September 15, 2019 "I'm Talking to You", Rev. Dr. Howard-John Wesley

and that is whatever you think you have gotten away with God has always seen as those who are waiting join us in worship want to remind you what some of you already know that for this entire month of September under our banner of better together we have been looking at listening to and learning from the Word of God about what it means to be in God called and God formed relationships I've been arguing with you all month long that there really are two types of people in your world those who allowed in and those God ordained to be part of your world and although those who allowed in may be good to you those who God ordained are always good for you that God has a way of sending people into our lives who truly help us fulfill his assignment and purpose to be what God has called us to be you rocked with me when I quoted Houdini but I am a little bit more moved this morning by a 2007 song with the rapper fabulous and Neil where he said in the chorus I'm a movement by myself but I'm a force when we're together mommy I'm good all by myself but but baby you make me better that the God's ordained relationships always connect us to people whose presence makes us better if you recall I've suggested to you that that in order to be better you need a Barnabas in your life you need a good friend you need a ride or die you need someone that's got your back even when you are dead wrong the sad story of Scripture is that Paul allowed his relationship with Barnabas to be destroyed because Paul had some personality problems go back and listen to series 1 and avoid being like Paul and last week I suggested you not only that you need a Barnabas but you need a Ruth in your life you need someone whose love for you is not connected out of obligation nor expectation someone who loves you not because they have to but because they want to someone who's with you even when you can offer nothing other than love and return somebody who accepts you as you are and sees what you can be everybody needs a Barnabas and everybody needs a Ruth today I want to add to the repertoire of those who you need in your life and and build upon our scriptures that have been revealing God called relationships today I want to invite you back into the Old Testament to see yet another relationship you need in your life it comes to us from an account recorded in 2nd Samuel chapter 12 if you're able to turn the second Samuel Chapter 12 we ask those who are physically able to stand with us as together we reverence the reading of God's Word in 2nd Samuel chapter 12 beginning in verse number 1 for those that may have difficulty locating 2nd Samuel is right after 1st Samuel I want to read this morning I've the new international version of God's Holy Word second Samuel Chapter twelve beginning in verse number one if you've got that say man the Lord sent Nathan to David we came to him he said there were two men in a certain town one rich and the other poor the rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought he raised it and grew up with him and his children it shared his food drank from his cup and even slept in his arms it was like a daughter to him now a traveler came to the rich man but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own cheaper cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him instead he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him David burned with anger against the man and sent to Nathan as surely as the Lord lives the man who did this must die he must pay for that lamb four times over because he did such a thing and had no pity then Nathan said to David you the man this is what the Lord the God of Israel says i anointed you king over israel and i delivered you from the hand of Saul I gave your master's house to you and your masters wives into your arms I gave you all of Israel and Judah and if all this had been too little I would have given you even more why did you despise the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes you struck down your eye of the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own you killed him with the sword of the ammonites now therefore the sword will never depart from your house because you despised me and took the rife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own verse 13 then David said to Nathan I have sinned against the Lord Nathan replied the Lord has taken away your sin you are not going to die as we meditate on the Word of God I need you to share the sermon title with your neighbor but I need you to do it with a little bit of sanctified attitude in your and your tone in your look and your demeanor I want you to find someone and put a little sanctified attitude and tell them neighbor Oh neighbor I'm talking to you you may be seated in the presence of the Lord I'm talking to you to understand Nathan's relationship with David you've got to go back to your Sunday School class and remember David's relationship with Bathsheba although what we read is in 2nd Samuel 12 it actually begins in 2nd Samuel 5 because in 2nd Samuel 5 David is made king over all of Israel by God's favor by God's grace and by God's goodness David is elevated to the highest position of authority in all of Israel nobody is higher than David David is King and all of Israel must obey his beckon and his call and sadly and we find out very early on that David is not immune to the temptations of monarchical power in a real sense we find out very early on that David cannot handle the authority