Sermon

2 Samuel 20 - A gory look at the horror of sin

West Kilburn Baptist Church - Sermons

Open publisher episode ↗

Publisher transcript

Transcript

View source ↗
  1. If you're visiting with us this morning, let me tell you that we have been working our way through the book of 2 Samuel together on Sunday mornings, and we have arrived at chapter 20.

  2. The story so far, in very, very brief terms, the story of 2 Samuel is the story of King David, Israel's most famous king.

  3. And in recent times, he has had a difficult time because his eldest son Absalom had rebelled against him, had turned him out of his palace, turned him out of Jerusalem, and taken the kingdom from him.

  4. Then what we found is that actually David and his army were able to conquer Absalom and his army.

  5. Absalom got caught in a tree by his hair and dangled there and was killed, and David recovered the kingdom and went back to Jerusalem.

  6. And that's where we left it, and now we're picking it up in chapter 20.

  7. So let me read 2 Samuel chapter 20 to you.

    2 Samuel 20 chapter mention

  8. Now, a troublemaker named Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjamite, happened to be there.

  9. He sounded the trumpet and shouted,

  10. We have no share in David, no part in Jesse's son, every man to his tent, Israel.

  11. So all the men of Israel deserted David to follow Sheba, son of Bichri.

  12. But the men of Judah stayed by their king all the way from the Jordan to Jerusalem.

  13. When David returned to his palace in Jerusalem, he took the ten concubines he had left to take care of the palace and put them in a house under guard.

  14. He provided for them, but had no sexual relations with them.

  15. They were kept in confinement till the day of their death, living as widows.

  16. Then the king said to Amasa,

  17. Summon the men of Judah and come to me within three days.

  18. Be here yourself.

  19. But when Amasa went to summon Judah, he took longer than the time the king had set for him.

  20. David said to Abishai,

  21. Now Sheba, son of Bichri, will do us more harm than Absalom did.

  22. Take your master's men and pursue him, or he'll find fortified cities and escape from us.

  23. So Joab's men and the Kerethites and the Pelethites and all the mighty warriors went out under the command of Abishai.

  24. They marched out from Jerusalem to pursue Sheba, son of Bichri.

  25. While they were at the great rock in Gibeon, Amasa came to meet them.

  26. Joab was wearing his military tunic and strapped over it at his waist was a belt with a dagger in its sheath.

  27. He stepped forward.

  28. It dropped out of its sheath.

  29. Joab said to Amasa,

  30. How are you, my brother?

  31. Then Joab took Amasa by the beard with his right hand to kiss him.

  32. Amasa was not on his guard against the dagger in Joab's hand,

  33. and Joab plunged it into his belly and his intestines spilled out on the ground.

  34. Without being stabbed again, Amasa died.

  35. Then Joab and his brother Abishai pursued Sheba, son of Bichri.

  36. One of Joab's men stood besides Amasa and said,

  37. Whoever favours Joab and whoever is for David, let him follow Joab.

  38. Amasa lay wallowing in his blood in the middle of the road,

  39. and the man saw that all the troops came to a halt there.

  40. When he realised that everyone who came up to Amasa stopped,

  41. he dragged him from the road into a field and threw a garment over him.

  42. After Amasa had been removed from the road,

  43. everyone went on with Joab to pursue Sheba, son of Bichri.

  44. Now Sheba passed through all the tribes of Israel to Abel Beth Malach,

  45. and through the entire region of the Bichrites,

  46. who gathered together and followed him.

  47. All the troops with Joab came and besieged Sheba in Abel Beth Maka.

  48. They built a siege ramp up to the city,

  49. and they stood against the outer fortifications.

