WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.160 Great, let me read 2 Samuel 21 for us. 00:00:06.259 --> 00:00:07.900 During the reign of David, 00:00:08.220 --> 00:00:11.259 there was a famine for three successive years. 00:00:11.720 --> 00:00:14.359 So David sought the face of the Lord. 00:00:15.240 --> 00:00:17.539 The Lord said, it is on account of Saul 00:00:17.539 --> 00:00:19.280 and his blood-stained house. 00:00:19.539 --> 00:00:22.519 It's because he put the Gibeonites to death. 00:00:23.260 --> 00:00:26.199 The king summoned the Gibeonites and spoke to them. 00:00:26.600 --> 00:00:28.679 Now, the Gibeonites were not part of Israel, 00:00:28.679 --> 00:00:30.600 but were survivors of the Amorites. 00:00:31.280 --> 00:00:33.320 The Israelites had sworn to spare them, 00:00:33.880 --> 00:00:36.259 but Saul, in his zeal for Israel and Judah, 00:00:36.600 --> 00:00:38.159 had tried to annihilate them. 00:00:39.039 --> 00:00:41.880 David asked the Gibeonites, what shall I do for you? 00:00:42.259 --> 00:00:43.600 How shall I make atonement 00:00:43.600 --> 00:00:46.039 so that you will bless the Lord's inheritance? 00:00:47.200 --> 00:00:48.840 The Gibeonites answered him, 00:00:48.939 --> 00:00:51.539 we have no right to demand silver or gold 00:00:51.539 --> 00:00:52.859 from Saul or his family, 00:00:53.280 --> 00:00:56.000 nor do we have the right to put anyone in Israel to death. 00:00:56.379 --> 00:00:58.620 What do you want me to do for you? 00:00:59.280 --> 00:01:00.100 David asked. 00:01:01.179 --> 00:01:02.159 They answered the king, 00:01:02.399 --> 00:01:05.420 as for the man who destroyed us and plotted against us 00:01:05.420 --> 00:01:06.939 so that we have been decimated 00:01:06.939 --> 00:01:09.439 and have no place anywhere in Israel, 00:01:09.859 --> 00:01:12.620 let seven of his male descendants be given to us 00:01:12.620 --> 00:01:15.019 to be killed and their bodies exposed 00:01:15.019 --> 00:01:17.039 before the Lord at Gibeah of Saul, 00:01:17.500 --> 00:01:18.579 the Lord's chosen one. 00:01:19.579 --> 00:01:20.739 So the king said, 00:01:21.239 --> 00:01:22.539 I will give them to you. 00:01:23.299 --> 00:01:25.939 The king spared Mephibosheth, son of Jonathan, 00:01:26.120 --> 00:01:26.759 the son of Saul, 00:01:26.840 --> 00:01:28.400 because of the oath before the Lord 00:01:28.400 --> 00:01:30.340 between David and Jonathan, son of Saul. 00:01:30.939 --> 00:01:34.099 But the king took Armoni and Mephibosheth, 00:01:34.179 --> 00:01:36.700 the two sons of Ai's daughter, Rizpa, 00:01:37.140 --> 00:01:38.659 whom she had born to Saul, 00:01:38.759 --> 00:01:42.019 together with the five sons of Saul's daughter, Merab, 00:01:42.719 --> 00:01:45.459 whom she had born to Adriel, son of Barzilia, 00:01:46.219 --> 00:01:47.439 the Mephalonites. 00:01:48.059 --> 00:01:50.259 He handed them over to the Gibeonites 00:01:50.259 --> 00:01:52.759 who killed them and exposed their bodies 00:01:52.759 --> 00:01:54.139 on a hill before the Lord. 00:01:54.719 --> 00:01:56.699 All seven of them fell together. 00:01:57.339 --> 00:02:00.399 They were put to death during the first days of harvest, 00:02:00.400 --> 00:02:02.800 just as the barley harvest was beginning. 00:02:04.560 --> 00:02:06.740 Rizpa, daughter of Ai's, 00:02:06.980 --> 00:02:10.659 took sackcloth and spread it out for herself on a rock. 00:02:11.280 --> 00:02:12.640 From the beginning of the harvest 00:02:12.640 --> 00:02:15.080 till the rain poured down from the heavens on the bodies, 00:02:15.240 --> 00:02:17.520 she did not let the birds touch them by day 00:02:17.520 --> 00:02:19.840 or the wild animals by night. 00:02:21.240 --> 00:02:25.140 When David was told what Ai's daughter Rizpa, 00:02:25.300 --> 00:02:26.780 Saul's concubine, had done, 00:02:26.960 --> 00:02:29.080 he went and took the bones of Saul 00:02:29.080 --> 00:02:32.100 and his son Jonathan from the citizens of Jabesh-Gilead. 00:02:32.500 --> 00:02:33.620 They had stolen their bodies 00:02:33.620 --> 00:02:35.240 from the public square at Beth-Shan 00:02:35.240 --> 00:02:36.740 where the Philistines had hung them 00:02:36.740 --> 00:02:39.500 after they struck Saul down on Gilboa. 00:02:40.300 --> 00:02:42.220 David brought the bones of Saul 00:02:42.220 --> 00:02:44.140 and his son Jonathan from there 00:02:44.140 --> 00:02:45.860 and the bones of those who had been killed 00:02:45.860 --> 00:02:47.300 and exposed were gathered up. 00:02:48.220 --> 00:02:49.840 They buried the bones of Saul 00:02:49.840 --> 00:02:51.720 and his son Jonathan in the tomb 00:02:51.720 --> 00:02:55.200 of Saul's father Kish at Zela in Benjamin 00:02:55.200 --> 00:02:57.520 and did everything the king commanded. 00:02:57.520 --> 00:03:02.860 After that, God answered prayer on behalf of the land. 00:03:04.240 --> 00:03:07.860 Once again, there was a battle between the Philistines and Israel. 00:03:08.500 --> 00:03:11.219 David went down with his men to fight against the Philistines 00:03:11.219 --> 00:03:12.800 and he became exhausted. 00:03:12.800 --> 00:03:17.520 And Ishbi Benob, one of the descendants of Raphah, 00:03:18.240 --> 00:03:21.380 whose bronze spearhead weighed 300 shekels 00:03:21.380 --> 00:03:22.860 and who was armed with a new sword, 00:03:23.020 --> 00:03:24.480 said he would kill David. 00:03:25.219 --> 00:03:28.420 But Abishai, son of Zariah, came to David's rescue. 00:03:28.560 --> 00:03:30.420 He struck the Philistine down and killed him. 00:03:31.180 --> 00:03:33.300 And David's men swore to him, saying, 00:03:33.520 --> 00:03:35.980 Never again will you go out with us to battle 00:03:35.980 --> 00:03:38.820 so that the lamp of Israel will not be extinguished. 00:03:38.819 --> 00:03:42.079 In the course of time, there was another battle 00:03:42.079 --> 00:03:43.340 with the Philistines at Gob. 00:03:43.680 --> 00:03:46.519 At that time, Sibikai, the Hushite, 00:03:46.739 --> 00:03:48.859 killed Saph, one of the descendants of Raphah. 00:03:49.560 --> 00:03:51.819 In another battle with the Philistines at Gob, 00:03:52.459 --> 00:03:54.879 Elhan, the son of Jair, the Bethlehemite, 00:03:55.039 --> 00:03:57.560 killed the brother of Goliath, the Gittite, 00:03:57.659 --> 00:03:59.900 who had a spear with a shaft like a weaver's rod. 00:04:00.859 --> 00:04:02.959 In still another battle, which took place at Gath, 00:04:03.000 --> 00:04:05.159 there was a huge man, six fingers on each hand 00:04:05.159 --> 00:04:07.240 and six toes on each foot, 24 in all. 00:04:08.020 --> 00:04:09.799 He was also descended from Raphah. 00:04:10.680 --> 00:04:13.240 When he taunted Israel, Jonathan, son of Shimei, 00:04:13.340 --> 00:04:14.419 David's brother, killed him. 00:04:15.500 --> 00:04:17.899 These four were descendants of Raphah in Gath, 00:04:18.319 --> 00:04:22.459 and they fell at the hands of David and his men. 00:04:23.680 --> 00:04:25.120 Well, this is the word of the Lord, 00:04:25.159 --> 00:04:27.019 and we're going to consider it together. 00:04:27.120 --> 00:04:29.639 So let me pray very briefly and ask for the Lord's help. 00:04:29.639 --> 00:04:34.319 Father, as we come to look at this passage of the Bible, 00:04:34.439 --> 00:04:38.919 we recognise with all its complexities and confusions for us, 00:04:39.620 --> 00:04:43.000 it is your word, and you do speak clearly from it. 00:04:43.719 --> 00:04:46.360 So please help us this morning, both me as I speak, 00:04:46.419 --> 00:04:50.099 all of us as we listen, to be good at listening to you. 00:04:50.680 --> 00:04:51.120 We pray. 00:04:51.279 --> 00:04:54.479 Speak, O Lord, we ask in Jesus' name. 00:04:55.300 --> 00:04:55.599 Amen. 00:04:56.360 --> 00:04:56.659 Amen. 00:04:56.660 --> 00:05:01.360 Now, if you've been with us before this morning, 00:05:01.439 --> 00:05:05.220 you will know that we are working our way through the book of 2 Samuel, 00:05:05.340 --> 00:05:09.580 and we've come to what essentially is the final lap of the book. 00:05:10.640 --> 00:05:13.379 We've come to what is the writer's conclusion. 00:05:14.220 --> 00:05:16.620 So let me just point out to you as we start off 00:05:16.620 --> 00:05:18.680 that the material here is not chronological. 00:05:19.600 --> 00:05:24.360 In other words, chapter 21 does not follow chapter 20 in chronology. 