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The message you're about to hear was preached at Liberty Baptist
Church in Easton, MA. You can find out more about us
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message from God's Word will be a blessing to you.
Let's show your Bibles, please. The second Samuel chapter #14
this evening as we continue our series, A Man after God's Own
Heart. And that series has focused
greatly on David. But tonight, we're going to take
our gaze from David, actually look at his son Absalom.
Of course, we've looked at Absalom the last few weeks in
this series. However, we'll give you a little
bit of an update in just a few moments and let you know where
he is and why we need to look at his life here this evening.
It was Abraham Lincoln who once said this.
Better to remain silent and be thought a fool then to open your
mouth and remove all doubt. Have you heard that before?
I like that one, that's from Abraham Lincoln.
However, really as many of those common Proverbs and Maxim's are,
they really are filled with biblical truth.
And really, Abraham Lincoln probably borrowed that from
Proverbs 1728 where it says even a fool when he hold of his peace
is counted wise, and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a
man of understanding. Now I have to wonder when
Solomon, by the inspiration of the Lord wrote Proverbs 1728, if
he had Absalom in mind when he was thinking about the fool.
Because Absalom, of course, has acted in a fool in many ways, as
we've seen previously in our text, certainly in how he
handled the situation with Amnon and then beyond.
But we're going to see Absalom take things to new heights
tonight. We're going to see his absurdity
and we're going to see his buffoonery, if you will, enter
to whole different territory this evening.
He was a man who considered himself to be quite beautiful.
But as we see, once he opened his mouth, he removed no doubt
about what his real nature was, and it was anything but
beautiful. Tonight.
The message is called this, the Ballad of the Beautiful Buffoon.
I'll say this. I don't know if the message is
going to be good, but I like that title.
Amen. All right, the ballad of the
beautiful buffoon. And that's what we're going to
look at here in the Word of God tonight.
Would you stand, please, for the reading of God's Word?
Second Samuel chapter #14 and we'll begin in verse #23 it says
this. So Joab arose and went to Gesher
and brought Absalom to Jerusalem.
And the king said, Let him turn to his own house, and let him
not see my face. So Epsilon turned to his own
house and saw not the King's face.
But in all Israel there was done to be so much praise as Absalom
for his beauty from the sole of his foot, even the crowd of his
head, there was no blemish in him.
And when he pulled his head, for it was at every year's end that
he pulled it, because the hair was heavy on him, therefore he
pulled it. He weighed his 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, and will end in verse #28 where it says so.
Absalom dwelt 2 full years in. Jerusalem.
And saw not the King's face. And you might wonder why that's
a problem. And really it kind of connects
with what we looked at the last time We're in Second Samuel.
There was supposed to be some sort of reconciliation.
There had not been for three years.
And then when this was anticipated, now it's been
another two years and Absalom and David still haven't seen
each other. And the way absolutely handles
this situation gives us some instructions about how well we
shouldn't handle situations that are complicated and messy
because you don't want to be a beautiful or maybe not so
beautiful buffoon. All right, so why don't you be
seen to Let's pray together and consider the message tonight.
Heavenly Father, again, we thank you for this time and we thank
you for this place. And I pray that you just give me
what I need to be able to say what needs to be said tonight
from your word, Lord, your word is no what matters, not my own.
And I say that not as something just to say when we pray.
It's the heart that I have this evening.
And I pray that you would just allow that to show tonight that
your word is what is can change lives and help us in every area.
It's profitable. So I pray that that would be
what is shown tonight. And I pray your Spirit would
show us where we need to be in our own spiritual walk, that we
not even take any of the characteristics of Absalom
within our own life. Lord, thank you for this warning
of which we will have tonight. And we ask it all in Jesus name.
Amen. Now, how did we get here?
Well, we really could get to this place where things were
going along swimmingly in the Kingdom until the issue with
David and Bathsheba. Of course, it was at that point
when things started to change, and we find it at that point.
Now you're going to have turmoil within the House of David that
first manifested itself with the issue of Amnon and Tamar, where
Amnon took by force as sister Tamar, and then from that point
on, David not doing the right thing, not just as the father,
but as the righteous king and taking care of the situation by
putting Amnon to death. Absalom, who had anger and
perhaps even righteous anger, but it ended up manifesting
itself a few years later in a way that was unrighteous.
He took the law within his own hands and then slew his brother
Amnon, and then fled to the land of Gesher where he was for three
years. And as we saw the last time we
were in the book of Second Samuel, we saw that David was
really feeling like maybe there should be some reconciliation,
but couldn't bring himself to reconciliation.
But yet at the same time, what was needed was not
reconciliation as much as justice because Amnon was worthy
of death because of what he had done.
