[ANNOUNCER] The following
program is brought to you
by the friends and
partners of Time of Grace.
[MUSIC]
[PASTOR JON ENTER]
Welcome to Time of Grace!
I'm Pastor Jon Enter.
Just up the road from
where I live in south
Florida was one of the
biggest cover up stories
of our recent history.
It actually happened in
2008 but it made national
news in 2011.
I'm talking about the
murder trial of Casey
Anthony who was accused
and on trial for possibly,
allegedly, murdering her
daughter, a two year old,
and then covering
everything up.
For over a month, no one
reported that this little
two year old girl was
missing or gone.
And once finally the
police officers became
involved, her mother said,
"She's been gone this
whole time with a nanny."
And they pressed on her,
"What's the name of the
nanny?"
She said, "Ah, Zanny;
Zanny the Nanny!"
A lot of people looked at
this and went, "Man, this
is a big cover up."
In Pastor Mark Jeske's
message today, he's going
to talk to you about a big
cover up, a huge cover up,
that made national news
3,000 years ago inside of
Jerusalem as King David
had an affair with a woman
and then covered
everything up.
I'm going to warn you:
You're going to find
yourself connected to one,
or several, of the
characters inside of this
story.
But know this: God's
forgiveness and God's
grace will also be there
for you to transform you.
[MUSIC]
[PASTOR MARK JESKE]
I'd like to invite
you to open up your Bible
to 2 Samuel 12 and while
you're doing that, let me
just catch you up to speed
with what's happening in 2
Samuel 11.
The Israelite army is at
war with the Ammonites but
they were not too worried;
David did not have to take
the field.
They let him back in
Jerusalem to govern the
state and his nephew,
Joab, was in charge of the
armies, which were
besieging Rabbah, which is
the capital city of the
Ammonites to the east;
several days march
straight east.
And David takes a stroll
on the roof of the palace
and happened to spot a
beautiful woman who was
taking a bath.
Was this a sponge bath and
she was just like sticking
her feet in a little bowl?
Or did she completely
disrobe and David got the
full view?
Who knows?
But the point is he became
inflamed with an obsession
about this woman and it
didn't make him feel more
tender and romantic
towards his seven wives.
No.
Like the sinner he was and
like the sinners that you
and I are, we despise what
we have and lust for what
we don't have.
You all know the phrase,
"The grass is always
greener [Audience and
Pastor: on the other side
of the fence]."
That guy's car always
looks better than mine.
That woman's husband
always looks better than
mine.
So one of the things that
happens when you have too
much power is that you get
used to getting whatever
you want.
When you're king, you have
the - you hold the power
of life and death over
people.
Nobody can say "no" to
you.
His nephew, Joab, did very
often but he was one of
the only ones who could
get away with it.
Joab's off at war and so
David sent one of his
messengers to invite
Bathsheba to come to the
palace for a night visit,
which invites the
question: Did she go
because she was terrified?
Was the messenger armed?
Was she coerced?
Was she terrified of being
imprisoned or beaten or
worse if she didn't obey?
Or - Scripture doesn't say
- or did she do what women
have done for centuries:
Find a way to monetize her
sex appeal?
And she might have gone,
"Hmm, ka-ching!
This could work well!
And wouldn't it be awesome
if I didn't have to work
anymore and didn't have to
grind away and struggle
for my survival?
If I was on the king's
payroll, I could live like
a princess and have people
working for me and I would
have servant girls."
Who knows?
Either way, she went.
And they had their night
activities and then she
tippy toed back home.
See they - those two
thought about that
experience the way in our
country we think about a
certain gambling paradise
in the desert.
What happens in Jerusalem
[Audience and Pastor:
Stays in Jerusalem].
Nobody will know!
Except she found out a
short time later that
there was a little muffin
in the oven and her
husband could not clearly
be responsible because he
was campaigning with the
army and was nowhere near
her.
And they had the same nine
month rules back then that
we do today.
So she sends a message to
David, "Oh King, we have a
problem.
We have a problem."
So David goes into crisis
management mode, arranges
to have her husband Uriah
put on immediate leave
from the army; he goes on
furlough.
