right one and She's the wrong one or vice-versa And you just want to make sure that she understands that you want to make sure that he understands that you know I thought the Bible says that to allow yourself to be what? defrauded Isn't that what the Bible says? Doesn't the Bible teach us that we should? practice being defrauded What does that mean allow yourself to be wrong sometimes? I mean think about everything that happened to Jesus Christ He didn't deserve any of it, but he allowed himself to be defrauded You know it would do you good to allow yourself to be defrauded sometimes even in your marriage Where your your wife does you wrong or something like that or you know? She made some comment about how chunky you are or something and you know She made fun of you somehow, and then you hurt your little feelings You know it ruined your day or whatever And just say you know what I am a little chunky So be it you know Then go eat a cheeseburger afterwards And drown away your sorrows in fast food or something you know I'm just saying you know we need to develop thick skin in marriage too and Not allow you know days and weeks or hours to just go by without resolving Conflict okay As soon as it happens resolve it and and here's the thing you know especially if you have children in the home Children need to see the parents can resolve conflicts That dad can apologize That mom can apologize that you know that there's harmony there Because one of the biggest things that children need listen to this is security And I know this is the most interesting sermon you've ever heard in your life, okay? And so that's why I'm spending more time on this, but this is important Okay Children require security, and you know what they get security from seeing mom and dad love each other and get along But when there's division in marriage when there's division between a husband and wife that causes insecurity in a child Because we're essentially the the foundation of their security They depend on us to have everything together, okay? And look you may be in this room you think to yourself none of this applies to me because i'm either divorced or i'm not Married or whatever, but you know what there's some who are married There's some who are gonna get married, and you need to give heed to this warning here And and practice this in your marriage resolving conflict how about in church You better resolve conflict in church, too You know you got beef with someone in our church or something because they took the last cookie And you know they knew that you wanted it Or whatever and they did it to spite you allow yourself to be defrauded of that cookie You can go without a cookie every once in a while too probably need to go without some cookies Right everyone's all afraid to say amen say, amen Fear not You have good courage You know someone Disrespects you or says something about you You know let it be like water off a duck's back And you know i've realized that and obviously i'm not saying that someone is just blatantly disrespectful And they're just kind of being like a nuisance that's different i'm just saying people who don't necessarily practice a whole lot of discretion And maybe they say something that hurts your feelings let it be like water off the duck's back Don't think so highly of yourself That it's just the greatest offense that you can ever experience and you're going to stop coming to this church because of this one person You need to start going to this church because of this one person which is jesus amen And stop allowing that one person to just get you out of church You know uh and i'm gonna speak to the ladies too because this often happens with ladies more often than with men All right, and I know it's gonna get a little quiet in here. You know sometimes ladies have conflict with one with another They get you know home girls fighting with this home girl and this girl is mad at this lady And then you know this lady said and you got your little clicks going on in church Gang a is against gang b You know because you know because one of them walked into church and just kind of looked at them all weird or something like that And now it's just like there's conflict get over it grow up. This is a church This isn't high school This isn't junior high Be kind one to another Tender-hearted forgiving one another even as god for christ's sake hath forgiven you Stop being a little junior higher and go to that person who you're mad at, you know, because they stole your bbf I don't know What did girls get mad at anyway? I don't know whatever ladies get mad at each other for Go resolve that and say you know what? I'm sorry for saying this. I'm sorry for looking at you like this You know, let's be friends again. We're christians here my friends Now I shouldn't address the men You know what I mean because this should not be happening with the guys I don't think it's happening with the guys But you know what if that's happening with the guys you not only need to grow up you need to stop being so soft and effeminate too Okay Stop acting like a little girl and getting your feelings hurt anytime. Someone says something or whatever, you know what I mean? You're a man grow up have some thick skin Love the brothers love the brotherhood in the church. Amen And that's it and resolve conflict look, at least we don't have a uh, you know, We don't have a rule here that you have to fight or something every time you guys get That's how people things used to get resolved back in the day If there's like a conflict there was an alley where everyone to go to in high school, and then you just duke it out Okay blood and all We don't have a but maybe we should have no I'm just kidding That would actually do good to a lot of the people in our church actually no, I'm just kidding We don't have that but you know, what you could do is just be a man and go to that person and say hey I'm really sorry about what I said I'm sorry that I offended you, you know, and and and don't be like but you did do this though It's more important to resolve conflict than to try to perpetuate a conflict because you want to be the person with the last word okay, be the bigger man be a Christian be filled with the spirit and Understand that we have a common enemy and no it's not one another Okay, and so I spent a lot of time on that because this is what David's doing, you know, he he has his partial reconciliation Where Absalom is back, but he doesn't see his father's face for a whole two years. That's sad It's very sad. Okay, and it shouldn't be that way and obviously that Created bitterness within Absalom and and he was upset at that look at verse number 25 Says but in all 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 so he would be considered a good-looking guy and the reason I think the Bible's mentioning this is because Outwardly he has essentially the Qualifications that Israel will require for a king, you know, because if you remember Saul was head and shoulders above everyone else he looked like he was gonna be a king and So essentially Absalom has the advantage here because Israel likes him because he just looks like he would be a king, right? He just has all these physical qualities and when he pulled his head meaning he cut his his hair 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 now I think the reason the Bible