But now Absalom was also worthy of death because he had taken
the life of Amnon unjustly. It wasn't that he shouldn't have
died. It's just that there was
vigilante justice of which Absalom was not allowed to do.
And then you'll remember Joab concoct this plan to have an old
woman come in and to be able to explain that she was a widow
woman who had two sons that were fighting.
And I'm not going to re preach that whole message.
But the end result of this was that David's emotions were
stirred. But really the word of God was
not honored through that because if the word of God was honored
then well, what would have happened was Absalom would have
been brought to justice. But instead David's emotions are
stirred. He tells Joab and he tells the
old woman, go get Absalom and bring him back to the Kingdom.
Bring him back to me so we can get back together and reconcile.
Well, what happens is as we opened our text is that 2 years
have passed after that's taken place.
So now it's been five years total that Absalom and David
have neither one of them seen each other.
And from that point, we kind of have an aside.
It's, it's almost like the we take a time out in the text for
just a moment. And from that place, the Bible
gives us a little bit of biographical information about
Absalom. We don't hear much about
Absalom, really, his characteristics or who he is in
this type of way, but a lot of what we know about Absalom was
actually found here in our text, beginning in verse #25 this
biographical information we find out first.
He is beautiful, you know. Hey, listen, I don't know what
he looked like. I don't really care what he
looked like, but I do know this. The Bible says that he didn't
have a blemish from the top of his head to the bottom of his
feet. I can't even imagine what that
would be like. I can't even fathom what it
would be like. Just look in the mirror and say,
wow, I wouldn't change one thing.
But apparently, according to the word of God, that's the way he
was, that he had a beautiful countenance to him.
He wasn't just beautiful though, He was also bountiful.
It said that he have four children.
He had three sons and one daughter, but he also was
brotherly as well. How do I know that?
It's interesting that the name of his daughter was Tamar.
Why is that interesting? Because his half sister who was
raped was also named Tamar. So there was something within
him, a love. Listen, he wasn't just an
arrogant villain in and of himself.
That there was something redeemable, if you will, or good
within him. That he had this love for his
sister, his half sister who was treated so awfully by and that
out of honor to her, that when he had a daughter, he decided to
name her Tamar after his sister who had been so poorly treated.
So he was bountiful, He was beautiful, he was brotherly.
There's a lot going on in a lot of ways for this man Absalom.
But this is where the story begins to take a turn after we
get that brief aside that we just saw and that really we just
read. We ended the text with David
still not seeing his son for two years.
Now, let's be honest about family issues here for just a
moment. Family issues can often be
messy. Family issues can often be
difficult. Family issues can sometimes be
very hard to navigate. And you don't have to say Amen.
I'll say Amen for you. All right, then when it comes to
family issues, they can be interesting.
Listen, I'm an only child and family issues can be hard, all
right? It's just the way that it is.
And, and this is no different here.
Absalom has a father who really should put him to death.
But at the same time, he said that he wants to reconcile with
him. And so Absalom is expecting
reconciliation. But then for two years, his
father, who says he wants to reconcile with him, just says, I
don't want to see you. So what is Absalom to do here?
It's a messy situation in every way.
Now, this is where Absalom had a choice.
Am I going to handle myself as wise or I handle myself as a
fool? Now when it comes to the messy
situations we have in life, not just with family.
It can be in church, it can be a work, it can be at school.
The situations that maybe aren't always as cut and dry as we
would want them to be. We have a choice to make when we
handle ourselves as wise or we handle ourselves as a fool.
By the way, you don't get to act like a fool because the other
person's acting like a fool. I'll run that by one more time.
You don't get to act like a fool because the other person's
acting like a fool. We are Christians, we have a
higher calling that's been placed upon us that we are
believers and we ought to act the way that we believe.
Amen. And so here Absalom has been
treated poorly, even though he was also.
In the wrong for. What happened before?
And so Absalom could take a moment here and take the High
Road. By the way, there's not usually
a traffic jam on the High Road. You're not going to find a lot
of people that are on the High Road.
And certainly Absalom didn't have himself on the High Road.
And so he makes some decisions about how he is going to deal
with this. And he's not a problem solver,
but he becomes a problem spreader.
And a wise man is a problem solver, but a fool is a problem
spreader. Absalom, instead of going in
with a scalpel and trying to fix this in a way that is wise, he
takes a sledgehammer to something and believes this is
the way that it is going to be fixed.
Absalom does have a very real grievance, but this is where he
has a crossroads and he has to decide how he is going to handle
this very messy yet very delicate situation.
Now listen, Absalom is absolutely the villain of the
story. Absalom is the villain.
But you know what I found about villains?
Villains don't usually think of themselves as villains.
In fact, if you go through history and you find the
villains of history, usually those villains think of
themselves as well, heroes, just a little bit misunderstood.
