Absalom's life serves as a stark warning against pride, conceit, and unconfessed sin, highlighting the devastating consequences of a treacherous heart hidden behind outward charm. The sermon traces Absalom's handsome appearance, persuasive eloquence, and his conspiracy against David, emphasizing his lack of repentance after murdering his brother Amnon and his subsequent return to court. The core lesson is that sin, whether unconfessed by the sinner or unpunished by earthly authorities, will ultimately be accounted for by God, who demands confession and offers forgiveness through Christ. The message concludes by contrasting Absalom's eternal loss with the salvation found in accepting Jesus, urging listeners to avoid his fate by embracing God's grace.
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Thon, Chileab and Absalom. They also had a dog the name of Tamar. They were broadly sent on both sides of Absalom because his mother was the daughter of a king and also David was his father. So there was royalty on the both sides of Absalom. They were an extremely handsome young man, as you find by the text from the scriptures that we read. What charming eloquence he had. of persuasiveness with others, with one in the hearts of all the people of Israel, that he had a very traitless heart and nature.
This makes us think of what the Lord Jesus said, of those scribes and parishes, is outwardly, they appear beautiful unto men, nice and white and green, but within you are full of all the dead men, both rotten, absolute, absolute outwardly, for the handsome charming, appealing a man, undoubtedly, very, very persuasive and effective. But within he was right. Absolutely right. And we see that in what it is. He feigned this patriotism, this piety, going before his father, bowing, as much as he said, Father, I'll do anything you say, and I love you.
But see what happened right from that very moment when he offered his father's face before the king he went and he began his conspiracy and so you see how hard this young man was no repentance no sorrow for his sin for he had killed his brother Amnon killed them in cold blood and he'd been away from David for three years that after he killed his brother Amnon, he fled. For now he gets back under the maneuvering of Job, General, and he comes to the king.
Much as they say, well, I'll submit myself unto you. I love you, my father. And he left that place and immediately went and began to bring about situations for his conspiracy to overthrow his father. What a treacherous young fellow he was. This war under his father. He was possessed with an absorbing egotism on himself. That's all he thought. And that lovely head of hair that he had, I tell you, we talk about hippies today with their long hair, now he must have had a long one, down to the ground.
He must have spent many hours comming his locks. They were his glory. But they were the cause of his death because he caught them in the oak. A lot of times these people are so proud, conceited, egotistic. They certainly have those things that promote them, give them a place in the public eye, and in the end they're the very things that bring about their death, their end. Paul stunned, as I've already mentioned. I could have gone back a little further. Amnon humbled his own sister.
And according to that, according to the word of God over in Leviticus, David should have had Amnon put to death. For according to the Bible in Leviticus, he said, Great, was punished by death. Not only that, Absalom slew Amnon. And David didn't do a thing about him. He didn't punish Amnon for what he did to his sister. And he didn't punish Absalom for what Absalom did to his brother. David did not punish Stephen. It's a strange thing, isn't it?
And yet here he is, the ruler over Israel. He should have been the very one to enforce that. Absalom fled, and he was gone for two more years. But it says that David's heart yearned for Absalom. Heavenly, he didn't seem to ignore what Absalom had done. His heart went out for Absalom. All he thought about was Absalom. Absalom was his favorite. Absalom was his pet. Absalom was his idol. And the king there he was yearning. for Absalom. The Bible says that the whole nation was enraged at the injustice of the death of Amla.
And they didn't want Absalom back, so they knew he came back. They were going to demand the king to punish him. He was gone for two years. Finally, Job maneuvered his return, and so he came back, and that's when he went before the king and made this mock abation unto the king. The whole sad story about this is Absalom didn't confess anything. He didn't say when he came before the king, my father, like the prodigal in the New Testament, he said, I'm not weak to be called thy son, make me as one of thy hired servants.
I've sinned against heaven and before thee. I'm not worthy to be called thy son. There's no repentance, no sorrow for sin in Absalom. Down in Hock, he was a murderer. Down in Hock, he was ready for revenge against his father. And David did not punish him. David seemed to pass over and winked at his sin. I wonder why. Did Bathsheba and Uriah come up in his mind and top his mouth was condemning his own son. However, David should have carried out the law.
