“Open
Doors” Series #7
“THE DOOR OF FAITHFULNESS!”
TEXT: 2
Samuel 11:1-27
INTRO:
Faithfulness is not so much a product as it is a process! Being faithful to God this
week doesn't guarantee that you will not have to discipline yourself to be
faithful to Him next week!
Faithfulness requires an act of will ... all the time! We must continuously choose to be
faithful to the Lord, even those who have lived many years faithfully but have
let their guard down for a moment know the price of
unfaithfulness!
Faithfulness
is not a product of feelings; it is an act of the will!
If we live by our feelings we will
probably live a life of vacillating faithfulness! Those who let their emotions rule their
lives find ways to excuse their lack of faithfulness rather than deal with
it!
ILLUS: A
GOLFER NAMED JONES WAS JOINING HIS BUDDIES ON THE GOLF COURSE ONE SUNDAY MORNING
RATHER THAN GO TO CHURCH WITH HIS WIFE AND KIDS. ARRIVING A LITTLE LATE HE EXPLAINED TO
HIS FRIENDS WHY HE HAD COME LATE.
"MY WIFE ASKED NE TO GO TO CHURCH,
AND I TOLD HER THAT I WOULD FLIP A COIN TO SEE WHETHER I WAS TO GO TO CHURCH OR
PLAY GOLF, I WOULD LET GOD DECIDE.
HEADS I DECIDED WOULD MEAN I PLAYED GOLF, TAILS AND I WOULD GO TO CHURCH
... AND YOU KNOW FELLOWS, I HAD TO TOSS THAT COIN 43 TIMES BEFORE IT CAME UP
HEADS!"
–
SOURCE UNKNOWN
Faithfulness
is at the very core of Christianity ... and not a lukewarm commitment
either! We focus too much sometimes
on God's faithfulness and not enough on our own ... we like messages about God's
faithfulness to us, but since this is never in doubt, we might need more
preaching about our faithfulness!
ILLUS: A
YOUNG PASTOR NAMED TIM DEARBORN HAD TO SHARE A CAB WITH 4 OTHER PEOPLE IN
BANGKOK, THAILAND. ONE OF THE 4
PEOPLE WHO RODE WITH HIM WAS A MARXIST REVOLUTIONARY ON HIS WAY TO INDIA. THE MARXIST QUIZZED TIM AT LENGTH ABOUT
HIS FAITH IN CHRIST AND FINALLY SAID TO HIM, "HOW CAN YOU BE A CHRISTIAN? DON'T YOU REALIZE THERE'S NO WAY YOUR
CAUSE CAN WIN?" TIM ASKED, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN THERE IS NO WAY MY CAUSE
CAN WIN?" THE MARXIST
CONTINUED, "I AM ON MY WAY TO INDIA TO
ORGANIZE FISHERMEN TO OVERTHROW THEIR OPPRESSORS. AND I AM QUITE WILLING TO LAY DOWN MY
LIFE FOR THE REVOLUTION. YOUR
AMERICAN CHRISTIANITY IS PREOCCUPIED WITH WHAT YOUR GOD CAN DO FOR YOU, AND
DYING FOR SELF-INTEREST IS A CONTRADICTION IN TERMS!"
--
(WORLD VISION, OCT/NOV 1989, PG.23)
We
have built a billion dollar industry in America to get in touch with our
feelings and emotions, and understanding WHY we do things instead of learning
to serve faithfully and make correct decisions!
The
door of faithfulness begins in our will once we have accepted Christ as our
Lord! Our heart will catch up with
our will when we apply ourselves to being faithful at all
times!
PROP. SENT:
The Bible teaches us that we are to guard
our lives against unfaithfulness, that we are to be busy in doing our Lord's
work and His will, not our own!
I. PRECURSORS OF FAITHLESSNESS! 2 Sam.
11:1-5
A. Detached!
2 Sam. 11:1
1. In antiquity, wars and fighting
were reserved for the good weather months, often everyone took off from fighting
during winter ... but come Spring, it was time for the Kings to go out and fight
the enemy again!
a. It was such a time here ... it was
the time for the Kings to ready their men and go off to beat the
enemy!
b. We are told in this passage that
David does not go with his troops ... a very unusual situation for a King in
Israel!
2. We can only speculate as to the
reasons ... many pagan kings stayed in their luxurious palaces while their men
went off to war, but Israel's Kings were not to be like the pagan kings, they
were to be "servant-leaders" and lead their men in the
fight!
a. Saul had fought alongside his men
when he was king!
b. David had also gone into battle ...
he was known as a great warrior!