Just if someone had only heard him out, if someone had just
seen their own point of view. Villains rarely see themselves
as villains, and spiritually destructive people almost always
cast themselves as the heroes. I've seen this.
More often than not, spiritually destructive people can cast
themselves as the hero, all while they're doing the devil's
bidding. David is wrong in handling the
situation as he is. But it does not give Absalom the
right to not just act wrong in turn, but then to double down
and be even more unwise that David is acting.
Absalom shows his foolishness in four different ways.
There's four different scenes, if you will, to this act.
And the first scene that we find is this.
He shows his foolishness as a destroyer, as a destroyer.
Look with me, if you will. We'll pick up where we left off
in verse #28. So Absalom dwelt 2 full years in
Jerusalem and sought out the King's face.
Therefore Absalom sent for Joab to have him sent to the king or
to have sent him to the king and he would not come to him.
And when he said again the second time he would not come.
Therefore he said to his servants, see Joab's field is
near mine and he had barley there go and set it on fire.
And absolute servants set the field on fire.
Now a couple of things here Absalom sends to Joab and he
says, hey Joab, remember how you wanted me to come back?
Remember how you set up that whole thing where I was supposed
to come back and be back here and dad was going to come and we
were going to reconcile? Well, that's not happening.
So Joab let's meet and talk about it.
And Joab didn't get the message. You know, it's like that text
message when it says read and they pretend they didn't read
it, you know, And you're like, what's going on here?
That's kind of exactly where it was.
Those bubbles start moving. You know, that they're typing
something, but nothing shows up. That's what happens here.
And so he calls again. Second time he says, hey, Joab,
remember how this is supposed to reconcile reconciling?
Let's get together. Joab didn't get the message or
pretended you'd get message. And so Absalom says, let me send
a different kind of message. Hey boys, get over here.
Who set Joab's field on fire? I bet he'll come talk to me
after that. Now interestingly enough about
Absalom and Absalom's life is that every time he had something
that needed to be done, he never did it himself.
He always said someone else do it.
Technically, Absalom was not the one who killed Ammon.
What did he do? He told his men to go kill him
here. He doesn't go and light the.
Fire, he said. The guys light the fire.
There's a lot of people who have a lot of toughness.
If you will. But then when you get down to
it, they say, you know, if you guys could do that for me,
that'd be great. Hey boys, I bought some torches
and some matches. You think maybe you go down to
Absalom's or rather Joab's house and do some work for me, and
that's exactly what happens. But in the end result, where he
did not fan the flames, he might as well have because he was the
one that sent the word. Well, it got Joab's attention.
It says in verse 31 that Joab arose.
And came to. Absalom unto his house, and said
unto him, Wherefore have thy servants set my field on fire?
Absolute answer, Joab. Behold, I sent them to thee,
saying, Come, hit her, that I may send thee to the king to
say, Wherefore my come from, Gesher?
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. Now, interestingly enough, the
fact that he would even say that shows a great lack of.
Spiritual awareness in his life. If there's any iniquity in me,
kill me. Well, guess what?
There's iniquity in you, and that's what.
Started this whole thing in the 1st place.
The lack of humility and awareness is startling because
he did deserve to die, but yet he tries to put Joab into this
vice and try to make Joab feel bad about what happened when
Amnon. Or rather, Absalom.
Was the one who started this all.
But in the end. Verse #33 Joab came to the king
and told him, and when he called for Absalom, he came to the king
and bowed himself on his face to the ground for the king, and the
king kissed Absalom boy. Verse #3 is a happy ending.
Now bow your head and close your eyes, all right?
No, you can't be that easy, can it?
This destructive method that Absalom used to try to gain an
audience with the king may have had a short term solution, but
when you have the heart of a destroyer, it never ends when
you get what you want because there's always something else to
conquer. There's always something else to
rectify. The heart of a believer that is
a heart of a destroyer is one that is a very dangerous thing.
And I've watched many believers over the years who have no
problems lighting relationships on fire, that have no problems
lighting family ties on fire, that have no problem inviting
things or or rather lighting things that that they don't
agree with on fire. And I'm not saying there isn't a
time when things that are not right need to be pointed out.
If you have a home that's on a faulty foundation, you know what
you got to do? You got to RIP the foundation
and put in a new one. I knew a family in Florida once
that literally in their home, they started to see cracks in
the, in the, the, the cement, or rather cracks in the side of
the, the house. What was it?
They were on a sinkhole. So what do you do?
We'll just get a little plaster and cover that up and you're
good. You know what you do?
You go right down the foundation they had to fill.
Into the ground and go from there and start over.
I'm not saying there are times that things need to be torn out.