Here he is more or less acting like a devoted father to a spoiled son instead of a judge. Being the king of the nation, he should have executed judgment upon not only Amnon, but upon Absalom. Hope, he'll David knew. I know this cuts at the heart of David. In this case, righteousness was outraged and justice was set aside. Instead of David, as God represented a law and order, punishing the sin of rape and death, he didn't even bring it up.
And he didn't even have it punished. I want to say this. God's not that way. I think a point, a story I thought many years ago might illustrate this point. Leniency once said, Judge Lynch, a remarkable judge in the annals of England's justice and judicial system, there was a law passed in England when a certain pirate boat flying the waters of the Mediterranean and they were or less taking many lives, sinking many ships. Not only were they getting on to boats and taking all over on board and whatever valuables they had, they also invaded port.
Taking so many lives, guilty of so much slaughter and robbery, the British government passed the law that if the captain of that ship, the pilot of that pilot race, both would be put to death on a lens. He was caught. And who should he be? The judge meant his son. It shocked the British nation. And as it happened, he came under the jurisdiction of Judge Ludwig, his own father. Judge Lind passed the sentence of death.
You'll hang by your head until you're dead. And when the judge in those days passed the sentence, he had to witness the execution. And so judge lived with this black robe and his judge cap head on his head. He stood there and his son was on the track. And the man who was to pull the rope, didn't eat the tracks and send Judd Blint's son to his death. He was so touched and moved by this judge. He refused to pull it because a certain signal he had to pull the rope.
And when he hit it, Judd Blint got pulled and he pulled the rope and said to his own son to his death. That was down in British court law. That was one of the most normal acts. man who put justice before his lump for his son. David was anything but that. David loved Absalom so much he wouldn't punish him for his sin. David there are some fathers like that today. They let their kids buy whatever they have. David paid and he paid plenty for that.
Oh, the sin and the suffering as many as twenty thousand soldiers died one day, all because David did not punish his son Andrew. Sad story, isn't it, when you think of how man looks upon sin and how God looks upon sin. Absalom wouldn't confess it. David didn't forgive it. I want to say this, that there's no confession of sin to God. There's no forgiveness of sin by God. If man does not confess his sin to God, as a contrite sinner, there'll be no forgiveness by God.
God demands man to confess his sin. You know, when you stop and think of this situation, the old story is, Sweep it under the rug. Look, look the other way. Just don't see it. Sweep it under the rug. Yes, there are a lot of things that are under the rug. But remember, God's going to roll the rug back and see what's under the rug. If you don't roll it back in time, you'll roll it back in eternity. This business of rolling it under the rug that forget it.
You know, that's the weakness of our judicial system today. In fact, this fellow farmer over in Atlanta only a few weeks ago, he said this. He hates capital punishment, and he says, give me time, and no man will be electrocuted in Georgia. But he believes in the appeal system, and you know that Appeal, appeal, appeal, appeal. All day round, the sloth, seven years ago, they're still alive. Their hope is that they'll keep appealing and appealing to the shock and the horror of that crime almost happen from the public mind.
They'll quietly, well, that's the day. God doesn't forget. He doesn't forget one uncomfessed sin. He has every sin jotted down yours. And he won't forget what. All those things God will remember and not remember. There's no such thing as appeal in God's order to say. There's no appeal. In other words, friend, this business of let him have a second review. Maybe some more evidence has turned up.
Have an appeal, another state, another state, another state. Let me tell you this, there'll be no reviews or repeals. The Supreme Court of the universe has viewed the whole case. He knows everything that's been committed, and there's no appeal. God says you're guilty, and I know what you've done, and when you did it, and who you? God says, I want to punish every sin. God require that which is past. And don't forget it. Be sure your sin will find you out.
There's no sweeping things under the rug. And don't forget that. The time will come when it must be and will be punished. So here we find David. He wouldn't punish his son and his son wouldn't confess. But they paid and they paid plenty. Sin must be punished. There must be a sacrifice. And God provided a sacrifice his son. The sinner must confess his sin. The sinner must accept Jesus Christ.