  50. While they were battering the wall to bring it down,

  51. a wise woman called from the city,

  52. Listen! Listen! Tell Joab to come here so that I can speak to him.

  53. He went towards her, and she asked,

  54. Are you Joab?

  55. I am, he answered.

  56. She said, Listen to what your servant has to say.

  57. I am listening, he said.

  58. She continued,

  59. Long ago, they used to say,

  60. Get your answer at Abel.

  61. And that settled it.

  62. We are the peaceful and faithful in Israel.

  63. You are trying to destroy a city that is a mother in Israel.

  64. Why do you want to swallow up the Lord's inheritance?

  65. Far be it from me, Joab replied.

  66. Far be it from me to swallow up or destroy.

  67. That is not the case.

  68. A man named Sheba, son of Bichri,

  69. from the hill country of Ephraim,

  70. has lifted up his hand against the king, against David.

  71. Hand over this one man, and I will withdraw from the city.

  72. The woman said to Joab,

  73. His head will be thrown to you from the wall.

  74. Then the woman went to all the people with her wise advice,

  75. and they cut off the head of Sheba, son of Bichri,

  76. and threw it to Joab.

  77. So he sounded the trumpet,

  78. and his men dispersed from the city,

  79. each returning to his home.

  80. And Joab went back to the king in Jerusalem.

  81. Joab was over Israel's entire army.

  82. Benaniah, son of Jehoiada,

  83. was over the Kerithites and the Pelethites.

  84. Adoniram was in charge of the forced labor.

  85. Jehoshaphat, son of Ahilud, was recorder.

  86. Sheba was secretary.

  87. Zadok and Abitha were priests.

  88. And Ira the Jerrite was David's priest.

  89. Well, keep that passage open.

  90. Let me pray and ask for the Lord's help as we consider it together.

  91. Lord, we pray now, acknowledging our need of you and our weakness,

  92. we pray that you might help my words this morning to be useful and effective.

  93. We pray that you might be at work by your spirit in our hearts,

  94. that we might hear you speak to us from these ancient words.

  95. In Jesus' name, amen.

  96. Amen.

  97. What I want to try and show you this morning

  98. is that the horror of Amasa's murder

  99. is right at the center of the passage.

  100. In other words, I think that the really gruesome picture

  101. of a man by the side of the road,

  102. wallowing in his blood with the intestines spilled out,

  103. is exactly what 2 Samuel, inspired by the Spirit of God,

  104. wants us to be mostly thinking about this morning.

  105. And I want just to show you two ways that he does that for us this morning.

  106. The first one is by using some clever symmetry.

  107. Let me try and show you what I mean.

  108. If you look down at the passage,

  109. you might notice that it begins and ends with a trumpet sounding.

  110. In verse 1, Sheba, the son of Bichri, the Benjamite, blows a trumpet.

  111. We're told that he is a worthless man.

  112. He is a troublemaker.

  113. And he's from the same tribe as Saul.

  114. It's pretty clear that he wants nothing to do with David's kingdom.

  115. So he blows a trumpet to gather the troops for war.

  116. Then down in verse 22, at the end of the passage,

  117. Joab is also blowing a trumpet to bring the fight to an end.

  118. By this point, Sheba's head has been thrown over the wall of the city of Abel.

  119. And so Joab's mission is completed.

  120. But the symmetry continues.

  121. Not only does the story begin and end in the same way,

  122. if you come to the next verses, to verse 3,

  123. we are told how David deals with his concubines who Absalom has defiled.

  124. David makes them live in widowhood.

  125. I don't think we're to understand here that David is being cruel.

  126. Rather, I think we're to understand that these women are innocently caught up

  127. and damaged by all that is going on.

  128. Now, dealing with those innocent women is matched in symmetry

  129. by what goes on towards the end of the passage,

  130. that Joab's pursuit of Sheba is concluded not by him,

  131. but also by another innocent woman, the wise woman of Abel.

  132. Sheba has fled to that city for safety,

  133. and Joab and his men are trying to pull the city down to get him out.

  134. And this wise woman calls to Joab, telling him,

  135. listen, this city that you're just about to destroy,

  136. this is a good place.