00:05:24.360 --> 00:05:27.500 It's not a history order in that sense. 00:05:27.639 --> 00:05:29.540 Rather, what you've got in chapters 21, 00:05:30.020 --> 00:05:32.980 right to the end of the book in chapter 24, 00:05:33.259 --> 00:05:38.480 is a conclusion, a summary or summing up of the book. 00:05:39.180 --> 00:05:41.120 You can see that in a few ways. 00:05:41.600 --> 00:05:45.259 So I think probably, although the NIV tries to fudge it a little bit, 00:05:45.340 --> 00:05:49.460 I think it's probably Goliath's death in verse 19 that gets mentioned, 00:05:49.459 --> 00:05:54.159 and where Elhan is a family name for David and Jar is another name for Jesse, probably. 00:05:55.159 --> 00:05:59.379 Another way, though, that you can see it is the really careful way that the writer has arranged his material. 00:06:00.099 --> 00:06:04.219 So you'll notice, because we just read it, that it starts with Saul's sin. 00:06:05.060 --> 00:06:10.159 This chapter is all about Saul's sin, and then it ends with some fighting men 00:06:10.160 --> 00:06:15.560 and a list of their mighty victories with this defeat of the giant with 12 fingers and 12 tones. 00:06:16.380 --> 00:06:20.920 Then at the end of the book, in chapter 24, you have, at the end, David's sin, 00:06:21.120 --> 00:06:23.640 in that he counted the people of Israel. 00:06:24.180 --> 00:06:28.040 And then before that, you get a list of David's mighty men as well. 00:06:28.300 --> 00:06:33.020 So you've got a symmetry between what's going on in chapter 21, what goes on in chapter 24. 00:06:33.019 --> 00:06:38.339 And then right in the middle of all of that is David's song and his last words. 00:06:39.120 --> 00:06:42.279 And that is the sort of summing up of the book of 2 Samuel. 00:06:43.579 --> 00:06:49.899 What I want to do with our time this morning is really just to zoom in on those opening 15 verses of chapter 21 00:06:49.899 --> 00:06:53.099 and look at what they teach us about sin and salvation. 00:06:53.359 --> 00:06:57.039 So the first thing to do is just to make sure we get the story straight in our minds. 00:06:57.040 --> 00:07:03.500 You'll find in verse 1 that there is a famine that's been going on for three years. 00:07:04.000 --> 00:07:07.400 Year after year after year, the crops have failed, there's been no rain. 00:07:07.560 --> 00:07:10.720 And so David, we're told, seeks the face of the Lord. 00:07:12.020 --> 00:07:18.360 Presumably here, David instinctively understands that this is more than just a bit of bad luck, right? 00:07:18.360 --> 00:07:23.420 He understands that the crop failure is God trying to tell him something and say he seeks the Lord. 00:07:23.420 --> 00:07:29.420 It feels like to David a covenant curse, a curse from God. 00:07:29.460 --> 00:07:36.560 And he's right because God tells him that there is a blood stain or blood guilt on Saul for killing the Gibeonites. 00:07:36.980 --> 00:07:43.020 Now, hopefully, in case you don't know, it's OK if you don't know, the Gibeonites, we are told who they are in verse 2. 00:07:43.939 --> 00:07:47.460 The Gibeonites were a group of people who way back in Joshua's day, 00:07:47.560 --> 00:07:52.000 so Joshua led the people in the conquest of the land of Israel. 00:07:52.000 --> 00:07:56.740 The Gibeonites came to Joshua pretending to be from a really long way away. 00:07:57.379 --> 00:08:02.220 The Gibeonites recognized that Joshua was conquering the land and defeating and destroying all the people there. 00:08:02.879 --> 00:08:05.779 So they put moldy bread in their bags and broken wineskins, 00:08:05.920 --> 00:08:09.360 pretend that they'd traveled a long, long way and said to Joshua, 00:08:09.480 --> 00:08:13.699 listen, I know that you're going to conquer this land and we're from a really long way away away, 00:08:14.120 --> 00:08:15.959 but please make peace with us. 00:08:15.959 --> 00:08:19.939 And so Joshua did and he made a covenant with them not to wipe them out. 00:08:20.319 --> 00:08:25.239 But really, as it turns out, the Gibeonites had tricked Joshua and they were from close by, 00:08:25.339 --> 00:08:27.979 but still the covenant promise stood. 00:08:28.939 --> 00:08:35.000 And here what you find out is that Saul had broken the covenant promise. 00:08:35.699 --> 00:08:40.960 His zeal for Israel led him to try and kill the foreigners, the Gibeonites, 00:08:41.039 --> 00:08:43.720 who were amongst God's people because of that covenant. 00:08:43.720 --> 00:08:49.540 And that covenant breaking by Saul led to a bloodstain, which led to a famine, 00:08:49.920 --> 00:08:54.759 which had been sent as divine punishment or curse for breaking the covenant. 00:08:55.740 --> 00:08:57.600 Now, all that means that in the rest of the story, 00:08:57.700 --> 00:09:00.940 David tries to make atonement, as he calls it in verse three, 00:09:01.340 --> 00:09:03.500 and asked the Gibeonites, what can be done for you? 00:09:03.779 --> 00:09:05.940 How can we deal with this guilt of Saul? 00:09:06.639 --> 00:09:09.920 Gibeonites recognize that this kind of sin can't be bought off lightly. 00:09:09.919 --> 00:09:12.059 You can't pretend that it didn't exist. 00:09:12.279 --> 00:09:18.620 And as essentially slaves in Israel, the Gibeonites had no authority to exact any punishment. 00:09:18.779 --> 00:09:19.719 They couldn't demand money. 00:09:20.179 --> 00:09:22.539 They couldn't demand life for life or anything like that. 00:09:22.579 --> 00:09:24.860 So they had to go through David. 00:09:25.159 --> 00:09:27.979 And so after a bit of encouragement from David at the end of verse four, 00:09:28.419 --> 00:09:32.120 they summon the courage to suggest the plan that seven sons of Saul 00:09:32.120 --> 00:09:37.000 be hung on trees in Gibeah, the ancestral home of King Saul. 00:09:37.000 --> 00:09:40.759 David agrees to the plan at the end of verse six, 00:09:40.980 --> 00:09:45.899 and he spares Mephibosheth, who you might have met if you were with us several chapters ago, 00:09:46.440 --> 00:09:49.600 in earlier on in the book of 2 Samuel. 00:09:50.399 --> 00:09:53.480 David suggests that two sons of Saul's concubine, Risper, 00:09:53.820 --> 00:09:57.120 including confusingly one who is also called Mephibosheth, 00:09:57.440 --> 00:10:00.860 and also five grandsons from Saul's daughter Merab. 00:10:00.860 --> 00:10:06.039 They are hung on trees on the mountain, exposed before the Lord, 00:10:06.120 --> 00:10:09.700 and they die together at the beginning of the barley harvest. 00:10:11.060 --> 00:10:16.419 Risper, we're told, sets up a kind of mini camp on sackcloth 00:10:16.419 --> 00:10:21.100 while she waits for the redemption from the famine and the arrival of the rains. 00:10:22.279 --> 00:10:25.080 When, in verse 11, that David finds out what Risper has done, 00:10:25.080 --> 00:10:29.920 he rewards her and honours her two sons and the other five men with a burial. 00:10:30.800 --> 00:10:33.180 And he collects Saul and Jonathan's bones 00:10:33.180 --> 00:10:36.900 and buries them in the tomb of Saul's father in Zela. 00:10:37.620 --> 00:10:40.139 And the story is wrapped up with those words 00:10:40.139 --> 00:10:43.960 that after that God answered prayer on behalf of the land. 00:10:45.360 --> 00:10:48.360 Now, that's a really super quick run through the story, 00:10:48.360 --> 00:10:50.419 and I'm sure as you hear it, you think, 00:10:50.519 --> 00:10:51.680 maybe if you're like me, you think, 00:10:52.279 --> 00:10:53.600 what a crazy story. 00:10:54.159 --> 00:10:56.139 What a crazy place. 00:10:56.759 --> 00:10:58.180 And probably what you're thinking is, 00:10:58.759 --> 00:11:01.279 is it right, is it even moral 00:11:01.279 --> 00:11:05.539 that two sons and five grandsons are killed 00:11:05.539 --> 00:11:07.340 for Saul's wickedness and not for their own? 00:11:07.500 --> 00:11:08.300 How can that be fair? 00:11:09.340 --> 00:11:10.419 Well, we will come to that, 00:11:10.480 --> 00:11:12.399 but what I want us to do is just focus our time 00:11:12.399 --> 00:11:13.580 on two words in the passage 00:11:13.580 --> 00:11:15.920 and just see together how they unlock 00:11:15.919 --> 00:11:17.860 what this story means for us 00:11:17.860 --> 00:11:19.120 and why it's here in the Bible 00:11:19.120 --> 00:11:21.019 and why we're looking at it this morning. 