Riding Out the Storm, Part 1

Today from Chuck Swindoll.

You sold to the flash venue confessed to the Lord God, you let your light before him in grace gives you but in the forgiveness there is not the immediate erasing of the consequence the pain of the harvest eclipses the pleasure of the sewing the pain that comes in the whirlwind is so much greater than the pleasure time of you will wish to goodness you never got curious season in the aftermath of David's rebellion. When we witness the consequences of his sin. Yes, David would eventually find forgiveness for his immoral relationship with Bathsheba, but the ramifications of his poor choices would haunt him for the rest of his life today on Insight for living. Chuck Swindoll delivers this sobering reminder is application is founded on the real-life story recorded in second Samuel chapter 12 Chuck titled today's message riding out the storm in the world you do when you have really blown.

I mean in a horrific way. Well, that's where we find David today. He is taken another man's wife.

He has had her husband killed, he's deceived many people and Nathan the prophet has now confronted him and told him that since you treated God with such contempt and took Uriah the Hittite's wife is your wife killing and murder will continually plague your family. Listen to those words killing and murder will continually plague your family and that would be true for the rest of David's life. David is going to have to write out one storm after another for as long as… Now the question is how do you ride out the storm well. David gives us our first lesson in the Scriptures I want to read to you from the message today is found in second Samuel chapter 12 verses 15 to 25. Listen carefully after Nathan went home got afflicted the child that Uriah's wife board to David and he came down sick. David prayed desperately to God for the little boy he fasted wouldn't go out and slept on the floor.

The elders and his family came in and tried to get him off the floor but he wouldn't budge, nor could they get them to eat anything on the seventh day the child died. David's servants were afraid to tell him they said what do we do now while the child was living.

He would listen to a word we said now with the child dead. If we speak to him. There's no telling what he will do. David noticed that the servants were whispering behind his back and realized that the boy must've died. He asked the servants is the board did.

Yes, they answered he's did David got up from the floor, washed his face and combed his hair, a fresh change of clothes, then went into the sanctuary and worship. Then he came home and asked her something to eat. They said it before him, and he ate his servants asked him what's going on with you while the child was alive. You fasted and wept and stayed up all night.

Now that he's dead you get up and eat while the child was alive. He said I fasted and wept thinking God might have mercy on me and the child would live.

But now that he's dead quiet fast. Can I bring him back now I can go to him, but he can't come to me. David went and comforted his wife, Bathsheba, and when he slept with her. They conceived a son when he was born.

They named him Solomon, God has special love for him and sent word by Nathan the prophet that God wanted him named Jedediah God's beloved, and now the message from Chuck titled riding out the storm.

Some of the most difficult experiences for the child of God, to endure, and in the backwash of sin. This is a subject that we do not like to think about it is sort of what sort of an unmentionable in the family of God, but it might surprise you to know how much God's word addresses it is a matter of fact, back in the Old Testament tucked away in one of the one of the ancient prophets writings. The prophet Hosea, there is a very clear verse in the eighth chapter that addresses it and he speaks of it in terms that all of us can understand.

Hosea chapter 8 verse seven is the verse in question are under study this evening the whole principal related to this, they saw the wind, and they reap the whirlwind.

I want you to think about that for a moment very vivid picture they sell the land and they reap the whirlwind.

Hosea is talking about a nation in the eighth chapter of the nation Israel, the ones that cry out to God as if they knew him.

Verse three verse two and three. The than the nation that set up kings but not by me. Verse four the nation that appointed princes but God didn't know the princes, the nation that walked in their own way, and as a result, they they reaped the whirlwind in our study in the life of David. We have come to this impasse and I won't linger here anymore but I do want to spend another time on it so that all of us will learn an unforgettable lesson that we are to take God seriously that he means what he says about holiness that we as Peter rights are to be holy even as our father in heaven is holy and when we willfully when we choose willfully to disobey our holy God. He does not wink at that sin and cover it over lightly calling it grace. Grace tells us that he will not kill us.

Grace is also our help. During the time of of the whirlwind to hold us together to keep us strong to stabilize its but we may be sure that when we drop the seeds of the wind in the ground. We will reap a harvest of whirlwind. Let me give you another side on this that you might not have thought about.