  137. We are good people.

  138. We are faithful people.

  139. And you are destroying and swallowing up part of Israel's heritage.

  140. I'll be it for me, says Joab.

  141. All I'm after is that one guy.

  142. She says, leave it with me.

  143. And she goes to the city and she says,

  144. if we throw this guy's head over the wall,

  145. everything will be all right.

  146. And so she does that.

  147. And then so you've got the symmetry between that woman

  148. and the innocent concubines caught up in the mess of Absalom.

  149. And she, coming further in, the symmetry continues.

  150. So then back at the beginning of the passage in verse four,

  151. you've got David telling Amasa,

  152. who he's appointed over his army to gather the troops.

  153. He's given a deadline to do it.

  154. And verse five tells you that he tries to do it,

  155. but he can't seem to get it together.

  156. He doesn't return in the requisite three days.

  157. And David asks Abishai in the end to gather the army.

  158. The people follow the old commander,

  159. who David has tried to sack, Joab later on in the story.

  160. It's matched then in symmetry with Joab's success

  161. in verses 11 and 15,

  162. that he is able to gather an army where the other guy, Amasa, was not able to.

  163. So there you go.

  164. You've got symmetry working in.

  165. And that means that right at the heart of the story,

  166. you have this really unpleasant murder of Amasa by Joab,

  167. Amasa's body wallowing in its blood.

  168. But it's not just the symmetry that makes this point.

  169. It also makes sense of why there is so much detail at this point of the story.

  170. The story really slows down as we think what we're reading is the story of another coup against David.

  171. But it turns out that it's not really about that at all.

  172. Actually, where the story really slows down is by the great rock of Gibeon.

  173. Now, the great rock of Gibeon in verse 8 is only a few miles north of Jerusalem.

  174. Abel, the city that they're traveling to eventually, is right up in the far north of the region.

  175. So the point the writer's making to you is, listen, they haven't got very far yet.

  176. They've only just set off.

  177. So Amasa might be late, but he's not actually that late.

  178. Not late enough to justify what happens.

  179. Next then, in a kind of weird turn of events, you get the detail of Joab's outfit.

  180. It's Joab, we're told, is wearing a soldier's uniform, which is perhaps not that surprising given what his job is and given where he's going.

  181. But the writer wants you to know that his uniform is held together by a belt, a belt which has a sword, probably a dagger attached to it.

  182. And then you're given the detail of Joab's kind of military skill and cunning.

  183. He seems deliberately to allow the dagger to fall to the ground as he approaches Amasa.

  184. Oh, it just fell out on the floor just in front of him.

  185. Interesting detail.

  186. He picks it up with his left hand, which again just seems a slightly pointless detail.

  187. But in a world of right handedness, someone holding a sword in their left hand meant that they weren't going to attack you because they couldn't.

  188. But that means that Amasa is unguarded when Joab goes in for a kiss, holding his beard with his right hand and goes to kiss him and then stabs him in the stomach with his left hand and spills his intestines to the ground.

  189. No second blow, you're told, as if you needed that detail.

  190. Amasa's guts are on the floor.

  191. He's dead, wallowing in his blood.

  192. Now, I know that that's gross.

  193. In fact, it's so gross, isn't it?

  194. Verse 12 is so gross that people walking past get kind of distracted by Amasa.

  195. So much so that they get held up and one of Joab's men ends up pulling his body out of the way and covering him up so that people aren't distracted.

  196. But for you and I, as we read the story, what we're to notice is that the whole story is swinging on Amasa's death.

  197. Not so much, I don't think, because the writer of 2 Samuel is like some kind of horrible histories guy who thinks that these physical gruesomeness are the funny parts of history and you might be mostly interested in that.

  198. No, the point is that you notice the wickedness of this.

  199. The writer is saying to you, listen, notice Amasa in his blood, because if you notice that and see what's going on there, you will see a portrait of the sinfulness of sin, the wickedness of wickedness.

  200. Chadwick and Freeman, who are two scholars, have written a book on the manners and customs of the Bible.

  201. An interesting book, I am sure, but I only really looked at this bit about Joab's actions.

  202. They say this of Joab's actions, taking hold of someone's beard and kissing his cheek was customary oriental greeting.

