1 00:00:03,320 --> 00:00:05,960 Welcome to the Liberty Baptist Sermon Archives. 2 00:00:06,200 --> 00:00:09,040 The message you're about to hear was preached at Liberty Baptist 3 00:00:09,040 --> 00:00:13,040 Church in Easton, MA. You can find out more about us 4 00:00:13,040 --> 00:00:17,280 or contact us at my libertybaptist.org or just look 5 00:00:17,280 --> 00:00:19,760 us up on Facebook. And now we hope that this 6 00:00:19,760 --> 00:00:22,040 message from God's Word will be a blessing to you. 7 00:00:24,520 --> 00:00:26,960 Would you open your Bibles, please, to Second Samuel Chapter 8 00:00:26,960 --> 00:00:29,240 11? We'll be doing a treatment of 9 00:00:29,240 --> 00:00:31,200 Second Samuel chapter 12 tonight. 10 00:00:31,200 --> 00:00:33,800 But I kind of want us to have a jumping off place in Second 11 00:00:33,800 --> 00:00:36,880 Samuel Chapter 11. And I want to ask you this 12 00:00:36,880 --> 00:00:39,280 question as you're getting your Bible ready and figuring out 13 00:00:39,440 --> 00:00:42,000 where we need to be tonight. How many of you grew up in a 14 00:00:42,000 --> 00:00:46,240 tradition that was high church, that means a Catholic Church? 15 00:00:46,240 --> 00:00:50,200 Or there's a lot of homilies and robes and those kind of anybody 16 00:00:50,200 --> 00:00:51,920 grow up like that? We probably have a good amount 17 00:00:51,920 --> 00:00:52,920 of people. You grew up in the Roman 18 00:00:52,920 --> 00:00:54,880 Catholic Church. Or the Lutheran. 19 00:00:54,880 --> 00:00:56,680 Church, as I did, you were used to that. 20 00:00:56,760 --> 00:01:00,080 Then I would tell you, I would say to you that this evening, if 21 00:01:00,080 --> 00:01:03,560 you grew up in that kind of tradition, when it came to Bible 22 00:01:03,560 --> 00:01:08,520 preaching, it probably looked a lot different than you would see 23 00:01:08,760 --> 00:01:10,440 an independent Baptist Church, wouldn't it? 24 00:01:10,440 --> 00:01:15,080 I know that for me, get grew up, went 18 years to a Lutheran 25 00:01:15,080 --> 00:01:17,160 Church. I got saved when I was 16 and my 26 00:01:17,160 --> 00:01:19,520 parents then allowed me to go to a Baptist Church and get 27 00:01:19,720 --> 00:01:22,520 baptized scripturally when I was 18 years old. 28 00:01:22,520 --> 00:01:26,800 But for those 18 years they're about, I went to Lutheran Church 29 00:01:26,800 --> 00:01:30,440 and my pastor would get up and give about a 10 minute sermon, 30 00:01:30,480 --> 00:01:31,920 if you will, and somebody saying 10. 31 00:01:31,920 --> 00:01:32,760 Minutes. All right. 32 00:01:32,800 --> 00:01:38,040 We're going to find this place. But it was more of a speech than 33 00:01:38,040 --> 00:01:41,880 a sermon. There was some Bible type talk, 34 00:01:42,280 --> 00:01:46,200 but there really wasn't a lot that was going on that really 35 00:01:46,200 --> 00:01:50,560 dealt with the real biblical issues of life, Certainly not 36 00:01:50,560 --> 00:01:54,280 anything to do with what salvation truly was, which was 37 00:01:54,280 --> 00:01:56,280 salvation by grace through faith. 38 00:01:56,280 --> 00:01:58,880 Of course they used those terms, but it didn't mean them because 39 00:01:58,880 --> 00:02:01,880 we had to take the sacraments to be able to be ensured that we 40 00:02:01,880 --> 00:02:04,000 were saved. And so I would say that when it 41 00:02:04,000 --> 00:02:07,800 came to a sermon there at Messiah Lutheran Church there in 42 00:02:07,800 --> 00:02:11,520 Tampa, FL on Hutchinson Road where I grew up every Sunday for 43 00:02:11,520 --> 00:02:15,480 18 years, there was a lot of talk, but there wasn't a lot of 44 00:02:15,480 --> 00:02:18,400 preaching and there certainly wasn't a lot of what I would 45 00:02:18,400 --> 00:02:22,400 call Bible preaching. Now contrast that with the very 46 00:02:22,400 --> 00:02:25,840 first time I went to Westgate Baptist Church in Tampa, FL. 47 00:02:26,240 --> 00:02:29,520 Now at that time I was in 6th grade and we had a project at 48 00:02:29,520 --> 00:02:31,800 our school that we were doing about. 49 00:02:31,960 --> 00:02:34,680 Various countries of the world and they want us to come to the 50 00:02:34,680 --> 00:02:37,280 missions conference now. I know now that that was their 51 00:02:37,280 --> 00:02:38,920 way of getting us as students to go to missions. 52 00:02:39,200 --> 00:02:42,920 Conference to be able to hear a evangelist come and preach the 53 00:02:42,920 --> 00:02:45,000 word of God. But this was the requirement, 54 00:02:45,000 --> 00:02:48,280 and I remember myself and my parents going to Westgate and 55 00:02:48,280 --> 00:02:51,760 being able to here the preacher. Now, some of you probably don't 56 00:02:51,760 --> 00:02:54,200 know this name, most of you may not, but the evangelist name was 57 00:02:54,200 --> 00:02:58,600 Dave McCracken. And Kraken was probably the word 58 00:02:58,600 --> 00:03:01,200 that probably counts there because he was cracked up. 59 00:03:01,200 --> 00:03:04,520 Let me tell you, I've never seen a pastor or an evangelist like 60 00:03:04,520 --> 00:03:07,920 this before. He opened his Bible, he raised 61 00:03:07,920 --> 00:03:09,760 his voice. I don't even think my Lutheran 62 00:03:09,760 --> 00:03:13,480 pastor could raise his voice. He didn't seem to be emphatic, 63 00:03:13,480 --> 00:03:15,120 to be honest with you, much, much anything. 64 00:03:15,120 --> 00:03:16,480 We used to play basketball against him. 65 00:03:16,600 --> 00:03:18,240 He raised his voice playing basketball. 66 00:03:18,240 --> 00:03:21,160 And so Dave McCracken is raising his voice. 67 00:03:21,280 --> 00:03:24,720 He walked down off the platform. He's talking to people. 68 00:03:24,720 --> 00:03:25,880 He's talking to people in the row. 69 00:03:25,880 --> 00:03:27,880 He would have been talking to Lisa and probably Lisa and say, 70 00:03:27,920 --> 00:03:30,600 stop talking to me. But he would go walking around 71 00:03:30,720 --> 00:03:33,520 and he would go and he would do all these things. 72 00:03:33,520 --> 00:03:35,640 And that kind of what I said a little bit earlier, it's like I 73 00:03:35,640 --> 00:03:37,920 didn't know what was going on. But I thought this, I sure do 74 00:03:37,920 --> 00:03:40,840 like what it is. But, you know, in the midst of 75 00:03:40,840 --> 00:03:43,480 all the theatrics and all of those different things, do you 76 00:03:43,480 --> 00:03:46,720 know what I found that it wasn't just this man. 77 00:03:46,920 --> 00:03:50,520 Was trying to put on a show. It wasn't that this is just a 78 00:03:50,520 --> 00:03:54,360 traveling comedian who came by and he was performing a set. 79 00:03:55,000 --> 00:03:59,200 This man was passionate. I mean, he was passionate. 80 00:03:59,600 --> 00:04:01,840 He had some fire in his belly. Why? 81 00:04:02,080 --> 00:04:04,000 Because he was preaching the word of God. 82 00:04:04,360 --> 00:04:07,760 You know, what resonated with me was that my Lutheran pastor 83 00:04:07,760 --> 00:04:11,640 often would say what the Bible wasn't saying, but this man was 84 00:04:11,640 --> 00:04:14,880 telling me what the Bible said. And he believed it. 85 00:04:15,400 --> 00:04:18,360 And it seemed like he lived it. And by the way, I've now known 86 00:04:18,360 --> 00:04:21,000 and am thankful to call Dave McCracken a friend. 87 00:04:21,000 --> 00:04:23,480 Who would have thought that all these years later and that he's 88 00:04:23,480 --> 00:04:26,840 still preaching and still living the same gospel message that I 89 00:04:26,840 --> 00:04:29,200 heard him preach when I was in 6th grade all those years ago. 90 00:04:29,560 --> 00:04:33,880 What I'm saying is this Bible preaching has changed my life. 91 00:04:35,200 --> 00:04:39,320 Having someone stand up in front of me and say thus sayeth the 92 00:04:39,320 --> 00:04:43,600 Lord has absolutely and indelibly changed my life 93 00:04:43,760 --> 00:04:47,240 forever. I love Bible preaching and I'm 94 00:04:47,240 --> 00:04:48,960 not just saying that because I'm a preacher. 95 00:04:48,960 --> 00:04:50,840 That seems kind of self-serving, doesn't it? 96 00:04:50,840 --> 00:04:52,160 I love Bible preaching, by the way. 97 00:04:52,160 --> 00:04:54,000 It's what I do three times a week, so you ought to love it 98 00:04:54,000 --> 00:04:56,480 too. That seems a little bit icky, 99 00:04:56,480 --> 00:04:59,800 but that's not what I'm saying. I love getting preached to. 100 00:05:00,400 --> 00:05:04,880 I love being preached at. If someone is a man of God, is 101 00:05:04,880 --> 00:05:08,040 preaching from the word of God and is saying thus saith the 102 00:05:08,040 --> 00:05:10,760 Lord. I'm thankful for those men who 103 00:05:10,760 --> 00:05:14,120 are willing to stand up in a pulpit straight and true, 104 00:05:14,240 --> 00:05:17,400 without apology and say, Thus sayeth the Lord. 105 00:05:18,560 --> 00:05:21,120 Here tonight, David needs a preacher. 106 00:05:21,920 --> 00:05:24,360 Remember what happened? He met his greatest nemesis and 107 00:05:24,360 --> 00:05:27,280 he found out that his greatest nemesis was himself. 108 00:05:27,960 --> 00:05:32,000 He realized he well, he hasn't realized yet that he is the one 109 00:05:32,000 --> 00:05:34,080 that's caused great problems with his own life. 110 00:05:34,080 --> 00:05:36,400 In fact, we're going to see in just a minute from where we jump 111 00:05:36,400 --> 00:05:39,800 off in second Samuel Chapter 11. He thought he pulled one over on 112 00:05:39,800 --> 00:05:42,600 God. He he thought there was no 113 00:05:42,600 --> 00:05:47,560 consequences for his actions. But the Bible preacher comes in 114 00:05:47,560 --> 00:05:50,840 medals in his life. And I want you to know this 115 00:05:50,840 --> 00:05:52,400 evening, you know, people say you ought to have a good 116 00:05:52,400 --> 00:05:54,480 mechanic. You know, you ought to have a 117 00:05:54,480 --> 00:05:57,040 good doctor. You ought to have a good lawyer. 