Sin and Its Fruit

In a moment, Zoe will come up and read. We're in a series on 2 Samuel.

Just I thought it's good to say it's a very tough passage. It's a horrific passage.

There's sexual violence. There's murder.

Some of those really serious sins like physical violence, abuse.

And that can be very tough to listen to. Maybe it reminds people of things that have happened in the past.

But it's God's word and I hope we can listen and hear what God has to say to us.

But let's just pray.

Our Father, thank you that your word is living and active.

It's God-breathed.

But it can be tough to hear.

So we pray that you would speak to each one of us.

Many of us, we find this difficult to listen to.

Maybe some of us, there's things in the past and we feel ashamed or we've been hurt.

Or just these things are just show what a terrible world we live in.

Father, we pray that we would not be distracted, but we could hear you.

Would you speak to each one of our hearts?

I'm just a man.

I just say some words.

But by your spirit, would you speak words about the cross, about Jesus, about hope to each one of our hearts?

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

Zoe.

2 Samuel chapter 13 we read.

2 Samuel 13 · chapter mention

Now Absalom, David's son, had a beautiful sister whose name was Tamar.

And after a time, Amnon, David's son, loved her.

And Amnon was so tormented that he made himself ill because of his sister Tamar.

For she was a virgin.

And it seemed impossible to Amnon to do anything to her.

But Amnon had a friend whose name was Jonadab, the son of Shimea, David's brother.

And Jonadab was a very crafty man.

And he said to him,

O son of the king, why are you so haggard morning after morning?

Will you not tell me?

Amnon said to him,

I love Tamar, my brother Absalom's sister.

Jonadab said to him,

Lie down on your bed and pretend to be ill.

And when your father comes to see you, say to him,

Let my sister Tamar come and give me bread to eat

and prepare the food in my sight that I may see it and eat it from her hand.

So Amnon lay down and pretended to be ill.

And when the king came to see him,

Amnon said to the king,

Please let my sister Tamar come and make a couple of cakes in my sight

that I may eat from her hand.

Then David sent home to Tamar, saying,

Go to your brother Amnon's house and prepare food for him.

So Tamar went to her brother Amnon's house where he was lying down.

And she took dough and kneaded it and made cakes in his sight and baked the cakes.

And she took the pan and emptied it out before him.

But he refused to eat.

And Amnon said,

Send out everyone from me.

So everyone went out from him.

Then Amnon said to Tamar,

Bring the food into the chamber that I may eat from your hand.

And Tamar took the cakes she had made and brought them into the chamber to Amnon, her brother.

But when she brought them near to him to eat,

he took hold of her hand and said to her,

Come, lie with me, my sister.

She answered him,

No, my brother, do not violate me,

for such a thing is not done in Israel.

Do not do this outrageous thing.

As for me, where could I carry my shame?

And as for you,

you would be as one of the outrageous fools in Israel.

Now therefore, please speak to the king,

for he will not withhold me from you.

But he would not listen to her.

And being stronger than she,

he violated her and lay with her.

Then Amnon hated her with very great hatred,

so that the hatred with which he hated her

was greater than the love which he had loved her.

And Amnon said to her,

Get up, go.

But she said to him,

No, my brother,

for this is wrong,

and sending me away is greater

than the other you did to me.

But he would not listen to her.

He called the young man who served him and said,

Put this woman out of my presence

and bolt the door after her.

Now she was wearing

a long robe with sleeves,

for thus were the virgin daughters of the king dressed.

So his servant put her out

and bolted the door after her.

And Tamar put ashes on her head

and tore the long robe that she wore.

And she laid her hand on her head

and went away,

crying aloud as she went.

And her brother Absalom said to her,

Has Amnon your brother been with you?

Now hold your peace, my sister.

He is your brother.

Do not take this to heart.

But so Tamar lived a desolate woman

in her brother Absalom's house.

When King David heard of all these things,

he was very angry.