that has come with the favour God has given him God has elevated David to such a height of authority and reign and power that David now believes that he is somehow exempt and immune from the laws of God and can use people however he wants to use him and ain't that the case of folk who get some power and authority for the first time that many of them don't know how to handle it but I came by to tell you that there's nothing sadder in life then someone who by the grace of God and the favor of God and the goodness of God have been elevated and they don't know how to handle it you know the kind of focal I'm talking about they got promoted and got brand new they were elevated and lost their minds they got a new title and thought they could treat anybody any old way I don't know who I'm preaching to but I want you to know that everyone can't handle Authority everybody can't be a manager everyone's not called to be a supervisor everybody can't direct a ministry everybody can't handle a microphone in their mouth everybody can't be the Hedden neighbor in charge [Applause] some people cannot handle favor and I would argue with you as we look at the life of David that the truest test of your faithfulness to God is how you handle God's favor Judy the real test of fidelity is not how you walk with God when you're at the bottom but how faithful to God you are when God has moved you at the top the real test is not in your poverty it's in your affluence it's not when you're in the mailroom it's when you sit in the boardroom anybody can worship God at the bottom anybody is faithful when they need something everybody prays when they're sick but can you be faithful to God when God has elevated you and God has lifted you and God has bless you everybody comes to church when they need God but can you press your way into the house of God when the only reason you're here is not because you need something not because you're begging for something not because you stand in need but I'm here just to tell God thank you Lord for all you've done for me can you handle favor David proves he can't because with the favor and authority God has given him David now circumvents the laws of God about marriage and forcefully claims a woman named Bathsheba who is the wife of a man named Uriah you remember how the story goes down it's the time for war and rather than going to war as he should have David sent his men and while David is back in Jerusalem by himself he sees Bathsheba taking a bath on the top of a roof which was common practice in those days and David began to stare at what he should have turned from but brothers let me give you some good advice it's kind of like the NBA Earl after three seconds you got to get out the lane [Applause] David stares a little too long and lust begins to rise in his heart and he calls for Bathsheba and I want you to appreciate professor will Gaffney who suggests to us that whatever happens between David and Bathsheba is not consensual there is a power dynamic and Bathsheba does not have the right to refuse the beckoning of the king and whenever a woman does not even have the right or possibility to say no that is not consensual sexual behavior according to will gasps me that is rape David your beloved here our scripture rapes Bathsheba justify telling me get worse it gets worse ah Bathsheba turns up pregnant and now Davey gotta show enough problem on his hands because her pregnancy not only threatens his authority and his position is king her pregnancy threatens his life because if your ayah finds out that David has impregnated his wife according to the laws of Moses Uriah has the right to demand that Bathsheba the baby and David be stoned David knows his authority is in jeopardy so he tries to set Uriah up has Uriah come home from battle and thinks that Uriah like any other soldier when he's home from battle the first thing he's going to do is sleep with his wife and if he sleeps with his wife David can then pass the pregnancy off on Uriah only to find out the Uriah's got some integrity when he comes home he doesn't go into the bedroom with his wife because his men are still on the battlefield and he says I cannot lay in pleasure while my men are fighting in fear bob says he sleeps at the doorstep of his house now Dave you got to show enough problem because sooner or later this pregnancy gonna be found out cuz pregnancy is a lie you can't tell so David comes up with Plan B singer are back to battle but put him on the front line hoping that somehow in battle the ammonites will do for David what David needs to have done your ayahs got to be killed and that's exactly what happens Uriah is killed Bathsheba mourns and after her morning David brings her to the palace and claims her as his wife seems like problem solved issue resolved sin swept under the rug David has used his authority to sin against Uriah and God and thinks he's gotten away with it but the last verse of chapter 11 verse 27 reads like this but the thing David did was despicable in the eyes of God and David is about to find out what I will press on to you today and that is whatever you think you have gotten away with God has always seen God saw what David did and God sets up in God's mind I got to deal with this I've got to handle David I've got a David right I've got a straightened David out I've got too much on the line with David for David to think he can use his authority to sin against me God is gonna deal with David and how is God gonna do it verse number 1 of chapter 12 the very first verse i read it