There are two kinds of suffering in the midst of the whirlwind. The kind of suffering that we deserve because we were the ones that disobeyed and second the kind of suffering we don't deserve what we get in the backwash of someone else's transgression, and I don't miss that a child who was raised by a thoughtless carnal parent suffers the consequences of that whirlwind. As the child reaches puberty and on up into young adulthood child was available. The child was ready for learning for training or instruction, but the parent in rebellion and disobedience chose not to raise that child.

God's way and all of a sudden the child reaps the whirlwind and our our society is a vivid illustration of what that is like not only is this found in Hosea chapter 8, but it's also addressed very clearly in Galatians chapter 6. We were there last time in our study, but I want to return to it, just for a moment. Galatians 6 verses seven and eight.

The reason I turned to this because I know there are some who hear this teaching and say let's just Old Testament truth. That's for people under the law. I want you to see in the passage addressed to the people in the church people in the grace era. Paul says the very same thing not in the same words but the same principle.

Galatians 67 do not be deceived, God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows this. He will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh show from the flesh reap corruption.

Hosea said they sold when they reap the whirlwind.

Paul writes they sold to the flesh, they reap the harvest of corruption the same truth is found in Proverbs chapter 6 go back there for a moment. Proverbs 6 verse 27 this is an extremely direct section of Scripture Proverbs 6 pictures the scene of the man in the street who is met by the harlot and she she makes her move toward him and she entices him through fleshly temptations, and the man is drawn onto her, or at least he would be in Solomon's counsel is be careful because in the pleasure of the moment. There is a painful price you have to pay in the lesson comes in verse 27 of Proverbs 6 can a man take fire in his bosom and his close not be burned, the implied answer of course is no command walk on hot coals at his feet not be scorched implied. No so so was the one who goes into his neighbor's wife, who ever touches her will not go unpunished. If he sows the seed of carnality and lust. He will reap a harvest of whirlwind which is called in verse 29 not going unpunished to pause and make it even more relevant. Many of you are working in places where adultery is smile that it is in fact encouraged to go to school where that is where that's going on. Fornication is looked upon in our generation is doing your own thing. It's sort of the expected thing among not just the young adult, but middle and old as well and it seems as though the child of God watches this happily wonders well maybe it isn't as bad as it's made out to be. After all, so many are doing it. In fact it's it's encouraged. Rare is the person who doesn't break the bond of his marital relationship. Proverbs stands as a timeless truth for all to read. If you go in to one who is not your mate. You will not go unpunished. Now the best illustration in all Scripture is David before we turn to it but to give you the principal again want stated in words and that I wanted demonstrated in the life of David. We reap what we sow forgiveness notwithstanding, when you sow to the flesh, and you confess that to the Lord God, you let your life before him, he in grace forgives you and he assures you was of of of his forgiveness. But in the forgiveness there is not the immediate erasing of the consequences in God's own way and for God's own purpose.

He will take you through a period of time where there would be the whirlwind, sometime more painful than others see the other side of the principal is this the pain of the harvest eclipses the pleasure of this of the sewing or the planting, the, the pain that comes in the whirlwind is so much greater than the pleasure time of planting, you will wish to goodness you had never done.

I think the most tragic source of sense of all of this is when you are an innocent bystander, as it were, and you get the backwash of it reminds me of when I was in Miami some time ago we went out to fish a little and it was as it was a sort of a stormy mid afternoon time. As a matter fact I didn't know it but where we were fishing was the was the Bermuda triangle man, I would have been one nervous baby about a known it was a Bermuda triangle.

And here we are out in the middle.

This vast sectional water and we get the nose of our the bow the boats going down and coming up in the rains coming down in overfishing for all or all it's worth.

We hang this shark huge shark. The skipper way up on top is as he looks that 10 foot start I thought.

Good Lord, what we do now says we took one last week and we've got it up to the boat weighed about 400 and something pounds and also thought Lord, make the line break now right now to bring this thing in and sure enough he broke the line will we were coming in and it was great. Believe me, we came in. It was a we're a little late so we really tooling along, and came in the harbor faster than we should have and the backwash of our boat, you know what all the other boats in paying them around there near the Ha'aretz that's bad to do that in a hurry coming in you to start a tool along the boat sitting near the harbor ghetto banging around and that's exactly what happens in this, scene an individual runs his own way steers his own ship and the backwash is other people along the side pay accounts and pay the consequence along with you. I got on the airplane in Wichita to come back home sometime ago and the woman caught my arm as I was walking by and she said I heard you in one of the meetings and I met her husband and she and then I went on and she later on came back on the plane gave me a little note written little yellow piece of paper and she said she told her story how hurt one of her children now grown his walk has walked away from God and the misery and the havoc it's wrecking on the home is unbelievable and she said would somebody please address this is I've never heard a message were somebody talks about how to ride out the storm when you're not responsible.