3. David detaching himself from his
brethren to not go and fight the enemy was not a good
sign!
4. David was getting older, maybe he
thought he could take it easy and enjoy his previous victories … a situation
that always leaves us open to temptation!
a. He
may have thought it was time for
the younger ones to do more!
b. He may have thought that he should
be allowed to enjoy the fruits of
earlier sacrifices!
c. He may have justified the need that
some leader stays in Jerusalem so that the
city has leadership!
d. Tragically, most people who fell in
the Bible did so later in their lives, not in their
youth!
5. No
matter how good the reasons might have been ... when the enemy is attacking, he
should have been in the battle!
There was no excuse to be
idle!
·
Even
if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit
there!!!
6. Isolation has always
been a favorite tool of Satan to get us to stumble!!!
a. Detached from his fighting men, he
takes an afternoon siesta and wakes toward evening with nothing to
do!
b. Alone, we can fall much more
easily! Such was Satan’s
ploy with Eve!
ILLUS: THE
SEQUOIA TREE (REDWOOD TREES) OF CALIFORNIA TOWER AS MUCH AS 300 FEET ABOVE THE
GROUND. STRANGELY ENOUGH, THESE
TREES HAVE UNUSUALLY SHALLOW ROOT SYSTEMS THAT REACH OUT IN ALL DIRECTIONS NEAR
THE SURFACE TO CAPTURE AS MUCH MOISTURE AS POSSIBLE ... THIS LEAVES THEM WITH
THE ABILITY TO BE EASILY TOPPLED!
FOR THIS REASON, YOU WILL ALMOST NEVER SEE A REDWOOD STANDING ALONE! ...
FOR IF IT IS ALONE, IT WILL BE EASILY TOPPLE BY A MILD WIND! THIS IS WHY THEY GROW IN CLUSTERS; THEY
INTERTWINE THEIR ROOTS WITH EACH OTHER NOT ONLY TO SHARE NUTRIENTS, BUT TO BIND
THEMSELVES TOGETHER SO THEY ARE STRONG AND CAN NOT BE TOPPLED EASILY! ONLY TOGETHER CAN THEY STAND AGAINST THE
STORMS, THEY DON'T LIVE LONG ALONE! –
SOURCE UNKNOWN
B. Distracted! 2 Sam.
11:2-5
1. It states, "one evening David got up from
his bed."
2 Sam.
11:2a
a. Alone and nothing to do had led to
boredom!
b. He
gets up and goes up on his palace roof and "walks around."
(The Hebrew verb here indicates a "pacing back
and forth while getting nowhere.")
c. The old adage,
"an idle mind is the Devil's
workshop" is about to
become reality for David!
2. His men were on the war front
putting their lives on the line, while he is walking back and forth with nothing
to do!
a. As he gazes down below, he notices
a very beautiful woman bathing by the
name of Bathsheba.
b. In his boredom, lust is
conceived!
·
What
begins with a GLANCE ends with a GAZE ... and lust is
born!
3. The man David who wrote so often
how he delighted in the Laws of God allows himself to become distracted away
from those same laws!
a. While he might not have been able
to help the quick glance,
he didn't have to continue to gaze upon her!
b. Physical passion was now in place,
he already had several wives he could have turned to ... but he wants what he
doesn't have!
c. This is the passion of sin ... to
take what is not rightfully ours!
4. The King who should have been "FIGHTING" the enemy
is now "FLIRTING" with the real enemy! Flirting will usually lead to
Failure!
a. He calls for his servants to find
out who is this beautiful woman!
b. They inform David who she is ... a
married woman, married to one of his finest soldiers!
c. She was married to a non-Jew; a
Hittite named Uriah ... perhaps David might have
justified his interests in her since her husband wasn't even one of God's
covenant people!
5. The man who had a "heart after
God's own heart" allows these distractions to pull his heart away
from God and God's Word!
6. Had he
been faithfully serving with his brethren, this would not have
happened!
a. It is clear here in Scripture that
Bathsheba becomes pregnant with David's child ... this is made sure by the
insertion in verse 4 that "she had just purified herself
from her uncleanness." This was a reference to having
just finished her monthly cycle and had made herself clean by the law ... thus
she could not have been pregnant at the moment they slept
together!
b. She sleeps with David and the
result of this adulterous affair is a pregnancy!