  203. Just for the record, it's not a greeting today.

  204. Don't do this to me at the door or to anyone else who has a beard.

  205. So taking hold of someone's beard and kissing them on the cheek was a customary oriental greeting.

  206. By so doing, Joab showed the base treachery of his heart by coming to Amasa as a friend and thus entirely concealing his murderous intent.

  207. This is the wickedness of wickedness.

  208. The wickedness is supposed to shock you.

  209. Here is not so much a gruesome murder or not just a gruesome murder, but a selfish, self-interested commander.

  210. An army commander who is so angry at his demotion from army captain that he is willing to take matters into his own hands, literally slaughtering in cold blood.

  211. A man who is on his side, who he pretended to be friendly with.

  212. In other words, the horror at the center of the passage is not just the blood and guts of Amasa, but the horror of Joab's heart.

  213. The human heart, that it can be so full of its own self-importance, its own desires for glory, that it would go to such lengths of deception that we see here.

  214. Now, I think it's probably fair to say that if Joab had read 2 Samuel, he would be quite shocked by this definition of the events.

  215. Right. I think if Joab was writing 2 Samuel chapter 20, he wouldn't focus here, would he?

    2 Samuel 20 chapter mention

  216. I'm sure the focus would be on the way that he was able to gather the troops in a way that Amasa was not able to.

  217. I don't suppose Joab was a journaling type, right?

  218. He doesn't have that kind of aura about him, does he?

  219. But if he did write a journal, he'd write, dear diary, today, I smashed it.

  220. Absolutely smashed it.

  221. Amasa, worthless guy.

  222. Rubbish.

  223. He wasn't able to gather the troops.

  224. I was.

  225. I was.

  226. I persuaded the city of Abel to throw the head of this nasty guy, Sheba, over the wall.

  227. I absolutely killed it today.

  228. It was amazing.

  229. I think that's what he'd think.

  230. But when, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the history actually gets written, what do we find?

  231. Well, God is not so concerned with a day of victory, but a day of treachery.

  232. And so much so that the sinfulness of Joab's heart becomes the focus of 2 Samuel 20.

  233. I think there's a metaphor, isn't there, for this in the way that Amasa's body is pulled off the road and covered up with a garment, which stops people seeing it.

  234. It's like the definition of an inadequate cover-up of sin.

  235. You know, he, like, just drags the body out of the way and throws a coat over it, as if that covers it over.

  236. But it doesn't really, does it?

  237. Because the whole story is focused in on it.

  238. You can't hide the wickedness of Joab's heart by dragging the body to the side and throwing the coat over it.

  239. Now, that I suggest to you is the story, but think with me, what does it mean?

  240. What does it mean?

  241. Why would you have a story like this in the Bible?

  242. Why is that the focus of the passage?

  243. Well, let me suggest to you that the detail of the passage is here,

  244. because the question that you and I are being posed with this morning from 2 Samuel 20 is this.

  245. Where is your Amasa?

  246. Where is your Amasa?

  247. What is it that you or I in selfish envy have done that we've dragged off to the side of the road

  248. and thrown a blanket over it in the hope that no one will notice?

  249. Because 2 Samuel 20 wants to say, no, let's just bring that back into focus for a moment.

  250. Let's not ignore it.

  251. Let's not think that it doesn't matter.

  252. Let's talk for an uncomfortable moment about the wickedness of sin.

  253. You see, I think the uncomfortable truth is that for all of us,

  254. our lives are actually littered with the evidence of envy, pride and self-interest.

  255. And though we tell ourselves that it doesn't matter,

  256. 2 Samuel 20 wants to stop us in our tracks and say,

  257. I know you think this doesn't matter very much,

  258. but pause, will you, and think about it and think about the horror of it.