Rot and a wood frame has to be taken care of, A dented panel or
a bumper in a car has to be removed.
And as I mentioned this morning, Jesus even overturned the tables
in the temple. But in each of these cases,
something good couldn't be built until that which was bad was
removed 1st. And there's nothing wrong with
being in a situation or being in a relationship where you say,
before we go on, this thing that is not right, this thing that is
not biblical, this thing that is sinful must be recognized,
diagnosed, removed and corrected before we moved on.
That's a biblical thing. There's something much different
to say, this is not right. It's not what I want.
Burn it all to the ground, and that's what Absalom does.
What Absalom is doing is not destroying for accuracy, he's
destroying for attention. And that's what he got.
Absalom seems to have won. He got what he wanted, but again
when that heart is not right. There's a much deeper problem
that's there, and that's what takes place with Absalom.
Because the message is not over. It's hard to spoil it because
chapter #15 continues to take a downward spiral.
In the life of Absalom, because he wasn't just a destroyer, he
was also a destabilizer #2 he was a destabilizer.
Look at chapter 15 verse #1 it says.
And it came to pass after this that Absalom prepared him
Chariots and horses and 50 men to run before him.
And Absalom rose up early and stood beside the way of the
gate. And it was so that when any man
that had a controversy came to the king for judgment, that
Absalom called unto him and said, Of what city art thou?
And he said, Thy servant is one of the tribes of Israel.
Stop right there for just a moment.
As chapter #15 begins, Absalom is going to start a
destabilization plan where he starts to make the people
question whether David is truly a righteous king of Israel or
not. You say, well, pastor, what did
we just read here that would even suggest that?
Well, we'll start with this. He goes to to prepare for
himself, Chariots and horses and 50 men to run.
Before Now, I don't know a lot about Chariots and I don't know
a lot about horses. But I could imagine if you had
Chariots and horses, you were probably trying to get somewhere
fast. But you probably aren't going to
get somewhere fast if you have Chariots and horses and 50 men
before the Chariots and the horses.
Do you understand what I'm saying here tonight?
Because if that's the case, the Chariots and horses can only go
as fast as the 50 men that are in front.
And again, I don't know a lot about Chariots and horses, but I
imagine the horse ought to be faster than the man.
So this wasn't for speed, this was for show.
There's a beautiful man who's trying to make a beautiful
impression on the people. He wants people to see how
important he is. He wants people to know Absalom
is back, baby, and you're going to pay attention.
And it says in verse #2 that he rose up early.
I found even lazy people will rise up early sometimes if they
want to get something that they want.
And here's a man that probably had no need to get up early
because he had all the luxuries of the world.
But now he's trying to get up early because there's something
he wants that he can't have yet. The Kingdom, he rises up early.
He stood beside the way of the gate.
What's the way of the gate? Well, that's where leadership
would often be. And it was so that when any man
had a controversy came to the king.
Absalom said, And what city art thou says?
I served as one of the tribes of Israel.
So what is he doing? He's first of all, trying to
show leadership by standing at the gate, Leadership that he
does not have. Sure, he's of royal blood, but
he has no leadership. So what?
He's trying to show leadership, but #2 he's trying to siphon
people off that are going to talk to David before they go to
talk to David, Say, hey, hey, hey, hold on a second.
Where are you from? Where you been?
And they'll answer, Well, we're from the tribes of Israel.
Pick up in verse #3. And Absalom said unto them, See,
thy matters are good and right, but there is no man deputed of
the king to hear thee. He says, you know, listen,
you've got troubles, man. You're coming to see the king.
If only there was somebody that would really.
Listen to you. Do you see what he's doing?
He's a destabilizing force, Verse 4, Absalom said.
Moreover. Oh, that I.
That I were made judge in the land, that every man which hath
any suit or cosmic come to me, and I would do him justice.
And it was so that when any man came nigh to do him, to do him
obeisance, he put forth his hand and took him, and kissed him,
and gave flattery. Now this matter did Absalom to
all Israel that. Came to the king for judgment.
So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.
There's something interesting that I see in verse #4 and it
happens. In these types of situations,
that there's always a kernel of truth that starts the descent.
Again, Absalom in his own eyes is not a villain.
Absalom in his own eyes is probably righteous, and David is
unrighteous. Why would I say that?
Well, there's that kernel of truth that's found in verse #4,
when Absalom says, moreover, Oh, that I was made a judge in the
land, that every man which hath any suit or cause might come to
me, and I would do him. What justice?
What's Absalom's real beef and grief with David?
It's that David did not do justice with the issue of Amnon
and Tamar. So here Absalom, maybe even with
his own within his own mind, is thinking, I'm doing the people
of Israel a favor. I'm helping them out.
They don't realize it yet, but David is not a man who is just.