is mentioning this Is to show us that Absalom is just a rebel He's a disobedient Rebellious person say why because men ought not to have long hair. Amen You know does not nature even teach you that if a man have long hair it is a shame unto him That's what the Bible says. And in fact when a man has long hair He's essentially indicating that he is usurping his God-given authority understand Which is exactly what Absalom is gonna do if he's growing out his hair He has all this long hair or whatever and he pulls it every year, but he's just letting it grow He's a person who's not necessarily under authority and we'll see that later on because he ends up taking over the kingdom and Persecuting his own father Okay, and so cut your hair, you know, and and obviously, you know, the Bible doesn't give us a length. Okay How long your hair should be so here's a good rule of thumb To know if your hair's too long as a guy, okay When you're walking away from someone do they have to question whether you're a guy or a girl? Right, that's a good indicator Because God wants distinction between man and a woman and part of that is our hair You know now obviously we live in a day and age. We're like girls even get fades and stuff like that Okay, those are the outliers But you know if someone's wondering what you are from behind because of your hair that means it's time to cut it, okay So this guy is like has long hair is obviously an indicator that he's not under authority Says the verse 27 apps unto Absalom with her born three sons and one daughter whose name was Tamar She was a woman of a fair counsel So he named his daughter after his half sit or after his sister Excuse me, so Absalom dwelled two full years in Jerusalem and saw not the king's face Therefore Absalom sent for Joab to have sent him to the king But he would not come to him and when he sent him again the second time he would not come Therefore he said unto his servants see Joab's field is near mine and he had barley there Go and set it on fire and Absalom's servants set the field on fire So Absalom is just like asking for Joab. Hey, I want to see my dad I want to see my dad and Joab just ignores him and he goes okay. I'll get your attention He lights his field on fire and then finally Joab comes now. This is a good principle to learn here, okay? Regarding conflict don't wait until your field is on fire Right You know you just just resolve it right away If there's a little fire in your marriage A little fire in your child rearing put it out immediately Because then you might deal with the field of fire later on or you have no choice, but to actually address the situation Okay Then Joab arose verse 31 and came to Absalom unto his house and said unto him Wherefore have thy servants set my field on fire and Absalom answered Joab behold I send 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 he's at a wits end. He's just like you know what? If I've done wrong to just kill me, okay, and this goes back to the whole conflict thing It's just like if parents don't say anything to their children It's just like I wish you would just spank me already like just get it over with just do it right now If I've done wrong Punish me kind of thing 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 at the ground before the king and the king kissed Absalom and they Live happily ever after no, they don't Because although it looks like they've reconciled. It's been seven years right And now David is gonna reap the consequences of not resolving the conflict immediately Outwardly it looks like everything's going well like okay, you know, he bowed himself before the king they're getting along David kisses him reconciliation wrong Because now Absalom has been brewing Regarding all this situation. We're gonna see in the next chapter that he ends up usurping the authority and trying to take over the kingdom Okay, very sad thing that's taking place here and David's family. Let us learn from this example folks The greatest lesson that we can learn from this chapter is to resolve the conflicts in your marriage immediately Resolve the conflicts with your child with your children immediately resolve conflicts with one another immediately Don't allow space to continue. Hey wives, if you're bitter towards your husband's go reconcile that immediately don't just bottle it up and Then you know you explode six months later and your husband was like wow I thought we were happy, but apparently you've been thinking about this for a very long time and Then you know sometimes wives like why I didn't want to bother you Yeah, but you're bottling it up though, and you're suppressing it and it's just gonna explode So just go tell your husband what you need to tell him reconcile it right away and vice versa You know husbands if you're upset at your wife or whatever if there's conflict go resolve it Go take care of it life is too short my friends To just be mad at your loved ones perpetually over some stupid little thing that you guys are fighting about. It's too short for that We are God's people we have bigger fish to fry And we need our marriages to be strong. We need our families to be strong We need our church to be strong and that requires individuals within those institutions to put out fires as soon as they start Not until the field is on fire Amen Inspire heads and have a word of prayer father. We thank you so much for your word Help us Lord as your people to resolve conflicts immediately Lord doesn't matter How big it is and there might be a field on fire today, but we should try to put it out because It could it could spread further and wider and destroy more resources and more lives And so Lord help us as your people not to hold grudges or bitterness or anger But that we would resolve things immediately Lord help us to be a people that practices this Not just in our marriage not just with our children, but even with one another in a church setting and abroad Lord We love you. We thank you pray these things in Jesus name. Amen All right, we have one last song song number 37, there'll be no dark valley Song 37 There'll be no dark valley Everyone all together nice and strong There'll be no dark valley When Jesus comes there'll be no dark valley When Jesus comes there'll be no dark valley When Jesus comes to gather his loved ones home Together his loved ones home To gather his loved ones home There'll be no dark valley when Jesus comes to gather his loved ones home There'll be no more sorrow when Jesus comes There'll be no more sorrow when Jesus comes But a glorious morrow when Jesus comes to gather his loved ones home To gather his loved ones home To gather his loved ones home There'll be no dark valley when Jesus comes to gather his loved ones home There'll be no more weeping when Jesus comes There'll be no more weeping when Jesus comes But a blessed reaping when Jesus comes To gather his loved ones home To gather his loved ones home To gather his loved ones home There'll be no dark valley when Jesus comes to gather his loved ones home There'll be songs of greeting when Jesus comes There'll be songs of greeting when Jesus comes And a joyful meeting when Jesus comes To gather his loved ones home To gather his loved ones home To gather his loved ones home There'll be no dark valley when Jesus comes To gather his loved ones home To gather his loved ones home