  259. Let me try and show you how Jesus makes the same point in Mark chapter 7.

    Mark 7 chapter mention

  260. You might want to turn to it in your Bibles.

  261. It will come up on the screen behind us.

  262. But Mark chapter 7, Mark chapter 7, it's on page 1010.

    Mark 7 chapter mention Mark 7 chapter mention

  263. Let me read to you these words of Jesus from verse 14.

  264. Jesus says this,

  265. Again, Jesus called the crowd to him and said,

  266. Listen to me, everyone, and understand this.

  267. Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them.

  268. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.

  269. And after he had left the crowd and entered the house,

  270. his disciples asked him about this parable.

  271. Are you so dull?

  272. He asked.

  273. Don't you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them?

  274. For it does not go into their heart, but into their stomach and then into the body.

  275. And saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.

  276. He went on,

  277. What comes out of a person is what defiles them.

  278. For it is from within, out of a person's heart,

  279. that evil thoughts come, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed,

  280. malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance, and folly.

  281. All these evils come from inside and defile a person.

  282. Now, Jesus here is talking at first to a crowd of religious Jews and their leaders,

  283. people who thought that they were winning at life,

  284. because on the outside, as far as anyone could tell,

  285. as far as you and I could tell if we'd seen them or met them,

  286. they were good people.

  287. They kept the rules.

  288. They looked good.

  289. But Jesus says to them in one of the most penetrating paragraphs in the New Testament,

  290. listen, on the inside, you're dirty and unclean.

  291. And he hits them with a list of terrible things,

  292. which are not imposed on people from the outside,

  293. but come from the inside out.

  294. Just have a look at the list with me.

  295. Evil thoughts.

  296. Sexual immorality is the Bible's catch-all word

  297. for all sexual activity outside of the marriage of a man to a woman.

  298. From pornography, lust, to adultery and casual sex.

  299. Theft, murder.

  300. Adultery, again, in case you missed it the first time around.

  301. Greed, wanting more and more.

  302. Malice, deceit or treachery.

  303. Sensuality or lewdness, as in crudeness, perverted talk, rude joking.

  304. Envy, slander, literally blasphemy.

  305. Not towards God so much here,

  306. but as words spoken with the intent to damage someone's reputation.

  307. Pride or arrogance and foolishness.

  308. These, says Jesus, these are the motives of the human heart.

  309. These are the driving forces of our lives

  310. that flow out from us into our actions.

  311. It's not hard, is it, if you come back to 2 Samuel 20

  312. to see which ones of those are at play in this chapter.

  313. Murder, deceit, foolishness, pride for a start.

  314. But I want us just to zoom in on the word envy here.

  315. The word envy in the New Testament here is literally evil eyes.

  316. In other words, envy is not so much looking at something

  317. that someone else has and saying,

  318. I want that for myself.

  319. That is jealousy, right?

  320. Envy is different to jealousy.

  321. Envy looks at something that someone else has and says,

  322. I want to see the pain of them losing it and me gaining it.

  323. Do you understand the difference?

  324. Envy looks at the joy or the happiness

  325. that someone else is enjoying and says,

  326. I will not be happy until they are miserable.

  327. Until they lose it and I gain it, I will not be happy.

  328. And Jesus says, incredibly,

  329. that is what the human heart is like.

  330. In its twisted sinfulness,

  331. it is persuaded that the happiness of the human heart,

  332. my happiness depends upon your unhappiness.

  333. Happiness.

  334. That's Joab, isn't it?

  335. In 2 Samuel chapter 20.

    2 Samuel 20 chapter mention

  336. Joab, notice Joab doesn't just want to be

  337. the most important person in David's army.

  338. At no point in 2 Samuel 20 is Joab waving his hand saying,

  339. David, give me my job back.

  340. I really want my job back.

  341. He doesn't actually care so much about getting his job back.

  342. He cares that Amasa doesn't have it.

  343. That's what he wants.

  344. He envies, he evil eyes Amasa,

  345. even to brutally killing him.

  346. And the horror of 2 Samuel chapter 20

    2 Samuel 20 chapter mention

  347. is the horror of human envy.