David is not a man who will hear them properly and David needs to
be removed and what better man to take his place than me?
And I say this tonight because we must be very careful that
even when we are aggrieved, even when we have been done.
Wrong, even when we have been in a situation where someone has
done something to us that ought not to be done to us.
I'm not making excuses for the things that might have been done
to you. If they're wrong, they are
wrong. But I will say this once again,
that does not give us the license or the right to take the
wrong road, to correct or wrong. That is Bible believers.
We must take the right Rd. We must take the High Road.
Instead he is destabilizing a situation here instead of giving
it what it needs, stabilization, something that is biblical and
good and right. And Absalom feeds into the fact
that Israel loves the looks. Remember why they love Saul?
He look like a king. And So what is Absalom doing
here? He's making himself look like a
king. He has put himself in the gate.
He's treating people right. They're trying to bow to him.
He's like, no, no, no, no, no, no, don't do that.
Hey, hey, I'm just like you, you know?
And he didn't feel like he was just like them, but he was
giving. All the right things and doing
all the right things. And it worked because it says
so. Absalom stole the hearts of men
of Israel, and if he stole them, that means this they didn't
belong to him in the 1st place. Absalom is stealing that which
is not his. He was a destroyer, He was a
destabilizer. This third scene now we see is
that he was a deceiver. He was a deceiver.
Look at verses 7 through 9. And it came to pass after 40
years. Now that 40 years there, what I
I would believe is Absalom's age when he was 40 years old, that
Absalom said unto the king, I pray thee, let me go and pay my
vow, which I have vowed unto the Lord in Hebron.
For thy servant vowed a vow while I abode at to the Gesher
in Syria, saying, If the Lord shall bring me again indeed to
Jerusalem, then I will serve the Lord.
And the king said unto him, Go in peace.
So he arose and went to Hebron. So David is approached by
Absalom, and Absalom says, I have a vow that I need to pay, I
need to be able to go and perform that which I have
promised the Lord to do, and I need to do it in Hebron, which
would have been away from Jerusalem.
And David says to him, Go in peace.
Ironically enough, those 3 words go in peace are the last words
that David will say to Absalom. And there wasn't going to be
peace that was going to follow from the actions that would take
place and he was a deceiver. If you are in the place in your
issues, if you were in the place in the the messy situations of
life where you're trying to untangle these things and trying
to make things right, you will not be able to make things right
by deceiving or lying or twisting the truth.
Often times when we think we're on the side of the angels, we
think that we can play it loose and free with the truth, because
after all, we're on the side of the right and everyone else is
on the side of the wrong, on the other side of the issue.
But Absalom here takes spiritual language.
He talks. Like a believer, No, he has no
intention of revealing to David what he's about to do, but he
talks as one who is spiritually sounding when he says, I just
want to go pay my vow. But yet he has no desire to do
so. He is a deceiver.
And then finally #4 in the last scene, we see that he's not just
a destroyer, A destabilizer, A deceiver, but he's also a
dethroner. Look at verse #10.
But Absalom sense spies throughout all the tribes of
Israel, saying, As soon as you hear the sound of the trumpet,
then you shall say Absalom reigneth in Hebron.
And now we understand the true extent of what he's trying to
do. He's trying to overthrow David
as the king. And with Absalom went 200 men
out of Jerusalem that were called, and they went in their
simplicity, and they knew nothing, any going or not knew
not any going or anything. And Absalom sent for.
Ahithophel the Gilonite, David's counselor from a city, even from
Gilo, while he offered sacrifices and the conspiracy.
Was strong for the people, increased continually with
Absalom. Remember that a wise man is a
problem solver, not a problem spreader.
And Absalom now is taking his own grievance and he's spreading
it to the general population. The hearts of Israel are
starting to turn against David because of what Absalom is doing
at the gate. And the Bible says that he
invites 200 men to go with the Hebron.
The interesting thing about these 200 men, these 200 men
have no idea about what Absalom's about to do.
He has drawn them into his conspiracy by going to Hebrew
with 200 men. He's giving the impression to
the people that he is important. He's giving an impression to the
general population that he is of some sort of great importance
and someone that should be recognized and realized as
someone who can be a leader. And these men are going, not
realizing that they're about to lend credibility to what he is
about to do and even calls a man named Ahithophel, who also had a
grievance against the king, of which we will not go into
tonight. But it's very interesting when
we get to him. I'm looking forward to talking
about Ahithophel in greater manner.
But the idea is this, that he took people that really should
have been involved, but he also found other people had
grievances. I will say this, people who have
grievances very typically don't take care of their grievances on
their own. They find other people with
grievances if they're going to handle them in an unbiblical
way. Again, there are real grievances
in life. I understand that there are real
bad situations that happen in life.