00:11:21.419 --> 00:11:23.559 The first word to think about is this word, 00:11:23.699 --> 00:11:25.339 bloodstain, bloodstains. 00:11:25.459 --> 00:11:29.459 There in verse one, we looked at it briefly before, bloodstain. 00:11:30.799 --> 00:11:32.079 Interestingly, in verse two, 00:11:32.159 --> 00:11:35.399 we're told that it is Saul's zeal for the people, 00:11:36.079 --> 00:11:38.319 which is presumably a good thing for a king to have, 00:11:38.659 --> 00:11:42.079 that leads him to doing a wrong thing of breaking this promise. 00:11:42.799 --> 00:11:44.539 Bloodstain comes from the passion 00:11:44.539 --> 00:11:46.639 that led to an action of breaking a promise, 00:11:47.179 --> 00:11:49.919 killing a group of people who he was supposed to protect. 00:11:50.459 --> 00:11:52.639 He was bound by a covenant to protect them. 00:11:53.259 --> 00:11:55.480 And the breaking of that covenant means then 00:11:55.480 --> 00:11:59.620 that there is bloodstain on Saul's house 00:11:59.620 --> 00:12:02.240 and the land is experiencing the curse as a result. 00:12:03.120 --> 00:12:05.659 Now, it's worth thinking about this word some more 00:12:05.659 --> 00:12:08.980 because really the word that our Bibles translate, 00:12:09.179 --> 00:12:13.219 bloodstain, is really just the Hebrew word, blood. 00:12:13.220 --> 00:12:15.100 Bloods, bloods. 00:12:15.740 --> 00:12:17.759 The word bloodstain or blood guilt, 00:12:17.860 --> 00:12:20.399 as it might appear in other versions of the English Bible, 00:12:20.560 --> 00:12:23.899 was a word that was made up by the earliest translators 00:12:23.899 --> 00:12:25.340 of our English Bibles. 00:12:25.740 --> 00:12:28.960 It was there in 1535 in Coverdale's Bible. 00:12:29.080 --> 00:12:31.040 It was probably invented by Tyndale himself 00:12:31.040 --> 00:12:35.279 as an English word to translate this Hebrew word, blood, 00:12:35.340 --> 00:12:36.960 when it's used in this kind of way. 00:12:36.960 --> 00:12:40.220 And he famously used it in Psalm 51, 00:12:40.440 --> 00:12:42.960 where David says, having killed Uriah the Hittite, 00:12:43.060 --> 00:12:47.400 he says, deliver me from blood guiltiness, 00:12:48.040 --> 00:12:50.460 O God, O God of my salvation, Psalm 51. 00:12:51.759 --> 00:12:53.460 Now, the reason, you might be thinking, 00:12:53.540 --> 00:12:54.440 why would you make up a word? 00:12:54.560 --> 00:12:58.440 Well, the reason is that the English word blood 00:12:58.440 --> 00:13:01.580 doesn't really cover what the Hebrew word blood 00:13:01.580 --> 00:13:03.240 means in this context. 00:13:03.240 --> 00:13:05.620 You see, in the ancient world, 00:13:05.779 --> 00:13:07.759 blood is not just the red stuff 00:13:07.759 --> 00:13:09.000 that flows through your veins, 00:13:09.120 --> 00:13:11.899 and that's the extent of my medical knowledge about blood. 00:13:12.320 --> 00:13:15.399 Rather, blood in ancient times was your life. 00:13:15.560 --> 00:13:17.960 It represented your life. 00:13:18.279 --> 00:13:19.759 Life was in the blood. 00:13:19.980 --> 00:13:21.899 Life and death are symbolized by blood. 00:13:22.399 --> 00:13:24.539 The blood carries your life. 00:13:25.879 --> 00:13:28.480 So that the priest sacrificing at the altar in Leviticus, 00:13:28.480 --> 00:13:31.379 he would collect the blood of the sacrifice 00:13:31.379 --> 00:13:35.620 and use it to sprinkle and cleanse the people and the altar. 00:13:36.659 --> 00:13:40.759 Not because the blood itself was magically in a sense, 00:13:40.860 --> 00:13:43.360 but because the blood represented the life 00:13:43.360 --> 00:13:44.779 of the sacrifice that was given. 00:13:45.620 --> 00:13:46.899 They are parallel to one another. 00:13:47.820 --> 00:13:50.300 Now, if you bring that back to verse one of our passage here, 00:13:50.360 --> 00:13:51.500 you can see the point, can't you? 00:13:51.500 --> 00:13:54.820 God's point in 2 Samuel 21 verse one 00:13:54.820 --> 00:13:58.399 is that there is blood on the house of Saul 00:13:58.399 --> 00:14:02.440 because the stains of the lives of the Gibeonites 00:14:02.440 --> 00:14:04.960 are hanging over Saul and his household 00:14:04.960 --> 00:14:05.860 and over the people. 00:14:06.759 --> 00:14:09.860 The death blood has stained the moral standing 00:14:09.860 --> 00:14:10.820 of the people in the land. 00:14:12.259 --> 00:14:13.860 Now, back in Numbers 35, 00:14:14.299 --> 00:14:15.940 God warned people about this. 00:14:16.019 --> 00:14:17.279 It'll come up on the screen behind me. 00:14:17.320 --> 00:14:18.179 Let me read it to you. 00:14:18.519 --> 00:14:20.179 Numbers 35 verse 33. 00:14:20.179 --> 00:14:23.839 Do not pollute the land where you are. 00:14:25.120 --> 00:14:26.919 Bloodshed pollutes the land. 00:14:27.939 --> 00:14:31.579 Not because blood is like a dirty substance on the floor. 00:14:31.679 --> 00:14:33.299 No, because it's the guilt, 00:14:33.419 --> 00:14:35.259 the life contained in the blood, 00:14:35.339 --> 00:14:36.139 which pollutes the land. 00:14:36.239 --> 00:14:37.799 And atonement cannot be made for the land 00:14:37.799 --> 00:14:39.479 on which blood has been shed, 00:14:39.839 --> 00:14:42.739 except by the blood of the one who shed it. 00:14:43.939 --> 00:14:45.799 Do not defile the land where you live 00:14:45.799 --> 00:14:46.639 and where I dwell, 00:14:46.799 --> 00:14:49.319 for I, the Lord, dwell among the Israelites. 00:14:51.079 --> 00:14:54.339 Now, the context in Numbers is about individual murders 00:14:54.339 --> 00:14:56.199 and a thing called cities of refuge, 00:14:56.199 --> 00:14:58.179 but you can see how it links to our passage this morning, 00:14:58.259 --> 00:14:58.579 can't you? 00:14:59.739 --> 00:15:02.519 Saul had effectively murdered the Gibeonites 00:15:02.519 --> 00:15:05.819 and the bloodstain was on his house 00:15:05.819 --> 00:15:07.199 and the land and the people, 00:15:07.339 --> 00:15:08.179 and that was a problem. 00:15:08.179 --> 00:15:13.000 Now, I realise that as you talk about this this morning, 00:15:13.079 --> 00:15:17.099 we are now in the language of the ancient Israel, aren't we? 00:15:17.099 --> 00:15:18.319 We're in the language of the Bible, 00:15:18.479 --> 00:15:20.099 we're outside of our own context, 00:15:20.159 --> 00:15:21.859 and this might sound a little bit strange to us, 00:15:22.199 --> 00:15:24.399 but we don't talk like this, do we? 00:15:24.439 --> 00:15:26.519 And so maybe you're sitting here this morning thinking, 00:15:26.639 --> 00:15:28.259 well, this is all very interesting, Steve. 00:15:28.899 --> 00:15:29.859 You maybe don't think that. 00:15:29.939 --> 00:15:31.919 You maybe think this is all not very interesting, Steve. 00:15:32.000 --> 00:15:33.439 But imagine that you're thinking, 00:15:33.519 --> 00:15:34.620 this is a very interesting, Steve, 00:15:34.620 --> 00:15:36.879 but what on earth does this have to do with us? 00:15:37.500 --> 00:15:39.740 Perhaps this is just a historical quirk, 00:15:39.820 --> 00:15:41.080 an interesting fact of history. 00:15:41.740 --> 00:15:43.139 But I want to suggest to you 00:15:43.139 --> 00:15:44.720 that though we might not use this language, 00:15:45.080 --> 00:15:48.399 we all do know what bloodstain is. 00:15:48.500 --> 00:15:50.580 We all know what blood guilt is. 00:15:51.580 --> 00:15:53.159 This whole case for reparations 00:15:53.159 --> 00:15:54.580 that has been in the news recently 00:15:54.580 --> 00:15:56.980 is because there's a sense in which, 00:15:57.080 --> 00:15:58.419 and a right way to put it would be 00:15:58.419 --> 00:16:02.120 that there is a bloodstain on Britain 00:16:02.120 --> 00:16:04.820 for what happened in the slave trade. 00:16:05.000 --> 00:16:08.480 There is a guiltiness for the lives 00:16:08.480 --> 00:16:12.080 that were taken advantage of and killed, 00:16:13.840 --> 00:16:15.279 and now calling out for justice. 00:16:16.179 --> 00:16:17.600 You could use the same idea 00:16:17.600 --> 00:16:21.759 to speak of the bloodstain on the Harrods store 00:16:21.759 --> 00:16:24.060 for the action of their boss 00:16:24.060 --> 00:16:28.019 in his serial abuse of female staff and guests, 00:16:28.580 --> 00:16:30.019 abusing his power, 00:16:30.019 --> 00:16:31.299 taking away their dignity, 00:16:31.500 --> 00:16:33.879 bringing bloodstain, to use this language, 00:16:34.139 --> 00:16:35.379 on the company itself. 