  348. The glory bloodbath that the human heart plays out.

  349. Now let me suggest as gently as I can to all of us,

  350. me included,

  351. that this is exactly how envy works today.

  352. And it's still as horrific as it ever was.

  353. Maybe you look at a friend

  354. and it's not just that you want their good looks.

  355. It's that you are bitterly angry that they have them.

  356. Their good skin, their beautiful hair,

  357. their nice clothes,

  358. their lots of friends.

  359. Makes you angry.

  360. Twists you up inside in a way that you can't describe,

  361. in a way that you suppress

  362. and you dare not speak of.

  363. Maybe at work,

  364. it's not just that you want to be promoted.

  365. It's not just that.

  366. It's how dare they promote them.

  367. They don't deserve it.

  368. They're lazy good for nothing.

  369. And you won't be happy until it's taken from them.

  370. You know, it's not just that I'm heartbroken

  371. that my children and my grandchildren

  372. don't follow the Lord.

  373. I'm resentful that their children

  374. seem to follow the Lord.

  375. They're terrible Christians.

  376. Why have they got children

  377. who want to come to church?

  378. Grandchildren who want to hear about Jesus?

  379. They don't deserve it.

  380. I think you can see this kind of envy

  381. in our culture as well,

  382. in the way that our culture

  383. views the rights of the individual.

  384. So that if there's a choice

  385. between the life that I planned,

  386. the happiness that I think I deserve,

  387. and the life of an unborn child,

  388. I will choose my happiness

  389. and not their life.

  390. I think it's the same

  391. with the assisted suicide bill

  392. that's going to come before Parliament.

  393. It will open the door, won't it,

  394. for relatives pursuing their happiness

  395. at the expense of their relatives' lives.

  396. My happiness at the cost of you.

  397. And 2 Samuel 20 says,

  398. listen, this kind of envy,

  399. it's a bloodbath.

  400. It's a bloodbath.

  401. And it will be.

  402. And 2 Samuel 20 says to you and I this morning,

  403. listen, I know this is uncomfortable

  404. and I know this is gross

  405. and I know you don't want to think about it,

  406. but look, will you think about it for a moment?

  407. Will you think about the fact

  408. that your heart is full of this kind of envy?

  409. That my heart is full of this kind of envy?

  410. Will you just for a moment

  411. not try and cover it up?

  412. Will you just have a look

  413. at what envy does to you?

  414. Will you have a look

  415. at what envy does to your culture?

  416. Will you have a think

  417. about who your amasses are?

  418. And I think perhaps

  419. the most uncomfortable thing

  420. about 2 Samuel 20

  421. is that it does nothing

  422. to resolve it for you, does it?

  423. It just leaves you there.

  424. If you want,

  425. you could summarise the message

  426. of 2 Samuel 20 like this.

  427. Listen, in David's kingdom,

  428. David's a brilliant king,

  429. as brilliant as he is,

  430. as much as he loves the Lord,

  431. in David's kingdom,

  432. there is blood on the floor

  433. because David, for all his brilliance,

  434. can do nothing about the human heart.

  435. He can't.

  436. And it leaves you there.

  437. It leaves you there.

  438. There's no security,

  439. no love, no joy,

  440. no mercy,

  441. no reconciliation and forgiveness.

  442. David just can't bring it.

  443. The wickedness of the human heart

  444. means that, well,

  445. people in his kingdom can't help

  446. but grab people by the beard

  447. and kill them,

  448. ruining the lives

  449. of 10 innocent women,

  450. turning a peaceful city

  451. into a battleground,

  452. being run by worthless traitors.

  453. And so 2 Samuel 20

  454. leaves us again, doesn't it,

  455. with this vision of the horror of sin

  456. and a huge void

  457. where salvation needs to be.

  458. But the brilliant truth is,

  459. and we're going to end here this morning,

  460. the brilliant truth is

  461. that the Bible doesn't leave you there.

  462. Let me tell you

  463. that there is in the Bible

  464. the story of another

  465. gruesome body

  466. at the side of a road

  467. just outside Jerusalem.