David contrives some lame
excuse to talk to him and
says, "You know, go home
and hang out with your
family."
But he fooled David and he
didn't.
He said, "How can I enjoy
the comforts of my own
home, how can I have a
decent meal, when my
buddies are in combat?
They're eating combat
rations and they're
sleeping out in the open.
I cannot possibly do
this!"
He lay outside at the
gate; he did not even go
in his house and he slept
with his servants to at
least experience the same
hardships his military
buddies were experiencing
and then went back.
David thought, "Rats!"
He sends a message to his
nephew, Joab, who is the
commander and chief of the
army and he arranged to
set him up; to stage an
assault close to the walls
of Rabbah, which is a
dangerous place to be
because those people
standing on the walls can
throw things at you like
rocks and scalding oil and
their archers can have you
within range.
David said, "Do it on
purpose.
Push too close to the wall
and then suddenly retreat
but don't give Uriah the
memo about the retreat.
Hang him out there to
dry."
So David and Joab and a
couple other people knew
that essentially this was
military murder.
David thought, "I have to
do this."
And Uriah was not just
some grunt; he was one of
the heroes.
If you read the list of
David's heroes, these were
the people like who were
Navy Cross people and
Congressional Medal of
Honor people.
The list of the great
military heroes of Israel
are listed in 1 Chronicles
and Uriah the Hittite is
one of them.
However, the thing David
had done displeased the
Lord.
Chapter 12: The Lord sent
his prophet Nathan to
David.
Nathan told a story to
David; went around this
real indirectly.
Snuck up on David with a
story about a rich guy who
wanted to provide a meal
for a guest but instead of
slaughtering one of his
own animals, he steals the
ewe lamb belonging to a
very poor man whose little
lamb was not just part of
his livestock; it was his
pet, it was like a child
to him.
And the rich guy stole the
poor guy's lamb and killed
it and ate it.
And Nathan says to David:
"What should we do with
this guy?"
David's burning with
anger.
"The man who did this
deserves to die."
Nathan said to David, "You
are that man.
You stole the wife of a
man who had only one.
This is what the Lord the
God of Israel says: 'I
anointed you king over
Israel.
You didn't get this
kingship.
I gave it to you,'" is the
point.
"I did it.
I delivered you from the
hand of Saul.
He could have killed you.
I kept you alive.
I gave your master's house
to you and your master's
wives into your arms,"
which incidentally,
there's no record of
Saul's wife, Ahinoam, ever
becoming part of David's
family or household.
"I gave you the house of
Israel and Judah," which
is an amazing thing but
those two halves always
wanted to crack apart,
"and if all this had been
too little, I would have
given you even more!"
Now here's the thing: "Why
did you despise the word
of the Lord by doing
what's evil in his eyes?"
So that's major sin number
one.
You not only sinned
against Bathsheba by
messing with her life, you
really sinned against
Uriah, but you have most
grievously have sinned
against me.
You despised my word.
You knew better and you
did it anyway.
"You struck down Uriah the
Hittite with the sword."
Don't blame it on the
Ammonites.
You did it.
You stole his wife.
"You killed him with the
sword of the Ammonites.
Now, therefore, the sword
will never depart from
your house because you
despised me."
That's indictment number
two: "You despised me and
you took the wife of
Uriah."
"This is what the Lord
says: 'Out of your own
household,'" here's
consequence number two,
"Out of your own household
I'm going to bring
calamity on you.
Before your very eyes, I
will take your wives and
give them to one who is
close to you and he will
sleep with them in broad
daylight.
You did it in secret but
I'll do this thing in
broad daylight.'" And
David was listening.
This is a happy moment
because we're seeing a
transformation.
Instead of going on a rant
of blaming, instead of
minimizing his evil deeds,
instead of rationalizing
them, instead of trying to
lie about them - which are
all things you and I do -
he admitted it.
He accepted his
accountability to God,
admitted the truth of what
God through Nathan was
saying, and accepted
responsibility.
Man, that's hard!
That is harder than it
looks.
Don't blow this up.
Pay attention right now.
That is hard to say,
"You're right.