7. David should have put her out of
his heart the moment he saw her ... by focusing on her, he becomes so distracted
from what he knows to be right, thus he sins!
8. We must learn to clear out the
distractions in our lives lest they lead us into sin!
ILLUS:
SOME
ITALIANS HAVE AN INTERESTING CUSTOM.
AS MIDNIGHT ON NEW YEAR'S EVE APPROACHES, THE STREETS ARE ALL CLEARED,
THERE IS NO TRAFFIC, THERE ARE NO PEDESTRIANS; EVEN THE POLICE TAKE COVER! THEN AT MIDNIGHT, RIGHT ON THE DOT, THE
WINDOWS OF ALL THE HOMES FLY OPEN AND TO THE SOUND OF GREAT LAUGHTER AND MUSIC
... SOMETIMES WITH FIREWORKS, EACH MEMBER OF THE FAMILY PITCHES OUT THE WINDOW
ANYTHING IN THEIR HOMES THAT MIGHT REMIND THEM OF SOMETHING IN THE PAST YEAR
THAT THEY WANT TO FORGET! THEY WILL
TOSS EVERYTHING FROM FURNITURE TO ORNAMENTS, GLASSWARE, PICTURES ... ANYTHING
THAT WOULD DISTRACT THEM IN THE COMING YEAR TO MAKE THEM REFLECT ON A PREVIOUS
MISTAKE OR PAINFUL SITUATION! ONCE
GONE OUT THE WINDOW, IT WILL BE GONE FROM THEIR LIVES, NO LONGER TO DISTRACT
THEM FROM A GOOD NEW YEAR! WHAT IS
DISTRACTING YOU THAT YOU NEED TO TOSS AWAY!?
–
SOURCE UNKNOWN
9. A man who is not serving God on the
front lines is a good candidate to become distracted ... and to
fail!
II. PROPERTIES OF FAITHFULNESS! 2
Sam. 11:6-17
A. Duties! 2
Sam. 11:6-11
1. David asks his commander on the
front lines to send Uriah back to him ... he plans to cover up his sin rather than confess it!
a. This was a terrible mistake ... the
only way to deal with sin is to repent of it!
b. The extent of work that David must
go through to cover up his sin is far greater than the effort it would have been
to simply confess his sin!
2. It was bad enough that he had
sinned by committing adultery, but now he is going to conspire to commit
murder!!
a. One sin has a way of leading to
other greater sins if left unconfessed!
b. We cannot strip sin of its power
over us by our own wits and strength!
3. Uriah the
Hittite arrives and David indulges in “small
talk…”
a. "How's Joab
doing..." 2 Sam.
11:7a
b. "How's the
soldiers doing" 2 Sam.
11:7b
c. "How's the war
going?" 2 Sam.
11:7c
4. The fact that no responses are
recorded by Uriah might indicate that whatever he said David wasn't listening
anyway!!!
a. David
was bent on justifying himself and protecting himself ... he has no concern for
what his men were going through or Uriah!
b. Though not a Jew, Uriah is a man of
character and faithfulness!
5. David asks Uriah to go home to his
wife and even sends along some gifts to make the night a wonderfully romantic
evening for the two of them!!!
2 Sam. 11:8
a. Not the generous offer of a King
however, he was hoping to get Uriah romantically involved with his wife in the
hopes that her current pregnancy by David will be covered
up!
b. David was “using” Uriah by being overly generous
to him!
6. Uriah doesn't go home
however!!!! 2 Sam. 11:9
a. It must have blown David out of the
water to find Uriah at his own door the next morning ... sleeping on a mat with
the other servants!
b. David now asks him why he didn't go
home to his wife ... and Uriah's answer reveals a man of deep
faithfulness:
7. The marks of a faithful man or
woman:
a. “The Ark”
(2 Sam. 11:11a) Uriah's first reason why
he wouldn't take pleasure for himself had to do with the “Ark of the
Covenant” being in the field where God's people were fighting ...
Uriah cannot think of pleasure when God’s presence is being contested by
enemies, he puts the Lord first as his reason for self-sacrifice and denial of
personal pleasures ... and this is a non-covenant born man! A faithful man puts God first ...
always!
b. The second reason he gives: "Israel and Judah are staying
in tents." (2 Sam. 11:11b)
He will not take liberties his brothers cannot have ... he chooses
to live as they do!
c. The third reason: "and my
Lord's men..." He
recognizes David's leadership and respects the task assigned him by the king ...
which was not yet finished! Work first,
play later!
