2 Samuel #22: an exposition of 2 Samuel 20:1-26. This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday evening, August 18, 2013.
Intro:
It was funny the first time I heard it, but by the time it was in the double digits it was wearing thin and after 28 years – not so much. “I wish I was a pastor and only worked one day a week.” Whether it is a stale joke, the same meal or the same task over and over repetition gets old! I have to admit when I came to 2 Samuel chapter 20 I thought, “Here we go again.” There is nothing surprising here. I’m not saying it’s not interesting. I’m saying it is the same song, second verse. The chapter is filled with rebellion, treachery, sin and death. Maybe that’s the point. Perhaps the biblical writer is trying to drill it into our heads, “The wages of sin is death.” Absalom’s rebellion has been put to rest. David is back in Jerusalem. The kingdom is safe but not secure. The kingdom stands but it is fragile. Not sooner does David get home than another rebellion begins. Our text this evening is found in 2 Samuel chapter 20.
Text: 2 Samuel 20:1-26
How seriously do you take sin?
Is it something you think about?
Are you convinced that it is deadly?
Are you afraid of sin?
These are questions we ought to consider. I’m convinced most of us are just not that concerned about sin. I think we are comfortable with sin. We laugh at it regularly through television and the media. We long ago lost the ability to blush. Whether consciously or unconsciously we’ve lowered our guard if not our standards. Too easily we presume upon the grace of God. “Well, I’m under grace. God has forgiven me of my sin past, present and future because of Christ.” As if that is an excuse to live in sin. What is it Paul said in Romans 6? “Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?”
The notion that I’m saved and therefore do not need to worry about sin is false. Part of our coming to faith in Christ is to accept a call to holiness. To be in Christ is to be moving toward sanctification. While 2 Samuel 20 seems to be same song, second verse – as we explore the chapter we discover…
Thesis: The sordid tale of Sheba’s rebellion forces us to deal with the nature of sin and its bitter fruit of sin.
There are 4 things I want to point out along the way.
- Sin, at its core, is rebellion against the will of God. (20:1-2)
- The unintended consequences of sin prove to be devastating. (20:3)
- Sin often comes disguised as something noble. (20:4-13)
- The outcome of Sheba’s rebellion is a vidid reminder that the wages of sin is death. (20:14-26)