But Absalom spoke to Amnon,

neither good nor bad,

for Absalom hated Amnon

because he had violated his sister Tamar.

After two full years,

Absalom had sheep shears at Balhazor,

which is near Ephraim.

And Absalom invited all the king's sons.

And Absalom came to the king and said,

Behold, your servant has sheep shears.

Please let the king and his servants

go with your servant.

But the king said to Absalom,

No, my son, let us not all go,

lest we be burdensome to you.

He pressed him, but he would not go,

but gave him his blessing.

Then Absalom said,

If not, please let my brother Amnon go with us.

And the king said to him,

Why should he go with you?

But Absalom pressed him

until he let Amnon and all the king's sons

go with him.

Then Absalom commanded his servants,

Mark when Amnon's heart is merry with wine,

and when I say to you,

Strike Amnon, then kill him.

Do not fear, have I not commanded you.

Be courageous and be valiant.

So the servants of Absalom

did to Amnon as Absalom had commanded.

Then all the king's sons arose

and each mounted his mule and fled.

While they were on the way,

news came to David,

Absalom has struck down all the king's sons

and not one of them is left.

Then the king arose and tore his garments

and lay on the earth.

And all his servants who were standing by

tore their garments.

For by the command of Absalom,

this has been determined

from the day he violated his sister Tamar.

But Jonadab, the son of Shimea,

David's brother, said,

Let not my lord suppose

that they have killed all the young men,

the king's sons,

for Amnon alone.

Now therefore,

let not my lord the king

so take it to heart

as to suppose

that all the king's sons are dead,

for Amnon alone is dead.

But Absalom fled,

and the young man

who kept the watch

lifted up his eyes

and looked,

and behold,

many people were coming

from the road behind him

by the side of the mountain.

And Jonadab said to the king,

Behold, the king's sons have come,

as your servant said,

so it has come about.

And as soon as he had finished speaking,

behold,

the king's sons came

and lifted their voice

and wept.

And the king also

and all his servants

wept bitterly.

But Absalom fled

and went to Talmai,

the son of Ammihad,

king of Geshur.

Then David mourned

for his son day after day.

So Absalom fled

and went to Geshur

and was there three years.

And the spirit of the king

longed to go out to Absalom

because he was comforted

he was comforted

about Amnon

since he was dead.

This is the word of God.

Great.

Thanks very much, Zoe.

Yeah, it's a really tough chapter.

Maybe you're visiting today

and you thought the Bible

was a nice book about love.

And then we have

this terrible chapter.

Many people object, right?

They think,

how can Christians

believe in the Bible?

How can you believe?

You say this is a holy book

and then it has

such terrible things.

How can this book

tell you how to live?

I mean, it's very obvious

that this is wrong, right?

The Bible doesn't say

that go and do likewise.

That's very clear.

No, the thing is,

the Bible is real.

The Bible tells us

what the world is like.

You look at the world

and that's where

these things happen, right?

There is rape.

There is murder.

There are terrible crimes.

There is violence and war, right?

The Bible isn't just

nice, fluffy philosophy.

And actually,

we need that, right?

We see the world.

We see everything happening.

And then the Bible

is just, you know,

kumbaya,

close your eyes,

find your inner peace,

and, you know,

let's just love one another.

And then you think,

this book has nothing

to say to me, right?

That's the thing.

I mean, imagine you're sick

and you're coughing

and you're coughing up blood.

So you go to the doctor

and the doctor says,

oh, you're fine.

You know,

you're the most healthiest person

I've ever seen.

You wouldn't go back

to that doctor, right?

He's got nothing to say to you, right?

You need someone

who actually tells you,

well, what's going on?

Of course,

you can watch the news

and read the papers

and then watch the TV

and then you will also see

what the world is like.

Of course,

why do we need the Bible?

The Bible tells us more.

It tells us why and how

and what God will do about it.

Right?

