Shawn Brummund: Hello, and welcome to another edition of the "Sabbath School Study Hour." We are just so pleased to be able to have you join us. If you're with us live here this morning, nice to have you. If you are tuning in later, as we are broadcasting on different various networks, it is good to be able to have you join us for the next hour as we continue to study in one of my favorite subjects which is "Rest In Christ." And that's our new quarterly that we've been looking at for the last two or three weeks. So depending on how you define "new," I suppose, on that as well. So, again, we're looking at "Rest In Christ." Today's lesson study is number 4. Lesson study number 4, "The Cost of Rest." Well, what does that mean? What does the Scriptures talk about in regards to the cost of finding that rest in Christ? So make sure that you invest in the next one hour, as we continue to learn more about God's Word. Also want to invite you to take advantage of some further study. We have a new free-gift offer that we would like to offer to you. And this one is a study guide and it's entitled "No Turning Back." Now, friends, this is one of the most important topics that we can study in all of Scripture, and it regards your eternal life as well is that rest that we can find in Christ. And so, if you've never studied, never had this in your hands, please take advantage of our free-gift offer. And all you have to do is dial 1-866-788-3966. That's 1-866-Study-More. Ask for offer number 1-4-6. And if you have a smart phone and you would like a digital copy of that and download it to your phone, and you live in North America, then you can just go ahead and text the code S-H-1-3-7, and you want to dial that to the number 4-0-5-4-4, and that will hook you up with a link online that will allow you to downlink that for you. And if you live outside of North America, you would still like a digital copy of that, make sure that you go online on your computer to study.aftv.org and then /S-H-1-3-7. And so, friends, we're trying this available and readily available as to as many people as possible. Please take advantage of that, and I know that you will be blessed. Our teacher today is going to be Pastor Doug Batchelor, our lead pastor for our church here in Granite Bay Hilltop as well as the President Director of Amazing Facts Ministries. And before I invite him out and we open with prayer, we're going to invite our musicians out as they bless us in worship through music.
♪♪♪
♪ Great is thy faithfulness, ♪
♪ O God My Father. ♪
♪ There is no shadow of turning with thee. ♪
♪ Thou changest not. ♪
♪ Thy compassions, they fail not. ♪
♪ All thou hast been thou forever wilt be. ♪
♪♪♪
♪ Great is thy faithfulness. ♪
♪ Great is thy faithfulness. ♪
♪ Morning by morning new mercies I see. ♪
♪ All I have needed thy hand hath provided. ♪
♪ Great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me. ♪
♪ Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth. ♪
♪ Thy own dear presence to cheer and to guide. ♪
♪ Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow. ♪
♪ Blessings all mine, with 10,000 beside. ♪
♪ Great is thy faithfulness. Great is thy faithfulness. ♪
♪ Morning by morning new mercies I see. ♪
♪ All I have needed thy hand hath provided. ♪
♪ Great is thy faithfulness. ♪
♪ Great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me. ♪♪
Shawn: "Father in heaven, this morning as we continue our study, we want to pray that your Holy Spirit will guide us and lead us. We claim that promise that you would send your Holy Spirit to teach us, and guide us and lead us into all truth. Lord, we come today praying that you will speak the truth to us. And not only, Father, do we pray that you will help us to hear it, but just as importantly, Lord, we want to pray that you'll also help us to be able to embrace it, and to be able to love it, and be able to run with it and call it ours as well. In Jesus's name we pray these things, Lord, amen." Again, we want to thank you, Pastor Doug Batchelor for teaching our lesson study. Doug Batchelor: Good morning. Thank you, Pastor Shawn. Morning, everybody. Glad to have you here. That's so good to be able to meet together again. Can you say amen? all: Amen. Doug: And I want to welcome our friends while watching via satellite or online, and we know we have some of our friends that are watching that are a part of the Hilltop online family from around the world, and we greet you as well. We're continuing in our study dealing with the subject of "Rest In Christ." And today we're going to be talking about lesson number 4, talks about "The Cost of Rest." Before we get into the lesson and the memory verse, want to share a little amazing fact with you. Self-imposed imprisonment. For most people, prison is a place you want to escape from. But for some South Koreans, in desperate need of a break, a day or two in an imitation jail is the escape. Since 2013, the Prison Inside of Me facility in Northeast Hongcheon has hosted more than 2000 inmates, many of them overstressed office workers and students seeking relief from South Korea's hyper-demanding work expectations. For $90 a day, a client can check themselves into prison where they get a blue uniform, a yoga mat, a tea set, a pen and a notebook. They sleep on the floor. There's a small toilet inside the room but no mirror. Prison rules are strict. No talking with other inmates. No mobile phones or clocks. The menu is rice porridge for breakfast, and steamed sweet potato and a banana shake for dinner. You might wonder, Why would someone be paid to be incarcerated? South Koreans work more hours per week than any other first-world country. This extra stress leads to a very high rate of suicide among business professionals and students. Park Hye-Ri, a 28-year-old office worker said, "The prison gave me a sense of freedom. I was too busy," Park said as she sat in a 54-foot square cell. She said that as she was in the cell. Prison co-founder, Noh Ji-Hyang, said "Some customers are a little apprehensive about spending a day or two in a prison cell until they try it. After a stay in prison, many inmates say, "This is not a prison. The real prison is the hectic life we return to." You know the Bible says, "There's many free people out walking the streets that are really in prison." Some people are so desperate for a little peace and rest, they will actually put themselves in prison to find that. You know what recidivism is. Recidivism is the rate of people retuning to jail after they've been released. Some people get so used the being in jail that after they're free and out on the streets, they don't know how to handle it and they try to check back in. They get institutionalized. I heard one man that walked up to a teller in a bank and said, "I'm robing the bank for $20." She said, "For $20?" Said, "Just want $20." So she gave him $20, and he went, and he sat down in the waiting area as the police came. Said, "That's all it would take for it to be a felony and him to go back to jail." He wasn't sure how to cope on the outside. Well, there are some people that have a hard time finding that rest, and then some people who are such at a desperate need of rest that they have a breakdown. That's where our story is going to go today. "The Cost of Rest." And a lot of this is based upon the experience that you find in 2 Samuel chapter 11 dealing with David and Bathsheba and some of the fallout from that, and David's repentance. But we have a memory verse from Psalm 51, and its Psalm 51 verse 10, "Create--" I'll give you a chance to find that. You can say it with me. Psalm 51, verse 10. You know this. "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me." I'm going to invite you to say that with me again here at Hilltop, you ready? "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me." This is the new birth where God creates in us a clean heart. All right, so under Sunday's Section, it starts out talking about worn and weary. And we're going to go to in our Bibles to the 2 book of Samuel, chapter 11, and we're going to be reading verses 1 through 5 together. And this sort of gives us the backdrop for what's happening here. 2 Samuel 11, verse 1 through 5. "It happened in the spring of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the people of Ammon and besieged Rabbah, but David remained at Jerusalem." Now, right away, do you see something interesting about this passage? This is a time when kings go out to battle but David stayed in Jerusalem. He quite frankly was pretty tired. Do you realize if you read the history of David, David fought with the Philistines. Of course, you probably know Goliath very well. He fought with--and he fought several battles with the Philistines. He fought with the Ammonites, he fought to the Edomites, he fought with the Moabites, he fought with the Syrians. David fought with virtually every bordering nation and some beyond. And sometimes, several nations would come together in a coalition to fight against David and Joab and Amasai. And so he had been fighting wars on every side. But now, he had pretty much subdued all of his enemies except the people of Ammon. And he said, "You know, I need a break. And so, I just--I am so stressed out. I need to rest." And he decided, Joab, you know how this is done, I mean they'd been fighting for years at this point. He said, "You take the mighty men, you go besiege Rabbah. Rabbah is the capital of Amman. Now, a siege can be boring. When you besiege a city, you're surrounding the capital. You don't allow anyone in. You don't allow anybody out to get food and you kind of starve them into surrender, and it's kind of a waiting game. David thought, "I'm not going to be down there on the battlefield when I can be up here in the palace. I've earned my dues." And so David ended up staying in Jerusalem. He probably should've been--the season for kings to go out for battle. But you know, there's a passage, if you read in Ezekiel. If you got your Bibles, you know if I were to tell you what was the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah, a lot of people would instantly say, "Oh yeah, that's an easy one. That was talking about the immorality." But that's not the whole story. You look in Ezekiel chapter 16, verse 49. "Look, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom. She and her daughter had pride, fullness of food, an abundance of idleness. Neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy." "An abundance of idleness." You ever heard the expression, "Idleness is the devil's workshop?" They used to say that. If you don't have anything to do, you get into trouble, and this is what happened. David, he said look, "I need some R&R." And a little R&R is good, but too much after you've been stressed out, you can have a meltdown. And it happened when he should have been at battle. Go to verse 2, "It happened one evening that David arose from his bed." Now, when it says evening there, it's talking about later in the afternoon. Twilight. He had taken an afternoon nap. He got up. It wasn't uncommon for people when it was hot in that country to take an afternoon siesta. And it says that--because if it was pitch dark, he wouldn't have seen anything. Says, "It happened one evening that David arose from his bed, and he walked on the roof of the king's house. And from the roof," which probably was a good piece of real estate. Usually higher than other places if it's the king's house. He had good view of the surrounding area. Says, "From the roof, he saw a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful to behold." Now, you know, if he's walking around the roof, just trying to take in some fresh air, and he saw a woman bathing. Bathing, you're not usually, you're not properly clad for that. It wasn't a sin for him to notice that. But when he continued to look, that observation turned into sin. Now, whether you're a man or woman, if you're walking down the street and