8. Uriah is emphatic about the cost of
faithfulness ... he will not take his own freedoms when there is job to do ...
no matter his own part, he
will serve God first and then
others!
a. For Uriah, faithfulness was not
based on how glamorous the job, nor how difficult it was ... but on how faithful he was to do what
had been given to him!
b. There is no hint that he sought for
prestigious positions, he didn't make excuses for lack of service ... he could
have claimed his right not to serve, after all, he wasn't even Jewish, he was a
Hittite!
c. Faithfulness
was an absolute for Uriah ... how about us?
ILLUS: MUCH
PRAISE HAS GONE TO A GREAT REVIVALIST NAMED JONATHAN EDWARDS. HE MORE THAN OTHERS HELPED SPARK ONE OF
AMERICA'S GREATEST REVIVALS IN THE 1800'S.
HE WAS A POWERFUL PREACHER WHO WITNESSED THE POWER OF GOD MOVE MIGHTILY
AT THE NORTHAMPTON, MASSACHUSETTS CHURCH HE PASTORED. HIS SERMON, "SINNERS IN THE HANDS OF AN ANGRY GOD"
BROUGHT SUCH CONVICTION ON PEOPLE THAT THEY LITERALLY HELD ONTO THE BEAMS IN THE
SANCTUARY AND CRIED OUT LOUD TO GOD FOR MERCY! YET IN ALL THIS, NOT LONG AFTER SUCH
HEADY SUCCESS HE WAS FIRED AS THE PASTOR OF THAT CHURCH BECAUSE OF AN ARGUMENT
WITH THE CHURCH COUNCIL OVER STANDARDS OF A MEMBERSHIP POLICY! FROM THIS RENOWNED CHURCH HE WENT TO A
SMALL CHURCH IN STOCKBRIDGE WHERE HIS MAJOR DUTY WAS TO CONVERT INDIANS. HE WENT WITHOUT COMPLAINT, AND WITH THE
SAME FERVOR MINISTERED IN THIS SMALL CHURCH ... HE WAS FAITHFUL NO MATTER THE
CIRCUMSTANCES!
–
SOURCE UNKNOWN
B. Determination! 2 Sam.
11:12-17
1. David tries one more time ... this
time he invites him to dinner that night at the palace and David gets Uriah
drunk! 2 Sam. 11:12-13
a. David figures the man has too much
character to sin
... so he attempts to drug him up and lower that quality in his
life!
b. David is determined to take care of
his own sin by covering it up!
c. And Uriah is determined to be
faithful to God no matter what!
d. Who do you think will
win?
2. To David's utter shock the next
morning he again finds Uriah sleeping at his door step with the other servants
... he is too devoted to serving God, God's people, and the King to be
unfaithful!
3. Uriah is a man of unwavering
faithfulness ... he made up his mind and that was that, even in a stupor he
will not yield to distraction!
a. This sure puts the Jewish King
David's example to shame!
b. Uriah had set his course ... and he
would not be sidetracked! Can we
say the same about our walk with God in this world
today?
ILLUS: AN
OLD SEAMAN SHARED HOW TO SURVIVE THE WORST STORMS AT SEA. HE SAID, "THE ONLY WAY TO SURVIVE THE RAVAGES OF THE
SEA IS TO SET THE SHIP IN A CERTAIN POSITION AND KEEP HER THERE NO MATTER
WHAT!"
–
SOURCE UNKNOWN
4. God's people need to learn to say
"no" to sin and mean it ... rather than try and analyze our feelings of why we
are drawn to sin, we could learn from other’s failures and "just say no!"
a. Uriah could have easily justified
his going home and having some fun...
(1. He had been fighting hard already!
(2. He had been asked to go home by the
King!
(3. He wasn't a Jew
anyways!
(4. etc.
b. Uriah however was too focused on
being faithful; he would allow no distraction from
duty.
5. He knew his duty ... and he was
determined to do it ... no matter what! This demonstrates the properties of
faithfulness!
III. PERSPECTIVES FAULTY! 2
Sam. 11:18-27
A. Demeaning! 2
Sam. 11:18-21
1. David sends
a message back to have Uriah put in the front lines where the battle is the
hottest to ensure Uriah will be killed!
a. He not only plans Uriah's murder
... he has Uriah carry the message back to Joab that would end in his own
death!
b. Uriah was so trustworthy and
faithful that David could trust him to not read the message that would send
Uriah to his own death!