You go to another GP

and he does a lot of tests

and he says,

okay, I can see

that you're coughing up blood.

Yeah, I knew that.

What can we do about it?

Right?

What's going on?

That's what we need to know.

And that is why,

yeah, we need,

yeah, we need the Bible.

Why we need the rest

of 2 Samuel, actually.

Why the rest of 2 Samuel,

it's going to be pretty dark.

There's hope at the end.

But this,

but it tells us what it is.

I mean,

the thing is,

like 2 weeks ago,

I preached this,

you know,

sermon on chapters 8 to 10

and it was all so wonderful,

right?

The promised glorious kingdom

of justice and peace

and everything was so great

under this godly king

of steadfast love

and you kind of wonder,

couldn't we have finished there?

Right?

And David

and the people of Israel

and God lived happily ever after.

That would have been a nice book.

Except that

that's not

the real world,

right?

The people

who read this the first time

when it was finished later,

they knew the kingdom

didn't last.

It split,

it fell apart,

it was destroyed

and they were out in Babylon

enslaved

and they just wondered

what happened,

right?

Why are we here?

What's going to happen now?

What can be done?

And that is why it's good

that,

yeah,

the downfall of David

is here in the Bible.

That's why we have

the rest of 2 Samuel.

If you were here last week,

you will have heard

David,

wonderful king

and then,

well,

he committed adultery

and murder.

He is here

not a nice picture

of Jesus,

right?

He's not,

you know,

like David and Goliath.

No,

it tells us about

a big problem,

sin.

If you don't know

what sin is,

well,

sin is wrongdoing.

It's when we go

our own way

and do what we want

and break God's law,

don't do what he wants

us to live,

which of course

is good and right

and loving.

And it's terrible.

I mean,

the world says

sin doesn't matter.

Just do what you want

and it's fine.

And the Bible says,

no,

it's not.

It's what we're going

to see today.

Even as Christians,

I guess we know

sin is wrong,

but often we struggle,

right?

You know there's

something in your life,

there's some sin

but you know,

I'm so busy,

I've got so much

going on,

I don't really have

time to deal with this,

right?

Do we really have to?

One day I'll die

and then I'll be fine,

right?

Why should I do

something about this sin?

Well,

we need to listen

to God's word

that actually

sin really matters.

We can't just leave it

because I guess

the first point

that's so clear,

sin has terrible

consequences.

Sin has terrible

consequences.

It's that simple.

It's this hideous

chapter.

God is never

mentioned.

It's just godless.

It tells you that

sin is awful

and ugly

and has these

terrible consequences.

At first,

yeah,

it is a rape.

What's going on,

brother and sister?

I guess David,

he had about 13 wives

and so Amnon

was the son

of one wife

and then

Absalom

and Tamar

were children

of another wife

and yeah,

Amnon

lost it

after his

half-sister.

Friends come up

with some cunning

plan for getting

the two together

and yeah,

he puts it into action.

He pretends to be ill,

asks his dad,

hey,

can my sister come

and make food for me?

And so,

yeah,

David and those,

come on,

yeah,

sure,

why don't you make

some food for your

brother?

And so she goes there,

he sends all the

servants out,

hey,

can you feed it to me

while I lie in bed,

something like that.

And she has just no idea,

right?

She's just being a kind,

good sister.

But then,

yeah,

he grabs her

and come lie with me.

Verse 12,

she answered him,

no,

my brother,

do not violate me

for such a thing

is not done in Israel.

Do not do this

outrageous thing.

As for me,

where could I carry

my shame?

As for you,

you would be as one

of the outrageous fools

in Israel.

And ever,

please speak to the king

for he will not

withhold me from you.

But he would not

listen to her

being stronger than he.

He violates her

and lay with her.

And it's so sad,

just unexpected

and it suddenly happens

and he doesn't listen

and it just gets worse

that he hates her,

puts her out of the room,

bolts the door

and she's,

yeah,

and Tamar

put ashes on her head

and tore the long robe

that she wore

and she laid her hand

on her head

and went away

crying aloud

as she went.