Then and then oh. will God forgive your sin and then and then only will God forget your sin. He says your sins and your iniquities will I remember no more now he's writing to Christians. If you are not a Christian, God knows every sin. Everyone has your sins with you. But when you come to know Christ, when you have Confess before God. You're a sinner. You're a lost sinner. You deserve to die. And you accept Jesus Christ as your personal sin.
Then God says, I've blottened out as a thick cloud thy transgressions, a cloud thy sins. Return unto me and have redeemed me. And God says, your sins and your iniquities are humble enough. Then the night. Yes, for I was saved. I did things I shouldn't have done. But then, I don't worry about those. Why should I worry about something God's forgotten? God doesn't really forget sins, too. That could be qualified, because to forget indicates a mental weakness.
We forget things. But if you forget a thing, it can come back. God does more than forget a thing. He creates an act of oblivion. It can't come back to God's mind. God hasn't that mental weakness that changed him from floating back in his mind. Once he puts it away, it's gone forever. He creates an act of oblivion and God will never remember my sins again. Your sins and your iniquity, if I will remember, go more. Isn't that wonderful? And if you don't come to know Christ, I'll tell you all your sins.
He'll remember them. They're all tabulated. God punishes sin. He says, The soul that sinneth, it shall die. He said to Adam and Eve, In the day thou eatest the earth, thou shalt surely die. No appeals, no appeals, no reviewing of this case. God says you sin and you have. If you're not a Christian this morning, you sin and you stand guilty before the Supreme Court of this universe and there's no need of further evidence, good isn't it? God knows all the others. You're a guilty, lost, and hurt the sinner.
God is going to come. Your sins far greater than what? This man did, absolutely. For our worship, what Ammon did, you have rejected the Lord Jesus Christ, God's beloved Son. And he came into this world to take all your sins upon them, and bear them in his own body on the tree, that all your sins might be put away, the slate white queen. And that's the worst crime you can commit, rejecting Jesus Christ. You know that Absalom, if David had carried out justice, and he had punished Absalom for his sin, what followed never would have happened.
That awful battle. Absalom's conspiracy, when he thought he had by secrecy and subtly stolen his heart to the people of God, his followers gathered at Yvonne, and they sounded a trumpet. absolent reigneth the devil and the nation down. He stole in the hearts of Israel. David and his men, David still had some good men. He was a warrior. And it's very interesting when you read this story. I read it many times this week. David fled. David said, Don't let's stay in the city.
Let's stay out in the plains. And they went. Finally the battle was joined. And under three generals, David had his army divided under three men. And they were the ones who took charge of the battle. And as they were fighting, O Job's army was seen by Absalom. And when Absalom saw Job's army, He fled for his life. I don't know what kind of a mule he must have had. It must have been a big one. But he got on that mule, and he took off when his lovely locks were floating in the air, and he went on to the oak.
It was big oak. And it must have been a big oak. And the limbs of that oak caught that brooding hair. And what he was depending on for his escape went out from among them. How dare he hung between heaven and earth. One of Job's men saw, and he ran and told Job. Job says, Why didn't you kill him? Oh, he said, I heard the king say these. I don't know that the young man was Absalom. I wouldn't do that. The king said nothing. Perfect. Job said, I look high on you. Job looked three arrows, and everyone hit its mark, the heart of Absalom.
And to be sure that Absalom was dead, ten of his men finished the mark. And instead of Absalom, getting the throne of Israel, which was his aim and object, he got a hole in the ground, and they filled it with stone, and they put a pillar, ancillary pillar. That's the end of Carl's conceited and temperable ancillary. A man who had sinned grievously but wouldn't confess it. That was the end of poor Absalom. And yet that was in this life.
He'll suffer for all eternity for that. You know, you stop to think of this situation. Poor Absalom. He didn't get what he decided. His ambition was to be the king. His ambition was to fill the throne. And all Israel. gathered unto Absalom, where heaped its prey on Adam. If in a sad day, if it had been, Absalom, the king of Israel, God saw to it, and God took David's side in this condition. For even nature fought against Absalom.