118 00:05:57,400 --> 00:05:59,520 I'm not saying why I know that but I'm just saying y'all have. 119 00:05:59,760 --> 00:06:03,040 A good lawyer, you know, these are things that people say you 120 00:06:03,040 --> 00:06:06,320 ought to have. Can I tell you don't be a place 121 00:06:06,320 --> 00:06:10,480 in your Christian life where where you are without a Bible 122 00:06:10,480 --> 00:06:12,880 preacher in your life? That might sound very 123 00:06:12,880 --> 00:06:15,080 self-serving again, because I'm the one who's preaching to you 124 00:06:15,080 --> 00:06:18,240 tonight, but I'm talking about far beyond just here tonight. 125 00:06:18,680 --> 00:06:22,400 Don't ever be in a place, whether you live in Easton or 126 00:06:22,400 --> 00:06:25,320 you live somewhere else, you'll ever be at a time, whether we're 127 00:06:25,320 --> 00:06:28,120 looking at this time or at a time somewhere in the future. 128 00:06:28,320 --> 00:06:31,440 Don't ever be at a place in a time in your life where you 129 00:06:31,440 --> 00:06:34,320 don't have a man of God who's willing to look you in the eye 130 00:06:34,600 --> 00:06:38,840 and tell you exactly what the Bible says with passion and 131 00:06:38,840 --> 00:06:42,560 compassion at the same time. And that's who Nathan was 132 00:06:42,560 --> 00:06:44,440 tonight. The title of my message is this. 133 00:06:44,720 --> 00:06:47,120 You should want a prophet preacher. 134 00:06:47,600 --> 00:06:50,160 You should want a prophet preacher. 135 00:06:50,360 --> 00:06:53,600 So would you stand please, in Second Samuel chapter #11 and 136 00:06:53,600 --> 00:06:56,880 we'll look at verse #26 and it says this. 137 00:06:57,080 --> 00:07:00,200 And when the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, 138 00:07:00,200 --> 00:07:02,640 she mourned for her husband. And when the mourning was 139 00:07:02,640 --> 00:07:05,680 passed, David sent and fetched her to his house, and she became 140 00:07:05,680 --> 00:07:08,560 his wife and bear him a son. And then this next sentence is 141 00:07:08,560 --> 00:07:11,680 the foreshadowing, isn't it? But the thing that David had 142 00:07:11,680 --> 00:07:14,560 done displeased. The Lord. 143 00:07:15,560 --> 00:07:18,640 Picking up now in our new text, our new chapter, Chapter 12, it 144 00:07:18,640 --> 00:07:22,120 says, And the Lord sent Nathan unto David, and he came unto 145 00:07:22,120 --> 00:07:25,160 him, and said unto him, There were two men in one city, one 146 00:07:25,160 --> 00:07:27,880 rich and rather poor. The rich man had exceeding many 147 00:07:27,880 --> 00:07:31,520 flocks and herds, but the poor man had nothing save one little 148 00:07:31,520 --> 00:07:35,360 ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up, and it grew up 149 00:07:35,360 --> 00:07:37,400 together with him and with his children. 150 00:07:37,520 --> 00:07:40,800 It did eat of his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay in 151 00:07:40,800 --> 00:07:43,600 his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter. 152 00:07:43,920 --> 00:07:46,320 And there came a traveler under the rich man man, and he spared 153 00:07:46,320 --> 00:07:49,560 to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the 154 00:07:49,560 --> 00:07:52,680 wayfaring man that was come unto him, but took the poor man's 155 00:07:52,680 --> 00:07:55,560 lamb, and dressed it for the man that was come unto him. 156 00:07:55,560 --> 00:07:56,920 And you understand what says dressed it? 157 00:07:56,920 --> 00:08:00,480 It's talking about killing that lamb and preparing it for a 158 00:08:00,480 --> 00:08:03,000 meal. Instead of taking of his own, so 159 00:08:03,000 --> 00:08:07,360 he took the poor man's one only lamb, when he had many of his 160 00:08:07,360 --> 00:08:09,200 own that he could have fed this weary traveler. 161 00:08:09,880 --> 00:08:11,400 And. David's anger was greatly 162 00:08:11,400 --> 00:08:15,120 kindled against the man, and he said to Nathan, as the Lord 163 00:08:15,120 --> 00:08:19,680 liveth, the man that had done this thing shall surely die, and 164 00:08:19,680 --> 00:08:22,360 he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this 165 00:08:22,360 --> 00:08:24,240 thing and because he had no pity. 166 00:08:24,240 --> 00:08:28,880 And Nathan said the David, for the most powerful words you'll 167 00:08:28,880 --> 00:08:32,600 find in the word of God, thou art the man. 168 00:08:34,159 --> 00:08:35,840 Thus saith the Lord God of Israel. 169 00:08:36,400 --> 00:08:39,520 I anointed the king over Israel, and I delivered the out of the 170 00:08:39,520 --> 00:08:42,400 hand of Saul. I gave thee thy masters house, 171 00:08:42,480 --> 00:08:45,440 thy masters wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the House 172 00:08:45,440 --> 00:08:47,840 of Israel and of Judah. And if that had been too little, 173 00:08:47,840 --> 00:08:50,880 I would moreover have given unto these such and such things. 174 00:08:51,080 --> 00:08:54,520 Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the Lord to do 175 00:08:54,520 --> 00:08:57,040 evil in his sight? Thou has killed your eye, the 176 00:08:57,040 --> 00:09:00,320 Hittite with the sword, has taken his wife to be thy wife, 177 00:09:00,680 --> 00:09:02,960 has slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon. 178 00:09:03,280 --> 00:09:05,840 Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house, 179 00:09:05,840 --> 00:09:08,880 because thou has despised me, has taken the wife of your eye, 180 00:09:08,880 --> 00:09:12,680 the Hittite to be thy wife. Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I 181 00:09:12,680 --> 00:09:15,320 will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house. 182 00:09:15,560 --> 00:09:18,280 I will take thy wives before thine eyes and give them unto 183 00:09:18,280 --> 00:09:20,600 thy neighbor. He shall lie with thy wives in 184 00:09:20,600 --> 00:09:23,680 the sight of the sun, for thou didst it secretly. 185 00:09:23,920 --> 00:09:26,760 But I would do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun. 186 00:09:27,480 --> 00:09:31,840 And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. 187 00:09:32,800 --> 00:09:36,360 And Nathan said unto David, The Lord hath put away thy sin. 188 00:09:36,840 --> 00:09:39,840 Thou shall not die. Howbeit, because this deed thou 189 00:09:39,840 --> 00:09:42,080 has given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord, The 190 00:09:42,080 --> 00:09:46,840 blasphemy, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely 191 00:09:47,280 --> 00:09:49,440 die. You may be seated in. 192 00:09:50,040 --> 00:09:53,600 We're a look at this issue tonight of prophet preaching and 193 00:09:53,600 --> 00:09:56,120 why it's so important for each of every one of us to make sure 194 00:09:56,120 --> 00:09:59,120 we avail ourselves to prophet preaching. 195 00:09:59,720 --> 00:10:01,760 Heavenly Father, do pray to be with me this evening. 196 00:10:01,760 --> 00:10:04,320 And in some ways, a message like this is an uncomfortable one 197 00:10:04,320 --> 00:10:08,240 because I am the preacher. But at the same time, I 198 00:10:08,240 --> 00:10:11,080 understand this issue is much greater than me, that every one 199 00:10:11,080 --> 00:10:14,240 of us, no matter where we are or when we are, should be the place 200 00:10:14,240 --> 00:10:16,120 where we have a Bible preacher in our life. 201 00:10:16,840 --> 00:10:19,200 And I know that in my own life that it's necessary as well. 202 00:10:19,200 --> 00:10:22,280 It's not something that I need to give to others without being 203 00:10:22,280 --> 00:10:25,320 receptive of it of my own self. And so I pray that you'd help us 204 00:10:25,840 --> 00:10:28,560 this evening to understand that need and for me to understand it 205 00:10:28,600 --> 00:10:30,640 and articulate. It as well thank you for this 206 00:10:30,640 --> 00:10:32,120 time and for all these who are here. 207 00:10:32,120 --> 00:10:35,080 Bless those who are ill, bless those who are traveling and have 208 00:10:35,080 --> 00:10:38,040 some other engagements that have meant that they are not able to 209 00:10:38,040 --> 00:10:40,000 be here tonight, things out of their control. 210 00:10:40,320 --> 00:10:43,080 I pray that you would just bless us here as we get into your word 211 00:10:43,080 --> 00:10:45,880 and we ask it all in Jesus name, Amen. 212 00:10:47,040 --> 00:10:50,160 What kind of preaching should a person be looking for? 213 00:10:50,360 --> 00:10:52,560 I would submit to you it is prophet preaching. 214 00:10:52,560 --> 00:10:55,720 Now I use that term because we look at the prophets of the Old 215 00:10:55,720 --> 00:10:58,680 Testament and the prophets of the Old Testament were real 216 00:10:58,680 --> 00:11:00,600 preachers, weren't they? The prophets of the Old 217 00:11:00,600 --> 00:11:02,640 Testament said, thus sayeth the Lord. 218 00:11:02,640 --> 00:11:04,680 No one ever looked at Elijah and said hey. 219 00:11:04,680 --> 00:11:05,760 What is that guy saying, you know? 220 00:11:06,160 --> 00:11:09,680 No one ever looked at someone like Elijah and said, what is 221 00:11:09,680 --> 00:11:12,680 that guy trying to convey to us? No, everybody understood. 