Her brother finds her,

takes her in.

So Tamar lived,

a desolate woman

in her brother's

Epsilon's house.

Right,

the rest of her life

she's now,

yeah,

living with her brother.

It's terrible,

right?

I mean,

what is this story about?

Actually,

it's not about Amnon,

right?

It emphasizes

this poor girl

and what happened

to her,

how in just a few minutes

her life was ruined,

her life was destroyed

because of this guy,

right?

The Bible doesn't often

talk about sexual violence,

it's very restrained,

there's no details at all,

but I hope you can,

it makes your blood boil,

right?

This is terrible,

this is utterly wrong,

it's hideous,

the language of violation,

it's outrageous,

the pain,

the crying,

it's so strongly condemned

and maybe you're here

and actually maybe

something like this

happened to you

in the past.

I have no idea

what that's like,

but I hope you feel

that it's an outrageous,

terrible thing

that happened to you,

that's what the passage says,

it's the shame,

the hurt,

God knows,

God understands

and you had nothing

to do with it

and it just happened

to you

and God wants you

to know that he knows,

he cares

and all the past

and shame

he's taken care of

through Jesus

and he will bring justice

to what happened to you.

God wants you

to know that

or maybe something like this,

actually maybe something like this

is happening to you,

you know,

it's a regular thing now,

I don't know,

work,

family,

I don't know,

someone you know

using force

to control you,

to make you do things

you don't want to do,

doesn't have to be sexual,

it could be any kind of abuse,

I hope you see

that this is,

that's wrong,

you need support,

you need to talk

to someone about it

and actually

if maybe,

I don't know all of you,

maybe there is something

happening,

thank you,

God,

God is really against you

if you're doing

any of this

and you need to

repent

or you'll be condemned

forever.

It's not the main point

of the passage

but it just needs to be said

because we don't

say it often enough

and the second half

is no better,

right?

Absalom,

he now hates Amnon

because of what he did

and he waits two years

and he plans

and then,

yeah,

he organizes a party

and invites the royal family,

David,

can you come to my party?

Yeah,

sorry,

I'm busy,

I can't come.

Of course,

Absalom knew that exactly

because that was the whole plan.

Well,

can Amnon come then?

Well,

does he have to?

Well,

please,

okay.

So,

Amnon goes to the party,

verse 28,

then Absalom commissioned

his servants,

Mark when Amnon's heart

is merry with wine

and when I say to you,

strike Amnon,

then kill him.

Do not fear.

Have I not commanded you?

Be courageous

and be valiant.

It's a cowardly,

deliberate murder

and you can hear

all the responses,

right?

Verse 31,

that the king arose

and tore his garments

and lay on the earth

and all his servants

who were standing by

tore their garments.

Later,

verse 36,

and as soon as he'd finished speaking,

behold,

the king's sons came

and lifted up their voices

and wept

and the king also

and all his servants

wept very bitterly

and the king mourned

day after day.

That terrible,

the weeping,

the mourning

because a favored son

had been killed.

I mean,

both parts,

it's such an awful picture,

right?

It emphasizes how wicked

these acts are,

the terrible consequences,

this poor girl

mourning for the rest

of her life,

this family

with a dead son

and so dysfunctional.

what a terrible world.

The thing is,

these are not

isolated incidents.

They don't come

from nowhere.

They have consequences,

but actually,

the sins themselves

are consequences.

I mean,

where do they come from?

They come from

David's sin

last week.

Right?

Because that is

what happened.

David,

he saw a beautiful woman

and took her,

even though she was married

already,

had her husband murdered

and then God confronted him

and warned him

of the terrible consequences.

And what did he say

in chapter 12?

Well,

you've killed Uriah

with the sword

and so,

verse 10,

now the sword

will never depart

from your house.