She said we raised our son as best we could with what we had and now he's turned his heels on us and he's kicked over all the traces and he's going his own way and it is misery city ride out the storm when you're boats tied in harbor and someone else moves along banging against how you handle that what somebody else that caused it or when you have caused it in your reaping the whirlwind. What you do.

How do you handle it.

Second Samuel chapter 12 David answers it for us. Vicariously we enter into his experience. It was FB Meyer who wrote the greater the man the deer. The price he pays for a short season. The simple pleasure and it's certainly true of David, the king, a great man who compromised in the result tragic. Not only was David affected, but innocent people who stood by became affected. Let me show you how he acknowledge the sewing and versus 13 and 14.

David said to Nathan second Samuel 1213. I have sinned against the Lord, I have sinned, he acknowledges the sewing. I went into Bathsheba I committed adultery I took the life of his of her husband Uriah. I've been guilty of hypocrisy, I have sinned, and he declared it before God and Nathan hurting he acknowledge the sewing. Nathan said to David, the Lord has taken away your sin, you shall not die, there is the promise of grace. Why does he mention that because under the law. When you committed adultery.

You were to be stoned when you murdered someone you were to be killed, and I've heard tooth for a to a life for life and grace came to David's rescue and Nathan said David you won't die. Verse 14 begins. However, there's a whirlwind because by this deed you have given occasion to the enemies of the Lord, to blaspheme the child.

Also that is born to you shall surely die. That's an awful thing to hear God in those days spoke audibly to his people. Now that we have the Bible complete in our own tongue for us to read and to find our guidelines, God no longer speaks audibly in dreams or visions. He speaks from his word, but in those days it was not so. And Nathan the prophet who spoke as an oracle of God said to David, you are forgiven you will not die. However, your baby will and it's the first in a series of things that will happen. David will remind you that a man who sows in the fellatio from the flesh reap the whirlwind of corruption I find in David's response for helpful guidelines for us to follow today when we go through the whirlwind, either because we have caused it or we are in the backwash of someone else who caused it, and I never know who's in the audience. I never know who hears these teachings from time to time and were in God's word. But always know not one message is said in vain, for all I know someone hearing my words at this very moment is in the midst of the whirlwind and you wonder how can I make it. What should I do, what is the best response will I offer you for guidelines number one. Pray verse 15 Nathan went to his house.

Then the Lord struck the child that Uriah's widow board to David so that he was very sick.

David therefore inquired of God, or the child, and David fasted and went and lay all night on the ground that we don't know much about that kind of protracted occasion of prayer and fasting. We don't handle the sin as they once did.

It's almost with a sort of a glib responses we say well or not done this not done that and I agree with you that the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses me from all sin. That said, thank you barrette on bona fide David doing when the whirlwind against the start when he feels the dental hot breath of judgment coming upon them. He fell before God and he he lay on the ground all night and he fasted and he waited on the Lord, he saw his mind as a matter fact is the Scripture says he inquired for the child. Does that mean drop down to verse 22. He explains himself to his to the friends later will take a look at it right now. He said while the child was still alive, I fasted and wept for. I said, who knows who knows the Lord may be gracious to me that the child may live.

What is it mean when he inquired of God.

It means that he said Lord I call upon you and upon your grace, I ask you if it be possible for you to alter your plan. I plead with you, give me my child, I beg of you I ask that of you because that is the desire of my heart. I've heard what you have said I will accept what you send. But I asked. I inquire of you. Would it be possible that you could give me this child free.

This is a pivotal moment. He's been confronted by Nathan for his egregious sin is family is an absolute chaos. And now he's dealing with the painful consequences appropriately.

Chuck Swindoll titled this message riding out the storm to learn more about Insight for living. We invite you to visit us online@insideworld.org.

We realize that today's message may touch a raw nerve. For many families, the story that's unfolded for your life.

Doesn't look anything like the one you'd written for yourself. Rest assured, God knows about the storms you're going through and he's prepared to guide you through the unwanted weather is reinforcement.

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