222 00:11:12,720 --> 00:11:15,320 When the prophet opened his mouth and said thus saith the 223 00:11:15,320 --> 00:11:18,320 Lord, not only was he going to speak with passion, but he would 224 00:11:18,320 --> 00:11:21,000 also speak with compassion at the same time. 225 00:11:21,000 --> 00:11:24,520 Even when those words would sting, even when those words 226 00:11:24,520 --> 00:11:26,800 were difficult. I think all the way back to 227 00:11:26,800 --> 00:11:28,720 Noah. Noah was a preacher of 228 00:11:28,720 --> 00:11:32,520 righteousness for 120 years. He preached the judgment of God. 229 00:11:32,600 --> 00:11:35,840 While no one listened, while no. One paid him any heed. 230 00:11:35,960 --> 00:11:38,160 They had to have mocked him. They had to have left after 231 00:11:38,160 --> 00:11:39,800 them. Here's this guy building a boat. 232 00:11:40,080 --> 00:11:42,760 I don't think he could even conceive what a boat was because 233 00:11:42,880 --> 00:11:44,960 they hadn't really seen rain up to that point. 234 00:11:45,320 --> 00:11:49,080 But yet he preached because he knew what the Lord had said. 235 00:11:49,520 --> 00:11:53,440 And 120 years later his words came true and the world 236 00:11:53,440 --> 00:11:57,280 literally came knocking at his door too late because they 237 00:11:57,280 --> 00:12:00,520 heeded not his words that he preached Elijah. 238 00:12:00,520 --> 00:12:03,760 And 1st Kings chapter 18, he preached at Mount Carmel. 239 00:12:03,760 --> 00:12:06,920 Don't you remember that contest that took place between Elijah 240 00:12:06,920 --> 00:12:10,240 and all the prophets of Baal? And Elijah finally stood up 241 00:12:10,240 --> 00:12:13,120 after the prophets of Baal made fools of themselves, I mean 242 00:12:13,120 --> 00:12:16,440 absolute fools, cutting themselves and shouting and 243 00:12:16,440 --> 00:12:19,920 screaming, O Baal hear us, O Baal, hear us. 244 00:12:20,240 --> 00:12:23,560 And Elijah finally stands up. And he says this in verse 21. 245 00:12:23,840 --> 00:12:26,880 How long halt ye between two opinions? 246 00:12:27,200 --> 00:12:30,800 If the Lord be God, follow him. If Baal, then follow him. 247 00:12:31,600 --> 00:12:34,280 The Bible says the people answered him not a word. 248 00:12:34,920 --> 00:12:37,960 I think of Makaya. I like the prophet Makaya, who 249 00:12:37,960 --> 00:12:41,800 also happened to be a prophet during the time of Ahab. 250 00:12:42,120 --> 00:12:45,240 Ahab called him because Jehoshaphat finally wanted 251 00:12:45,240 --> 00:12:48,600 someone who would speak for the Lord. 252 00:12:48,600 --> 00:12:50,960 And Jehoshaphat says, Ahab, before I go with you in battle, 253 00:12:50,960 --> 00:12:52,400 I don't want to hear your false prophets. 254 00:12:52,800 --> 00:12:55,520 Send me one true prophet of the Lord. 255 00:12:55,760 --> 00:12:58,080 And Makaya a prophet preacher, said this. 256 00:12:58,360 --> 00:13:03,240 And 1st Kings 2214 As the Lord liveth, whatever the Lord saith 257 00:13:03,240 --> 00:13:08,720 unto me, that will I speak Isaiah Isaiah 58 verse one cry 258 00:13:08,720 --> 00:13:12,640 aloud, spare not lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show 259 00:13:12,640 --> 00:13:15,880 my people their transgression and the House of Jacob their 260 00:13:15,880 --> 00:13:18,200 sins. Hosea was a prophet preacher. 261 00:13:18,280 --> 00:13:22,080 In chapter 4 verse six, he says, my people are destroyed for lack 262 00:13:22,080 --> 00:13:24,360 of knowledge. Because thou hast rejected 263 00:13:24,360 --> 00:13:27,880 knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no 264 00:13:27,880 --> 00:13:30,160 priest to me. Seeing thou hast forgotten the 265 00:13:30,160 --> 00:13:33,880 law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. 266 00:13:34,080 --> 00:13:38,320 Amos was a prophet preacher Chapter 7, verses 16 and 17. 267 00:13:38,480 --> 00:13:41,680 Now therefore hear thou the word of the Lord, thou sayest 268 00:13:41,720 --> 00:13:44,920 prophecy not against Israel, and drop not thy word against the 269 00:13:44,920 --> 00:13:48,120 House of Isaac. Therefore thus say at the Lord, 270 00:13:48,280 --> 00:13:51,160 thy wife shall be a harlot in the city, thy sons and thy 271 00:13:51,160 --> 00:13:54,280 daughters shall fall by the sword, thy land shall be divided 272 00:13:54,280 --> 00:13:57,960 by line, and thou shalt die in a polluted land, and Israel shall 273 00:13:57,960 --> 00:14:00,880 surely go captivity forth into this land. 274 00:14:01,440 --> 00:14:03,360 How you like that for the power of positive thinking? 275 00:14:04,920 --> 00:14:07,560 That wasn't the power positive thinking, but that was prophet 276 00:14:07,800 --> 00:14:10,200 preaching. Even though it was difficult, it 277 00:14:10,200 --> 00:14:13,520 was thus saith the Lord Zephaniah. 278 00:14:13,760 --> 00:14:17,440 Zephaniah chapter 3 verse one. Woe to her that is filthy and 279 00:14:17,440 --> 00:14:21,320 polluted the oppressing city. Malachi chapter 3, verse 8. 280 00:14:21,320 --> 00:14:24,680 Will a man rob God? But yet you've robbed me, 281 00:14:24,680 --> 00:14:26,600 wherein you say we've robbed thee. 282 00:14:27,080 --> 00:14:31,720 And the answers in ties and in offerings, prophet preachers 283 00:14:31,720 --> 00:14:33,840 always get to the heart of the matter. 284 00:14:34,560 --> 00:14:39,400 Prophet preaching always gets to the matters of the heart and the 285 00:14:39,400 --> 00:14:41,720 Old Testament. Those are just a few examples 286 00:14:41,720 --> 00:14:45,240 that you could point to dozens of men of God who preach thus 287 00:14:45,240 --> 00:14:47,320 saith the Lord. But prophet preaching wasn't 288 00:14:47,320 --> 00:14:50,840 just relegated to the Old Testament, we also find it in 289 00:14:50,840 --> 00:14:53,840 the New Testament as well. We just mentioned this morning 290 00:14:53,840 --> 00:14:57,080 John the Baptist, that John the Baptist was very clear in his 291 00:14:57,080 --> 00:15:00,040 preaching that he said that he would lay the axe to the root of 292 00:15:00,040 --> 00:15:02,520 the tree again, meaning that he was going to get to the very 293 00:15:02,520 --> 00:15:05,640 heart of the matter, not just pruning the branches and leaving 294 00:15:05,640 --> 00:15:06,960 the trunk. But then he was going to get 295 00:15:06,960 --> 00:15:09,360 right down to the real issues of life. 296 00:15:09,520 --> 00:15:12,080 By the way, he died because he's a prophet preacher. 297 00:15:12,680 --> 00:15:14,840 He looked at Herod. He says you ought not to have 298 00:15:14,840 --> 00:15:17,240 your brother's wife. And it was that very message 299 00:15:17,440 --> 00:15:20,120 that got him killed. By the way, his he could have 300 00:15:20,120 --> 00:15:23,240 been alive a whole lot longer if he just toned down his message. 301 00:15:24,440 --> 00:15:27,080 But he realized this. I'd rather die in my integrity 302 00:15:27,080 --> 00:15:31,600 and say the word than just to water things down and to tell 303 00:15:31,600 --> 00:15:35,480 Herod, well, you know, morality is relative. 304 00:15:35,480 --> 00:15:37,240 And then you have for all. You are the King, so you know 305 00:15:37,320 --> 00:15:38,800 you just do whatever you want to do. 306 00:15:38,800 --> 00:15:41,440 No, He had a word. Thus, saith the Lord, He paid 307 00:15:41,440 --> 00:15:42,720 the price for it. But at the. 308 00:15:42,720 --> 00:15:45,480 Same time he got a commendation from Jesus Christ. 309 00:15:45,480 --> 00:15:46,560 So I think that made it worth it. 310 00:15:46,560 --> 00:15:50,760 I don't know about you, Peter. You know what I love about 311 00:15:50,760 --> 00:15:53,120 reading Peter right now? And you read the the messages of 312 00:15:53,120 --> 00:15:57,560 Peter in the book of Acts and the man who was so bold and so 313 00:15:57,560 --> 00:16:01,240 brash in the Gospels, he's now bold with the right kind of 314 00:16:01,240 --> 00:16:04,440 boldness, the gospel boldness that he has in the book of Acts 315 00:16:04,640 --> 00:16:06,680 because he's fortified by the Holy Spirit. 316 00:16:07,040 --> 00:16:09,640 And did you see just this morning when he said to the to 317 00:16:09,640 --> 00:16:13,200 the Jews, he says you are the ones who slew Jesus Christ on 318 00:16:13,200 --> 00:16:16,960 the tree. He was just in prison a few 319 00:16:16,960 --> 00:16:20,040 hours ago. He could have put a blunt edge 320 00:16:20,040 --> 00:16:23,040 to the message, but he said, I got to preach thus say it. 321 00:16:23,040 --> 00:16:26,720 The Lord Paul had a lot to say about prophet preaching. 322 00:16:27,360 --> 00:16:30,800 Paul was a man who always said exactly what needed to be said. 323 00:16:31,520 --> 00:16:36,000 Paul's final words to Timothy, his young preacher apprentice in 324 00:16:36,000 --> 00:16:37,880 Second Timothy chapter 4 verse 2. 325 00:16:38,200 --> 00:16:44,240 Preach the word, be instant in season, out of season, reprove, 326 00:16:44,400 --> 00:16:49,320 rebuke and exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine. 327 00:16:49,480 --> 00:16:53,400 Meaning this have the right spirit, be long-suffering and 328 00:16:53,400 --> 00:16:55,680 the right doctrine. Make sure you're preaching the 329 00:16:55,680 --> 00:16:58,160 word of God. He says in Colossians chapter 330 00:16:58,160 --> 00:17:02,880 one verse 28 about Jesus Christ in whom we preach, warning every 331 00:17:02,880 --> 00:17:06,400 man and teaching every man with all wisdom that we may present 332 00:17:06,400 --> 00:17:08,240 every man perfect in Christ Jesus. 