I do get. That, but we do have to be
careful, even we're in the midst of that, that we are not trying
to get other people involved into something that could turn
into something very unbiblical. What do we find here?
That the buffoon believes that his own authority.
Is wiser than the authority he's supposed to be serving.
There's no doubt in my mind here that Absalom thinks that he is
the smartest guy in the room. He knows more than David, the
sweet psalmist of Israel. What is that?
What is Absalom know about life? He's.
Lived in the royal palace. He's lived at really leisure.
He's never really killed anyone with his own hands.
He's sent other people to do it. His father was the one who
killed a lion and a bear. His father was the one who slew
Goliath with a sling and then took the sword.
And chopped off his head. His father was the one who had
did great exploits. But Absalom didn't believe
wisdom lied within the heart of David, and he believed that he
was smarter than his. Own authority.
There's someone else who had that same idea as well.
Isaiah 14 verses 12 through 15 says this.
How art thou fallen from Heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning?
How are there cut down to the ground which did weaken the
nation's? For thou has set in thine heart.
I will ascend into Heaven. I will exalt my throne above the
stars of God. I will sit also upon the mount
of the Congregation in the sides of the north.
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds.
I will be like the most. High.
But verse 15 says this. Yet thou shalt be brought down
to hell, to the sides of the pit.
What happened? He got to the place as a
destroyer, A destabilizer, A deceiver, and a dethroner that
he decided that he knew more than everyone.
And what I've often found are those who do not handle
situations rightly often find that their way of handling it is
not even. I'm not even talking about that.
Their way would be handling it would be better than there are
authorities because oftentimes we can have authorities that
maybe aren't right with the Lord, but who is our ultimate
authority? The Lord and that they will take
the authority of God's word of how we were to handle situations
biblically and how we were to handle ourselves even when
people treat us wrongly. And that person will dethrone
King. Jesus.
And say I'll handle this my own way because I'm in the right and
they're in the wrong. Now, am I worried about there
being conspiracies by Christians here tonight amongst this church
or amongst the family or amongst the workplace or in the
schoolhouse or anything like that?
The answer is no, I'm not not looking over my shoulder on any
fields for you to burn. So there's nothing like that
that I'm worried about here tonight.
But I will say that the spirit of Absalom can rest in US even
if the deeds of Absalom do not. And this is where we must be
careful as believers, because it is easy when we see people who
are doing wrong to be able to handle the wrong situations in
the same manner. You got to fight fire on fire,
Hey, the Bible says an eye for an eye.
And a tooth for a tooth. You know, I always love that,
right? But again, the whole idea of an
eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth is an idea of equitable
justice and not vigilante justice, as we talked about with
Absalom some weeks ago. And we as believers now, we
don't like this because we often feel like we're the heroes.
Of our own stories. But if we are acting in a way
that's against God's word, we're not the heroes.
We're. Acting more like the villains,
say, Pastor, what? What are you trying to say to us
tonight? There's complicated issues in
life that we deal with. It's complicated issues you can
deal with, with your family, with a mom, with a dad,
siblings. Maybe they know the Lord, maybe
they don't know the Lord. Maybe they've treated you wrong.
Maybe they treat your family members wrong.
Not treated you wrong, but they treated others in the family
wrong. And it's hard for you to watch
that. And there comes a place where we
say, you know what? I'm done, and I'm done in such a
way that you're going to know that I'm done.
And you maybe burn something down that doesn't belong being
burnt down or you cause a destabilization in the family.
Well, if I'm not happy, nobody's going to be happy.
Or maybe even you don't mind bending the truth a little bit
because after all, they wouldn't understand what truth is all
about anyway. Well, these are issues where we
must be very, very careful that we are acting in a way that is
ethical and good and right. What happened to Absalom with
all this? Did it go well?
Why? Don't we go to Chapter 18?
We're going to go ahead a little.
Bit a wise man is a problem solver.
A fool is a problem spreader. Let me get ahead a little bit.
Of course, we'll look at this later, but Absalom ends up going
to war with David. It doesn't go well.
Do you remember back in chapter #14 it talked about how
beautiful Absalom was. It talked about how great his
hair was. Did you feel like that was maybe
a little bit of an odd thing to have written in the Word of God?
There's a literary device called foreshadowing that means this
we're going to mention. Something now and it might be
important later and in Absalom the.
Whole issue with how beautiful his hair was ended up coming
back to haunt him. Look at what it says in verse #9
And Absalom met the servants of David.
And Absalom rode upon a mule, And the mule went under the
thick boughs of a great oak, and his head caught hold of the oak,
and he was taken up between the heaven and the earth.
And the mule that was under him went away.
Lester Roloff preached a message years ago called this.
