308 David Displeased the Lord 309 What Will it Take for God to Get Your Attention.pptx

Sermon adapted from, Discovering Christ Day by Day, David Fortner

1. David Displeased the Lord Sermon adapted from, Discovering Christ Day by Day, David Fortner April 5 Today’s Reading: 2 Samuel 11-12

2. When Uriah's wife heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him. After the time of mourning was over, David had her brought to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing David had done displeased the LORD. 2 Samuel 11:26,27 NIV

3. Today’s Scripture reminds us of that horrible sin committed by God’s child, David, in the matter of Uriah. We are told plainly “ But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord .” Nothing is omitted. Nothing is held back. No excuses are offered to mitigate David’s crime. Everything is given to display the enormous shame of this righteous man’s wicked conduct.

4. His lust, his adultery, his betrayal, his plotting, his murder of his faithful servant, everything is set before us. Nothing is held back. Why? Why did God the Hoy Spirit set these things down in the inspired record? The answer is given by God the Holy Spirit Himself.

5. 1 Corinthians 10:11 NIV These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come. Romans 15:4 NIV For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope. Spirit of God, be our Teacher, and write the lessons of these two chapters upon our hearts this day.

6. Learn, child of God, from this sad part of David’s history that God’s saints in this world are sinners still. The best of humans are but human and are as liable to fall into the worst of sins as the unrenewed and unawakened . Our old, Adamic nature of corruption is unchanged. Sinners Still

7. Though we have been made partakers of the divine nature, though Christ is formed in us, our old nature of flesh is still just flesh, ever lusting against the spirit, so that we cannot do the things we would. If the lusts of our flesh do not break out and show themselves as vilely in us as in the reprobate, it is not because our flesh is more pure than theirs, but because of the blessed grace of God that restrains us from evil.

8. Oh, how we ought to thank God for that restraining grace by which He keeps us from the evil that is in us! Psalms 19:13 NIV Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then I will be blameless, innocent of great transgression. Psalms 51:11 NIV Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restraining Grace

9. My gracious Father, my dear Savior, if you keep me not from evil by the unfailing restraint of Your grace by Your Spirit, what falls are they by which I would dishonor your name! Hear my daily prayer for these many years, my God, and in my aging days make it the constant cry of my heart, “Keep me, my God, from the evil that is in me, for the glory of Your own great name.”

10. Surely, these things are written to teach us the blessedness of blood atonement, of perfect, full redemption by Christ Jesus, to remind us there is salvation in no other; for there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. Blood Atonement

11. Acts 4:11 NIV Jesus is "'the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.' 12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved."

12. John 6:66 NIV From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. 67 "You do not want to leave too, do you?" Jesus asked the Twelve. 68 Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God."

13. How sweet it is to be reminded Christ is our Redeemer and we are redeemed by His precious blood, so fully and completely redeemed that God Himself, for His own sake, will not charge us with forgiven sins! Psalms 103:11 NIV For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; 12 as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. Isaiah 43:25 ESV "I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.

14. It was this man, David, who taught us to sing, Romans 4:7 NIV “Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. 8 Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord will never count against them.”

15. What will it take for God to get your attention? Sermon adapted from, Discovering Christ Day by Day, David Fortner April 6 Today’s Reading: 2 Samuel 13-14

16. 2 Samuel 14:29 NIV Then Absalom sent for Joab in order to send him to the king, but Joab refused to come to him. So he sent a second time, but he refused to come. 30 Then he said to his servants, "Look, Joab's field is next to mine, and he has barley there. Go and set it on fire." So Absalom's servants set the field on fire. 31 Then Joab did go to Absalom's house, and he said to him, "Why have your servants set my field on fire?"

17. 32 Absalom said to Joab, "Look, I sent word to you and said, 'Come here so I can send you to the king to ask, "Why have I come from Geshur ? It would be better for me if I were still there!"' Now then, I want to see the king's face, and if I am guilty of anything, let him put me to death." 33 So Joab went to the king and told him this. Then the king summoned Absalom, and he came in and bowed down with his face to the ground before the king. And the king kissed Absalom.

18. Today, I ask God to speak to you by His Word. The application of these two chapters and, particularly, of these verses to my own heart, by God the Holy Spirit, I will for now keep to myself for just one reason. Today, I want each one who reads what I believe God has directed me to write as a personal word to you. May God the Holy Spirit make these thoughts effectual to your soul’s good for Christ’s sake.

19. Absalom tried in vain to get Joab’s attention. He sent for him and sent for him again; but Joab had no regard for or interest in Absalom. Finally, Absalom sent his servants out to set Joab’s fields on fire while they were full of barley. That got Joab’s attention.