333 00:17:08,720 --> 00:17:12,240 Paul saying this that his ministry in teaching those about 334 00:17:12,280 --> 00:17:14,760 Jesus Christ who were already saved was to make sure that they 335 00:17:14,760 --> 00:17:17,599 would become more like Christ and to be able to have people 336 00:17:17,599 --> 00:17:19,760 become more like Christ, he had to keep presenting Christ to 337 00:17:19,760 --> 00:17:22,000 them and presenting the doctrines of Christ to them. 338 00:17:22,240 --> 00:17:24,440 You know, we see in the Old Testament there was prophet 339 00:17:24,440 --> 00:17:27,839 preaching, while the office of prophet is no longer found in 340 00:17:27,839 --> 00:17:29,760 the New Testament era of which we live in. 341 00:17:29,960 --> 00:17:32,480 But yet at the same time, I would say prophet preaching is 342 00:17:32,480 --> 00:17:35,480 still very much alive. The spirit of the prophet in the 343 00:17:35,480 --> 00:17:38,360 preaching that it's thus saith the Lord seen in John the 344 00:17:38,360 --> 00:17:43,240 Baptist and Peter and Paul and others as well is prophet 345 00:17:43,240 --> 00:17:48,440 preaching is not soft, shallow or smooth say smooth. 346 00:17:48,440 --> 00:17:51,760 What's smooth preaching? Well Isaiah chapter 30 verse 10 347 00:17:51,760 --> 00:17:55,200 talks about that which say to the seers see not and to the 348 00:17:55,200 --> 00:17:58,120 prophets prophecy not unto us right things. 349 00:17:58,360 --> 00:18:02,880 Speak unto us smooth things. Prophecy deceits. 350 00:18:03,480 --> 00:18:07,000 Smooth preaching is this. You're going to be OK when 351 00:18:07,000 --> 00:18:10,000 you're not going to be OK. Smooth preaching is. 352 00:18:10,400 --> 00:18:14,680 That's not sin when it is sin says there's smooth preaching 353 00:18:14,680 --> 00:18:16,520 out there today. It's everywhere. 354 00:18:17,200 --> 00:18:19,520 Smooth preaching will tell you that alcohol won't hurt you, 355 00:18:20,640 --> 00:18:25,160 that sexual immorality is not a big deal, that homosexuality is 356 00:18:25,160 --> 00:18:27,640 not found as a sinful sense in the Word of God. 357 00:18:28,640 --> 00:18:32,040 That that that that sin really isn't even a real thing, that 358 00:18:32,040 --> 00:18:35,600 it's more just a construct made-up by religion to just keep 359 00:18:35,600 --> 00:18:38,640 people in line. These are the things that smooth 360 00:18:38,640 --> 00:18:41,720 preaching will tell you. And smooth preaching is a smooth 361 00:18:41,720 --> 00:18:47,360 Rd. paved straight to hell. It's wide and it's long, but you 362 00:18:47,360 --> 00:18:51,760 can be sure of its destination. Smooth preaching, Shallow 363 00:18:51,760 --> 00:18:55,320 preaching, Soft preaching. Listen, when the I mentioned 364 00:18:55,320 --> 00:18:57,480 this just a few moments ago when the preacher's done, you 365 00:18:57,480 --> 00:18:59,480 shouldn't have to wonder what was the preacher trying to say 366 00:18:59,480 --> 00:19:01,680 to us? How do you remember those old 367 00:19:01,680 --> 00:19:03,480 radios? Not the I mean, most of us grew 368 00:19:03,480 --> 00:19:06,040 up with them. Not the digital radios of today. 369 00:19:06,040 --> 00:19:07,440 But you know you wanted to get the. 370 00:19:08,160 --> 00:19:10,280 Again, tune it in, right? To find that Channel, you had to 371 00:19:10,280 --> 00:19:13,640 go back this way and that way, and then you move your car about 372 00:19:13,640 --> 00:19:14,840 20 feet and then you messed it up. 373 00:19:14,840 --> 00:19:17,200 You had to move it again this way and then move it that way. 374 00:19:17,600 --> 00:19:21,200 And sometimes trying to get a smooth talking preacher to 375 00:19:21,240 --> 00:19:23,440 understand what he's saying is like, can you move a little bit 376 00:19:23,440 --> 00:19:25,000 that way? Can you move a little bit that 377 00:19:25,000 --> 00:19:26,560 way? I can't quite figure out what 378 00:19:26,560 --> 00:19:27,960 you're saying. Can I just dial it in? 379 00:19:27,960 --> 00:19:30,120 And by the time you're done, you're more confused and more 380 00:19:30,120 --> 00:19:33,200 tired than anything else because you don't even know what he 381 00:19:33,200 --> 00:19:35,560 said. That's what I loved about. 382 00:19:36,520 --> 00:19:39,360 Preaching in independent Baptist churches, that was the first 383 00:19:39,360 --> 00:19:42,080 thing I loved that when I left the church that I knew what the 384 00:19:42,080 --> 00:19:44,760 preacher was saying. It seemed that he meant what he 385 00:19:44,760 --> 00:19:47,760 was saying and that everything that he was saying, he was 386 00:19:47,800 --> 00:19:50,520 showing me in the Word of God why he was saying it. 387 00:19:50,520 --> 00:19:52,840 When I was a Lutheran, we never even took our Bibles to church. 388 00:19:53,440 --> 00:19:55,240 Didn't need to. There was no need. 389 00:19:55,240 --> 00:19:59,080 They read the text for the day. The preacher would barely talk 390 00:19:59,080 --> 00:20:02,120 about the text of the day, didn't tell us why the text of 391 00:20:02,120 --> 00:20:03,480 the day was important to our life. 392 00:20:04,000 --> 00:20:05,840 And that was it. It was a homily. 393 00:20:06,400 --> 00:20:09,720 It was a speech. It wasn't a sermon, but it's my 394 00:20:09,720 --> 00:20:12,600 desire that when we have preaching from the word of God 395 00:20:12,600 --> 00:20:14,240 that you see, thus sayeth the Lord. 396 00:20:14,760 --> 00:20:17,520 Why do we say what we say? Where does it say it? 397 00:20:17,520 --> 00:20:20,280 That's that's why sometimes I'll give you the address of where 398 00:20:20,280 --> 00:20:22,560 I'm preaching from. If I mentioned a verse in First 399 00:20:22,560 --> 00:20:26,400 Kings or Hosea or Second Timothy, I'll let you know. 400 00:20:26,400 --> 00:20:29,400 And sometimes we'll turn our Bible so you can look there for 401 00:20:29,400 --> 00:20:30,240 yourself. Why? 402 00:20:30,440 --> 00:20:34,120 Because Bible preaching ought to be verified by the Bible 403 00:20:35,040 --> 00:20:36,760 prophet. Preaching isn't smooth or 404 00:20:36,760 --> 00:20:39,600 shallow or soft. But I'll also say this. 405 00:20:39,600 --> 00:20:42,680 Oh, actually, Titus giving a verse, Titus 215. 406 00:20:42,880 --> 00:20:45,560 It says these things. Speak and exhort and rebuke with 407 00:20:45,600 --> 00:20:48,360 all authority. Let no man despise thee. 408 00:20:48,360 --> 00:20:51,080 Another young preacher, Titus, he says this, When you speak, 409 00:20:51,080 --> 00:20:54,000 you speak with authority. And by the way, why am I able to 410 00:20:54,000 --> 00:20:56,560 speak with authority? Because I stand behind a nice 411 00:20:56,560 --> 00:20:58,040 pulpit? No, it's not because that 412 00:20:58,160 --> 00:21:00,640 because I have a nice suit. No, because, you know, I don't 413 00:21:00,640 --> 00:21:04,720 know how nice it is, but I like it because of who I am or, or 414 00:21:04,720 --> 00:21:06,880 anything within me. No, no, I can stand and speak 415 00:21:06,880 --> 00:21:09,920 with all authority as long as I speak with the authority which 416 00:21:09,920 --> 00:21:13,320 this book allows. When I stand preaching this, I 417 00:21:13,320 --> 00:21:15,840 have all authority. When I stand preaching my own 418 00:21:15,840 --> 00:21:18,120 thoughts, my authority goes out the window. 419 00:21:18,560 --> 00:21:22,120 That's why Bible preaching has to be based in the Bible. 420 00:21:23,360 --> 00:21:27,360 But also say this. Prophet preaching may not be 421 00:21:27,360 --> 00:21:31,320 soft and smooth and shallow, but I'd also say this. 422 00:21:31,360 --> 00:21:36,680 It's either petty or personal. Either prophet preaching doesn't 423 00:21:36,680 --> 00:21:39,920 have to be tough preaching for the sake of being tough. 424 00:21:41,720 --> 00:21:44,960 A wooden box like this pulpit isn't meant to be a whipping 425 00:21:44,960 --> 00:21:49,560 post where God's people are brought to it and are beaten, 426 00:21:50,920 --> 00:21:55,040 metaphorically speaking, by the pastor and the Word of God. 427 00:21:55,880 --> 00:21:58,960 I've watched pastors in the years say things from the pulpit 428 00:21:59,920 --> 00:22:02,200 to a crowd that they would never say to someone's face 429 00:22:02,200 --> 00:22:05,360 one-on-one. And they feel real tough because 430 00:22:05,360 --> 00:22:08,320 they are behind a pulpit and they can talk for 30 and 40 431 00:22:08,320 --> 00:22:09,960 minutes and nobody can say anything back. 432 00:22:11,680 --> 00:22:14,160 But if they were sitting one-on-one across the table from 433 00:22:14,160 --> 00:22:16,000 somebody, they would never say the things that they're going to 434 00:22:16,000 --> 00:22:16,480 say. Why? 435 00:22:17,160 --> 00:22:19,720 Because that's not profit preaching. 436 00:22:20,680 --> 00:22:23,960 That's, to be honest with you, prideful, arrogant preaching. 437 00:22:23,960 --> 00:22:27,440 That's not profit preaching. I'll tell you, if those guys 438 00:22:27,440 --> 00:22:30,360 were as tough as they said they were, they would sit down 439 00:22:30,360 --> 00:22:32,640 one-on-one with someone who is in sin. 440 00:22:32,720 --> 00:22:35,000 They would sit down one-on-one with someone who is struggling 441 00:22:35,160 --> 00:22:39,480 and get down deep into the the murky issues of their life and 442 00:22:39,480 --> 00:22:42,920 be able to help them page by page through the word of God, 443 00:22:42,920 --> 00:22:46,520 Discipling them, helping them, counseling them, loving them, 444 00:22:46,640 --> 00:22:49,280 crying with them. No, that's what a tough preacher 445 00:22:49,280 --> 00:22:52,480 would do, not just stand up from the pulpit and try to talk to 446 00:22:52,480 --> 00:22:55,640 one man while he's insulting 80 people who are sitting there 447 00:22:55,640 --> 00:22:59,040 listening because he's got a message for one person that he's 448 00:22:59,040 --> 00:23:00,800 not willing to tell that person himself. 