tells you how god's don't deal with david and verse 1 reads like this and the Lord sent Nathan to David let me pause right there the Lord sent Nathan to David God has a problem with David David has got to repent for what he's done and in order to deal with David God is going to raise up a Nathan who is sent to David's life to confront David about his sin this is a God orchestrated and ordained relationship Nathan didn't just show up Nathan was sent by God to confront David over his sin came by tell you in the third part of this series yes you need a Barnabas in your life you need a friend that's got your back yes you need a Ruth someone who loves you not out of obligation or expectation but simply because of who you are and as much as you might not like it you know who else you need you need a Nathan you need someone God can use to rebuke you when your life has strayed outside of the will of God I'm going to say that again you need a Nathan a Nathan is a brother or a sister God has raised up to rebuke you when your life has strayed outside of the will of God Earl I knew when I wrote that sentence it was gonna get quiet in church we don't like the word rebuke we don't use the word rebuke we shun being rebuked rebuke has lost definition and practice within contemporary Christianity we don't talk about rebuking as a matter of fact most of us have reached a level in life where someone has the audacity to confront us and rebuke us our responses probably go like this Huna [Applause] do you think you're talking to and God needs someone in your life who can stand toe-to-toe with you and look back at you and answer that question like this I'm talking to you you have strayed you have fallen you have sinned and God has sent me to rebuke you someone say rebuke rebuking is literally part of our godly assignment that we have towards one another that when we enter the body of Christ part of our responsibility in relationship is to rebuke one another when we have gone astray look how quiet it gets the Bible says in proverbs chapter 9 fool hates rebuke but a wise man is made rich by it the Bible says in Luke chapter 17 that if one of us has fallen outside of the will of God we ought to rebuke them and if they repent we ought to forgive them the Bible says in proverbs chapter 27 that open rebuke is better than secret love and when Paul wrote to Timothy as he got ready to die he told Timothy this is what I want you to do preach the word be ready in season and out of season correct people encourage people and rebuke people rebuke is part of our divine assignment in relationship with one another I cannot say I love you and watch you knowingly and willingly stray outside of God's will notice what I tell them I'm talking to you I'm talking to you Cathy the reason we don't like the word rebuked it's because we really don't understand the definition we think we rebuke is punishment but rebuke is actually protection rebuke is not God punishing me rebuke is God protecting me the word rebuke and literal translation means to beat something back it means to push something away so that when God rebukes God says their same thing that's coming on me that I don't discern right now that will destroy me and we gotta push it back before it destroys me that when God sends a Nathan God is literally trying to save me from something that's going to destroy me let me give you example tomorrow I need you all to pray for me I've got dental surgery I've got to go under general anesthesia tomorrow and I I have some anxiety about it cuz I don't like dentists no let me leave and I say that cuz there's some dentists here I don't like what Dennis do I'm in and and I've got a severely impacted wisdom tooth not there here's the strange part I'm in no pain whatsoever I can keep on going I did not I'm not taking any pain medicine I can't feel the daggone thing I'm 47 if it ain't come out by now heck let's just leave it right there and the dinners took an x-ray and he said listen you may not feel it now but if we don't deal with this now it's gonna cause a severe problem and by the time you're 55 you're gonna have jaw damage and you won't be able to talk you mean are you gonna be able to talk this thing that's come I've been called to talk and so he says we gotta take it out now because if we don't deal with it now it's going to cause problem down the road and God loves me too much and it's invested too much and cares too much to not deal with something now that will cause me damage down the road that's why you need Nathan that rebuke is literally God's way of preventing your self-destruction when God's hand is in your life I feel like preaching when God's hand is on your life the greatest threat to God's work is never an enemy in your life the greatest threat to the work God is doing in your life your own sinfulness and so the Lord says in order to prevent you from self-destructing I'm gonna send uh Nathan into your life to rebuke that which ultimately will destroy what I'm trying to do in your life everybody needs a Nathan but at the same time everybody can't beyour Nathan touching my tummy is about to get good it's about to get good everybody needs to Nathan but everybody can't be your Nathan I want to say that because I don't want you leaving Church thinking God has ordained you to start Nathan in folk that you got the gift for calling folk out nor do I want you to be gullible and think that anybody who comes to you is a Nathan if you really hang out in the relationship between Nathan and David you'll find out that there