It's my fault."
Those words can hardly get
past our teeth.
You try that sometime!
Try that to somebody
you're closest to in life
- a parent or your kid or
your spouse or whoever;
your mom - try saying,
"You're right.
It's my fault."
You can barely say it
because you don't want to
say it because you're so
used to saying squiggling
and wiggling around and
evading what's going on.
"You're right.
It's my fault.
I have sinned against the
Lord," not to mention all
the other people
involved."
David was transformed and
learned repentance all
over again this day.
And that's the key to
emerging out of this
terrible hole he's in.
Nathan said, "The Lord has
taken away your sin."
This is pure gospel.
The gospel is always in
the past tense.
When we confess our sins
in a worship service to
get ready for going to
communion, you hear the
"Blessed is the Lord who
has had mercy on you."
Not, "will if you."
There's no condition based
on how God's watching to
see if you're going to
earn or deserve it.
There are no list of
demands.
You don't have to get your
to do list and then God
will change.
You get to hear the gospel
in the past tense.
God has had mercy on you.
Has sent his son, Jesus,
to suffer and die and to
rise again.
Has already bought you
forgiveness and David got
to hear that.
Interestingly enough, even
though he lived a thousand
years before the
crucifixion of Christ,
because it is the blood of
the Son of God and because
the power of God to
connect people to Christ
not only can take you and
me backwards 2,000 years,
it can also take people
forward in time 2,000
years.
And David was covered and
washed in the blood of
Jesus - same as you and I
- retroactively applied to
him.
"You're not going to die."
And David probably heaved
a great sigh of relief.
If the full fury of God
would have landed on him,
he would have not only
died physically but been
sent to hell, as well.
But Nathan then announces
a third indictment: "You
have made the enemies of
the Lord show utter
contempt."
In other words, you have
disdained and despised my
word.
You've despised me and
you've humiliated because
this will get known.
And you're going to make
me look bad.
And heathen gods and
goddesses and the idols of
nations around you will
smirk and gloat at what
will be happening to you
and my name will diminish.
When you and I say the
Lord's Prayer - no matter
how often you've said it
in your life; in the
hundreds or the thousands
or the ten thousands of
times - when you say the
petition, "Lord, our
Father in heaven, hallowed
be your name," you are
actually asking for God's
help that your words and
actions will make God look
good in your life today.
You're going to honor him
and make God look
desirable that people will
want to be connected to
him.
God had issues with David
because David's words and
actions had made God look
stupid; had made him look
bad.
Had dishonored him and had
not hallowed his name.
And here's the third and
perhaps the most painful
of all the consequences:
That baby that was born,
that little son you have,
is going to die.
And sure enough, that did
happen.
The child died as an
infant.
So what?
It's important that you
and I not gawk at this
story.
I know it's really
sensational.
This is like a tabloid
story.
You ever - you have any
guilty pleasures in
reading the tabloids?
Do you read US or People,
or worse, do you read - do
you watch like the TV
tabloid shows about what
all escapades all the
stars are up to?
Do you read the stories in
the papers or do you watch
stuff on TV about - or do
you dig, do you chain link
around the internet
reading stories and
gawking at what really
bad, rich, terrible people
do in all of their
escapades?
Do you - are you like a
little voyeur?
You kind of look at other
people's messes?
Do you kind of clap and
cheer when the high and
mighty are brought down?
A lot of people do.
I wouldn't be surprised if
some of you honestly said,
"Well, you know, I kind of
do have a weakness for
celebrity gossip."
Don't be - don't just gawk
at this story because
you're in it; this is our
life.
You think you don't look
and covet?
Do you think the people
within the sound of my
voice - whether on
television or here live
with me today - don't
lust?
Do you think everybody in
this room or think
everybody within our
virtual world is in
control of his or her
sexuality?
I don't think so.
This is us!
Do you think we have all
had the sense to stop it
right here?
To catch those evil
desires right in the
moment?
Or have we kind of enjoyed
the sweet taste of letting
it run for a while and
acting impulsively?
This is our life in that
God shows how he processes
what we do.
Sin has consequences.