449 00:23:00,800 --> 00:23:02,840 He said, pastor, are you mad at anybody? 450 00:23:02,840 --> 00:23:06,040 I'm not mad at anybody. But I will tell you this, I do 451 00:23:06,040 --> 00:23:08,760 hate the fact that there are those pastors, even an 452 00:23:08,760 --> 00:23:12,320 independent Baptist circles, who would give the the idea of 453 00:23:12,320 --> 00:23:16,800 prophet preaching a bad name. That you should be willing to 454 00:23:16,800 --> 00:23:18,880 have a pastor who talks tough to you. 455 00:23:19,760 --> 00:23:22,200 You should be willing to have a pastor who will talk to you 456 00:23:22,200 --> 00:23:27,240 about the issues of life, but all without being petty or 457 00:23:27,240 --> 00:23:32,160 personal or insulting. That's not profit preaching. 458 00:23:32,160 --> 00:23:35,520 That's that's arrogance and fleshliness. 459 00:23:37,360 --> 00:23:39,960 I'm thankful for the. Preachers I've had in my life 460 00:23:39,960 --> 00:23:44,560 over the years, I mean real preachers, the gentleman who 461 00:23:44,560 --> 00:23:46,680 just passed away a few weeks ago, Steve Baker. 462 00:23:47,920 --> 00:23:51,840 Through his preaching, he taught me how to connect with people I 463 00:23:51,840 --> 00:23:52,720 think of. Bruce. 464 00:23:52,720 --> 00:23:56,120 Turner, who some of you have met before and his preaching taught 465 00:23:56,120 --> 00:23:59,120 me how to be alive. He was the first preacher I ever 466 00:23:59,120 --> 00:24:03,400 listened to on a regular basis that I said this man is excited 467 00:24:03,920 --> 00:24:06,680 about what he's preaching and it's OK to be excited in the 468 00:24:06,680 --> 00:24:08,720 pulpit. It's OK to raise your voice. 469 00:24:08,720 --> 00:24:10,680 Once in a while even the sound team kind of gets annoyed at you 470 00:24:10,680 --> 00:24:12,160 because you raise your voice at awkward. 471 00:24:12,160 --> 00:24:15,280 Times. They hate it when I do that, by 472 00:24:15,280 --> 00:24:18,160 the way, Like, why do you speak so low and then so high and then 473 00:24:18,160 --> 00:24:19,560 blows everything out? All right, so. 474 00:24:21,080 --> 00:24:24,560 But he taught me to be alive. I think of Sam Davison 475 00:24:26,000 --> 00:24:31,160 expository preaching, letting the text speak for itself and 476 00:24:31,160 --> 00:24:34,360 not trying to force something out of the text that's not 477 00:24:34,360 --> 00:24:36,440 there, but just what does the text say? 478 00:24:36,440 --> 00:24:41,080 And allow the text to dictate what is preached, to preach 479 00:24:41,080 --> 00:24:46,040 through the Bible, to dig deep. I think of friends like Robert 480 00:24:46,040 --> 00:24:49,240 Lewis and Jeff Copes. They've been men who have been 481 00:24:49,240 --> 00:24:52,080 able to and one-on-one preaching, if you will, 482 00:24:52,560 --> 00:24:54,680 counseling. They'd look at me and say, I 483 00:24:54,680 --> 00:24:56,600 don't know if this is what you wanted to hear, but this is what 484 00:24:56,600 --> 00:24:59,480 the Bible said. And it's not always what I want 485 00:24:59,480 --> 00:25:01,720 to hear, but I'm glad they're willing to tell me what the 486 00:25:01,720 --> 00:25:04,760 Bible said. You know, you need a prophet 487 00:25:04,760 --> 00:25:09,200 preacher, not just today, but wherever and whenever you are. 488 00:25:09,600 --> 00:25:13,960 Don't ever be away from a place that avails yourself of a Bible 489 00:25:13,960 --> 00:25:16,200 preacher. And I would say even in my own 490 00:25:16,200 --> 00:25:19,640 life that I've made sure that I've had men that I can trust 491 00:25:20,080 --> 00:25:22,360 that could be Bible preachers for me, that I can listen to 492 00:25:22,360 --> 00:25:24,920 their messages during the week. Because I can't just preach to 493 00:25:24,920 --> 00:25:27,680 you without listening to other men's messages during the week 494 00:25:27,680 --> 00:25:29,680 to make sure that I'm doing right. 495 00:25:30,120 --> 00:25:33,280 To make sure that someone sticks their finger in my face and says 496 00:25:33,280 --> 00:25:36,040 thou art the man. Oh, by the way, do you think I 497 00:25:36,040 --> 00:25:38,280 forgot about the text here? Speak a Bible. 498 00:25:38,280 --> 00:25:38,920 Bible. Preach, you say? 499 00:25:38,920 --> 00:25:40,400 Well, how about you get to the Bible? 500 00:25:41,240 --> 00:25:43,680 Well, I think we've talked biblically the last few minutes, 501 00:25:43,680 --> 00:25:46,160 but I want to bring it back to our text here for the next few 502 00:25:46,160 --> 00:25:50,240 moments. David is smug. 503 00:25:51,640 --> 00:25:55,160 David got one over on God. He's got his woman. 504 00:25:56,280 --> 00:25:58,360 He's got a another child on the way. 505 00:25:59,400 --> 00:26:02,680 Uriah is gone and no one's the wiser. 506 00:26:03,720 --> 00:26:06,000 But that last sentence is haunting, isn't it? 507 00:26:06,680 --> 00:26:11,440 That last sentence of Chapter 11, No one knew, but God knew. 508 00:26:12,400 --> 00:26:16,640 And So what did God do? God sent a preacher. 509 00:26:17,920 --> 00:26:20,680 God sent a prophet. Now you might remember Nathan. 510 00:26:20,680 --> 00:26:25,520 We met Nathan back in chapter #7 in chapter #7 Nathan came and 511 00:26:25,520 --> 00:26:29,480 gave counsel to David on the issue of whether he should build 512 00:26:29,480 --> 00:26:31,360 a temple or not. And we'll consider that again in 513 00:26:31,360 --> 00:26:32,880 just a few moments. But he. 514 00:26:32,880 --> 00:26:36,280 Comes and he gives a parable. Now I want to be clear about 515 00:26:36,280 --> 00:26:38,200 this. Nathan did not give this parable 516 00:26:38,200 --> 00:26:41,920 because he was afraid to talk directly to the king. 517 00:26:42,160 --> 00:26:45,800 I see nothing in Nathan's countenance that seems to show 518 00:26:45,800 --> 00:26:49,200 that he was afraid to talk in a direct way to King David. 519 00:26:50,040 --> 00:26:53,120 But he did understand this, that a lot of times when it comes to 520 00:26:53,120 --> 00:26:56,840 the issue of preaching, you have to kind of bring people along to 521 00:26:56,880 --> 00:26:59,360 a place where they will understand what is being said. 522 00:27:00,440 --> 00:27:04,360 And so he gives this parable, the rich man, the poor man, the 523 00:27:04,360 --> 00:27:07,880 rich man with all the lambs, the the one man that only had the 1 524 00:27:07,880 --> 00:27:09,840 lamb who he nourished. And it would not have been 525 00:27:09,840 --> 00:27:13,560 unusual in those times and seasons for someone to have 526 00:27:13,560 --> 00:27:16,960 taken in a lamb as a pet. Now we don't think of it that 527 00:27:16,960 --> 00:27:19,760 way today, but in those times it would not have been unusual for 528 00:27:19,760 --> 00:27:23,040 someone to take a lamb, not necessarily for food, but as a 529 00:27:23,040 --> 00:27:25,600 cherished family pet. So when you think about this 530 00:27:25,600 --> 00:27:29,160 indignation, think. Not even necessarily about a 531 00:27:29,160 --> 00:27:32,320 lamb, but think about how some we, we feel about our pets 532 00:27:32,320 --> 00:27:35,480 today, maybe a, a cherished family dog or something like 533 00:27:35,480 --> 00:27:37,040 that. And that, that, that there was a 534 00:27:37,080 --> 00:27:40,400 man who had many dogs, but but you just had this one dog and 535 00:27:40,400 --> 00:27:42,080 you've loved that dog since he's a puppy. 536 00:27:42,080 --> 00:27:44,640 And you've taken him everywhere and you've done everything and 537 00:27:44,640 --> 00:27:46,760 you've watched him grow and you've helped him, you've nursed 538 00:27:46,760 --> 00:27:47,560 him. You've loved you. 539 00:27:47,560 --> 00:27:50,680 He, he sat in your bed and laid at your feet every night. 540 00:27:51,080 --> 00:27:54,760 And a man who had plenty of dogs came by and says, I want your 541 00:27:54,760 --> 00:27:57,680 dog. Now in this case he wanted the 542 00:27:57,680 --> 00:28:02,640 lamb, the rich man, because he did not want to prepare mutton 543 00:28:03,920 --> 00:28:06,920 from his own flock. And so he says, well I'll take 544 00:28:06,920 --> 00:28:11,160 that other little you lamb, he says, and I'll take that, and 545 00:28:11,160 --> 00:28:15,600 I'll kill it, and then I won't have to spare for my flock. 546 00:28:16,480 --> 00:28:21,280 And David was mad. Did you see what again what it 547 00:28:21,280 --> 00:28:23,200 said in verse 5? And David's anger was greatly 548 00:28:23,200 --> 00:28:25,840 kindled against the man. By the way, who was the man? 549 00:28:27,000 --> 00:28:31,360 He was the man, but David wasn't at the place yet where he could 550 00:28:31,360 --> 00:28:33,880 accept that fact. In fact, what's so beautiful 551 00:28:33,880 --> 00:28:37,320 about this text is that Nathan, in using this, first gives an 552 00:28:37,320 --> 00:28:39,480 indirect application. Why? 553 00:28:39,920 --> 00:28:43,320 So that David would understand this type of activity is wrong. 554 00:28:44,160 --> 00:28:47,920 So that then when the direct application was made, that there 555 00:28:47,920 --> 00:28:53,760 would be no question, no profit. Preaching is preaching that gets 556 00:28:53,760 --> 00:28:57,040 to the heart of the matter. Prophet preaching doesn't just 557 00:28:57,040 --> 00:29:00,800 talk in the abstract, but it also talks in the very personal 558 00:29:01,320 --> 00:29:04,080 and it talks about where we live and with what we're doing. 