"Right to Life Sunday"
STUDY OUTLINE
1. What are some of the best questions you’ve heard about the Bible/Christianity? How about attacks or objections? What are some of your own nagging questions? Whom can you ask?
2. Give examples of the following steps of the main points of this message, in your life and the lives of others (2 Sam 14:14).
a. God will make a way back to relationship to Him
b. That way is costly
--for Him
--for us
c. We must take that way, which includes turning from the (wrong) way we are going.
3. So how would you defend Christians and Christianity from the “Goats, guts and gore” charges of critics? What are some key Scriptures and reasons they give?
I. I love to collect good questions people have about spiritual things. They don’t always come in “feel good” forms from critics of the Bible or Christianity.
A. One such question is “Why all the guts, goats and gore of the OT,” specifically the second half of Exodus & Leviticus that you read last week. I can remember my dear wife reading her daily reading some time ago in this section. She doesn’t like to read in the evening for reasons that have to do w/ sure cures for insomnia. She, with drowsy eyes looked at me and said: “That’s enough goats, guts and gore for one night; now I’m going to try to sleep.” I can always count on my sweetie for that “man on the street” perspective of all things biblical.
B. There’s another related question (Joshua & Deuteronomy). I’ll read a few of the verses that’ll tip you off to what it is (Josh 10:40-42). 11 more times in this ONE chapter it says either “Joshua totally destroyed them” or “left no survivors.” This isn’t the only place God commands this or Joshua does this, including men, women, children & animals. How many use these vs. in evangelism?
C. Some have compared this to the most radical Islamic terrorist actions. What is our response/defense?
D. I’m asking two questions that critics of the Bible and Christianity often ask, that may have the same answer.
E. I want to answer it from an obscure story tucked into the life of David that is one of those diamonds we should underline in red when we find them. I pray you don’t miss them with rapid reading. This gem is found in (2 Sam 14).
II. Here’s the background.
A. David’s eldest son, Amnon, was a jerk. He conspired with another jerk to lure his half sister, Tamar, into his bedroom for taking advantage. Lustful, Lurid, such a loser, and wrong by even their cultural standards (2 Sam 13).
B. Tamar’s full brother, Absalom, also David’s son, finds out about this outrageous sin, and secretly plots to murder his brother. He waits two years for the right opportunity, but then pulls it off.
C. While David had mysteriously and wrongly ignored Amnon’s sin against his half-sister, he could not ignore this murder of brother on brother, both his sons. Imagine his pain.
D. Absalom knows this and flees for his life into exile. Three years pass. David is not only mourning for his dead son, but the estrangement and loss of relationship of his other son in exile (13:39; 14:1). Do you think he’s mourning his dysfunctional family, and how much of that falls on his shoulders, his sin (13:37)?
E. Joab, David’s leading general, head of the army, knows all this and devises a plot to get Absalom back. He went to a wise woman and put this story in her mouth to bring back to David. She said she had two sons, one who killed the other. In that day the rest of the family was mandated to administer justice to the guilty party. But if they did that she would have no one to provide for her and carry on the family name. She appealed to David for a pardon. He granted it and guaranteed it with his kingly authority.
F. She then turned to him and asked: “So if you did this for someone you didn’t even know, why would you not do the same for your own son?” The second time in a few chapters David is skewered with his own words (12:6; 14:13-14).
III. Here we see the heart of God and the GOSPEL. Read it again slowly with me. God does not desire any to perish. This is the consistent message of the OT and NT (Ps 103: Is 45:2; Ezek 18:32; 33:11; Jn 3:16; I Tim 2:3-4; Tit 2:11; 2 Pet 3:9); which raise questions of election doctrines.
A. Watch for these big glimpses into God’s heart of love. God always makes a way for sinful man to come back to Him. That’s His heart/desire. That’s His love.
B. But it is so costly; for Him and us
C. So how does this one verse answer both big questions & criticisms?
1. First: God will make a way when it seems there is no way because of our sin.
2. But that way is very costly; for us and for Him.
3. Think of how costly that way was for David. He had to forgive Absalom for killing his son. He had to deal w/ his pain and grief, his responsibility in it head on. It has to cross his mind how much of this was caused by his sin.
4. Think of how much sin cost man in the OT w/ all the guts, goats and gore of the sacrificial system. The animal sacrifices were often the only means of income for a family. They were often treasured and beloved pets…that they had to watch slaughtered right before their eyes…all because of their sin (Rom 6:23; Heb 9:22)
5. But… (Heb 10:3; 9:14).
6. How do you think God felt seeing animals He loved die just because of man’s sin, when they really didn’t take care of the sin or man’s guilty conscience?
7. Add to that how He felt losing His only Son just because of our sin.
IV. God has made a way through His Son. That way is VERY costly-to Him and us. And that way demands a response from us. We must turn/repent and receive the gift. We must turn away from our sin. The way is costly. It requires this response from us.
V. Now go back to the commands to destroy everything and everyone.
A. Consistently through the Bible you’ll see repeated, a benefit of rapid reading, God warns people what their response needs to be BEFORE He punishes sin. He tells them the way to get back to Him. It’s costly, but there’s a way. Please take it. YOU must act.
B. Going way back to Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, God told them exactly what they needed to do to stay in fellowship with Him. When they broke relationship He told them what they needed to do to get back.
C. The same is true in the story of Noah. It took Noah 100 years to built this big boat in on dry land as a giant object lesson to say “You better turn from your sin or you will be judged.” I’d say 100 years is a fair warning. They ignored it.
(2 Pet 2:5) calls Noah a “preacher of righteousness.” So for 100 years you have this giant object lesson of judgment for sin, AND the costly way out God was providing. PLUS you have Noah pointing the way through preaching (Amen for preaching?!).
D. God warned Sodom & Gomorrah before He judged them-Lot.
E. God warned Nineveh, the incarnation of evil in their time, ripping open pregnant women, crushing the skulls of their enemies, orgy-like religious ceremonies. Yet when Jonah preached to them and they repented/turned away from sin, and God spared them.
F. The worst king in the history of Israel was warned and he repented for a time; and God didn’t do to him what he deserved (Ahab, I Kgs 21:20-29).
G. UNLIKE the people of the Promised Land that God told Joshua to totally destroy because they did NOT respond to the warnings. Not only that they actually tried to drag God’s people into their awful wickedness (Dt 9:4; 18:9-12).
VI. There’s a big uproar in the news right now about former Fox news anchor Brit Hume, suggesting Tiger Woods turn to Christ to be forgiven for his significant sins. He suggested this because Hume found this true, He found Christ true, after his 28 year old son committed suicide and his world was turned upside down with guilt & regret.
A. Christianity, unlike Buddhism, which Tiger apparently professes, offers personal assurance of forgiveness and restoration, a way back to God, that Buddhism (or none other) offers. One reason is Buddhism has no concept of sin
B. You’d have thought Hume said to strip him of all his medals and money from the outrage coming from the secular media.
C. Why does the world seemingly hate to hear the Good News Hume is proclaiming? That this message proclaims. We live in a world that does not want personal responsibility, requirements or repentance. Christianity has all three…but…
D. …ALSO GLORIOUS GOOD NEWS [REPEAT BIG IDEA]. What is your response right now? |