00:16:36.259 --> 00:16:37.079 And we know that, don't we? 00:16:37.559 --> 00:16:38.819 We might not use this word, 00:16:39.000 --> 00:16:39.960 bloodstain or blood guilt, 00:16:40.039 --> 00:16:42.199 but we instinctively know, don't we, 00:16:42.240 --> 00:16:44.220 that when life is treated 00:16:44.220 --> 00:16:46.699 as less than what it is worth, 00:16:47.299 --> 00:16:49.939 it leaves a stain, a mark, 00:16:50.259 --> 00:16:52.720 or a guilt on the people who did it. 00:16:53.360 --> 00:16:54.939 Lives call out for justice. 00:16:54.940 --> 00:16:57.960 But here's the pinch for us 00:16:57.960 --> 00:16:59.900 in 2 Samuel chapter 21, 00:17:00.180 --> 00:17:02.620 is that we're not so much to see this 00:17:02.620 --> 00:17:04.400 as a condemnation of the slave trade, 00:17:04.440 --> 00:17:05.559 as wicked as that was, 00:17:05.620 --> 00:17:08.080 or Mohammed al-Fayed as wicked as he was, 00:17:08.279 --> 00:17:10.980 but we are to read it incredibly 00:17:10.980 --> 00:17:14.980 as our own bloodstain. 00:17:15.759 --> 00:17:17.480 You see, if you read 2 Samuel 21 00:17:17.480 --> 00:17:18.920 in the light of the New Testament, 00:17:19.059 --> 00:17:20.340 you see that this kind of language 00:17:20.340 --> 00:17:22.900 is not just used of kings and nations, 00:17:22.900 --> 00:17:24.820 it's used of individuals, 00:17:25.420 --> 00:17:26.400 people like you, 00:17:26.960 --> 00:17:27.940 and people like me, 00:17:28.840 --> 00:17:31.700 where we cover ourselves in blood guilt, 00:17:32.300 --> 00:17:34.100 not just for the heinous sin 00:17:34.100 --> 00:17:35.540 of murder or slave trading, 00:17:35.620 --> 00:17:36.400 I guess that none of us 00:17:36.400 --> 00:17:37.240 have been involved in that, 00:17:37.340 --> 00:17:40.120 but for the regular everyday sin 00:17:40.120 --> 00:17:41.759 of selfishness, 00:17:42.460 --> 00:17:44.540 pride, lust, anger, 00:17:45.259 --> 00:17:46.620 disobedience to our parents, 00:17:46.960 --> 00:17:47.300 lying, 00:17:48.220 --> 00:17:49.880 refusal to take the worship 00:17:49.880 --> 00:17:51.040 of our God seriously. 00:17:51.039 --> 00:17:52.920 all of those, 00:17:53.200 --> 00:17:54.960 Paul says in Romans 6 verse 23, 00:17:55.099 --> 00:17:55.420 he says, 00:17:55.839 --> 00:17:58.639 the wages of sin is death. 00:17:59.139 --> 00:18:00.980 We are blood guilty 00:18:00.980 --> 00:18:02.519 because of our sin. 00:18:03.299 --> 00:18:04.079 Now maybe this morning, 00:18:04.200 --> 00:18:04.279 you think, 00:18:04.339 --> 00:18:05.500 wow, that's way too serious, right? 00:18:05.680 --> 00:18:07.480 How can we get blood guilt 00:18:07.480 --> 00:18:08.819 for lying, 00:18:09.079 --> 00:18:10.879 or disobedience to our parents, 00:18:11.019 --> 00:18:13.420 or just losing my temper 00:18:13.420 --> 00:18:15.200 in a totally rational way 00:18:15.200 --> 00:18:16.519 when something happened? 00:18:16.519 --> 00:18:18.799 How can that leave me 00:18:18.799 --> 00:18:20.119 with the kind of blood guilt 00:18:20.119 --> 00:18:20.920 that you're talking about 00:18:20.920 --> 00:18:22.319 from 2 Samuel chapter 21? 00:18:24.039 --> 00:18:24.559 Well, really, 00:18:24.660 --> 00:18:25.920 that is because lying, 00:18:26.819 --> 00:18:27.299 anger, 00:18:27.879 --> 00:18:28.359 lust, 00:18:28.879 --> 00:18:30.160 disobedience to our parents 00:18:30.160 --> 00:18:31.440 is what? 00:18:31.980 --> 00:18:32.500 A symptom. 00:18:33.200 --> 00:18:35.680 A symptom of a deeper problem, 00:18:36.220 --> 00:18:37.440 which is our sin. 00:18:38.160 --> 00:18:38.579 Sin, 00:18:38.700 --> 00:18:39.599 which is the inclination 00:18:39.599 --> 00:18:40.279 of our hearts 00:18:40.279 --> 00:18:41.259 to live for ourselves, 00:18:41.359 --> 00:18:42.220 to do our own thing, 00:18:42.299 --> 00:18:43.319 to disregard our maker. 00:18:43.319 --> 00:18:45.659 That brings blood guilt. 00:18:46.500 --> 00:18:47.339 Not so much 00:18:47.339 --> 00:18:48.019 because we've taken 00:18:48.019 --> 00:18:48.980 the life of another, 00:18:49.700 --> 00:18:50.599 but because we've taken 00:18:50.599 --> 00:18:51.419 our own lives 00:18:51.419 --> 00:18:52.879 which have been given to us, 00:18:53.279 --> 00:18:54.019 and we've used them 00:18:54.019 --> 00:18:54.619 for ourselves. 00:18:55.399 --> 00:18:57.700 We have robbed God 00:18:57.700 --> 00:18:59.119 of the lives 00:18:59.119 --> 00:19:00.279 that he has given us, 00:19:00.579 --> 00:19:01.939 and lived them for ourselves 00:19:01.939 --> 00:19:03.179 when they were meant 00:19:03.179 --> 00:19:04.099 to be lived for him, 00:19:04.539 --> 00:19:05.339 and therefore, 00:19:06.179 --> 00:19:07.240 the wages of sin 00:19:07.240 --> 00:19:08.779 is death. 00:19:09.819 --> 00:19:10.779 This is really, 00:19:11.000 --> 00:19:11.319 really important. 00:19:11.399 --> 00:19:12.259 Let me try and illustrate 00:19:12.259 --> 00:19:13.180 what I mean here 00:19:13.180 --> 00:19:14.420 with a slightly silly illustration, 00:19:14.680 --> 00:19:15.559 but hopefully it will help. 00:19:16.259 --> 00:19:17.579 I want you to imagine with me 00:19:17.579 --> 00:19:19.019 that you've been given a job 00:19:19.019 --> 00:19:21.220 as an Asda grocery delivery driver. 00:19:21.559 --> 00:19:21.680 Okay? 00:19:23.079 --> 00:19:23.559 So, 00:19:24.319 --> 00:19:26.359 you turn up at the depot, 00:19:27.200 --> 00:19:29.660 and you are handed the keys 00:19:29.660 --> 00:19:31.599 of a brand new, 00:19:31.879 --> 00:19:33.039 not yet dented, 00:19:33.579 --> 00:19:35.259 Mercedes van 00:19:35.259 --> 00:19:36.259 to deliver groceries 00:19:36.839 --> 00:19:37.980 around northwest London. 00:19:37.980 --> 00:19:41.319 And they hand you the keys, 00:19:41.400 --> 00:19:42.380 and they load up the van 00:19:42.380 --> 00:19:43.319 with all sorts of different 00:19:43.319 --> 00:19:43.920 kinds of groceries, 00:19:43.920 --> 00:19:44.440 and they say, 00:19:44.519 --> 00:19:45.680 right, here's a list of places 00:19:45.680 --> 00:19:46.500 that you're to go 00:19:46.500 --> 00:19:47.640 with this van 00:19:47.640 --> 00:19:48.720 that we've given to you 00:19:48.720 --> 00:19:49.660 so that you might deliver 00:19:49.660 --> 00:19:50.220 these groceries. 00:19:50.440 --> 00:19:52.240 And you need to go 00:19:52.240 --> 00:19:52.920 down the list 00:19:52.920 --> 00:19:53.779 and work your way around 00:19:53.779 --> 00:19:54.900 and deliver these groceries. 00:19:55.019 --> 00:19:55.640 You know the drill. 00:19:55.980 --> 00:19:56.940 You know what's going on. 00:19:57.539 --> 00:19:58.380 But then what you do 00:19:58.380 --> 00:19:59.220 is you sit in the van 00:19:59.220 --> 00:19:59.960 and you start the engine. 00:20:00.079 --> 00:20:00.240 You think, 00:20:00.279 --> 00:20:00.620 do you know what? 00:20:00.619 --> 00:20:01.699 I've got a Mercedes van 00:20:01.699 --> 00:20:02.859 full of food. 00:20:03.899 --> 00:20:05.059 I'm going to drive to Brighton. 00:20:05.500 --> 00:20:06.419 I'm going to sit on the beach 00:20:06.419 --> 00:20:08.599 and have the picnic of my life. 00:20:09.000 --> 00:20:09.119 Right? 00:20:09.179 --> 00:20:09.319 So, 00:20:09.500 --> 00:20:10.500 that's exactly what you do. 00:20:11.179 --> 00:20:12.779 And then as you drive back, 00:20:12.839 --> 00:20:13.819 you've had this great picnic 00:20:13.819 --> 00:20:14.839 on the beach at Brighton. 00:20:14.879 --> 00:20:15.559 Then you drive back 00:20:15.559 --> 00:20:15.879 and you think, 00:20:15.939 --> 00:20:16.059 well, 00:20:16.059 --> 00:20:17.179 I'm on the A406. 00:20:17.979 --> 00:20:19.819 Everyone races on the A406. 00:20:19.879 --> 00:20:21.119 I wonder what this Mercedes van 00:20:21.119 --> 00:20:21.899 is capable of, 00:20:21.919 --> 00:20:22.099 right? 00:20:22.759 --> 00:20:23.819 And so you crunch it down 00:20:23.819 --> 00:20:24.339 a few gears 00:20:24.339 --> 00:20:25.759 and you absolutely rag it 00:20:25.759 --> 00:20:26.819 on the A406 00:20:26.819 --> 00:20:28.079 trying to burn off 00:20:28.079 --> 00:20:29.059 Jeff and his Skoda. 