559 00:29:04,720 --> 00:29:08,640 And and Nathan points his finger at David and again, in some of 560 00:29:08,640 --> 00:29:11,760 the most amazing words in the Bible and most some of the most 561 00:29:11,760 --> 00:29:17,320 courageous words in the Bible, he says, thou art the man, it's 562 00:29:17,320 --> 00:29:20,440 you. And then the hammer comes down. 563 00:29:21,640 --> 00:29:25,840 He says, who do you think you are, David? 564 00:29:26,680 --> 00:29:28,120 How do you think you became king? 565 00:29:29,120 --> 00:29:32,880 God gave you everything. Absolutely everything you had 566 00:29:33,360 --> 00:29:37,200 came from the hand of God. And in verse 9 he says, 567 00:29:37,200 --> 00:29:39,520 wherefore has thou despised the commandment of the Lord? 568 00:29:39,920 --> 00:29:42,040 Which I think is interesting when you consider Dave wrote 569 00:29:42,920 --> 00:29:48,520 David so many Dave's all right when David wrote Psalm 19 verse 570 00:29:48,520 --> 00:29:50,560 #8 particularly. Where it talks about the 571 00:29:50,560 --> 00:29:52,600 testimonies of the Lord are sure. 572 00:29:53,120 --> 00:29:56,720 Making wise the simple more to be desired Are they than gold? 573 00:29:56,720 --> 00:30:00,080 They than much fine gold, and sweeter also than honey and the 574 00:30:00,080 --> 00:30:02,160 honeycomb. David talked about his great 575 00:30:02,160 --> 00:30:05,280 reverence in Psalm 19 for the word of God. 576 00:30:05,280 --> 00:30:08,640 And Nathan says you say you love the word of God, you show you 577 00:30:08,640 --> 00:30:12,280 despise it. No, you say you love it, but you 578 00:30:12,280 --> 00:30:14,360 despise it. He says there's going to be some 579 00:30:14,360 --> 00:30:17,840 consequences for your actions. The sword's never going to leave 580 00:30:17,840 --> 00:30:23,720 your house. He says you're verse #11 your 581 00:30:23,720 --> 00:30:25,240 wives will be taken before your eyes. 582 00:30:25,240 --> 00:30:27,760 He says you thought you thought you could take someone else's 583 00:30:27,760 --> 00:30:29,560 woman. Well, your women are going to 584 00:30:29,560 --> 00:30:32,480 take it from you. And we get to that in chapter 585 00:30:32,480 --> 00:30:36,360 #16 you're going to find out. It will happen in a very graphic 586 00:30:36,920 --> 00:30:40,680 and very alarming way. He says your. 587 00:30:40,680 --> 00:30:44,240 House will be in perpetual turmoil forever. 588 00:30:45,880 --> 00:30:47,200 Do you know what I love about this though? 589 00:30:48,680 --> 00:30:51,600 Every time Saul was corrected, what did he do? 590 00:30:53,960 --> 00:30:57,920 No, no, no. What's their fault? 591 00:30:57,920 --> 00:31:02,080 It was because of them. Well, Samuel I. 592 00:31:02,080 --> 00:31:05,200 Tried, but nobody wouldn't listen to me. 593 00:31:06,720 --> 00:31:09,800 And as powerful as those 4 words were, thou art the man. 594 00:31:11,040 --> 00:31:14,560 I would also submit to you that the six words that David utters 595 00:31:14,560 --> 00:31:17,240 in verse 13, they would be more powerful. 596 00:31:18,560 --> 00:31:28,080 I have sinned against the Lord. He didn't say that it was 597 00:31:28,080 --> 00:31:31,240 someone else's fault. He didn't blame Bathsheba. 598 00:31:31,240 --> 00:31:36,040 He didn't blame his upbringing. He didn't blame the nation. 599 00:31:36,040 --> 00:31:40,600 He didn't blame the fact that he just, you know, his flesh really 600 00:31:40,600 --> 00:31:43,240 wanted it bad. He didn't blame the fact that he 601 00:31:43,240 --> 00:31:44,800 was king and that he could take anything he wanted. 602 00:31:44,800 --> 00:31:48,040 You know what he said? I've sinned. 603 00:31:49,200 --> 00:31:51,320 Do you know, by the way, what real repentance looks like? 604 00:31:52,240 --> 00:31:56,560 I have sinned. Real repentance does not say I 605 00:31:56,560 --> 00:32:01,000 have sinned. But if you need to put a caveat 606 00:32:01,000 --> 00:32:04,960 in, that's not repentance. Well, I've sinned. 607 00:32:04,960 --> 00:32:07,360 But you know, if my wife cared for me the way she would, you 608 00:32:07,520 --> 00:32:08,640 know, I wouldn't have done what I did. 609 00:32:09,480 --> 00:32:14,240 Well, that would classify under excuse, not repentance. 610 00:32:15,840 --> 00:32:17,600 Well, you know. I mean, I knew I blew my top, 611 00:32:17,600 --> 00:32:19,480 but you should have seen what they did to me. 612 00:32:20,400 --> 00:32:23,560 Well, that sounds more like an excuse than repentance. 613 00:32:24,200 --> 00:32:26,720 We can go right down the line, but what does David say here? 614 00:32:26,920 --> 00:32:33,000 He says I have sinned and Nathan basically says yes you did, but 615 00:32:33,000 --> 00:32:36,320 God's forgiven you. And does that mean consequences 616 00:32:36,320 --> 00:32:39,440 go away? Not only did they not go away, 617 00:32:39,800 --> 00:32:43,280 but they would not go away for the rest of his life, but he was 618 00:32:43,280 --> 00:32:45,360 forgiven. Look again in that verse, Nathan 619 00:32:45,360 --> 00:32:49,000 said unto David, The Lord has also put away thy sin. 620 00:32:49,720 --> 00:32:52,920 Thou shalt not die. What does that suggest to me? 621 00:32:53,520 --> 00:32:57,480 If David had not repented, God would have taken his life. 622 00:32:59,240 --> 00:33:02,840 That's how serious it was that if David had not repented, God 623 00:33:02,840 --> 00:33:05,960 was willing to extinguish his life in a moment. 624 00:33:07,640 --> 00:33:09,960 But he said this, I put away your sin. 625 00:33:11,280 --> 00:33:14,600 You have been forgiven. It's as far as the East is from 626 00:33:14,600 --> 00:33:18,320 the West. David's life was never the same, 627 00:33:19,120 --> 00:33:22,200 but David was still alive. And why was that? 628 00:33:22,680 --> 00:33:26,560 Because a prophet preacher was willing to tell him like it was. 629 00:33:27,600 --> 00:33:29,160 Prophet preaching has a few marks. 630 00:33:29,160 --> 00:33:31,160 I want to just go through these very quickly tonight. 631 00:33:31,440 --> 00:33:33,840 But I want you to mark these down in your mind, if not all 632 00:33:33,840 --> 00:33:36,640 were you to mark these down as well in in writing, because I 633 00:33:36,640 --> 00:33:39,480 want you to know what prophet preaching ought to look like. 634 00:33:40,200 --> 00:33:42,480 And I see this from our text. This isn't just my opinion on 635 00:33:42,480 --> 00:33:45,760 the matter, but we literally see Nathan exhibit these in the text 636 00:33:45,760 --> 00:33:48,120 this evening. First of all, profit preaching 637 00:33:48,120 --> 00:33:51,080 is confrontational without being condescending. 638 00:33:51,960 --> 00:33:55,680 Profit preaching is confrontational without being 639 00:33:55,680 --> 00:33:57,720 condescending. I've heard it said before the 640 00:33:57,720 --> 00:34:00,560 good preaching on a step on your toes without messing up the 641 00:34:00,640 --> 00:34:04,320 shine on your shoes. And I like that good preaching 642 00:34:04,320 --> 00:34:05,720 on a meddle with you a little bit. 643 00:34:06,240 --> 00:34:09,040 It ought to be confrontational in the sense, not that it's 644 00:34:09,040 --> 00:34:13,199 brash in its confrontation. Confrontationality. 645 00:34:13,199 --> 00:34:14,679 I don't know if that's a word, but we're going with it. 646 00:34:14,800 --> 00:34:17,639 I like it. Not that it's brash, but it's 647 00:34:17,639 --> 00:34:21,880 confronting you with the sins of your own life that it's putting 648 00:34:21,880 --> 00:34:24,719 it right in front of you and saying, look at this, look at 649 00:34:24,719 --> 00:34:26,520 this, you, you can't get around it. 650 00:34:26,719 --> 00:34:30,120 That's what prophet preaching is that literally the pastor is not 651 00:34:30,280 --> 00:34:33,239 being confrontational and saying, well, you're losers or 652 00:34:33,239 --> 00:34:35,920 you're, you're morons or what's the matter with you? 653 00:34:36,080 --> 00:34:38,679 But he's literally taking the word of God and he's holding it 654 00:34:38,679 --> 00:34:40,679 right in front of you and saying, you've got to look at 655 00:34:40,679 --> 00:34:42,120 this. You cannot look away from it. 656 00:34:43,000 --> 00:34:47,199 And it's my job, by the grace of God, when I preach the Word of 657 00:34:47,199 --> 00:34:50,560 God, to be able to get you to the place that you have. 658 00:34:50,560 --> 00:34:55,040 To see what the word of God says, because I'm not just here 659 00:34:55,040 --> 00:34:58,360 because I don't have anything to do on a Sunday night, because I 660 00:34:58,360 --> 00:35:02,280 don't have anything to do on a Sunday night, but but I'm here. 661 00:35:03,120 --> 00:35:06,320 I'm here because the calling that God has laid upon my life 662 00:35:07,040 --> 00:35:09,240 is to be. You need to hear the word of 663 00:35:09,240 --> 00:35:10,560 God. It's changed my life. 664 00:35:11,160 --> 00:35:13,760 It'll change your life too. And you know it's changed your 665 00:35:13,760 --> 00:35:16,080 life because, well, you're here on a Sunday night. 