And there will be violence

and death

in your family

as a result.

And in a way,

that is what's happening now,

right?

That is what we see

in chapter 13.

In a way,

you even see it

from the sins themselves.

Because what do

these two sons do?

It's basically

the same sins

as their father,

right?

David,

there was a woman

and he wanted her

but he couldn't have her,

took her anyway

and then he had

someone murdered.

What do we see here?

Exactly the same thing.

Right?

This is like

father like son.

It's very clear.

It's all for David's sin.

It's just,

you know,

here's David,

he influenced his sons

and his sons

did the same thing

as him.

As a consequence of sin.

It seems a bit weird.

Usually we think

of the consequences

of sin as suffering.

But one consequence

of sin

is just

more sin

and more suffering.

Right?

That's what we see here.

These are not lovely boys

and it's awful, right?

Look at these chapters

and it's not just

for the boys,

their sons.

It's a threat

to the kingdom.

Because David

is the king.

This is the royal family.

And in chapter 14,

Absalom is going to grow

really bitter.

Chapter 15,

he plots to get rid

of David.

We get a coup.

We get a civil war.

All of that

just from David's sin.

Right?

It threatens all God's people.

It's very clear, right?

David,

sin affects

so many people

around you.

Many people think,

oh,

it doesn't matter.

I can decide

how I live, right?

That's just my thing.

It doesn't affect others.

No.

Right?

David's sin

affected his sons

and then the rest

of his family

and the whole nation.

And maybe you're not

the king,

but, you know,

it will affect

those around you.

It will affect

your family.

Sin affects

everything,

but especially

the higher up you are.

Right?

If you're a company CEO

and you cheat

or whatever.

Do you see sin

as that serious?

Right?

Do you see this

and think,

wow,

I'm not living God's way,

living our own way,

doing what we want.

It's terrible.

We're not all as bad

at this, right?

Don't think there's

many rapists

and murderers here.

Although then again,

Jesus says,

well, actually,

in some way,

we're all like that, right?

You hate someone

in your heart.

Jesus says,

well, it's like you've

already murdered them

in your heart, right?

In a way,

none of us are

what we should be.

But sin is this serious?

Right?

Do we believe that?

That it's so awful

and it leads to suffering

and we shouldn't downplay it

and, oh,

Jesus took care of it.

Don't worry about it anymore.

Sin is awful.

I guess it makes you

want to stay away from sin,

right?

Maybe this week

you're tempted.

You're tempted to watch something

that you shouldn't watch,

tempted to do something

you shouldn't do

and you're kind of,

you're weighing it up

in your mind.

What shall I do?

Let this chapter tell you

don't do it

and be afraid

of the consequences.

I mean,

ideally we don't want to sin

because we love Jesus so much.

But that's not a reality

for most of us.

We need maybe

more basic motivations.

Look at the terrible

consequences, right?

God knows your sin.

You can't hide it.

Don't do it.

The only thing is,

of course,

we are sinners, right?

Just telling us not to sin

is not going to work.

Actually,

this chapter

has more to say,

right?

Stopping sinning

is not a solution.

Rather,

there's a deeper point.

Sin has terrible consequences

but not always.

When not?

Well,

when is sin so terrible?

If it is not dealt with.

Second point.

Sin is terrible

if it's not dealt with.

If it's not dealt with,

it will grow,

it will fester,

it will cause more damage.

And that is the problem

here with David.

Because how does

all this play out?

Well,

David doesn't do very much.

So,

after the rape,

verse 21.

When King David

heard of all these things,

he was very angry.

But Absalom spoke to Amnon.

That's all David did.

David,

he was very angry.

Now,

that's good,

but you'd expect

a bit more,

right?

He was a rapist.

He deserves

the death penalty.

He's the king.

He should bring justice

and righteousness.

This guy should be executed.

But David

doesn't do anything.

He's just angry,

but he doesn't do anything.