are some dynamics that help us identify godly rebuke who can I teach right here you ain't never heard a sermon on this what are the dynamics that identify godly rebuke how do you determine if that's your Nathan well the three of them nama beeyotch away the morning I suggest you that godly rebuke is always preceded by relationship godly rebuke is preceded by relationship come back to the text if you will David is king and Judy will tell you that means two things number one everybody doesn't have access to David you can't just walk up in the king's palace you don't just get an audience with David only a select group of people have access to David and watch this and because he's King he doesn't listen to just anybody you cannot randomly walk in the David's throne room and tell him God told me to tell you you will be killed so God has to be selective of who God uses someone who has access and someone David will receive that God doesn't just use anybody because not just anybody can be your Nathan God uses Nathan because Nathan is in relationship with David already because if I don't know you I don't care what you think God told you to tell me if I don't trust you I don't care what you think God put on your heart if I don't know you like that and trust you and believe in you you can keep no God thought to yourself [Applause] God does not rebuke you through untrusted sources come here come here come here second Samuel 12 that ain't the first time we've met Nathan no we met Nathan in Chapter 7 we go back to chapter 17 you read and do your homework you're gonna find out here's what happened in Chapter 7 that shows you who a real Nathan is in Chapter 7 David has begun dreaming about his legacy and David wants to establish his legacy by building a palace for the king and a temple for God David says here's how Israel's going to remember me I'm gonna build something that generations after me will know I built and he shares his dream with his council in that council is a prophet by the name of Nathan and when Nathan hears David's dream of building a temple and the palace here's what Nathan says David go do the daggone thing Nathan then goes home and prays and God says to Nathan David can build a palace but he won't build a temple he's gonna have a son who's going to build a temple and his legacy will be through his son and not through him so Nathan goes back to David and tells him I was wrong I supported you but God said you're not gonna build the temple your son will now if you hang out right there I'm gonna share with you three things that help you identify Nathan real quick write these down I'm move fast here's how you know Nathan number one nathan has already proven he has an established relationship with God one of the reasons David trusts him is because he's found out this is a praying brother before you can be my Nathan I need to know that you are in relationship with my god I need to know that you have a prayer life I need to know that you worship God I need to know that you are serving I need to know that your heart is open to the Lord and I'm not saying you have to be perfect but you got to be in a relationship you got to be progressing in God yourself um Kevin you can't rebuke me over an issue you got to [Applause] you can't call out my sin if it's yo sin too because if God is talking to you about that sin he ain't revealing my sin to you he's revealing your sin to you and telling you you got to deal with your old stuff before you can call out mine can I give you a sign or the scripture jesus said how you gonna call out her mess when you got some old mess you got to deal with in your life Nathan has a relationship with God can't take number two nathan has shown his support for David that when David want to build the temple Nathan's first responses I got your back in order for you to be my Nathan I need to know I can trust you I need to know you want to see me win I need to know you're not jealous of me I need to know you're not envious of what God is doing in my life I need to know you got my back I need to know you stand with me I need to know I can trust you with what God is doing in my life if I can't trust you I can't hear you ask somebody can I trust you Nathan has a relationship Nathan is showing his support but why says this is the deepest one Nathan has proven his humility Nathan said yes heard from God and went back to David and this is what he said David I was wrong about what God was saying here's the problem with most people who think that they are Nathan's they are so convinced and convicted by what they think God said to them that they don't have enough humility to acknowledge when they're wrong then one of the things I need in my Nathan is humility I can't receive you unless you can also knowledge you may have gotten God wrong you're not so holla holy and so anointed and so discerning that you never mess up on hearing God in order to be my Nathan I need to see that there's some humility in your spirit and brothers and sisters I came by to tell you anybody who's convicted enough to confront you very rarely has enough humility to admit when they are dead wrong you preaching pastor thank you because godly rebuke is preceded by relationship can I give you number two and godly rebuke produces repentance here's how you know it's godly rebuke what's the goal what's the purpose what are you trying to achieve by rebuking me Nathan goes to David and watch this Judy his conversation with David is private because Nathan's goal is not to embarrass David it's not to expose