20. Wicked as that deed was, it is a picture of God’s gracious actions toward sinners. Knowing our obstinance, that we will not come to His gracious throne until He forces us and makes us willing to come, He sets our barley fields on fire. While judgment will never produce repentance by itself, God often sends His grace to us by means of providential judgments. ( Psalms 107 )

21. David Fortner who wrote this devotional prays for you, who will be caused by God the Holy Spirit to read it; the burden of your immortal soul is heavy upon my heart. It is no accident that you are now reading these lines. By what means has God brought you to read them? — What will it take for God to get your attention?

22. Are you yet without Christ, unconverted, lost, under the wrath of God? I pray that God will not let you die in that condition. Has God the Holy Spirit spoken to you by His Word? Is your heart moved by the preaching of the gospel? Certainly, you have had providential warnings enough to make you tremble if you had sense enough to hear them. Yet, you harden your heart. Unbeliever

23. God has caused you to hear the Gospel, The Good News, even proclaiming it with your voice as we do after the sermon every Sunday. I know that. Yet, I cannot help wondering, “What will it take for God to get your attention?” What will it take for God to bring you to Christ, to bring you to yourself, and bring you to Himself? Eventually, every poor, lost prodigal must and shall be brought home to the Father’s house of grace. But what will it take for God to get your attention?

24. I wonder the same thing about you who are saved by the grace of God, you who trust the Lord Jesus, you who are heirs of salvation, who have entangled yourselves too much with the cares of this world. Your business has just about choked out the Word of God. You willingly absent yourself from the worship of God and the fellowship of His saints. Believer

25. You neglect the regular reading of God’s Word and prayer. The world and the things of the world, “the care of this world” consume your life. At present, you think your neglect is necessary. Be careful, it’s a slippery slope! It starts out, “I have to work some Sundays, have this obligation, got family traveling in & have very few minutes to spend with them! God understands if I miss assembling at the church house a few times.”

26. Before long it’s no big deal to miss Church Services. Meeting regularly with other believers gives opportunity to encourage each other serving the Lord through love & helping others.

27. Hebrews 10:23 NIV Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. 26 If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.

28. 28 Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?

29. “not giving up meeting together…If we deliberately keep on sinning” Those two phrases so close together makes one consider, “If I’m not meeting together with God’s people am I deliberately sinning ?” Jesus makes it very clear, He MUST come FIRST!

30. Luke 14:26 NIV "If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. 27 And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple… 33 In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.

31. Most of you are very familiar with the story of my barley field being set on fire. As a 27 year old Commercial Pilot my main focus was flying, working my way, gaining experience, always looking for the next step. Larger aircraft, better pay, the dream job. Isn’t that the way it is in everyone’s life, seeking life goals? After just a semester in Bible College my Dad was always encouraging me when he saw a church needing a preacher, “you should go preach for them.”

32. August 7, 1990 was my parents anniversary, I remember giving them a set of matching motorcycle helmets that morning. I had a Dr appointment in Wichita & asked my buddy Bob to ride along. After I saw the Dr we ate at Taco Bell & watched a movie. Then I’m in a hospital bed a month later with a traumatic head injury.

33. A few months earlier Bob & I had purchased a homebuilt Volksplane , single seat, low wing, open cockpit plane with a Volkswagen engine. I was told when we returned from Wichita Bob flew it awhile, then it was my turn. From where the wreckage was found it looked like I was turning final to land on a cross-wind grass runway. I have a theory what happened but sure don’t remember it.

34. My take away from this is God swatted down my plane to get my attention! My Dad passed that December in a car wreck. I could still hear him say, “Go preach.” About a year after the crash a church in Sawyer, KS needed an interim Minister so I went & preached. That led to serving other churches.

35. By the time I moved here I had hung up my preaching shoes, then look what happened. From the late 90’s I filled in when Bruce had National Guard drills. You know the rest, when his unit was called up & sent to Iraq I filled in. Here we are 21 years later with not enough folks to set up a Minister search committee.

36. If He must set your barley fields on fire, if He must destroy your business, your health, your wife, your child, or anything else, He considers that a small thing for the salvation of your soul. For that He sacrificed his own dear Son! Your barley fields are nothing in comparison! What will it take for God to get your attention? I believe I would think about that if I were you.

37. HAVE YOU HEARD THE GOOD NEWS?

38. Jesus died on the cross for our sins.

39. He was buried and rose on the third day.

40. When He did this He solved 2 problems we all have. He solved our sin problem because He nailed our sins to the cross; & He solved our grave problem when He rose from the dead because it proved we could also rise from the dead.

41. Jesus said, if we want to get in on of all this we must . . . BE BORN AGAIN. FOLLOW HIM; &

42. ISN’T THAT GREAT NEWS? WHO ARE YOU GOING TO SHARE THE GOOD NEWS WITH TODAY?

43. Mark 16:15 NIV  He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. Numbers 6:24 NIV '"The LORD bless you and keep you; 25 the LORD make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace.“’