you happen to notice somebody that is immodestly clothed or not clothed at all, it's not a sin if that comes to your attention. But when you then begin to focus on that-- and that's what happened. You think about it, the little mistake. You know Job--yeah, Job. Job says, "I've made a covenant with my eyes, why should I behold a young maiden? "Made a covenant with his eyes." And every believer needs to make a covenant with their eyes. And if they're seeing something they shouldn't be seeing, don't keep looking. Turn away. What did Joseph do when Potiphar's wife cast her eyes upon him? He ultimately, he made it a point not to be where she was and then he ran when she actually got a hold of him. Well, David, he knew better, but it says, "She was very beautiful." And he thought, "You know, I'm the king." I can't read his mind, but this is the kind of thing that sometimes is a prelude to sin. "I'm the king and I've worked hard. And you know, she should know better than to bathe right there in my vista." Who knows what he was thinking? But he looked long enough where he became intrigued. He became infatuated. And he went his servants and he said, "You know that house around the corner? It's on Beautiful Street, number 666. He said, "Who lives there?" And they said, "Oh, that's where Uriah lives, the Hittite. Your soldier. One of your sergeants. He's one of your mighty men. You know Uriah. That's his wife Bathsheba." And it says, "She is the daughter of Eliam. You know Eliam. Eliam is the son of Ahithophel. You know Ahithophel. He is your counselor." So he knew who this was. And I'd just like to mention that because sometimes people think, "Well, Bathsheba, she was just, you know, a pretty, empty-headed girl that was not paying attention when she was out bathing." She was actually very intelligent. She gave birth to Solomon and her father was David's wisest counselor. So she was not only beautiful, she was bright. And it tells us that he did something. Note his servants are saying, "Hey, David, look, you got ten wives. This is the wife of Uriah." He said, "Well, I know, you know. He's off at battle." He said, "I'm kind of lonely. Just tell her to come on up. I want to show her a new song I wrote." I don't know. Something happened. And so, "David sent messengers, and took her," brought her to the home, and he said, "You hungry?" Has his servants bring out this little feast. Says, "I want to play for you." David could sing, and he could play the harp. And he swooned her. And David, the Bible says was good-looking. These are facts in the Bible. We know he had a great voice; we know he was one of the best songwriters in history, and that he was good-looking, and he was strong. So yeah, that kind of set the table. I don't think--some people say that he raped her. There's nothing in the text that says that. By the way, in the judgment that came, the judgment came on David and Bathsheba. So he took her. I think he took advantage of his power and his position and seduced her, and it says, "He laid with her. For she was cleansed of her impurity." You know the Bible, there was a certain period, this is during and shortly following the monthly cycle that you are not to come together. And while the siege goes on, she notices that something's happening. Maybe she's feeling seasick and she's missing those normal dates, and she sends a message to David and said, "I am with child." You know you cannot sow wild oats on Saturday night and then pray for crop failure on Sunday. The Bible says, "that what you sow you're going to reap." God is not mocked. So we see here that David, and maybe he had just been working too long. He hadn't been taking appropriate rest, and so when he finally did rest, he was exhausted. His guard was down. When does the devil come with temptation? When did the devil come to Jesus? Hungry, tired. Yeah. Now, Karen and I are a little different. When she gets hungry, she'll feel a lot better and be a lot nicer if you feed her. I can go a while without food and I'm okay, but if I get sleepy, I get grumpy. And so everyone's wired a little different. But the devil takes advantage of it if you are hungry, and you are tired and you are stressed. I mean he had been under distress. He'd been chased by King Saul for years, and he's been in constant battle, and there was civil war in the kingdom. And he's got all these things going on. And in a moment of weakness, he just gave in. And then you read on in 2 Samuel 11, verse 6. Then after she says she's with child, David thinks instead of confessing and coming to God and finding rest, the cost of rest is repentance, and that's where we're going in this lesson. But instead of repenting, instead of confessing, he tries to do a man-made cover-up. David's pretty smart. He thinks, "Well, I don't want to get her in trouble, so it's got to look like her husband's responsible, but he's out of town on business." He thought, "Well, I'll find-- I'll create an excuse to get Uriah to come home." So David sends a messenger, and to Joab. And he says, "Send Uriah to me." And Uriah comes. And he says, "How is Joab doing? Joab is a general. "And how other people doing? How is the work prospering?" And then David said to Uriah, "Now, go on down to the house. And he actually catered a little meal. He says, "I've sent a present. You don't even have to cook. I don't want your wife busy cooking. And you go down to your house." And he's trying to set things up so that, you know, Uriah would enjoy the normal privileges of a husband and wife after being gone for a long time. And David thinks "problem solved," except something goes wrong. He doesn't know how dedicated Uriah is. The Bible says, "Uriah departed from the king's house, and a gift of food from the king followed him. But Uriah slept at the door of the king's house with all the servants of his lord, and he did not go down to his house. So when they told David, 'Uriah did not go to his house,' David said to Uriah, "'Did you not