2. Not only does Uriah get killed, but
to get him to the front lines, Joab had sent others with him so it didn't look
too obvious, and so others lost their lives too … something that Joab tries to
pin on David with the message he sends back! 2 Sam.
11:18-21
3. David receives the message that
several had died ... and instead of getting angry like Joab thought he might ...
that other innocent lives were lost, David is not even moved over the losses,
just relieved that Uriah is dead!
a. Joab assumed David would question
letting the men get so close to the wall where they were easy
targets...
b. But David's value of life had
diminished as he covered his sin ... sin in our land is a reproach to the
values of life!
4. The truth could have set David free
... but instead he is still in bondage!
ILLUS: YEARS
AGO THE KING OF PRUSSIA WAS VISITING A PRISON AND HE DECIDED TO TALK TO EACH
INMATE. AS HE DID, EACH INMATE
PLEADED FOR RELEASE AND DECLARED THEIR ABSOLUTE INNOCENCE! EACH ONE CLAIMED AN ERROR HAD BEEN MADE;
THEY WERE INNOCENT OF THE CHARGES.
FINALLY HE CAME TO ONE MAN'S CELL AND ASKED, "I SUPPOSE YOU ARE AN INNOCENT VICTIM
TOO?" BUT TO HIS SURPRISE THE
MAN ANSWERED, "NO, SIRE, I'M NOT
INNOCENT. I'M GUILTY AND I DESERVE
MY PUNISHMENT!" SO AWESTRUCK
WAS THE KING THAT HE IMMEDIATELY TURNED TO HIS GUARDS AND SAID, "HERE, RELEASE THIS GUILTY RASCAL BEFORE HE
CORRUPTS ALL THESE FINE INNOCENT PEOPLE IN HERE!" AND THE MAN WAS SET FREE ... ALL BECAUSE
HE CONFESSED HIS SIN RATHER THAN TRY AND COVER IT UP LIKE THE
OTHERS!
–
SOURCE UNKNOWN
5. David had demeaned human life and
the dignity of being the King of Israel and God's laws all because he covered up
his sin!
a. This so screwed his perspectives
that he takes no pity on the losses of his own men fighting for him and
Israel!
b. He takes only delight in getting
rid of Uriah!
B. Disaffection! 2
Sam. 11:18-27
1. David is not even moved over the
death of many of his men along with Uriah ... he had lost his
compassion!
2. Covering his sin was hardening his heart ...
it was searing his conscience!
a. David could see other's faults, but
not his own!
b. This is really evident in the next
chapter when Nathan tells him the parable of the man who took one sheep from a
poor man ... David is outraged over this, but not over his own sins of adultery
and murder!
3. The loss of feelings comes when we
harden our heart against God!
4. Sin makes us emotional cripples ...
the truly best way to mental health is confession of sin to God and the
forgiveness that results from it!
5. The King who was suppose to lead
his men, to fight for them, to take care of others, could only see his own needs
... he was cold to others!
ILLUS: C.
RAY DOBBINS, EDITOR OF CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN, WAS ON A PLANE
WHEN HIS SEATMATE SHARED THIS STORY WITH HIM: ON A PLANE FROM MIAMI HE WAS RIDING ON,
THERE WERE 65 PSYCHIATRISTS TRAVELING HOME FROM A CONVENTION. DURING THE FLIGHT A WOMAN BECAME ILL AND
MENTALLY UPSET, YET NONE OF THE DOCTORS OFFERED TO HELP! THE PLANE HAD TO MAKE AN EMERGENCY
LANDING DOWN IN NASHVILLE SO THEY COULD GET THE WOMAN HELP! NOT ONE OF THE 65 DOCTORS ON BOARD FELT
THE COMPASSION TO HELP HER!
–
SOURCE UNKNOWN
6. The door to faithfulness is our
will...
a. Will we serve God
wholeheartedly?
b. Will we confess our sins when we
commit them, or just cover them!
c. Will we live by God's laws no
matter what this world tells us!?
d. Will we remain faithful, no matter
how we feel at any moment?
·
No
one drowns from just falling into the water; they drown by staying in the
water!
CONCLUSION: Faithfulness does not come by
default ... it comes by design! The door is our will! David's poor choices led him into
unfaithfulness, yet a non-Jew by the name of Uriah made wise choices that honored God, God's people, and
God's leaders! Which example are
you following?