00:20:30.619 --> 00:20:31.299 And, 00:20:31.439 --> 00:20:31.719 you know, 00:20:31.799 --> 00:20:33.059 you spin the wheels up. 00:20:33.779 --> 00:20:34.619 The gearbox is making 00:20:34.619 --> 00:20:35.799 a really funny whine 00:20:35.799 --> 00:20:36.919 because you've absolutely 00:20:36.919 --> 00:20:37.859 thrashed this van. 00:20:38.719 --> 00:20:39.479 And then you, 00:20:39.579 --> 00:20:40.639 then you pull back up 00:20:40.639 --> 00:20:41.219 in the depot. 00:20:41.319 --> 00:20:41.500 Okay? 00:20:41.559 --> 00:20:42.039 So you've, 00:20:42.119 --> 00:20:42.599 you've been out 00:20:42.599 --> 00:20:43.339 for your day's work. 00:20:43.439 --> 00:20:44.500 You've eaten all the food 00:20:44.500 --> 00:20:45.739 and you've ragged the van 00:20:45.739 --> 00:20:46.559 on the A406 00:20:46.559 --> 00:20:47.459 and you pull up at the depot. 00:20:47.500 --> 00:20:48.459 What do you expect them to say? 00:20:50.619 --> 00:20:51.979 You expect them to tell you off, 00:20:52.039 --> 00:20:52.339 don't you? 00:20:53.159 --> 00:20:54.119 More than that, 00:20:54.559 --> 00:20:55.699 you expect them 00:20:55.699 --> 00:20:57.299 to take the van off you 00:20:57.299 --> 00:21:00.039 and never give it back. 00:21:00.039 --> 00:21:00.619 Don't you? 00:21:01.440 --> 00:21:03.000 Because you have taken 00:21:03.000 --> 00:21:04.579 what was given to you 00:21:04.579 --> 00:21:05.480 for a purpose 00:21:05.480 --> 00:21:07.159 and have used it 00:21:07.159 --> 00:21:08.960 for a completely different one. 00:21:09.259 --> 00:21:10.740 For your own 00:21:10.740 --> 00:21:12.220 selfish 00:21:12.220 --> 00:21:13.359 indulgement. 00:21:13.359 --> 00:21:16.099 and the Bible says 00:21:16.099 --> 00:21:18.319 that is exactly 00:21:18.319 --> 00:21:19.539 what we have done 00:21:19.539 --> 00:21:20.439 with the lives 00:21:20.439 --> 00:21:21.799 that God has given us. 00:21:22.799 --> 00:21:24.079 That we have taken 00:21:24.079 --> 00:21:25.679 what God has given us, 00:21:25.759 --> 00:21:27.279 the life that he has given us, 00:21:27.579 --> 00:21:28.819 that has been handed to us 00:21:28.819 --> 00:21:29.379 by God 00:21:29.379 --> 00:21:30.539 for a specific purpose. 00:21:31.000 --> 00:21:31.159 You know, 00:21:31.399 --> 00:21:32.479 none of us this morning 00:21:32.479 --> 00:21:33.539 chose to be born, 00:21:33.639 --> 00:21:33.899 did we? 00:21:34.479 --> 00:21:35.219 None of us did. 00:21:35.679 --> 00:21:37.379 None of us gave ourselves life. 00:21:38.119 --> 00:21:39.539 None of us own ourselves 00:21:39.539 --> 00:21:40.299 in that way. 00:21:40.919 --> 00:21:41.460 The truth is 00:21:41.460 --> 00:21:43.000 that lives are given to us 00:21:43.000 --> 00:21:43.899 that we might live 00:21:43.899 --> 00:21:45.079 for the glory of him 00:21:45.079 --> 00:21:45.799 who made us 00:21:45.799 --> 00:21:47.079 and live for his glory 00:21:47.079 --> 00:21:48.000 in all things. 00:21:48.319 --> 00:21:50.079 Not because that spoils our joy, 00:21:50.139 --> 00:21:52.259 but because that's joy defined. 00:21:53.619 --> 00:21:54.519 Considering God 00:21:54.519 --> 00:21:55.599 our highest good, 00:21:55.700 --> 00:21:56.759 our greatest joy. 00:21:57.379 --> 00:21:57.940 But instead, 00:21:58.139 --> 00:21:59.680 we take the blood, 00:21:59.839 --> 00:22:00.359 the life, 00:22:00.559 --> 00:22:01.419 the van, 00:22:01.500 --> 00:22:02.119 if you like, 00:22:02.419 --> 00:22:03.379 of our lives 00:22:03.380 --> 00:22:04.960 and in zeal 00:22:04.960 --> 00:22:07.000 for our own joy. 00:22:07.660 --> 00:22:08.520 We use it 00:22:08.520 --> 00:22:09.600 for the moral equivalent 00:22:09.600 --> 00:22:12.160 of having a beach 00:22:12.160 --> 00:22:12.780 for ourselves 00:22:12.780 --> 00:22:13.940 on Brighton Beach 00:22:13.940 --> 00:22:15.180 and doing races 00:22:15.180 --> 00:22:16.200 up the 406. 00:22:16.960 --> 00:22:17.180 You know, 00:22:17.220 --> 00:22:17.900 we're more interested, 00:22:18.060 --> 00:22:18.280 aren't we, 00:22:18.300 --> 00:22:19.160 with our own glory 00:22:19.160 --> 00:22:21.040 than we are with God's. 00:22:22.080 --> 00:22:23.720 We take his purpose 00:22:23.720 --> 00:22:24.600 for work 00:22:24.600 --> 00:22:26.800 and we make it about us 00:22:26.800 --> 00:22:28.220 and our fulfillment 00:22:28.220 --> 00:22:29.800 and our identity. 00:22:29.799 --> 00:22:31.399 You know, 00:22:31.519 --> 00:22:34.119 we say that we're motivated, 00:22:34.819 --> 00:22:35.819 but really what we are 00:22:35.819 --> 00:22:36.460 is addicted 00:22:36.460 --> 00:22:38.079 to our own glory. 00:22:39.019 --> 00:22:40.379 We take sex, 00:22:40.480 --> 00:22:42.639 which God has given to us 00:22:42.639 --> 00:22:44.079 for our joy 00:22:44.079 --> 00:22:44.799 within the marriage 00:22:44.799 --> 00:22:45.759 of a man and a woman 00:22:45.759 --> 00:22:47.579 and we use it 00:22:47.579 --> 00:22:49.639 for our own selfish self-expression 00:22:49.639 --> 00:22:50.399 and satisfaction. 00:22:51.720 --> 00:22:53.519 We take the material blessing 00:22:53.519 --> 00:22:54.159 of stuff 00:22:54.159 --> 00:22:55.440 and we hoard it 00:22:55.440 --> 00:22:56.680 as if it's trophies 00:22:56.680 --> 00:22:57.799 of our own self-interest. 00:22:58.659 --> 00:22:59.700 We take the blessing 00:22:59.700 --> 00:23:00.460 of family 00:23:00.460 --> 00:23:01.480 and of friendships 00:23:01.480 --> 00:23:02.960 and we make it an idol 00:23:02.960 --> 00:23:04.380 that prevents us 00:23:04.380 --> 00:23:04.900 from attending 00:23:04.900 --> 00:23:06.160 the worship of our Creator 00:23:06.160 --> 00:23:07.420 or gathering with His people. 00:23:08.759 --> 00:23:09.779 And because of that, 00:23:10.500 --> 00:23:12.039 our van, 00:23:12.140 --> 00:23:12.539 if you like, 00:23:12.680 --> 00:23:13.460 or our blood, 00:23:13.640 --> 00:23:14.940 our lives 00:23:14.940 --> 00:23:17.120 are stained with guilt 00:23:17.120 --> 00:23:19.559 and are due to another, 00:23:20.120 --> 00:23:20.640 to the one 00:23:20.640 --> 00:23:21.880 who gave them to us. 00:23:22.519 --> 00:23:23.640 We must give them back. 00:23:25.019 --> 00:23:26.299 Let me say this morning, 00:23:26.559 --> 00:23:28.720 if you will not, 00:23:28.720 --> 00:23:30.440 if you don't understand this, 00:23:31.100 --> 00:23:32.539 the message of the Bible 00:23:32.539 --> 00:23:34.220 will remain mysterious to you. 00:23:35.660 --> 00:23:36.700 The message of the Bible 00:23:36.700 --> 00:23:37.600 is that what's wrong 00:23:37.600 --> 00:23:38.059 with the world 00:23:38.059 --> 00:23:39.339 is not so much 00:23:39.339 --> 00:23:40.779 just a bit of immorality, 00:23:41.220 --> 00:23:41.440 right? 00:23:42.559 --> 00:23:43.600 The fact that you lost 00:23:43.600 --> 00:23:44.539 your temper with your mum 00:23:44.539 --> 00:23:45.500 and you swore at her, 00:23:45.539 --> 00:23:45.640 right, 00:23:45.660 --> 00:23:46.539 that did not break 00:23:46.539 --> 00:23:47.059 the universe. 00:23:47.940 --> 00:23:48.819 The fact that you 00:23:48.819 --> 00:23:50.039 have got a speeding ticket, 00:23:50.140 --> 00:23:51.400 that is not the problem 00:23:51.400 --> 00:23:51.880 in the universe. 00:23:52.279 --> 00:23:52.960 That the problem 00:23:52.960 --> 00:23:53.700 in the universe, 00:23:53.700 --> 00:23:54.819 the reason that 00:23:54.819 --> 00:23:55.620 we, 00:23:56.160 --> 00:23:56.980 as humanity, 00:23:57.200 --> 00:23:57.980 are destined 00:23:57.980 --> 00:23:59.640 to death, 00:24:00.120 --> 00:24:00.480 hell, 00:24:01.100 --> 00:24:01.539 judgment, 00:24:02.059 --> 00:24:02.759 is because 00:24:02.759 --> 00:24:03.980 those things 00:24:03.980 --> 00:24:04.720 that we do wrong 00:24:04.720 --> 00:24:05.700 are a symptom 00:24:05.700 --> 00:24:06.220 of the fact 00:24:06.220 --> 00:24:07.059 that we have taken 00:24:07.059 --> 00:24:07.500 the lives 00:24:07.500 --> 00:24:08.019 which have been 00:24:08.019 --> 00:24:09.220 given to us by God 00:24:09.220 --> 00:24:10.680 and have used them 00:24:10.680 --> 00:24:12.140 for ourselves. 00:24:13.420 --> 00:24:14.120 And in zeal 00:24:14.120 --> 00:24:14.980 for our own pleasure 00:24:14.980 --> 00:24:15.700 and joy, 00:24:15.960 --> 00:24:17.000 we have lived 00:24:17.000 --> 00:24:18.880 for our own glory. 