There were more people destroyed in the woods than were destroyed by the sword. God took sides with David. Now David did make some sad mistakes. You can't read and maybe all what happened here might have been traced back to what David did with Bathsheba and Uriah. But let me show you the difference between Absalom and David. Absalom would not confess his sin. He wouldn't acknowledge him for poor David. He cried many times with a broken heart of mercy upon you, God.
David made many mistakes, but he made many heart-rending confessions before God. David was a broken man. Read Psalm thirty-two, thirty-four, fifty-one, and you see David pouring out his broken heart before a God against whom he had sinned. God took sides with David against his wicked son and sinned. todd story, isn't it? But all you see left of Absalom is a heap of stone. Tell her there, a monument of judgment, not a monument of grace.
You could say, if every one of us here this morning who's saved by the grace of God were a monument of grace, a sinner saved by blood, the streams of love I trace up to the fountain drop. And in his sovereign counsel see eternal love, love of God to me. The moment I trusted Christ, I was a monument of grace. I told one of the men, George Stewart, one of the elders in the little chapel in Stafford, day or two after I was saved, I said, Brother Stewart, First time I ever called him that.
I said, I got saved Sunday night. He was kind of a hard man. He said, I expected God to judge you. He said, I expected God to judge you instead of save you. But God is a God of grace. And he'll save anybody who comes with it, broke them and comes right out. To this man when I look, who is of the humble and contrite heart, and he's friendless at my nice isn't to tremble at the word of the living God. Then David, he still loved that soon. He said this, deal gently with the men without the battle.
Deal gently with the young man, even with Antioch. When the battle was over, Job sent a man to the capital to break the news. And the washer up on the watchtower comes down to David. He says there's a runner coming. David says he'll bring up tidings. And then the watchman said another comment. David says he'll bring up good tidings. And when this runner came to King David, David said is the young man absolutely sick?
After this Job rebuked the king. He said, King David, I think you'd have been happy if Samuel had been, or rather Absalom had been spared on all the rest of the sloth. All you thought about was Absalom. He said, is the young man Absalom safe? That's right, which I told the story. He said, let all the enemies of my Lord be as that young man. In other words, David, he there. What did David do? That's when he expressed those lamentable words.
And the king said unto Tushai, Is the young man Absalom safe? And in verse thirty-three in the king was much moved and went up to the chamber, Over the gate and wept, and as he went, Thus he said, O my son Absalom, My son, my son, Absalom. Would God have died to thee? O Absalom, my son, my son. Who did it? Even him, he seemed to still idolize Absalom. God never wanted that young man on the phone of Israel. God had Solomon instead of Absalom.
But to think of those solemn words of David, is the young man absolute safe? You know, they're about the first words that are used if any of our loved ones were involved in an accident, be it a fire, car accident, plane accident, or in an area where there's been a earthquake, where there's been a lot of damage and danger. Why people get on the phone, folks? It's so and so safe. They're anxious to know, is my loved one safe? Yes. Let me tell you this. If your loved one's not safe, they're not safe. It's so and so safe.
No, your loved one's not safe unless he's safe. Oh, but to say, he lived a good life. He was honest and sincere. He was good. He was a member of the church. that makes no difference. He's not safe. It is not safe. That's the one. Parents are so concerned about their children. It is safe. Oh, yes, they're concerned about the body. Very little concerned about the soul. How many times you hear people talk about, is my child safe? Or is so-and-so and so-and-so.
They don't ask the question, Is he saved? Is my child saved? That's my biggest burden. Is my parent saved? That's my biggest concern. David said, Is Absalom safe? No, he's not saved, David. And he's not saved either. He went to hell. When David lost a baby, previous, he went But he said, when he found the child was dead, he arose, washed himself and he sat down and ate.
Some didn't understand that. It said, David, while the child was sick, you were praying and lamenting and weeping and staring on. Now we find out the child then. You seem to have got relieved. Yes, he said, I shall go to him. I know where my child is. I shall go to him. He cannot return to me. He couldn't say that about Absalom. He knew he was not going to see Absalom again. We know David's in him, but not Absalom. That's why he lamented, oh, how solemn, how is that?