Right?

Maybe,

probably because

it's his favorite son

and he doesn't want to do anything

to his favorite son.

If he had done something,

then that murder

wouldn't have happened

and all the rebellion

after that,

all of those things

wouldn't have happened.

But David

didn't do anything.

So,

Absalom took matters

in his own hands.

Afterwards,

yeah,

after Absalom's murder,

Absalom runs away,

right?

He flees to his mother's

family abroad.

And what does David do?

He does nothing.

It's not very clear,

verse 39,

the spirit of the king

longed to go out

to Absalom.

Yeah,

to go out to do what?

To reconcile

or to get him

and arrest him?

That's not clear,

but you read chapter 14.

Well,

David does,

he's really fallen out

with Absalom.

But again,

he doesn't do anything.

I mean,

he could have shown mercy,

right?

Absalom,

I'm really sorry.

I should have done something

after what happened

to Tamar.

I didn't.

So,

even though it was vengeance,

hey,

I forgive you.

The rest wouldn't

have happened.

Or,

he could have said,

yeah,

sorry,

I know what Emlyn did

was wrong.

You can't take vengeance.

He should have done something.

He didn't do anything.

In chapter 14,

we didn't read it,

but basically,

David keeps doing nothing.

Right?

I mean,

chapter 14,

it ends

with the return of Absalom.

All the way at the end,

verse 33,

then Joab went to the king

and told him,

and he summoned Absalom.

So,

he came to the king

and bowed himself

with his face to the ground

before the king

and the king kissed Absalom.

It looks,

okay,

Absalom is back,

it's all fine,

but it's not.

This chapter covers five years

and Absalom and David,

they don't speak.

Absalom is hiding.

Joab,

the general of David,

he sees that as a problem,

right?

It's not good for the kingdom

if the heir of the kingdom

is somewhere else

and what if something happens

to David?

So,

he tries to get David

to accept Absalom again,

but David doesn't want that,

so Joab does some scheme.

Basically,

it's a bit like Nathan the prophet.

He sends some woman

to come up with a story

and this woman comes to David

and says,

oh,

king,

I've got this problem,

I have two sons

and one killed the other

and he fled away

and now I don't have an heir.

Okay,

I understand the problem,

he can come back.

Nothing will happen to him,

you swear,

nothing will happen to him.

Oh,

but king,

you have two sons

and one of them killed the other

and he's,

hmm,

did Joab send you?

Oh,

king,

you're so wise,

yes,

yes.

Okay,

tell Joab Absalom can come back.

But David needs to be persuaded

and even then,

he doesn't actually have Absalom back

because Joab is happy,

brings back Absalom,

but then 14 verse 24,

and the king said,

let him dwell apart in his own house.

He's not to come into my presence.

Yeah,

I don't want to see him.

He's back,

but I won't see him.

And so Absalom lives in Jerusalem

for two years

and he grows more and more bitter.

And verse 32,

why have I come from Geshur?

It will be better for me to be there still.

Now,

therefore,

let me go into the presence of the king.

If there's guilt in me,

let him put me to death.

Right?

Do something,

David,

and either,

yeah,

either forgive me

or if I've done something,

kill me,

but do something.

Don't leave it like this.

But that's the whole problem.

Right?

So for,

in the whole,

all of this,

these two chapters,

David is passive.

He does nothing.

For seven years,

all we read about him

is that he sits on the throne

and people push him

and those kind of things.

He does nothing

about the sin,

about the consequences.

He just sits there.

And that's the frustration.

And I think that's the point,

right?

And that's why David nearly loses the kingdom

because Absalom,

he's grown too bitter.

He will plot a rebellion.

It's not just his sin with David and Bathsheba.

Yeah,

he initially repented

and he was forgiven,

but his heart was not yet right.

Right?

You can see that his heart

isn't what it should be.

He doesn't have the same view of sin anymore

that he used to have.