00:24:19.440 --> 00:24:20.039 And all of us 00:24:20.039 --> 00:24:20.840 are in the same boat. 00:24:20.839 --> 00:24:22.720 And I don't know 00:24:22.720 --> 00:24:23.599 how you read these stories 00:24:23.599 --> 00:24:24.279 of the Old Testament 00:24:24.279 --> 00:24:24.899 for yourself, 00:24:24.980 --> 00:24:26.179 but when you read it, 00:24:26.220 --> 00:24:26.980 I wonder who you 00:24:26.980 --> 00:24:27.859 imagine you're like, 00:24:27.939 --> 00:24:28.159 right? 00:24:28.539 --> 00:24:29.579 I always imagine myself 00:24:29.579 --> 00:24:30.519 to be the great hero 00:24:30.519 --> 00:24:31.220 in these stories. 00:24:32.339 --> 00:24:32.480 You know, 00:24:32.539 --> 00:24:33.579 I'm the guy 00:24:33.579 --> 00:24:34.959 who slayed the guy 00:24:34.959 --> 00:24:36.500 with six fingers 00:24:36.500 --> 00:24:37.319 on each hand, 00:24:37.480 --> 00:24:37.659 right? 00:24:37.939 --> 00:24:38.919 That's who I want to be. 00:24:39.699 --> 00:24:40.500 But actually, 00:24:40.619 --> 00:24:41.919 the story of 2 Samuel 00:24:41.919 --> 00:24:43.279 is that I'm sore 00:24:43.279 --> 00:24:45.359 and I have stained 00:24:45.359 --> 00:24:46.740 my life with blood guilt. 00:24:47.740 --> 00:24:48.379 And while there might not 00:24:48.379 --> 00:24:49.359 be three years of famine 00:24:49.359 --> 00:24:50.579 to make me wonder about it, 00:24:50.579 --> 00:24:51.559 still the carnage 00:24:51.559 --> 00:24:52.699 of the world around me, 00:24:53.379 --> 00:24:54.559 the carnage of the city 00:24:54.559 --> 00:24:55.679 that we live in, 00:24:56.460 --> 00:24:58.000 screams to us 00:24:58.000 --> 00:24:59.359 that a covenant 00:24:59.359 --> 00:25:00.279 has been broken. 00:25:01.319 --> 00:25:02.399 All is not well. 00:25:03.439 --> 00:25:04.480 And 2 Samuel 21 00:25:04.480 --> 00:25:05.199 invites you 00:25:05.199 --> 00:25:06.199 to be wise enough 00:25:06.199 --> 00:25:06.559 to go, 00:25:07.339 --> 00:25:08.059 what's wrong 00:25:08.059 --> 00:25:08.779 with the world? 00:25:10.279 --> 00:25:11.319 What's the promise 00:25:11.319 --> 00:25:12.079 that we've broken? 00:25:12.960 --> 00:25:13.779 What's wrong? 00:25:13.879 --> 00:25:14.720 Where's the blood guilt? 00:25:14.799 --> 00:25:15.759 Where's the blood stain? 00:25:16.720 --> 00:25:17.480 And the Bible says 00:25:17.480 --> 00:25:18.000 it's here. 00:25:18.519 --> 00:25:19.740 It's in our hearts. 00:25:20.620 --> 00:25:21.400 Now that leads us 00:25:21.400 --> 00:25:22.240 on to the second word 00:25:22.240 --> 00:25:22.759 of the passage 00:25:22.759 --> 00:25:23.400 to think about, 00:25:23.500 --> 00:25:24.099 which is this word, 00:25:24.240 --> 00:25:25.079 atonement. 00:25:26.120 --> 00:25:26.519 Atonement. 00:25:27.160 --> 00:25:27.900 The word is there 00:25:27.900 --> 00:25:28.640 in verse 3 00:25:28.640 --> 00:25:29.319 if you look down, 00:25:29.480 --> 00:25:30.799 and David instinctively 00:25:30.799 --> 00:25:32.160 knows that blood stain 00:25:32.160 --> 00:25:33.480 requires atonement. 00:25:34.319 --> 00:25:34.819 In other words, 00:25:34.880 --> 00:25:36.200 to remove the stain 00:25:36.200 --> 00:25:37.319 of Saul's guilt, 00:25:38.220 --> 00:25:40.960 it needs justice. 00:25:42.200 --> 00:25:43.599 It needs a putting 00:25:43.599 --> 00:25:44.839 of the record right. 00:25:44.839 --> 00:25:47.379 It can't just be 00:25:47.379 --> 00:25:48.799 like a kind of cover-up. 00:25:49.439 --> 00:25:49.659 Rather, 00:25:49.819 --> 00:25:51.359 before God the judge, 00:25:51.539 --> 00:25:52.779 something needs to happen. 00:25:53.859 --> 00:25:54.119 Now, 00:25:54.259 --> 00:25:54.839 we saw, didn't we, 00:25:54.859 --> 00:25:55.480 that the Gibeonites 00:25:55.480 --> 00:25:56.220 are slow to ask 00:25:56.220 --> 00:25:57.059 what they know 00:25:57.059 --> 00:25:57.699 needs to happen 00:25:57.699 --> 00:25:58.500 because they know 00:25:58.500 --> 00:25:59.220 that blood guilt 00:25:59.220 --> 00:26:00.039 can't be removed 00:26:00.039 --> 00:26:01.419 by a payment of money, 00:26:02.559 --> 00:26:03.419 but only by 00:26:03.419 --> 00:26:04.339 the shedding of blood. 00:26:05.240 --> 00:26:05.959 In other words, 00:26:06.139 --> 00:26:06.759 legal justice, 00:26:06.839 --> 00:26:07.759 as we've been considering 00:26:07.759 --> 00:26:08.159 already, 00:26:08.619 --> 00:26:09.259 legal justice 00:26:09.259 --> 00:26:10.039 for blood guilt 00:26:10.039 --> 00:26:11.980 is the payment of blood. 00:26:12.759 --> 00:26:14.659 Life for life. 00:26:15.779 --> 00:26:17.359 Just like Numbers 35 said, 00:26:17.420 --> 00:26:18.960 only blood can wash away blood. 00:26:19.220 --> 00:26:20.460 Only a life surrendered 00:26:20.460 --> 00:26:21.619 can pay for a life taken. 00:26:22.019 --> 00:26:22.139 You know, 00:26:22.139 --> 00:26:22.579 anything less 00:26:22.579 --> 00:26:23.859 is just legal fiction, right? 00:26:23.879 --> 00:26:24.299 It's just trying 00:26:24.299 --> 00:26:25.119 to cover it up. 00:26:26.480 --> 00:26:26.740 Now, 00:26:26.879 --> 00:26:27.519 I said before 00:26:27.519 --> 00:26:28.359 that you might have 00:26:28.359 --> 00:26:28.859 some questions 00:26:28.859 --> 00:26:29.359 about the way 00:26:29.359 --> 00:26:30.220 this ends up being done 00:26:30.220 --> 00:26:31.240 in 2 Samuel 21. 00:26:31.899 --> 00:26:32.039 You know, 00:26:32.079 --> 00:26:33.159 I think the question 00:26:33.159 --> 00:26:33.700 that we're asking, 00:26:33.799 --> 00:26:34.000 isn't it, 00:26:34.019 --> 00:26:34.960 is it right 00:26:34.960 --> 00:26:36.539 for these seven innocent sons 00:26:36.539 --> 00:26:37.159 or grandsons 00:26:37.159 --> 00:26:38.319 to die for the sin 00:26:38.319 --> 00:26:38.899 of their father 00:26:38.899 --> 00:26:39.700 or their grandfather? 00:26:40.480 --> 00:26:40.599 You know, 00:26:40.619 --> 00:26:40.960 after all, 00:26:41.000 --> 00:26:41.639 doesn't the Old Testament 00:26:41.639 --> 00:26:43.159 tell us that children 00:26:43.159 --> 00:26:44.099 shouldn't be made to pay 00:26:44.099 --> 00:26:44.539 for the sins 00:26:44.539 --> 00:26:45.399 of their parents? 00:26:46.299 --> 00:26:46.480 Now, 00:26:46.500 --> 00:26:46.700 in a way, 00:26:46.740 --> 00:26:47.680 that's one of those situations 00:26:47.680 --> 00:26:49.099 where our big question 00:26:49.099 --> 00:26:49.899 as we come to the Bible 00:26:49.899 --> 00:26:50.980 is not really the question 00:26:50.980 --> 00:26:52.019 the passage is answering, 00:26:52.220 --> 00:26:53.460 so we need to just be cautious. 00:26:54.599 --> 00:26:54.940 Really, 00:26:55.019 --> 00:26:55.420 there isn't, 00:26:55.500 --> 00:26:56.039 I don't think, 00:26:56.079 --> 00:26:57.240 an answer to that question. 00:26:57.519 --> 00:26:58.019 Some people, 00:26:58.159 --> 00:26:58.700 some scholars, 00:26:58.819 --> 00:26:59.920 you read and they tell you 00:26:59.920 --> 00:27:00.619 this is absolutely 00:27:00.619 --> 00:27:01.539 the right thing to do. 00:27:01.980 --> 00:27:02.980 Others are less convinced. 00:27:03.599 --> 00:27:03.740 You know, 00:27:03.740 --> 00:27:04.460 some people argue 00:27:04.460 --> 00:27:06.559 that maybe these seven sons, 00:27:06.659 --> 00:27:07.099 grandsons, 00:27:07.220 --> 00:27:08.720 were involved in the slaughter 00:27:08.720 --> 00:27:09.359 of the Gibeonites 00:27:09.359 --> 00:27:10.000 in some way. 00:27:10.879 --> 00:27:12.319 Others say there's no reason 00:27:12.319 --> 00:27:13.420 to think that God 00:27:13.420 --> 00:27:14.339 approves of their death 00:27:14.339 --> 00:27:15.220 and that David was just 00:27:15.220 --> 00:27:16.460 trying to knock off 00:27:16.460 --> 00:27:17.819 a few more of Saul's household. 00:27:18.940 --> 00:27:19.059 Now, 00:27:19.059 --> 00:27:20.180 what are you supposed to think? 00:27:21.259 --> 00:27:21.539 Well, 00:27:21.539 --> 00:27:22.579 it's worth bearing in mind 00:27:22.579 --> 00:27:23.399 that as horrific 00:27:23.399 --> 00:27:24.240 as the death of these 00:27:24.240 --> 00:27:25.180 seven innocent sons 00:27:25.180 --> 00:27:25.799 might sound, 00:27:25.879 --> 00:27:26.879 it's likely that Saul 00:27:26.879 --> 00:27:27.720 and his men 00:27:27.720 --> 00:27:28.799 killed more Gibeonites 00:27:28.799 --> 00:27:29.480 than seven. 00:27:30.400 --> 00:27:31.519 Probably more died 00:27:31.519 --> 00:27:32.620 in the famine as well. 00:27:33.539 --> 00:27:34.539 It's also worth remembering 00:27:34.539 --> 00:27:35.740 that we do still believe, 00:27:35.860 --> 00:27:36.079 don't we, 00:27:36.099 --> 00:27:37.220 in guilt by association. 