  468. It's a body

  469. which has also been stabbed

  470. in the side

  471. where water and blood

  472. are flowing out.

  473. This time the body

  474. is hanging from a cross.

  475. And just like with a Massa,

  476. you can look at this body

  477. and you can see

  478. the horror of sin,

  479. the horror particularly

  480. of envy.

  481. Because that body,

  482. the body of Jesus Christ,

  483. was put there

  484. as a response

  485. to a crowd

  486. who were driven

  487. by jealousy and envy.

  488. We don't only want

  489. Jesus' popularity,

  490. we want him not to have it.

  491. And so they pin him

  492. to a cross

  493. to rob him of it.

  494. And if 2 Samuel 20

  495. slows down

  496. so that you get a good look

  497. at the horror

  498. of a Massa's body,

  499. well then it's fair to say

  500. that the whole Bible

  501. slows down

  502. that you might get

  503. a good look at this body

  504. on the cross.

  505. But not just

  506. and not even so much

  507. that you might see

  508. the horror of human sin,

  509. but so that incredibly

  510. you might see

  511. the wonders of salvation

  512. from that sin.

  513. Because as Jesus dies there,

  514. hanging there,

  515. it's not just

  516. that he's taking

  517. the penalty for sin

  518. for those who would

  519. trust in him

  520. like an innocent,

  521. sacrificial lamb,

  522. although he is that.

  523. But we are to look

  524. at his body

  525. and we are to understand

  526. this,

  527. that in his body

  528. he is taking

  529. on himself

  530. our very sinful nature

  531. described in Mark

    Mark 7 chapter mention

  532. chapter 7

  533. that we read together.

  534. So much so

  535. that if you were

  536. a Christian this morning,

  537. what you're seeing

  538. as you look at Christ

  539. on the cross

  540. is not just

  541. the death of your Lord,

  542. although you are seeing that.

  543. What you are seeing

  544. as well

  545. is this,

  546. the death

  547. of your sin.

  548. Your sin

  549. has through our faith

  550. union with Jesus Christ,

  551. he takes

  552. our old natures

  553. onto himself

  554. and we die with him.

  555. You see,

  556. I think what you're seeing,

  557. if you see a master's body,

  558. you see Jerob's envy.

  559. If you see Jesus' body,

  560. you see the opposite

  561. of envy.

  562. You see,

  563. envy takes a good thing

  564. off another

  565. to try and receive it itself.

  566. Jesus' death

  567. on the cross

  568. is taking

  569. a bad thing

  570. off another

  571. to receive it

  572. for himself

  573. that we might receive

  574. his forgiveness

  575. and his blessing

  576. and his mercy.

  577. Isn't that incredible?

  578. Listen,

  579. if you're not a Christian

  580. this morning,

  581. maybe this has been

  582. a bit shocking

  583. to you this morning.

  584. I guess that 2 Samuel 20

  585. is perhaps not

  586. the kind of story

  587. that you expected

  588. to find in the Bible,

  589. right?

  590. I love that about

  591. Club on a Friday night

  592. is that I think

  593. they're shocked

  594. by some of the stories

  595. in the Bible

  596. because they think

  597. the Bible's full of

  598. nice squeaky clean stories,

  599. but it's not.

  600. The horrors of human life

  601. are all here

  602. in the pages of the Bible

  603. for you to read.

  604. But let me ask you

  605. to consider this morning

  606. if you're not a Christian

  607. that it might be true

  608. that the problems

  609. in your life

  610. are not the fault

  611. of other people,

  612. but are the things

  613. coming out of your own heart.

  614. Not imposed on you

  615. by work or home,

  616. as real as those problems

  617. might be,

  618. but the problem

  619. might be the wickedness

  620. and envy of our own hearts

  621. that we are capable

  622. of twisting into horror

  623. what has been good

  624. and given to us

  625. for our blessing.