666 00:35:17,000 --> 00:35:18,360 What? We get away from it, don't we? 667 00:35:18,400 --> 00:35:20,440 We wander away from it. We're not the people that we 668 00:35:20,440 --> 00:35:22,440 need to be. Just like David was a man who 669 00:35:22,440 --> 00:35:25,120 was after God's own heart, but he wandered away and he need to 670 00:35:25,120 --> 00:35:26,560 be confronted. David, look at this. 671 00:35:26,920 --> 00:35:29,800 Thou art the man. And he was confrontational 672 00:35:29,800 --> 00:35:33,600 without being condescending. The. 673 00:35:33,600 --> 00:35:36,680 Sermon that we just read is one of the most direct takedowns 674 00:35:36,680 --> 00:35:37,880 you'll ever find in the word of God. 675 00:35:37,880 --> 00:35:41,960 If this is a boxing match, it was Ako in the first round and 676 00:35:41,960 --> 00:35:47,160 David was told stay on the mat, don't get up, stay down. 677 00:35:48,720 --> 00:35:51,600 And David did. How do I know? 678 00:35:51,600 --> 00:35:54,280 Because he said I've sinned against the Lord. 679 00:35:55,080 --> 00:35:58,240 But I will say this, it was Ako not because he was pummeled with 680 00:35:58,240 --> 00:36:02,960 personal insults, but if he was pummeled, if you will, it was 681 00:36:02,960 --> 00:36:06,440 with an avalanche of truth that came from God. 682 00:36:07,080 --> 00:36:10,920 Prophet preaching must be confrontational without being 683 00:36:10,920 --> 00:36:13,000 condescending. We're confronting you with the 684 00:36:13,000 --> 00:36:17,360 truth of the word of God without belittling who you are #1 685 00:36:17,360 --> 00:36:19,280 Prophet preaching is confrontational without being 686 00:36:19,280 --> 00:36:23,280 condescending #2 Prophet preaching is personal without 687 00:36:23,280 --> 00:36:27,240 taking things personally. It's personal without taking 688 00:36:27,240 --> 00:36:30,240 things personally. You know, oftentimes you'll hear 689 00:36:30,240 --> 00:36:34,280 pastors say we all ought to. We all should. 690 00:36:35,360 --> 00:36:38,400 When I preach, I try to say more of something along these 691 00:36:38,400 --> 00:36:42,560 pronouns. You should, you should. 692 00:36:42,840 --> 00:36:45,800 Why? I'm not preaching to you all. 693 00:36:46,640 --> 00:36:51,040 I'm not even preaching to y'all. If we were in the South and 694 00:36:51,040 --> 00:36:55,760 we're not Amen. But I'm preaching to you. 695 00:36:56,960 --> 00:36:58,880 It says if you and I are having a conversation. 696 00:36:58,880 --> 00:37:01,160 With each other. I'm not looking to preach the 697 00:37:01,160 --> 00:37:03,240 group. I'm not looking for group think, 698 00:37:04,200 --> 00:37:08,320 I'm just looking for you to be able to have the application for 699 00:37:08,360 --> 00:37:11,400 yourself. By the way, that's why preaching 700 00:37:11,440 --> 00:37:15,360 requires application. Maybe you'd say pastor, it seems 701 00:37:15,360 --> 00:37:16,960 like. You take a lot of time just 702 00:37:17,160 --> 00:37:20,200 saying how the word of God applies to your to to our lives. 703 00:37:20,200 --> 00:37:24,000 Wouldn't it be a whole lot better if you just, you know, I 704 00:37:24,000 --> 00:37:27,120 don't know, if you just preach the Bible and you didn't worry 705 00:37:27,120 --> 00:37:29,680 about that application part, but just go through and just tell us 706 00:37:29,680 --> 00:37:32,280 what the Bible says and leave it there, I would say. 707 00:37:33,320 --> 00:37:36,360 I can do that, but in and of itself, that's not Bible 708 00:37:36,360 --> 00:37:38,760 preaching. Bible preaching is this. 709 00:37:38,920 --> 00:37:42,000 Here's what the Word of God says, and here's what it means 710 00:37:42,000 --> 00:37:45,360 to you in your life. Here's what the Word of God says 711 00:37:45,680 --> 00:37:47,320 and here's what it means to you in your life. 712 00:37:47,640 --> 00:37:50,040 It's application, and it has to be made personal. 713 00:37:50,400 --> 00:37:55,280 By the way, when impersonal application was made, David 714 00:37:55,280 --> 00:37:58,360 liked it. David didn't repent with the 715 00:37:58,360 --> 00:38:01,800 impersonal application, did he? In fact, he was a little bit 716 00:38:01,800 --> 00:38:05,920 haughty about it, wasn't it? He was like, hey, kill that guy 717 00:38:06,440 --> 00:38:09,840 and then take from what he's left and fourfold restored to 718 00:38:09,840 --> 00:38:12,400 the man who had it taken away. But when it was. 719 00:38:12,400 --> 00:38:15,920 Personal. All of a sudden, he realized he 720 00:38:15,920 --> 00:38:19,360 was the man. You know, it's amazing that I've 721 00:38:19,360 --> 00:38:21,840 preached and I'm not trying to be unkind when I say this. 722 00:38:23,240 --> 00:38:26,200 But I've I've preached on on issues that people are 723 00:38:26,200 --> 00:38:28,400 struggling with. But when I talk about it in a 724 00:38:28,400 --> 00:38:32,120 generic way, they Amen in agreement with me while they're 725 00:38:32,120 --> 00:38:33,920 living the very life that they're Amen about. 726 00:38:36,200 --> 00:38:38,200 Nope. Bible talks clearly that 727 00:38:38,480 --> 00:38:40,520 Christians should not participate in sexual 728 00:38:40,520 --> 00:38:41,760 immorality. Amen. 729 00:38:42,080 --> 00:38:48,360 I'm thinking that's a indirect application. 730 00:38:49,880 --> 00:38:51,720 You've known that. It's been many years since I've 731 00:38:51,720 --> 00:38:53,840 counted the offerings here at Liberty Baptist Church, but I 732 00:38:53,840 --> 00:38:56,400 remember the first couple years when I did with other people 733 00:38:58,040 --> 00:38:59,840 because we were just starting the church and there would be 734 00:38:59,840 --> 00:39:02,000 times I'd preach on tithing. There'd be people who wouldn't 735 00:39:02,000 --> 00:39:04,200 give, but they would still Amen in the service. 736 00:39:05,040 --> 00:39:07,280 And they were robbing God, as Malachi would have said. 737 00:39:07,800 --> 00:39:11,000 Why? Because indirect application. 738 00:39:11,920 --> 00:39:14,000 So, pastor, you're supposed to go around and talk to each and 739 00:39:14,000 --> 00:39:15,200 every one of us after the service. 740 00:39:15,400 --> 00:39:18,720 No, that's not what I'm saying. But our application should be as 741 00:39:18,720 --> 00:39:22,040 personal as they possibly can be without taking things 742 00:39:22,040 --> 00:39:25,600 personally. That I don't go through a list 743 00:39:25,600 --> 00:39:28,480 of who's tithing and then that's well, I need to preach a message 744 00:39:28,480 --> 00:39:31,040 on tithing because look at how many people aren't tithing. 745 00:39:31,800 --> 00:39:36,920 You think the Lord's in that? Well, let. 746 00:39:37,120 --> 00:39:39,680 Me, let me see what people are struggling with in the church 747 00:39:39,680 --> 00:39:40,880 and then I'm going to find messages. 748 00:39:40,880 --> 00:39:42,680 I'm going to I'm going to preach it out of them all. 749 00:39:43,520 --> 00:39:47,480 You think the Lord's in that. You know what's amazing to me? 750 00:39:47,960 --> 00:39:51,520 Often times you just go chapter by chapter, section by section, 751 00:39:51,920 --> 00:39:54,440 verse by verse. And it's amazing to the needs of 752 00:39:54,440 --> 00:39:55,680 the church just get taken care of. 753 00:39:56,600 --> 00:39:58,440 And I'm not saying that there's occasions where we go to 754 00:39:58,440 --> 00:40:00,640 different passages. The next week might be one of 755 00:40:00,640 --> 00:40:03,120 those times where we do so. But I try to do so by the 756 00:40:03,120 --> 00:40:05,240 spirits leading. And I do so not because I'm 757 00:40:05,240 --> 00:40:10,920 trying to smoke out a problem or smoke out a person, but just 758 00:40:10,920 --> 00:40:12,240 trying to follow the leadership of the Lord. 759 00:40:13,520 --> 00:40:15,240 Prophet preaching is confrontational out being 760 00:40:15,240 --> 00:40:17,160 condescending. Prophet preaching is personal 761 00:40:17,160 --> 00:40:19,960 that taking these personally. Prophet preaching brings 762 00:40:19,960 --> 00:40:25,520 condemnation. While also offering hope, it 763 00:40:25,520 --> 00:40:29,200 brings condemnation without with also offering hope. 764 00:40:30,000 --> 00:40:33,960 Did Nathan spare one word in his message to David? 765 00:40:34,520 --> 00:40:38,360 There is not one word spared. But when David said he had 766 00:40:38,360 --> 00:40:41,840 sinned, what did he say? He brought him comfort. 767 00:40:42,720 --> 00:40:46,400 The Lord put away your sin. There are times you got to talk 768 00:40:46,400 --> 00:40:49,400 about sin, and we got to be tough about talking about sin. 769 00:40:50,000 --> 00:40:51,800 Why? Because we got to breakthrough 770 00:40:51,800 --> 00:40:56,280 some of our hard heartedness, breakthrough some of our 771 00:40:56,280 --> 00:41:00,720 lethargy, breakthrough some of our willful ignorance. 772 00:41:02,360 --> 00:41:05,280 But I want you to know by the time that you leave that even if 773 00:41:05,280 --> 00:41:10,360 we preach hard about sin, you need to know there's hope in 774 00:41:10,440 --> 00:41:13,640 Jesus Christ. If you're willing to get right, 775 00:41:14,400 --> 00:41:16,120 He can make things right in your life. 776 00:41:17,400 --> 00:41:19,680 Could you imagine me leaving that part out? 777 00:41:20,160 --> 00:41:22,800 God hates sin. God condemns sin. 778 00:41:23,440 --> 00:41:25,840 People who are sinners and aren't saved go directly to 779 00:41:25,840 --> 00:41:27,240 hell. Bow your heads and close your 780 00:41:27,240 --> 00:41:32,120 eyes. I imagine none of us would be 781 00:41:32,120 --> 00:41:33,760 here very long if that was the case. 782 00:41:34,560 --> 00:41:36,360 There's a line of preaching that's like that, though. 