The mule walked on about Absalom and the idea was this that he
got. Caught.
By the his hair got caught in his glory.
He was so caught up in the beauty of his hair and it was
what he got so caught up in that ended up being his demise.
He was hanging in a tree by his hair and guess who happened to
wander by? Joab.
Now Joab was told not to kill Absalom and the people of
Israel, but Joab took that opportunity, he and his men and
he did what David told him not to do.
And the Bible tells us that Absalom died, that beautiful
buffoon died unnecessarily because he handled the situation
in a way that was destructive. You know, he thought he was
going to destroy David. You know what he ended up doing?
He destroyed himself. If you think you're going to go
to the mat with somebody that needs to be taken down and you
handle it in a way that is contrary to God's Word, you be
sure that you may end up exactly like Absalom.
You know, if you're going to take them down, take them down
in the prayer closet. If you're going to take them
down, you take them down doing that which is right by exposing
sin in a way that is good and righteous and even trying to
build or rebuild a relationship. But no, here we see it's quite
the opposite. Drop down to verse #18 he lost
his life, but he also lost his legacy.
Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and reared up for himself
a pillar which is the King's Dale.
For he said I have no son to keep my name in remembrance.
Now stop there for a moment. Do you remember we saw back in
chapter 14 how many sons did he have?
Three. And now it says he has no sons
for his remembrance. The best that I can tell by
reconciling the word of God is those sons didn't live very
long, that they died in early childhood.
Because here is Absalom sometime in his life, who says I have no
sons to bear my name forward. That was a difficult thing in
that time, particularly when you didn't have an heir, to be able
to extend your family's name forward another generation.
He had nothing. He had no son.
They died when they were young. And it says this, he called the
pillar after his own name, that pillar that was mentioned the
top of verse 18. And it is called unto this day
Absalom's place, Absalom. Went to all this trouble
fighting an unholy war. In a messy situation and he
handled it foolishly. Instead of the wisdom of God and
all he had left of his life that was a legacy was a piece of
stone that stood 10 or 20 feet tall.
That's not the way his life was supposed to end.
That's not the way it was supposed to be.
His legacy was left behind and all he had.
Left was a piece of stone that was called Absalom's Place.
I know people who left a business to their kids, but
their kids don't love them because of how the parents acted
in their life. Where's the legacy there?
I know people have plaques and churches or pews with their
names on them, but nobody even remembers who they are because
they left in an explosion of anger and never.
Did the right thing you say, Pastor, are are you saying that
when somebody does something wrong to me that I should just
let it go? The answer is when have I said
that? Any time in the last 30 minutes
because people do wrong things to us all the time.
By the way, you do wrong things too, but people are wrong to us
in lots of situations. What I'm saying tonight is only
a fool would take the wrong and then decide to also do wrong to
fix the right. We have a different calling.
We have a higher calling. And if you want to have a hope
of being able to bring restoration to a situation,
restoration to something that is taking place, the best way to do
it is to do what is to be able to show them the love of Jesus
Christ. And even when you are pointing
out their sin, to do it in such a way that there could be hope
of restoration. Not that you tear the whole
thing down. When I first got saved, I've
told you about the day that I got saved.
I went home that day and I expected my parents would be
rejoicing that I just got saved. I mean, why wouldn't they?
I forgot the reason they wouldn't was because I was a
Lutheran. We were all Lutherans.
I went home that day and I told my parents I got saved and their
answer was why? And so I explained to them what
I had done. They were not happy.
And when I say not happy, I mean they were not happy.
About 16 years old, I just got saved.
And by the way, when you get saved, you know you don't know
everything the next day. It takes a whole lifetime and
you still don't know until you get to glory.
But but just because you're saved and you are a new creature
doesn't mean all of a sudden you're supposed to understand.
Hey, layoff some of the new believers that have some
difficulties with what they are doing because they need to learn
and grow in their sanctification.
Help them along. But at the same time, they'll
say, well, I don't even know. I don't even know if they even
give them some time to grow. Like you need some time to grow.
All right, I'm done with that. But anyway, I remember.
Over the next weeks and months, my parents and I had a struggle
over whether I should go to a Baptist Church or not.
And I said, you've got to let me go to the Lutheran Church or let
me go to the Baptist Church and not let me go to the Lutheran
Church. I'm going to go to the Baptist
Church. I'm going to get baptized.
They said no. And I argued more and more and
more. You know why?
Because I was right. There's only one problem.
I handled it so unwisely instead of.
Also, I forgot the fact, you know, that I was supposed to
honor thy father and mother and that was still a minor.
And maybe I should have just obeyed them for a while and
listen to them that I caused such a stir.
Do you know what I did? I set them against the very
message I wanted them to embrace.