come from a journey? Why then did you not go down to your house?'" David is mystified. I mean what soldier who has been out in the field eating army rations and, you know, who's sleeping in a dirty tent with a bunch of stinking soldiers, you go home, and you're married to Bathsheba, and you don't go home, but you sleep with the king's servants in the barracks of the king? You know, the hero in this story, people always focus on David and Bathsheba, and the scandal, but there's a hero in the story. And you read here in 2 Samuel 11, Uriah says, and this is 2 Samuel 11:11. It's a great verse. Uriah--it's the only time Uriah speaks. Uriah is listed among the mighty men of David, but here's the only place he speaks. "And Uriah says to David, 'The ark.'" What's the first words out of his mouth? The ark. What was the ark? Where was the presence of God? If you needed to put your finger on the land of Israel and say where do find God's presence? It would be the ark. That's where God appeared to Moses. That's where the Word of God was. He says the ark. First thing out of his mouth, the ark. Now, it calls him, "Uriah the Hittite"because he had been from a Hittite background, but he had converted to Jehovah and Israel. He talks about God and his neighbors. What's the two great commandments? Love the Lord and love your neighbor. This is the first thing comes out of his mouth. "And Judah, the people of God, are dwelling in tents," They're out in the field. And my lord Joab." He's got respect for leadership. "And the servants of my lord are encamped in the open fields." They're involved in a battle. "Shall I then go to my house and eat and drink, and lie with my wife? As you live," he actually articulates the very thing David was hoping, "as you live and as your soul lives," he makes a vow. He says, "I will not do this thing." Why did he say that? Now, if you're Bathsheba, would you be a little offended? Your husband comes home and he's within a stone's throw from your house and he doesn't come home? You know, I think what Uriah was doing is the men had often made covenants and they said, "We are not going to rest until this battle is won." Uriah also was a leader. He had other men under him. And he probably thought, "I don't want to demoralize my men. They're suffering. I'm going to suffer with them." Uriah is like a type of Christ in the story. He ends up dying the sacrificial death. He dies to cover David's sin. Isn't that what Jesus does? Matter of fact, when David hears this, he realizes--who's the best man in the story, David or Uriah? David's saying, "He's a better man than I am." And he says, "Well, I know what I'll do. I'll get him drunk. If I could get him to drink, it will lower his natural resistance." I mean after all David could read in the Bible where Lot's daughters got their father drunk and he did the unthinkable. So David things Noah got drunk and wandered around naked. I mean let's face it, when you drink you're not the same. And that's why Christians shouldn't drink, amen? And so, he says, "I'll just get him to drink a little bit and I'll say, "Okay, Uriah, let's toast the army." And he says--he respectfully says [inaudible]. And he gives in the strongest drink--wine they've got. You know, wine could have varying levels of alcohol. And he makes them drunk. And he thinks, "Surely now, he'll go to his home. He'll go staggering home. And then when Bathsheba comes up pregnant and has a baby after only six months, we'll just say, 'Oh, I guess, it was a premature.'" But even drunk, he does not go against his conscience. This guy's remarkable. He goes back and he sleeps again in the barracks. David said, "Enough is enough." And so what Davis does is he writes a letter. Now, I'm condensing the story because--but you need to know the background for the Psalms we're going to study. David writes a letter. Now, keep in mind, Uriah is one of his friends. He and Uriah have lived in caves together fighting the Philistines. And I mean, they are old friends. He writes a letter. He's so worried about losing the respect of his people, and literally, Uriah's got the right to kill David for what he's done according to the Bible. So David writes a letter. He becomes frightened. Still doesn't repent and confess. Doesn't trust that even God's going to get him out of this. Sends it Joab, a sealed letter. Sends it by the hand of Uriah, his own death sentence. And Joab reads the letter, and the letter says, "Take Uriah, set them at the forefront of the hottest battle and retire from him that he dies." Now Joab is--he's an obedient general. He may not know what's going on, but he's got a direct order from the king. It's a sealed order which means it's top secret. And so Joab, I think Joab failed here too. He knew Uriah was a good soldier. Joab takes Uriah and he puts him at the forefront. There was a place where the gates were guarded. It was probably the main entrance of Rabbah, and they had the the mightiest men there. And he assigns Uriah and his little contingent of soldiers. And says, "I want you to go charge; storm the gates." And Uriah looks at Joab, he says, "Hey, look, you guys, we've been fighting together for years. We understand war tactics. You realize this is a suicide mission? Why would we charge the gates?" Joab says, "We'll cover you." You ever heard that before? "We'll cover you. We got your back." And so, obediently, Uriah and his men, they charged the gates of Rabbah. And at first, Uriah and his soldiers are covering them, then they withdraw. And the soldiers up on the wall, they get down, they fire down a hail of arrows just as you would expect. And several soldiers are killed, including Uriah. It's a tragedy. So Uriah goes into a suicide mission. He basically lays down his life to obey. That's a great lesson for us. So David thinks, all right, as soon as Bathsheba gets with that Uriah is dead, she wears her--she goes through the customary period of mourning but it's not very long. I think it's