David he doesn't even threaten David or Judge David because godly rebuke the goal of godly rebuke is never to embarrass me it's never to expose me godly rebuke can never sound like a threat gaali rebuke is never indebted with fear this someone's going to judge me godly rebuke happens in a private way that is meant to lead me to repentance of my own sin watch the swatches so here's what Nathan does about tootie's art to teach right here Nathan comes to David and he tells him a story tells him story about a rich man and a poor man rich man had a large flock of sheep poor man only had one rich man has a friend come in town he won't sacrifice any of his multitude he goes and takes the one sheep that the poor man has and David is furious it is a parable but it's a specific kind of parable in biblical scholarly language is called a juridical parable and I love teaching like someone say juridical parable juridical parable is a story that disguises a real-life situation in order to make the guilty party and it should say party pass judgment on themselves and become self convicted watch it the juridical parable is a real-life story this disguised as something else that is meant to make the guilty party come to a place of self conviction and repentance because what really changes my life is not your judgment and not the xposed what changes my life is self conviction real repentance is never born out of fear real repentance is born out of self conviction and the story that Nathan tells David leads David to a place of self conviction where he says in verse 13 I have sinned against God godly rebuke puts a mirror in front of your face and lets you see yourself David says I've sinned and let me tell you why this so important because this is the first time we see David as king acknowledging where God has spoken to him when he was sleeping with Bathsheba he didn't hear god when he said Uriah up didn't hear god when he sent your ride to be killed he didn't hear god and it's not because God wasn't speaking because God always speaks when God sees you planning sin when you are setting sin up God is always trying to send you a word to say don't do that I wouldn't go that way if I were you but David did not hear that but now that Nathan is coming to his life now David is more sensitive to the voice of God and discerning of the will of God because of Nathan not only rebukes my sin i Nathan makes me more sensitive to the voice of God that here's how you know you've had a good Nathan cuz after you've had them you don't need them that after a real Nathan has engaged me my spirit is now open to hear God speak to me so Nathan is no longer necessary and Nathan no longer shows up cuz now I can hear God for myself so after 12 Nathan disappears a real Nathan is never permanent pastor you teacher thank you godly rebuke is preceded by relationship godly rebuke produces repentance and watch this last one godly rebuke proclaims Redemption the danger with rebuke which is why everyone cannot be your Nathan is that rebuke can leave you crushed by guilt rebuke can leave you crippled worrying about the consequence rebuke can leave you devastated in your spirit rebuke can leave you worried about your future rebuke can make you carry around a guilt of knowing how much you have failed God and that's where David is when he realizes that what he's done God has seen and God has displeased with David begins to feel the weight of guilt that any of us should feel when we know that God is displeased with us and in the midst of seeing David worried and guilty and crushed this is what Nathan says God has taken away your sin you will not die beloved it's one thing for you to tell me where I'm guilty it's another thing for you to remind me that I can also be forgiven and how you know it Nathan Nathan just rebuked your sin and point out your faults and share your misgivings a real Nathan also remind you that God still loves you and that still an opportunity for you to turn your life around that godly rebuke doesn't just point out my sin it points out God's love it doesn't just expose my sin it exposes God's forgiveness it doesn't just call out my sin it calls out my Redemption anybody can tell me I'm messed up anybody can say I'm jacked up anybody can call me ratchet but a real Nathan says you can be redeemed a real Nathan reminds me that if I confess my sins God is faithful and God will forgive me of my unrighteousness a real Nathan will remind me there is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins and sinners who plunge beneath that flood lose all their guilt and stain a real Nathan says come to this fountain so rich and sweet cast our poor soul at the Savior's feet plunge in today and be made complete because God loves you and God has paid the price for your sin and you can be forgiven godly rebuke comes in relationship its goal is repentance but it always proclaims Redemption lord I thank you for the Barnabas in my life the Ruth in my life now God may I be open to a Nathan in my life may I be prepared for when you send me to my David to rebuke them in love and in gentleness everybody needs a Nathan and sometimes we're called to be that Nathan thank you God that Nathan makes me better and Jesus name we pray amen

Channel: Alfred Street Baptist Church

Views: 82,777

Rating: 4.7380729 out of 5

Keywords: Alfred Street Baptist Church, 2019, I'm Talking to You, David, murder, Rev. Dr. Howard-John Wesley, @pastorhjw, #asbc, #thestreet

Id: -RKt8ePcaNM

Length: 42min 58sec (2578 seconds)

Published: Wed Sep 18 2019