783 00:41:38,200 --> 00:41:42,960 I would tell you this. Hope is real, forgiveness is 784 00:41:42,960 --> 00:41:47,560 real, victory is offered. For those who are in sin, 785 00:41:47,760 --> 00:41:51,080 David's life would be forever changed, but it wasn't over. 786 00:41:51,840 --> 00:41:55,320 Some of David's greatest spiritual victories would take 787 00:41:55,320 --> 00:41:58,800 place after this. Even though his life wasn't what 788 00:41:58,800 --> 00:42:01,760 it should have been, even though his life was a shell in some 789 00:42:01,760 --> 00:42:04,960 ways of what it was before, but God still used him and God still 790 00:42:04,960 --> 00:42:07,000 loved him and God still cared for. 791 00:42:07,120 --> 00:42:10,000 And prophet preaching must always put out to the to you the 792 00:42:10,000 --> 00:42:15,240 fact that yes, sinfulness is wicked, and no child of God 793 00:42:15,240 --> 00:42:18,480 should participate. In it, but if we confess our 794 00:42:18,480 --> 00:42:20,760 sins. He is faithful. 795 00:42:20,960 --> 00:42:24,360 Meaning when we are unfaithful, He is faithful, but if we 796 00:42:24,360 --> 00:42:29,120 confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive our sins and 797 00:42:29,120 --> 00:42:33,360 to cleanse all unrighteousness. I'm out of time. 798 00:42:33,360 --> 00:42:37,080 I'm going to give you the 4th though, real quick, and that's 799 00:42:37,080 --> 00:42:43,320 this prophet preaching must be willing to be corrected. 800 00:42:46,520 --> 00:42:48,880 You say, who's this one for, pastor? 801 00:42:50,320 --> 00:42:55,080 For me, You say, why are you telling us this? 802 00:42:56,000 --> 00:42:57,760 It would seem like that's something you wouldn't want us 803 00:42:57,760 --> 00:43:01,640 to know. Well, my allegiance, remember, 804 00:43:01,640 --> 00:43:04,160 is not to you, it's to the Word of God. 805 00:43:05,920 --> 00:43:09,280 But if I deviate from the word of God, I have to be willing to 806 00:43:09,280 --> 00:43:11,840 be corrected. I don't have time to go there, 807 00:43:11,840 --> 00:43:14,000 but you can go there later. Second Samuel, Chapter 7. 808 00:43:14,320 --> 00:43:15,960 Do you remember we saw this a few weeks ago. 809 00:43:16,480 --> 00:43:20,360 David tells Nathan, Nathan, I want to build, I want to build a 810 00:43:20,360 --> 00:43:23,160 house for the Lord. And Nathan says, whatever's in 811 00:43:23,160 --> 00:43:26,120 your heart, do it. There's one problem. 812 00:43:26,880 --> 00:43:30,960 Nathan didn't get that from God. And the Lord appeared to Nathan 813 00:43:31,160 --> 00:43:34,880 and he said this. Go back to David and you tell 814 00:43:34,880 --> 00:43:37,840 him what I tell you, not whatever you think I thought I 815 00:43:37,840 --> 00:43:41,120 was going to say. And Nathan had to go back and 816 00:43:41,120 --> 00:43:44,760 give him the correct answer from what was said before. 817 00:43:45,600 --> 00:43:51,440 Prophet preaching is not the thought process that the pastor 818 00:43:51,480 --> 00:43:58,880 is king. Thought prophet preaching is he 819 00:43:58,880 --> 00:44:01,840 is king. And I'm just as ambassador. 820 00:44:02,800 --> 00:44:07,200 Listen, I have to be willing to be in the Word of God and 821 00:44:07,200 --> 00:44:09,560 understand that the Lord can reveal to me that I'm wrong. 822 00:44:10,840 --> 00:44:15,000 And sometimes the Lord can use one of you to come to me and to 823 00:44:15,000 --> 00:44:17,280 show me Bible verses to show me where I'm not right. 824 00:44:17,280 --> 00:44:20,480 I preached something several years ago here about grace, and 825 00:44:20,480 --> 00:44:22,560 I preached without going into detail of it. 826 00:44:22,880 --> 00:44:26,200 I, I, I preached something that was I, I ignored the 827 00:44:26,200 --> 00:44:28,440 construction of the words. I looked at the words but not 828 00:44:28,440 --> 00:44:30,880 how they would work together. And what I preached was 829 00:44:30,880 --> 00:44:33,960 factually incorrect. And a dear godly church member 830 00:44:33,960 --> 00:44:37,760 who just moved away about four or five months ago came to me, 831 00:44:37,760 --> 00:44:42,480 says, pastor, I just want you to know, I, I, I think you said 832 00:44:42,480 --> 00:44:45,120 something that was wrong on Wednesday night. 833 00:44:46,000 --> 00:44:47,600 And I said, who do you think you are? 834 00:44:48,680 --> 00:44:50,440 Now you know why he moved away. No, I'm just kidding. 835 00:44:51,960 --> 00:44:55,680 I said, I said, really? We got our Bibles out. 836 00:44:56,160 --> 00:44:58,920 He took me through. He was right. 837 00:45:00,080 --> 00:45:03,160 I was sloppy. I was sloppy and putting 838 00:45:03,160 --> 00:45:06,400 together the message. The words were all there, but 839 00:45:06,400 --> 00:45:08,760 they weren't constructed to mean together what I thought they 840 00:45:08,760 --> 00:45:11,600 were. It was embarrassing. 841 00:45:12,680 --> 00:45:15,720 You got to do the next night, the next Wednesday night, and go 842 00:45:15,720 --> 00:45:19,320 back and preach a message about how I was wrong and go back and 843 00:45:19,320 --> 00:45:21,600 untangle what I had done the week before. 844 00:45:23,280 --> 00:45:26,480 Was it embarrassing? Yes, that. 845 00:45:26,480 --> 00:45:28,400 I hope it taught some people something that week. 846 00:45:28,720 --> 00:45:30,960 Yes. Not necessarily that taught them 847 00:45:30,960 --> 00:45:33,320 something about grace, but it taught them this. 848 00:45:34,000 --> 00:45:38,760 If the pastor is not king, he is king and prophet preaching those 849 00:45:38,760 --> 00:45:40,880 thus saith the Lord means he is the Lord. 850 00:45:40,880 --> 00:45:43,800 And I'm not that I'm not here to preach my opinions. 851 00:45:43,800 --> 00:45:46,560 I'm not here to preach politics. I'm not here to preach what I 852 00:45:46,560 --> 00:45:48,840 think about things that there are times I talk about politics 853 00:45:48,840 --> 00:45:51,200 when it intersects with the word of God because anything that 854 00:45:51,200 --> 00:45:52,800 intersects with the word of God is fair game. 855 00:45:53,960 --> 00:45:57,320 But this is a not talk radio. This is not Adam's soapbox. 856 00:45:57,560 --> 00:45:59,040 This is not any of those entities. 857 00:45:59,520 --> 00:46:03,400 It is God's temple. He is here with us. 858 00:46:04,160 --> 00:46:07,960 And we got to preach right now. I appreciate you giving me time 859 00:46:07,960 --> 00:46:09,280 tonight. I'm going a little bit long, but 860 00:46:09,280 --> 00:46:12,000 it's, I feel like as a pastor, this is something so near and 861 00:46:12,000 --> 00:46:13,640 dear to my heart that I need to share it with you. 862 00:46:14,600 --> 00:46:21,320 And I want to be clear about it. If you believe something from 863 00:46:21,320 --> 00:46:24,880 the word of God is being portrayed incorrectly, I'd ask 864 00:46:24,880 --> 00:46:28,280 you this. I'll, I will receive what you 865 00:46:28,280 --> 00:46:30,360 say in humility. I just ask you this. 866 00:46:30,360 --> 00:46:34,080 Will you come to me in humility that you come to me and I 867 00:46:34,240 --> 00:46:38,160 receive and I talk to you and you receive as brothers and 868 00:46:38,160 --> 00:46:42,680 sisters in Christ? Nathan was willing to say, 869 00:46:43,280 --> 00:46:48,800 David, I got to come back and tell you, the Lord said I was 870 00:46:48,800 --> 00:46:51,960 wrong. And so I got, I know you're the 871 00:46:51,960 --> 00:46:55,360 king, but I got a different word for you now because I got ahead 872 00:46:55,360 --> 00:46:59,000 of the Lord. So what do we need to do? 873 00:47:00,320 --> 00:47:04,480 I need to make sure that I'm willing to be corrected just as 874 00:47:04,480 --> 00:47:05,840 much as you're willing to be corrected. 875 00:47:07,200 --> 00:47:08,760 And I'll say this and I'll be done. 876 00:47:09,000 --> 00:47:12,280 I, I, this is just, this is a good place for us to, to leave 877 00:47:12,280 --> 00:47:13,560 off. There's a lot more I can say, 878 00:47:13,920 --> 00:47:15,560 but I think we just need to leave off here tonight. 879 00:47:17,400 --> 00:47:20,920 You want to have a prophet preacher in your life. 880 00:47:22,080 --> 00:47:23,720 I think that's the way that it should be. 881 00:47:24,000 --> 00:47:28,280 But I also say this, every prophet, preacher wants an 882 00:47:28,280 --> 00:47:33,560 earnest listener in their life. You know what the greatest gift 883 00:47:33,560 --> 00:47:38,800 you can give me as a pastor is? It's not a bonus, a stipend, 884 00:47:40,760 --> 00:47:44,080 some kind of fancy gadget as a way to say thanks. 885 00:47:44,920 --> 00:47:47,680 The best thing you can offer me is that when the Word of God is 886 00:47:47,680 --> 00:47:52,160 open, be an earnest listener, be a Berean. 887 00:47:52,840 --> 00:47:55,880 What did they do? They searched the Scriptures to 888 00:47:55,880 --> 00:47:58,880 see if the things that were said were so and the Bible called 889 00:47:58,880 --> 00:48:03,200 them this word noble. You want a prophet preacher, but 890 00:48:03,200 --> 00:48:06,840 I want earnest listeners. But that also means I need to be 891 00:48:06,840 --> 00:48:11,760 an earnest listener to him. And if we all honor Him through 892 00:48:12,080 --> 00:48:16,400 this time that we call preaching, then God can do great 893 00:48:16,640 --> 00:48:22,520 things with us as He constantly puts us back on the path and 894 00:48:22,520 --> 00:48:25,320 gets us where we need to go through the gift of prophet 895 00:48:25,320 --> 00:48:27,920 preaching. Thank you for listening to the 896 00:48:27,920 --> 00:48:30,520 sermon from the pulpit of Liberty Baptist Church. 897 00:48:30,840 --> 00:48:34,160 If this message was a blessing to you, or if there's any way we 898 00:48:34,160 --> 00:48:37,280 can serve you, please let us know by contacting us at 899 00:48:37,400 --> 00:48:42,160 info@mylibertybaptist.org. Or you can visit us this Sunday 900 00:48:42,360 --> 00:48:46,080 at 800 Washington St. in Easton, MA. 901 00:48:46,320 --> 00:48:49,120 May the Lord bless you as you grow in His Word.