truncated, because as soon as she's done mourning, David takes her as wife so that when she comes up with the baby in about six months, at least, they've got some semblance of a story. Now, God gives David all this time to repent, you know, God is patient. The Bible says in Ecclesiastes, and I forget the verse, but I remember the passage. "Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the hearts of the sons of men are fully set in them to do evil." That means that because God does not thump us with a hammer from heaven, as soon as we do wrong, we think that we're okay. God did not send judgment on David right away because he was giving him time to repent. There's a lot of people that have peace in their lives right now, not because they're doing well but because God is patient. Think about how patient God was when Noah was building the ark with that world. It says, "The thoughts of their hearts were only evil continually, and God give them 120 years." God is loving and he's patient. God rescued Sodom and Gomorrah through Abraham before he destroyed them years later. Gave them patience. So God gives David this probationary period of time to repent and confess. There was a lot of the things about David. You know, God loved David. David had done a lot-- God had chosen David. But David had fallen for this terrible sin. And so, do you think David had peace during that time? Man, how could you? You kill a loyal friend to take his wife to cover up your sin and other been died in the process. I'm sure that he was tormented by that, but he had somehow stifled his conscience. And then you go to now, the wake-up call. This is our next section, and you turn to 2 Samuel chapter 12. Oh by the way, the end of chapter 11, it says, "The thing that David had done displeased the Lord." Now, that is the understatement of Scripture. Displeased. That word "displeased"there; it means God was extremely aggravated. He was disappointed. He was grieved by what David had done. Go to chapter 12, verse 1, and we'll be reading through verse 7, "And the Lord sent Nathan to David. And he came to him, and said, 'There were two men in one city.'" Now, what's happening here, it was common for the king to sit, usually a couple of times a week and he was the supreme court. They had priests scattered throughout the land. The Levites were to be judges. The Levites were like your doctors too. Whenever anybody was examined for any kind of uncleanness or disease, the Levites often would prescribe a cure. They declared them unclean if it was contagious. And the Levites would also adjudicate small cases and disputes. They had judges in every town, and they had Levites that would help do this. But then the supreme court was the king. If they had difficult cases, it would come to the king. Remember the two women that had the baby, and died during the night and they're fighting over the baby? The king would sit in judgment on these difficult cases. So Nathan, the prophet, friend of David, God told Nathan what was going on. But Nathan now is going to get David to confess and basically to condemn himself. He says to the king, "There were two men in one city." Doesn't say what city. "One rich; the other poor. The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds. But the poor man had nothing, except one little ewe lamb which he had bought up, ever since it was a lamb, and nourished, and it grew up together with him and with his children." It was a family member. "It ate of its own food and drank from its own cup." We used to have goats years ago, and when we milked the goats, because the goats would fight over the feed and we didn't have a barn built yet, we'd bring the goats into the house. I know I shouldn't tell you that. You probably think I'm unsanitary but-- so, you know, you kind of somewhat relate here a little bit. But--and they said, "It ate of its own food." And any or you ever feed your dogs from the table? Come on. Not supposed to do it. All the guilty just laughed. Ate of its own food, drank of its own cup and lay in his bosom; and it was like a daughter to him. And a traveler came to the rich man, who refused to take from his own flock." Now, it was a custom in Bible times that if a traveler came, you were supposed to host them. And you are remember when the two travelers came to Abraham, he told Sarah, "Kill the fatted calf and we're going to, you know, have a meal." So this traveler comes and instead of providing from his own many flocks and herds, he forcefully takes his poor neighbor's only lamb and kills it, and feeds it to his guests. "David's anger was greatly aroused." Now God is--that's sort of silly to say God is very smart because that's obvious. But what was David's occupation his whole early life? So he puts this in a story that David could really resonate with. Did David, when he was young, did David lay down his life to defend little lambs that were taken by the bear and the lion? And here to have this stranger, this wealthy stranger who is so greedy. David had dealt with a wealthy, greedy, friend--it wasn't a friend, a wealthy, greedy neighbor. His name was Nabal. That's how David ended up with his wife Abigail. Nabal was a selfish, stingy man. And so, David's going, "Yeah, yeah. Boy, this guy. He took his only lamb?" And David, when he hears this, "His anger was greatly aroused against the man, and he said to Nathan, 'As the Lord lives, the man who has done this shall surely die! And he will restore fourfold for the lamb, because he did this thing and because he had no pity.' And then Nathan said, "these are some of the most stirring words in the Bible, "Nathan said, 'You are the man.'" Now, there are several videos I want to see when I get to heaven. And just little vignettes, you know? But I always--I think I've told you; I want to see the look on Haman's face, you know, in the story of Esther? When Haman's invited to this feast and he doesn't know why he's coming to this feast, but he's just really