When the Chickens come Home to Roost – II Samuel 12:9-14
WHEN THE CHICKENS COME HOME TO ROOST
DATE: 1/4/2009 am @ CBBC
TEXT: II Samuel 12:9-14
INTRODUCTION
Just recently a family in our church started raising chickens.
It’s not uncommon to go over there and to see chickens running around the yard.
They collect their eggs and sell them.
Now, during the day, these chickens will scratch around in the yard, or sometimes they will venture into the edge of the woods.
Sometime in the afternoon though, those chickens will begin to head back to their roost.
They might wander far and wide, but they always go to the roost when evening comes.
There is a verse in the Old Testament that says –
“…and be sure your sin will find you out,” Numbers 32:23.
That is not a threat; it is not even a promise…
It is just God making a statement of fact.
Just like those chickens that could be depended on to head back to the roost at night …
You can be sure of the fact that your sins will come home to you.
We have looked at David’s sin with Bathsheba.
We have watched that sin evolve from the moment it was conceived until it was committed …
And then we have watched as that sin was confronted and confessed.
We spend a little time talking about the consequences of David’s sin.
I want to look into that area a little deeper.
I want to preach about –
“When The Chickens Come Home To Roost.”
I want to show you what we can expect when we allow sin to flourish in our lives.
There are consequences and they are very unpleasant.
Let’s look into II Samuel 12-18 and learn what to expect –
“When The Chickens Come Home To Roost.”
~~~OPENING PRAYER~~~
I. THIS “PRINCIPLE DAVID ENCOUNTERED”
A. David discovered a spiritual principle that holds true in every person’s life.
Here is the principle: “God always instantly and completely forgives sin when there is confession and genuine repentance; but He does not remove the consequences of our sins.” (repeat)
® God forgave David’s sin – Look at v. 13 –
That’s grace!
® But David still had to face the consequences –
Look at vs.10-11, 14 –
That the reality!
B. This principle is clearly demonstrated in the lives of other characters of the Bible.
Adam: Genesis 3:9-21 -
Moses: Numbers 20:10-12 - (Moses disobeys God by hitting the rock twice)
Abraham: He brought Hagar out of Egypt and paid a price - Genesis 12:10-20; Genesis 16 -
Jacob: He tricked his brother and his father and then he met Laban, who tricked him - Genesis chapters 27-31
Achan: He stole money and a garment, and paid a high price, Joshua 7
C. This principle is also clearly declared in the pages of the Bible -
Galatians 6:7-8 – “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”
8“For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.”
These verses teach us the following truths:
1.) You always reap exactly what you sow.
2.) You always reap more than you sow.
3.) You will reap what you sow in this life.
These are grace verses!
It was not written to Old Testament peoples; …
It was written to New Testament believers.
Here is the idea they express:
Confession and repentance do not stop the harvest!
If you sow it, you will reap it!
Somehow or another we have come to believe that if we confess our sins, it will be as if they never happened.
This is just not so!
Yes, God gives grace, but …
® His grace means that we do not die for our sins – v.13
® Grace means that we will have God’s help to face the consequences.
® Grace means that we are now free to fall in line with God’s plan for our lives.
But, grace never means that we are off the hook!
Where sin is sown, a bitter harvest is always reaped.
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Illustration: Dr. Pierce Harris of First Methodist Church, Atlanta, Georgia, once spoke at a prison work camp.
The prisoner introducing him recalled earlier days of association with the minister.
"Several years ago," he said, "two boys lived in the same community and attended the same school, played with the same bunch of fellows, and went to the same Sunday School.
One of them dropped out of Sunday School because he felt he had outgrown it, and that it was 'sissy stuff.'
The other boy kept on going because he felt that it really meant something in his life.
The boy who dropped out is the one who is making this introduction today.
The boy who kept going to Sunday School is the famous preacher who will preach to you this morning.
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D. One of our problems in dealing with sin is the fact that we learn I John 1:9 long before we encounter Romans 6:11-13
We learn that God will forgive us for our sins before we ever learn that we do not have to commit the sin in the first place -
I Corinthians 10:13 – “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”
As a result, we are trained and programmed to sin!
We think we can do it, confess it and walk away from it.
Well, we are dead wrong!
Remember this principle: “God always instantly and completely forgives sin when there is confession and genuine repentance; but He does not remove the consequences of our sins.”
My advice is that we all learn it, memorize it, remember it and live by it from this moment forward! (Romans 6:11-13)
THE “PRINCIPLE DAVID ENCOUNTERED”
II. THE “PAIN DAVID ENDURED”
A. When David sinned, he unleashed a firestorm of tragedy in his own life and in his family.
Things would never be the same in David’s life and home as a result of the things he did.
B. Let me give you a brief overview of the pain David endured for the moment of pleasure he enjoyed.
1.David suffered the death of an infant son – II Samuel 12:15, 18
2.David’s eldest son Amnon raped his half-sister Tamar – II Samuel 13:1-2
3.David’s son Absalom grew to hate Amnon – II Samuel 13:22
4. Absalom conspires to have Amnon killed – II Samuel 13:23-29
5.Absalom flees from his father and the two are estranged for some 5 years. II Samuel 13:37-39; II Samuel 14:24
6.Absalom leads a public rebellion against David – II Samuel 15-17
7.Absalom publicly disgraces David by committing adultery with David’s concubines on top of the King’s palace – II Samuel 16:21-22
8.Absalom is murdered by David’s nephew Joab – II Samuel 18:32-33
This is a tragic description of the horrible effects sin can have on lives!