He leaves it.

I'm not saying I know what he has to do,

justice or mercy for Absalom,

but he had to do something,

but he did nothing.

And it festered

and it grew worse and worse

and here's the result.

I think the message is clear, right?

Sin needs dealing with.

Sin,

you can't just leave it.

It will just get worse.

You need to do something,

either with mercy or with justice,

but something needs to be done about it

or it will just get worse.

Right?

And that's the rest of the book.

God is going to deal with David's sin.

He is going to deal with his heart

and he's going to suffer.

But this chapter says why.

Look at what happens

if you don't do anything.

It's a bit like some of those advertisements

you sometimes see on the MTR

and they want to tell people,

don't do drugs,

stop doing drugs.

Right?

You see an addict lying in the gutter

and basically the message is

you don't want this, right?

So stop it.

Do something about it.

Something needs to be done

and that is this chapter, right?

You know,

sin needs to be dealt with.

Illegal drugs,

they're terrible.

Don't do anything.

Sin is terrible.

Deal with it.

On a human level,

I think we know that, right?

If there's a conflict in a marriage

or in a church or something,

well,

if you just leave it

and you don't talk about it,

it will just get worse, right?

It will just,

people will grow bitter,

it will just get worse.

You need to do something.

Either forgive

or confront

but do something about it

or it will just get worse.

Right?

That's an obvious application.

Yeah?

I know that's hard

but leaving it is worse.

Parenting.

I think it's very easy

to be like David, right?

Your child does something wrong

and the only thing you do

is be angry

and you shout

and that's it.

You don't actually discipline.

You don't actually talk about it.

Well, this chapter says

what's going to happen

is just going to get worse.

You need to actually

do something about it, right?

That's difficult.

It's easier to just shout

and leave it

but you need to do something

otherwise it will just get worse.

But I think ultimately

this chapter

is not on a human level, right?

Think about the original readers.

Why did the kingdom fall?

Why does God need to restore it?

Well, because sin needs to be dealt with.

There's no other way.

Look what happens

if sin is not dealt with.

So I guess that's,

you want to accept that, right?

You can see from this chapter,

man, sin needs dealing with.

You can't just leave it.

You need to do something.

God needs to do something.

Again, you go to another GP

and finally he tells you,

well, this is wrong with you

and the prognosis is not good

but you can do this medicine

or we can do this surgery

and that will solve it.

And you don't want that

but yeah, you listen to the prognosis.

Okay, I want to do something about it.

Right?

Okay, yeah, I accept it.

We need to do something.

And I think that's the point here.

Accept that God needs to deal with your sin.

I guess that can happen in different ways, right?

I guess one obvious way.

Accept it when God addresses your sin.

Right?

God, he loves us.

He wants us to change.

He doesn't want us to leave us like this.

But the thing is,

we need to change.

We don't just need forgiveness.

We need heart change.

And so God will speak to us.

God will address us.

So maybe you're reading your Bible every day

and the same sin just keeps coming up.

What do you do?

It's easy to close your Bible

and don't listen.

Or maybe someone in your CG speaks to you

because they've noticed something in your life

and they want to talk to you about it.

I guess if you see this chapter,

you think, man, okay,

I know this is hard

and I know I'm too busy.

I don't really have time,

but man, sin needs dealing with, right?

So I want to listen.

I want to be humble.

I want to seek repentance and change

because this really matters, right?

You can accept it.

Sin needs to be dealt with.

Accept it when God disciplines our sin.

Right?

Sometimes we don't listen

and so God has to mess up our life a bit.

He has to make us feel the consequences

so that we will hopefully turn away.

It's easy to get bitter.

God, why are you messing on my life?

That's for a good thing, right?

God wants to turn you from your sin.

He wants you to be free from this.

He wants you to come back to him.

So that's what he's doing.

Will you listen?

Will you accept it and listen?

Though ultimately, thirdly,

if people don't listen,

accept it when God judges sin.