honored that he's invited to a feast, just him, the king and the queen, and he's invited to this feast. And finally, at the feast, the king says, "Esther, you've asked for this feast two times now, we've had the feast and I'm here with Haman." He said, "What's up." And Esther says, "Your Highness, there's someone who wants to annihilate me and my people. And if you wanted to make us slaves, that would be okay but to exterminate us, I can't bear this." And the king says, "Who is it that would dare to do such a thing?" And Haman goes, "Yeah, who? And Esther said, "Thou art the man." She said, "It is this wicked Haman." I want to see that video to look at how the blood drains from his face. And you know Jesus, he goes around the table, and he says, "This night, one of you is going to betray me. And all of the apostles, one by one, said "No, we all love you. No, none of us. We'd die for you." Peter actually said that. "I'll lay down my life for you. Even if all of these forsake you. I'll never forsake you." Then one by one, they say it, "Lord, is it I? Is it I? Is it I? Is it I?" Finally, Judas sees everybody looking at him because he hasn't asked yet. And he goes, "Is it I?" And Jesus said, "Thou hast said." "So when Nathan said to David, 'Thou art the man,' thus says the Lord God of Israel. 'I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave you your master's house and your master's wives into your keeping. I gave you the house of Israel and Judah, "and if that--" This is something that is just amazing. God says, "And if that had been too little, I would have given you much more." He says, "David, if you had said, 'Lord, I'm just lacking. I need more land, and more palaces, and more kingdoms or whatever,"he said, "I would've given you more. I wouldn't have think you'd need any more wives." I mean, you know one is plenty. But yeah, someone asked Benjamin Franklin, you've heard me share this. They asked Benjamin Franklin, they got into a theological argument with him, and they said, "There's nothing in the Bible that says a man can't have more than one wife." Franklin disagreed. He says, "It says, 'You cannot serve two masters.'" And he said to him, "If you wanted more, I would've given you more. Why have you despised the commandment of the Lord?" Not only the commandment that says though shalt not murder but the commandment that says, "Thou shalt not commit adultery,"and the commandment that says, "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife." David broke several commandments here. "Why have you despised the commandment of the Lord, and done evil in his sight? You have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword." David is thinking, "Well, I wasn't there." God's saying, "You did it. It's your blood--it's his blood on your hands. And you've taken his wife to be your wife and you killed him with the sword of the people of Amman. You killed him with a sword. You just used someone else's sword to do it." "Now, therefore the sword will never depart from your house because you've despised me, and you've taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite for your wife. Thus says the Lord, 'Behold, I will raise up adversaries against you from your own house and I'll take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor. What you do to others will be done to you." And it wasn't just one wife. Absalom laid with ten of David's wives. They were his concubines. David took Abigail and his other wives with him when he fled from Jerusalem, but his ten concubines who were left behind, in the presence of everybody, Absalom went into the harem. He says, "Because you've done this, I'll raise up adversaries from your own house," his own sons. "For you did this thing secretly, but I'll do this thing before Israel and before the sun." Now David is so overcome with guilt and shame, finally he comes to his senses. This is the turning point where he discovers rest, but he has to go through repentance. He says, "I have sinned against the Lord." As soon as he repents of his sin, Nathan says, "The Lord has put away your sin. You shall not die." However, there are consequences. Because of this deed, you've given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme." By the way, this is in the Bible. Did everybody in Israel soon know? Was it in all of the tabloids and the newspapers what David had done? Did he lose the respect of his people after this to a great extent? They would never have followed Absalom against David if David hadn't lost the respect of the people. How can David judge his people when he's done this? "You have given great occasion for the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme. The child who is born to you shall surely die." God is basically saying, "I can't bless this relationship and the whole world's going to see." "Then Nathan departed to his house. And the Lord struck the child." And you know this story. David spent seven days on his face, and he prayed, and God kept his Word and the baby died. Now think about this. That son of David died because of David's sin. What is Jesus's title? The son of David died because of our sin. Isn't that right? So there's a beautiful analogy here. As a result of that--now turn in your Bibles to-- oh, you know what? There's one more story. See if I can squeeze it in here. Talking about, "Thou art the man." How many of you remember in the Bible where Judah had a son, and he married a local Canaanite gal name Tamar. And Judah's son died. The Lord slew him because he was evil. So as the custom was, the younger brother married Tamar and then he died. Now you're thinking, "This girl's bad luck." Now Judah's supposed to give his younger son Shelah to Tamar, but he said, "I've lost two sons married to her. I don't know what's wrong but I'm not going to do the third." Well, she's wearing her widow garments for years and he never follows what he's supposed to do. And so Tamar says, "Look, I'm going to be a widow