  626. And that the only solution

  627. for those kind

  628. of internal problems

  629. is to find someone

  630. who is able

  631. to take them out of you

  632. onto themselves

  633. and pay the penalty

  634. for them on the cross.

  635. And that is Jesus Christ.

  636. There is nobody else.

  637. You can't go anywhere else

  638. and hear this message

  639. this morning.

  640. You will only hear it

  641. in the church

  642. of Jesus Christ.

  643. You will only there hear

  644. of the solution

  645. for our internal problem,

  646. which we all have.

  647. And for many of us

  648. this morning,

  649. we've been Christians

  650. for a long time,

  651. but the application for us

  652. is very much the same.

  653. Because Christian maturity,

  654. right,

  655. is not about diminishing

  656. the horror of your sin,

  657. but is about noticing it

  658. and seeing it

  659. and owning it

  660. as you also look

  661. to the one

  662. who is able to solve it

  663. and save you from it.

  664. Christian maturity

  665. grows in its view

  666. with the cross

  667. as it sees the horror

  668. of its sin

  669. was greater than

  670. it thought before

  671. and so the mercy

  672. of Jesus

  673. is greater than

  674. you thought before.

  675. So that much,

  676. as our lives

  677. and our world

  678. are very much like

  679. 2 Samuel 20,

  680. a sort of merry-go-round

  681. of unsolvable wickedness,

  682. there is still

  683. this body

  684. whose violent death

  685. tells a better story

  686. than Amasa's.

  687. And really,

  688. the story of the Bible

  689. for you,

  690. if you're a Christian

  691. this morning

  692. and if you're not

  693. a Christian,

  694. is listen,

  695. don't just stare

  696. at Amasa.

  697. Stare at Jesus.

  698. Stare at Jesus.

  699. Let me pray

  700. and then we'll sing

  701. in response.

  702. Just take a moment

  703. of quiet.

  704. Maybe you want to

  705. respond in your own heart.

  706. Maybe there's a prayer

  707. that you want to pray.

  708. Maybe if you've never

  709. trusted Christ,

  710. you want to do that now

  711. and turn to him.

  712. Maybe if you've been

  713. a Christian for a long time,

  714. you just want to turn

  715. to Jesus again

  716. and thank him

  717. for what he's done for you.

  718. Amen.

  719. Amen.

  720. Amen.

  721. Heavenly Father,

  722. it would be wrong

  723. for us to try

  724. to pretend

  725. that we are better

  726. than we really are

  727. or that the sins

  728. that we see

  729. in Joab's heart

  730. played out

  731. so gruesomely

  732. are really any different

  733. from the things

  734. going on in our hearts.

  735. We might not be

  736. an Iron Age warrior,

  737. but in our own ways

  738. we see the mess

  739. that comes from our envy.

  740. Please, we pray,

  741. forgive us

  742. and show us mercy

  743. through the Lord Jesus Christ.

  744. Thank you that in him

  745. you have taken our sin

  746. to the cross

  747. and punished it

  748. and given us

  749. his righteousness.

  750. How we pray

  751. for ourselves

  752. as a church

  753. that you might help us

  754. not to downplay

  755. the seriousness

  756. of our sin

  757. but to stare it

  758. in the face

  759. whilst also rejoicing

  760. that Christ's cross

  761. pays for it all.

  762. And so, Lord,

  763. we pray

  764. that you might make us

  765. humble,

  766. gracious,

  767. kind and loving

  768. as we reflect

  769. on the Lord Jesus

  770. who has been

  771. gracious,

  772. kind and loving

  773. to us

  774. in whose name

  775. we pray.

  776. Amen.

  777. Amen.

  778. Amen.

  779. Amen.

  780. Amen.

  781. Amen.

  782. Amen.

  783. Amen.

  784. Amen.

  785. Amen.

  786. Amen.

  787. Amen.

  788. Amen.

  789. Amen.

  790. Amen.

  791. Amen.

  792. Amen.

  793. Amen.

  794. Amen.

  795. Amen.

  796. Amen.