You might think that, you
know, you come to faith
when you're in prison:
"Oh, I'm forgiven!
Hallelujah!
Now, when am I going to be
released?
Like this afternoon?"
Well, no.
You have to serve out your
sentence.
You come to faith after
years of abusive heavy
drinking.
You think, "Hallelujah!
I'm going to heaven!
When are you going to
rebuild my liver, Lord?"
Well, you've pretty much
destroyed your liver.
There are consequences to
what you have done.
If you've done a pretty
good job at destroying
your marriage, the mean
hard words you've said to
your spouse don't just
come back down your throat
like, "Oh, never
happened."
That damage has been done!
You've hurt people.
Sin has consequences.
David heard three grave
announcements of the dogs
of hell that he had set
loose that were going to
hit him and his family.
Violence is going to be
part of your family's
story.
Oh, did that come true
with an ugly vengeance!
If you read the succeeding
stories in 2 Samuel, his
oldest son, Amnon, rapes
his sister.
Absalom, in revenge, kills
Amnon.
Absalom then despises his
father and leads a
rebellion.
How true the sword was not
going to leave David's
family.
He said, "The son that you
were trying to hide and
pretend was somebody
else's, that son is not
going to live and it's
your fault."
And sad to say, people do
get caught up in the
disasters that other
people cause.
You don't just suffer
consequences from your own
sin.
All of us, in one way or
another, are the victims
of the neglect and abuse
and cruelty of other
people in word and deed.
And that little baby was a
casualty of David's
rebellion against God.
I feel terrible for that.
All I know is that God,
who's totally just, I
fully expect to see that
little child in heaven
who's going to find out
that he was in the middle
of a gigantic storm.
So just because the baby
died doesn't mean that
he's cheated out of a
chance of everlasting
life.
And then David was told
that - let's see - "You're
going to - your harem,
which you're so proud of -
is going to be used by
another man publicly to
shame you," and sad to
say, that happened, too.
His own son slept with his
- with the women that were
associated with David;
publicly to make sure
everybody knew as a
humiliation and insult to
David.
So David's reputation and
pride were just going to
be smashed down into the
dust.
But the Lord has taken
away your sin.
The gospel triumphed over
all of these bitter things
and David believed it and
the forgiveness came to
him.
The guilt was washed away.
The eternal consequences
were washed away.
He was forgiven and given
his ticket back again for
heaven.
And the Lord not just
forgave him but restored
him, as well.
Bathsheba now did come to
live in the palace.
And God didn't punish her
everlastingly for her part
in this sordid business.
She became pregnant again
and gave David another son
and his name was Solomon.
And God put his favor on
Solomon.
As angry as he was with
David, so great was his
favor with little Solomon.
The peace man, Shalom in
Hebrew, you know means
peace.
So Shelomoh, his name in
Hebrew, means "the peace
man."
He was the one chosen, of
all of David's male heirs,
Solomon was the one chosen
to succeed David.
Yes, the son of that woman
that he had had that
horrible affair with that
led to the murder of
Uriah, something good came
out of something so bad.
And God gave Bathsheba
favor and let her live
long enough to see her own
son crowned as king.
So here's - this is part
of our life, as well, for
these are the things you
and I - where we see
ourselves in this story -
we are all accountable to
God.
And don't think you're
keeping any secrets from
God.
Don't think - don't gloat
like David: "Ha ha, ha ha.
I think I pulled it off!
Nobody knows."
Don't ever say that.
Your God in heaven eyes
are everywhere and they're
on you, as well.
You can't fool God.
Second, realize that
breaking God's laws only
despises him and his word
and brings nasty things
and Satan will first tempt
you and then he will laugh
at you.
God's word is healthy and
good for us and his
instructions and
commandments are there not
to make you feel like a
little child but for your
good.
They're fences and curbs
to make your life better.
And you may well be
experiencing consequences
of dumb things and bad
decisions you've made
earlier.
Don't get all in despair
over that for the gospel
is in the past tense and
has spoken God's mercy
upon you.
And you, through your
repentance, as you accept
responsibility for what's
been wrong in your life
without blaming anybody
else or minimizing what
you did, accept it and out
yourself before God and
make it clear, make it
plain.