and childless the rest of my life." And so she disguises herself and probably paints herself up pretty good, dresses like a harlot. That's what the Bible says. She knows Judah's going to be travelling alone between his flocks. She seduces him successfully. She says, "Instead of payment, you know, give me your staff and give me your signet ring." And he does, and then when he goes to get those things back to redeem them with money, never can find this harlot. Several months later, someone tells Judah, "You realize that your daughter-in-law is pregnant?" And Judah says, "That scoundrel. Bring her forth and burn her." So they bring her out with the mob and they're going to burn her publicly for her adultery. And she says, "Well, just before you burn me, I think I ought to let you know that I'm pregnant by the person who owns these things." Basically she says to Judah, "Thou art the man." So does Jesus say be careful about judging others? Because in doing so, you might have one of those aha moments, where God says, "Before you take the speck out of your neighbor's eye, you might want to get the log out of your own eye," right? Okay, that one's not in the lesson but it's good theology. I wanted you to just know that. Also happened to Paul. He's killing all the Christians and Jesus appears and said, "Paul, you're not fighting for God, you're fighting against God." Thou art the man. You're the bad guy not the good guy. So there's several of those in the Bible. So go with me in your Bibles to Psalm 51. And here you see where God has said he's forgiven David's sin, and this is under "Forgiven and Forgotten." Let's look at the first six verses. "Have mercy upon me, O God." David writes a song, pleading for God's mercy. "According to Your lovingkindness. According to the multitude of Your tender mercies. Blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgression, and my sin is always before me. Against You and You only, have I sinned." Well, I thought he had sinned against Uriah and maybe even Bathsheba. But ultimately who is sin against? God. When Joseph was tempted by Potiphar's wife, Joseph said to Potiphar's wife, "How can I sin against God?" He didn't say against my master. All sin is ultimately breaking the law of God. It's a sin against our Creator. "Against You and You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in your sight, that--" Can we ever sin outside of God's sight? Can you run from his presence or is everything "naked and open to the eyes of God, "as it says in Hebrews? "That you may be found just when You speak, and blameless when You judge. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me. Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts. And in the hidden part, you will make me to know wisdom." You read on in the Psalm now, this is under the section, "Something New." "Purge me with hyssop," verse 7, "and I will be clean. Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow." What's that promise in Isaiah? "Put away the evil of your doings." And it says, "that though our sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." "Make me hear joy and gladness, that the bones that You have broken may rejoice." We are humbled sometimes through conviction, but God wants to lift us up. "Hide Your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God and renew a steadfast spirit within me." And then when God does that, what's the result? We then become reflectors of his light. When you do that, it says, "Restore to me the joy of your salvation. Then," verse 13, "I will teach transgressors Your ways." How can we convert others if we're not surrendered? If we have not repented of our sins? "I will teach others your ways and sinners will be converted to You." Beautiful Psalm. One of the most beautiful Psalms of repentance. David also wrote Psalm 32. You can read that, verses 1 through 11, but we don't have time today. We--I think I've-- we're up for lesson. Want to remind those who may be tuning in a little bit late, we do have a free offer connected with today's study. And it's called "No Turning Back." How do you consecrate yourself to the Lord and not change your mind? If you would like a free copy of this, you can simply Call 866-788-3966 and ask for offer 146. And you can also text S-H-1-3-7 to 4-0-5-4-4. You can actually read this online. Thank you so much for studying with us, friends. And God willing, we'll continue to study his word together again next week. male announcer: Don't forget to request today's life-changing, free resource. Not only can you receive this free gift in the mail, you can download a digital copy straight to your computer or mobile device. To get your digital copy of the today's free gift, simply text the keyword on your screen to 4-0-5-4-4 or visit the web address shown on your screen. And be sure to select that digital download option on the request page. It's now easier than ever for you to study God's Word with "Amazing Facts," wherever and whenever you want. And most important, to share it with others. announcer: "Amazing Facts. Changed Lives." Josh: Our family was Christian to begin with. Mom and dad were involved at the church at times. On the inside, our family wasn't really Christian, I guess. It was just, it was a front that we put on. My dad suffered from bipolar disorder. Instead of taking his medication, he turned to alcohol. He could be mad one second and then in the next second, he'd be happy, and it was so confusing for us. Most of the time, we'd be upstairs to try to avoid him. I made good grades all the way up until high school. High school, I started struggling because my mom was a single parent at a time, and I had to get a job. And I was working every day after school. I didn't have many friends to talk to, so I was getting depressed. I was always tired. I started failing my assignments because I would fall asleep during class, and I couldn't listen to the teachers. I couldn't comprehend what they were saying. By my 