David’s sin affected his family more than it did anyone else.
After all is done, he had four dead sons, a kingdom in shambles, disgraced wives, a tarnished reputation, a disgraced daughter, and a trusted counselor dead by suicide, among other things.
® Even though it was David who sinned, his sin still impacted people who were totally innocent.
That infant child and Tamar were both innocent victims of David’s wickedness!
But, it also affected David!
It tarnished his name –
Psalm 41:8 – “An evil disease, say they, cleaveth fast unto him: and now that he lieth he shall rise up no more.”
It caused him constant grief and heartache –
Psalm 55:4 – “My heart is sore pained within me: and the terrors of death are fallen upon me.”
C. Have you thought about what could happen in your life?
Have you thought what the fallout would be if you fell into sin?
Have you considered what might happen and what lives might be ruined if you took that fatal step and went off into sin?
Are you willing to pay that high a price?
You never know who might be destroyed because of an indiscretion in your life!
Don’t think for a moment that your sins won’t affect the innocent people around you.
Don’t think for a minute that you can do as you please an affect no one else.
You are deceiving yourself when you believe that!
May the Lord help us all to count the cost and stay close to Him!
Truth: Many people are paying a high price for their sins today!
® Parents who lived in sin during the formative years of their children’s live, but who are now saved, watch their children continue to stay away from the Lord.
® Some people who give into a moment of temptation now bear in their body the horror of disease.
® Others have squandered their lives for a time of pleasure and lost their ability to minister.
Sin has the power to cripple and destroy, if you allow it to get a foothold in your life.
Whatever you have to do to be free of your sin is exactly what you need to do!
Here is how Jesus put it –
Mark 9:43-48 -
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Illustration: Evangelist Sam Jones used to tell the following story:
“While I was preaching in a certain town, there was a boy who would come into the back part of the church and lie down and go to sleep. He was drunk.
His father, who was a good Christian man, would take him home.
One morning after one of these experiences, the boy came downstairs.
The father met him and said - "Hold on, Son.
I want you to go to church with me and be a Christian."
The son said - "No, Father, I do not want to be a Christian.
I am not going to church. Please get out of my way, for I am going to town."
The father pleaded tenderly and said - "Son, your mother has slept little for nights.
She is almost dying. You are killing us all.
Please go and become a Christian like your father has."
But the son glared at him and said –
"Do you know who the man is who gave me my first drink?"
The father answered - "No." Then as he rushed past him and out of the door, he angrily said, "You are the man, sir."
The father said that if the boy had shot him through the heart, it could not have hurt more.”
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Yes, we reap what we sow.
THE “PRINCIPLE DAVID ENCOUNTERED”
THE “PAIN DAVID ENDURED”
III. THE “POWER DAVID EXPERIENCED”
A. Even as this time unfolds in David’s life, we can see in his life the evidence of God’s hand at work.
Even though David had to face the consequences for his sins, he was still God’s man.
And, God was at work in his heart.
This is seen in two specific incidents as David fled from Jerusalem during the rebellion of Absalom.
® The first incident occurs in II Samuel 15:24-26.
Here, Abiathar the priest was leaving with David.
He and the Levites were taking the Ark from Jerusalem.
David sends them back declaring his dependence upon the will of the Lord.
The second occurs in II Samuel 16:5-14 when a man named Shimei follows David, cursing him as he does.
Abishai, David’s nephew, wants to decapitate Shimei, but again, David places his fate in the hands of the Lord.
B. From these and other incident, it would seem that David is rediscovering some of the humility that had marked him as a younger man.
Yes, David paid a high price, but he also came out of those dark days with a changed heart; restoration and humility.
He faced his sin like a man and God gave him grace to make it through the consequences!
C. If there is one glimmer of light in this dark, tragic tale, it is in the fact that God brought David through it all and restored him to the throne.
If God did it for David, He will do it for us!
® God will never desert you –
Hebrews 13:5 – “for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”
He will go with you even as you face the consequences of your rebellion against Him.
® He will give you grace to get you through the pain and that heartache of your sin –
II Corinthians 12:9 – “And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”
® And, He will be standing there to receive you when you come to yourself and head for home -
Luke 15:11-24 - The prodigal son
Luke 15:17 says – “And when he came to himself,”
I wish I could tell you that when you got saved you would never fail God again.
We all know that it would be a lie if I told you something like that.
However, I can promise you this: when you do fail, God will help you through the processes of confession, repentance restoration.
He will even keep you through the dreadful consequences sin brings into your life.
That is the promise of grace.
That is the promise of the heavenly Potter –
Jeremiah 18:1-6 -
Jeremiah 18:4 – says – “And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.”
CONCLUSION:
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Dr. R.G. Lee, that great preacher once said,
“In 1520 one man brought small pox to Mexico, where it cost three and one half million deaths.
Another man, who landed in England in 1348, was responsible for spreading the Black Death, "Bubonic Plague," the greatest killer Great Britain has ever known.