00:27:37.940 --> 00:27:38.339 It's why, 00:27:38.460 --> 00:27:38.599 say, 00:27:38.700 --> 00:27:39.099 for example, 00:27:39.200 --> 00:27:39.900 Putin's family 00:27:39.900 --> 00:27:40.720 are being sanctioned 00:27:40.720 --> 00:27:41.279 even though they're not 00:27:41.279 --> 00:27:42.660 directly responsible 00:27:42.660 --> 00:27:43.680 for the war in Ukraine. 00:27:44.460 --> 00:27:45.380 But the reality is 00:27:45.380 --> 00:27:46.200 that actually that question 00:27:46.200 --> 00:27:46.920 is not really answered 00:27:46.920 --> 00:27:47.500 in the passage. 00:27:47.900 --> 00:27:48.559 And that's not because 00:27:48.559 --> 00:27:50.000 the Bible is deliberately vague 00:27:50.000 --> 00:27:50.960 or doesn't anticipate 00:27:50.960 --> 00:27:51.940 that you might ask it. 00:27:52.299 --> 00:27:54.140 The reason that that question 00:27:54.140 --> 00:27:54.839 is not answered 00:27:54.839 --> 00:27:55.459 in your passage 00:27:55.459 --> 00:27:56.059 this morning 00:27:56.059 --> 00:27:57.319 is because 00:27:57.319 --> 00:27:58.980 it's not the point. 00:27:59.539 --> 00:28:00.359 It's not the point. 00:28:01.500 --> 00:28:02.379 But what is the point? 00:28:03.279 --> 00:28:03.539 Well, 00:28:03.579 --> 00:28:04.339 the point is that 00:28:04.339 --> 00:28:05.980 the blood of the seven sons 00:28:05.980 --> 00:28:06.359 is, 00:28:06.419 --> 00:28:07.079 as it turns out, 00:28:07.119 --> 00:28:07.559 effective. 00:28:07.819 --> 00:28:08.519 It works. 00:28:09.639 --> 00:28:10.579 So Rizpah sits 00:28:10.579 --> 00:28:11.639 and waits for the fruits 00:28:11.639 --> 00:28:12.279 of the atonement 00:28:12.279 --> 00:28:12.759 as she waits 00:28:12.759 --> 00:28:13.599 for the rain to come 00:28:13.599 --> 00:28:15.379 and the rain does come. 00:28:16.480 --> 00:28:17.639 And God is referenced 00:28:17.639 --> 00:28:18.359 throughout the passage 00:28:18.359 --> 00:28:19.019 as being the one 00:28:19.019 --> 00:28:19.899 in front of whom 00:28:19.899 --> 00:28:20.899 the atonement is made. 00:28:21.379 --> 00:28:22.079 God is the one 00:28:22.079 --> 00:28:23.359 who is withholding the rains 00:28:23.359 --> 00:28:24.199 and God is the one 00:28:24.200 --> 00:28:25.120 who sends the rains 00:28:25.120 --> 00:28:25.779 at the end. 00:28:26.400 --> 00:28:27.400 God is the one 00:28:27.400 --> 00:28:28.620 who responds 00:28:28.620 --> 00:28:29.519 to the plea 00:28:29.519 --> 00:28:30.580 made in the bodies 00:28:30.580 --> 00:28:31.480 of these seven men. 00:28:32.420 --> 00:28:32.640 You see, 00:28:32.680 --> 00:28:33.319 this is the point. 00:28:33.900 --> 00:28:35.259 Atonement for blood guilt 00:28:35.259 --> 00:28:36.799 in 2 Samuel 21 00:28:36.799 --> 00:28:38.340 can only be made 00:28:38.340 --> 00:28:39.620 by the shedding of blood. 00:28:40.059 --> 00:28:41.559 The wages of sin 00:28:41.559 --> 00:28:42.920 is death. 00:28:44.200 --> 00:28:44.420 Now, 00:28:44.480 --> 00:28:44.920 ponder on that 00:28:44.920 --> 00:28:45.420 for a moment. 00:28:46.340 --> 00:28:47.600 If what we have said 00:28:47.600 --> 00:28:48.100 is true, 00:28:49.299 --> 00:28:50.680 if you and I 00:28:50.680 --> 00:28:52.440 stand on the brink 00:28:52.440 --> 00:28:54.400 of eternal death, 00:28:54.519 --> 00:28:55.100 of hell 00:28:55.100 --> 00:28:55.820 in judgment 00:28:55.820 --> 00:28:57.480 for the crime 00:28:57.480 --> 00:28:59.140 of stealing our lives 00:28:59.140 --> 00:28:59.960 and living them 00:28:59.960 --> 00:29:01.180 for our own glory, 00:29:02.500 --> 00:29:03.440 then atonement, 00:29:04.559 --> 00:29:05.000 cleansing, 00:29:05.799 --> 00:29:06.240 forgiveness, 00:29:07.039 --> 00:29:07.559 redemption, 00:29:08.440 --> 00:29:08.980 reconciliation, 00:29:09.240 --> 00:29:10.500 all those wonderful things 00:29:10.500 --> 00:29:12.340 can only be found 00:29:12.340 --> 00:29:13.860 if you can find 00:29:13.860 --> 00:29:15.100 someone who is willing 00:29:15.100 --> 00:29:17.220 to spill their blood 00:29:17.220 --> 00:29:18.259 for you. 00:29:18.259 --> 00:29:21.279 Because anything less 00:29:21.279 --> 00:29:22.240 is not justice. 00:29:23.119 --> 00:29:24.379 Let me tell you this morning, 00:29:24.480 --> 00:29:25.279 this is why religion 00:29:25.279 --> 00:29:26.440 is so mad. 00:29:26.500 --> 00:29:27.640 It's crazy, isn't it? 00:29:28.119 --> 00:29:28.779 Can you imagine 00:29:28.779 --> 00:29:29.519 the idea 00:29:29.519 --> 00:29:31.819 that God would be satisfied 00:29:31.819 --> 00:29:33.440 with you praying 00:29:33.440 --> 00:29:34.859 five times a day 00:29:34.859 --> 00:29:36.200 to cover over 00:29:36.200 --> 00:29:36.799 the sin 00:29:36.799 --> 00:29:37.920 of stealing your life? 00:29:38.420 --> 00:29:39.420 Wouldn't that be ridiculous? 00:29:40.720 --> 00:29:40.960 You know, 00:29:41.099 --> 00:29:41.940 that'd be like pulling up 00:29:41.940 --> 00:29:42.900 in the Mercedes van 00:29:42.900 --> 00:29:44.059 having ragged it down 00:29:44.059 --> 00:29:44.980 the A406 00:29:44.980 --> 00:29:45.859 and eaten all the food 00:29:45.859 --> 00:29:46.440 in the back of it 00:29:46.440 --> 00:29:46.660 and say, 00:29:46.759 --> 00:29:48.220 don't worry, 00:29:48.840 --> 00:29:49.940 I polished the number plate 00:29:49.940 --> 00:29:50.580 at the back. 00:29:51.080 --> 00:29:51.440 What? 00:29:52.320 --> 00:29:53.640 Is that going to atone 00:29:53.640 --> 00:29:54.380 for what you've done? 00:29:54.440 --> 00:29:55.640 Don't be utterly ridiculous. 00:29:56.559 --> 00:29:57.539 That's not justice. 00:29:58.480 --> 00:29:58.940 Oh, you know, 00:29:59.039 --> 00:30:00.640 I attended church. 00:30:01.259 --> 00:30:02.059 I read my Bible. 00:30:02.160 --> 00:30:02.900 I tried to be good. 00:30:02.960 --> 00:30:03.940 I was culturally a Christian. 00:30:04.039 --> 00:30:04.740 Anyone who asked me, 00:30:05.000 --> 00:30:05.779 I said I'm a Christian. 00:30:06.940 --> 00:30:07.460 Well, of course, 00:30:07.500 --> 00:30:08.180 that doesn't cover it, 00:30:08.200 --> 00:30:08.580 does it? 00:30:09.340 --> 00:30:10.360 If you are guilty 00:30:10.360 --> 00:30:11.900 of a bloodstain, 00:30:12.500 --> 00:30:13.799 you need to find someone 00:30:13.799 --> 00:30:14.840 who can spill 00:30:14.840 --> 00:30:15.660 their blood for you. 00:30:16.440 --> 00:30:17.059 Which brings us 00:30:17.059 --> 00:30:17.799 to the good news, 00:30:17.880 --> 00:30:18.160 doesn't it, 00:30:18.160 --> 00:30:18.799 of the passage? 00:30:19.480 --> 00:30:19.940 Which is that 00:30:19.940 --> 00:30:21.080 1,500 years 00:30:21.080 --> 00:30:22.160 after these events, 00:30:22.660 --> 00:30:24.240 you find a bleeding man 00:30:24.240 --> 00:30:25.480 on a cross. 00:30:26.279 --> 00:30:28.039 The truly innocent son 00:30:28.039 --> 00:30:28.559 from heaven, 00:30:28.759 --> 00:30:30.500 God in human flesh. 00:30:30.920 --> 00:30:32.720 Not standing in a place 00:30:32.720 --> 00:30:34.120 of legal fiction 00:30:34.120 --> 00:30:35.500 or questionable justice, 00:30:36.700 --> 00:30:38.059 but planned in the mind 00:30:38.059 --> 00:30:38.460 of God 00:30:38.460 --> 00:30:39.660 from eternity past, 00:30:40.140 --> 00:30:40.820 where the sins 00:30:40.820 --> 00:30:41.440 of his people, 00:30:41.580 --> 00:30:42.259 their blood guilt, 00:30:42.259 --> 00:30:43.620 would be handed over 00:30:43.619 --> 00:30:44.659 to him. 00:30:45.159 --> 00:30:45.579 Literally, 00:30:46.339 --> 00:30:47.239 imputed, 00:30:47.819 --> 00:30:48.939 counted to, 00:30:49.359 --> 00:30:50.079 given to, 00:30:50.199 --> 00:30:51.139 Jesus Christ, 00:30:51.519 --> 00:30:52.779 so that the innocent son, 00:30:52.879 --> 00:30:54.599 the one who knew no sin, 00:30:54.959 --> 00:30:55.959 might on the cross 00:30:55.959 --> 00:30:57.539 be made sin for us, 00:30:57.599 --> 00:30:58.599 so that in him 00:30:58.599 --> 00:30:59.859 we might know 00:30:59.859 --> 00:31:01.019 righteousness, 00:31:01.579 --> 00:31:02.119 forgiveness, 00:31:02.719 --> 00:31:03.179 grace, 00:31:03.339 --> 00:31:04.000 and mercy, 00:31:04.500 --> 00:31:05.359 that the reins 00:31:05.359 --> 00:31:06.439 of God's blessing 00:31:06.439 --> 00:31:08.000 might fall on us, 00:31:08.879 --> 00:31:10.579 so that while the wages 00:31:10.579 --> 00:31:11.659 of sin is death, 00:31:12.119 --> 00:31:13.220 the gift of God 00:31:13.220 --> 00:31:15.079 is eternal life 00:31:15.079 --> 00:31:16.699 in Christ Jesus our Lord. 00:31:18.240 --> 00:31:19.259 This is what 00:31:19.259 --> 00:31:20.199 the hymn writer means 00:31:20.199 --> 00:31:20.839 when he says, 00:31:21.000 --> 00:31:22.379 what riches of kindness 00:31:22.379 --> 00:31:23.740 he lavished on us. 00:31:24.220 --> 00:31:25.619 His blood was the payment, 00:31:25.779 --> 00:31:27.000 his life was the cost. 00:31:27.419 --> 00:31:28.679 We stood neath a debt 00:31:28.679 --> 00:31:29.960 we could never afford. 