You know, you can be so emphatic about somebody that's not saved
trying to get them to get saved. You can actually set them
against the message you want them to receive.
That's what I did. And if I'm being exceptionally
honest with you, I'm still dealing with the fruit of that
decision almost 30 years later because I was relentless and I
was at the point, you know what, burn it down.
I'm going to serve Jesus. And that sounds so spiritual,
kind of like a man saying. I'm going to go pay my vows in.
Hebron Now here's the thing. I was ignorant in a lot of ways.
Absalom was not. Just because you were in the
right doesn't mean you get to handle the wrongs the wrong way.
Say, what is the right way? Well, Matthew 18 tells what to
do to the other person. If you go to the person that
doesn't work, you bring someone with you.
If that doesn't work, says take it under the church, bring it to
the group. So I've never seen that happen
before. Take it under the church.
Maybe that's why we have so many problems at Christianity Today,
because we just sweep stuff up or burn things down and never
actually get to the heart of the matter.
Are there churches that have had problems?
Oh, yeah. Are pastors perfect?
Oh, no. Interestingly enough, sometimes
these verses can be abused where David would not kill Saul.
And he said I won't stretch my hand against the Lord's
anointed. I've heard pastors say that they
are the Lord's anointed and you don't stretch your hand against
them. Maybe you've heard that line of
theology before. I've heard it independent
Baptist churches before. I am the Lord's anointed.
You don't strike your hand against me, just as David did
strike his hand against Saul. Could I just explain to you that
that is such damnable heresy, You say Heresy.
Yes. For a pastor to call himself the
Lord's anointed, as if he was anointed by God as Samuel and
Saul and Solomon. What?
Is insanity. I'm a fallible man.
I have made mistakes and I will make mistakes and I will
continue to make mistakes. I'm not proud of it.
I'm not, I'm not aiming for it. I'm not like out there driving a
car like, hey, am I going to hit this?
Can I hit this? You know, hey, what can I mess
up in the church? Can I mess this up?
I'm not trying to.
It just happens even by God's grace.
But if that happens, the way to fix it is not to burn the place
down. The way to fix it is to would
you come to me and maybe we can fix it together.
You say, well, what if you're not receptive?
Well, the Bible tells you what to do next.
What does the Bible tells you what to do next?
And you take it to the church and maybe the church says no,
the pastor's in the wrong, he needs to go.
You know what happens? If it's done biblically, the
church can move ahead. Now there are times maybe you
have a situation where that can't happen, the pastor won't
let happen and you have to depart.
That may happen and it does happen.
Just make sure when it happens, you do it right and that you
don't burn the thing around to the ground.
Say, but but what? But what?
But pastor, he's not doing right.
They're not doing right. I'm going to say something to
you that's not satisfying, but it's biblical.
Just give it to God. Give it to God.
You're not going to be able to be, you're not going to be able
to fix every problem. You're not going to be able to
solve every bad practitioner of the word of God or every person
who has hurt you or every person who has done wrong.
The Bible teaches this. Give it to him.
See. But that's not satisfying.
But it's biblical. You know why it's not
satisfying? Because it doesn't satisfy our
desire for vengeance and justice.
It doesn't satisfy the flesh. You know it.
If I try to take something on my own, I'll.
Probably make it worse. If God takes care of it and I
give it to him, He's the righteous judge.
Give it to him. If Absalom prays before he even
kills Amnon, if he commits himself, let David do right.
Make David do right. I wonder if this story ends
differently than him saying, you know what I'm going to do?
I'm going to take a knife. I'm going to hand it to my boys
because I'm not going to do it. I'm going to kill him.
And then once I try to get back together, my dad and it doesn't
work, you know, I'm, I'm going to lead a coup.
That's what I'm going to do. I wonder what would happen if
you'd said, you know what? I'm going to act as a wise man
and be a problem solver instead of acting like a fool, being a
problem spreader. Again, I'm not saying that I am
perfect. I'm not saying the people you
dealt with are perfect and you're you're in the wrong and
they're in the right. You have to get with the Lord
about each situation that's messy.
But will you do that? Will you get with the Lord about
each situation that's messy? And as you do, ask Him how to
handle it in a way that is honoring to God and gives
opportunity for there to be restoration and not just burn
the whole thing down to the ground.
The interesting thing about The Ballad of the Beautiful Buffoon
is that if it was a song, it will be the Blues, because
nothing good comes from it when you act like a fool when
problems need to be solved. Thank you for listening to the
sermon from the pulpit of Liberty Baptist Church.
If this message was a blessing to you, or if there's any way we
can serve you, please let us know by contacting us at
info@mylibertybaptist.org. Or you can visit us this Sunday
at 800 Washington St. in Easton, MA.
May the Lord bless you as you grow in His Word.