Right?

Sin needs dealing with

and God,

he's not going to leave the world as it is.

He's not going to leave any of our sin as it is.

Same with Absalom.

I mean, Amnon got what he deserved.

Absalom is going to be punished.

It's a tough truth.

Right?

Judgment.

We don't like it.

It's sobering.

It is embarrassing to talk about,

but we have to accept it, right?

Because you see chapter 13,

and again,

you want something to be done.

Right?

You see what happened to Tamar

and you want justice.

Right?

You want it.

We know the world needs to change.

And for God to just leave the world as it is,

all the sin,

all the violence,

and just leave it,

that'd be wrong.

And so God is going to do something.

But yeah,

the thing is,

it affects all of us.

All of us hurt other people.

No,

we're not as bad as these guys,

but in so many ways,

we hurt other people.

And so I just read this.

Oh yeah,

I deserve judgment.

We all deserve judgment.

And that is the problem,

right?

Because we know judgment is good.

We can see it here.

It needs to happen.

At the same time,

we want mercy.

How can we have that?

How,

because some people asked me that last week.

You know,

it seems so easy for David.

He was forgiven.

Shouldn't he be punished for what he's done?

Well,

the thing is,

on a human level,

a human king can only do one thing.

David could show mercy or judgment,

but not both.

But God did something amazing.

He sent his son to die on the cross.

And actually he,

as we've been singing,

he took the judgment that we deserved.

Our sin was judged.

Justice was served.

But it fell on Jesus.

And that is how the cross works.

The cross is not just a symbol that God loves you.

Something happened there.

Our sin was judged,

punished,

crushed.

And that is what we need.

So sin happens.

And God is just

and merciful.

Sin is punished,

but we get mercy.

That is the beauty of the cross.

And we need that,

right?

If you're here,

and you're not a Christian,

you're visiting,

I hope you see how serious sin is.

And that judgment needs to happen.

But,

what are you going to do with your sin?

And Jesus says,

come to me.

I'll pay for it.

I'll take care of it.

I'll deal with it.

Come to me,

and be free.

And if you have that,

as we just sang,

right?

Jesus,

thank you.

It doesn't make you thankful.

Yes,

our heart still needs dealing with.

God needs to address our sin.

And sometimes we will face the consequences of our sin.

Our sinful decisions and terrible things happen to us.

But how about the eternal,

huge judgment consequences of our sin?

They've been taken care of.

Jesus took that for us.

And that makes you so thankful,

right?

And then you can listen to God.

You can,

if God wants to deal with your sin,

if he wants to address you,

you will listen to him,

right?

Because you can trust him.

Because he loved you so much.

He did this for you.

And not just us here,

right?

There's many people outside,

and Hong Kong has lots of problems,

right?

People are hopeless,

and unemployed,

and stressed,

and overworked.

Biggest problem,

they're sinners,

and God is going to come and deal with sin.

And then,

yeah,

the only way for them to have mercy,

is if they hear about Jesus,

and respond to him.

Hey,

isn't that worth sharing?

Again,

this is not a comfortable passage.

It's not an easy passage.

It's dark.

It's bad news.

But that should lead us,

to the good news.

So let's just reflect for 30 seconds,

and then I'll pray,

as the music team comes up.

Let's pray.

Father,

Father,

we see this chapter,

and we see that the world is not what it should be.

We are not what we should be.

And we know that's a problem.

We see that's something you need to deal with.

Thank you that you are good and just,

and you will deal with sin.

But thank you so much that you did that on the cross,

for those who trust in Jesus.

And if we come,

if we trust in him,

yeah,

we will not face what we deserve.

Make us thankful.

Make us joyful,

even,

that this terrible thing has been dealt with,

that you are now working in our lives,

to change us,

to turn us away from sin,

in your love.

Help us to see your love,

in the midst of this darkness,

that we would turn to you.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.