00:31:30.359 --> 00:31:30.960 Our sins, 00:31:31.099 --> 00:31:32.139 they are many, 00:31:32.919 --> 00:31:34.960 his mercy is more. 00:31:35.960 --> 00:31:37.899 What can wash away my sin? 00:31:38.439 --> 00:31:40.000 Nothing but the blood of Jesus. 00:31:40.000 --> 00:31:42.019 What can make me whole again? 00:31:42.539 --> 00:31:43.940 Nothing but the blood of Jesus. 00:31:44.279 --> 00:31:45.160 It's why when we come 00:31:45.160 --> 00:31:45.660 in a moment 00:31:45.660 --> 00:31:46.819 to celebrate the Lord's Supper, 00:31:46.920 --> 00:31:47.519 we will say, 00:31:48.000 --> 00:31:50.839 this cup is the new covenant 00:31:50.839 --> 00:31:53.339 in my blood, 00:31:53.420 --> 00:31:53.839 says Jesus. 00:31:54.140 --> 00:31:57.380 I spilt my blood for you 00:31:57.380 --> 00:31:58.819 to wash you 00:31:58.819 --> 00:32:00.259 of your blood guilt. 00:32:01.200 --> 00:32:03.500 The blood speaks of good news, 00:32:03.720 --> 00:32:04.980 atonement and forgiveness, 00:32:05.180 --> 00:32:06.140 the way back from guilt. 00:32:07.900 --> 00:32:09.059 This then is the point 00:32:09.059 --> 00:32:09.799 for us, isn't it? 00:32:09.799 --> 00:32:10.740 2 Samuel 21 00:32:10.740 --> 00:32:11.919 sort of jars on us 00:32:11.919 --> 00:32:13.180 because of the innocent death 00:32:13.180 --> 00:32:14.740 of these seven sons 00:32:14.740 --> 00:32:16.039 for sins they didn't commit 00:32:16.039 --> 00:32:17.519 and it doesn't seem right. 00:32:18.099 --> 00:32:19.899 But the big story of the Bible, 00:32:20.720 --> 00:32:21.899 the story of the universe 00:32:21.899 --> 00:32:25.019 is of a true innocent son 00:32:25.019 --> 00:32:26.940 spilling his blood 00:32:26.940 --> 00:32:29.059 for you and me 00:32:29.059 --> 00:32:31.079 that we might be forgiven. 00:32:31.740 --> 00:32:32.740 That's the story. 00:32:33.259 --> 00:32:34.720 It was my sin 00:32:34.720 --> 00:32:35.960 that held him there 00:32:35.960 --> 00:32:37.379 until it was accomplished. 00:32:37.380 --> 00:32:39.020 His dying breath 00:32:39.020 --> 00:32:40.520 has brought me life. 00:32:40.640 --> 00:32:43.600 I know that it is finished. 00:32:44.320 --> 00:32:45.220 Here's blood for me. 00:32:46.260 --> 00:32:47.460 Let me say this morning, 00:32:47.580 --> 00:32:49.580 if you have never trusted Christ, 00:32:50.240 --> 00:32:51.660 if you've never turned to him 00:32:51.660 --> 00:32:52.360 and said, 00:32:52.780 --> 00:32:53.300 Lord Jesus, 00:32:54.400 --> 00:32:56.500 please wash me clean 00:32:56.500 --> 00:32:57.400 with your blood. 00:32:58.660 --> 00:33:01.040 Please take away my sin 00:33:01.039 --> 00:33:03.279 that I might know you 00:33:03.279 --> 00:33:04.220 and love you 00:33:04.220 --> 00:33:04.819 and live for you. 00:33:04.879 --> 00:33:05.659 If you've never done that, 00:33:05.720 --> 00:33:06.279 can I invite you 00:33:06.279 --> 00:33:06.980 to do that this morning? 00:33:08.539 --> 00:33:09.279 Don't delay 00:33:09.279 --> 00:33:10.079 and don't hesitate 00:33:10.079 --> 00:33:11.480 and don't pretend 00:33:11.480 --> 00:33:12.159 that you've done it 00:33:12.159 --> 00:33:12.879 when you've not. 00:33:14.319 --> 00:33:15.240 Turn to Jesus 00:33:15.240 --> 00:33:16.200 and trust in him, 00:33:16.299 --> 00:33:17.399 his life for your life, 00:33:17.480 --> 00:33:18.940 his death for yours. 00:33:19.940 --> 00:33:20.819 And if you're a Christian 00:33:20.819 --> 00:33:21.299 this morning, 00:33:21.680 --> 00:33:22.639 2 Samuel 21 00:33:22.639 --> 00:33:23.599 serves, doesn't it, 00:33:23.639 --> 00:33:24.799 as a joyous reminder 00:33:24.799 --> 00:33:26.839 that in the Lord Jesus 00:33:26.839 --> 00:33:29.039 all your blood guilt is gone. 00:33:30.019 --> 00:33:32.220 That in life and death 00:33:32.220 --> 00:33:33.639 you have nothing to fear 00:33:33.639 --> 00:33:36.200 because blood has been shed 00:33:36.200 --> 00:33:37.399 to wash away 00:33:37.399 --> 00:33:38.839 your blood guilt. 00:33:40.240 --> 00:33:41.879 If you're a Christian 00:33:41.879 --> 00:33:42.419 this morning 00:33:42.419 --> 00:33:43.619 and you're trusting in Christ, 00:33:43.759 --> 00:33:44.899 it is impossible 00:33:44.899 --> 00:33:47.019 for God to condemn you 00:33:47.019 --> 00:33:49.680 because it would be unjust 00:33:49.680 --> 00:33:52.879 because blood has already been shed. 00:33:52.880 --> 00:33:54.940 the payment has already been paid 00:33:54.940 --> 00:33:55.620 in Christ 00:33:55.620 --> 00:33:57.360 so you can be forgiven. 00:33:58.820 --> 00:34:00.680 So great floods of mercy 00:34:00.680 --> 00:34:02.240 and showers of goodness 00:34:02.240 --> 00:34:03.780 might come down on us. 00:34:04.620 --> 00:34:05.320 And do you know what, 00:34:05.580 --> 00:34:06.400 Christian, this morning, 00:34:07.040 --> 00:34:07.940 this isn't a message 00:34:07.940 --> 00:34:08.440 that you're supposed 00:34:08.440 --> 00:34:09.320 to keep to yourself. 00:34:10.119 --> 00:34:11.000 This is the news 00:34:11.000 --> 00:34:12.740 our world is desperate to hear 00:34:12.740 --> 00:34:14.440 that there is freedom 00:34:14.440 --> 00:34:16.079 and forgiveness found 00:34:16.079 --> 00:34:18.079 in the innocent blood of Jesus 00:34:18.079 --> 00:34:19.280 shed for us 00:34:19.280 --> 00:34:20.680 on our behalf. 00:34:21.140 --> 00:34:21.800 Let me pray 00:34:21.800 --> 00:34:23.320 and then we'll sing together 00:34:23.320 --> 00:34:24.140 as we respond. 00:34:36.080 --> 00:34:37.600 Let's just take a moment of silence 00:34:37.600 --> 00:34:38.960 and maybe you can respond 00:34:38.960 --> 00:34:39.980 in your own hearts 00:34:39.980 --> 00:34:43.180 to something you want to say 00:34:43.180 --> 00:34:43.840 to the Lord 00:34:43.840 --> 00:34:45.700 turning to him. 00:34:45.700 --> 00:34:45.800 Amen. 00:34:45.800 --> 00:34:45.900 Amen. 00:34:51.800 --> 00:35:13.980 Heavenly Father, 00:35:13.980 --> 00:35:14.039 Heavenly Father, 00:35:14.800 --> 00:35:17.620 I don't want to pretend 00:35:17.619 --> 00:35:19.699 that our sin doesn't matter, 00:35:20.699 --> 00:35:22.259 that we're better 00:35:22.259 --> 00:35:23.239 than we really are, 00:35:23.980 --> 00:35:25.679 that we have any hope 00:35:25.679 --> 00:35:26.400 in ourselves 00:35:26.400 --> 00:35:27.119 or our goodness 00:35:27.119 --> 00:35:28.539 or our good works. 00:35:31.579 --> 00:35:32.619 But we thank you 00:35:32.619 --> 00:35:33.359 for the Lord Jesus 00:35:33.359 --> 00:35:35.960 who shed his blood for us 00:35:35.960 --> 00:35:37.699 that we might be 00:35:37.699 --> 00:35:38.679 fully, 00:35:39.239 --> 00:35:39.599 freely, 00:35:40.039 --> 00:35:40.359 forgiven, 00:35:40.360 --> 00:35:42.400 that we might be able 00:35:42.400 --> 00:35:43.280 to live lives 00:35:43.280 --> 00:35:44.019 for your praise 00:35:44.019 --> 00:35:44.640 and your glory. 00:35:45.800 --> 00:35:46.240 Thank you 00:35:46.240 --> 00:35:47.059 that Jesus 00:35:47.059 --> 00:35:48.680 has treated 00:35:48.680 --> 00:35:49.660 the cause, 00:35:49.760 --> 00:35:50.680 not just the symptoms, 00:35:51.660 --> 00:35:52.340 giving himself 00:35:52.340 --> 00:35:52.960 for us 00:35:52.960 --> 00:35:53.680 in our place 00:35:53.680 --> 00:35:54.660 that he might make us 00:35:54.660 --> 00:35:55.360 new people. 00:35:56.880 --> 00:35:57.700 Please, Lord, 00:35:58.320 --> 00:35:59.519 help us to continue 00:35:59.519 --> 00:36:00.280 to delight 00:36:00.280 --> 00:36:01.740 and find our joy 00:36:01.740 --> 00:36:02.660 in Christ. 00:36:03.740 --> 00:36:04.680 We rejoice 00:36:04.680 --> 00:36:05.380 in what he's done 00:36:05.380 --> 00:36:06.000 for us 00:36:06.000 --> 00:36:07.860 and we thank you 00:36:07.860 --> 00:36:08.340 for him. 00:36:09.340 --> 00:36:09.739 Amen.