I don't never think of this or that I think of an incident that happened in Petersburg, Virginia. The first year I came south, that's maybe forty-nine years ago. I met Mr. and Mrs. Cobb. They lived in Petersburg. Lovely Christian, godly people. They had a daughter, Miriam, sixteen years of age, a lovely girl. She'd been brought up in the Sunday school. She knew the gospel. She came home from a meeting on this night. It was a Friday night. And she, with a couple of others, pushed the table back and the chairs, and they started dancing the tart.
Don't know whether you old enough remember that. Anyway, her mother and father, when they came in, they were shocked. Just like family parents today would be shocked if they saw some of their children going through the durations that they do today. and some of these dances. Mrs. Cobb and her husband said, why do you do things like this? He just came from a solemn meeting. The next night she went for a walk, Saturday night, with three or four other girls in the community. They were coming down the road on the way home. A car pulled up after the one to ride.
They come and piled in this side, and they couldn't get any more in this side. So Miriam said, I can go around, get out this side. And they she went around the back of the car, and all the coming cars crashed. And Miriam would break the tree, killed instantly. This was carved at the tomb. She couldn't hold it in. She looked at her daughter in the custody. She said, Oh, Miriam, oh, Miriam, would God I died to thee, O Mary. She knew where she went. I wonder if some can love one to look on your casket and say that, Good God, I died to thee.
As much as a parent would like to die, whether child and David only would like to have died for them, so they can't do that. There's only one who can die for us. And that's the Lord Jesus Christ. Only through death. David loved Absalom so much that he wouldn't punish his sin. God loved us so much he wouldn't spare his son. He wouldn't spare him. He spared not his own son, but delivered him up for the small. That's how much God loved you.
That's how much God loved me. David loved this man, Anson, so much. He wouldn't even punish his sins. He didn't want to think about it. God loved me so much. He had to punish my sins. And in order that I might be saved, he wouldn't spare his son. The Lord Jesus, and God loved his son as much as you loved yours. And yet God sent his son to that cross. And God laid upon Jesus Christ all your sin and all my sin. And God emptied his holy wrath upon Jesus Christ until Jesus Christ cried out, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
Yes, God spared not his son, but his love for you. I wonder, You're willing to accept Jesus Christ this morning as your personal Savior. I hope that it'll never be said over you as it was said over Absalom. Would God have died for you? Absalom, it's too late. You had your chance. You missed it. This is the test of righteousness, duty, honor, truth, justice, and punishment. And no person will ever pass through the portals of heaven until your sin is punished.
How are you going to get your sin punished? You will certainly get your sin punished in this life to the magnitude your sin deserves. The place that you get punished for your sin, and justly so is, and the lake is burned with fire and brimstone. That's what your sin deserves. in the light of a just and holy God. And God doesn't want you to go there. He wants you to accept His Son. Mercy and truth have met together. Righteousness and peace have just become. These are wonderful things in Psalms eighty five ten. Mercy, truth, righteousness and peace.
These belong to heaven. They're not on earth. Not in their purity. Where do you find pure mercy today and pure truth and righteousness and peace? Not in this world. They belong to heaven. The days coming when this earth will have these things, when there will be mercy, truth and righteousness and peace on the earth. That's when Jesus Christ will reign. The nation, the world, the individual will never know these things until he knows Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the one who can bring mercy, truth, righteousness and peace into your heart.
Jesus Christ facing a holy, righteous God with your sins on. And God punished Jesus Christ exactly with the severity that you're going to be punished if you're not saved. He punished him with what your sin deserved. On that cross, he bared his bosom, he received a stroke that justice aimed at me, that I might fulfill. Are you going to be an absinthe this morning and be stubborn, proud, conceited, living for this life, wanting all that life can be did?
and end up in a loss eternally. Absalom was love but loss. Many a person is going to hell, love but loss. They will not accept Jesus Christ. I trust this morning you will accept it. It will pay you. If you go on as you're going, you'll end up just like Absalom. With all your pleasing personality and attractiveness, that means nothing. What is in God's interest in me is your soul.
That's the most important thing. And he'd love to see it saved and saved. And it can be if you accept Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, accept him now. Will you accept him now? will you accept him now shall we do our father in heaven in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ we come into thy presence we ask thy blessing on thy word how sad how solemn how tragic and yet the story is recorded in the scriptures father