11th-grade year, I dropped out and I tried homeschooling. I just ended up working full-time. I had lots of girlfriends growing up, but I was always terrified of talking to guys, like my hands would start to sweat. I would tense up. I just couldn't talk. I guess that's when I started developing an attraction. Gay guys weren't scary to talk to. So I started talking to them, and then I started meeting them and then it just went from there. And then I started having relationships with them. I just wanted to find someone who would care. After high school, most of my friends were gone but there were a few left to home. We all started getting into drugs and smoking weed and drinking. I was able to leave my depression behind and I wasn't shy anymore. I was able to talk to anyone I wanted to. It wasn't real, but it felt real at the time. During this time, I felt like God had left me. And I'd hear conversations at church talking about gays and people on drugs and stuff. And you know, they talked so bad about them, it drove me to leave church. I eventually I just left church; I left God. I just didn't care anymore. I didn't care what God thought because I didn't think he cared about me. At the beginning of this year, I moved in with my boyfriend. I still felt empty. I still wasn't happy. I thought I had what I wanted. I had a guy that I could love, and I thought he loved me, but I was still empty. I still felt like if I died today, I wasn't sure where was going to go. And I wasn't sure if I'd be a disappointment to everyone. Josh: My grandma texted me. She told me that an "Amazing Facts" evangelist was coming to our church to do a prophecy seminar. I didn't really want to go because I've been to those before, and they were normally pretty boring, and I'd fall asleep. I was planning on making excuses for every night, but she was dedicated. She really wanted me to go, and so did my mom. So I ended up going to church and the evangelist that was speaking, he was speaking on the sanctuary that morning. It made sense to me that there was someone up in heaven pleading may cause. I've never heard Jesus this way before. I went back all the nights that I could, except the nights that I worked. At the end of it, I ended up getting rebaptized. I made a decision to leave this life behind. I was still attracted to men, but I wanted to leave the lifestyle. I didn't want to live in it anymore, any longer, because I knew it was wrong. The evangelist that was at our church that did the prophecy seminar, became my mentor. He told me about the school, AFCOE. It stands for Amazing Facts Center of Evangelism. And I was like, "Well, I want that, because I want to learn how to share Jesus. I want to learn how to be able to help others. I prayed about it, and I applied online. They accepted my application, but I still had the money problem left. That night, right before I left, he provided over $3000, and he's been providing for me ever since. The tools that I've learned here are tools that will stick with me forever, and it was life-changing to be able to come here, to AFCOE. I would love to help other people in my situation because a lot of people have prayed that God would take this stuff away, and then they get discouraged when he doesn't. But what they don't know is that Jesus is there. He'll help you through it. My name is Josh, and "Amazing Facts" has helped change my life. ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ announcer: "Amazing Facts. Changed Lives." male: I had grew up here in New York City. I guess dealing with all the temptations that you would have in a big city. Everything that you could imagine that you could run into drugs, crime was always here. When I was at a young age, I actually got into trouble with the law, and my only out was to join the military at the time in order to not do time. So I left New York and traveled the world a little bit while I was in the military. Eventually, I came back. Having grown up as a hip-hop kid, I eventually found myself working in the music business actually. I worked at a couple of major radio stations, hip hop, reggae. I was at all the big reggae shows, working them. No matter what I did to try and satisfy myself, nothing really worked. I remember I used to play at this one club in Manhattan. Used to play there every Friday night. So I came home one Saturday morning after leaving the club and I turned on the video channel like I usually do. So there was this guy in the video channel talking and he was definitely out of place, but the things that he was saying just totally amazed me. I had never heard anyone speak about the Bible like this before, so I started coming home early on Saturday mornings just to catch this show. I found the things that he was saying absolutely amazing. To the point where it literally made me stop and start to think about how I was living my life. So I found that all of these things that I had been doing to try and find happiness, were actually not making me happy at all, but were really just leaving me empty inside. When I started reading the Bible and it started to make sense, I started to make changes. I even tried to keep the Sabbath, which I failed at miserably. So I was actually invited by "Amazing Facts" to go to see a live series at one of the local churches. But after going the first night, I ended up going another night and another night. I stayed for the entire series. That was the day I made a decision that changed the rest of my life forever. I give my life to Christ, and everything was different after that. I made a decision to give up the music business, stop hanging out at all of the clubs. I made a decision that was eternal for me and for my family. I started going to church. I got a position in church where I was actually in charge of the Personal Ministries Department. And the same "Amazing Facts" studies that changed my life, I actually got to share them with people, and sit down with them and tell them about Jesus.