Dump the bag.
Let him speak his words of
acceptance and kindness
and forgiveness over you
and then let him do for
you what he did for David
and that is to restore
him; to put him back on
his feet instead of
smacking him around and
treating him like garbage
for the rest of his life.
Actually said: "David, I
still need you to be king.
Now learn something from
this.
Be more compassionate.
Be wiser.
Learn about your appetites
and keep your eyes where
they belong.
Let this be a growing
experience for you and a
learning experience for
you," and David did.
He became a great king and
Israel was truly blessed.
Not by having a king who
was perfect but by having
one who was grievously
evil and broken in part of
his life but through
repentance, the Lord
enabled him to stand back
up on his feet and still
continue to be not only a
believer but also to be
useful to God.
So you and I are in that
same place.
And let me encourage you
today to repent of your
sins.
To realize your
accountability to a God
who sees and remembers and
cares.
To welcome the forgiveness
that is given to you as a
gift for it was bought not
with your blood but with
Christ's.
To accept humbly the fact
that you may have to live
with some consequences of
earlier mistakes and do it
cheerfully.
Don't view that as God's
punishments; just part of
life in a broken world.
And patiently endure the
consequences, hoping it
didn't hurt too many other
people.
Seeking to restore things
that you may have broken
but lifting your eyes up
to your heavenly home and
realizing that as long as
you're still alive and on
this earth, God still has
a use for you.
And as he restored David,
let him restore you to a
life, as well, of service
to him.
Hope this makes sense to
you.
It's guidance and
inspiration to me, as
well.
Amen.
[MUSIC]
[PASTOR JON ENTER]
When I was about eight
years old, I made myself a
delicious glass of
chocolate milk.
Now that's not a big deal
except I was on
punishment; all of us kids
were on punishment.
No one could have
chocolate milk.
I made a triple chocolate
glass of milk, enjoyed it,
got spooked because I
heard a noise, and I
didn't rinse out the
evidence.
I didn't cover it up.
My parents were furious,
lined up myself with my
three other siblings in
the kitchen, interrogating
each one of us and said,
"If no one fesses up to
this, you're all getting
punished."
And I went, "That's
fantastic!
I'll take 25 percent of a
punishment."
I didn't say anything; I
covered it up.
In Pastor Mark Jeske's
message, he just led you
through how David was
transformed; how he
learned repentance.
Each and every one of us,
we need to learn that
repentance; to stop the
cover up and instead go to
confession.
To go to our gracious God,
our loving God, and know
that he forgives us and
heals us.
I'll be back to pray with
you in just a moment.
[PROMOTION] God has placed
some incredible
opportunities before us to
reach even more people
with timeless truths that
are found in his word,
especially through our
video ministry.
That's why we've set a
$105,000 goal this month,
which will enable Time of
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YouTube, and Your Time of
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Our prayer is that you
would help us reach this
vital goal by August 31st
so that more people can
start living in the
freedom of God's
incredible grace.
And when you give, we'll
say thanks by sending you
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one of our Your Time of
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What Has Your Heart?
So be sure to request
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Call 800-661-3311, text
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[PASTOR JON ENTER] Thank
you for all that you do to
support us here at Time of
Grace to continue this
ministry of sharing God's
message of love with the
world and let us pray.
Lord God, Thank you for
your mercy.
Thank you for your
forgiveness.
We need it.
We need it because we so
often cover up when we do
wrong.
We point the finger at
others, we blame others,
we lie, we manipulate.
Help us to go away from
our default setting to
cover up and instead to go
the way you want to us to
go, to confess to you.
And help us to realize,
God, that your mercy and
grace is so powerful that
when we open our hearts to
you, you will fully and
freely forgive us.
Help us to have confidence
in your mercy and in your
love; to be transformed
from cover up to
confession.
In Jesus' name I pray,
Amen.
For Time of Grace, I'm
Pastor Jon Enter.
It all starts now!
[MUSIC]
[ANNOUNCER] The
preceding program was
brought to you by the
friends and partners of
Time of Grace.
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